Psst, pass it on

Jesus, help me spread only good rumors! Amen!

Jesus met a Samaritan woman getting water from a well. "Give me a drink," Jesus said. The woman said: "You're Jewish -- your people don't like mine. Why ask me for a drink?" Jesus answered, "I could give you living water." Then He told the woman all about her life, so she believed in Him. She told friends, who followed Jesus, too.

Rumors spread like chicken pox among kids. One person in your class says he heard a famous person will be visiting your school, and the next thing you know, everyone's heard that! Kids all over the school are suddenly whispering, "I'll bet it's the President," or, "I'll bet it's not true."

Rumors are nothing new. In Jesus' time, passing news from person to person was the only way to find out the news. We see one example of that in this week's Gospel (John 4:5-42).

Jesus meets a woman who is a Samaritan. A lot of her people have seen Jewish people as enemies, and Jesus is Jewish. But Jesus talks to her. When He knows all about her life even though they've never met before, she realizes He's someone special: God's Son. Jesus' passing on information to her lets her know God is walking the earth!

Why do kids spread rumors? Usually, a rumor is about something interesting, like a good event coming up that people are excited about. Sometimes, rumors are not good: Saying something bad about another kid and getting people to repeat it is mean.

The rumor Jesus passed on to the woman He met was definitely exciting. When she figured out who Jesus really was, she couldn't wait to pass it on -- and when her friends heard the rumor about Jesus knowing everything, they followed Him and found it was true!