But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life

 

 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 ti that You, being a Jew, as 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, 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."

 

- John 4:1-15

 

Yesterday we read that, after the cleansing of the temple, and Jesus' teaching by night of Nicodemus (see readings for Monday and Tuesday), Jesus and His disciples came to 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.  Jesus travels north, further away from Jerusalem and the scrutiny of the religious leaders, after the cleansing of the temple, but particularly (as the text indicates) as the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John.  John was an extraordinary and popular figure in his time, one the people looked to as a holy man.  Now the focus of the religious leaders will shift to Jesus as His ministry grows.  To reach His home region of Galilee, Jesus must travel through the Gentile region of Samaria, which is north of Jerusalem and between Judea and Galilee.  

 

 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.  My study Bible comments 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.  Therefore, wells came to symbolize life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  This particular well is maintained as a shrine to this day, and pilgrims can drink from it.  Jesus is wearied from His journey, which shows to us His complete humanity.  The sixth hour is noontime.  In church tradition, this woman is identified as St. Photini, above whom we will comment in tomorrow's reading.  

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is ti that You, being a Jew, as a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.   My study Bible notes that the Samaritans were a mixed race and traditional enemies of the Jews.  Although they worshiped the God of Israel and were also awaiting the Messiah, they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Torah or Pentateuch) as their Scriptures.  They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, which the Jews destroyed in 128 BC.

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, 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 given 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 in the ordinary sense, my study Bible says, means fresh, flowing water, from a stream or spring rather than from a pond or cistern.  Christ uses this term to mean the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (John 7:37-39).  This gift not only remains in a person, but it is so abundant that it overflows to others.  This woman misunderstands Christ and asks, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  In the Scriptures, my study Bible explains, Jacob is a type of Christ, for Jacob received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), which Christ fulfills as He Himself is the "ladder" between heaven and earth.  (See especially John 1:51, in which Jesus refers to Himself using the images in the vision of the ladder, as the Son of Man upon whom Nathanael would see the angels of God ascending and descending.)  Just as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, my study Bible adds, now Christ gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life. 

How does Scripture work?  It's important that we note several things about today's reading in order to gain some insight on the nature of Scripture itself.  First of all, there is a timeless quality to the writings of Scripture.  This is so in the sense that all events reported, from whatever period of time in which the people and stories we read about existed, tie in to one another.  Most notable in today's reading are the images of Jacob's ladder and Jacob's well.  Although Jacob lived in the far distant past from the time this event took place in the lives of Christ, the disciples, and this Samaritan woman, nonetheless the images and understanding of Jacob's well and ladder are important to the story.  They are living "types" that are enhanced, fulfilled, given newer layers of deeper meaning than was previously understood.  In this sense, events from both Genesis and from John's Gospel tie in to one another and are both "living."  This is not a history story per se, but one filled with the meanings we find in Scripture, and inspired so that they live also for us and for our lives.  The living water of this highly significant well already has spiritual meaning for the people, but for this woman, the notion of living water to drink from a well that Christ gives, through which it is becomes a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.  This does not negate the meaning from the past, nor even layer it in the sense of history, but rather enhances and in particular fulfills the meaning revealed through the life of Jacob, with a more perfect and full understanding of Christ.  This is the way Scripture works, as has always been recognized in the Church, as it is the very reason why both Old and New Testaments are included in the Book of the Church, the Bible.  It is why the Church selected the Scriptures as inspired and why none are left out in our understanding of our faith; it is all essential, the one fulfilled in the other.  In this sense, we understand Christ's words that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms (see Matthew 5:17, Luke 24:44).  All of the meanings therein remain living and important for us, and essential, but are exceptionally made fuller in Christ, given new light, and more dimension.  In this sense, whatever was good or true or beautiful of the ancient world was also fulfilled in Christ, our early Church Fathers finding fulfillment for the philosophy and education in which they were steeped as it was used, made more full, and transformed into theology of Christ and the meanings found in His life and the Church, the Body of Christ.  Everything becomes transfigured and fulfilled in the light of Christ.  In this sense, His saving mission goes far beyond an understanding limited to only our particular human lives and what it means to be saved; we must remember He came for the life of the world (John 6:33, 6:51), and take that in its absolutely fullest sense.  Water from a desert well, always understood to be essential and lifesaving, becomes transfigured into the waters of Baptism, and the water that is the spring unto eternal life by the grace of the Holy Spirit.   "Living water" takes on meaning not previously understood, and this is the unfolding of the story of Christ's encounter with this Samaritan woman, to whom much more will be revealed, even as she misunderstands Christ's word, and eventually comes to great fulfillment of her own, as we will see.  Let us consider the unfolding of meaning which never stops, which in the words of John the Baptist from yesterday's reading, is grace given without measure ("For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure").