Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst

 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 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 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.  Samaria is the region that was north of Jerusalem.  It was between Judea and Galilee (see map).  My study bible says that the Old Testament does not mention Jacob's well, although Jacob did dwell in the area (Genesis 33:19).  It notes that wells were 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).   The well at which Jesus and the woman of Samaria spoke is now maintained as a shrine, and pilgrims can drink from it.  Jesus shows His complete humanity here, as He is wearied from His journey.   The sixth hour is noon, and we can imagine the heat and dryness after a long day of travel.

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, according to my study bible, were a mixed race of people, and traditional enemies of the Jews.  Although they worshiped the God of Israel and also awaited the Messiah, they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch or Torah) as their Scriptures.  They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, which was destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC.  As we can see from the text, it is highly unusual that Jesus, as a Jew (and particularly as a man to a woman alone) would speak to a Samaritan.

  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."   In the sense of ordinary language, living water would mean fresh, flowing water; that is, water from a stream or spring rather than from a pond or a cistern.  Jesus uses this term, living water, to indicate the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (7:37-39).  This gift, my study bible says, not only remains in a person, but it is so abundant that it overflows to others.  This woman misunderstands Christ and asks Him, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  In the Scriptures, Jacob is a type of Christ, as he received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), an image fulfilled by Christ.  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."  As Jesus has understood that she was living with a man without being married, and as He also knows about her string of husbands,  she perceives that He is a prophet.  Because the Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses (having only the first five books of the Old Testament as their Scriptures), the one prophet they expected was the Messiah foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  Jesus' insight into people's hearts, which we read about repeatedly throughout the Gospels, underscores His divine nature.

"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."   The Samaritan woman mentions the historical dispute between the Samaritans and Jews about where worship should take place, as it is fitting that the expected Prophet would be able to settle this question.  But Jesus refuses to answer this earthly question, and instead elevates the discussion to the manner in which people ought to worship.  Here is revelation indeed.  More importantly, He turns attention to the One whom we worship:  to God.  The Father is worshiped in spirit -- that is, in the Holy Spirit -- and in truth -- in Christ Himself (14:6) and also according to Christ's revelation.   That God is Spirit means that God cannot be confined to 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.  Jesus says, "Salvation is of the Jews," affirming that true revelation comes from Judaism.  My study bible quotes St. Athanasius, who writes,  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  Even more importantly here, Jesus testifies that the Messiah, prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.   As the gift of salvation in Christ is given to all nations, it has come from within Judaism.   The hour is the death and Resurrection of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, inaugurating the worship of the new covenant. 

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."  This phrase spoken by Jesus is literally translated, "I AM [Greek ego eimi], who speak to you."  "I AM" is the divine Name of God.  The use of this title here gives us a theophany, a revelation of God Himself.  The use of this name by a mere human being was considered blasphemy and punishable by death (see 8:58; Mark 14:62).  However, as Jesus is also divine, His use of this name is a revelation of His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Christ is God Incarnate.

Why this woman?  It is simply extraordinary, in the context of all of the Gospels, to consider that here in John, this is the rare direct revelation of Christ's identity to another human being.  Nathanael had a glimpse of the Christ, when Jesus revealed to him that He had seen him first:  "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."  Nathanael answered and said to him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!" (see this reading).  That was notably also after another revelation of Christ's knowledge of all people.   But that was not the completeness of Jesus' words here to this woman.  That she is a Samaritan, first of all, is almost outrageous.  She belongs to a group which are the hated enemy of the Jews.  So much so, that Jews and Samaritans have no dealings with one another.  And in the second place, she is a woman.  Again, in this time and place that a single man would speak in public to a woman alone is unthinkable -- even if they were both Jews.  Jesus does not behave here in ways considered proper to a devout Jew, or for that matter to a Samaritan either.  But He breaks all the molds.  What He is cannot be contained.  Furthermore, it is Christ who chooses His own moments.  He is the one in charge.  The disciples have been sent off to get provisions, and Jesus has intentionally sat here on His own, and demanded that the woman bring Him water.  In tomorrow's reading, we'll see the surprise and consternation of the disciples, as they also find His behavior entirely perplexing.  But clearly, Jesus has a plan for all the rest of us who read and hear this story.  This is why we must ask questions:  Why here?  Why this woman?  He affirms for her that "salvation is of the Jews," but nevertheless He has chosen to reveal Himself directly to her.   Again, in tomorrow's reading, we will understand that she at once grasps what He is saying, and goes on in complete haste to find her townspeople and spread the "good news."  So He has chosen one who could accept and understand.  This also tells us something astounding:  one need not be the most perfect person, the most devout, the best at following the rules and traditions to be called by Christ.  But to have a pure heart is a mystery.  To have the openness to receive Christ is also a mystery -- and none of us can be the judge of that.  Our experience does not prepare us for this surprise, nor our expectations.  But He knows and He is prepared.  She has been faced with the truth of her life, given by Him.  She denied nothing, but instead fully opened her heart to whatever He had to tell her.  And that is the next piece of information we can look at:  She accepts what He has to tell her.  She is brought to herself by Christ, as He brings up directly her history even if she did not reveal it herself!  He is bound by no rules, but she comes to acceptance and salvation this day through the truth-- her acceptance of His truth, as He is truth Himself standing before her.  Perhaps all of her life she has been searching and thirsty for what He offers.  We simply don't know that.  But it is Christ who reaches to us and finds us where we are, and we must be ready to respond and accept the truth that He offers to us.    Even when we ourselves are outcast, it does not leave us free to reject God's truth, and word, and discipline.  It does not leave us free to abandon what the Logos brings to us:  good order, meaning, and life itself.  He offers the living water -- and she must be able to take it from Him, and live to its grace and to go wherever it leads.