John 4:25, 26 (4-44): The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will explain everything to us."  "I am He," Jesus told her, "the One speaking to you."

The woman: despised, abused, shunned and discarded, who in the heat of the day, after all the other village women had come and gone, makes her way to the village well to draw water. The man: a Jew, having routed the temple merchandisers and now going down from the Judean hills, following a direct route through Samaria, is fatigued and thirsty. The Disciples: fresh from a successful time of evangelism and a remarkable Passover, focus once again on food. The Samaritans: a mongrel people of mixed blood and religion, resentful of, while being despised and denigrated by the Jews, with no independent legal representation exist in between.

Yet, “it was needful for Him to go through Samaria.”

Needful? To whom? Jesus Himself? The shunned woman? The disciples? The village? The answer is probably, “Yes, to all the above or at least some combination of the above.” When I actually need something I accept the solution presented regardless of its source or even its nature. And when the need meets solution, growth's change follows close on and provides us with a visible proof of 'needful'. With that stipulation in mind let's answer the “To whom?” question by examining the evidence of growth in the participants.

No sooner do Jesus and the disciples arrive when P., J., J. & Co. wander off to find food, leaving no one to provide for Jesus.

The woman prepares to draw water and encounters a man who knew her every sin and did not reject, shun or seek to take advantage of her. Ultimately, Jesus entrusts her, alone, with particularly private knowledge, “Messiah … I Am He”, creating an intense and non-physical intimacy.  Immediately, almost as if they'd been spying, the disciples show up, wafting prejudice.  The woman, used to prejudice and well experienced with cutting remarks, opted to remove herself from the their presence, she “left her water pot, went her way into town”.  En route she found strength of character. She not only approached openly but explicitly confronted the men of village that had shunned her and announced, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did!” (vs 29)

The disciples return. Jesus has just voiced the earliest-recorded, self-affirmation of His Messiahship. Oblivious to what they just missed, they continue trying to 'save' Jesus from a racial/religious faux pas (31). Their apparent insensitivity combined with their racial prejudice served to interrupt and disrupt Jesus' divine appointment with this woman; while causing her to leave incomplete her reason for being at the well, “the woman left her water jar”.  They alone registered confusion and consternation.

The village men, confronted by this shunned, morally unacceptable woman, did the unexpected. Instead of making fun of or simply ignoring her, “They left the town and made their way to Him.” (vs 30)  Then when they'd heard Jesus' teaching and after inviting Him to stay among them they turned to her, “And they told the woman, "We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world." (vs 42 HCSB)

The woman found courage and hope (vs 29). The villagers found something to which they might belong (vs 39, 41-42). Jesus found the honor denied him in His own country (vs 40, 44) and the first group who openly accepted His testimony and who issued Him an invitation to remain (vs 41-42). The disciples remained confused, nothing more is reported of them while in Sychar. They appeared not to grow; therefore for them this stop was not 'needful'.

These religious, social and racial outcasts gave Jesus something His own refused Him – acknowledgment and honor-simple faith. Do you find it disconcerting that it was Gentiles who received Jesus' praise for their faith expressions? A Samaritan would later play the hero in one of Jesus parables (Matthew 10:35). Then there's the Roman Centurion on whose behalf Jewish leaders beseech Jesus' ministry. (Matthew 8:10, Luke 7:9) His faith Jesus proclaims and celebrates. Jesus found faith in unlikely places.

Were Jesus to walk into your town, would He find faith's invitation? Expecting that He might behave 'inappropriately' would you feel the need to rush in to 'save Him'? Where would He find simple acceptance? In the churches, bible studies, coffee houses, social groups or maybe in your own heart? The answer is: Are you one of those who “hunger and thirst”? If so then this 'divine appointment' is 'needful' for you. When you encounter Jesus over the table of your need you will change, you will grow. Because you will realize that Jesus is the One who, “will tell us all things." (vs 25)