John 4:1-6

John 4:1-6 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Jesus is about breaking boundaries to demonstrate how God works to radically include all people.  When Jesus left Judea to head for Galilee, he could have taken the longer path to avoid Samaria, like most Jews of the time might have, but instead he opted to go through Samaria.  The Samiritans were the people who were left behind when the Babylonians sent most of the Jews into exile, and they had intermarried and were generally despised by most Jews.  Jesus, however, doesn't avoid anyone -- he heads toward anyone and everyone in an effort to demonstrate the love of God to all people.  So Jesus goes to Samaria, and he leads the disciples there, demonsrating by his example how to love others, even those who are different and perhaps despised by others in society.  There is no room for hatred or discrimination within the love of God.
  In the town of Sychar, he finds a well.  The town has ancient roots -- it's where God appeared to Abram in Canaan and where Jacob built an altar.  It's a place with deep roots for the people of faith, and God is about to do something miraculous here to demonstrate how the love of God is still active, still reaching, still including!