Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”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.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.
8 sermons cite this verse
… For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. And Jesus answered and said to her, if you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. This is a perfect example of how to build a bridge to a person. Now this was an immoral woman, as the story reveals. She had been married and divorced five times since she was living with some guy at the moment. This is a woman who was ostracized from the rest of the community. She would not have been an educated woman. She didn't know what the Bible said. And so she was living this life that was in opposition to what the Bible teaches. But Jesus does not start with that. He appeals first to her spiritual thirst. So often we want to go right to the lifestyle of the person we are talking to. And I think in effect get the cart before the horse. …
… a Jew was speaking to her a Samaritan and Jesus said if you knew who it was asking you for a drink of water you would have asked him and he would have given you living water then he told her to go call her husband and she said I have no husband and he said you're right you've had five and the one you're with now is not your husband What do you think the woman's problem was? Maybe she was trying to find her identity in men. She had a problem. But each and every time probably one guy left her, the next guy would just be worse and worse and so on. Until she became the talk of the town. And Jesus was sitting there waiting for her. And you know what's amazing is right after that, she takes off back into the city. The disciples come back and they're like, all right, we brought in and out. and Jesus says, I have food to eat that you don't know about. …
… the well is deep. And Jesus goes on to say in verse 10, and he answered and said, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that's talking to you, you'd say, give me drink. You would have asked him and he would have given you living water. The well is deep. So Bible, the Bible's full of It's wells, and wells were essential. Wells were necessary for survival. The livestock depended. The crops depended. If a person could not find a well in the holy land that we call it today, they would not last long. It was not just something to have. It was an absolute necessity. And when Isaac split off from his father, after his father died, he left a good well and let it get polluted. The Philistines came and poured pollution into that well, and he didn't guard it. He didn't maintain it. He didn't keep it clean and open. He varies off, and he started digging new wells. and they did not satisfy. …
woman for a drink, for Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. The woman said to him, Sir, you do not even have a bucket, and the cistern is deep. Where then can you get us this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks. Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst. The water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband and come back. The woman answered and said to him, I do not have a husband. …
… And listen to what Jesus says. if you knew the gift of God, mind you, see, the gift of God. Who is God? He's the one who gives. Not the one who hoards for himself, but the one who gives. That's why his opening move was, give me a drink. When we can be drawn out of ourselves, we start looking like God. See, if you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Now, she's thinking undoubtedly with living water, like running water. So not the kind of crummy water that's stagnant at the bottom of the well, but like a deep aquifer. That's what she's probably thinking of. And she's saying, oh, you know, look, I'd love that, but you don't have a bucket, and how would you possibly reach it? And what does Jesus say? Everyone who drinks this water that you're seeking will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst. …
… himself things that are better for you now you you may have to drop some other things by the wayside for that to happen, but primarily he is about giving a gift to you. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, talking about himself, and he would have given you living water. Now, just another thing to footnote here, Jesus is in a zone of ministry where he's trying to keep his identity on the down low. But with this woman, he's coming right out of the gate saying, hey, you're talking to someone who can do amazing things. You're looking at a miracle man. You're in the presence of having a conversation with somebody who can change your life. You would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Now, why has he shifted from I'm thirsty from the trip to if you ask me, I'll give you living water because he knows this woman. How does he know this woman? He shouldn't even be in Samaria. He shouldn't be talking to a Samaritan in general. He shouldn't be talking to a woman in this culture. What is going on here? Sir, the woman said to him, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? Yes. Who gave us the well and drank from it himself as did his sons in his livestock. And …
… because of your ethnicity. that's how malicious this rivalry was but Jesus he's not offended he answers verse 10 if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water you think you've got me figured out that I'm like every other Jewish guy that you've heard about, but you have no idea who I am. If you knew who I was, you wouldn't have waited for me to ask you for a drink. she's of course confused wouldn't you be so she says sir you have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep where do you get that living water are you greater than our father jacob he gave us this well and drank from it himself as did his sons and his livestock what she's saying. She's saying the water's been just fine for me. And for hundreds of years this well has provided water. In fact, I just read this week that this well, we think it's this well, Jacob's well, is still producing water even now, today. So as far as wells go, this is a pretty good one. Why would I need different water? And besides, if you had better water, what would you even put it in, is what she's saying. You don't have a bucket. …
… she said that Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. He said, if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked Him. If you knew who I was when I asked you for a drink of water, You wouldn't give me the history of the social problems between the Jews and the Samaritans. You would have dropped everything and you would have said to me, no, please give me the drink. She said, if you know who it was who said give me a drink, you would ask Him for a drink and He would have given you living water. She's puzzled by this. She says, Sarah, wait a minute, you don't even have anything to draw with. How are you going to give me a drink? You don't even have a bucket. And again, it was the custom of travelers in the ancient world when they would go on journeys that would take them several miles, they would take like a goatskin canteen or something to carry or a goatskin bucket to retrieve water from wells or from wherever And obviously Jesus didn't have His, that was with the disciples in town. …