And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified

 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 urged 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

In yesterday's reading, we read the continuation of the conversation of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (for the first part of this encounter, see Thursday'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 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 he 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?"  My study bible says that Jesus' disciples marveled not only that Jesus was speaking with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with a woman who was unaccompanied was potentially scandalous.  We can learn more about Christ and the faith He teaches in the same way that His disciples did, by observing His actions in His dealings with women:  see 7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18 (see also Luke 8:1-3).

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.  This Samaritan woman becomes an early evangelist.  She testifies to the advent of Christ and brings others to Him (see the following verses in today's reading).  An early tradition tells us that after the Resurrection this woman was baptized with the name Photini.  In Greek, this means "the enlightened one."  With her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  Later she was martyred with her family under the emperor Nero, by being thrown into a well.

In the meantime His disciples urged 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."  Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father; this is therefore His food.  It teaches us, as well, that we are to perform the will of God in our own lives, 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!"  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom here, who comments that Jesus' command to look (behold) is given because the townspeople are approaching.  They are ready and eager to believe in Christ.  Jesus compares these foreigners (considered to be so by the Jews) to fields ready for harvest.  The command equally applies to all believers to look to those around us and share the gospel with anyone who wants to hear it, regardless of race, origin, or ethnicity.

"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."  St. John Chrysostom teaches us that those who sow and those who reap are the prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles, respectively.  The prophets all sowed in preparation for the Messiah, but they did not see His coming and so therefore did not reap.  The apostles did not do the preparation -- but in their own lifetimes they will draw thousands to Christ.

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."   My study bible says that the fact that these foreigners are among the first to recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world shows that the gospel is for all people in every nation.

Jacob's well is located near the modern city of Nablus, a Palestinian city on the West Bank populated by descendants of the Samaritans of Christ's time.   As current tensions between the populations of the region are familiar to us, so we can understand the tension between  Samaritans and Jews of Christ's time and earlier.   They are a part of a long history.  What today's reading teaches us is an important lesson in the centrality of Christ for all of us.  It doesn't really matter what tensions we have between us, nor what differences we may find between ourselves -- whether that be for whole populations, such as nations or groups of any kind, on the family level, or even as individuals.  All of these differences -- no matter their duration -- are bridged in Christ.  In yesterday's reading, the Samaritan woman remarks to Christ, "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."  She brings up the matter of contention between the populations, and we know that a little over a century earlier, the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim had been destroyed by the Jews.  But Jesus will not engage in such matters with her.  Instead, He resolves the issue by proclaiming, in essence, that the basis for this historical argument is untrue, by revealing the higher truth that God is Spirit, and so must be worshiped in spirit and in truth.  This is the true reality of the revelation of Christ:  He is the center of all things, and the resolution of all things.  While we may not easily recognize this ourselves, while Christians themselves may contend with one another about all kinds of issues, the truth is that He remains the resolution.  It is in Him that we find the way to love one another even through our differences, that we find a true peace which is reconciliation in Him, that we learn all that He has to bring into our lives, including the joy of fulfillment in identity as those who put our faith in Him.  The very fact that God is Spirit gives us an enormous wealth of information that there is mystery beyond what we know, that reconciliation essentially lies in faith.  There are many things that Christ teaches through the discipleship offered to these individuals who populate the Gospels.  Jesus does not reveal Himself to scoffers, He teaches discernment, He chooses His battles in accordance only with the will of the Father, He teaches all of His followers to "love one another as I have loved you" (13:34, 15:12).  We are given the Holy Spirit in order to help us to grow in that likeness that is possible for us through the Incarnation.  But do we take these seriously?  Do we get caught up in our own "proofs" and understandings and dogmatic insistence on what must be?  Can we find ways to love one another in Him?  The conversion of these Samaritans and their welcoming desire for Christ to stay with them teaches us a very important lesson:  that what is necessary is not a truth that drives us apart, but the truth that teaches us better things than we already think we know, deeper things He can reveal to us, something we can only get to with faith.  Let us consider where He leads us, and how we get there.  Let us make note, also, that Jesus does not simply make a convert out of this woman by telling her what (presumably) she would want to hear.  He tells her the truth about her husbands (or lack of them), and He tells her, a Samaritan, that "salvation is of the Jews."  It is the truth that unites; it is we who do the work of faith in that truth.  This Samaritan woman, enemy of the Jews and least likely person for Christ to speak to, becomes one among the first evangelists.