How many of you play the “If you only knew” game? Fishermen and grandparents are especially good at this. Well, golfers fit in there too. Here’s how the game is played: A fishermen tells about the size or number of fish he caught; a grandparent talks about what the grandkids accomplished; golfers brag about the one good shot they had.
Then, another fisherman says, “If you only knew about the one that got away.” Or grandma, “If you only knew what my grandson did.” Golfer, “If you only knew how far I hit my drive.” It’s the “If you only knew” game.
Here’s something to think about: Jesus does know. You don’t have to say to Him, “If you only knew.” He knows exactly what’s happening in your life.
He understands your feelings. He knows about your desires, your hopes, your dreams, your likes and dislikes, and your ambitions. He knows where you go, what you say, and what you do and who you are doing it with. He knows what you read and what you watch. You don’t ever need to say to Jesus, “If you only knew,” because He already does!
In John 4 Jesus met a Samaritan woman who played the game. This is one of the most interesting and marvelous stories in the New Testament.
Jesus was passing through Samaria with the disciples, He stopped to rest at a well while the disciples went into town looking for something to eat. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water Jesus asked for a drink.
As we look at this story keep in mind that it starts off as just an ordinary event in life—getting a drink of water and meeting a new person. But then the unexpected happens—the woman is confronted with the most important decision of her life. This is most often how God works in our lives. It is in the ordinary events of life that God confronts us. The Samaritan woman could be any of us. (Read vv. 4-18)
The Samaritan woman:
Jesus and this woman start talking about water. Her mind is on her task of getting water from the well. Jesus is talking about eternal water, eternal life. Finally she says to Him, “Give me some of this living water.” Now, let’s join in the conversation.
John 4:16 - 18 16He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” Jesus knew all about her.
She didn’t tell Jesus about her marriages; she didn’t mention her current living arrangements. But you know she was thinking it. “You are kind and nice to talk with me. But f only you knew the real me. I’m bad. There’s no hope for me. I’ve had five husbands. I’m living with a sixth man who is not my husband. I’ve made a total wreck of my life.”
I appreciate how God put this Holy book together. It tells it like it is. It doesn’t gloss over the human condition. This woman was living in sexual sin. If she had been Jewish rather than a Samaritan, she would have been stoned to death by self-righteous religious zealots.
She knew her life wasn’t right. Even she believed there was no hope for her. How could God have anything to do with her? Who could blame her! The very reason she was there in the heat of the day was because the “good women” of the town had shut her out. Besides, they were protecting their husbands from her.
“Jesus, if you only knew the real me, you wouldn’t be talking to me right now.” She was at a cross road of life. What would she decide? If she could only hear from others voices about their encounter with Jesus. There were others who would encountered Jesus who, if they could, would tell her to listen and do what Jesus said.
Other voices:
One of those other voices is Bartimaeus, the blind beggar man of Jericho. He is one of those insignificant people in life who just seem to be part of the background. As Jesus was passing through Jericho Bartimaeus heard the commotion. He asked what was happening and was told that Jesus was passing by.
Mark 10:47 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Even insignificant people have ears. They hear and know things. But Bartimaeus was a real nobody. People around him told him to shut up and leave Jesus alone.
Mark 10:48 – 49 48Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”
Bartimaeus refused to give up. “Jesus, have mercy on me.” And Jesus did! Mark 10:52 52“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
“Listen to me lady. If you only knew what Jesus did for me! He gave my sight back and with it life, and I became a life-long follower of Christ.”
We all know the story of how Jesus cast the demons out of this poor man into the 2000 pigs who then ran into the lake and drowned.
This man had a raging storm inside him. He was naked, dirty, and uncontrollable. With evil supernatural strength he would literally break the chains with which he was bound. No one was strong enough to subdue him, and everyone was afraid of him.
But Jesus recognized the terrible storm within and released him from his pain and anguish. He was given his mind back. You can’t keep something like that quiet. Word got back to the towns people. They came to see for themselves. Mark 5:15 (NIV) 15When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
I think he would say to the lady of Samaria, “Lady, if you only knew how Jesus knew me and cared for me, and gave my life back to me. If you only knew you would listen to Him.”
Jesus was on his way to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter. In the large crowd following and surrounding Jesus was a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years.
Doctors had taken all her money, yet her condition was worse. You get the impression that if something didn’t happen soon she would die. Not only that, she was ritually unclean according to Lev. 15. Surrounded by the crowd, still she was lost and lonely with nowhere to turn. She had used up all her options. She turned to Jesus, touched His cloak, and was healed.
Mark 5:27 - 29 27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
If she could, she would have said to the Samaritan woman, “As one woman to another, if you only knew what He did for me and what He can do for you. Listen to Him.”
Now back to the well… Jesus:
John 4:10 10Jesus 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.”
Lady if you only knew who you are talking to. All of a sudden the unexpected comes into this ordinary event. The woman is confronted by the Savior who wants to be her Savior.
Jesus is very perceptive and sensitive to her. He didn’t ignore her by acting like most Jewish men of that day. He could have according to the culture and traditions of that time.
She was not a Jew and she was a woman. Orthodox Jews would be shocked that he didn’t turn his back on her and walk away. The disciples certainly were when they returned from town. But, thankfully, Jesus was not a legalist. He was not ruled by man-made traditions, rules, bigotries and prejudices.
He just had a godly love for all people. Just as He knows our needs, He knew her need and her loneliness. He knew about her life, and He knew how she was looked down on. Most of all He knew she needed the Savior. She needed what only He could give—spiritual healing.
So he gently leads her to confession of her situation. She became a believer. We know this because she left her water pot and quickly returned to town to tell everyone about Jesus.
Now she is saying, “If you only knew what has happened to me and what He can do for you…”
Do you know? Jesus knows you. He knows all about you. Just as He came to the Samaritan woman with living water, He offers the same living water to you. Do you know Him?