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 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, no 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."  My study Bible comments that since Jesus perceived she was living with a man without being married, and as He also knew of her string of husbands, this woman perceives that He is a prophet.  As the Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses, they expected only one prophet:  the Messiah foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  Christ insight into people's hearts, which is reported many times in the Gospels, underscores His divine nature.  

 

 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 remarks that if Jesus was indeed the expected Prophet (as noted in the comment above), then He could settle this historical argument about where worship was to take place.  He refuses to answer this earthly question, and instead elevates the discussion to the way in which people should worship.  More importantly, He is turning the attention to the One 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 the revelation of Christ.  Jesus tells her that God is Spirit:  this means that God cannot be confined to a particular location.  My study Bible comments that those who receive the Holy Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ can worship God the Father with purity of heart.  Jesus states that salvation is of the Jews:  Here Christ affirms that true salvation comes from within Judaism.  My study Bible quotes St. Athanasius of Alexandria, who comments, "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  More importantly, Jesus is testifying that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, has now risen from among the Jews. We are to understand that while the gift of salvation in Christ is to all nations, it has come from within Judaism.  The hour, in Jesus' language across St. John's Gospel, refers to His 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."  My study Bible notes that "I who speak to you am He" is literally translated from the Greek, ''I AM [εγω ειμι/ego eimi], who speak to you."   This I AM is the divine Name of God (Exodus 3:14).   Its use indicates a theophany, a revelation or manifestation of God.  The use of this Name by a mere human being was considered to be blasphemy, my study Bible explains, and was punishable by death (see John 8:58; Mark 14:62).  But, as Jesus is divine, His use of the Name is a revelation of His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Christ is God Incarnate.

 

Once again, as in yesterday's reading and commentary, we have to ask the question: Why?  Why this woman?  Why here?  After we hear a bit about her story -- that she's living with a man who's not her husband, and that she's also had not just several, but five husbands in her past -- she seems an even less likely candidate for a revelation of God, a theophany!  But nevertheless, this is the story that we are given, and it is the story that we have.  Jesus chooses this moment, this place, and this woman to truly reveal Himself as He is in His divine identity.  He is the Holy One of God, the Son, the Lord, the I AM who was introduced to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).  And once again, we have to remark upon the truth that such acceptance of the Christ is impossible, on worldly terms, to predict.  How can we know where faith will take root and where it won't?  How can we know who will accept Christ and who will not?  It seems that, at least according to the Gospels, the least likely candidates accept, and the most likely (the educated and those who are steeped in the religious traditions and spiritual history of Israel, the religious leaders) do not.  So, we also have to ask, who is capable of perceiving the things of God?  How is the perception and understanding of faith different from the knowledge one can study?  How does study -- say such as the effort in this blog, or the reading of literature and commentary on the Scriptures -- help or possibly even hinder our faith in some cases?  These are important questions which the story of Jesus Christ illumines and opens up to us, and which we need to consider.  Where do we find our faith, in the midst of a world that in many cases thinks it has all the answers to life, or can make life better through machines and technology, and might just deny that such reality as presented here in the Gospels ever even existed?  In one sense, many might feel the world is at a kind of tipping point, or a place that seems to be further along the spectrum of the peace Jesus presents than ever before.  But "the world" has been in such places many times and many ways before now, as much as in Christ's own time than ever since.  We're still asked to make the choices for faith in the midst of a world that is full of the temptations and distractions of evil and what we might call "fallenness" as it was in the past.  Things may look and seem different in some ways or in appearances, but a quick thought about the past and the struggles of the faithful all along will dispel this idea.  We've always have times of struggle for our faith, and the Gospels -- and all of Scripture, including the Revelation, and particularly Christ's own prophecies of end times -- teach us that this is the way of the world in which we live.  Our faith is a struggle, and this is why we must be aware of temptations and pressures that distract us from the one thing truly necessary.  Let us rejoice that it is this person, this Samaritan woman, to whom Christ reveals Himself as the Lord.  It reminds and reinforces the concept taught to Nicodemus:  "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).  Let us never forget it, lest we despair of knowing our faith and the confidence it brings to us in the midst of troubles or distractions.

 

 

 

 

 

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." 

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"

 

 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 ti that You, being a Jew, as 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, 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."  My study Bible comments here that since Jesus perceived she was living with a man without being married, and as He knew of her string of husbands, the woman perceives He is a prophet.  As the Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses, the only prophet they expected was the Messiah whom Moses foretold (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  Christ's insight into people's hearts, 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 points out that if Jesus was indeed the expected Prophet (see the previous verses, above), then He could settle the historical argument about where worship was to take place.  Jesus refuses to answer such an earthly question and elevates the discussion instead to the manner in which people ought to worship.  Moreover, He turns the attention to the One we worship:  God Himself.  The Father is worshiped in spirit -- that is, in the Holy Spirit -- and in truth -- in Christ Himself (John 14:6) and according to God's revelation.  God is Spirit:   My study Bible comments on this statement that 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.  Salvation is of the Jews:  Here 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, my study Bible 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 is a reference to the death and Resurrection of Christ and to 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."   My study Bible says that I who speak to you am He is literally translated "I AM [Greek εγω ειμι/ego eimi], who speak to you."   I AM is the divine Name of God (Exodus 3:14).  The use of this name indicates what is called a theophany, meaning a revelation of God.  The use of this name 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 divine, His use of this Name reveals His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He is God Incarnate.

In the story of the Samaritan woman, we have an evolving opening up of truths and spiritual realities that Christ reveals to her through their conversation.  Through misunderstandings, through language that is symbolic, and through her own questions regarding the way she has already understood a framework for her religion, Christ reveals the greater realities of God that He has come into the world to teach.  Her mind opens to Him as she begins to grasp and desires what He offers her, even if she cannot fully comprehend.  In this story of the Samaritan woman, we have the Gospel teaching us what it is to open to the things that, as yet, we don't know.  It is also an example of what we can understand as repentance, or "change of mind" as the Greek word literally means (Greek μετανοια/metanoia).  This is because, within her framework of understanding, Christ brings a new influence and outlook, and new information that opens up perspective, and she is willing to change her mind, to open up, to be illumined by the light He offers.  When Christ switches the effective debate over where one must worship to how one must worship, she listens.   To move from an understanding that God is limited to one place, one temple, and a particular location over to an understanding that God is spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and truth, is a transformation that entirely changes one's orientation toward God and the life of worship in which we participate.  This is a tremendous change; and yet, she is listening.  Perhaps it is her openness to His teachings that enables Jesus to reveal to her -- of all people -- His identity as the Christ.  Let us observe how she responds to Him.  She asks about the strife and disagreement between the Jews and her own people; He tells her the answer is an entirely different focus.  She does not seek to re-engage in the dispute, but says to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming," affirming something truthful that she knows instead.  This opens the door to His revelation to her that He is the Christ.  Her own example serves us in any kind of testimony; she sticks to what she knows and engages to seek answers to what she doesn't.  She knows the dispute over the location of the temple, but listens when He tells her an entirely different answer than expected which demands a shift in focus.  She sticks to the truth she knows, but engages to learn about what she doesn't know.  This teaches us about how to engage in dialogue and to have a conscious awareness that when it comes to God, there is more that we don't know than that we know.  As Jesus says, God is spirit, and therefore God is also mystery.  What Jesus reveals to her is a mystery unheard of for her time and place, and yet, she listens and engages in dialogue.  In a time when we can look around ourselves and find seemingly endless examples of how not to engage in what can't even be called "dialogue" with those who have a different point of view, she remains an example for us of how to learn from interaction with others -- especially strangers who might have something to offer that we don't expect and don't yet know.   It is like the first great encounter we read about in Genesis, that of Abraham who "entertained angels unaware" (Hebrews 13:2; see Genesis 18).  The Patriarch Abraham began the entire story of the people of God because he listened to strangers who revealed spiritual truth; here this Samaritan woman listens in the desert at high noon to the One who reveals a new covenant for the people of God.  In tomorrow's reading, we will see how she is willing to hear and follow, leading others to Christ.  But for now let us consider two people alone, speaking at a rare well, sacred to religious history, on a hot desert day, and the great revelation that comes from what seems like a chance meeting of this Jewish stranger who breaks all custom to ask a Samaritan woman for a drink of water.

 

 

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 (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 the 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 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 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 as 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.  Now Jacob's well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.  From its earliest pages, John's Gospel allows us to understand right away the tension between the "authorities" and Jesus' ministry.  We can already sense the envy or jealousy of the Pharisees.  (We contrast this with John the Baptist's response to the fact that Jesus made more disciples than John himself, in yesterday's reading, above.)  Jesus leaves Judea and heads north to Galilee, but first he goes through Samaria on the way.  My study bible points out that the Old Testament doesn't mention Jacob's well, but we know that Jacob did dwell in this area (Genesis 33:19).  For the people of this region, wells were always significant because of their rarity and their value in desert life.  So, wells came to symbolize life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  This well is maintain as a shrine now, and pilgrims can drink from it.  Jesus shows His humanity, being wearied from His journey.  The sixth hour is noon. We can imagine the heat of the strong sun.

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 the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. The Samaritans were a people of mixed race, and they were traditional enemies of the Jews.  They worshiped the God of Israel and also awaited the Messiah.  But they accepted only the first books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) as their Scriptures.  They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, which the Jews had destroyed in 128 BC -- which the woman references later on down in the reading.

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 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."  Living water, my study bible reminds us, in the ordinary sense refers to fresh, flowing water, from a stream or spring rather than a pond or cistern.  Here, Jesus uses the term to give us a sense of the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (7:37-39).  This is a gift that not only dwells within a person, but it's so abundant that it will overflow to others.  The woman can't understand what Christ is saying, and she asks if He is "greater than our father Jacob?"  Jacob is a "type" of Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures.  He received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), which is fulfilled in Christ, the connection between heaven and earth.  Moreover, as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, Christ now gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life.

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."  Because Jesus has known that she was living with a man without being married, and He also knew of her many husbands, the woman believes He is a prophet.  As they followed only the first five books of the Old Testament, 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).   Christ shows Himself (again in John's Gospel) to be the heart-knower, re-enforcing for us His divine nature.

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."   This historical argument about where worship was properly to be conducted was one which the Prophet predicted by Moses could settle.  But Jesus refuses to answer this type of "earthly" question.  He is speaking about matters at the depth of true worship -- the very manner in which people ought to worship.  Beyond that He focuses all attention to the One whom we worship:  God Himself.  He says that the Father is worshiped in spirit -- that is, in the Holy Spirit, and in truth -- in Christ Himself (14:6) according to His revelation.  To teach that God is Spirit means God cannot be confined to one place or another, 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.  To say that salvation is of the Jews is for Christ to affirm that true revelation comes from Judaism.  St. Athanasius writes, "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  Beyond this, Jesus testifies that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  The gift of Christ's salvation is given to all nations, but it has come from within Judaism.  My study bible says also that the hour refers to the death and Resurrection of Christ and to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, thus 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."  In the Greek, Jesus literally says "I AM (Gr. ego eimi) who speak to you."  This I AM is the divine name of God from the Old Testament.  It is indicative of a theophany, or a revelation of God.  The use of this Name was considered blasphemy and punishable by death.  But Jesus is divine, and His use of the Name reveals His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He is the revelation of God in the world; He is God Incarnate.

Today's reading is startling and extraordinary, no matter how many times we may read through John's Gospel nor how well we know what has happened here.  One can't help but ask, Why here?  Why this woman?  What is Jesus doing this for?  One may wonder.  But our job isn't to second guess God, and it's not to question the revelation that God makes in our world.  Our job is to look at it and think about it, and what it is telling us.  Why this woman?  Christ is surely revealing Himself as One who has come to the whole world.  We, as believers in Him, don't have to all be in agreement before we come to knowledge of Him.  We don't have to all be from the same place or the same people.  Rather, we are all gathered in Him.  To worship God in spirit and in truth is to find that place within us -- that place of the heart that Jesus knows already -- in which we truly worship.  That is the place in which we are all gathered together, in which we come together, with Him.  Jesus says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."  This gives us an incredible kind of information -- that it is the Father who is seeking us out to worship Him.  That is, God is seeking those true worshipers who will worship God in spirit and truth.  God is seeking us.  This is God the Father Jesus names.  And God the Father is not some distant, all-knowing, all-powerful entity as Jesus presents Him here (although of course to be all-knowing and all-powerful are attributes of God).  This is God the Father who seeks us out; that is, the God who loves us, like a Father looking for His lost children who will truly love Him.  This is the Father who longs for us -- not the other way around, as we're used to thinking about.  He is the Father who is seeking us who can truly understand and worship in the way of spirit and truth -- the way of love.  This is where we are, and it is the true and startling revelation Jesus gives us.  The Father Himself loves us so much that He seeks us out, looking for a kind of communion with those who are capable of returning the love He has for us in the ways which are proper to Him, and to the heart.  How can we ever understand this kind of love?  We can but stand up to be counted as those who are sought with such love, and to return it in the heart and be embraced in its fullness for all the ardor of its seeking.  He has sent His Son to us, that we might learn of that great and passionate love.

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth

 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 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 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.  Jesus knows about the watchful eye of the authorities, and the scrutiny (and envy) that will come.  His "hour" hasn't yet come, and He travels north to Galilee.  But first He must go through Samaria, which is north of Jerusalem, 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 points out to us that Jacob's well isn't mentioned in the Old Testament, but it does say that Jacob lived in the region (Genesis 33:19).  It says, "Wells 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)."  Today, this particular well is maintained as a shrine, and pilgrims can drink of it.  Jesus' humanity is evident here:  the sixth hour is noon, and He's wearied from His journey.  We can imagine the heat, the dryness of the land journey, the sun.  In the tradition of the Eastern Church, this woman is St. Photini.  (We shall see the significance of her name later on, in Monday'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.  Samaritans were a mixed race of people, and traditional enemies of the Jews.  My study bible says, "Although they worshiped the God of Israel and were also awaiting the Messiah, they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) as their Scriptures.  They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, which the Jews destroyed in 128 B.C."

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."   In the ordinary sense, "living water" means fresh and flowing water, from a stream or spring rather than a pond or cistern; it's water that is the best to drink.  But Jesus uses the term to refer to the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life.  My study bible says, "This gift not only remains in a person, but is so abundant it overflows to others."  Once again, in a typical usage in John's Gospel, the woman misunderstands Him, taking His spiritual metaphor for its literal daily meaning -- and opens up an opportunity for explanation, and uplifting.  She asks Him, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  referring to the well and the water.  My study bible names Jacob "a type" of Christ, for he received the vision of the divine ladder rising to heaven (Genesis 28:12), which is fulfilled in Christ.  It tells us that "just as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, now Christ gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life."

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 she was living with a man without being married, and as He knew of her previous husbands, she perceives Him to be a prophet.  The Samaritans didn't accept any prophets after Moses; the only prophet they expected was the Messiah whom Moses foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15-18.  My study bible says, "Christ's insight into people's hearts, 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."  The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ).  "When He comes, He will tell us all things."   This historical argument between Jews and Samaritans was a cause of great enmity; "the Prophet" could be the one to settle such an argument about where worship appropriately takes place.  But Jesus points out a new way -- underscoring the fact that He is not a prophet, but something more.  He refuses to answer where on earth worship should take place and instead points out the "manner" in which people ought to worship, says my study bible.  More importantly, He turns attention to God, the Father who is worshiped and thereby the real nature of worship:  in spirit (that is, the Holy Spirit) and in truth (Christ Himself, according to His own revelation in 14:6).  Jesus tells her "God is Spirit" -- which cannot be confined to a location (see also Jesus' words to Nicodemus earlier on, in which He compared the Spirit with the wind).  My study bible says, "Those who receive the Holy Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ can worship God the Father with purity of heart."   Jesus also claims here that salvation is of the Jews -- an affirmation to this Samaritan woman about the revelation from the Jewish tradition (all the prophets and Scripture beyond the Pentateuch).  My study bible quotes St. Athanasius here:  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of knowledge of God for all the nations."    Finally, Jesus testifies that the Messiah (prophesied among the Jews), has risen among the Jews.  This salvation gift to the world comes from within Judaism.  When Jesus speaks of "the hour" in John's Gospel, He most frequently is referring to His death and Resurrection -- and here, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the inauguration of the worship of the new covenant.

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."  The significance of His reply can't be overstated.  Jesus says literally, "I AM who speak to you."  In Greek, the words I AM (ego eimi) is a divine name of God as revealed to Moses.  This is called epiphany or theophany, a revelation of God Himself (see Exodus 3:14).  My study bible points out that the use of this Name by a "mere man" was considered blasphemy and was punishable by death (John 8:58, Mark 14:62).  It says that as Jesus is divine, His use of the name reveals His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit, revealing that He is God Incarnate.

Jesus reveals Himself to a woman of Samaria.  Why?  We can ask this question over and over again to get a clue to this ministry, this revelation in the world.  If salvation is of the Jews, then why her?  Why this stranger, a woman -- of all things!  And a Samaritan!  It's incomprehensible, unless we start to think that revelations of God aren't about our expectations, but rather about truth teaching us something and stretching us beyond our own understanding.  It's a revelation in a revelation.  God's life and work can't be limited by us, by our understanding, by our expectation.  It can't be contained.  He tells her that the hour is coming when God will be worshiped in spirit and in truth.  But the fact that He's even speaking to her is another message about just that:  she's a woman, she's a Samaritan, He shouldn't even be speaking to her -- her first question reflects that startling reality that a Jewish man should even address her at all.  But all of that reveals something about God and the ways of the God who is Spirit:  it's not about the place, the name, the region, the tribe, the nation.  It's not about any of the barriers and boundaries we erect and understand as "earthly."  This is about God, what God is, and how therefore God is worshiped, even "where" God is worshiped as spirit -- in the heart.  What boundaries are there on the heart?  This paradox is yet another great thing to contemplate.  If the Kingdom of heaven, as Jesus will teach, is within us (and among us), then where is that Kingdom?  Doesn't it mean that the heart, the true center of a person, is a place of the greatest expansion, the most unlimited possible territory?  At least, this is the way that God is worshiped in spirit and in truth, in the place that is capable of the greatest expansion -- and yet also, the place where we block our understanding of God -- the heart.  We don't understand God truly unless we understand how God is worshiped and what God's nature is, as my study bible points out about today's reading.  And this is the emphasis of Jesus.  The heart is the one and only place where it can be understood how the Messiah could reveal Himself to a woman and a Samaritan at that.  That God is spirit, and can't be confined in a worldly sense, is the only way we can understand any of this.  So many centuries later, can we "wrap our heads" around this?  Can we understand its full significance?  It's awesome to contemplate.  Most of all, what we find is that our God will go anywhere and everywhere to find us, to find a heart willing to open and to understand.  Revelation 3:20 expresses the words of God well, through Christ:  "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."  The door is the door to the heart.    And please note that this invitation is to "anyone" who hears His voice and opens the door.  He will "come in to him and dine with him" -- and in this specific, magnificent, singular case, her -- and us with Him.  How can there be anything greater or more truly "awesome" than that?  This is what it is to worship God in spirit and truth.

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth

 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 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."  My study bible says, "The woman does not yet understand the significance of what is being offered, so Jesus initiates a new direction in the dialogue.  When the Lord reveals to her that He knows that her present partner, following a chain of spouses, is not her husband at all, she is prompted to think Jesus a prophet.  Though the Samaritans did not accept any prophet after Moses, they did look forward to the promise of the Moses-like Prophet (Deut. 18:15-18), the Restorer, the true Teacher, the Messiah.  The supernatural knowledge possessed by Jesus is manifested in many instances in John; regarding Nathanael (1:47-50); Lazarus' death (11:14); Peter's denial (13:38); what would befall Him after His arrest (18:4).  By reporting these insights John underscores the divinity of the Messiah."
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"Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."  My study bible points out that the Samaritan version of the Ten Commandments instructed that they worship on Mt. Gerizim.  The Jews worshiped on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem.  It says, "The woman, thinking Jesus was a prophet, posed to Him this burning dispute between Jew and Samaritan."

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father."  My study bible tells us, "The hour that is coming is the death of the Savior on the Cross, when the sacrifice made once and for all will supplant the necessity for any temple anywhere.  The idea that worship must be performed only at a specific place of revelation -- Mt. Zion or Mt. Gerizim -- will give way to His revolutionary teaching about worship in spirit and in truth."

"You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews."   Jesus affirms the validity of Jewish spiritual history and its revelation.  My study bible quotes St. Athanasius here:  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  Throughout John's Gospel, Jesus' disputes are with the religious leadership, not the people themselves, and certainly not the spiritual heritage of Judaism.  My study bible says, "The Messiah was prophesied within Judaism; the Incarnation took place among the Jewish people.  God's universal gift of salvation arises within the context of His promises to the Jews and their religious tradition."

"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."  A note here tells us, "While the Jews and Samaritans historically argued about where true worship takes place, Jesus teaches that worship is not tied to any certain geographical place.  Instead He turns to the heart of the matter:  the object of worship, God Himself, and how worship takes place.  The Father is worshiped in spirit -- that is, in the Holy Spirit who is given upon the completion of Christ's mission (14:26; 15:13; 20:22) -- and truth; which is Jesus Christ Himself (14:6) and His revelation.  God is Spirit, that is, He possesses a spiritual nature which cannot be confined to a particular geographic location.  Those who believe in the revelation of Christ and have the power of the Holy Spirit can truly worship God anywhere."

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."   The words here in the Greek are literally "I AM" (Gr. ego eimi), who speak to you."  My study bible says that "I AM" is the name of God, "its use indicates a theophany, or revelation of God (Gen. 17:1; Ex. 3:14).  This is the first instance in John of Jesus' use of this formula of self-revelation (see 6:35; 8:12, 58; 11:25).  Jesus reveals Himself to be more than the Mosaic Prophet and more than the Jewish Messiah; indeed, He is the Incarnate God Himself."

The great, direct revelation of God's Presence, and the Incarnation, comes to this Samaritan woman at Jacob's well.  One must puzzle why this is.  Why should it be revealed so far away from Jerusalem, from the central leadership, even from the Jewish people?  Here it is revealed even to a woman who is from a different sort of faith, one that doesn't hold to all Jewish traditions -- even though Jesus says here that "salvation is of the Jews," and He specifically states to her that "you worship what you do not know."  It's an important question to ask, and one that asks about mystery.  Why this revelation?  Why here?  Why to her?  It is the least likely place it could happen:  to a woman, an enemy of the Jews, and alone here at this well.  It's just another example of what we could call "the greatness of small things" -- that which has glory "not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts."  Jesus teaches her about worship in spirit and truth, and He gives us a powerful example of what that means, right here in His choice to reveal Himself to this woman, before all the world.  It is, in itself, an example of the power of the Spirit, that which truly blesses and brings us the presence of God.  This impossible beginning, unthinkable by human standards, comes to us by way of a conversation that, by custom of the time, should never even have taken place!  And all of the Gospels are full of this glorious power of small things, small beginnings, the most unlikely and impossible of scenarios, that bring us the greatest revelation, earth-shattering good news, reality that topples everything else and is to be received by the world.  A pregnant young virgin, uneducated fishermen, St. Peter, their leader, who is often so full of exuberance he doesn't know what he's saying, all of these unlikely beginnings turn us to the power of God, the reality of God who is Spirit, God who is present with us no matter where we are, what we may see before us, what we may think really is.  The Gospels tell us what is real, and what makes for greatness, in the wilderness where there is no food to be had, in a deserted place full of tombs and a raving demoniac, it doesn't matter what the setting, what is at hand, what we start with.  That God is Spirit, and to be worshiped in spirit and in truth, is the greatest news we can have, because it means that the Kingdom is everywhere, even where two or three are gathered, even within us.  Let us understand the greatness of small things, this powerful revelation spoken by one man, in a deserted place under the noon sun, with only this Samaritan woman to hear Him.  Let us look, with Zechariah, to our own day of small things, and the prayer and faith, the spirit and truth, that links us with everything that glory is made of.