God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth

 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."

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 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 the disciples 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 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 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.  Samaria is the region to the north of Jerusalem.  Jesus must journey through this land as it is between Judea and Galilee.  Jacob's well is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but Jacob lived in the area (Genesis 33:19).  My study bible tells us that wells were significant because of their rarity and value in desert life.  So, wells come to symbolize life itself (Psalm 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  Jacob's well remains a shrine today, from which pilgrims can drink.  John tells us that Jesus is wearied from His journey, giving us a picture of His humanity.  The sixth hour is noon.  By tradition in the Eastern Church, this woman is known as St. Photini ("Enlightened" or "Illumined").

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."  Samaritans were traditional enemies of the Jews.  They worshiped the God of Israel and they were awaiting the Messiah, but they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (or the Pentateuch).  Their temple was built on Mt. Gerizim, which was destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC.    Here the term living water is used as a means for understanding Jesus' teachings.  In the ordinary sense, the term means fresh, flowing water, such as from a stream or spring rather than a pond or cistern.  But Jesus uses it to denote the grace of the Holy Spirit, leading to eternal life.  It is a give, says my study bible, that not only remains in a person but is also so abundant that it overflows to other people.  In the woman's misunderstanding, she mentions "our father Jacob" as patriarch.  Already mentioned in John's Gospel (at the meeting with Nathanael), Jacob's ladder (Genesis 28:12) was the vision which Christ fulfills.  That this is Jacob's well gives us another way in which Christ fulfills a promise of the Old Testament patriarchs:  one gives water for earthly life; Christ now gives the well of the Holy Spirit, "living water," for everlasting 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.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."  Jesus knows about her life, that she's living with a man without being married, and also about her past husbands.  She believes He's a prophet.  The Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses, so the expected prophet was the Messiah prophesied by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  Jesus' insight into the hearts of people, spoken of many times in the Gospels, serves to underscore His divine nature.  The Messiah (or expected Prophet) would be the one to settle the religious question about where worship was to take place.

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."   Once again, Jesus turns an "earthly" focus into a spiritual one.  His purpose is not to focus on a question of where to worship, but rather the manner in which worship takes place.  Even more importantly, says my study bible, He turns attention to the One we worship:  the nature of God.  The Father is worshiped in spirit -- in the Holy Spirit,  and in truth -- in Christ Himself (14:6) and in accordance with Christ's revelation.  That God is spirit teaches that 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, says my study bible.  Jesus teaches that salvation is of the Jews, meaning that true revelation comes form Judaism.  My study bible quotes St. Athanasius:  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."   Jesus testifies here that the Messiah, prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  The gift of salvation comes to all the world, but it's come from within Judaism.  The hour is coming:  this hour refers to the death and Resurrection of Christ, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, inaugurating the worship of the 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."   Jesus' statement here is literally "I AM [in Greek, ego eimi] who speak to you."  This I AM is the divine name of God from the Old Testament, the Lord.  John gives us a theophany, a revelation of God.  The use of this name by a man was considered blasphemy and punishable by death (8:58; Mark 14:62).  But Jesus' divine nature makes this use of His name a revelation of unity with the Father and the Spirit.  It is a revelation that He is God Incarnate.

Of course, one of the most "marvelous" things about this Gospel reading is that Jesus would reveal Himself as Messiah, even as God Incarnate, the Son, to this woman at the well in Samaria.  She has every strike against her.  She's a sinner, first of all.  She's a Samaritan, who -- as the text tells us -- is stunned that Jesus would even speak to her in the first place (as "Jews have no dealings with Samaritans").  Furthermore, she's a woman.  How on earth could this be appropriate?  And the answer is, of course, that by the customs of this time and place, of both Jews and Samaritans, this is wildly and totally inappropriate.  But Jesus isn't One to stand on custom for the sake of custom; He's here to reveal truth.  And often, it is His truth that shakes up the world and the established order.  The established order would teach that the real question of contention between Jews and Samaritans is the location of the proper place for the temple, the place where God is present to worship.  But Jesus shakes that up without even answering such a question, because the question is immaterial.  He's here to teach us all the nature of true worship -- and the true nature of God and where God dwells.  We must worship in spirit and in truth.  All of the content of today's reading is an extraordinary "shake-up" of customs and understanding of the time.  And this is the real nature of revelation; it is meant to take us out of the boxes and framework within which we think and ask questions, giving us an entirely new perspective from which to start.  You can't understand Jesus merely by tradition that comes before Him.  In fact, His Incarnation and revelation have the opposite effect:  one must now understand what came before Christ, all of the tradition, by His light and His revelation.  That is, indeed, what revelation means and is and does, and is all about.  He is the yardstick, and His will always be the measuring line, because He is the Light coming into the world.  Under this blazing hot noon sun, in the brilliant light of this desert day by Jacob's well, a man speaks to a woman, and the world is shaken, and will be shaken. So what is this living water He has to give?  Is it not in His teaching for the world?  Is it in His end to all quarrels of place and manner of worship?  Yes, because all things have their end in God and in God's truth.  It is there that all contradictions come together.   In this sense, He overrides everything, all customs and expectations.  He is the One who answers the questions, who gives us both light and the living water for an everlasting life.   That is, for all time, and all the questions that belong to the future.  It is in Him we find our lives and our hope, and all the questions and answers that come in the long road of faith and life.   He is the ultimate end into which all things gather in everlasting life.