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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 urge 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; others have 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
On Thursday, we read that Jesus and the disciples had come to Samaria, as they are passing through on their way back to Galilee from the Passover at Jerusalem. Jesus sat at Jacob's well, asking a Samaritan woman to give Him a drink. He spoke to her, eventually teaching, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst." She asked Him for some of this water. In yesterday's reading, 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 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 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?" 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. Jesus' disciples marveled because not only was He speaking to a Samaritan, but she was also a woman alone -- something potentially scandalous for Him. John's Gospel will give us several incidents in which Jesus' dealings with women were outside the contemporary norms for His society (7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18; see also Luke 8:1-3). Here, the Samaritan woman to whom He chose to speak becomes an early evangelist. She testifies to the advent of Christ and brings others to Him. My study bible notes that according to an early tradition, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini (meaning, "enlightened one"). With her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel. Later, under emperor Nero, she was martyred with her family by being thrown into a well.
In the meantime His disciples urge 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." Once again, John's Gospel gives us a misunderstanding which Jesus uses as an opportunity to teach. Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father; this is therefore His food. Earlier, John the Baptist has spoken of the fullness of His joy at doing the same (see 3:27-30). My study bible notes this teaches us to do the same without being distracted by earthly cares (6:27; see also Matthew 4:4, 6:25-33).
"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; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." According to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus gives the command "Behold" to the disciples because the townspeople were approaching, ready and eager to believe in Christ. He compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews) to fields ready for the harvest. The "white" tips of ripe grain are thought to refer an analogy to all the townspeople, traditionally dressed in white. My study bible says that 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. There is no natural barrier to Christ. No matter what work it is we do for the Lord, we are always entering into others' labors. We are always a part of the great cloud of witnesses who are also in relation to us, even as we reach to others in His name. St. Chrysostom teaches that those who sow and 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 (therefore they didn't reap). My study bible says that 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." The Samaritans are foreigners for the Jews, even detested enemies. That they are among the first to recognize Jesus as Savior of the world teaches that this gospel is for all people in every nation.
What does it mean that Jesus is the Savior of the world? It means more than we think. The word for "world" in the Greek here is kosmos, and it also means all of creation, the universe. That includes everything in "the world," all its elements. If we understand Jesus as Incarnate Christ, the Son, the Word, then we understand Him as creator of the universe. John's Prologue teaches that the Word was with God, the Word was God, and that all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made (John 1:1-5). John also writes "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Jesus brings life to the world; His mission of redemption is for the whole of what "world" means, and leaves no one and nothing out. The Creator restores us to life in its fullness, in Him, and this is our light. So what does it mean, in this context, to consider Christ as Savior of the world? One would think, first of all, it means our relationship to the cosmos and everything in it is importantly mediated through Christ. We can think of life as portrayed in the garden of Eden, before sin, and the relationship of human beings to and within the "cosmos," to plants and to animals, as a sort of true natural state in which harmony with both cosmos and Creator is full. But our understanding of ourselves comes within the sense that darkness is something with which we live, and from which we may choose. Knowledge of good and evil is something that is a part of our lives, and makes us creatures who must learn to discern, "rational" sheep who must be capable of reason. To be saved and redeemed then is a way to set us back into right relationship, and more: to be capable of the choice for light, like "Photini," her name coming from the Greek word for light, phos. To have this light shining in us is to be given life, to restore life, to build life, to spread life into the world, for the whole of the world. This salvation plan, redemption, doesn't merely "save" us from darkness, but liberates us to share the light, to go forward into its mission for us, to learn what life really is. That is always going to involve the mystery He invites us into, like the words that have so much meaning behind them that He reveals. It's much more than a onetime promise, but rather a life that opens ahead and keeps challenging us with its new avenues and light that shines on ahead so that we take our own lives to new places. How does His light illumine new things for you today? It is the whole of the cosmos that is saved, the whole of the cosmos that opens in relation to Him. That would include the great cloud of witnesses, those who've come before and those who will come after.
