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Therefore, 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."
- John 4:1-26
Yesterday we read that Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptize. For John had not yet been through into prison. Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!" John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but 'I have been sent before Him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true; For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
Therefore, 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. Samaria was the region north of Jerusalem, located between Judea and Galilee.
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. My study bible says that the Old Testament doesn't mention Jacob's well, although Jacob did dwell in this area (Genesis 33:19). It says, "Wells were significant because of their rarity and their value in desert life. Therefore, wells came to symbolize life itself (Ps. 36:8-9, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1). This particular well is maintained as a shrine to this day, and pilgrims can drink from it. Jesus is wearied from His journey, showing His complete humanity. The sixth hour is noontime.
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. My study bible explains that "the Samaritans were a mixed race and traditional enemies of the Jews. Although they worshiped the God of Israel and were also awaiting the Messiah, they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) as their Scriptures. They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, which the Jews destroyed in 128 B.C."
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." Living water, my study explains, in the ordinary sense means fresh, flowing water -- from a stream or spring rather than a pond or cistern. Jesus uses this term to speak of the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (see 7:37-39). It says, "This gift not only remains in a person, but is so abundant it overflows to others. The woman misunderstands Christ and asks, 'Are you greater than our father Jacob?' In the Scriptures, Jacob is a type of Christ, for he received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), which Christ fulfills. Furthermore, just as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, now Christ gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life."
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." A note in my study bible says, "Since Jesus perceived she was living with a man without being married, and as He knew of her string of husbands, the woman perceives He is a prophet. As the Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses, the only prophet they expected was the Messiah whom Moses foretold (Deut. 18:15-18). Christ's insight into people's hearts, reported many times in the Gospels, underscores His divine nature."
"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." My study bible explains that had Jesus been the expected "prophet" referred to in the earlier verse, then He could settle this argument about where worship was properly to take place. Jesus, however, refuses to answer such a question. Instead, he elevates the discussion to the manner in which people ought to worship. My study bible says, "Even more importantly, He turns the attention to the One we worship: God Himself. The Father is worshiped in spirit -- that is, in the Holy Spirit -- and in truth -- that is in Christ Himself (14:6) and according to Christ's revelation. God is Spirit: God cannot be confined to a particular location. Those who receive the Holy Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ can worship God the Father with purity of heart. Salvation is of the Jews (verse 22): The Lord affirms that true revelation comes from Judaism. 'The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations' (Athanasius the Great). More importantly, Jesus is testifying that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews. While the gift of salvation in Christ is to all nations, it has come from within Judaism. The hour (verse 21) refers to the death and Resurrection of Christ and to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which inaugurates the worship of a new covenant."
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." My study bible explains, "I who speak to you am He is literally translated 'I AM [Gr. ego eimi], who speak to you.' 'I AM' is the divine name of God; its use indicates a theophany, or revelation of God Himself. The use of this Name by a mere man was considered blasphemy and punishable by death (see 8:58, Mark 14:62). However, as Jesus is divine, His use of this Name reveals His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit; indeed, He is God Incarnate."
Jesus reveals this tremendous, "cosmic" news to this woman at a well in Samaria. It's a place where people live who are considered to be enemies by the Jews. Even for a Jewish man to be speaking to this woman is extraordinary, under any circumstances. But He's alone with her, and He truly introduces who He is. So, there's this giant question here looming over the scenario: Why? Why her, why here? There have been a lot of explanations ventured over many centuries of commentary. One explanation is just that: He's here, outside of the place where there are so many expectations of Messiah, far away from the country of the religious leadership. It's not even in Galilee, but here, in Samaria, in this out of the way, unlikely, even "desolate" place, in a certain sense. These people the Samaritans worship the same God, but there are disagreements about certain practices, and in particular, as the reading emphasizes, the proper location of the Temple. It's "desolate" in that sense, of very little worth (if any) to the Jews. And yet, He's here, with her. And that is the center of the universe if we are speaking of God who is Spirit. He may reveal Himself fully to this woman, whom we shall get to know more of in the next reading. He may reveal the secrets of a cosmic proportion here, because they will be entrusted to someone who is not going to abuse them. Indeed, she will become known as a saint and a martyr, as well as evangelist. In the Eastern Church, she is called St. Photini, the "enlightened one." Our Gospel message is filled with unlikely places, unlikely scenes, the lowly who are visited by greatness beyond even our worldly events and understanding. It begins, maybe, with Mary who declares that the Lord has "lifted up the lowly." We've read Nathanael's question about Jesus and His origins: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Jesus chooses disciples who aren't learned men, and yet who will evangelize the world. And here, in this place, under a hot noon sun, He's chosen this woman to reveal Himself to -- in this place of "worthless" character in the eyes of others, even His own people. So then, what are we to understand from this? What does it tell us? About God, it declares the message we will hear again, that what God has made clean, we cannot call common. It tells us that with God, all things are possible. And perhaps, a greater, more relevant meaning that John has recently revealed in his Gospel: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (See Jesus' talk with Nicodemus about being born again from above: For God so loved the world.) He is the center; and in the I AM is the completeness of God -- Father, Son, and Spirit, everywhere present and filling all things. What is from above comes below, to us, and fills us. There is nothing left out, nothing incomplete. We can't predict it, we can but accept it. The sun is blazing up high, and a weary and thirsty Christ is with us, revealing everything beyond our understanding. He asks for a drink, and He gives the living water for a fountain of life everlasting.
