God – the giver of life to all who believe

John 4

9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to 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."

It’s interesting that the Samaritan woman questions “this Jew” about asking her for a drink of water – something she could give Him. What if she didn’t know Jesus as a Jew but as the one true God? Jesus answers that question in verse 10. If she knew the gift of God (eternal life) and who it is who says to her ‘Give Me a drink’ (God) – she would have asked Him (for what He gives), and He would have given her living water (eternal life).

My understanding of this passage is that it emphasizes who Jesus is, God. Had the Samaritan woman known that this was God and not just some Jew – there interaction would have been much different. Once you believe that Jesus is God, you don’t need to ask for His gift, it is simply given to you. Wouldn’t it have been nice had the Samaritan woman simply given this Jew a drink of water without Him having to ask? If only we could deal with others as God deals with us, what a wonderful world this would be (cue the Sam Cooke song). Let’s keep looking at this story:

11 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"

Here the woman misunderstands because she still does not recognize with whom she is speaking. She questions (I imagine facetiously) “Are you greater than our father Jacob”? A simple yes would have probably not made His point, so Jesus continues:

13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

Jesus tries to get the woman to think spiritually, to get her mind off of “this water” that cannot quench eternally, and focus on the gift that He gives – notice you need not ask for it – He gives it freely.

15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

The woman appears to understand the gift but not yet the giver. She will not have the gift until she believes in the Giver.

16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." 19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

Jesus tells her things that only someone gifted supernaturally could and the woman is getting closer to understanding who He is when she perceives that He is a prophet.

20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

The woman starts to question about where the Jews worship, where the Jewish God resides. Jesus informs here that she worships what she does not know but that the Jews worship what they know and thus salvation is of the Jews – who know the one true God. He goes on to state that the hour is coming, in fact now is, when true worshipers will not have to worship the God of Israel by going to Israel but that they will believe in the one true God, Jesus Christ, and by so doing will worship the Father in spirit and truth because the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

Jesus proclaims that God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. Those who worship Him must know the truth, that Jesus Christ is God by which they are sealed by the Holy Spirit and enabled to worship Him. The woman knows of the Messiah and Jesus reveals to her that “I am He”. This is the point of the whole story – Jesus is the Christ, God in the flesh.