Defining Reality

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." (John 4:10)

What is Jesus implying here to this woman? If you knew... What is this really saying about her from her perspective? How does this come across to her coming from a complete and suspicious stranger?

He is implying that she has a lack of knowing, understanding, perceiving. He is trying to tell her that she doesn't really know what she assumes she knows – what would seem to be so obvious to anyone who might view this situation around there. He claims that she is ignorant of at least two things here. She is unaware of some sort of gift connected with God somehow and she doesn't have a clue as to who He really is.

She assumed that she did know something about Him just as all of us make hundreds of unquestioned assumptions all the time. He was rather obviously a Jew. Jews were well known for being prejudiced, bigoted, aloof, self-centered, arrogant and often even spiteful. Jews hated Samaritans and she was one of those, so of course He must hate her. Besides, she was also a woman which gave Him double reason to despise and ignore her. All of this she assumed that she knew about Him.

And as far as something about a gift goes, well, she was also in the mindset like most of us, that you have to earn what you get. She had to scrap and hunt and calculate and work hard just to survive. Because life was not good to her and she was a social outcast even among her own people, she was enduring the heat of the day to come out to this well, laboring hard to get needed water for her existence. Then this Jew comes along and asks for a handout. What nerve. Why does he think he can just show up at a well in the middle of the day when usually no one is even around and then impose upon some poor woman who is weaker and less socially acceptable than He is to do Him a favor? Just who does He think He is anyway?

Is this guy the epitome of the arrogant Jew? Is He so elevated in His own opinion about Himself that He thinks He deserves special treatment even above all the other arrogant Jews who normally wouldn't even speak to her in the first place? Does He think He is better than everyone else? And who does He think she is anyway, His slave or something? Just suddenly asking a favor from a total stranger under these conditions is so bizarre and out of place that it shocks even her who thought that she had already seen everything.

But in spite of all this, in spite of all her assumptions that have been brought up for question, something about this man awakens curiosity in her soul. It is not just His unusual words that stir deep inside of her but the atmosphere surrounding Him. There is something that just can't be put into words that attracts her to want to know more about Him, that makes her feel strangely safe around Him, that pulls her into His presence. She is willing to play along in this bizarre conversation to see where it will take her. After all, she does have hidden deep inside her a spirit of compassion and kindness and she can obviously see His need for a drink. And even though it seems socially totally out of place for Him to ask her for a drink, she can't help but want to know more about Him and to possibly connect with Him at some level.

And what is this thing about living water that He is talking about? She never heard of such a thing before. Living water? Whatever could that be? It sounded exciting, full of potential, almost magical in a way. It sounded like something that maybe she had fantasized about, maybe even that morning. This business of hauling heavy containers of water every day to meet the needs of those she was looking out for was an awful lot of hard work. If only there was some other way to get it to her house – like indoor plumbing which was unheard of in her little village.

But connected to His words was a spirit that seemed to imply all sorts of other potential things related to His words that felt so compelling to a deeper part of her. The far more potent communications coming from His body language, His face, His tone of voice, His spirit of gentleness and kindness were irresistible. This idea of living water was just too intriguing to ignore. She just had to ask about it. But she didn't want to sound too gullible so she had to frame her response in the context of her skepticism. After all, this guy was a prejudiced Jew even if He was in desperate need of help. So she needed to point out the obvious to Him.

She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? (John 4:11)

Jesus had implied to her that she was ignorant of the facts of reality. Well, now it was her turn to point out what seemed to be the obvious oversight. If He might think she was stupid maybe it was time to remind Him of His own situation if she hadn't come along. He had said there were two things that she didn't know and so she tells Him that there are two things He evidently doesn't remember.

“You don't have the equipment or wherewithal to get water out of this well. You don't have a rope, you don't have a container and without those things there is no way to get water even if you could reach it with your hands.

“Which brings up the second point. If you hadn't noticed yet, this particular well is rather deep and the water is not very close to the surface. This is not a spring that pushes water right up to the surface like as found in other places around the country. This is a well, the only good well around here and this well is quite deep. If anyone wants to get water to drink from this well they have to be properly equipped or it simply cannot be done. So, given all these obvious and undeniable facts that You seem to be overlooking, just what in the heck are you talking about – this living water business? I am really curious now.”

How much am I arguing with God about what is real and what is relevant?

How often do I insist that God cannot do something because the circumstances just don't allow for it?

How willing am I to have my assumptions challenged, to allow my heart to think outside of the box, to respond to inferences about overcoming the impossible when God says that things are not the way that I perceive them to be?

In many ways I feel like a social misfit like this woman. I feel misunderstood and unloved and used at times. No, I have not endured the extremes of abuse or had the same sort of messed up life that quite possibly she had experienced. But inside, my heart can resonate with many of the things she felt.

Like her, I have a lot of assumptions about reality that still need to be replaced with God's perspective of what is real. I, like her, am busy going about trying to take care of myself, trying to procure my needs through hard work and self-dependence. I too, often feel sorry for myself and my own pain and my broken relationships and my emotional isolation. So what is Jesus saying to me that sounds bizarre and impossible? What in my thinking needs to be exposed as blocks to my believing that Jesus wants to share real life-giving water with me? And how aware am I of my own desperate thirst and need for this kind of water myself?

How long am I going to keep telling God that He doesn't have the ability or resources to take care of my deepest needs? Am I ready to lay aside my limitations on God and allow Him to love me, to provide for my needs, to draw me into much deeper intimacy with God, to bring me to experience genuine and authentic worship?