Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?

 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 may 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

Yesterday we read that 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."

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 disciples marveled not only that Jesus was speaking with a Samaritan, but also that she was an unaccompanied woman.  This was potentially scandalous.  They are apparently so stunned that they don't ask Him a thing.  For more instances of Christ's dealings with women, see, 7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18 (see also Luke 8:1-3).  As so many of these examples are in John's Gospel, we must once again pause to wonder about the relationship of the Evangelist John with the Mother of our Lord, Mary, and the insights gained through such closeness, particularly regarding Jesus' kindness toward and high regard for women.

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 woman becomes an early evangelist, by testifying to the advent of Christ and bringing others to Him.  My study bible notes that according to an early tradition, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini, meaning "the enlightened one."  Along with her two sons and five daughters, tradition tells us that 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.  Her memory is celebrated on March 20, and the fourth Sunday of Easter in the Eastern Church.

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."  Here is another occasion of misunderstandings, used to advantage in John's Gospel by Jesus to teach about the deeper realities of God.  They are occasions for which we must have "ears to hear" (Matthew 13:9).  Jesus fulfills His role as Christ by doing the will of the Father, and therefore this is His food.  This also teaches us that we are to perform the will of God in our lives without being distracted by earthly cares, my study bible tells us (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!"  St. John Chrysostom comments that Jesus' command to the disciples to "Behold" comes to tell them to look as the townspeople were approaching, ready and eager to believe in Christ.   Jesus compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews) to fields ready for harvest.  My study bible notes that this command is also to all believers to look to those around us and to share the gospel with anyone who wants to hear it, regardless of race 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."  Again, turning to St. John Chrysostom, we are taught here that those who sow and those who reap are the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles, respectively.  The prophets sowed in preparation for the Messiah, although they did not see His coming and so, therefore, did not reap.  The apostles haven't done the preparation, although they would draw thousands to Christ in their lifetimes.  Whenever we bear fruit, in our own lives or with others, we also enter into others' labors;  even reading the Gospel we do so as well.  To recognize the great communion of saints is to know that we are part of a grand chain of faithful whose measure we cannot take, but the benefit of which we nevertheless reap and partake within.

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 may 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 remarks upon the fact that these foreigners -- who are nominal enemies of the Jews -- are the first to recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world.  It truly shows that the gospel is for all people in every nation.

In today's reading, we are reminded of Christ's word to the disciples regarding the little children brought to Him for a blessing.  The disciples felt this was diminishing to Christ's honor.  But He told them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven" (see Matthew 19:13-15).  And earlier, Jesus had taught them, when giving teachings regarding the importance of humility in their positions in His Church, that "whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me" (see Matthew 18:1-7).   It seems that the greatest lesson the disciples of Christ need to learn will always be about humility.  And here in today's reading (as well as yesterday's) is an extraordinary account given by John about this first open and direct revelation by Jesus of His divine identity as Messiah and Son.  Jesus' teachings about little children apply to all who might be seen as diminutive in social stature, within any context.  It really matters not at all what social structure we speak of.  We don't know and cannot judge where believers will be found, where a pure heart ready to receive Christ is going to be.   In the few references Jesus has given us about practicing discernment, He has taught the disciples, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces"  (Matthew 7:6), given in the context of correcting others.  Also in Matthew's chapter 7, He teaches in the context of those who would be leaders of His Church, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them."   He also goes on to condemn the hypocrisy of those whose appearance is devout, but who do not truly care for the will of God.  What we can infer from these teachings, and Christ's open expression of His identity to this Samaritan woman, is that His teachings extend only to discernment regarding the hearts of people, whether or not they truly are capable of receiving and loving and practicing the will of God.  All other nominal barriers do not exist for Christ, and they should not exist for us.  We note the great experiential emphasis here:  our faith is not theoretical, nor is it governed by legalistic boundaries.  It is rather dynamic and organic:  we know by evidential experience, we meet all who may come to Christ with particular boundaries of personal behavior relying above all on humility and a capacity for discernment.  He does not tell us that following His teachings amounts to a pretense that every person is pure of heart or well-intentioned.  Rather, His is a balanced mission, once again based in ongoing experience.  In Matthew chapter 10, He teaches the disciples as He sends them out on their first apostolic mission, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves."   Our cultural prejudices have no place in this dynamic missionary picture, neither does social status one way or another (we have already been given the example of Nicodemus the Pharisee in chapter 3), nor even age.  What we glean from His teachings taken altogether is that our personal prejudices or social context do not inform us about mission and judgment.  Only His truth can really guide us, as we seek to fulfill the will of God, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in a communion which links to the spiritual depths within each of us.  As each is endowed with spirit, so each is capable of responding to Christ.  It is there we start, and remain -- and there the extraordinary action of today's reading is possible.  Living Christ's faith is an ongoing full-on dynamic engagement in life itself.   Each is to "come and see."  We remember His teaching that "with God, all things are possible," and we remain alert as He teaches us, always ready to be surprised by the action and will of the Spirit of God -- both in us and among us.