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

 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 the 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 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 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 as 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.  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.  From its earliest pages, John's Gospel allows us to understand right away the tension between the "authorities" and Jesus' ministry.  We can already sense the envy or jealousy of the Pharisees.  (We contrast this with John the Baptist's response to the fact that Jesus made more disciples than John himself, in yesterday's reading, above.)  Jesus leaves Judea and heads north to Galilee, but first he goes through Samaria on the way.  My study bible points out that the Old Testament doesn't mention Jacob's well, but we know that Jacob did dwell in this area (Genesis 33:19).  For the people of this region, wells were always significant because of their rarity and their value in desert life.  So, wells came to symbolize life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  This well is maintain as a shrine now, and pilgrims can drink from it.  Jesus shows His humanity, being wearied from His journey.  The sixth hour is noon. We can imagine the heat of the strong sun.

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 the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. The Samaritans were a people of mixed race, and they were traditional enemies of the Jews.  They worshiped the God of Israel and also awaited the Messiah.  But they accepted only the first books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) as their Scriptures.  They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, which the Jews had destroyed in 128 BC -- which the woman references later on down in the reading.

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 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 bible reminds us, in the ordinary sense refers to fresh, flowing water, from a stream or spring rather than a pond or cistern.  Here, Jesus uses the term to give us a sense of the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (7:37-39).  This is a gift that not only dwells within a person, but it's so abundant that it will overflow to others.  The woman can't understand what Christ is saying, and she asks if He is "greater than our father Jacob?"  Jacob is a "type" of Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures.  He received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), which is fulfilled in Christ, the connection between heaven and earth.  Moreover, as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, Christ now 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."  Because Jesus has known that she was living with a man without being married, and He also knew of her many husbands, the woman believes He is a prophet.  As they followed only the first five books of the Old Testament, the Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses.  So the only prophet they expected was the Messiah whom Moses foretold (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).   Christ shows Himself (again in John's Gospel) to be the heart-knower, re-enforcing for us His divine nature.

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."   This historical argument about where worship was properly to be conducted was one which the Prophet predicted by Moses could settle.  But Jesus refuses to answer this type of "earthly" question.  He is speaking about matters at the depth of true worship -- the very manner in which people ought to worship.  Beyond that He focuses all attention to the One whom we worship:  God Himself.  He says that the Father is worshiped in spirit -- that is, in the Holy Spirit, and in truth -- in Christ Himself (14:6) according to His revelation.  To teach that God is Spirit means God cannot be confined to one place or another, a particular location.  My study bible says that those who receive the Holy Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ can worship God the Father with purity of heart.  To say that salvation is of the Jews is for Christ to affirm that true revelation comes from Judaism.  St. Athanasius writes, "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  Beyond this, Jesus testifies that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  The gift of Christ's salvation is given to all nations, but it has come from within Judaism.  My study bible says also that the hour refers to the death and Resurrection of Christ and to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, thus 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."  In the Greek, Jesus literally says "I AM (Gr. ego eimi) who speak to you."  This I AM is the divine name of God from the Old Testament.  It is indicative of a theophany, or a revelation of God.  The use of this Name was considered blasphemy and punishable by death.  But Jesus is divine, and His use of the Name reveals His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He is the revelation of God in the world; He is God Incarnate.

Today's reading is startling and extraordinary, no matter how many times we may read through John's Gospel nor how well we know what has happened here.  One can't help but ask, Why here?  Why this woman?  What is Jesus doing this for?  One may wonder.  But our job isn't to second guess God, and it's not to question the revelation that God makes in our world.  Our job is to look at it and think about it, and what it is telling us.  Why this woman?  Christ is surely revealing Himself as One who has come to the whole world.  We, as believers in Him, don't have to all be in agreement before we come to knowledge of Him.  We don't have to all be from the same place or the same people.  Rather, we are all gathered in Him.  To worship God in spirit and in truth is to find that place within us -- that place of the heart that Jesus knows already -- in which we truly worship.  That is the place in which we are all gathered together, in which we come together, with Him.  Jesus says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."  This gives us an incredible kind of information -- that it is the Father who is seeking us out to worship Him.  That is, God is seeking those true worshipers who will worship God in spirit and truth.  God is seeking us.  This is God the Father Jesus names.  And God the Father is not some distant, all-knowing, all-powerful entity as Jesus presents Him here (although of course to be all-knowing and all-powerful are attributes of God).  This is God the Father who seeks us out; that is, the God who loves us, like a Father looking for His lost children who will truly love Him.  This is the Father who longs for us -- not the other way around, as we're used to thinking about.  He is the Father who is seeking us who can truly understand and worship in the way of spirit and truth -- the way of love.  This is where we are, and it is the true and startling revelation Jesus gives us.  The Father Himself loves us so much that He seeks us out, looking for a kind of communion with those who are capable of returning the love He has for us in the ways which are proper to Him, and to the heart.  How can we ever understand this kind of love?  We can but stand up to be counted as those who are sought with such love, and to return it in the heart and be embraced in its fullness for all the ardor of its seeking.  He has sent His Son to us, that we might learn of that great and passionate love.