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

 

 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (thought Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea an 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, after teaching Nicodemus by night, 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 (thought Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea an departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.  Samaria was the region to the north of Jerusalem; it was between the regions of Judea and Galilee.  Since the Pharisees now know that Jesus' ministry is growing, and that He has made and baptized more disciples than John the Baptist (who was himself a very popular figure), it seems likely He leaves the region of Judea and travels north to be further away from their scrutiny and influence.

 

 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 says that the Old Testament does not mention Jacob's well, although Jacob did live in this area (Genesis 33:19).  Wells, it explains, 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 even now, and pilgrims can drink from it.  Jesus is wearied from His journey, showing His complete humanity.  The sixth hour is noon.  In the tradition of the Orthodox church this woman is identified as St. Photini.

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 were a mixed race, and they were traditional enemies of the Jews.  Although they worshiped the God of Israel and they also awaited the Messiah, my study Bible says 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 was destroyed by the Jews 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, 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."  Living water in the ordinary sense means fresh, flowing water; that is, from a stream of spring rather than from a pond or cistern.  My study Bible says that 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.  The woman misunderstands Jesus and asks Him, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  In the Scriptures, my study Bible explains, Jacob is a type of Christ, as he received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), which Christ fulfills.  Moreover, just as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, now Christ gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal 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."   As Jesus perceived that she was living with a man without being married, and He knew of her many husbands, this woman believes that Jesus is a prophet.  My study Bible explains that 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).   It says that Christ's insight into people's hearts, which is reported many times in 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."   My study Bible comments that if Jesus was indeed the expected Prophet (foretold by Moses, as explained above), He could settle the historical argument about where worship was meant to take place.  Jesus refuses to answer this earthly question, and instead elevates the discussion to the manner in which people ought to worship.  Even more centrally, He turns the attention to the One whom we worship:  God.  The Father is worshiped in spirit -- in the Holy Spirit -- and in truth; that is, in Christ Himself (John 14:6) and in accordance with 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 that salvation is of the Jews, thus affirming that true revelation comes from Judaism.  My study Bible quotes St. Athanasius:  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  More importantly, it says, Jesus is testifying that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  While the gift of salvation in Christ is to all nations, it has come from within Judaism.  The hour refers the death and Resurrection of Christ, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which inaugurates 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."  I who speak to you am He is literally translated "I AM [Greek Ἐγώ εἰμι/Ego eimi], who speak to you."  "I AM" is the divine Name of God.  My study Bible says that its use indicates a theophany, which means a revelation of God.  The use of this Name by a human being was considered blasphemy and punishable by death (see John 8:58, Mark 14:62).  But, as Jesus is divine, His use of this Name reveals His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He is God Incarnate.  

 

So how does Christ come to this woman, of all women, to reveal Himself?  In tomorrow's reading, we will come into more detail about this woman's eventual life (as St. Photini).  But for now let us consider what is happening in our reading for today.  Jesus seems to come to this place of Jacob's well, when she is there, entirely by happenstance. One must wonder what it means that it is the sixth hour.  Clearly, it means that at noon when the sun is high in the sky, and after a long day of traveling, Jesus is thirsty.  But this woman, who is there to draw water, would normally be one He, being a Jew, wouldn't even speak to.  Moreover, we will see (again, in tomorrow's reading) the startled response of the disciples when they come upon this scene, for it is potentially scandalous not only that Christ speaks to a Samaritan woman, but also that He speaks to her alone.  Just think, He the Teacher!  But this tremendous revelation also reminds us of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and that she is the one whose supplication initiated the miracle of the water turning to wine at the wedding in Cana.  Here, Jesus asks a woman for water, and it is another occasion to transform her understanding and ours to the image of "living water" as Christ uses it, for the image of the Holy Spirit.  So we see in this conversation an important reaching out in Christ's ministry not only to women but also to outsiders.  These significant factors add concrete meaning to Christ's words that "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."   For if we are each the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19), with the Holy Spirit indwelling, then to worship in spirit and truth means that this capacity extends equally to women and to outsiders, although "salvation is of the Jews."  This is the new covenant spoken through Christ, to one who will become a part of that new covenant, for whom "new wineskins" are necessary (Mark 2:22).  So is this meeting by chance, or is it yet one more landmark moment of revelation, for the opening up of the gospel to the world, and a new revelation of God that builds on what was already known?  We cannot know the mind of God, but we understand that, as Jesus told Nicodemus, explaining the mysterious work of the Spirit:  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  Jesus extends our understanding by revealing God to us through His encounter with this woman, and opens our eyes to the potentials of worship in spirit and in truth, "for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."