As you may have already figured out from the last month or so of hearing me preach, this passage of Scripture fascinates me. I’ve preached from it many times before but this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to slowly go through it, not just verse by verse but word by word and truly concentrate on the character of God, the kindness of Jesus and the surprise of this woman. The first few verses of this chapter have shown us that Jesus “had to” go through Samaria, He was not setting His path He was following the steps that His Father had laid out for Him. Jesus’ meeting this woman at the well was not a happy accident or amazing coincidence, it was the providence of God. In Luke 19:10 Jesus told Zacchaeus “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” This story is a picture of, not just what it looked like but how it continues to look. Jesus was preaching and teaching, adding new followers and watching as His disciples baptized them when suddenly, with little warning and even less explanation it was announced not just that Jesus was going to go from Judea to Galilee but that He had to go through Samaria. Jesus didn’t run into this woman on His way to His next assignment from the Father, the Father sent Jesus to this woman. It is as if God, in all His mercy, kindness and compassion decided that this woman had gone to the well of Jacob in fear and shame for the last time. This time, when she went alone to the well she would not just find Jesus or just be found by Him, she would discover that she was known and loved and that as hard as she had worked to be alone, God had worked harder to sit with her in her loneliness. This story matters because it’s not just how Jesus treated this woman it’s how He treats all of us, this is the character of God. He doesn’t just save, He seeks; if you have been saved it is because you were sought after and if you have not yet surrendered to salvation you are right now being sought after, it’s not simply what Jesus did, it is who God is and it is what He continues to do. As breath-taking as these truths should be there is more, this is not only what’s been done for us it is what God desires to now do through us. The steps of the righteous are ordered by God, they are ordered exactly like Jesus’ were, to seek, to save, to love and give mercy. Today I pray that we will take our few verses and see that Jesus causes encounter, creates conversation and confronts culture. If we are going to be like Jesus, witnesses to Jesus or Ambassadors for Jesus, we are going to have to do for others what Jesus has done for us.