We ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world

 

 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"  The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?"  Then they went out of the city and came to Him.  

 

In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."  But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."  Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.  Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!  And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true:  'One sows and another reaps.'  I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."  

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."  So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

 

- John 4:27–42 

 

In our recent readings, the Gospel has given us the story of Christ's encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well.  The story begin with Thursday's reading.  Yesterday (Friday), we read that 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."   

And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"  The disciples marveled, my study Bible notes, not only that Jesus spoke with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with an unaccompanied woman -- something which was potentially scandalous. My study Bible also cites further instances of the Lord's dealings with women, all of which are uncharacteristic of the mores of His time:  see John 7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18; see also Luke 8:1-3.

The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?"  Then they went out of the city and came to Him.   Here is the early bloom of the product of Christ's interaction with this woman:  she becomes an early evangelist, and testifies to the advent of Christ, even bringing others to Him.  According to an early Church tradition, after Christ's Resurrection, this woman was baptized with the name Photini, which means "the enlightened one" (φως/phos means "light" in Greek).  This name can even be thought of as meaning "shining."  Together with her two sons and five daughters, the history goes, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  Later, she was martyred with her family under the emperor Nero by being thrown into a well.  In the Orthodox Church, she is remembered on March 20.

In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."  But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."  Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."  Once again we observe what we understand to be a common happenstance in John's Gospel:  Jesus uses everyday language that -- through misunderstandings -- is elucidated and drawn out to higher meanings that convey spiritual realities.  Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah through doing the will of the Father.  Therefore, this is His food.  My study Bible adds that this also teaches us we are to perform the will of God in our lives without being distracted by earthly cares (see John 6:27; also Matthew 4:4; 6:25-33).

 

"Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!"  According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible reports, Christ's command to behold was given because the townspeople were approaching, and they were ready and eager to believe in Jesus.  (To this day, the remaining descendants of this Samaritan community dress in white for their ceremonies.)  My study Bible comments that Christ compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews) to fields ready for harvest, seeming to refer to the light color a wheatfield takes on when ready for harvest.   This command, it adds, is also to all believers to look to those around us and to share the gospel with anyone wanting to hear it, regardless of race or ethnicity. 

 

  And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true:  'One sows and another reaps.'  I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom here, who teaches that those who sow are the prophets of the Old Testament, and those who reap are the apostles.  The prophets sowed in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, but they did not see His coming, and therefore did not reap.  The apostles did not do the preparation, but they are the ones who would draw thousands to Christ in their own lifetimes.  

 

 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."  So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."   That these foreigners are among the first to recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world, my study Bible comments, shows that the gospel is for all people in every nation.  

This remarkable woman -- an unlikely person even to be speaking with Christ in the first place -- is an early evangelist, as my study Bible says.  She brings her people to Jesus, who singled her out when He requested of her to give Him a drink at Jacob's well (see Thursday's reading).  How did Jesus know the person she would be?  In our theology we're taught that the image of Christ is planted within us, and our own "unfolding" of true self is finding and fulfilling, manifesting that image given to us -- our identity in Christ.  So in this sense we can assume that Jesus knew this woman at the well, before they even spoke.  In the legends of the Church, she is recorded as an early missionary and martyr, along with her children.  A hagiography of greater detail can be found at this site.  St. Photini's life, and her enduring meaning and significance especially to Eastern Orthodox Christians, teach us something powerful about those called by Christ.  She remains a figure of mission and endurance, and good works.  Her influence extended beyond herself to her family and community, and even beyond.  While the minute details of her life are not known in certainty, there is one thing that she does stand for, and quite powerfully, that of endurance and persistence in faith.  We can see this displayed from Christ's encounter with her in the gospel.  She does not shrink from embarassment, she does not walk away from the strangeness of the Jewish Man, Christ, asking her for a drink, and neither does she balk at the strange sayings He begins to use in order to draw her into the mysteries of the Christian life.  She does something different; she comes forward all the more strongly to ask Christ what He is talking about, and to tell Him she would like some of that "living water" He tells her about.  She reaches with both hands, so to speak, to grab at this strange good news Christ is sharing with her.   What we can indeed say about St. Photini is that her influence in various parts of the world persists, and it inspires.  Not only was she instrumental in establishing the early Church, she became a figure of inspiration for Christians who struggled afterward, and continue to struggle in these regions where she lived and preached the gospel.  Let us consider with Photini how much significance one person can have, have much influence, and how much good one person can do far beyond their nominal lives and places of living.  For this is an aspect of St. Photini's life that is not limited to her, but rather characteristic of many saints, both male and female.  In an age where women were not considered to be socially powerful without a strong connection to a ruling family, St. Photini nonetheless, through her own persistence, became a figure who continues to inspire thousands of years after her life in this world.  We recall that it is Jesus who singled her out, asking for a drink of water -- and taught her about the living water He had to offer, which becomes "a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  Thanks to St. Photini, the townspeople declare that "we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."   As if in affirmation of their powerful testimony, Jesus consents to stay with them two days, a rare occurrence in the Gospels.  May the light of St. Photini shine also for each of us, and the Savior of the world remain with all of us.