There were some things that the Bible says that Jesus had to do. I like to call them the “musts” of Jesus while He walked the face of this earth as a man. For instance, one of the musts of Jesus is that He had to die for sinners and rise again: (Mat.16:21) Another must was He had to be about the Father's business: (Lk.2:49)

    I want to especially point out, however, that Jesus had some divine appointments with sinners to lead them to salvation (Lk.19:5) That is, I believe the case of our text, when the Bible says that (Jh.4:4) And Jesus must needs go through Samaria.

    Even as the Spirit of the Lord led Philip away from Samaria to preach the gospel to one Ethiopian eunuch in the desert, Jesus had to go through Samaria to reach one woman with the message of living water.

    Let's look at some of the reasons for the necessity of this visit to Samaria:

Jesus went to Samaria because of HIs

I. HIS LOVE FOR A WAYWARD SOCIETY (Jh.4:9)

    1. Regardless of their sex or gender 

        A. Jesus is seeking SINNERS.

        B. Jesus is after men and women to bring them to God! 

        C. He is also seeking little sinners, little boys and girls

    2. Regardless of their social class 

        A. Jesus is seeking rich sinners and poor sinners.

        B. He will save from the "guttermost" to the "uttermost."

         C. He died for the "up and out" and the "down and out."

    3 . Regardless of their sin

        A. There is no sin too big for Jesus to forgive.

        B. The only unforgivable sin is the rejection of Jesus

II. HIS LOVE FOR A WICKED SINNER (Jh.4:10)

    1. She was dead (1 Tim.5:6)

        A. She no doubt thought sometimes that she was "living it up,"

             but  in reality she was nothing but a zombie, a walking corpse.

       B. The Bible says that lost people are "dead in trespasses and

            sins" (Eph. 2:1).

    2. She was dirty (Jh. 4:16-18)

       A. Jesus goes after "undesireables"!

    3. She was in a drought

       A. She came to get physical water for a physical thirst.

       B. However, she was unaware that God was able to fill the

            emptiness of her heart with living water! 

      C. Lost people are living in a desert, my friend, even if they are

            physically living in the best houses! They

       D. Will you let God use you to take "the living water" to people

             who are dying of spiritual thirst?

III. HIS LOVE FOR WINNING SOULS (v13-15)

    1. Jesus loves souls 

       A. Jesus loved sinners enough to die for them! Do you love them

            enough to become a part of our church's outreach to sinners?

    2. Jesus looks for souls

       A. Jesus spent His ministry going to the public

       B. While the disciples were gone into town for bread, Jesus went

             to the well to find a woman who needed God.

       C. Are you and I looking for souls

       D. Are we looking at people as souls who need the Savior

    3. Jesus leads souls to salvation

       A. Jesus pointed people to heaven!

       B. You and I, if we follow Jesus, will also be pointing people to

            heaven!
      C. Let's get started!

IV. HIS LOVE FOR HIS WONDERING LABORERS (Jh.4:31-37)

    1. For lifting up their eyes
       A. Our eyes are too focused on the dirt of this world!

       B. Some Christians are so tied up with television, magazines,

            books, and the Internet that they don't have time to win souls.

       C. Folks, now is the time for all  Christians and lift up their eyes!!!

    2. For looking on the fields

       A. We should look on the FOREIGN field and give above our

            tithes and other offerings to the cause of missions.

           1. We should give prayer and financial support to those who

                are carrying the gospel to other lands.

    C. We should look on the HOME field and not only give tithes and

          offerings to our local church, whose aim is to win souls, but we

          should look on the lost here in our area and realize that WE are

          the instrument God wants to use to bring people to salvation

    3. For laboring in the fields

       A. Don't put it off for four months!

      B. Don't put it off for another 90 days!

    4. Get involved TODAY in soul-winning!

CONCLUSION

During the Arab-Israeli war 1967 an American reporter was flying over the Sinai desert with an Israeli officer, and they spotted some fifty thousand stranded Egyptian soldiers who obviously were dying of thirst. When the situation was reported in the newspapers, a number of world leaders and organizations tried to do something to help. But every time a plan was suggested, some military, diplomatic, or bureaucratic obstacle prevented its being carried out. By the time help came, thousands of the soldiers had died.

How equally tragic it is for churches to spin their wheels in programs and committees while thousands around them are desperately in need of the spiritual water of the Word.