“He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.” (John 4: 3-4)

If you are like me and your church is like mine, you just completed your yearly reports. In those reports, we inform our congregations how many members joined our church that year and how many people left that year. Even our Synod keeps records of those gains and losses for each congregation.

Sometimes, those numbers disturb us. As a synod we have been declining in our membership and giving. Often, as we look at our budget numbers from the previous year, we could dangerously decide that we need to get more people into our church to help cover the expenses. Perhaps we could cut the budgets of Evangelism or other things that we don’t need. As a member of our Synod’s Board for Evangelism, we occasionally get requests from the congregations in our Synod to advise them what they can do to “turn those numbers around.” Sometimes we even get asked, “What is the Synod doing about the loss of membership?”

Jesus shows us a different attitude when it comes to the things we need to be doing. In the middle of a trip between Judea (South) and Galilee (North), the Bible states very clearly that Jesus needed to stop in Samaria. In fact, the phrase could be translated: “It was necessary that He go through Samaria.” 

To Jesus’ disciples this was a very strange need. The Jews hated the Samaritans and usually did everything they could to avoid them. They usually crossed the Jordan River north of Jerusalem, went on the East side of the River up to Galilee, and crossed back over the River to go home. This hatred was due to the fact that the Jews had fought the Samaritans in many battles when they came out of Babylonian captivity. They looked down on the Samaritans as half-breeds, the descendants of Jews and heathens (idol-worshippers). When you consider this, plus the fact that Jesus was going there to speak to a woman who had been married five different times and was now living with a man, we might wonder about the word “need” being used.

Jesus demonstrated His incredible love and His merciful nature. If He would not have gone through Samaria and had taken the time to visit with that woman, she would have gone to hell. Every sinner faces this same condemnation without faith in the saving work of Jesus. He needed to see her because her salvation was at stake, as well as the salvation of her whole town of Sychar.

In evangelism, the great temptation for us is to focus on our fear instead of the need. We may fear to lose what we have. That fear is voiced in two ways: “If too many people come into our church, it might not get run the way we want,” or “If we don’t get some new people into our church, we might lose it.” Both fears are not looking at the need of blood-bought souls to hear the Gospel.

At the well of Jacob, Jesus teaches us what all people need! We need to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified, “The one thing needful.” Just as the Samaritan woman needed to know that Jesus is the Messiah, so all sinners need to know that Jesus lived, died and rose again for their sins. They need to be invited to drink the water Jesus gives that provides life everlasting. Jesus told His disciples, “The fields are ripe and the harvest is waiting.” Jesus saw the need and spoke the Gospel. He was not counting numbers, but meeting their needs.

Cory D. Hahnke is pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Cold Springs, Minnesota.