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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 into 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."
- John 4:1-15
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 baptized. For John had not yet been thrown 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 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. 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. Jesus and His disciples are journeying northward, from Judea back toward Galilee. To do so they pass through Samaria. My study bible tells us that Jacob's well is not mentioned in the Old Testament, although Jacob lived in the area (Genesis 33:19). My study bible says, "Wells were significant because of their rarity and their value in desert life. Therefore wells came to symbolize life itself" (see Psalm 36:9-10; 46:4; Isaiah 55:1). This well continues today to be a shrine, where pilgrims come and can drink from it. Some personal notes about Jesus in this passage: He's wearied from His journey, showing His humanity. The Pharisees are already in the picture, having understood Jesus now has baptized more disciples than John. The sixth hour is noon; we can imagine the sun and heat.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into 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. The Samaritans were traditional enemies of the Jews. They were a mixed race, who worshiped the God of Israel and were also awaiting the Messiah. But they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) as their Scriptures. Their own temple was built on Mt. Gerizim, destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC.
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." As used in the ordinary sense, living water means fresh and flowing water, from a stream or spring as opposed to a pond or a cistern. Here, Christ uses the term with a deeper meaning implied, that of the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to everlasting life. My study bible says that this gift not only remains in a person, but also is so abundant that it overflows to others. The Samaritan woman asks, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?" Jacob is the patriarch, also called Israel. As such, he is also a "type" of Christ, says my study bible. He is the one who struggled with the angel, and also had the vision of the divine ladder, which is a vision fulfilled by Christ -- already referred to by the words of Jesus Himself earlier in John's Gospel as He spoke to Nathanael (see 1:51). As Jacob gave this particular well for earthly life, so Christ gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life.
Water has been a feature so far all throughout John's Gospel. After its Prologue, this Gospel begins with the work of John the Baptist, who baptized in the Jordan preparing the people for the Messiah with a baptism of repentance. It is John who taught his disciples that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit, and already there is an introduction to us likening water and the Holy Spirit. The first sign we're given by the Gospel also concerns water: turning water to wine at the wedding in Cana. Next there is the cleansing of the temple by Jesus; water is not mentioned but water and cleansing go hand in hand. In chapter 3 Jesus teaches Nicodemus by night, telling him, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Water is the ingredient most essential to human life, and as my study bible has pointed out, those who dwell in the desert are particularly aware of this need. It is the basic element that forms us and our planet, contained in everything. It is a good likeness for the Spirit, teaching us of our true need for this living water that Jesus teaches the Samaritan woman about. In our next reading, this conversation will continue with her. She will come to be known in the Church as St. Photini in the East, bearing the gifts of this water into her life and that of the Church. There are other remarkable things about this passage: the fact that Jesus actually speaks to this woman is notable of itself! Not only speaking to any woman alone, but to a Samaritan is very strange behavior for any Jewish man of His time. Perhaps we are witnessing the work of this living water in Christ who bears it to us: so many restrictions are released; and relationship revealed. It is the work of pure grace. His work, and that of the Gospel, after all, is to reveal what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. Just as Jesus is both God and man, so we see in the element of water combined with Spirit what God can do in synergy with the elements of our world (and in us), what holiness means. In the purest sense of it, Christ is the Incarnation of Logos, Creator of the world and the cosmos, a gift to all of us. That gift of our lives, returned to Him, becomes endowed with more life and returned back to us, an infinitely greater and free gift (this is the complete picture of the Eucharist). What is everlasting life? What is a fountain of water that may live in us so that we may never thirst?
