John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that said to you, Give me to drink… How easily and how skilfully in these words did Jesus turn the conversation with the Samaritan woman from the water of the well to those blessings which that water symbolized! What more fitted to provoke curiosity and further inquiry? What more fitted to suggest refection upon spiritual wants, and spiritual satisfaction, than thin reply of our Lord to the woman's strange and almost unfriendly remark upon his application? As a matter of fact, the language of Jesus did serve to raise and to sustain a conversation to which we owe some of the most precious and the most sublime utterances which fell from our Saviour's lips. What was said to this woman was really spoken by him for the benefit of all who fail to gain from him the blessings which are at his command and disposal, and are within their reach. I. WHAT MEN FAIL TO SEE AND TO HEAR. 1. The unenlightened and unspiritual do not recognize in Christ the Gift of God. They do not look beneath the surface, and consequently do not recognize the true glory, the Divine power, which are the rent attributes of the Son of man. 2. They do not discern in the tones of the Saviour's voice the Divine authority with which he ever speaks. In every word of his may be perceived, by the spiritually cultured, "grace and truth," the utterance of superhuman wisdom and superhuman love. But to multitudes his speech has, alas! no Divine significance. II. WHAT MEN CONSEQUENTLY FAIL TO ASK. Had the woman of Samaria known more of Jesus, she would have asked of him, and thus have received the "living water." And it is reasonable to believe that ignorance, more or less culpable, is the reason why many remain unblest when blessing is within their reach. They do not ask, either (1) because they do not feel the need of the "living water," which alone can bring life, satisfaction, and refreshment to the soul; or (2) because they do not think of the Lord Jesus as of the One Being who alone can supply the wants experienced. III. WHAT MEN, THEREFORE, FAIL TO ENJOY. It is observable that Jesus gave the woman to understand that asking would have secured the supply of her deepest needs. As the conversation proceeded, the Saviour unfolded the nature of the blessings he came to bring, and which men withhold from themselves only by restraining faith and prayer. These blessings are within the reach of all whose hearts are athirst for the water of life, and are obtainable upon the simple condition of compliance with the terms appointed by Divine wisdom. Free as the streams which flow from mountain springs are the blessings of the gospel of God. Yet to multitudes these blessings are inaccessible, simply from their want of knowledge, their want of spiritual appreciation, and their want of believing prayer. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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