Water Pots and Hidden Wells

John 4:10 “Jesus answered and said unto her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.”

Jesus shows up sometimes looking like an Israeli Jew and at others like the Samaritan.  If we get stuck at the outward appearance we can miss the gift of God standing right in front of us.  If we get distracted by what he’s asking of us, we can miss the wealth of what he came to give.

We are the Samaritan woman standing before Jesus, who is disguised as the black and brown child asking for water.  We claim historical ownership of the well.  We stand with pride in our knowledge of the local customs and possession of the water pots.  And Jesus stands before us, hands empty, yet full of the living water we need to bring new life.

We may feel uncomfortable in His gaze, exposed by His questions.  But if we will ourselves to stay in the conversation and adjust our posture from give to receive, our eyes may be opened to see the Christ.  What’s more, we can become partners with the Spirit, inviting and helping others to see Him as well.

But others stand in trembling anger, through clenched teeth sputtering, "This is my water from my well on my mountain and you can’t have it!” And they hate the Jew because he reminds them of the sins of their past, all the rejection, all the shame and all the hurt.  They curse him because, despite their best attempts at avoidance, he is here seeing their frailty and weakness, seemingly shouting out their failures.  They do not trust his gentle voice or his offer of forgiveness.  They do not believe his invitation to contentment and new life.  So they snatch their pots and they storm away with backward glances through bitter tears.  And they reject the Lord of glory, standing in the guise of a pauper child.  For after all, what could he possibly have to offer them?

Prayer:

Help me not to miss you today when you’re standing in front of me in unlikely vessels.  Help me not to reject you because of my pride and fear.  Help me rather to be open to receive from you, both grace and correction and to demonstrate my gratitude by inviting others to come to you, my source of living water.