John 4:10 (NIV): Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
The Samaritan woman had asked Jesus how He, a Jewish man, could ask her, a Samaritan woman, for a drink, contrary to all social mores of the time. Jesus’ answer, in a nutshell, is that she is right: He should not be asking her for a drink; she should be asking HIM for a drink!
Jesus knew that the reason the woman’s view of things was skewed was because she didn’t know who He was. The man standing before here was, in fact, God’s gift to the world (cf. John 3:16). It was no “Jewish man,” who was asking her for a simple drink of water, but the very Son of God.
But the woman had no eyes to see this. She was a woman of the world, who was focused on worldly things that were important to her right now, like getting water. So her eyes saw only a man. And her soul, devoid of spiritual life, did not even resonate with God’s presence when it was only five feet away from her!
Had the woman only had eyes to see, she would have responded like John responded when Jesus presented Himself for baptism: “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” (Matthew 3:14) She would have fallen at His feet crying out, “You are asking me for a drink of water, but I need the living water that only You can give!”
But the woman’s eyes were blind to these spiritual depths. Thankfully that was only a temporary problem, because the One standing before her, holding out the gift of living water, was also the One who could open blind eyes, even spiritually blind eyes, and make them see.
Father, how often do we allow our hearts to get so full of the things of this world that we miss you entirely when You speak directly to our hearts; when you try to point out something You want us to see or do; when You hold out gifts for us to receive? Forgive our distraction and our preoccupation. Open our deaf ears and our eyes that have been blinded and turned inward, so that we can hear You, see You, and obey You completely. Amen.