Help us to accept that living water, that it may be a spring of life to us
This was a turning point in Jesus' ministry as it was the first time he preached specifically to non-Jews, or gentiles. There were other times people from other nations had come to listen. There's quite a list near the beginning of Mark's gospel, but they had come to Jesus, not the other way around.
This time Jesus had come to Samaria, or at least he was staying outside while his disciples went to buy supplies.
It's fairly important to remember that Samaria had been the capital city of the Northern tribe of Israel and (mostly) enemy of the Southern tribe of Judah. Because of their continued ignoring of God, his purpose and his teaching God had cast them out and they had been taken prison and moved to the land of Assyria. The Assyrian conquerors had moved others into their land. Because they had worshipped other gods, God had sent lions to kill them. So they asked for a priest to instruct them in the ways of God. They mixed religions. They worshipped God, but they also worshipped their own gods as well. (That sounds just like today!)
As a result the Jews hated Samaritans. They wouldn't even drink out of the same cups. Yet here was Jesus, at the well asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. That was unheard of.
Jesus knew who she was. He knew what she was like. She had 5 husbands and the man she was living with was not her husband. Marriage amongst the Samaritans was obviously not a 'life time' agreement and reminds us of the modern world in more ways than one. But the good news was that even then, with someone who was obviously a 'gentile sinner', Jesus could call her to repentance.
It depend on how we accept Jesus. The woman at the well did. She went on to proclaim his message to the towns-folk. That may be more than we dare to do, so lets not look down on her. Jesus accepted her, so we should do no less.
Jesus showed that God was a god of all peoples (and remember Jesus also gave the parable of the Good Samaritan). It's not our nationality, but our faith that matters.
Why did Jesus not go into the city when his disciples did?
Why did Jesus refer to himself as the 'living water'?
What was the effect on the disciples, and the people of the town, to woman's conversion?