I who speak to you am He

 

 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 this 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 who 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.   Here Jesus has attended the first Passover Feast given in John's Gospel (there will be two more as the Gospel covers stories of subsequent periods in Jesus' earthly ministry), and His disciples were baptizing in Judea.  But now we are given notice that the Pharisees are keeping a wary eye on Jesus.  John the Baptist was a very renown figure in his own time, and highly regarded as a holy man by the people.   At this point, however, Jesus is eclipsing John in terms of numbers of people who are following Him.  So He is going back to Galilee, away from the center of power of the Pharisees in Jerusalem.  Samaria is the region to the north of Jerusalem, and is between Judea and Galilee (see this map).

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 comments here that the Old Testament doe snot mention Jacob's well, although Jacob did dwell in this area (Genesis 33:19).  It says that wells were significant because of their rarity and their value in desert life.  Therefore, wells came to be a symbol of life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  This well continues to be maintained as a shrine to this day, and pilgrims can drink from it.  That Jesus is wearied from His journey reveals to us His complete humanity.  The sixth hour is noon.   In the tradition of the Church, this woman came to be known 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 explains that the Samaritans were a mixed race people and traditional enemies of the Jews.  Although they worshiped the God of Israel, and were also awaiting the Messiah as did the Jews, they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch or Torah) as their Scriptures.  They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, which was destroyed by the Jews 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 this 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, used as a phrase in the ordinary sense, means fresh and flowing water.  That is, from a stream or spring rather than from a pond or cistern.   Christ uses this terms, my study bible says, to mean the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life (John 7:37-39).   This gift, it says, not only remains in a person, but it is also so abundant that it overflows to others.  The woman misunderstands what Christ is saying, and she asks Him, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"   In the Scriptures, Jacob is a "type" of Christ.  Jacob received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), which Christ fulfills.  (See also this reading and commentary for more on the divine ladder.)   Moreover, just as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, now Christ gives to the world 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 who 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."  As Jesus understood that she was living with a man without being married, and also knew of her long list of husbands, this woman perceives that Christ is a prophet.  As the Samaritans accepted no prophets after Moses, the one prophet they expected was the Messiah, who was foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-18.  My study bible points out that Christ's 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."  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 says that if Jesus was truly the expected Prophet, then He could settle this historical argument between Jews and Samaritans about where worship was to take place.  But Jesus refuses to answer the question on this very "earthly" basis, and instead elevates the discussion to the manner in which people ought to worship.  More importantly, Christ turns the attention to the One whom we worship:  to God.   As my study bible frames Jesus' teaching here, 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 Christ's revelation.  When Jesus reveals that God is Spirit, it is an affirmation that God cannot be confined to a particular location.  Those who receive the Holy Spirit and believe in Christ, my study bible tells us, can worship God the Father with purity of heart.  Salvation is of the Jews is an affirmation that true revelation of God 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."  Even more importantly, here Jesus testifies that the Messiah, who had been prophesied among Jews, had now risen from among the Jews.  While the gift of salvation in Christ is to all nations, my study bible explains, it has come from within Judaism, as the Gospels testify.  The hour that Christ says is coming refers to the death and Resurrection of Christ, and to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which inaugurates the worship of this new covenant, in spirit and in truth.

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."  This phrase is literally translated from the Greek as "I AM [in Greek, ego eimi/εγώ εἰμι], who speak to you."  A theme which will be returned to in this Gospel, "I AM" is the divine Name of God, as given to Moses in Exodus 3:14.  Jesus' use of this Name indicates a theophany, or revelation of God.  The use of this Name by a mere human being was considered to be blasphemy, and was punishable by death (see John 8:58, Mark 14:62).  But, as Jesus is Himself divine, the use of the Name here reveals His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  We are to understand that Christ is God Incarnate.

If Jesus is God, as witnessed by His utterance of the Divine Name of God, the I AM, then what are we to make of the Scriptures themselves, which tell us about Him?  Is not all of Scripture a revelation of God?  Jesus reveals Himself to this woman of Samaria, as she's called in John's Gospel, and at the same time, we're given echoes of revelation that extend all around us as we read, for the Scriptures also are inspired and given by God in order to reveal God to us.  The same is true of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.  He is born in the flesh in order to reveal God to us, to manifest to us.  As John says in his Prologue to this Gospel:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).  To behold His glory, in the flesh, as one of His disciples, is to be one to whom God was revealed in God's manifestation of divinity in this world.  John also speaks here of theophany; that is, a revelation of God.  In the Greek, theos is God, and -phany comes from the word phainein, which is literally from the term "bring to light," and means to show, reveal, or manifest.  So Jesus, as the Word Incarnate, chooses to "show Himself" even in His divinity to this woman who seems like the last of all possible candidates for such a revelation.   Surely it is a sign that the Gospel, another revelation of God (and of the Word), will go out to all the world.  But it truly redefines for us -- and especially redefined for Christ's contemporaries and those of every century to follow -- to whom that revelation belongs, and for whom it occurs.  For she is the least of these personified, in some sense.  She is a woman, she is a despised foreigner, she is a person with whom no Jew (and particularly no Jewish male) would normally ever be having a conversation with, and especially when unaccompanied by others.  Not only is she a woman, and a Samaritan, but she's also one who's had a string of husbands and is living with a man to whom she's not married at all.  All of this is potentially scandalous for His time and place.  And so importantly, Jesus knows all of this about her.  So why her?  Why is He talking to her and revealing to her not only His own divinity, but even the Holy Spirit which will be given (the "living water"), and also the manner in which God must be worshiped under the new covenant He brings ("in spirit and in truth")?  Why her?  She is precisely an example of the "least of these" whom Christ has come to serve.  Jesus breaks just about every social taboo of His time and milieu to speak with her.  She is an infinite blank variable of a type that we can continue to "fill in" through any stereotypical example we can find in our own world, our own time, our own place, our own lives.  She is the least likely person with whom we might be in contact, whomever that might be.  All we have to do is to fill in the category of the last person with any "currency" in a group; she's basically that person.  This great theophany or revelation of God, within the entire Book that is a revelation of God, reveals to us something so significant about God that we might miss it although it is here in plain sight, as revelations of truths about God so often might be missed if the examples in the Gospel are anything to go by.   It reveals to us that God knows no boundaries when it comes to God's creatures, that whatever limits we might put on God and God's word and God's love and the eligibility of our fellow beings for that love and that word will always be off.  It tells us that when we see a person who is some sort of scandal to us, that God just might appear out of nowhere seeking to reach right into that person and claim that one for God, just as this one will become known as St. Photini in the Church.  The reason for her name, "the Illumined One" will become more clear in tomorrow's reading.  In that grand landscape that is the reality of the heart, with so much hidden in it, God might just reach in to find exactly the stuff that is capable of returning God's love, and so returning one who was lost back to God.  And that is something we can never ever lose sight of.  Because if we are truly Christ's disciples, we also must understand how much effort is put in simply in order to reach us.  If that is not a humbling thought, consider how likely it is that Christ would reach to you or to me wherever we are, in the quiet of the moments we give up on our own way, or come to terms with our own limitations.  For that is a love that never, ever stops and knows no limits in its efforts to reach me and to reach you.

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

 

 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.  So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Now Jacob's well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.  

 

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.  Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."  For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being  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.  Now Jacob's well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.  Samaria is the Gentile region north of Jerusalem, and between the regions of Judea and Galilee.  Although the Old Testament doesn't mention Jacob's well, Jacob did live in this area (Genesis 33:19).  Wells are significant in the cultures of the entire region, because of their rarity and their value in desert life.  Therefore, my study bible explains, well came to symbolize life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).   This same well is still maintained as a shrine.  Pilgrims can come and drink from it.  My study bible points out that Jesus is wearied from His journey, which shows His complete humanity.  The sixth hour is noon; it is no doubt hot at this time in the region, as it must be at least late spring or early summer, considering that we read about Jesus attending the Passover festival in chapter 2. 

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  Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. This woman is identified in the church tradition as St. Photini (we will write more about her in tomorrow's reading and commentary).  My study bible explains 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 as were the Jews, they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Torah, or Pentateuch) as their Scriptures.  They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim (to which Photini refers a little further along in her conversation with Jesus), 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, nor come here to draw."    In its common usage, the term living water means fresh, flowing water.  That is, from a stream or spring rather than from a pond or cistern.  Christ, however, uses the term here to indicate the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to eternal life, as my study bible puts it (7:37-39).  This gift, it says, not only remains in a person, but is abundant so as to overflow to others as well.  The Samaritan woman misunderstands Jesus, and asks Him, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  In Scripture, Jacob is a "type" of Christ, as Jacob received the vision of the divine ladder which is fulfilled in Christ (Genesis 28:12).  Moreover, as Jacob gave the well for earthly life, 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."  Jesus is the "heart-knower" (see, for example, Matthew 9:4).  He perceives she was living with a man without being married, and also knew of her past husbands, and therefore she believes that Jesus is a prophet.  My study bible explains that as the Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses, the only prophet they expected was the Messiah, as foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  This capacity for insight into the hearts of people, which is reported many places in the Gospels, underscores Christ's 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."  If Jesus was the expected Prophet (as foretold by Moses, indicated in the previous verses), then He could settle this historical argument between the Jews and Samaritans about where worship was supposed to take place.  But Jesus does not answer this "earthly" question directly, and elevates the discussion to a question of how people ought to worship instead.  Moreover, He turns her attention to the One whom we worship:  God.  The Father is worshiped in spirit -- in the Holy Spirit -- and in truth -- Christ Himself (14:6), and according to the revelation of Christ.  God is Spirit:  My study bible explains 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:  Christ affirms that true revelation comes from Judaism.  My study bible quotes St. Athanasius the Great:  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  Even more essential to our understanding is that Jesus is testifying that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  The gift of salvation in Christ is open to all nations and people, but it has come from within Judaism.  The hour which is coming refers to the death and Resurrection of Christ and the subsequent 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."  I who speak to you am He is translated literally:  "I AM, who speak to you."  In Greek that "I AM" is ego eimi/εγω ειμι, and this is the language of the Septuagint Old Testament Scriptures for the divine name of God (Exodus 3:14).  My study bible says that its use here indicates a theophany; that is, a revelation of God.  The use of this Name by a mere human being was considered blasphemy and punishable by death (see 8:58; Mark 14:62).   But, since Jesus is divine, His use of this Name reveals His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He is God Incarnate.

So why this woman?  Why does Jesus reveal Himself as Christ to this woman, first before all?  She is an outsider, a Samaritan, and also female.  As she herself comments right from the beginning, "How is it that You, being  Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  Do we understand her correctly, that she is surprised -- or should we say shocked? -- that any Jewish man would even speak to her, even to ask for a drink at a well on a hot day at noon when He is already wearied from His journey?  Here is one key, she is highly interested in what He has to tell her.  As He speaks, He draws her out, and she keeps asking questions.  She doesn't scoff or doubt, but asks Him where she can get that "living water."  She recognizes something given from God in Him, and comments that He is a prophet.  She keeps coming back, and asking.  She decides that He is the One who can settle the matter of where worship should take place.  Let's note, like another foreign woman in the Gospels (Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:27-30), she accepts all that Christ says.  She doesn't protest when He tells her that salvation is of the Jews.  She shows a level of humility that reflects an immediate trust, a willingness to hear what He says to her, what He has to reveal.  But lest we think she is merely gullible, or just "submissive" (if we want to use that word), let us note how she speaks up, and how many questions she asks of Him.  She is not afraid to demand some of that living water for herself!   Let us note also her discernment:  she says "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet."   In these actions, she shows some of the character traits we find in Mary, the mother of Christ, who wonders at Gabriel's greeting, must question his message, and considers before responding (Luke 1:26-38).  We find a person who is open to faith -- and especially to the truth of Christ, and who is not afraid to admit the truth of her life and her place before Christ.  She is alert to what He tells her.  She uses her mind, her spirit and soul, and earnestly seeks what is good, directly questioning to find it.  Neither is she appalled at the strangeness of such circumstances or afraid.  She does not run away, but speaks up.  She makes a plea (as in our prayers) for the living water Christ speaks about.  This is, then, a model for our faith.  In tomorrow's reading, we'll find the next half of this story, and what happens later. 

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

St. Photini speaks with Christ at Jacob's well.  Manuel Panselinos, c. 1300; fresco.  Protaton Church, Karyes settlement, Mt. Athos, Greece

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 man, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?"  Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

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

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

- John 4:27-42

In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, "Go, call your husband, and come here."  The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."  Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ).  "When He comes, He will tell us all things."  Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"    The disciples marveled not only that Jesus spoke with a Samaritan, but also that He spoke with an unaccompanied woman, something which was potentially scandalous.  My study bible refers us to further instances John's Gospel gives us of Christ's dealings with women:  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 man, "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, as she testifies to the advent of Christ, and also brings others to Him (see the last verses of today's reading).  According to an early tradition, my study bible tells us, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini, which in Greek means "the enlightened one."  Along with her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the Gospel.  Eventually she was martyred with her family under the emperor Nero by being thrown into a well.

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 another incident in which Jesus uses a metaphor, and misunderstandings serve for gradual illumination of His expressions and teachings.  My study bible says that He fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father.  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 (6:27; see 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!"  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that Jesus' command to look was given because the Samaritan townspeople were approaching, ready and eager to believe in Him.  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 who wants 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."  Again, according to the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, those who sow and those who reap are, respectively, the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles.  The prophets, my study bible says, sowed in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, but they did not see Christ's coming and thus did not reap.  The apostles did not do the preparation, but they will 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."  My study bible comments that the fact that these foreigners are among the first to recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world is evidence that the gospel is for all people in every nation.

The story of Christ's ministry is all the more interesting because of its seemingly meandering unfolding.  It's almost as if the ways in which it expands, and the surprising ways in which people open up to the Gospel, are all unexpected.  Certainly for the disciples, this opening up to the Samaritans must have been a complete surprise, even possibly a kind of a shock.  When they are set out on their first apostolic mission, Jesus tells them neither to go to the Gentiles nor the Samaritans, but "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:5-6).  But here, because they are passing through Samaria on their way to Galilee, Jesus has taken the strange and unusual opportunity to speak alone with this Samaritan woman alone at Jacob's well, and she has brought an entire town to faith through listening to His word.  The Gospel opens up in strange ways and at strange intervals, always surprising.  When we forget about this surprising nature of faith, and the surprising nature of the work of God in the world, we lose our sense of mystery and that dimension of understanding that is so necessary to knowing what we are about.  While we might have great evil in the world, and experience hurt and hardship and the sadness of pain in the world, there are also moments of great beauty and insight, times when the truth will surprise us.  Suddenly there are things that bloom and unfold like flowers that blossom unexpectedly.  New developments shatter the assumptions of the past, and open up and broaden the word of God to shed new light on its facets and greater aspects than those to which we were already accustomed.   This is the surprising way of the new covenant that unfolds as Jesus' ministry in the world, and it might also be the surprising way in which faith also works in our own lives and through the journey of our own way of following Him.  Our faith can't be bottled into easy formulas, because the mystical reality of God is always present and at work.  Jesus says to Nicodemus of the Holy Spirit:  "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" (3:8).  Let us note Christ's words:  "So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Our own baptism is a type of "sign" that opens up new worlds of creativity, insight, wisdom, and the work of God in us.  This is the way of the Holy Spirit, and these Samaritan believers are a part of that harvest of God's work in the world to which Jesus introduces His disciples in today's reading.  How are the fields ripe for harvest in your life?  Is there a surprising way to go forward that opens up for you?  While some doors close, Christ always finds a new and surprising way to go forward.  So is God's work in our own lives.  Let us bear in mind that, like the disciples, we are laborers for that harvest, and there is always work before us.  We need simply open our eyes, as does St. Photini.

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?

The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 12th century.  St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

 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." 

- 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.  Now Jacob's well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.   Jesus is traveling northward toward Galilee, to get away from the scrutinizing eyes of the Pharisees who zealously guard their religious authority.  Samaria is the region north of Jerusalem, between Judea and Galilee.  My study bible points out that the Old Testament does not mention Jacob's well, but we do know that Jacob lived in the area (Genesis 33:19).  Wells were significant, my study bible says, both because of their rarity and also their value in desert life.  Therefore, wells were to symbolize life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  This well is maintained as a shrine to this day, and pilgrims can drink from it.  That Jesus is wearied from His journey shows us His full humanity.  This is desert country, and the period is at least late spring or perhaps early summer, after the Passover and Christ's time spent afterward in Judea; the sixth hour is noon. 

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.   In the tradition of the Church, this woman is known as St. Photini (more about her in the next readings).  My study bible explains that the Samaritans were a mixed race of both Jews and Gentiles, 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 or Torah) as their Scriptures.  They had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, which the Jews destroyed in 128 BC.  (In tomorrow's reading, we will see her reference this dispute over the location of the temple.)  We may find Jesus' command strange, "Give Me a drink."  But in the customs of the time, what is unusual about it is simply that He, a Jewish man alone with this Samaritan woman, would speak to her at all.  His request for water is meant deliberately to draw her out.

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."  My study bible explains that living water in the ordinary sense of the term means fresh, flowing water.  That is, water from a stream or spring rather than a pond or a cistern.  Jesus uses this term to indicate the grace of the Holy Spirit which leads to eternal life (7:37-39).  My study bible says that this gift not only remains in a person, but it is so abundant that it overflows to others.  The woman misunderstands Him, and she asks, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  But this is a spiritual reflection that teaches us something about Christ, that Jacob, in His light, is a "type" of Christ, as Jacob received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12), which is fulfilled in Christ -- in His Incarnation, He is the living ladder between heaven and earth.  Moreover, as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, my study bible says, now Christ gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life.  We notice that through His words, Christ has drawn in this woman to great curiosity about the water He speaks about.  In the following readings, He will continue to explain His message.

Jacob's ladder was the vision given to Jacob in a dream, of a ladder between heaven and earth, upon which angels ascended and descended (see Genesis 28:10-22).  It is the story of the promised land, the holy place where God dwells.  In today's story, God has come to this well, not only blessing the place and the people who are looked down upon and cast away by the Jews, but more importantly, illuminating and enlightening the people, and casting away false belief.  The name of this woman, St. Photini, means "illumined" or "enlightened one."  We will read more about her tomorrow.  But what is important is that, through this visitation of Christ, Jacob's vision of the ladder is fulfilled, as well as his words that, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" (Genesis 28:16-17).  The Lord is indeed in this place, and where He is there is the gate of heaven, which He will open to the people through this woman listening to Him at the well, as He teaches about the "living water" which He will give.  In that sense, Jesus is both the well and the ladder -- for it is He who has the gift of the living water to give to others.  The notion of the ladder as an image of spiritual journey toward God was an important one to the early Fathers of the Church, and later was developed into an understanding of monastic asceticism, particularly in the book of The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus.  Jesus Himself refers to Jacob's ladder earlier in John's Gospel, when He tells Nathanael, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" (John 1:51).  So everything in this story in today's reading can be approached with this understanding in mind, that Jesus comes as fulfillment of the promises and visions of the Old Testament, that He is the ladder dreamed of by Jacob, and that God is present here at this well, and promising an abundance of living water as gift for those who ask.  In tomorrow's reading, we will find that, like the "ladder" of monastic ascent in asceticism, there are truths required of us in receiving this water and this blessing, a kind of humility in which we are willing to go forward, to find instruction, an honesty about ourselves and where we need to go.  All of this remains for us to see, and even to experience for ourselves in our own journey with Christ.  For today, let us picture this scene in the hot desert climate, at noon, of the weary traveler (Jesus) who promises a gift of water that will become in those who receive it "a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  God remains with us and this water remains a gift for us.  He still reaches out to offer it to those who will receive the gift, and make the journey to the life He offers.

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

 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

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?"  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.  The disciples were in the town seeking food, while Jesus had remained at Jacob's well, where He began speaking to the Samaritan woman.  The disciples are apparently so confounded not only that He should be speaking to a woman alone, but even a Samaritan woman, that they simply can say nothing to Him.  Christ's encounters with women defy the social restrictions of His time to teach us about His love for all of His children and our reciprocity in faith to Him (see John 7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18 -- also Luke 8:1-3).  This is the Gospel written by the disciple who would become entrusted son to Christ's mother after His death (19:26); one cannot help but feel that the view the Gospel gives us into Jesus' relationships with women reflects this experience and subsequent understanding.  Meanwhile, the Samaritan woman, who is to be called St. Photini ("the enlightened one" in Greek) later on in the Church, becomes a kind of evangelist herself, going to her own townspeople to tell them about Jesus.  My study bible notes that along with her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  Later on she was martyred with her family under the emperor Nero, by being thrown into well.  In the Eastern Churches she is remembered on March 20.

In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."  But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."  Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."  Here is another example of how misunderstanding is used in John's Gospel to illumine and create understanding; common expressions open the way to spiritual understanding as Christ uses them.  Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father.  Therefore, this is His food.  My study bible adds that this passage teaches us that we are to perform the will of God in our own lives without being distracted by earthly cares (6:27; see also Matthew 4:4; 6:25-33). 

"Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!"  According to St. John Chrysostom, cited by my study bible, Christ's command to behold and look is given as the townpeople are approaching, and they are ready and eager to believe in Him and His message.  Jesus compares these foreigners (Samaritans, enemies of the Jews) to fields which are ready for harvest.  My study bible adds that this command is also to all believers, to look to those around us and to share the gospel with anyone who wants 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."  Again, St. Chrysostom's commentary is cited 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 see His coming and therefore did not reap.  The apostles did not do the preparation, but they will draw thousands to Christ within their own lifetimes and through their own labors and entering into the labors of others.   By the same token, we today are not alone in our faith, but enter into an entire communion of saints and their labors, reaping where they have sown in our faith.

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 very first to recognize Christ as the Savior of the world, it shows us that the gospel is for all people in every nation.

These Samaritans do what each of us must do in our faith.  They hear about Christ, and then they come and hear Him for themselves; this is how they know that Christ is the Savior of the world.  In the first chapter of John's Gospel, when Jesus' very first disciples were taught by John the Baptist, "Behold the Lamb of God," Jesus' response to them is to "come and see" for themselves (John 1:35-42).  On the following day, when Philip and Nathanael are called, Nathanael says to Philip, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  And Philip tells Nathanael, "Come and see" (John 1:43-51).  So it is with each of us.  We may hear about Christ and read about Him.  We may find all kinds of sources to teach us about Him.  But each encounter must finally be brought home to ourselves and our experience of our faith, and even our own personal experience of Christ.  We enter into a communion and more; we participate in the life of Christ through the practices of the Church, in particular, through the Eucharist.    In chapter 6, Jesus teaches, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (see 6:53-58).  In chapter 15, He teaches, "Abide in Me, and I in you" (15:4).   Certainly in the Eucharist we find a complete fulfillment of His words and teachings.  What Christ asks us to do is enter into the deepest communion with Him, on all levels.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit that makes this possible.  We are each called to "come and see" for ourselves, and in the language of the Scriptures, to "abide with Him."   Our work of faith requires a kind of close communion that brings us into union with Him.  This is not merely an intellectual understanding of the faith He offers and the teachings He gives.  It isn't even a kind of obedience to a set of rules or commands.  It is rather a closeness so close there can be no closer.  We are to live this relationship of communion and to experience it for ourselves.  In our prayer we are not called to "speak with ourselves" as did the Pharisee in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14).  We are instead called to enter into a dialogue with God.  What we find is an integration of body, soul, and spirit, which will call us both to sacrifice and to commands within the body of the Church and in a communion which also includes our own hearts.  Each one of us must live this journey for ourselves, must bear our own crosses for ourselves.  Without such encounter, faith is not full, for love is all about communion and depth of encounter.   Indeed, when Jesus speaks in today's reading of entering into others' labors, and reaping what we do not sow, He is clearly illustrating what it means to be a part of such a communion.  In Revelation 3:20, we are told, "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."  This is the fulfillment of the words, "Come and see," and it is a knock and a call for each one of us.

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

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 after the Passover in Jerusalem,  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.  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.  Samaria is to the north of Jerusalem; it is a territory located between Judea and Galilee (map).   Jesus leaves Judea because the growing popularity of His ministry has gained the attention of the Pharisees.  The sixth hour is noon; this is after Passover, possibly late spring or even summer.  We can imagine the heat in this region.  In my mind, I imagine a quiet time.  Jacob's well is deserted, save for Christ alone with this woman who came to draw water.  My study bible tells us that, although the Old Testament doesn't mention Jacob's Well, Jacob lived in this area (Genesis 33:19).  It notes that wells were significant because of their rarity and their value in desert life.  Therefore, wells began to symbolize life itself (Psalms 36:9-10, 46:4, Isaiah 55:1).  This well still is kept as a shrine, where pilgrims may drink of it.  That Jesus is wearied from His journey shows His complete humanity.  This Samaritan woman is identified in the Orthodox tradition as St. Photini.

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.  My study bible explains that the Samaritans were a mixed race and also traditional enemies of the Jews.  They worshiped the God of Israel, and also were awaiting the Messiah.  They accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (Pentateuch, or written Torah) as their Scriptures.

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."  My study bible explains that living water in the ordinary sense means, fresh and flowing water, from a  stream or spring rather than pond or cistern.  Christ uses the term to mean the grace of the Holy Spirit which leads to eternal life (7:37-39).  It is a gift that does  not simply remain within a person, but rather overflows to others in its abundance.  This woman misunderstand Jesus, and asks if He is greater than our father Jacob.  Jacob, my study bible explains, is a "type" of Christ, having received the vision of the divine ladder (Genesis 28:12).  Earlier, in John's Gospel, Jesus referred to Himself as one whom upon whom Nathanael would see angels ascending and descending, a reference to Himself as Jacob's Ladder (1:51), the vision which He fulfills.  Moreover, as Jacob gave this well for earthly life, Christ now gives us 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."  As Jesus understood that this woman was living with a man without married, and also that he knew of her whole history of many husbands, she perceives that He is a prophet.  As they followed the Pentateuch, the Samaritans had not accepted any prophets after Moses.  So the only prophet they expected was the Messiah foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  Once again, John's Gospel teaches us about Jesus' knowledge of people's hearts, underscoring the divine nature of Christ.

"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 woman refers to the temple the Samaritans on Mt. Gerizim, which had been destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC.  If Jesus was the expected Prophet referred to by Moses, He could settle this historical argument between the Samaritan and the Jews regarding where temple worship was to take place.  But Jesus has come to bring a fullness of worship with a new understanding, and He does not answer this earthly question.  Rather He speaks of the way in which people ought to worship:  in spirit and truth.  My study bible comments that Jesus goes beyond this, to teach about God.  The Father is worshiped in spirit; that is, the Holy Spirit -- and in truth, in Christ Himself (14:6).   Jesus reveals that God is Spirit; as such, God cannot be confined or determined in one location.  My study bible suggests that those who receive the Holy Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ can worship God the Father with purity of heart.  Jesus also tells her that salvation is of the Jews.  That is, the true revelation of God comes from Judaism.  St. Athanasius writes:  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  Moreover, my study bible adds, Jesus testifies that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  It adds, "While the gift of salvation in Christ is to all nations, it has come from within Judaism.  When Jesus speaks of the hour that is coming and now is, He refers to His death and Resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."  This statement is literally translated from the Greek as "I AM [Greek εγω ειμι/ego eimi] who speak to you."  I AM is the divine Name of God revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:14).  The use of this Name indicates it is what is called a "theophany," a revelation of God.  The use of the Name by a human being was considered to be blasphemy and therefore punishable by death (see 8:58, Mark 14:62).  As Jesus is divine, His use of this Name is a revelation of His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Christ is God Incarnate.

What can we say about the gift of Christ to this woman?  How is it possible that He reveals Himself first to this woman, this native of Samaria of the people hated by the Jews?  How can we possibly compare the gift of Christ to any gift we have received in our lives, when He reveals Himself not to the nominally "greatest" people of this world, but to this particular woman, alone at this well, who has had a string of husbands and lives with a man she's not married to?  How can we possibly compare this gift that He gives to anything we have received in our own lives?  In revealing Himself as God this woman, Christ has said to the world that He reveals Himself to each one of us, and gives, and offers, each of us this gift.  What must we do to be unworthy of the gift?  He does not ask us for worthiness.  He asks us to receive and take the journey of faith toward His fullness, and that is commitment -- and sacrifice -- enough.  Let us make note that in today's reading Jesus also reveals Himself as the cup, the chalice of reconciliation of all things.  He is the answer to all questions.  What the woman perceives (and rightly so under the historical circumstances) as a historical fight or disagreement between the Samaritans and the Jews is in fact resolved in Christ.  There is no dispute here.  God is worshiped in spirit and in truth -- and the Father is seeking those who are capable of this worship to be called to the worship that Christ offers, and to the fullness of the reality of the Trinity.  Jesus is the Son who comes searching for those who can receive this gift, and who are capable of receiving and worshiping in this way, through this understanding -- through the power of the Trinity at work in our world and in our lives.  Everything becomes transfigured in this worship, in this message, in this gift that is on offer to us in the encounter at the well.  How appropriate that John tells us it is high noon, the time when the sun is highest in the sky, and burns most brightly upon us, making visible all things in its light.  But the Gospel also reminds us that Christ will be in the midst of His own cup at noon, on the Cross, when darkness came over the whole land until His death.  There are times in our lives when the sun seems darkened, when the light of our faith doesn't seem to shine so brightly as on other occasions.  But this remains a part of the offering, the cup which He offers to each of us, as we follow Him and remain faithful even at those times.   At this deserted well under the hot sun, just He and this woman converse, and the entire Gospel of illumination is given to her.  And so she is named in the Church, St. Photini, meaning "Enlightened" or "Luminous."   We worship the Light in Spirit and in truth, and He comes to us as He comes to her.  Let us hold on to that light, in the way He teaches!

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified

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

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

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

- John 4:27-42

In yesterday's reading, we read the continuation of the conversation of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (for the first part of this encounter, see Thursday's reading):  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 he 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 says that Jesus' disciples marveled not only that Jesus was speaking with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with a woman who was unaccompanied was potentially scandalous.  We can learn more about Christ and the faith He teaches in the same way that His disciples did, by observing His actions in His dealings with women:  see 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.  She testifies to the advent of Christ and brings others to Him (see the following verses in today's reading).  An early tradition tells us that after the Resurrection this woman was baptized with the name Photini.  In Greek, this means "the enlightened one."  With her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  Later she was martyred with her family under the emperor Nero, by being thrown into a well.

In the 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."  Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father; this is therefore His food.  It teaches us, as well, that we are to perform the will of God in our own lives, without being distracted by earthly cares (6:27; see 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!"  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom here, who comments that Jesus' command to look (behold) is given because the townspeople are approaching.  They are ready and eager to believe in Christ.  Jesus compares these foreigners (considered to be so by the Jews) to fields ready for harvest.  The command equally applies to all believers to look to those around us and share the gospel with anyone who wants to hear it, regardless of race, origin, 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."  St. John Chrysostom teaches us that those who sow and those who reap are the prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles, respectively.  The prophets all sowed in preparation for the Messiah, but they did not see His coming and so therefore did not reap.  The apostles did not do the preparation -- but in their own lifetimes they will draw thousands to Christ.

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 says that the fact that 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.

Jacob's well is located near the modern city of Nablus, a Palestinian city on the West Bank populated by descendants of the Samaritans of Christ's time.   As current tensions between the populations of the region are familiar to us, so we can understand the tension between  Samaritans and Jews of Christ's time and earlier.   They are a part of a long history.  What today's reading teaches us is an important lesson in the centrality of Christ for all of us.  It doesn't really matter what tensions we have between us, nor what differences we may find between ourselves -- whether that be for whole populations, such as nations or groups of any kind, on the family level, or even as individuals.  All of these differences -- no matter their duration -- are bridged in Christ.  In yesterday's reading, the Samaritan woman remarks to Christ, "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."  She brings up the matter of contention between the populations, and we know that a little over a century earlier, the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim had been destroyed by the Jews.  But Jesus will not engage in such matters with her.  Instead, He resolves the issue by proclaiming, in essence, that the basis for this historical argument is untrue, by revealing the higher truth that God is Spirit, and so must be worshiped in spirit and in truth.  This is the true reality of the revelation of Christ:  He is the center of all things, and the resolution of all things.  While we may not easily recognize this ourselves, while Christians themselves may contend with one another about all kinds of issues, the truth is that He remains the resolution.  It is in Him that we find the way to love one another even through our differences, that we find a true peace which is reconciliation in Him, that we learn all that He has to bring into our lives, including the joy of fulfillment in identity as those who put our faith in Him.  The very fact that God is Spirit gives us an enormous wealth of information that there is mystery beyond what we know, that reconciliation essentially lies in faith.  There are many things that Christ teaches through the discipleship offered to these individuals who populate the Gospels.  Jesus does not reveal Himself to scoffers, He teaches discernment, He chooses His battles in accordance only with the will of the Father, He teaches all of His followers to "love one another as I have loved you" (13:34, 15:12).  We are given the Holy Spirit in order to help us to grow in that likeness that is possible for us through the Incarnation.  But do we take these seriously?  Do we get caught up in our own "proofs" and understandings and dogmatic insistence on what must be?  Can we find ways to love one another in Him?  The conversion of these Samaritans and their welcoming desire for Christ to stay with them teaches us a very important lesson:  that what is necessary is not a truth that drives us apart, but the truth that teaches us better things than we already think we know, deeper things He can reveal to us, something we can only get to with faith.  Let us consider where He leads us, and how we get there.  Let us make note, also, that Jesus does not simply make a convert out of this woman by telling her what (presumably) she would want to hear.  He tells her the truth about her husbands (or lack of them), and He tells her, a Samaritan, that "salvation is of the Jews."  It is the truth that unites; it is we who do the work of faith in that truth.  This Samaritan woman, enemy of the Jews and least likely person for Christ to speak to, becomes one among the first evangelists.