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And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?" The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored, and you have entered into their labors."
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."
- John 4:27-42
Yesterday, we read that when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away to the city to buy food. 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. 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." 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? 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?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 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." The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband, ' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 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. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?" It would be possible that the disciples are so struck by what they see that they daren't speak to Him. My study bible suggests that they marveled not only that He was speaking with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with any unaccompanied woman was a potential occasion for scandal. For other occasions of the Lord's dealings with women, see 7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18 (see also Luke 8:1-3).
The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" Then they went out of the city and came to Him. My study bible says, "The Samaritan woman becomes an early evangelist, testifying to the advent of Christ and bringing others to Him. According to an early tradition, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini, 'the enlightened one.' Along with her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel. She was later martyred with her family under the emperor Nero by being thrown into a well." The Eastern Orthodox Church remembers her on March 20 and on the fourth Sunday of Pascha (Easter).
In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work." A note tells us that "Christ fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father; therefore this is His food. This also teaches us we are to perform the will of God in our lives without being distracted by earthly cares." See John 6:27; also Matthew 4:4; 6:25-33).
"Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom regarding Jesus' word, "Behold!" According to St. Chrysostom, says my study bible, "this command to look was given because the townspeople were approaching, ready and eager to believe in Jesus. Christ compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews) to fields ready for harvest. This command is also to all believers to look to those around us and to share the gospel with anyone wanting to hear it, regardless of race or ethnicity."
"And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored, and you have entered into their labors." My study bible again cites Chrysostom, who teaches here that those who sow and those who reap are the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles, respectively. The prophets sowed in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, but did not see His coming and thus did not reap. The apostles did not do the preparation, but would draw thousands to Christ in their own lifetimes."
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." My study bible puts it beautifully: "That these foreigners are among the first to recognize Jesus as Savior of the world shows the gospel is for all people in every nation."
A situation blooms in ways completely unexpected: this is what we read in today's reading. From one woman alone at a well with Christ, where customs decree it scandalous for a man to speak to an unaccompanied woman, to a scene full of the promise of the gospel, all of this ranges in today's reading. When Jesus spoke to the woman (in yesterday's reading) about the water that springs up into fountains of eternal life, well, then, we are given an example in the fullness of the "harvest" that she beings back with her to Christ. All these, then, come to the Source, and they, too, believe not only through her word but by meeting Christ. That is the way that this "life" works, the water that becomes a fountain springing to eternal life, within a person. This is the gift of Christ, it's the type of "life" we expect. It is that which blooms, or springs, within us: as a harvest, as an ever-giving fountain. Whatever way we look at it, it is the gift of the true water of Christ that brings us into something beyond our own doing, a kind of harvest that keeps giving. These "first fruits of the Gentiles" are here in this scene in Samaria, in the renewal of Jacob's well. It's a great example to us about things in our own lives. We may seem at times like we're in a place that's out of the way, and unlikely; I imagine this town a kind of dusty, sleepy, empty place -- here, on the outside of it, at Jacob's well. But it's the fountain of water that we seek, in a hot, dry and dusty place. It's that which springs up with life that we need when we're weary and the sun bears down; that well works with anything that is at hand, through everything the Lord sanctifies. It's a vision of water in which even one drop becomes a fountain springing up into everlasting life. The first fruits begin for Jesus' ministry here in this place, with new disciples entering into the labors of others (such as Jacob). Where do the fountains springing up in us lead us to gather those who thirst? How do we enter into others' labors, and reap together a harvest of joy?
