John 4:7-15 “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.”
Text John 4:10 “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”
In John 4, we have a conversation between Jesus and a woman of Samaria concerning the sufficiency and satisfaction of different kinds of water. Jesus tells the woman that superior water is obtained by asking; “wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given” (vs.10), and asking is motivated by knowledge; “If thou knewest.” Only knowledgeable people ask for superior water (see II Corinthians 4:4)! Those that seek superior water have knowledge of the giver, “If thou knewest . . . who” and the gift “If thou knewest the gift.” She would ask if she knew something about the nature of the giver and the gift! Speaking of the giver, she said, “Art thou greater than our father Jacob.” The giver is greater than any prophet, “behold, a greater than Jonas is here” (Matthew 12:41), than any potentate, “behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42), than any patriarch, “greater than our father Abraham” (John 8:53). The giver is God in the flesh! Speaking of the gift, Jesus tells her that it is like none other in its satisfaction, “water that I shall give him shall never thirst”, and its source, “shall be in him a well of water.”
She would ask if she knew something about the nearness of the giver and the gift! Speaking of the giver, Jesus said, “I that speak unto thee am he” (vs.26). By divine appointment, Jesus had come to where she was; “he must needs go through Samaria” (vs. 4). Speaking of the gift; “thou wouldest have asked of him.” Paul said, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:8-9). The gift and the giver is closer than you think!
Those that are knowledgeable of the nature and the nearness of the gift and the giver are motivated to ask, and those that ask receive; “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Do you know enough to ask?