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

 

 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, after being in Jerusalem for the Passover, and teaching to 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 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.   Here John gives us a hint of the tensions that are already understood by Christ in terms of the religious leadership and their scrutiny.  As His ministry has already made and baptized more disciples than John the Baptist, Jesus leaves for Galilee, traveling north.  But first He must go through Samaria, a Gentile region 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 this area (Genesis 33:19).  It notes that wells were significant because of their rarity and their value in desert life.  So, wells became symbolic of life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  This particular well continues to be maintained as a shrine, and pilgrims can drink from it.  My study Bible also asks us to note that Jesus is wearied from His journey, which shows His complete humanity and the fullness of His Incarnation.  The sixth hour is noon.  In the tradition of the Orthodox Church, this woman is identified as St. Photini (more about her in the next reading).    

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 people, and they were traditional enemies of the Jews.  My study Bible explains that although they worshiped the God of Israel, and they were also awaiting the Messiah, in their practice they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch or Torah) as their Scriptures.  The Samaritans had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, which was destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC, a dispute to which this woman refers further on in today's reading.

 

 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."   Living water, my study Bible says, in the ordinary sense means fresh, flowing water, from a stream or spring rather than from a pond or cistern.  Jesus uses this term, "living water," to indicate the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (John 7:37-39).  My study Bible tells us that this gift not only remains in a person, but is also so abundant that it overflows to others.  The woman misunderstands Jesus, and asks Him, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  In the Scriptures, Jacob is a type of Christ, for it was Jacob who received the vision of the divine ladder connecting heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12), which is fulfilled in Christ.  Additionally, 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."  In John's Gospel, we have already read passages which describe Jesus as the "Heart-knower" (see, for example, John 2:25).  Therefore, He perceived that she was living with a man without being married; He also knows of her string of husbands.  So, she perceives that He is a prophet.  My study Bible explains that as the Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses (having held only the first five books of the Old Testament as their Scriptures), the only prophet they expected was the Messiah whom Moses foretold (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  My study Bible comments that Christ's insight into people's hearts, reported so 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."   The Samaritan woman brings up the religious conflict between the Samaritans and the Jews, expecting that, if Jesus were the expected Prophet (see previous paragraph), He could settle the historical argument about where worship was to take place.  My study Bible comments that Jesus refuses to answer such an earthly question and elevates the discussion instead to the manner in which people ought to worship.  More importantly, He turns attention to the One who we worship:  God.  The Father is worshiped in spirit -- that is, in the Holy Spirit -- and in truth -- that is in Christ Himself (John 14:6) and according to Christ's revelation.  God is Spirit:  Jesus is teaching 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.  Salvation is of the Jews:  Christ affirms 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, Jesus testifies here that the Messiah, prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  While the gift of salvation in Christ is to all nations, it has come therefore from within Judaism.  The hour is a reference to Christ's death and Resurrection, and to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which my study Bible says 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."   My study Bible tells us that I who speak to you am He is literally translated "I AM [in Greek, εγω ειμι/ego eimi], who speak to you."  "I AM" is the divine Name of God.  Its use indicates a theophany, or manifestation of God.  The use of this Name, my study Bible explains, by a mere human being was considered to be blasphemy, and punishable by death (see John 8:58; Mark 14:62).  But, as Jesus is Himself divine, His use of the Name reveals His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He is God Incarnate.

 Jesus choose this Samaritan woman, of all people, to whom to reveal Himself.  We have to wonder why this is so, or how this came to be.  This image of Christ at the well, alone with this woman, is one we have to ponder, as it's such a seemingly quiet and intimate scene.  Imagine the day, high noon in a hot and arid climate, likely to be in the time of spring going on summer.  Jesus, the Man, sits at the well and is thirsty after traveling on foot all day.  The disciples have left Him alone to go buy food.   We can imagine it is quiet, even dusty, and if one has lived in such a climate, there may be a very slight dry wind.  Jesus, surprisingly, turns and asks the woman to get Him a drink.  This is surprising because, as she indicates by her own question, Jews and Samaritans did not interact with one another.  Moreover, a Jewish man could call scandal upon himself simply for speaking alone with a woman.  So we must presume Jesus' question to the woman is an initiative taken by Him for a reason.  Perhaps we should recall that Jesus has just come from confrontation with the religious authorities in Jerusalem, and also that they have become aware that He has made more disciples than John the Baptist.  As He is on His way to Galilee, it is to place more distance between Himself and Jerusalem, the center of the religious authority, and return to the place He began His ministry, and His home region.  Perhaps as He stops at this well, there is a beginning to the future ministry, in which the salvation which is "of the Jews" will go out to all the nations, drawing in those who "will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." At any rate, it is this phrase, "living water," with which He draws her in to the realization of who He is, and His own confession and revelation about Himself, "I who speak to you am He."  Perhaps this is a test, to see how this "foreign" woman will respond, this traditional enemy of the Jews.  Perhaps she, as a woman with a rather spotty history in terms of her personal life, becomes a powerful testimony for the new covenant, for this power of living water, and worship in spirit and truth.  At any rate, we can see just how many doors open up in this encounter, and on so many levels and layers of meaning.  What it seems to tell us is all about a theophany or manifestation of God, and what that will do in a "Face-to-face" or Person-to-person encounter.  For all boundaries are dropped here, be they social, or gender-related, or issues of class or ethnicity, or religious affiliation.  In this encounter there is recognition and understanding, for she grasps the import of Who this is, and grasps with language she knows to identify Him ("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?"  "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet").  She neither runs away nor leaves the well, but stays to ask, to "come and see," as Jesus said when the first disciples approached Him.  Jesus uses this phrase, "living water," to indicate something marvelous, and speaks to her about everlasting life that comes from this "water," the Spirit -- a living reality, always present, the word "living" indicating God's energies at work in the world.  In the following reading, we will delve more deeply into the identity of this woman known as St. Photini, and the outcome of this encounter.  The disciples will return, so stunned that Christ speaks to this woman that they will be unable to speak, and simply marvel.  But these are all clues about the momentous thing that is happening, the powerful energy of this ministry and its truth, and what an encounter with Christ is really like, and for all who experience it, including the disciples.  For He is the God who cannot be contained, who breaks open every door and all boundaries, but is Himself the Door.  It is He who draws everyone in, even in the smallest and least likely of encounters, or the tiniest beginnings.