Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe

 

 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. 

 

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

 

- John 4:43–54 

 

 On Saturday, we read of the outcome of Christ's visit to Samaria and His encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (see the first two readings in this story here and here):  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."

 

  Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  The two days refers to the two days Jesus remained in Samaria following the conversion of the Samaritan woman and her townspeople (see Saturday's reading, above).  Jesus' own country is Galilee.  Galileans were present in Jerusalem during the Passover (John 2:13-25) where Jesus apparently had performed many signs.  That was the first of three Passover feasts recorded in St. John's Gospel.  My study Bible comments that while the Galileans received Christ having seen His signs, St. John Chrysostom gives more credit to the Samaritans for accepting Christ based on words alone without the accompanying signs (see also John 20:29).  This statement that a prophet has no honor in his own country is reported in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24).

 

 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  My study Bible comments that here Christ admonishes the people in general (you is plural both times in Christ's statement) and not only the nobleman.  It says that faith based on miraculous works alone is insufficient for salvation; this kind of incomplete faith quickly turns to scorn should the miracles cease (John 19:15).  

 

 The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.  My study Bible notes that this nobleman's concern is clearly for his child, although his faith in Christ is weak.  He doesn't understand that Christ is Lord over illness even from a distance, and neither does he know that Christ would have the power to heal even if his child were to die.  Finally, he asks about the timing of the healing, suggesting that he still doesn't completely trust in Jesus' authority.  But after all is confirmed then he and his whole household believe.  My study Bible says that thus, in healing the child from a distance, Jesus heals not simply the body of the child, but the soul of the nobleman.  This is the second of seven signs reported in St. John's Gospel.  (The first was the turning of water to wine at the wedding in Cana.)

 

I recently had an experience of an acquaintance whose son fell ill with a very rare type of cancer.  He was quite healthy otherwise, and so the parents pursued many avenues of healing for their only child.  Sadly, this cancer had spread before anyone was aware of it, partly due to its very rare nature, and the fact that the child was otherwise a very healthy young man.  They prayed and enlisted many in their prayers for him.  But sadly, it could be observed that there was a belief at work that if only they believed hard enough that he would be healed, even miraculously, their prayers would come true.  Unfortunately the child -- a wonderful young man full of faith in Christ -- endured many treatments but ultimately was not cancer-free.  It remains perhaps the most tragic experience for so many of us who were praying and hoping.  But in my opinion, that young man who never gave up his faith in Christ, even when he (contrary to his parents' belief and promises) didn't believe he would be completely healed.  And this, to me, is a tremendous testimony to the boy for he faced difficulties that would test any of the saints we know, the martyrs we might have read about.  I was awed by what a tremendous positive and creative personality he had, and the love present in him and in his family.  In fact, it seemed as if he continued his treatments long after he did not feel he would get well, but did so for his parents' sake, and not to let them down.  Today's reading has prompted this memory, sad and tragic as it is (and perhaps dismaying to readers), because we have in a sense an opposite scenario.  A desperate man comes to Jesus, the Lord in the flesh, seeking healing for his direly ill son.  But he doesn't have that complete faith in Christ.  In fact, we read throughout the story that his faith is little.  Faith in him and his household is confirmed not after his son is healed, but when he found out what hour the son recovered.  The difference between the Gospel story for today, and the story of my friends and their sadly ill child is striking to me.  But one thing remains, and that is the power of Christ.  It is not "conjured" by us if we simply believe what we desperately want to believe.  The Lord, in the person of Jesus Christ, assured this nobleman his son will be healed in our story.  In the life we live in this world, full of its own sorrows and difficulties (including death and illness) we are charged not simply to believe that what we want will happen if we have enough faith, but rather to seek God's way to live through the difficulties and pursue our lives with the love, compassion, and insight that grace and prayer can give to us.  We don't know the outcome of all circumstances, and sad or tragic outcomes can happen, even things we most fear.  But what we are promised is the grace of God, our Savior's presence with us, and in the prayers of the faithful who also pray with us, including the saints in heaven.  Our faith is not about guaranteed outcomes, which is perhaps the hardest thing of all for us to accept, but it is about the grace we're given to live our lives through it, to build love and compassion, for our beloved dear ones who suffer to know our love is with them, and will continue with them.  And this is the promise we're given that in Christ, love and life is transcendent and abundant, even to an everlasting life.  The story of my friends, the parents who did so much with so much love, is not over. Through their efforts their son was beloved by many and will continue to be; they themselves were an inspiration to many.  Through God's love they will perhaps help many others in similar situations, but that remains to be seen.  Jesus says in today's reading, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  But perhaps we need to change our understanding of signs and wonders to include the grace of God that shows us how to love and guides us to compassion for those who suffer, even when our outcomes are not the perfection we desired.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

 

 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 

 

Yesterday, we continued to read the story of Christ's encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (see the first reading here).  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?"  My study Bible explains that the disciples marveled not only that Jesus spoke with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with an unaccompanied woman, which was potentially scandalous.  For more instances of Christ's dealings with women, 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.  This Samaritan woman becomes an early evangelist, according to my study Bible.  Here she testifies to the advent of Christ and brings others to Him.  According to an early tradition, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini, meaning "the enlightened one."  Together with her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  Later she and her family were martyred under the emperor Nero, by being thrown into a well.  On March 20 the Church remembers her and celebrates her feast day.  

 

 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."  Here is yet another instance of misunderstanding in John's Gospel, which opens for Jesus another opportunity to teach.  My study Bible explains that Christ fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father; so, therefore, this is His food.  It also teaches us that we are to perform the will of God in our lives without being distracted by earthly cares.  

 

 "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 says, Christ commands the disciples to "Behold!" because the townspeople were approaching, ready and eager to believe in Jesus.  Christ compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews) to fields ready for harvest.  This command, my study Bible 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."   According to St. John Chrysostom, those who sow and those who reap are the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles, respectively. My study Bible explains that the prophets sowed in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, but they did not see His coming and so did not reap.  The apostles did not do the preparation, but 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 shows us that the gospel is for all people in every nation, my study Bible notes here.

 

 This unlikely woman becomes a great apostle, and is venerated until today in the Church.  Her name, by which she's known as a saint, is "Photini."  The Greek root of this name is phos, meaning "light."  This name is generally translated as meaning "Enlightened" or "the enlightened one" (as it is above).  But what's important about the root of the name is that it comes from "light," as meaning one who carries light, or is infused by the light, shining, illumined.  What that light implies, of course, is the light of Christ, one who embodies the teaching of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, when He taught to us, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).  In the great mystery of this revelation by Christ to this woman, and her acceptance and understanding of His teaching and His identity as Messiah, is the mystery of illumination, what it means to be enlightened or illumined by Christ.  Regarding the concept of divinization, or theosis, there is often taught an analogy or example of just how we as human beings are capable of adopting the qualities of God through grace.  It is likened to a piece of metal being shaped in a fire, such as a sword.  The metal thrust into the fire takes on the properties of heat and even light, but it doesn't become fire, it remains metal.  So those illumined by God may take on properties of Christ's light, the illumination of the Holy Spirit, to reflect into the world this grace, this gift of holiness however it manifests in them.  In the case of this woman, her receptivity to Christ and her immediate faith captivated a whole town, and became a fire or light which she'd carry to other people and other nations, like the example of the lamp Christ preaches in the Sermon on the Mount.  We could even think of this name as describing someone who is radiant, but no doubt it bears greater similarity to the nimbus or halo of light portrayed around saints or images of the divine. This Samaritan woman, given to us in this Gospel of light by St. John, forms for us an image of our faith, of what salvation really means. The radiant life of Christ, through faith and grace, so permeates her life that she takes on its name. May that light remain shining in all of us so that we share it as she did.  

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, "Give Me a drink," you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water

 

 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.  So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  

 

Now Jacob's well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.  A woman of Samaria came to draw water.  Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."  For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 

 

Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.  Where then do You get that living water?  Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"  Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, no come here to draw."

 

- John 4:1-15 

 

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 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.  Samaria is the region to the north of Jerusalem, which was between Judea and Galilee.  Jesus journeys here after His experiences at the first Passover given in St. John's Gospel.  But notably, He comes to this Gentile land after He knew that the Pharisees had heard Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John.

 

 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.  My study Bible comments that the Old Testament does not mention Jacob's well, although Jacob did live in this area (Genesis 33:19).  According to my study Bible, wells were significant because of their rarity and their value in desert life.  Because of this, wells came to symbolize life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  This specific well is maintained as a shrine to this day, and pilgrims can drink from it.  It's noted also that Jesus is wearied from His journey, which shows us His complete humanity.  The sixth hour is noon; He is in a hot and arid climate, and it is likely summer.  In Church tradition, this woman is identified as St. Photini.  More will be learned about her in tomorrow's reading and commentary.  Regarding the Samaritans, my study Bible explains that they were a mixed race and traditional enemies of the Jews.  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 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 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."  My study Bible writes that living water in the ordinary sense means fresh, flowing water, from a stream or spring rather than from a pond or cistern.  It explains that Christ uses this term to mean the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (John 7:37-39).  This gift not only remains in a person, but is so abundant that it overflows to others.  As is frequently observed of St. John's Gospel, here this woman misunderstands Christ, and she asks, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  My study Bible comments that in the Scriptures, Jacob is a type of Christ, for he received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), which Christ fulfills.  Moreover, just as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, now Christ gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life.  

 

Imagine being this woman, and encountering Christ!  It might be difficult to imagine a circumstance which would be seemingly more incongruous in terms of understanding and accepting Christ and what He brings to this woman and to the world.  Would we imagine that she could understand?  As we will see, it will be even hard for the disciples to understand why Jesus speaks with any woman in a situation potentially scandalous  -- even if she were a Jewish woman alone, the same would apply.  But this woman is a foreigner, a Samaritan, part of a group at active enmity with the Jews.  So what can she understand of Christ (we're tempted to ask)?  Why does He speak with her?  Let us note that it is indeed He who engages her first, not she who speaks to Him.  We know that in all things Christ acts in accordance with the Father's will, and does nothing to deviate from His public mission of salvation.  So why her?  This is something we need to ponder, for the answers tell us so much about the Lord.  First we observe that there is no barrier to His role as the Lord.  She need not be Jewish for Him to approach her, and even to begin to speak of the great mysteries He brings with Him in His mission for the salvation of the world.  As we have just read in chapter 3, Jesus Himself said to Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  God loves the world, He said, not just one people or another; and God's Son has been given to the world out of that love, for all the world, and for the life of the world (John 6:51).  So we learn from this encounter that there are no barriers for Christ -- no barriers between human beings and our Lord; and moreover, that Christ's sacrifice, His giving of Himself to the world, also knows no boundaries that we, from a purely earthly perspective, might ascribe to Him.  So her supposed "preparation" for Him in terms of her education and understanding, her religious or cultural background, her gender, her status in the society, the customs practiced, and a host of other factors all mean nothing in terms of forming real barriers to Christ and to what He comes into the world to offer to all of us.  When we think we have an impossible task, something quite difficult to convey or express or to be understood, let us think about this circumstance.  For Christ to open up the powerful reality of the Holy Spirit, and even His own Incarnation, to this woman, someone of whom we might say she's the last person in the world we'd expect Him to speak to so directly.  St. John Chrysostom comments on another passage in St. John's Gospel, in chapter 7, when the temple officers failed to arrest Jesus, having been captivated by a single sermon.  He writes that when the mind is open, "there is no need for long speeches. Truth is like that."  In truth, we are made to be united to our Lord, the bride to Christ our Bridegroom, and so, as St. Chrysostom says, "Truth is like that."  He is the One who is the truth (John 14:6); when we encounter Him, we encounter truth.  This is another powerful mystery, how truth works within us, the recognition of Christ, the grace of faith.  Perhaps only our Lord, who began this conversation with the woman at the well, can truly understand it.  We will see further as we continue reading about Christ's encounter with the Samaritan woman in tomorrow's reading and commentary.  

 

 

 

 

Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe

 

 Now after two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. 

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."   So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. 

 

- John 4:43–54 

 

Yesterday we read that, following Christ's encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, 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 in 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."

 

  Now after two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  Christ's own country is Galilee (see John 1:46; 2:1; 7:42, 52; 19:19).   This statement, that a prophet has no honor in his own country, is so significant to the story of Jesus that it is found in all four Gospels.  See also Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24.

 

So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  My study Bible says that Galileans were present at Jerusalem during the Passover (John 2:13-25), when Jesus performed many signs.  As the Galileans received Christ after having seen His signs, greater credit is given to the Samaritans by St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible says.  This is because they accepted Christ based on words alone, without the accompanying signs (see also John 20:29).  

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  My study Bible comments that here Christ is admonishing the people in general (in the Greek, you in this verse is plural both times), and not simply the nobleman.  It says that faith which is based only on miraculous works is not sufficient for salvation.  Such an incomplete type of faith quickly turns to scorn if the miracles cease (John 19:15).  

The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."   So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  While this nobleman's concern is clearly for his child, it's also apparent that his faith in Christ is weak.  My study Bible suggests that he does not understand that Christ is Lord over illness even from a distance, and neither does he grasp that Jesus would have the power to heal even if his child were to die.  In the end, however, he inquires about the timing of the healing, as he still doesn't completely trust the Lord's authority.  It's only after everything is confirmed that he and his whole household believe.  So, my study Bible concludes, in healing the child from a distance, Jesus heals not only the body of the child, but also the soul of the nobleman. 

 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.   This is the second of seven signs reported in John's Gospel.  My study Bible comments that, having revealed that He can see into the hearts of people from a distance (John 1:45-48), Jesus now demonstrates that He can heal from a distance.  This reveals that Christ's divine power knows no earthly limits.  While there are similarities between this sign and the miracle recorded in Matthew 8:5-13, there are many crucial differences as well; these are two different encounters. 

 

Jesus' signs reveal the presence of the Kingdom, God extraordinarily present.  In the first sign Jesus turned the water to wine (John 2:1-12).  My study Bible referred above to Jesus' insight into the heart of Nathanael from a distance in John 1:45-48, revealing His divine quality as "heart-knower" (Acts 1:24, 15:8).  This is to compare the quality in today's reading that Christ can also heal at a distance.  Christ's quality of knowing is obviously more expanded than that, as He also knew enough from a distance to tell the nobleman, "Go your way; your son lives."  This kind of knowing that is not bound by distance (nor, obviously by physical sight or any other physical senses) is a part of the divine characteristics of Jesus Christ.  There will be five more signs in this Gospel revealing that identity.  It's interesting to think that these qualities or revelations of "signs and wonders" aren't merely done for the people who ask for them or receive them.  They are also done for the disciples, who will learn, through time spent with Christ and the increasing revelations they're given through His ministry, what He is all about.  These actions of Christ will reveal to the disciples, and, of course, to we who read and hear about them all these centuries later, just what Jesus is about, what the Son does, and even what is in His heart.  For we learn through these signs also that God is love, that Christ acts from compassion, and not simply a use of power to convince any of us about His identity.  This distinction is overwhelmingly important, because we need to understand "what manner of spirit we are of," as Jesus said to John and James Zebedee (Luke 9:55).  For our Lord does not use His divine power in any sense in which a worldly ruler or person of power would use it.  He does not use it to impress.  He does not use His power to prove Himself to anyone.  And, in fact, He will be repeatedly challenged to show that power -- to show some extraordinary sign -- in order to prove to the religious authorities that He is truly the One whom He says He is. He does not use His power in order to coerce or manipulate.  In point of fact, Christ will not use that power even to save His own human life when He is under threat of death at the Sanhedrin or in front of Pilate the governor of Judea.  (See also Matthew 26:53, giving us His words at the time He is placed under arrest in the garden of Gethsemane.)  Jesus does not use power to make an impression nor for any kind of "worldly" reason, except to reveal Himself in the right time and place for those who will be faithful.  And this is the reason why He does not do miracles on demand, or as proofs of His identity, nor even responds to scoffers who challenge Him in the ways in which they would desire Him to.  He acts out of a mission from the Father, to reveal the Father to human beings who are capable of grasping and receiving faith, He acts out of love, and mostly to reveal to us how much we are loved.  So much so, that we are offered eternal life with Him (John 3:16).  Perhaps we would be wise to consider our own motivations for the things we do.  Do we have a kind of mission?  If we were assigned such by Christ, what would it be?  He has commanded us, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  He will teach in John's Gospel, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:29).  Perhaps a greater motive for the things we do in life is to seek Christ's way; that is, to please God.  If we are confident in who we are, we needn't prove anything to the world, but seek the praise of God more than the "praise of men" (John 12:43).  Let us consider the ways He teaches us how to live by His own example in the use of His power, and in His signs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

 

 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 in 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 

 

On Saturday 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, 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."

 

  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?"  My study Bible tells us that the disciples marveled not only that Jesus spoke with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with a woman who was unaccompanied; this was potentially scandalous.  For more instances of Christ's dealings with women, see John 7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18, and 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.   This Samaritan woman becomes an early evangelist, my study Bible notes.  She testifies to the advent of Christ and brings others to Him.  According to an early tradition, it tells us, she was baptized with the name Photini, which means the "enlightened" or "illumined" one.  Together with two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  Later she was martyred with her family under the emperor Nero; she was thrown into a well.  Her feast day in the Orthodox Church is March 20th.

 

 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 note the misunderstandings that comprise new learning and teaching stories in John's Gospel.  Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father; therefore this is His food, my study Bible explains.  This also teaches us, it says, that 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!"  Jesus gives the command, "Behold!"  According to St. John Chrysostom, cited by my study Bible, this command to look was given because the townspeople were approaching.  They are ready and eager to believe in Christ.  Jesus compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews, that is) to fields which are ready for harvest.  This command, my study Bible says, 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 in 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."   Again my study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom here.  He teaches that those who sow and those who reap are the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles, respectively.  The prophets, sowed in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, but they did not live to see His coming, and therefore they did not reap.  The apostles didn't do the preparation, but they would draw thousands to Christ in their 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."  My study Bible notes that as these foreigners are among the first to recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world shows that the gospel is for all people in every nation.  

Just as Jesus has come to the hostile notice of the religious leaders in Jerusalem, so the gospel now begins to spread to Gentile territories.  Just as Jesus compares these Samaritan people to fields white for harvest (suggesting the traditional white dress of these people) so we might think of this people as those who were ready for the flame of Christ, ready to be illumined, as the name St. Photini conveys to us.  It's strange how there are times when seemingly whole peoples, like these from the town, come to Christ en masse, ready to listen to witness and come eventually to testify themselves.  It's remarkable to compare this story to all of the stories of rejection of Christ in the Gospels.  Why these people?  What makes them different?  Perhaps they don't have all of the expectations of the Jews that have been built up over this long period of waiting for the Messiah who would fulfill their hopes?  Is it possible that it's linked to the false expectations of a political messiah who would restore the fortunes of Israel and overthrow the Romans?  Perhaps it would be best if we took such a lesson to heart, and considered our own expectations of Jesus the Messiah.  What do we expect Jesus to do for us in our lives?  What makes these people so different?  Perhaps this woman is struck by Christ's boldness with her:  He speaks to her in an act that is totally unexpected, for a Jewish man like Him would normally have nothing to do with her -- both because she is a Samaritan and also because she is a woman alone.  He has revealed that He knows all about her life story and her string of husbands, and yet He has offered her something marvelous, too good to be true:  "living water" that "will become a fountain of water springing up into eternal life."  But she doesn't strike the listener as a person to be dazzled by such promises.  Rather, I think we can presume that she's simply ready to receive the light of His news, the gospel:  "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."  (See Saturday's reading, above.)  What makes us people who meet Christ at the place He meets us?  What prepares us for faith?  How do we receive the light Christ offers to us?  These are great mysteries, and today's story perhaps bears out Christ's words about the Holy Spirit said 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).    So how are we receptive to the Spirit?  What gets in the way of our becoming "enlightened" as St. Photini is here?  Let us consider the ways that Christ reaches into our hearts and minds, for our own resistance to that light and to the Holy Spirit makes all the difference between receiving this "living water" and living in denial of the life He offers.  How do we open our minds to the light and the beauty of Christ?

 

 

The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life

 

 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 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.  In a recent reading, Jesus has been to the temple in Jerusalem for the first Passover described in John's Gospel.  There He cleansed the temple.  He taught Nicodemus, a man of the Pharisees, by night while He was in Jerusalem, and then went east near the Jordan river, baptizing (but as the text tells us here, it was Christ's disciples who baptized).  He is already  clearly known to the religious leaders after cleansing the temple, but now that He has made and baptized more disciples than John -- who was widely revered as a holy man by the people -- this truly might pose a challenge to the authority of the Pharisees, in their sight.   In this context, Jesus once again journeys toward His home province of Galilee, far away from the authorities in Jerusalem.  But, as today's reading tells us, He needed to go through Samaria to go there.

 

 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 tells us that the Old Testament does not mention Jacob's well, although Jacob did live in this area (Genesis 33:19). It notes that wells were significant because of their rarity and their value in the life of the desert.  So, therefore, wells came to symbolize life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  Still today, this well is maintained as a shrine from which pilgrims can drink.  Jesus is wearied from His journey, which my study Bible says shows us His complete humanity.  The sixth hour is noon, with the sun at its highest point overhead.  In the tradition of the Orthodox Church, this woman is identified as St. Photini ("the illumined one").

 

 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 comments that the Samaritans were a mixed race and traditional enemies of the Jews.  Although they worshiped the God of Israel, and they were also awaiting the Messiah, they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (that is, the Pentateuch or Torah) as their Scriptures.  They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, 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 and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  Living water in the ordinary sense, my study Bible explains, means fresh, flowing water.  That is, water from a stream or spring rather than a pond or a cistern.  Jesus is using this term to indicate the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (John 7:37-39).  This gift not only remains in a person, my study Bible tells us, but it is so abundant that it overflows to other people.  This woman misunderstands Christ.  She asks Him, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  But in the Scriptures, Jacob is a type of Christ, for it is Jacob who received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), which is fulfilled by Christ.  Additionally, just as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, so now Christ gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life.  

The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."  Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."  The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."  Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet."  My study Bible comments that, since Jesus perceived that she was living with a man without being married, and as He knew of her many husbands, this woman perceives that Jesus is a prophet.  But the Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses, and so the only prophet that was expected by them was the Messiah foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  Jesus' insight into people's hearts, my study Bible says, reported so many times in the Gospels, is a characteristic that 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."  My study Bible tells us here that if Jesus was truly the expected Prophet, then He could settle the historical argument regarding where worship was to take place.  But Jesus refuses to answer an earthly question like this -- and He instead elevates the discussion to the manner in which people ought to worship instead.  More importantly, He focuses attention on the One whom we worship:  God.  The Father is worshiped in spirit (in the Holy Spirit) and in truth -- Christ Himself (John 14:6), and according to Christ's revelation.   God is Spirit:  My study Bible notes 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 Great, who teaches, "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all nations."  Moreover, Jesus testifies here that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, now has risen from among the Jews.  The gift of salvation in Christ has indeed come to all nations, but it has come from within Judaism.  The hour, my study Bible says, refers to Jesus' death and Resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which will inaugurate the worship of the new covenant. 

 

 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."  This sentence is literally translated "I AM [Greek εγω ειμι/ego eimi], who speak to you."  "I AM" is the divine Name of God, my study Bible reminds us (Exodus 3:14).  Its use here indicates a theophany, or revelation of God.  The use of this Name by a mere human being was considered blasphemy and was punishable by death (see John 8:58; Mark 14:62).  But, as Jesus Himself is divine, His use of this Name is a revelation of His unity with the Father and the holy Spirit.  He is God Incarnate.  

One can only imagine the impressions of this woman of Samaria sitting at the well of Jacob.  Her very first impression must have been one of being quite startled.  We can see this by her first question to Jesus, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  In the bright sunlight of noon, at a public well in a desert region, a Jewish man sitting alone would be quite out of place speaking to a Samaritan woman for any reason at all.  In accordance with the customs of these peoples, their time, and their place, this is potentially scandalous behavior on the part of Jesus to initiate a conversation in speaking to this Samaritan woman, even to ask for a drink of water.  So the first thing we must conclude from this story is Jesus' deliberate action in knowing what He was doing by engaging her this way.  From this beginning, one can only imagine how her wondering grew as she spoke with Jesus.  Imagine being told that if she knew with whom she spoke, she would ask for "living water" -- and another question later, that living water is explained as water that would "become [in a person] a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."   Not for the only time, a woman encountering Jesus becomes bold enough to speak up and ask things of Him: "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."  Perhaps such women are the ones who eventually reap the harvest of faith, for they are the ones who engage Him in return, and desire what He offers.  Here Jesus asserts what He already knows, that she's had many husbands, and so she thinks He's a prophet.  Again her boldness comes forward with Christ.  She asks about the religious controversy between her people and the Jews, and she gets much, much more in return than the answer to her query.  He tells her, "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 is such a startling and powerful truth we cannot underestimate its effects and its power, even today as people encounter it.  But then she tells Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ).  "When He comes, He will tell us all things."  Jesus then reveals to her more than He will reveal in Israel for some time to come:  "I who speak to you am He."  She is rewarded with a theophany:  a manifestation of God before her Incarnate.  How could we possibly imagine being the recipient of such an experience and encounter?  It does seem very important to note her boldness, that her encounter with the Lord does not produce in her a reticence or sheepishness, neither an apology for speaking up.  Perhaps it speaks to us mostly about a true and deep desire for what He offers, so much so that nothing stands in the way of her questions and requests.  As the name given to her in the Church (Photini, "enlightened" or "illumined one") will reveal, one thing is clear with her:  she is open and receptive to His light.  Her mind and heart are open to receive the truth He offers to her.  That is why this story is so important, because it is telling us that perhaps in the least likely places, God finds receptivity for what God offers, and here Jesus' truly prophetic words ring true about this woman:  that "the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth" and that "the Father is seeking such to worship Him."  She is the first to whom Jesus reveals Himself as Messiah.  That He does so in such a plain and direct way is proof to us of her capacity to receive Him and His identity in all its startling, even shocking fullness.  Let us also consider that He reveals to her the truth of the Father and the Spirit as well.   In the following reading, on Monday, we will read the rest of this story.  Let us marvel at the ways God works, even the Spirit who blows where He wishes, as Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3:8).  For she, too, will be washed with the waters of Holy Baptism, and illumined by the Spirit, forever known to us in the story of Jacob's Well and the living water that springs up into fountains within us.

 

 

Go your way; your son lives

 

 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. 

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  

 

The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  So Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. 

 

- John 4:43–54 

 

Yesterday we read that, after Christ had begun to speak with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, His disciples returned from purchasing food in the town, 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 thing 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."

 

  Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. Christ's own country is Galilee (John 1:46; 2:1; 7:42, 52; 19:19).  There were Galileans present at Jerusalem during the Passover (see this reading), where Jesus had performed many signs.  My study Bible comments that  while the Galileans received Christ, having seen His signs at the Feast, St. John Chrysostom gives greater credit to the Samaritans (see yesterday's reading, above) for having accepted Christ based on words alone, without the accompanying signs (see also John 20:29).  

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."   My study Bible comments here that Christ is admonishing the people in general (as you in this last verse here is plural both times), and not only the nobleman.  It says that faith based on miraculous works alone is insufficient for salvation; such a type of incomplete faith will quickly turn to scorn when the miracles cease (John 19:15).  

The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  So Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"   Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This nobleman's great concern is clearly for his child, although his faith in Christ is weak.  My study Bible says that he does not understand that Christ is Lord over illness even from a  distance, nor does he grasp that Jesus would have the power to heal even if the child were to die.  Then he asks about the timing of the healing, as he still does not completely trust the Lord's authority.  It's only after all is confirmed that he and his whole household believe.  Therefore, it notes, in healing the child from a distance, Jesus heals not just the body of the child, but also the soul of the nobleman.

This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. This is the second of seven signs that Christ performs as reported in John's Gospel.  My study Bible says that as He has revealed He can see into the hearts of people from a distance (John 1:45-48), Christ now demonstrates that He can heal from a distance; therefore, His divine power knows no earthly limits.  There are some similarities between this sign and the miracle which is recorded in Matthew 8:5-13, there are also some crucial differences; they are two different encounters.

It's rather interesting that Jesus has come again to Cana in Galilee -- where He made the water wine -- and here is also the setting for this second sign in John's Gospel.  We might wonder what it is about Cana specifically that enables or allows Christ to perform such miracles, as they are also dependent upon faith (Matthew 13:58).  We remember that, as my study Bible explains it, John uses the term "signs" in his Gospel, to show that these miraculous actions point beyond themselves to the truth that the Kingdom of God has come among us in the Person of Jesus Christ.  So, while the first sign was turning water to wine at the wedding in Cana, here Christ heals the nobleman's son from a distance.  It is a clear statement of Christ's authority as One who is divine, who is God, for who else could perform such an action?  Indeed, this is the point of the encounter with the centurion in the similar story in Matthew 3:5-13.  We have to wonder at the statement that forms a central crux of the story in today's reading, though, Christ's declaration, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."   Possibly, having returned from Jerusalem, and coming again to Cana, Jesus felt that more signs and wonders would not be necessary, that His previous signs both at Cana and in Jerusalem at the Passover would be enough.   He is apparently disturbed enough by this to remark upon the lack of faith He's finding.  Perhaps He's disappointed in these demands for signs and wonders, but that also becomes another reason for the healing.  The "little" faith the nobleman starts with in asking Christ to heal his son is enough for Christ to go on, so as to build up and strengthen a beginning faith.  For, after all, Christ has come into the world in order to save, and for salvation, it is necessary to have faith.  At any rate, we might assume, also, that the nobleman is used to giving orders himself, having a high rank in the society.  At this stage, Jesus (although not a nobleman, nor even a Levitical priest or member of the ruling Council) in some sense is socially equal to the nobleman; it is the nobleman who must approach him and plead for help, demanding that He "come down" to heal his son.  But Jesus need not travel down to where the boy is, and with only the words "your son lives" the boy is healed.  This is a command indeed, that traverses space and time so as to be instantaneous.  There are no barriers to Christ, and thus what we see is an expression of power and authority that knows no boundaries at all, beyond the capacity of the nobleman to imagine.  It places Christ squarely in the place of the divine, the One to whom "every knee should bow" (Philippians 2:10).  So Christ is beyond the nobleman in this sense, someone with superseding authority beyond all that we know.  This is the great sign of God's Kingdom being present in Him, yet again, for the second sign given in John's Gospel.  He has insight into those who would become His disciples, insight into the Samaritan woman at the well to whom He directly revealed His divine identity, and now here, He heals at a distance as well, without needing to be shown, without needing to be present, without being told about the ailment leading to death of the boy.  All of our conventional understanding of limitation are not present to Him, but He is clearly present in all ways to us.  That is, in His Incarnation, He heals what ails, and brings His divinity to our humanity.  If He can heal this boy, He can also hear our prayers, for there is no stopping the action and intention of the Lord.  All we need is our faith.