I who speak to you am He

 

 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 4:16–26 

 

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 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."  My study Bible explains that since Jesus understood that she was living with a man without being married, and He also knew of her string of husbands, this woman believes that He is a prophet.  (This is similar to the reaction of Nathanael, when he understood that Jesus had seen into his heart at John 1:50).  The Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses, and therefore the only prophet they expected was the Messiah who was foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  My study Bible comments that Jesus' 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 explains here that if Jesus was truly the expected Prophet (see comment above), then He is the one who could settle this historical argument between the Jews and Samaritans regarding where worship was to take place.  But Jesus refuses to answer this earthly question, and instead elevates the conversation to the manner in which people ought to worship.  More importantly, He turns attention to the One whom we worship:  God.  The Father, my study Bible notes, is worshiped in spirit -- that is, in the Holy Spirit -- and in truth -- meaning in Christ Himself (John 14:6) and according to the revelation of Christ.  Jesus declares that God is Spirit:  God cannot be confined to a particular location.  Those who receive the Holy Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ can worship God the Father with purity of heart, my study Bible says.  Jesus also declares here that salvation is of the Jews:   My study Bible notes that the Lord affirms here that true revelation comes from Judaism.  It quotes St. Athanasius the Great:  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  Moreover, Jesus is testifying that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  So, while the gift of salvation in Christ has come to all nations, it has come from within Judaism.  Jesus says, "The hour is coming . . .."   This "hour" refers to Christ's death and Resurrection and to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, inaugurating 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."  The literal translation of Christ's final statement here is "I AM [Greek εγω ειμι/ego eimi], who speak to you."  "I AM" is the divine Name of God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14.  My study Bible says that when Christ uses this name it is a theophany, a revelation or manifestation of God.  The use of this Name by a human being was considered to be blasphemy and punishable by death (see John 8:58; Mark 14:62).  But, because Jesus is divine, His use of this Name is therefore a revelation of the Son's unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He is God Incarnate.

 

Jesus says to the Samaritan woman, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  We have to wonder, why this woman?  Why in this place?  Why should she be chosen for such a revelation?  Well, we don't know the answer to that, but we do know of her contributions that would follow in the Church.  (We will write more about her in tomorrow's reading and commentary.)  But let us observe what an unlikely candidate for such a revelation she seems to be based on appearances.  She not only is living with a man to whom she's not married, she has had a whole string of husbands.  Particularly in the context of Christ's time and place, this is something deeply frowned upon. Even in the most liberal of secular society today, five husbands would seem to be a large number, especially for a woman who still seems to retain some signs of youth.  She is a Samaritan woman, who does not seem to be an expert on Jewish religion, although Samaritans also followed the Torah.  Her understanding of the dispute between the Samaritans and the Jews seems to be limited to a focus on the proper location of the temple.  So from all conventional appearances, no one would suspect that this would be the person chosen by Christ to whom to reveal Himself.  But one very important lesson from today's reading is once again the revelation of Christ as the "Heart-knower."  He is the One who knows what is in a person, and has no need for anyone to tell Him (John 2:24-25).  It's possibly even more striking to consider that He is the One who asked her first to give Him a drink from the well, only to tell her about the "living water" that He had to offer.  She seems to be the least likely object for His revelation of divine truths, and yet she is the one who receives His instruction -- revealing Himself, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, even including the revelation of the type of worship being inaugurated in His new covenant.  This woman with a history of many husbands, and living with a man to whom she's not presently married, is the one to whom Jesus extends an offer of a new covenant, a new way to worship, and Himself as the object of that worship, the Messiah.  Perhaps, after all, this is just the right person to whom to reveal Himself.  For Christ has come to call -- in His own words -- not the righteous, but sinners, to repentance (Matthew 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32).  This Samaritan woman will in turn call others, as we will see in tomorrow's reading.  Let us note that as Jesus introduces the power of the Holy Spirit into the conversation, that truly "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).  It is one more revelation of how God's mysterious power works and knows that which we cannot know, proving yet again we cannot second guess the working of God's power in the world.  Let us be delighted by such revelations of God midst the commonplace, and grateful for God's surprises.  The woman has faith that when the Christ comes, "He will tell us all things."  Jesus affirms her faith and tells her, "I who speak to you am He."