In this Gospel narration on the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4:4-42, St. John the evangelist shows us how each one of us is called to make this journey from sinner to saint. The following is a blend of Fr. Franco's interpretation of this Gospel passage with minuscule shavings of personal musing and great big dollops taken from the Church Fathers.
We will look at each step of this woman's journey from sinner to disciple, from the moment she steps out on to the dusty road with her jar at 12 noon to rendezvous at the well, until she returns to the village. Like all John the Evangelist's characters including himself she remains unnamed as she represents each one of us.
It is the 6th hour almost noon, Jesus has walked a considerable distance and His journey has fatigued Him so He sits by the well. The sitting indicates two things. One, in His flesh and humanity Jesus is physically exhausted. He has spent a long arduous day walking from Judea. He has now reached the Samaritan town of Sychar, they are at Jacob's well. Jesus is tired, thirsty and famished He sits down in sheer exhaustion beside the well while the Apostles leave to go to the town and buy food. Looking at this scene who can doubt that Jesus truly Man. He was one like us in all things save sin.
Sitting also indicates the posture of a teacher. As God He knows that the Samaritan woman is on her way to the well. Salvation is going to come to her that day although she does not know it yet. God is waiting for her as He waits in anticipation for all sinners to come home.
Scripture tells us it is the 6th hour.
St. Augustine has this to say about the 6th hour and the well, "At the sixth hour then our Lord comes to the well. The black abyss of the well, methinks, represents the lowest parts of this universe, i.e. the earth, to which Jesus came at the sixth hour, that is, in the sixth age of mankind, the old age, as it were, of the old man, which we are bidden to put off; that we may put on the new."
According to St. Augustine, the 6th hour can be interpreted as the 6 Ages of the Word
1st Age - Adam to Noah
2nd Age - Noah to Abraham
3rd Age - Abraham to David
4th Age - David to the Captivity in Babylon
5th Age - Captivity in Babylon to John the Baptist
6th Age - John the Baptist to the present Age of Jesus Christ the 6th Hour
He also says that the 6th hour can also be likened to the 6 ages of man. Infancy, childhood, boyhood, youth, manhood and old age.
The water in the well, according to St. Augustine, "is the pleasure of the world, that abode of darkness. Men draw it with the water pot of their lusts; pleasure is not relished, except it be preceded by lust. And when a man has enjoyed this pleasure, i.e. drunk of the water, he thirsts again; but if he have received water from Me, he shall never thirst. For how shall they thirst, who are drunken with the abundance of the house of God? and promised this fullness of the Holy Spirit."
How nonchalantly in the past I have explained away the woman at the well and her character without ever diving deep into the infinite well of the Word as the Church Fathers have done. Instead I have waded and splashed about in the pool like a baby in a bathtub. The well of God’s wisdom runs deep indeed.
Here is what the Church Fathers Augustine, Chrysostom, Origen and Theophylis have to say about the woman and her five husbands.
When Jesus spoke about the Living Water the woman did not understand, wishing to enlighten her Jesus asked her to call her husband which according to St. Augustine means, to apply our understanding. In a well ordered life understanding governs the soul these can be illuminated by the Light which comes from Christ. However the woman responded saying, "I have no husband." In other words she lacked understanding and therefore could not be enlightened. In fact she did not have a lawful husband but had formed an irregular connection with some one. Jesus tells her she had five husbands in order to reveal to her His miraculous knowledge of her.
The five former husbands may be explained as the five senses, thus: a man before he has the use of his reason, is entirely under the rule of his bodily senses. With reason comes action; and from that time forward he is capable of entertaining ideas, and is either under the influence of truth or error. The woman had been under the influence of error, this error was not her lawful husband, but an adulterer. That is why our Lord says, Put away that adulterer which corrupts you, and call your husband, your reason, that you may understand Me.
Origen says, "And what more proper place than Jacob's well, for exposing the unlawful husband, i.e. the perverse law? For the Samaritan woman is meant to figure to us a soul, that has subjected itself to a kind of law of its own, not the divine law. And our Savior wishes to marry her to a lawful husband, i.e. Himself; the Word of truth which was to rise from the dead, and never again to die."
According to Chrysostom she is no longer in need of ordinary water she now begins to hunger for doctrine. She is not offended at Christ's rebuke. She does not leave Him, and go away. Far from it: her admiration for Him is raised: The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that you are a Prophet: as if she said, Your knowledge of me is unaccountable, you must be a prophet.
St. Augustine says that the husband (understanding) was beginning to come to her, though He had not yet fully come. She thought our Lord a prophet, and He was a prophet: for He says of Himself, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country. She now begins inquiries on a subject that perplexed her. Our fathers she says, worshipped in this mountain; You say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Who is right? The Jews worshipped in the temple built by Solomon and boasted to the Samaritans about it. The Samaritans replied, "Why boast you, because you have a temple? It is on this mountain that Abraham offered Isaac his son, so is it not better to pray to God in this mountain, since Abraham was pleasing to God and this is where our fathers worshipped?"
St. Chrysostom points out that Christ does not solve this question immediately, but leads the woman to higher things. Now that she acknowledged Him to be a prophet she will listen with a more full belief: Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. He says, "Believe me," because faith is of paramount importance if we are to be pleasing to God.
According to him the Jewish worship was far higher than the Samaritan; but even Jewish worship will be abolished; for the hour has arrived when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He uses the word 'now' to indicate that the event at hand, it is approaching. The words, true worshipers, are by way of distinction: for there are false worshipers, who pray for temporal and frail benefits, or whose actions are ever contradicting their prayers. True worshipers do not confine the worship of God to place, but worship in the spirit.
The former requirements of the law such as circumcision, burnt offerings, and sacrifices would pass and worship in the spirit would become the way in which to serve and please God.
St. Augustine says that she knew then who could teach her, but she did not know or recognize the One Who was teaching her. It is He who has come that will level the mountain, overthrow the temple, and teach us how to pray in spirit and in truth.
St. Chrysostom says that the reason the Samaritans had for expecting Christ was because they acknowledged the books of Moses that foretold His coming.
Moses says, The Lord your God shall raise up a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren.
The woman begins by calling Jesus a Jew and by the end of her encounter with the Lord she recognizes and acknowledges Him as the Messiah.
St. Augustine says that to the discerning mind this is a confirmation that the woman's five husbands signified the five senses as do her five carnal answers to His questions until ultimately she mentions the name of Christ.
Christ now reveals Himself to the woman: Jesus said to her, I that speak to you am He. St. Chrysostom says that had He told the woman this to begin with, it would have appeared vanity. Now, having gradually awakened her to the thought of Christ He finds this the opportune moment to disclose His identity to her. The Jews had often asked him to be open with them and reveal plainly if He was the Christ, but He did not answer them for the reason they asked was not to learn from Him but to do Him injury and harm but she spoke in the simplicity of her heart.
God is always in control of every situation, the disciples arrive only after Jesus has finished teaching the woman. They see Jesus talking to the woman and they marvel at His kindness and humility in talking to her for she was not only a woman but a Samaritan as well. They did not dare to ask Him any questions because they were in awe and veneration of Him and they recognized the difference in rank of disciple and Master. St. Chrysostom says that on matters regarding themselves they had no hesitation in questioning Him but this was not something that concerned them.
The impact that Jesus made on the woman was so forceful that she is almost turned into a disciple according to Origen. She leaves her water jug behind which is a symbol of giving up the things of the world for the things of the spirit. St. Chrysostom compares the leaving of the water jug behind to the leaving of the nets by the Apostles when Jesus called them to follow Him. She now begins the work of an Evangelist by calling not one person but a whole city. Saying, “Come, see a man who told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Origen says that she who had five husbands and was living with a sixth finally gives them all up for a seventh. She is converted to chastity. Her shame does not prevent her from spreading the good news. The divine flame has been kindled and nothing will prevent her from spreading the fire of His love. She tells them what God has done for her and invites them to go and see for themselves and experience what she has experienced by a personal encounter with Him.
God has led her by degrees into the fullness of truth and she in turn does the same in her preaching of Christ. St. Chrysostom says that she does not say come and believe it is easier to say, come, see a man. She invites them to see for themselves and make the same journey of discovery that she did. Had she said, Come and meet Christ they might have refused but she awakens their interest by saying, could this not be the Christ? St Augustine says that it is important not to overlook the fact that she leaves her water jar behind, for it signifies the love of the world and mans concupiscence to sin. It is this jar from which we draw from the dark depths of the well. In leaving the jar she parts company with her former way of life which was filled with worldly desires. He advises all who wish to preach the Gospel to learn that we have to first leave our water jars at the well.
The disciples returned after buying food and they beg Jesus to eat – they themselves were hungry and they assumed that Jesus was as famished as they were. St. Chrysostom says that they beg Him to eat out of love and tenderness for their Master. And Origen comments that the Apostles thought it was a good time to dine since the woman had departed to the city and they could have their meal by themselves. They had no way of knowing what Jesus knew, that the Samaritans were on their way to see Him and so He says to His disciples, I have food that you know not of. Jesus calls the salvation of men His food indicating His great desire that we should be saved. The disciples are puzzled and wonder if someone has already given Him something to eat.
Here Theophylis makes an interesting observation. He says from this we can infer that our Lord was accustomed to receiving food from others, when it was offered Him. In this way He showed that poverty is not something to be ashamed of and neither the support of others should be considered a disgrace. From this verse we also learn that it is proper and necessary for us to support those who work for the Church – our priests and Bishops etc., in order that they are free from all other cares, and they may attend with freedom to the ministry of the word.
Jesus makes plain to His disciples that His food is to do the will of His Father. Origen says that in the Father and the Son there are not two separate wills but only one same will in both. Jesus is capable of accomplishing the whole will of the Father.
Souls, Origen says, differ in their capacity for nourishment, some need more and others less. It is so too in the case of the quality of food; the same nourishment of words and thoughts does not suit all. New born infants need the milk of the word; but those who are spiritually mature need solid food. Thus Jesus is able to say, “I have food to eat of which you know nothing about.” Jn 6:32.
Jesus goes on to tell to His disciples, in verse 35-38 that harvest time can be predicted by just looking at the fields. If they are white then it is time for reaping. Although sowing is more difficult than reaping both rejoice the reaper and the sower for both work for the coming of the Kingdom. The sower, Chrysostom says, are the Prophets and the reapers are the Apostles.
Jesus who knows all things is aware that the entire Samaritan village is coming to meet Him. They have believed the witness of the Samaritan woman and are about to receive a visitation from God. They are all going to be converted that is why He says, lift up your eyes and look at the fields they are white and ready harvest. These souls are ready to receive the word.
Jesus always used powerful images instead of ordinary words in order that they would give His words greater vividness and power. It helped to make His teaching more pleasant and to enable the message to sink deeper into their memories.
Augustine says that the reapers went where the Prophets had preached. The account of the labors of the Prophets all contain the prophecy of Christ.
According to Chrysostom the more laborious part of the work was laid on the Prophets, viz. the sowing of the seed: Other men labored, and the Apostles entered into their labors. Here Christ throws light on the meaning of the old prophecies. He shows that both the Law and the Prophets, if rightly interpreted can lead men to Him; and that the Prophets too were sent by Him. Thus there is an intimate connection established between the Old Testament and the New.
Origen tells us that in many places in Holy Scripture, we are commanded to raise our eyes, in other words to raise our minds and thought to God for they often tend to cling obstinately to the things of the world. Those who indulge their passions, and live carnally find it difficult if not impossible to raise their hearts and minds to spiritual things. It is only possible to see the white of the harvest when the Word of God comes to light up and make fruitful the fields of Scripture. We lift up our eyes, and see the whole universe laid open to the light and brightness of truth.
In the seed was present the whole dispensation of the divine mystery which is now revealed, what was first hidden in darkness; is now brought into the light of day. As long as men were not ready for the advent of the Word, the fields were not yet white to their eyes, i.e. the legal and prophetical Scriptures were shut up. Moses and the Prophets, who preceded the coming of Christ, were the sowers of this seed; the Apostles who came after Christ and saw His glory were the reapers. They reaped and gathered into barns the deep meaning which lay hid under the prophetic writings. Moses and Elias, the sowers, rejoiced with the reapers Peter, James, and John, when they saw the glory of the Son of God at the Transfiguration. One could also interpret in one sows and another reaps, those who live under the Law, and those who live under the Gospel. For these may both rejoice together, inasmuch as the same end is laid up for them by one God, through one Christ, in one Holy Spirit.
After this conversation with the disciples, Scripture takes us back to the Samaritans of that town who had believed in the testimony of the woman, and came to see Jesus,
Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Jesus, for the woman testified saying, He told me all that ever I did. They considered that the woman would never of her own accord have conceived such admiration for one Who had reproved her offenses, unless He were really some great and wonderful person. And thus relying solely on the testimony of the woman, without any other evidence, they went out to beseech Christ to stay with them: When the Samaritans came to Him, they begged Him to stay with them.
The Jews witnessed His miracles and they tried in every way to get rid of His presence. Such is the power of malice, envy, arrogance and conceit, that obstinate vice which poisons even goodness itself. The Samaritans however wish to keep Him with them, He would not consent, but only stayed with them for two days.
Origen comments that it is natural to ask, why our Savior stays with the Samaritans, when He had expressly commanded His disciples not to enter into any city of the Samaritans. But we must explain this mystically. To go the way of the Gentiles, is to be imbued with Gentile doctrine; to go into a city of the Samaritans, is to admit the doctrines of those who believe the Scriptures, but interpret them heretically. But when men have given up their own doctrines, and come to Jesus, it is lawful to stay with them.
According to St. Chrysostom, the Jews refused to believe in spite of the many miracles they witnessed Jesus perform, while the Samaritans exhibited great faith, even before a single miracle was wrought. As verse 41 says, “And many more believed because of His own word.” Also Chrysostom points to a very interesting fact. The Evangelists do not tell us what our Lord’s words to the Samaritans were. This is a clear indication of what John the Evangelist says when he wrote in his Gospel that the there were many things that our Lord said and did but they are not recorded for if all the things He said and did were written down the world could not contain them.
The result of God’s word here in this Samaritan town was that the whole city was convinced of who Christ was. The Jews however heard the Word but were not convinced therefore the Evangelists were obliged to tell us His words, in order that we might note the indifference on the part of those who heard and their fault noted for the error lay with the indifference of the hearers and not to any defect in the preacher. Finally, once they Samaritans have become Christ's disciples, they dismiss their first instructor, the Samaritan woman saying to her, “Now we believe not because of your saying: for we have heard Him.”
