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"

 

Manuel Panselinos, St. Photini speaking with Christ at Jacob's Well, c. 1290-1310; Protaton Church, Karyes, 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 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 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 dealing 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 comments that they marveled not only because Jesus spoke with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with a woman who was unaccompanied, and this could be potentially scandalous.  For more instances of Christ's dealings with women, see John 7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18; 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 (known in the Church as St. Photini) becomes an early evangelist, my study Bible says; she testifies to the advent of Christ and brings others to Him (see also the final verse in today's reading).  According to an early tradition, my study Bible tells us, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini, meaning "the enlightened one."  (The root of this name, φῶς/phos, means "light."  She is "illumined" or "enlightened" through Christ. See also Matthew 5:14-16.)  Together with her two sons and five daughters, her story goes, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  She was later 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 example of the "misunderstandings" found in St. John's Gospel, in which Jesus uses such to elevate an understanding from an earthly to heavenly one.  Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah, my study Bible says, by doing the will of the Father; therefore this is His food.   My study Bible adds that this also teaches us we are to perform the will of God in our lives without being distracted by earthly cares (John 6:27; see also Matthew 4:4; 5:25-33).

 

 "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!"  St. John Chrysostom has several homilies on this story of the Samaritan woman.  According to him, as cited by my study Bible, this command by Christ to look was given because the townspeople were approaching, ready and eager to believe in Jesus.  Christ compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews, that is) to fields which are ready for harvest.  (To this day there are surviving Samaritan communities who dress in all white traditional clothing to symbolize purity especially on holy days.)  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 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."  St. John Chrysostom teaches that 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 did not see His coming and therefore 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 that the gospel is for all people in every nation, my study Bible tells us.

 

 This story means many things to us, and we can derive much wisdom and insights from it.  Among such insights is the point made by my study Bible, that these foreigners who accept Christ as the Savior of the world show that the gospel is for all people in every nation.  But the woman herself, St. Photini, is also a microcosm of that understanding.  She has so many seeming strikes against her.  She has had five husbands, and the man with whom she was currently living was not her husband (see yesterday's reading, above).  Now we do not necessarily know the full explanation for her circumstances.  It's possible that this history unfolded because of tragedies and loss in her life, including a prohibition from remarrying.  However, what is very clear from the text is how the heart of this woman is fully open to Christ.  She is a little bit like Nathanael in this reading from St. John's Gospel.  She is straightforward enough that she does not deny her whole history when Christ reveals that He knows it.  On the contrary, she goes and tells the rest of her townspeople it is so.  This is something remarked upon by St. John Chrysostom in his commentary on this passage, for it reveals her character; she is also humble before Christ, and continually seeks His truth.  She eagerly hears all that He has to say, and desires for herself the things He offers, without guile or pretense (again, see yesterday's reading, above, and the discussion of "living water").  As Jesus Christ is the Person who is the truth (John 14:6), so those who have a love for truth will respond to Him, just as St. John repeatedly tells us in His Gospel and Epistles.  Perhaps most clearly we read this in the words of Jesus to Nicodemus from our previous chapter.  Jesus taught, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God" (John 3:18-21; see this reading).  As Jesus is also the light of the world (John 8:12), we see that truth and light are intertwined in the concepts of Jesus Christ and in our understanding of this spiritual language.  Indeed, the name given to this saint, St. Photini, is a reflection of her deep desire for truth and her willingness to spread that light to others, just as we are taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.  But St. Photini bears out the truth we find in the Gospel, that one "who does the truth comes to the light."  We should note the word "does" in that phrase, signifying action.  This is not simply a description of assent to a belief, but one that describes how we live our lives, and live our faith.  Again, we don't know the reasons behind her history, but we do know full well that Christ has come to her alone, and -- even risking scandal -- has revealed Himself to her in as straightforward a manner as He has to His disciples.  He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord, the I AM, who speaks to her alone at this well outside of the town under the noonday sun.  He is the Knower-of-Hearts, and knows her and her life through and through.  He chose her to become one of His own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

- John 4:27–42 

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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 

 

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

 

  And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"  My study Bible claims they marveled not only that Jesus spoke with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with a woman who was unaccompanied, which potentially could cause scandal in this time and place.  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, as here she testified to the advent of Christ and brought others to Him.  In the Church, she is known as St. Photini.  According to an early tradition, 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.  Later she was martyred with her family under the emperor Nero by being thrown into a well.  In the Orthodox Church her memory is celebrated on March 20th and the fourth Sunday of Easter/Pascha.  

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."   In a pattern found in the interactions between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, here it is the disciples who misunderstand Christ.  My study Bible comments that He fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father; therefore this is His food.  It says that also teaches us that we are to perform the will of God in our lives without being distracted by earthly cares (John 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, the command to look ("Behold . . . !") was given because the townspeople were approaching them, ready and eager to believe in Jesus.  Christ compares these foreigners (in relation to the Jews) to fields ready for harvest.  My study Bible says that this command 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.  A field white for harvest reflects the appearance of wheat when it's ready for harvest; some of the heads of wheat take on a whitish appearance.  It is also said that these villagers were traditionally dressed in white clothing; hence, as they approached, we understand Jesus' allusion to the image of a wheat field ripe 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."  Once again my study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who 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 did not see His coming and thus 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."  My study Bible comments that, as John's Gospel shows us these foreigners are among the first to recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world, it shows the gospel is for all people in every nation. 

The gospel is for all people in every nation:  I wonder if we can understand how revolutionary such a concept was and is.  Jesus lived in a time when God or "gods" were considered to be local for every people on one level or another; usually that meant within our concept of "national."  But we can read stories in the Bible about pagan peoples for whom there were household gods.  But however we want to understand it, the idea that God is spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and truth opens up worship and communion with God to an entirely different expression and understanding, and for all people everywhere, in all times.  "God is spirit" (these are Christ's words to the Samaritan woman in yesterday's reading; see above) teaches us that God cannot be confined or defined by a place, and cannot be restricted even to one time or even one dimension.  God is present through all things and in all places, is timeless without beginning and without limits, since everything we know as created (including our entire universe) was created by God.  Therefore when we enter into worship with God properly understood, we enter into a place which has no normal human limits as we conceive of them; we enter into participation with what is far beyond us, includes us, and expands us to know more beyond what we already know.  We enter into mystery.  In fact, we might make note that the Armenian Apostolic liturgy, which traces its tradition to ancient times, begins with this hymn to God while the priest is vesting in preparation for the service:  "O Mystery Deep, inscrutable, without beginning.  Thou hast decked thy supernatural realm as a chamber unto the light unapproachable and hast adorned with splendid glory the ranks of thy fiery spirits" (O Mystery Deep/Khorhoort Khoreen).   The words to this hymn reflect a very ancient understanding of God as Creator, who begins and remains first and last Mystery for us, but who has adorned the created world with beauty, such as the glory of the angels, described as a flame of fire in Psalm 104:4, a psalm which is a hymn of Creation as the glory of God.  Therefore the depths of the mystery of God are opened up by Christ to this Samaritan woman, so that it could be understood as a gift to all peoples everywhere and in all time that communion and worship of this God is open to all.  No one is restricted or kept out except through their own rejected of the light and truth of this God (see John 3:16-21).  In the communion of this God of Mystery Deep, Jesus as a Jewish man may converse and teach this Samaritan woman; as Son He reaches out to all, and teaches to all who will receive, describing even these hated foreigners (to the Jews) as fields white for harvest, those who will come to believe.  There are so many "boundaries" broken in this story that it is explosive in the ways that it opens up the gospel to all -- Jesus speaks to a woman alone, a Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman, and that He would preach to and receive Samaritan townspeople are enough to make that statement.  But perhaps the most astonishing of all is His revelation -- to her, of all people -- that He is the Christ.  As far as we know, this had not even been stated at this time to any of His disciples, especially using the divine name I AM.  All of this is extraordinary; to get a sense of just how much, all we need to do is to look at the reaction of the disciples when they find Him speaking to her.  They're nonplussed:  they marvel so that they cannot even ask Him a question about it.  Perhaps, like the disciples, we need to pay attention to His answer to them:  that others labor, and we enter into their labors -- and we always need to look around to find the fields which are white for harvest.  The gospel works in its strange and mysterious way, just as the Holy Spirit travels like the wind.  In the end, these Samaritans hear Christ for themselves, and declare they believe Him to be the Christ, the Savior of the world.  We should understand that the desire for the gospel will come from the most surprising directions, and the most surprising people, for there is no limit or law about its spread, and be prepared to share our own testimony when others are interested. 

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 

 

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 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."

 

 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 comments that the disciples marveled not only that Jesus spoke with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with an unaccompanied woman, something that was potentially scandalous.  John's Gospel, in a way similar to Luke's, gives us a glimpse of Jesus' sympathetic dealings with women:  see John 7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18 (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.  My study bible remarks that this Samaritan woman, becomes an early evangelist.  She testifies to the advent of Christ, and she brings others to Him as well.  According to an early tradition, after the Resurrection, she was baptized and given the name Photini, which literally means "the enlightened one" (phos means "light" in Greek).   Together with her two sons and five daughters, tradition has it that she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  (Carthage was a city in what is today Tunisia, a wealthy city thanks to historic Mediterranean trade, and in Christ's time an important city of the Roman Empire.)   St. Photini was later 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 classic example of how misunderstandings using common language appear in John's Gospel in order to open our eyes to deeper truths of Christ's message.  My study bible comments that as Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father, this is therefore His food.   It notes that this also teaches us we are to perform the will of God in our lives without being distracted by earthly cares (John 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 commentary by St. John Chrysostom, the command to Behold is given because the townspeople were approaching, and they were ready and eager to believe in Christ.  Jesus compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews) to fields which are ready for harvest.   This command, my study bible says, is also to all believers to look 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."  My study bible once again cites St. John Chrysostom, who 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 Christ's coming, and therefore did not reap the harvest.  The apostles did not do the preparation, but they would draw thousands to Christ within 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 says that, as these foreigners are among the first to recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world, it shows the gospel is for all people in every nation.  

It's interesting that Jesus remarks, upon seeing the Samaritan townspeople approaching and ready to believe, "Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!"  There are those who teach that the traditional clothing of the Samaritans is all white.  Indeed, there are modern-day Samaritans who still worship in the Old Testament tradition on Mt. Gerizim, and they do so in all-white garments (see, for example, this article on the present-day Samaritan community in Nablus).  Indeed, there are other groups of Christians descended from ancient populations who also worship in white garments, such as the Ethiopian Orthodox (see, for example, this article about the Ethiopian Orthodox celebration of the Feast of the Holy Cross).  In the Middle East, there is an expression for one pure in heart, and that is to have a "white heart."   That is, white is the absence of any stain, indicating an unadulterated composition, a person who has no ulterior or hidden motivation, who is willing to let all come to the light (see John 3:20-21).   When Jesus finds Nathanael, He expresses something touching upon this, when He says, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" (John 1:47).   This may be contrasted with the negative image of leaven, which taints the whole, in Jesus' statement to the disciples, "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod!" (Mark 8:15).   In the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches us, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).  So to consider what this all means symbolically, in the field of white ready for harvest, is something quite important.  I once was taught a beautiful image of purity in a natural pearl.  That is, one not "cultured" (that is, stimulated by the introduction of a foreign substance to start the pearl at its core), but naturally found and made of pure nacre, without internal or external adulteration.  To be the same from inside to out is an image of purity of heart, of one with "no deceit," and who is willing to come to the light of God.  So, in the image of the Samaritans coming toward Christ, and brought by St. Photini, the Enlightened One, let us consider what it is to have a pure heart.  The pure in heart are those who simply are ready for the things of God, and have no hidden motive standing in the way.  Most importantly in the observations about our reading for today (and Saturday's), there is nothing that stands in the way of purity of heart except what is inside of a person.   The Samaritan woman is the least likely to be the one to whom Jesus revealed Himself as Messiah, but her heart was clearly ready to receive this message and to receive "the Savior of the world" in truth.   There are no barriers to purity of heart, save the ones we cling to ourselves.  This image, therefore, becomes one to which we all may aspire, so that we, too, may "see God."

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. 

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 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.   My study bible says that Jesus' disciples marveled not only that He spoke with a Samaritan, but that He was speaking with an unaccompanied woman.  This was potentially scandalous behavior.  John's Gospel gives us several instances of Jesus' dealings with women - see John 7:53-8:11, 11:20-33, 20:11-18 (also Luke 8:1-3).    In another kind of elevation of the common status of women, the Gospel gives us this woman as an early evangelist.  She testifies to the advent of Christ and she brings others to Him as well.  According to an early tradition, my study bible says she was baptized with the name Photini ("enlightened" or "illumined" one - phos is "light" in Greek).  With her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage again in her capacity as evangelist, to spread the gospel.  Later she was martyred with her family under Emperor Nero by being thrown into a well.   In the Eastern Church, she is commemorated on her own feast day and also the fourth Sunday of Easter.  Along with other women, she has been given the title Equal-to-the-Apostles.

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 occasion in which misunderstanding contributes to Jesus' teachings; this time the word that gives rise to new understanding is food.  Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah in doing the will of the Father.  This is His food.   My study bible says that it teaches us also that we are to do the will of God in our lives without being distracted by earthly cares (John 6:27; also Matthew 4:4, 6:25-33).  This image of food or nurturing is also linked to identity, in which one's joy is fulfilled. 

"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."  John Chrysostom comments that Jesus tells them, "Behold, . . . lift up your eyes . . . " as the townspeople were approaching, ready and eager to believe in Jesus, and by tradition dressed in white.  These are foreigners, not Jews, and they are fields ready for harvest in Jesus' sight.  My study bible says 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.   According to Chrysostom, 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 Messiah, but the reaping was done by others who saw His coming and hence entered into their labors.  The apostles didn't do the preparation, and yet they were to 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."  It is these despised (by the Jews) "foreigners" who are among the first to recognize Christ as the Savior of the world.  John shows us that the gospel is for all people in every nation.

John's Gospel sets the story right away in Jesus' ministry of these Samaritan townspeople who come wholeheartedly to faith.  In this out-of-the-way place, a stop on the journey toward Galilee from Judea, Jesus presents Himself as Messiah to a Samaritan woman, and views the "fields ripe for harvest" in the townspeople who come to faith.  That these are Samaritans, enemies of the Jews, tells us something extraordinary.  We cannot predict where the Spirit will go; we cannot predict who will respond to the gospel.  There are no real boundaries that we know of that God cannot cross, or where faith cannot go.  Nothing is predictable from our point of view when it comes to God.  This is why God must lead, and we follow.  This is how revelation works to expand our understanding and our awareness of life, how it works, how God is at work in our world.  It is the experience of faith that makes all the difference.  We can list attributes of God, we can marvel at the Gospels and at the events contained therein.  But the true experience of faith changes us on all levels.  One would not suppose our Lord, the Messiah, would first engage a Samaritan woman and reveal Himself to her, but this is the experience of faith, the way God has worked and revealed God's presence in the world.  We can make all the assumptions that we want about how things work, how God works, how people should work, but they are going to be defeated by the experience that faith gives us.  This story shows that we will always have the nominal "groups" to whom we belong, and with whom we identify.  But God may lead us in ways which are uncomfortable and hard to accept, in ways which are socially unpalatable, which take us away from security and "our own."  That's where the power of faith comes in, and we must make choices based on our own experience.  How does God teach you hard lessons by experience?  Have you been led into difficult choices?  It's easy to follow the crowd, but this is never what Christ teaches.   The experience of His faith will hone us as individuals and ask us to stretch beyond our assumptions, taking us into new territory -- even revealing to us who we truly are.  Let us become like St. Photini, living in His light and reflecting it back into the world.  Our "food," like Christ, is also to find and follow God's will.

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

 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."
 
 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 reaction of the disciples shows us the social milieu in which Jesus has spoken openly to this woman of Samaria.  They're shocked by His behavior, and simply marvel.  First she is a Samaritan, and second, to speak with a woman who was unaccompanied was to encounter potential for scandal.  My study bible suggests we note other occasions of Jesus' dealings with women in John's Gospel:  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.  Jesus' encounter with this woman wasn't just a revelation of His identity, but rather the making of an evangelist.  She testifies to His identity as Christ, and brings others to Him.  My study bible tells us that according to an early tradition, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini  -- which means, in Greek, "the enlightened one" (phos is "light").    Along with her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  She was later martyred with her family under the emperor Nero by being thrown into a well -- a martyr's death cruelly given her because of her testimony of encounter with Christ at Jacob's 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."  My study bible points out yet another "conventional" misunderstanding in John's Gospel.  What is food?  Christ invites us to think about another type of food, as necessary as any other.  He fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father -- therefore this is His food.  My study bible points out that this also teaches us 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!"  According to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus' command, "Behold!" is made for the disciples to look at the villagers coming toward Him, having been brought by St. Photini.  It says, "Christ compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews) to fields ready for harvest.  This command is also to all believers to look to those around us and to share the gospel with anyone wanting to hear it, regardless of race or ethnicity."

And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true:  'One sows and another reaps.'  I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."    My study bible once again gives us commentary from St. Chrysostom.  He writes that who sow and those who reap are the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles, respectively.  It says, "The prophets sowed in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, but did not see His coming and thus 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."  My study bible tells us, "That these foreigners are among the first to recognize Jesus as Savior of the world shows the gospel is for all people in every nation."

The villagers approach Christ, ready to hear and to believe, to put their faith in Him because of the testimony of the Samaritan woman at the well, St. Photini.  There's a kind of play on the images of light and the bright fields "white for harvest."  It's been suggested that these villagers' dress was traditionally all white, and so as they approach, Jesus makes this statement.  "White" fields "ready for harvest" give me the image of buds, new growth, the "flowering" tops of grain.  The waving grains reflect the light of the sun as they're moved by the wind -- "light" and "wind" are images we're given in particular in John's Gospel, reflecting both Christ and the Spirit (the word for "Spirit" also meaning "wind" -- and the image Jesus gives us of the wind as analogy to Spirit earlier in chapter 3 (see this reading, in which Jesus teaches Nicodemus about baptism and being "born again").   How do we reflect the light of Christ?  How can we be "white for harvest?"  We think of the Transfiguration, that essential moment of the Gospels, in which Jesus' clothes reflected a light beyond white, such as no launderer could attain.  John's Gospel begins by telling us about the Light that came into the world, and "St. Photini" (the enlightened or illumined one) reflects that light.  We're all called upon to do the same, to be "white for harvest" with that same reflection of the fullest spectrum of the light that renders it white as possible.  It's also a part of the story that the whole world is welcomed in this place of faith, for light that is the brightest white is the light that is made up of every ray of the spectrum.   Every "color" of light combines to create white light, every frequency and energy.  All of this is to say that what qualifies us also to become enlightened or illumined is our open heart.  There's nothing that stands in the way but the hardness of heart that keeps it from expanding, being opened, illumined.  Jesus' demand from St. Photini for a drink of water opened up everything for her in her life, the greatest gift possible, as we read in Saturday's reading.  It came under the full sun of noon, the sixth hour, in John's Gospel.  But it opened up everything for her, including all of her past exposed, the things she needed to hear, and the things she needed to know.  Christ's light is like that:  a direct ray exposing everything, asking us to clean up our acts so that we, too, become the best possible reflection for the fullest light, the brightest white that hides nothing, but rather shines back to everyone so that it, too, can draw others into its sphere.  This is the way the light works in Him, He who is the Light coming into the world.  Can we accept as she did?  As her neighbors did? 

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

Over the past two readings, we have read about Jesus' encounter at Jacob's well with a Samaritan woman. He began (in Thursday's reading) by asking her to get Him a drink of water (a surprising thing for Jewish man to do!) -- and told 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." In yesterday's reading, He replied when she asked for this water, "Go call your husband, and come here." She told Him she had no husband -- and He replied that she'd spoken well, because she had had five husbands already, and the one she had now was not truly her husband. Because of this knowledge, she thought He must be a prophet. She asked Him about the dispute between the Jews and Samaritans over the site of temple worship. But He replied 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. His disciples seem to be so stunned that He's speaking to this woman that they fail to say anything to Him or to her at all! Jews were not allowed to speak publicly with a woman, and furthermore with a Samaritan woman. My study bible notes, "Jesus' words and actions transcend ethnic and gender-related customs of the time." It also notes here that this Samaritan woman becomes the first evangelist, "testifying to the advent of Christ and bringing others to Him." It continues, "According to early tradition, after the Resurrection of Christ she was baptized and given the Christian name Photini," which in Greek means "the enlightened one." With her two sons and five daughters, tradition tells us, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel. They were arrested, taken to Rome under Nero, imprisoned and later martyred. The story about her tells us she who met Christ beside Jacob's well was martyred 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." The misunderstanding of Jesus' words, as so often happens in the Gospels, becomes a tool for teaching. Here, Jesus' words tell us so much, about His ministry and life. But they also tell us something specific -- they indicate that to speak with this woman was a part of His work, something very deliberate. Whatever customs or traditional structures (such as speaking to a woman, and even a Samaritan woman) have been violated, they have been in service to the Father and the ministry He's been given -- "to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work." My study bible says, "His food is to bring people to believe in Him and be saved." And the message is very clear -- salvation is from the Jews, but it is going to other peoples as well. In yesterday's reading, Jesus told the woman, "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews." He is enlightening those who do not know, and who will worship in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

"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." Tradition tells us that the Samaritan townspeople brought back with the woman are dressed in white as they approach Jesus. These people are the fields "white for harvest." White or light-colored grain, turned from green, indicate a field is ready for harvest. My study bible writes, "The Father is the sower; Jesus is the reaper. Jesus will send the disciples to reap; their apostolic mission has been implicit from their initial calling." Clearly, just as John the Baptist has prepared the way for Christ in this Gospel of John, so Jesus also refers to all those who populate the spiritual history of Israel, the entire salvation story, who have prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah, including the Patriarchs, prophets, and others we do not know. We get a glimpse, also, of the nature of the ongoing work of this Kingdom.

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." Here is the beginning Church. The gospel is truly for all people. Jesus stays with them for two days; in the context of John's Gospel so far, this is quite a record. He has been moving rapidly from place to place as He shapes His ministry, chooses disciples, goes to the Passover feast at Jerusalem. Two days assure us this is indeed His work, well worth taking time out for -- He has much to do here, the fields are more than ripe, the harvest is abundant. They accept Jesus' identity as Messiah, "the Christ, and the Savior of the world."

That Christ is "the Savior of the world" tells us something powerful and essential. The word in Greek is kosmos, which means more than the world, than planet earth. It means the whole of Creation, all that is. Jesus is the Savior who not only is "of the Jews" but for "the world." The good news is abundant in the fields white for harvest -- He is what the world has been prepared for in all of salvation history. And, in my opinion, we still await Him in our lives. I don't think there isn't a circumstance, in our adult lives, when the way has not been paved nor prepared for Christ, when His light cannot help us and guide us. Think of the grain in the fields: how many people are ready for His message? The number is incalculable even as the population of the world continues to grow. We must think and try to understand what it means to be ready for harvest. Traditionally, in this region of the Samaritans today, the phrase "a white heart" means someone who is pure in heart. It is Jesus who has told us, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." When we're ready to hear and accept, with an open heart, the field is ripe. Let us look to St. Photini: she was by no means perfect in a "worldly" sense, she was the "wrong person" for Jesus to be speaking with -- and yet, there she was, at Jacob' well, where she needed to be so Christ could do His work. She is the first person to whom He has directly revealed Himself in ministry. Nothing can stop this work from happening; there are no barriers that can really get in the way of the field white for harvest, the white heart that is ready to hear, that needs the light of Christ. What do you need? What can He offer you today? The "living water" of this well is always in abundance and waiting for you. Like the Samaritans, like Nathanael, you may come and see for yourself. In return, He will offer you a place in this ministry as well - the waters that spring to everlasting life.