Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw

 

 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 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 Jesus' night teachings to Nicodemus, a Pharisee (see here and here), 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.   We note the growing awareness of the jealous scrutiny of the Pharisees.  Therefore Jesus leaves Judea (the region in which Jerusalem lies) for the more outlying territory of Galilee.  Samaria is the region to the north of Jerusalem, between Judea and Galilee, and so Jesus needed to go through Samaria, a Gentile territory.

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 is known to have dwelt in this area (Genesis 33:18-19).  It notes that wells were very significant in this region, because of their rarity and their value in desert life.  So, wells came to be 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 emphasizes also that Jesus is wearied from His journey, which expresses His complete humanity.  It is the sixth hour (or noon), which means Jesus is in the noonday heat.  This woman is identified in church tradition as St. Photini, a name meaning "Illumined" or "Enlightened,"  We will delve more into her history in tomorrow's reading and commentary.  

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. My study Bible explains that the Samaritans were a mixed race and traditional enemies of the Jews.  They worshiped the God of Israel, and were also awaiting the Messiah, but the Samaritans accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch or Torah) as their Scriptures.  They had also built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, a disputed location, 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, 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."  In the ordinary sense, my study Bible explains, living water means fresh, flowing water, from a stream or spring rather than from a pond or cistern.  Jesus uses this term in order to mean the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (John 7:37-39).   My study Bible emphasizes that this gift not only remains in a person, but is so abundant that it overflows to others.  The woman misunderstands Christ and she asked, "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), which Jesus fulfills.  Additionally, just as Jacob gave the well for earthly life, so Christ now gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life. 

 What is water in a desert?  So is the gift of the Holy Spirit within a world that seems sorely lacking of this fountain of life itself.  In the Creed, the Holy Spirit is referred to as "the Giver of life."  So this well, given by the Patriarch Jacob, becomes symbolic of the gift of God's work in the world, beginning with the Jews.  It is in this sense that Jesus will teach this Samaritan woman that "salvation is of the Jews" in tomorrow's reading (John 4:22).  Just as Jacob's dream of the Ladder reaching heaven and earth, with angels ascending and descending is fulfilled in Christ (Genesis 28:12),  so also we are to understand this conversation based on Jesus' image of living water hints to us that the coming of the Holy Spirit as given by Christ is a fulfillment of the "type" of Jacob's well in the desert.  Living water is that which vivifies us when we drink it; it's not only good for human life, it is essential.  It reminds us of Ezekiel's vision, given by "the Spirit of the Lord," of the very dry bones in the valley, and his question, "Can these bones live?"  The Lord God speaks to Ezekiel, saying, "I will put My Spirit in you," even as breath came to the dry bones so that they lived (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  Let us recall that the word for Spirit and breath are the same, in Hebrew and Greek.  So, we come to this everlasting fountain or well of "living water" meant to vivify the driest of dry bones, the longest of long shots, the most forlorn, difficult, unlikely situation through it can be saved to live again.  It is the hope of the hopeless even when all seems lost by worldly standards.  Like this Samaritan woman, we must be prepared to listen and learn from Christ, to be drawn into the sayings of Jesus that illuminate things that take us beyond the certainties and affirmations of the world, giving dimension and expression to the potential of the spiritual life, and teaching salvation.  In tomorrow's reading, Jesus will magnify these concepts, for her and for us, and we will find yet more substance to the poetry of Scripture and of the Gospels in the words of Jesus Christ.