Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? (John 4:10-11 NLT)
It is brought to my attention through this verse in scripture something that I did not initially see. We will want what Jesus has to give us, but we will doubt in His ability and method on how He will give it to us.
Let us pray, as our weak and doubtful nature calls for prayer. Father, you are good and all-knowing and we are not. We confess this shameful thing. We often don’t wait for you to do what you know is right and what you know is best. We need your help with what we cannot produce in and of our own selves. We believe in the promises of your Word, but we struggle with how and when you will give it to us. This causes us to grow impatient, doubtful and wanting to do it ourselves. Thank you for being great, thank you for hearing us and giving us an attentive ear. Thank you for understanding our weakness, and thank you for your grace and mercy even when we do not deserve it. May we continue to experience your grace and mercy and help us to wait on you and to allow you to have the opportunity to speak so we can hear you out. With you, we will be obedient children. Without you we are doomed and left to our own vices and demise. May we your children delight in you as we want you to delight in us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is very insightful into the depths of the human condition just as the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46) is the insight into answered prayer, man’s will and God’s will.
Jesus being the intentional Person He is, asks, speaks and questions this woman with great wisdom, insight and depth of knowledge and her life was all the more blessed for it!
I want to take us down line by line, the Lord permitting, and reveal a simple insight into our nature and that of the Lord’s through a dialogue between a man and a woman (a Jew and a Samaritan).
Let us begin in verse 4. In verse four we read that Jesus had to go through Samaria, and Jews did not socialize or look to even be caught near a Samaritan as verse 9 reveals to us. Now we can see that Jesus being a Jew that was raised as a Jew was more concerned with what needed to be done than with tradition. That right there is grace in motion!
Verses 5-6, reveals Jesus’ humanity.
Verse 7, when we take an honest look into our selves we see that Jesus saying, “Please give me a drink” is quite the shocking thing as we are usually asking Him to give to us rather than we having a desire to give of ourselves to Him. It’s the truth.
Verse 8, Jesus knows when outside distraction will keep us from experiencing His best.
Verses 9-10, As the woman was shocked at what Jesus said to her and that He would be caught speaking with her because she was a Samaritan, so do we often find ourselves shocked to know that God’s grace is extended to all and that Jesus would want to speak to us and draw near to us. In verse 10, an awesome thing takes place. Jesus goes from saying please give me a drink, to telling the woman to ask Him. It seems weird, but when we look closely, the first was of the earth (water), that which we can only give to Jesus and the second was of heaven (living water) that which Jesus can only give us if we ask Him to.
Verses 11-12, Here is the in depth insight into the human nature. We are usually blinded by our own abilities or inabilities to realize and experience what Jesus can and will do. We place our inabilities onto Jesus and assume He is just like us—limited. We also assume we know better than He does and already have what is better than He can give to us.
Verses 13-14, Jesus doesn’t become shocked at our arrogance. He speaks directly to the heart of the matter with truth. He reveals to us that what we have can go but so far, yet what He has to give to us isn’t limited but eternal (everlasting).
Verse 15, In hearing Jesus’ offer we quickly want it, but for all the wrong reasons. Not to glorify God, but to benefit ourself (our human nature and tendency).
Verses 16-18, Jesus knowing this woman better than herself, knew the type of lifestyle she lived and upon asking her a personal question, Jesus further probed deeper into the depths of her human nature in which revealed the truth of her life; her sinful life, and that the woman wasn’t talking to a mere man such as that of Jacob and his sons as the woman contested in arrogance to Jesus in (verse 12).
Verses 19-20, I have to say this. I wonder what I would have done in this woman’s position in hearing the shocking statement of truth Jesus revealed concerning her sinful life. This is the sure thing. I would have (as we all would have) not acknowledged it for truly what it was. The woman acknowledges a small thing, when she said “Sir, you must be a prophet.” She still doesn’t realize in Whom’s company she is in as we all would have overlooked it, and seems to want to change the course of the conversation from an opportunity of being convicted of her sin in which would lead to receiving the fullness of the Lord’s blessings, to putting Jesus on the witness stand and start asking Him questions that do not pertain to the current mood of the conversation—eternal life and the sin that keeps us from it!
Just like everyone who hides in their sin when approached by the name of Jesus, we look to accuse or make an accusation against them [against Jesus] instead of facing what is the obvious—we are far from God when He wants to draw us near to Him.
Verses 21-24, Rather than fall into the line of questioning that will lead to nothing good, Jesus continues to reveal truth and who God is and what allows us to experience Him in a personal and intimate way, rather than how this woman has heard of God indirectly through her “ancestors” as she stated in (verse 20).
Verse 25, Clearly this woman represents the arrogance of the human nature when it comes to God. We think we know Him without personally and intimately experiencing Him. It’s sad that we could very well be in the position to know Jesus and yet, we will choose to not experience Him because we want to be a know it all rather than humble ourselves and look to listen to Him to get to really know Him.
Verse 26, Jesus, after hearing this woman go on and on with her arrogance, her know it all attitude and unwillingness to listen intently to what Jesus has to say and reveal to her, He continues on in His path, that of, revealing Himself to her for who He is, despite her actions that are leading her to miss out on the greatest event in her life! To know God Himself. Jesus flat out declares, “I Am the Messiah!”
Verses 27-29, Even though distractions may come to us and surround us, it will not keep Jesus from being Himself and revealing Himself, but if we refuse to acknowledge Him for clearly who He is, we may respond to His presence as the woman did, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”
Verse 30, we all need to seek out Jesus for ourselves and not merely rely on what others say about Him. If someone invites us to seek out Jesus let us come “streaming” from our own places of residence to see Him.
Verses 31-38, Just as the woman placed on Jesus her very nature and inabilities so do those who may know Jesus a bit more than outsiders. We try very hard to get Jesus to do what we think is best, rather than allowing Him to do what He knows is best. Simply put. God is not a man that we should place restrictions and particular habits on Him. He will do what He does, and that is, what is always right and good for all.
Verses 39-42, Now let us end this on a very high note. Through our witness and testimony of Jesus, that is, what we have personally experienced from Him, others can come to believe in Jesus. However, when others personally seek out Jesus for themselves and hear His message, their belief is rooted not only from our personal witness and testimony, but greater, from their own experience of Him in hearing His message. What is the end result of hearing and believing in Jesus? “Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.” Amen.
Beloved, if we seek out Jesus personally for ourselves, Jesus will be with us ‘long enough’ (v.41) so that we will hear Him clearly and come to believe in Him as a result of it. This is God’s intimacy with us—Jesus Himself. Amen.
As always...YOU ARE LOVED.
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