I who speak to you am He

 

 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."  The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."  Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."  

 

The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  

 

The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ).  When He comes, He will tell us all things."  Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." 

 

- John 4:16–26 

 

Yesterday we read that when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.  So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Now Jacob's well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.  A woman of Samaria came to draw water.  Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."  For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.  Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.  Where then do You get that living water?  Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"  Jesus answered said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

 

  Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."  The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."  Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet."  My study Bible explains that since Jesus understood that she was living with a man without being married, and He also knew of her string of husbands, this woman believes that He is a prophet.  (This is similar to the reaction of Nathanael, when he understood that Jesus had seen into his heart at John 1:50).  The Samaritans did not accept any prophets after Moses, and therefore the only prophet they expected was the Messiah who was foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).  My study Bible comments that Jesus' insight into people's hearts, which is reported many times in the Gospels, underscores His divine nature. 

 

"Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."   My study Bible explains here that if Jesus was truly the expected Prophet (see comment above), then He is the one who could settle this historical argument between the Jews and Samaritans regarding where worship was to take place.  But Jesus refuses to answer this earthly question, and instead elevates the conversation to the manner in which people ought to worship.  More importantly, He turns attention to the One whom we worship:  God.  The Father, my study Bible notes, is worshiped in spirit -- that is, in the Holy Spirit -- and in truth -- meaning in Christ Himself (John 14:6) and according to the revelation of Christ.  Jesus declares that God is Spirit:  God cannot be confined to a particular location.  Those who receive the Holy Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ can worship God the Father with purity of heart, my study Bible says.  Jesus also declares here that salvation is of the Jews:   My study Bible notes that the Lord affirms here that true revelation comes from Judaism.  It quotes St. Athanasius the Great:  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."  Moreover, Jesus is testifying that the Messiah, who was prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  So, while the gift of salvation in Christ has come to all nations, it has come from within Judaism.  Jesus says, "The hour is coming . . .."   This "hour" refers to Christ's death and Resurrection and to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, inaugurating the worship of the new covenant.

 

 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ).  When He comes, He will tell us all things."  Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."  The literal translation of Christ's final statement here is "I AM [Greek εγω ειμι/ego eimi], who speak to you."  "I AM" is the divine Name of God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14.  My study Bible says that when Christ uses this name it is a theophany, a revelation or manifestation of God.  The use of this Name by a human being was considered to be blasphemy and punishable by death (see John 8:58; Mark 14:62).  But, because Jesus is divine, His use of this Name is therefore a revelation of the Son's unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He is God Incarnate.

 

Jesus says to the Samaritan woman, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  We have to wonder, why this woman?  Why in this place?  Why should she be chosen for such a revelation?  Well, we don't know the answer to that, but we do know of her contributions that would follow in the Church.  (We will write more about her in tomorrow's reading and commentary.)  But let us observe what an unlikely candidate for such a revelation she seems to be based on appearances.  She not only is living with a man to whom she's not married, she has had a whole string of husbands.  Particularly in the context of Christ's time and place, this is something deeply frowned upon. Even in the most liberal of secular society today, five husbands would seem to be a large number, especially for a woman who still seems to retain some signs of youth.  She is a Samaritan woman, who does not seem to be an expert on Jewish religion, although Samaritans also followed the Torah.  Her understanding of the dispute between the Samaritans and the Jews seems to be limited to a focus on the proper location of the temple.  So from all conventional appearances, no one would suspect that this would be the person chosen by Christ to whom to reveal Himself.  But one very important lesson from today's reading is once again the revelation of Christ as the "Heart-knower."  He is the One who knows what is in a person, and has no need for anyone to tell Him (John 2:24-25).  It's possibly even more striking to consider that He is the One who asked her first to give Him a drink from the well, only to tell her about the "living water" that He had to offer.  She seems to be the least likely object for His revelation of divine truths, and yet she is the one who receives His instruction -- revealing Himself, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, even including the revelation of the type of worship being inaugurated in His new covenant.  This woman with a history of many husbands, and living with a man to whom she's not presently married, is the one to whom Jesus extends an offer of a new covenant, a new way to worship, and Himself as the object of that worship, the Messiah.  Perhaps, after all, this is just the right person to whom to reveal Himself.  For Christ has come to call -- in His own words -- not the righteous, but sinners, to repentance (Matthew 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32).  This Samaritan woman will in turn call others, as we will see in tomorrow's reading.  Let us note that as Jesus introduces the power of the Holy Spirit into the conversation, that truly "the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  It is one more revelation of how God's mysterious power works and knows that which we cannot know, proving yet again we cannot second guess the working of God's power in the world.  Let us be delighted by such revelations of God midst the commonplace, and grateful for God's surprises.  The woman has faith that when the Christ comes, "He will tell us all things."  Jesus affirms her faith and tells her, "I who speak to you am He." 

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man

 

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

 

- John 5:19-29 

 

Yesterday we read that there was a feast of the Jews (according to patristic tradition, this is understood to have been the Old Testament Pentecost, known also as the Feast of Weeks, the commemoration of the giving of the Law to Moses), and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

 

  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."   Jesus' response to the charges of making Himself equal with God is to emphasize the relationship between Himself and the Father.   In fact His emphasis is on the love between them, which results in the gifts of Father to Son.  My study Bible comments that as the Son can do nothing of Himself, it is proof that Christ's every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  It says that the discourse which Jesus begins here reveals that the Father and the Son are completely united in nature, will, and action.  Thus, the Son fully shares the divine attributes of both giving life and executing judgment.  Christ's judgment, as we read hear, is based on both faith ("he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me") and works (verse 29, at the end of today's reading).

"Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."   Jesus says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God."  My study Bible comments on this verse that the dead refers both to the spiritually dead, who will find life in Christ, and to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.  Christ will confirm this statement in the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) before going to His own death.  

 

In today's reading, Jesus expresses His depth of relationship to the Father:  all that the Father has, He has granted to the Son.  In particular, Jesus mentions that the Father has life in Himself, and has also granted the Son to have life in Himself.  Moreover, the Father has given Christ authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Let us take these two statements and look closely at what Jesus is saying for us (for clearly, these words are for us; Jesus needs no one to declare Him to Himself).  This great gift of life, of being a creator and giver of life, is a gift to us.  He says that the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth.  This speaks of the Resurrection and also of Judgment.  But how often do we realize that this power of life in Christ is a gift which He shares with us also day to day?  Christ's nature remains His nature; that is the power of life, the power of Resurrection, the power to always be making all things new (Revelation 21:5).  But as we are able to participate in His life -- through prayer, through worship, through faith and its many expressions -- so we are also able to pray for this renewal of life that is in Christ.  Do we need a second chance?  Do we need forgiveness?  Did we take a wrong turn and need a new path?  Do we need to start over, or to give up a bad situation for Christ's guidance through it?  All of these things are part of the power of life and resurrection in Christ, in which we may participate.  Moreover, Jesus says that the Father has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.  What is the Son of Man?  This is a mysterious title from the Old Testament apocalyptic literature.  But what it seems to imply is that this Son of God is also Son of Man as He has lived His life as also fully human.  Therefore He knows us thoroughly and He knows our lives and struggles and what it is to live in this world.  As Son of Man, He can be a true and just judge.  He has lived life fully as one of us.  In that sense His judgment is true, and we may seek that judgment for ourselves and not be afraid of it.  We may reach to Him as He has reached to us in every possible and thorough way, as one of us.  And let us look to the love of the Father and the Son for one another, and understand that this is the pattern that is set in heaven, the pattern through which Christ lives and reaches to us, in this love that rules in heaven (even as He has taught us to pray to Our Father, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven").  So we may turn and participate in the life He offers, and find that love not only for ourselves, but to learn and to share it with others as we learn from Him. For this love and life constitute the greatest gift of all, from Father to Son, to us.