March 8 – Third Sunday of Lent

OVERVIEW: When we consider what Christ, who holds the world in his hands, endured for us, we should be willing to honor him with our lives if required (JEROME). Every human being is created by God, even though the laws of procreation may seem to leave God out of the picture. Instead of trying to elevate ourselves above God, we should worship him since he alone can heal, save, and recreate us (AUGUSTINE).
The danger of delaying repentance in order to continue in sin for a time is that we may die before conversion and receipt of forgiveness (FULGENTIUS). During their forty-year wilderness journey, Israel turned away from and sinned against God; yet God remained present with and blessed Israel (CHRYSOSTOM). God will reward the faithful with an eternal rest, but he will deny it to the wicked (AMBROSE).

95:4-5 The World Belongs to God
HOW CAN WE REPAY GOD FOR HIS BENEFITS? JEROME: For our salvation the Son of God is made the Son of man. Nine months he awaits his birth in the womb, undergoes the most revolting conditions and comes forth covered with blood, to be swathed in rags and covered with caresses. “He who clasps the world in his fist” is contained in the narrow limits of a manger. I say nothing of the thirty years during which he lives in obscurity, satisfied with the poverty of his parents. When he is scourged, he holds his peace; when he is crucified, he prays for his crucifiers. “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” The only fitting return that we can make to him is to give blood for blood; and, as we are redeemed by the blood of Christ, gladly to lay down our lives for our Redeemer. What saint has ever won his crown without first contending for it? Righteous Abel is murdered. Abraham is in danger of losing his wife. And, as I must not enlarge my book unduly, seek for yourself: you will find that all holy people have suffered adversity. Solomon alone lived in luxury, and perhaps it was for this reason that he fell. For “whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.” Which is best—for a short time to do battle, to carry stakes for the palisades, to bear arms, to faint under heavy bucklers, that ever afterwards we may rejoice as victors? Or to become slaves forever, just because we cannot endure for a single hour? LETTER 22.39.

95:6 Worship God and Bow Down Before God
GOD MADE AND PRESERVES US. AUGUSTINE: But I do not somehow think that this is what the Holy Spirit was chiefly concerned to remind us of in this psalm, where it says, “Let us weep before the Lord who made us.” In another place it says, it is “he who made us, and not we ourselves,” which, as I remarked, no Christian doubts. Because not only did God create the first human being, from whom come all people, but God also creates each and every human being today—he who said to one of his saints, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” So at the beginning he created people without other people; now he creates people from people. Still, whether it is people without people or people from people, it is “he who made us, and not we ourselves.”
So at the first and easy sense of these words—still a true one, of course—“let us worship him, brothers, and prostrate ourselves before him and cry before the Lord who made us.” He did not, after all, make us and now desert us. He did not go to the trouble of making us only to abandon us. “Let us worship before the Lord who made us,” because we did not worship when he made us, and yet he made us all the same. So having made us before we worshiped him, is he going to desert us when we worship him? If someone were doubting whether he would be listened to when he prayed, Scripture reassures him when it says, “Let us cry before the Lord who made us.” Of course he listens to those he made; of course he cannot fail to care for those he made. SERMON 26.1.
PROSTRATE YOURSELF BEFORE GOD. AUGUSTINE: Do not despair. You are sick, approach him and be healed; you are blind, “approach him and be enlightened.” Those of you who are healthy, thank him for it; those of you who are sick, run to him to be healed. All of you, say, “Come, let us worship and prostrate ourselves before him, and let us weep before the Lord who made us,” made us human beings and saved us. You see, if it was he that made us human beings, while we saved ourselves, it means we have done something better than he has. I mean, a saved human being is better than an unsaved one. So if God made you a human being, and you made yourself a good human being, what you made is better. Do not lift yourself up above God; submit yourself to God, worship, prostrate yourself, confess to the one who made you; because nobody can recreate except the one who creates; nobody can make you new but the one who made you in the first place. SERMON 176.5.

95:7-8 Do Not Harden Your Hearts
THE DANGER OF DELAYING REPENTANCE. FULGENTIUS OF RUSPE: Indeed, no one should continue longer time in his sins out of hope for the mercy of God, since no one wishes to be ill for a longer time in the body because of the hope for future health. Those who decline to give up their sins and vices and promise themselves forgiveness from God are thus frequently visited beforehand by the sudden fury of God, so that they find neither time for conversion nor the blessing of forgiveness. Therefore, holy Scripture mercifully forewarns each one of us when it says, “Do not delay to turn back to the Lord, and do not postpone it from day to day; for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will come on you, and at the time of punishment you will perish.” Blessed David also says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” The blessed Paul agrees that we should not continue in our sins in these words: “Take care, brothers, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God. Encourage yourselves daily while it is still ‘today’ so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sins.” TO PETER ON THE FAITH 3.40.

Overview: Once we are justified by faith we have peace with God and therefore also peace with ourselves, because the spirit within us is no longer at war with the flesh. This does not mean that we have no more trouble or suffering but that, because we are at peace inside ourselves, we are equipped to do battle with the external forces of evil that continue to fight against us. Faith in Christ brings us nearer to God and gives us a greater share in his glory. This in turn produces the hope that what God has begun in us he will bring to completion at the last day. For the Christian, suffering has a positive purpose. Before the fourth century, Christians suffered periodic persecutions for their beliefs. The first fruit of suffering is patience (endurance), which the Fathers perceived as a great good. Endurance forms character and gives us a positive attitude toward the future.
Christ died for us while we were still ungodly, and this is the measure of his love for us. What can we do but respond to him with a similar love? The early Christians had grown accustomed through martyrdom to the idea that innocent people could and would be put to death. But the martyrs were dying for God, who deserved their devotion, whereas Christ died for us, who are undeserving. This is the true miracle of God’s love for us. Justification is a work of God. We have been justified by what Christ has done and not by the way we have responded to him. Sinners are enemies of God, but sin is willful disobedience, not some flaw in the created order. God’s love is manifested to us in that his Son died for us while we were still sinners. Christians do not dwell on their sins but rather rejoice that they have been delivered from them in and by Christ, who has reconciled us to God. God does not let us down, because he has given us the ultimate gift—his love, manifested by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

5:1 Peace with God
The Guarantee of Peace. Origen: It is obvious from this that the apostle is inviting everyone who has understood that he is justified by faith and not by works to that “peace which passes all understanding,” in which the height of perfection consists. But let us investigate further in order to see what the apostle means when he talks about peace, and especially about that peace which is through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace reigns when nobody complains, nobody disagrees, nobody is hostile and nobody misbehaves. Therefore, we who once were enemies of God, following the devil, that great enemy and tyrant, now, if we have thrown down his weapons and in their place taken up the sign of Christ and the standard of his cross, have peace with God. But this is through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has reconciled us to God through the offering of his blood.
Let us therefore have peace, so that the flesh will no longer war with the spirit, nor will the law of God be opposed by the law of our members. Let there not be in us “yes” and “no,” but let us all agree, let us all think alike, let there be no dissension either among ourselves or between us and others outside our ranks, and then we shall have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. But let it most definitely be known that anyone in whom the vice of wickedness is found can never have peace. For as long as he is thinking how he can hurt his neighbor, as long as he seeks after ways of causing harm, his mind will never be at peace.
But if you ask me how a righteous man can have peace when he is attacked by the devil, who maintains his wars of temptation, I would say that such a man has greater peace than anyone else. . . . For the apostle says that we have peace with God knowing full well that war against the devil is a guarantee of peace with God. We shall have even greater peace with God if we continue our active hostility toward the devil and fight against the vices of the flesh. For the apostle James says: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you; draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” You see that James too felt that he was getting closer to God by resisting the devil. Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.
Faith Gives Us Peace with God. Ambrosiaster: Faith gives us peace with God, not the law. For it reconciles us to God by taking away those sins which had made us God’s enemies. And because the Lord Jesus is the minister of this grace, it is through him that we have peace with God. Faith is greater than the law because the law is our work, whereas faith belongs to God. Furthermore, the law is concerned with our present life, whereas faith is concerned with eternal life. But whoever does not think this way about Christ, as he ought to, will not be able to obtain the rewards of faith, because he does not hold the truth of faith. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
God Reconciled Us to Himself. Chrysostom: What does it mean to have peace? Some say that it means that we should not fall out with one another because of disagreements over the law. But it seems to me that he is speaking much more about our current behavior. . . . Paul means here that we should stop sinning and not go back to the way we used to live, for that is to make war with God.
How is this possible? Paul says that not only is it possible, it is also reasonable. For if God reconciled us to himself when we were in open warfare with him, it is surely reasonable that we should be able to remain in a state of reconciliation. Homilies on Romans 9.
Justified by Faith Alone. Pelagius: Paul has discussed the point that nobody is justified by works, but all are justified by faith, and he has proved this by the example of Abraham, of whom the Jews claim to be the only children. He has also explained why neither race nor circumcision makes people children of Abraham but only faith, because Abraham was initially justified by faith alone. Now, having concluded this argument, Paul urges both Jews and Gentiles to live at peace, because no one is saved by his own merit, but everyone is saved in the same way, by God’s grace. “Peace with God” means either that both sides should submit to God or that we should have the peace of God and not just the peace of the world. Pelagius’s Commentary on Romans.
Keep the Peace. Theodoret of Cyr: Faith has given you forgiveness of sins and made you spotless and righteous by the washing of regeneration. Therefore you ought to keep the peace by which you have been united with God. For when you were still enemies, the only begotten Son of God reconciled you by taking on human flesh and putting sin to death in it. Interpretation of the Letter to the Romans.

5:2 Standing in Grace
The Door of Truth. Origen: How we have access to grace through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior himself tells us “I am the door,” and “No one comes to the Father except by me.” . . . This door is the truth, and liars cannot enter in by the door of truth. Again, this door is righteousness, and the unrighteous cannot enter in by it. The Door himself says: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.” So neither the irascible nor the proud can enter in by the door of humility and gentleness. Therefore, if anyone wants to have access to the grace of God which according to the word of the apostle comes through our Lord Jesus Christ and in which Paul and those like him claim to stand, it is essential that he be cleansed of all the things which we have listed above. Otherwise those who do what is contrary to Christ will not be allowed to go in by that door, which will remain closed and keep out those who are incompatible with him.
Why does Paul talk about the hope of glory and not just about the glory itself? After all, Moses saw the glory of God, and so did the people of Israel when God’s house was built. But this glory, which was visible, the apostle Paul dared to claim would pass away . . . whereas the hope here is of a glory which will never pass away. It is the glory mentioned in Hebrews in connection with Christ: “He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature.” Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.
If We Stand. Ambrosiaster: It is clear that in Christ we have access to the grace of God. For he is the mediator between God and men, who builds us up by his teaching and gives us the hope of receiving the gift of his grace if we stand in his faith. Therefore, if we stand (because we used to be flat on the floor) we stand as believers, glorying in the hope of the glory which he has promised to us. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
Access to Grace. Chrysostom: If God brought us near to himself when we were far off, how much more will he keep us now that we are near! . . . What grace is it to which we now have access? It is being counted worthy of the knowledge of God, being forced to abandon error, coming to a knowledge of the truth, obtaining all the blessings which come through baptism. For the reason he brought us near in the first place was that we might receive these gifts. For we were not reconciled merely in order to receive forgiveness of sins; we were meant to receive countless additional benefits as well. Homilies on Romans 9.
We Rejoice in Hope of What Seems Unbelievable Because of Its Greatness. Pelagius: We have drawn near to God, because previously we were far away from him, and we stand, because previously we were flat on our faces. We rejoice in the hope that we shall possess the glory of God’s children. What we hope for is so great that no one would try it on his own, in case it should be regarded as blasphemy, not as hope, and as something which many people think is unbelievable because of its greatness. Pelagius’s Commentary on Romans.

5:5 God’s Love Poured into Our Hearts
Whose Hearts? Origen: Whose hearts are those into which God’s love has been poured? I believe these are the hearts of those in whom “perfect love has cast out fear” and to whom the spirit of adoption has been given, who cries in their hearts: “Abba, Father!” Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.
Hope Does Not Disappoint. Ambrosiaster: Hope does not let us down, even though we are considered by evil people to be stupid and naive, because we believe in things which are impossible in this world. For we have in us the pledge of God’s love through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
The Greatest Gift Possible. Chrysostom: God has given us the greatest gift possible and in profusion. . . . What is this gift? It is the Holy Spirit. Homilies on Romans 9.
[Pseudo-]Constantius: Clearly Paul is saying here that whatever is given to us by God the Father is given through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Letter of St. Paul to the Romans.
Moral Progress. Augustine: Who can hurt such a man? Who can subdue him? In prosperity he makes moral progress, and in adversity he learns to know the progress he has made. When he has an abundance of mutable goods he does not put his trust in them, and when they are taken away he gets to know whether or not they have taken him captive. Of True Religion 92.
The Love of God. Augustine: That God may be loved, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, not by the free choice whose spring is in ourselves but through the Holy Spirit, who is given to us. The Spirit and the Letter 5.3.
Conformed to God. Augustine: It is through love that we are conformed to God, and being so conformed and made like to him, and set apart from the world, we are no longer confounded by those things which should be subject to us. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Way of Life of the Catholic Church 1.13.23.
Why Tribulation Does Not Destroy Patience. Augustine: It is not by ourselves but by the Holy Spirit who is given to us that this charity, shown by the apostle to be God’s gift, is the reason why tribulation does not destroy patience but rather gives rise to it. Grace and Free Will 18.39.
Love Is Not Dismayed. Pelagius: The hope of things to come casts out all confusion. This is why the man who is dismayed by Christ’s injunctions lacks hope. The greatness of God’s benefits arouses in us greatness of love, which does not know fear or dismay because it is complete. We also learn how God loves us, because he has not only forgiven us our sins through the death of his Son but also given us the Holy Spirit, who already shows us the glory of things to come. Pelagius’s Commentary on Romans.
Indwelling of the Spirit. Oecumenius: It is to be understood that the indwelling of the adorable and thrice-Holy Spirit is found only in our minds and hearts. Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church.
Grace Enables the Fulfillment of Law. Bede: The law was indeed given through Moses, and there it was determined by a heavenly rule what was to be done and what was to be avoided, but what it commanded was completed only by the grace of Christ. On the one hand, that law was able to point out sin, teaching justice and showing transgressors what they are charged with. On the other hand, the grace of Christ, poured out in the hearts of the faithful through the spirit of charity, brings it about that what the law commanded may be fulfilled. Homilies on the Gospels 1.2.

5:6 Christ Died for the Ungodly
Christ Died for Us. Origen: In order to show more fully what power the love which is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit has, Paul expounds the way we ought to understand it by teaching us that Christ died not for the godly but for the ungodly. For we were ungodly before we turned to God, and Christ died for us before we believed. Undoubtedly he would not have done this unless either he himself or God the Father, who gave up his only begotten Son for the redemption of the ungodly, had superabundant love toward us. Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.
If He Died for Enemies, Think of What He Will Do for Friends. Ambrosiaster: If Christ gave himself up to death at the right time for those who were unbelievers and enemies of God . . . how much more will he protect us with his help if we believe in him! He died for us in order to obtain life and glory for us. So if he died for his enemies, just think what he will do for his friends! Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
At the Right Time. Pelagius: Why did Christ die for us when he had no obligation to do so, if it was not to manifest his love at a time when we were still weighed down with the burden of sin and vice? It was the right time, either because righteousness had virtually disappeared and we were weak, or because it was the end of time, or because Christ was dead for the prophesied three-day period. Paul wants to point out that Christ died for the ungodly in order to commend the grace of Christ by considering his benefits and to show how much we, who have been undeservedly loved, ought to love him, and so that we might see whether anything should be valued more highly than one who is so generous and holy. He neither valued his life above us ungodly people nor withheld the death that was indispensable for us. Pelagius’s Commentary on Romans.

5:7 Dying for a Good Man
What About the Martyrs? Origen: How can Paul say this when the Bible is full of martyrs? What were they doing? In fact, the martyrs were not dying for other people but for God, and for him anyone would dare to die. But every other death is much harder to endure, even if it is just and in accordance with the law of human nature. Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.
Dying for the Ungodly. Ambrosiaster: Christ died for the ungodly. Now if someone will hardly die for a righteous man, how can it be that someone should die for ungodly people? And if someone might dare to die for one good man (or not dare, since the phrase is ambiguous), how can it be that someone would dare to die for a multitude of the ungodly? For if someone dares to die for a righteous or good man, it is probably because he has been touched with some sort of pity or been impressed by his good works. But in the case of the ungodly, not only is there no reason to die for them, but there is plenty to move us to tears when we look at them! Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
[Pseudo-]Constantius: Many say that in this passage the good man is Christ our God, for whose name some are ready for death and are crowned with martyrdom. The Holy Letter of St. Paul to the Romans.
Pelagius: It is hard to die for a righteous person, because a righteous person is not destined to die. . . . But perhaps one would die for a good person, so that no harm might come to him. Pelagius’s Commentary on Romans.

5:8 How God Shows His Love for Us
While We Were Yet Sinners. Origen: By saying that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, Paul gives us hope that we will be saved through him, much more so now that we are cleansed from sin and justified against the wrath which remains for sinners. The One who so loved his enemies that he gave his only Son to die for us will surely be much readier to grant those who have received this gift and been reconciled to him the further gift of eternal life. Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.
God Shows His Love. Pelagius: God becomes the object of love when he conveys how much he loves us. For when someone does something without obligation, one demonstrates love in a special way. And what would be less of an obligation than that a master who is without sin should die for his faithless servants, and that the Creator of the universe should be hanged for the sake of his own creatures? Note that when the apostle says that believers in Christ were once sinners he means that now they are no longer sinners, so that they may recall how they ought to behave. Pelagius’s Commentary on Romans.

Overview: Jesus avoids Judea because of the malice of the Pharisees toward him (Chrysostom), teaching us it is not necessarily a sin to flee from persecution. He was still baptizing through his disciples even though he himself was not doing the washing. From this, we can ascertain that it is not the character of the minister that makes baptism certain, but Christ. His disciples had either already been baptized by John or may even have been baptized by the one who later washed their feet. At this point in John’s narrative, Jesus leaves Judea to return to Galilee, introducing another seeming discrepancy that can be reconciled with the other three Gospels, however, if we allow that they introduced an account of another journey of Jesus into Galilee that occurred after John’s imprisonment (Augustine).

Jesus sets an example for the apostles’ missionary activity by journeying into the Gentile region of Samaria (Chrysostom). John notes that Jesus was only passing through in case Jesus might otherwise give an occasion for the Jews to complain about his associating with Samaritans (Theodore). Samaria was a region created by the Assyrians after they had captured Israel and transplanted foreigners among the Israelites (Chrysostom). Jacob’s well was at Sychar, and Jesus’ presence there demonstrates his respect for the patriarchs. As their legitimate heir (Caesarius), he does not sever his connection with them even as he also reaches out to the Gentiles (Cyril of Alexandria). Jesus refreshes those who are weary through his experience of weariness from his journey (Ambrose). Indeed, his weariness and thirst at the well make clear that he shared our same human experiences (Hilary, Theodoret). But he was also wearied that he could find no faithful people—something that still wearies him today (Caesarius). He was the Spring who had come to the spring not to drink but to cleanse (Romanus). He came to the well as though coming to the depth of our human experience, and having been humbled in weakness, he sat down (Augustine).

4:5 Sychar, a City of Samaria Significance of Sychar and Samaria. Chrysostom: Why is the Evangelist so exact about this place? It is so that when you hear the woman say, “Jacob our father gave us this well,” you will not think it strange. For Sychar was the place where Simeon and Levi brought about a great slaughter because of their anger over what happened to Dinah. . . . And from where did the Samaritans get their name? Samaria receives its name from Somer, a mountain there, so called from the name of a former possessor of it. . . . The inhabitants of the country were formerly not Samaritans but Israelites. But in due time, they fell under God’s wrath and the [king of Assyria] . . . transplanted them to Babylon and Media, placing Gentiles from various parts in Samaria in their place. . . . God, however, sent lions to afflict the barbarians in order to show that it was not for lack of power on his part that he delivered up the Jews, but rather for the sins of the people themselves. The king was told this, and he sent a priest to instruct them in God’s law. But not even then did they entirely discontinue their iniquity but only effected a half-hearted change. In due time, they abandoned their idols and worshiped God. At this point, the Jews returned but were always jealous toward them as strangers and enemies, naming them “Samaritans” after the mountain. Homilies on the Gospel of John 31.2.

4:6a Jacob’s Well The Legitimate Heir of the Patriarch Comes to the Well. Caesarius of Arles: Our Lord Jesus Christ came to the field that holy Jacob had left to his son, Joseph. I do not think that this field was left to Joseph as much as to Christ, whom holy Joseph the patriarch prefigured, for truly the sun and moon adore him, while all the stars bless him. For this reason the Lord came to this field in order that the Samaritans, who were longing to claim for themselves the inheritance of the patriarch of Israel, might recognize their owner and be converted to Christ who became the legitimate heir of the patriarch. Sermon 170.1.

Ministry to the Gentiles and Salvation of the Patriarchs. Cyril of Alexandria: Having crossed the borders of Judea and being now among strangers, the Savior rests at Jacob’s well. He shows us again as in a type and darkly that the preaching of the gospel should depart from Jerusalem and the divine word in time would extend to the Gentiles. However, this does not signify that the patriarchs are to be any less revered. Christ shall embrace them again and shall again be refreshed and rest, as in his saints, preserving to them the pristine unfading grace. Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.4.

4:6b Jesus Is Tired Divine Majesty in the Feelings of Our Human Nature. Ambrose: Many things we read and believe, in the light of the sacrament of the incarnation. Even in the very affections of our human nature we behold the divine majesty. Jesus is wearied with his journey, that he may refresh the weary. He desires to drink when about to give spiritual drink to the thirsty; he was hungry, when about to supply the food of salvation to the hungry. On the Christian Faith 5.4.53.

Rivers of Living Water. Hilary of Poitiers: If we do not understand the mystery of his tears, hunger and thirst, let us remember that . . . he who thirsted gave from himself rivers of living water. . . . When he ate and drank, it was a concession not to his own necessities but to our habits. On the Trinity 10.24.

Weariness of the Journey. Theodoret of Cyr: The prophet Isaiah has said about the divine nature, “He will not be hungry, nor will he grow weary,” and so on, and the Evangelist says, “Jesus grew weary from the journey and therefore sat down by the well.” Now the phrase “he will not grow weary” is the opposite of growing weary. The prophecy therefore [appears to] contradict the account of the Gospels. But they are not really contradictory since they both come from one God. Not growing weary pertains, therefore, to the infinite nature, because it fills all things. But movement is proper to the body that is finite. And when that which moves is forced to walk, it becomes subject to the weariness of the journey. It was the body, therefore, that walked and grew weary. For the union did not mix the natures together. Dialogues, Epilogue 1.7.

Christ Wearied When He Cannot Find Faithfulness. Caesarius of Arles: Could the power of God be exhausted? Certainly not. But he was wearied because he could not find the people faithful. Christ was wearied, then, because he recognized no virtue in his people. Today, too, our disobedience wearies him, as does also our weakness. For we are weak when we do not pursue the things that are strong and enduring but follow what is temporal and fleeting. Sermon 170.2.

4:6c The Sixth Hour The Spring Comes to the Spring in the Heat of the Day. Romanus Melodus: Christ, . . . the source of the breath of life for all, when He was Weary from a journey, sat down near a spring of Samaria. And it was the season of burning heat. It was the sixth hour, as the Scripture says, It was the middle of the day when the Messiah came to illumine those in darkness. The Spring came upon the spring, not to drink but to cleanse. The fountain of immortality was near the stream of the wretched woman as though it were in need. He is tired from walking, He who tirelessly walked on the sea, He who furnishes Exceeding great joy and redemption. Kontakion on the Woman of Samaria 9.4.

Entering the Depths. Augustine: He came wearied, because he carried weak flesh. At the sixth hour, because he was in the sixth age of the world. To a well, because he came to the depth of this our habitation. For this reason it is said in the psalm, “From the depth have I cried to you, O Lord.” He sat, as I said, because he was humbled. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.9.

Overview: The Samaritan woman who appears to Jesus at the well mystically signifies the church of the Gentiles, which approached him. He asks for a drink because he thirsts for her faith (Augustine) and for the salvation of the whole world (Maximus of Turin). Like a hunter, he had sent his disciples away, lest they scare the woman and thus ruin his chance to capture the entire flock (Ephrem). When he makes a request of this woman for a drink of water, she demonstrates a concern for law and custom in her initial refusal (Theodore, Chrysostom). The Samaritan woman is surprised that a Jew would ask a Samaritan for anything since, while Samaritans can interact with Jews, Jews did not interact with Samaritans (Augustine). Jesus, however, speaks with her even though she is a Samaritan because the old law no longer applies (Chrysostom). He both thirsts and seeks to satisfy thirst with the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the water he speaks of here and in John 7:37 as a gift of God (Augustine). Zechariah prophesied that living water of the gospel would come forth from Jerusalem. Jesus is now the fulfillment of that prophecy to the Gentiles of Samaria (Eusebius). Living water is not stagnant (Augustine). It gushes out as the Spirit of Christ for our eternal life and others (Heracleon) as it waters our parched human nature (Cyril of Alexandria). Not everyone knows the gift of this living water found in baptism; otherwise they would not delay receiving it (Caesarius).

The woman continues her conversation with Jesus by addressing him reverentially as Lord (Chrysostom), but she still does not understand the implications of the living water of which he speaks (Theodore). She speaks of the deep well that needs a bucket to draw out the water, but our Lord knows that he has no need of a bucket when he has that refreshing water in him already that he seeks to pour into our minds (Caesarius). All do not draw from Jacob’s well, that is, the Scriptures, in the same way; some drink deeply, others drink more like Jacob’s livestock (Origen). “Those who drink deeply” from this well clearly receive the grace of the Spirit, who is the fountain of eternal life (Ambrose).

In her questioning, the woman claims Jacob as part of her ancestry, citing two reasons: Samaritans were close to Israel in geography and in worship and ancestry, and Jeroboam, a descendant of Jacob, had settled the land at the time of Rehoboam (Cyril of Alexandria). Jesus’ answer, while not stated directly, implies he is much greater than Jacob. The woman, nevertheless, holds onto the superiority of this well for a time and the water that comes from it (Chrysostom). Jesus knows of water that not only satisfies thirst, however, but that is also a source of perpetual refreshment (Theodore). This “water” can be compared with an idea that one has: the idea first appears to satisfy, although on reflection it only raises more questions, but when one receives the water Christ has to give, a fountain capable of discovering everything there gushes forth inside him (Origen). The living water of Christ satisfies our spiritual thirst as the pleasures of this world never will (Augustine). The water Jesus speaks of here is the Spirit, which gushes forth from within (Apollinaris), making the willing soul like a plush garden and quenching the fiery darts of the wicked one (Chrysostom) as well as the fires of Gehenna through baptism (Maximus of Turin). One who has the grace of the Spirit welling up within him will never be thirsty (Cyril of Alexandria).

The Samaritan woman is more receptive to Jesus’ words than was Nicodemus. Not only is she receptive, but she even begins to honor Jesus more than the patriarchs she had previously named (Chrysostom). Jesus was inviting her to stop working so hard and instead receive refreshment from him (Augustine).

4:7 A Woman of Samaria
The Woman Is the Church.
Augustine: It is pertinent to the image of the reality that this woman, who bore the type of the church, comes from strangers, for the church was to come from the Gentiles, an alien from the race of the Jews. In that woman, then, let us hear ourselves, and in her acknowledge ourselves and in her give thanks to God for ourselves. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.10.

Jesus’ Thirst for the Woman’s Faith.
Augustine: His “drink” was to do the will of him that sent him. That was why he said, “I thirst; give me to drink,” namely, to work faith in her and to drink of her faith and transplant her into his own body, for his body is the church. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.31.

Jesus Thirsts for Her and the World’s Salvation.
Maximus of Turin: The Savior asks for water from the woman, then, and feigns thirst so that he might give eternal grace to the thirsty. For the source was not able to be thirsty, nor was he in whom there is living water able to draw water full of earthly sediment. Did Christ thirst, then? He thirsted, to be sure, but for salvation and not [merely] for human drink. He was thirsty not for the water of this world but for the redemption of the human race. In a wonderful way, therefore, the source sitting by the well produces streams of mercy in that very place, and with flowing, living water he purifies the woman who is fornicating with a sixth man, not her husband but an adulterer. And in a new kind of miracle the woman who had come to the well of Samaria as a prostitute returned chaste from the source of Christ. She who had come to look for water brought back chastity. As soon as the Lord points her sins out to her she acknowledges them, confesses Christ and announces the Savior. Abandoning her pitcher she brings not water but grace back to the city. She seems, indeed, to return without a burden, but she returns full of holiness. She returns full, I say, because she who had come as a sinner goes back as a proclaimer, and she who had left her pitcher behind brought back the fullness of Christ, without the slightest loss to her city. For even if she did not bring water to the townspeople, still she brought in the source of salvation. Sanctified, then, by faith in Christ, the woman goes back home. Sermon 22.2.

4:8 The Disciples Had Gone Away
Like a Hunter, Jesus Comes to the Watering Hole.
Ephrem the Syrian: Our Lord came to the spring of water like a hunter. He asked for water in order to give water, with water as a pretext. He sought something to drink, like a thirsty person, so that the way could be opened for him to quench thirst. He asked from her in order to teach her, and she in turn would ask from him. He was not ashamed as a rich person to ask like one in need, to teach poverty how to make a petition. He was not afraid of reproach because he was speaking to a woman by herself, in order to teach me that whoever keeps to the truth will not be shaken. “They were indeed amazed that he was standing and talking with a woman.” He had dismissed his disciples from his presence so that they would not chase his prey away. He had cast bait for the dove so that by means of her he might capture the entire flock. He asked her in a way that was opposite to the real situation, so that she could answer honestly. “Give me water to drink.” Here was the beginning of the meeting. He asked for water, and he made a promise about living water. He made a request, and he ceased from his request, even as she also left her pitcher. He ceased pretexts because she came to the truth, for the sake of which the pretexts [had arisen]. Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 12.16.

4:9 How Is It That a Jew Asks a Drink of a Samaritan?
The Virtue of the Samaritan Woman.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: It is evident that the blessed John wanted to reveal the virtue of the woman through this story. This request for water was not to be taken lightly. She instead first brings up the rules of the law. With great honesty she did not tolerate this infringement of the law even with strangers, even though it could have happened easily and almost necessarily [because of the thirst needing to be quenched]. Therefore, in order that it might not appear that the woman did not want to give water to the foreigner out of meanness or hostility, the Evangelist added these words: “Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans,” so that we might know that she refused to give him water not as to someone who was a stranger to her religion but because she wanted to warn him not to transgress the rules of the law by being led by his thirst. At this stage our Lord took this answer of the woman as the right opportunity for his teaching. Commentary on John 2.4.9.

Samaritans Can Have Dealings with Jews, Not Vice Versa.
Chrysostom: After the Jews returned from their captivity, they were jealous of the Samaritans whom they regarded as outsiders and enemies. . . . The Samaritans did not use all the Scriptures, but only the writings of Moses, and made little use of the prophets. They were eager to claim their Jewish origin and prided themselves on Abraham, whom they called their forefather since he was from Chaldea, and also Jacob since they were his descendants. But the Jews considered them Gentiles and thought they were as much an abomination as the rest of the Gentile world. . . . And so the woman, on being told, “Give me a drink,” very naturally asks, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” . . . She knew he was a Jew from his appearance and speech. Observe how considerate she is here. For even if our Lord had been bound to abstain from dealing with her, that was his concern, not hers. The Evangelist does not say that the Samaritans would have no dealings with the Jews but that the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. The woman, however, though not at fault herself, wished to correct what she thought was done unlawfully. Homilies on the Gospel of John 31.2, 4.

Jews Would Not Even Use Their Vessels.
Augustine: The Jews would not even use [the Samaritans’] vessels. And as the woman brought with her a vessel to draw the water, it made her wonder that a Jew sought a drink from her—something Jews were not accustomed to do. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.11.

Christ Abolishes the Ceremonial Law for the Future.
Chrysostom: But why did Christ ask for a drink when the law did not permit it? It is no answer to say that he knew ahead of time that she would not give it, for in that case, he clearly should not have asked for it. Rather, his very reason for asking was to show his indifference to such observances since, if he was going to induce others to abolish them, then it was even more important for him to pass them by. Homilies on the Gospel of John 31.4.

4:10a The Gift of God
Thirst Satisfied by the Holy Spirit.
Augustine: He asks for a drink and promises to give a drink. He longs as one about to receive; he abounds as one about to satisfy. “If you knew,” he says, “the gift of God.” The gift of God is the Holy Spirit. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.12.

Water and Spirit As Gift of God.
Augustine: Is it shown in the sacred books that the Holy Spirit is called the “gift of God”? If people look for this too, we have in the Gospel according to John the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who says, “If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink: he that believes on me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” And the Evangelist has gone on further to add, “And this he spoke of the Spirit, which they should receive who believe in him.” And hence Paul the apostle also says, “And we have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” The question then is whether that water is called the gift of God, which is the Holy Spirit. But as we find here that this water is the Holy Spirit, so we find elsewhere in the Gospel itself that this water is called the gift of God. For when the same Lord was talking with the woman of Samaria at the well, to whom he had said, “Give me to drink,” and she had answered that the Jews “have no dealings” with the Samaritans, Jesus answered and said to her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is that says to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.” . . . Because this living water, then, as the Evangelist has explained to us, is the Holy Spirit, without doubt the Spirit is the gift of God, of which the Lord says here, “If you had known the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.” For that which is in the one passage, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” is in the other, “shall be in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” On the Trinity 15.19.33.

The Drink Given Is the Gospel.
Eusebius of Caesarea: And in that day it says, “Living water shall come forth out of Jerusalem.” This is that spiritual, sweet, life-giving and saving drink of the teaching of Christ. He speaks of it in the Gospel according to John, when instructing the Samaritan woman. . . . What was this drink, then, that came forth from Jerusalem? For it was there that its gospel went forth and its heralds filled the world. This is what is meant by the words “The living water shall go forth to the first sea and the last sea,” by which is meant the bounds of the whole world. That which is toward the eastern ocean is called “the first sea,” that toward the west is meant by “the last sea,” which, indeed, the living water of the saving gospel teaching has filled. He also taught about this when he said, “Whosoever shall drink of the water, which I shall give him, shall never thirst.” Proof of the Gospel 6.18.48-49.

Living Water Flows from Jerusalem.
Eusebius of Caesarea: And in them too the rest of the prophecy was fulfilled, when on the day of our Savior’s coming living water came forth from Jerusalem. The fruitful living word of Jerusalem, yes, from Jerusalem itself, and was spread over all the earth, even to the utmost bounds of the world. The Lord and Savior himself speaks of this water to the Samaritan woman. . . . And he goes on to teach what advantage would accrue to everyone who tastes of the living spiritual spring. Those that drink of it, denying the many evil demons who ruled them of old, will confess their one Lord and King, and that the Lord, who once was known only to the Hebrews, will become King of all nations that believe in him from all the earth, and that his name will be one, encircling all the earth and the wilderness. And who is not struck at seeing this fulfilled? For the Christian name, derived from the name of Christ (and Christ was indeed the Lord) has encircled every place and city and land and the very nations that dwell in the wilderness and at the ends of the earth, as the prophecy foretold. Proof of the Gospel 10.7.7-8.

4:10b Living Water
Living Water Is Not Stagnant.
Augustine: Water issuing from a spring is what is commonly called living water. Water collected from rain in pools and cisterns is not called living water. It may have originally flowed from a spring; yet if it collects in some place and is left to stand without any connection to its source, separated, as it were, from the channel of the spring. It is not called “living water.” Water is designated as “living” when it is taken as it flows. This is the kind of water that was in that fountain. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.12.

The Living Water Is Christ’s Spirit and Power.
Heracleon (via Origen): [Heracleon] is not wrong when he says that “the water that the Savior gives is of his spirit and power.” And he has explained the statement “But he shall not thirst forever” as follows with these very words: “For the life he gives is eternal and never perishes, as, indeed, does the first life that comes from the well; the life he gives remains. For the grace and the gift of our Savior is not to be taken away, nor is it consumed, nor does it perish, when one partakes of it.” . . . Now [Heracleon’s] interpretation of the “leaping water” is not unconvincing. He takes it to refer “to those who partake of that which is richly supplied to them from above and who themselves cause what is supplied to them to gush out for the eternal life of others.” But he also praises the Samaritan woman “because she demonstrated a faith that was unhesitating and appropriate to her nature, when she had no doubt about what he said to her.” Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.59-60, 62-63.

Human Nature Buds into a Virtuous Life.
Cyril of Alexandria: Jesus calls the quickening gift of the Spirit “living water” because mere human nature is parched to its very roots, now rendered dry and barren of all virtue by the crimes of the devil. But now human nature runs back to its pristine beauty, and drinking in that which is life-giving, it is made beautiful with a variety of good things and, budding into a virtuous life, it sends out healthy shoots of love toward God. Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.4.

Ignorance of the Gift Is the Cause for Delay of Baptism.
Caesarius of Arles: Not everyone knows the gift of God, because not all desire the living water, for if they did desire it they would never postpone the sacrament of baptism. . . . Do not delay the remedies of your salvation because you do not know when your soul may be demanded of you. Sermon 170.4.

4:11 The Well Is Deep
Title of “Lord” Implies Reverence.
Chrysostom: Already, our Lord raises the woman’s low opinion of him, making her realize that he was no common person. She addresses him reverentially by the title of “Lord.” Homilies on the Gospel of John 31.4.

The Woman Does Not Understand.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: However, since the woman did not yet understand these words and did not know what “living water” was, she said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” The tone of her conversation changed. Above she had said daringly, “How is it that you, a Jew”; now she conveniently set the appellation “sir” before her words. Before she talked to him, suspecting that he would have transgressed the law because of his strong thirst. Then, when she understood from his answer and his peaceful words that he had not asked for water because he was oppressed by thirst, she attributed the right honor to his words. “From where do you give me, [she says], that living water? You have no bucket, and the well is deep.” Commentary on John 2.4.11.

Refreshing Water Drawn into Our Minds.
Caesarius of Arles: Before the coming of the Lord, the well was also deep, and without a pail no one could draw water for himself. Our Lord, the living fountain, came to cleanse the hearts of all people, to quench their thirst and to satisfy their souls. Moreover, he did not look for a pail to draw the water, but of his own accord he poured himself into the minds of each one. Sermon 170.4.

Drinking from Jacob’s Well.
Origen: The Scriptures, therefore, are introductions, and are called Jacob’s well. Once they have now been accurately understood, one must go up from them to Jesus, that he may freely give us the fountain of water that leaps into eternal life. But everyone does not draw water from Jacob’s well in the same way. . . . Some who are wise in the Scriptures drink as Jacob and his sons. But others who are simpler and more innocent, the so-called sheep of Christ, drink as Jacob’s livestock. And others, misunderstanding the Scriptures and maintaining certain irreverent things on the pretext that they have apprehended the Scriptures, drink as the Samaritan woman drank before she believed in Jesus. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.37-39.

This Well Is the Grace of the Spirit.
Ambrose: This well is clearly the grace of the Spirit, a stream proceeding from the living fountain. The Holy Spirit, then, is also the fountain of eternal life. . . . This water, the grace of the Spirit, is so refreshing. Who will give this fountain to my breast? Let it spring up in me, let what gives eternal life flow on me. Let that fountain overflow on us and not flow away. . . . How shall I keep this water so that it does not flow or glide away? On the Holy Spirit 1.16.180-81.

4:12 Greater Than the Patriarch Jacob?
Two Reasons Samaritans Claimed Jacob.
Cyril of Alexandria: The Samaritans then were aliens (for they were colonists of the Babylonians), but they call Jacob their father for two reasons. They inhabited a country bordering on Jewish land and so, as neighbors, they were influenced by their worship and were accustomed to boast of the Jews’ ancestors. Besides, it was really true that the greater number of the inhabitants of Samaria were sprung from the root of Jacob. For Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, having gathered together ten tribes of Israel and the half-tribe of Ephraim, departed from Jerusalem in the time of the kingdom of the son of Solomon, and took Samaria and built houses and cities there. Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.4.

Jesus Is Greater Than Jacob.
Chrysostom: When the woman objects, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” Jesus does not reply, “Actually, I am greater,” which would make him sound like he is boasting since there was no proof at this point. Nonetheless, his answer implies it. . . . It is as if he said, If Jacob is honored because he gave you this water, what would you say if I give you far better water than this? . . . He makes the comparison, however, not to put Jacob down but to honor himself. Notice, Jesus does not say that the water is inferior or vile. Rather, he asserts a simple fact of nature: whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again. Homilies on the Gospel of John 32.1.

The Best Well Around.
Chrysostom: It is as if she said, you cannot say that Jacob gave us this spring and then used another for himself. For he and his descendants drank from it, which they would not have done if they had another well that was better. Therefore, you cannot then give me water from this spring. And you do not have a better spring, unless you confess that you are greater than Jacob. Where then does the water come from then that you promise to give us? Homilies on the Gospel of John 31.4.

4:13 Those Who Drink of This Water Will Thirst Again
The Water That Satisfies.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: There is a great difference, he says, between that water [in the well] and the water I promise to give. That [water], after they have drunk it, extinguishes their thirst for a short time. But then, when it has been consumed according to its nature, it leaves the one who shortly before had drunk it thirsty again. The water that I give is such in its nature that not only is it not consumed and does not leave the one who drinks it oppressed by thirst, but on the contrary, it becomes in him like a spring gushing up forever. The water from a spring does not run out, nor does it need to be brought from another place or to be introduced, but it constantly offers perpetual nourishment to those who want it. In a similar way also the virtue of this water provides the one who receives it with perpetual help and will always preserve him and not allow him to perish. Therefore the one who receives this grace will never reach death. He said what he did for good reason, because this is what the virtue of the Spirit is. And so we also receive from him the firstfruits of the Spirit with the hope of the future resurrection. Since now this operation is performed symbolically, we hope then to receive the perfect grace when, through his participation, we will remain imperishable. Commentary on John 2.4.13-14.

Ideas That Do Not Satisfy and Ones That Give Eternal Life.
Origen: One must investigate what is meant by “will thirst” in the statement “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again.” . . . What is meant in the first place would be something like this: he who partakes of supposedly profound thoughts, even if he is satisfied for a little while and accepts the ideas that are drawn out and that he thinks he has discovered to be most profound, will, however, when he has reconsidered them, raise new questions. . . . But [the Word] says, I have the teaching that becomes a fountain of living water in the one who has received what I have declared. And he who has received of my water will receive so great a benefit that a fountain capable of discovering everything that is investigated will gush forth within him. The waters will leap upward. His understanding also will spring up and fly as swiftly as possible in accordance with this briskly flowing water, the springing and leaping itself carrying him to that higher life that is eternal. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.13, 15-16.

Pleasures of the World Never Satisfy Our Thirst.
Augustine: Let us not overlook the fact that it is something spiritual that the Lord was promising. What does he mean when he says, “Whoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again”? It is true both for this water and what the water signified. Since the water in the well is the pleasure of the world in its dark depth: from this people draw it with the vessel of lusts. Stooping forward, they let down the lust to reach the pleasure fetched from the depth of the well, and they enjoy the pleasure and the preceding lust that they let down to fetch it. For he who has not dispatched his lust in advance cannot get to the pleasure. Consider lust, then, as the vessel and pleasure as the water from the depth of the well. When one has gotten into the pleasure of this world, whether it be food or drink, a bath, a show, an affair, is there any way he or she will not thirst again? Therefore, “whoever shall drink of this water,” he said “will thirst again.” But if he receives water from me, “he shall never thirst.” “We shall be satisfied,” it says, “with the good things of your house.” Of what water, then, is [Jesus] to give except of which it is said, “With you is the fountain of life”? For how shall they thirst who “shall be drunk with the fatness of your house”? Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.16.

4:14 The Water of Eternal Life
Immortality and the Holy Spirit.
Apollinaris of Laodicea: He says that visible water can quench one’s thirst for a little while, but the unseen water cures one of thirst altogether because there is no longer a thirst for life when immortality is gushing forth on you. What follows clearly demonstrates that the Holy Spirit is what is freely being promised here, as the spiritual water spoken of here corresponds with the physical water spoken of. . . . The Spirit of wisdom, whose presence is unceasing, gives of its abundance freely. Fragments on John 17.

The Fire and Water of the Spirit.
Chrysostom: Sometimes Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit “fire,” other times it calls it “water.” In this way, it shows that these names are not descriptive of its essence but of its operation. For the Spirit, which is invisible and simple, cannot be made up of different substances. . . . In the same way that he calls the Spirit by the name of “fire,” alluding to the rousing and warming property of grace and its power of destroying sins, he calls it “water” in order to highlight the cleansing it does and the great refreshment it provides those minds that receive it. For it makes the willing soul like a kind of garden, thick with all kinds of fruitful and productive trees, allowing it neither to feel despondency nor the plots of Satan. It quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Homilies on the Gospel of John 32.1.

Baptism Extinguishes the Fires of Hell.
Maximus of Turin: Frequently indeed we see that water poured out extinguishes a fire. But sometimes we see the opposite—that huge balls of fire consume streams of water and that the flames grow more vehement, drawing strength from the water as if from food, so that the water does not seem to put out the burning but to aggravate it. What, then, is that water that consumes flames but is not itself consumed? It is, I think, that which, flowing in the bath from the fountain of Christ is not consumed by sins but consumes the fires of Gehenna, and which, once poured out on people in baptism, itself both lives in them and puts out the fire of hell. It is clear that it lives in people from what the Lord says [here]. . . . But in a wonderful way the water of Christ both vivifies and extinguishes by one and the same operation. For it vivifies souls and extinguishes sins. The souls are renewed by the refreshment of its bath; the sins are consumed by its surging stream. And as far as the higher grace of baptism is concerned, in the heavens a mystery is celebrated and in hell Gehenna is extinguished. In the one the waters flow; in the other the fire grows cold. In the one we are submerged in the bath; in the other we are set free from the underworld. Yet there is nothing astonishing if hell is opened by the sacrament of baptism since heaven is also unlocked. For these places are opened so that freedom and grace might come together in the bath of Christ—grace from heaven and freedom from hell. Sermon 22a.3.

The Spirit in the Word Suffices to Instruct.
Cyril of Alexandria: We must know again that the Savior here calls the grace of the Holy Spirit water. If anyone drinks of this water, he will have the gift of the divine teaching constantly welling up from within him. He needs no admonition from others. Rather, it is enough to exhort those who thirst after the divine and heavenly Word that they are yet living in this present life and on earth along with the holy prophets and apostles. They are heirs of their ministrations of whom it was written, “And you shall draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation.” Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.4.

The Samaritan Woman More Receptive Than Nicodemus.
Chrysostom: The woman immediately believed, showing that she was not only much wiser than Nicodemus but also more courageous. For when he heard ten thousand things like this, he neither invited any others to hear what he heard, nor did he himself speak openly [about his encounter]. But she exhibited the actions of an apostle, preaching the gospel to everyone she could and calling them to Jesus. She even drew out a whole city to hear him. When Nicodemus heard Jesus, his reaction was, “How can these things be?” And when Christ set before him a clear illustration utilizing “the wind,” even then he did not receive the Word. But this is not the case with the woman. At first she doubted, but afterwards, receiving the Word not by any regular demonstration but in the form of an assertion, she immediately hurried to embrace it. For when Christ said, “It shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” immediately the woman said, “Give me this water so that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Homilies on the Gospel of John 32.1.

4:15 Give Me This Water, That I May Not Thirst
She Venerates Jesus More Than Jacob.
Chrysostom: See how the woman is led step by step to a higher understanding. First, she thought Jesus was some lax Jew who was transgressing the law. . . . Then, when she heard about the living water, she thought it meant material water. Afterwards, she understands it as spoken spiritually and believes that it can take away thirst. However, she does not yet know what it is, only understanding that it was superior to material things . . . “The woman says to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst nor come here to draw.’” Observe how she prefers him to the patriarch Jacob for whom she previously had had such veneration. Homilies on the Gospel of John 32.1.

Labor Needed No More.
Augustine: The woman is still focused on her bodily needs. She is delighted with the idea that she will never thirst again and takes this promise of our Lord in this way. And this too will be the case, although she will have to wait until the resurrection of the dead. But she wanted this now. God had indeed once allowed Elijah to neither hunger nor thirst for forty days, and if he could grant this for forty days, why not forever? This is what she longed for, to lack nothing and to be spared her hard labor, because she was coming to that fountain day after day, burdened with that heavy weight on her shoulders that was supposed to supply what she lacked. . . . Her poverty obliged her to work beyond what her strength could handle. If only she could hear the invitation, “Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you!” This is, in fact, what Jesus was saying to her. He was telling her that she did not need to work like this any longer, but she did not yet understand. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.15, 17.

Overview: When Jesus tells the Samaritan woman to call her husband, she replies she has no husband. Her answer is a form of confession because she truly has no legitimate husband (Origen). Jesus’ request exposes her guilt (Chrysostom) because she is involved in an illicit union (Augustine). One should realize that it is not the union of pleasure that makes a marriage but the approval of the law and the bond of pure love (Cyril of Alexandria). But the woman’s actions also mirror that of the church here: She denies having many husbands, just as the church denies having many gods. But when in repentance she comes to the well of baptism, her sixth and true husband betroths her to himself and rescues her from herself and her sin (Romanus).

There is no other way for the woman to account for Jesus’ amazing knowledge except to posit that he is a prophet. She references “our fathers,” by whom she means the patriarch Abraham who had offered Isaac on this mountain (Chrysostom). There was a dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans as to which mountain was holier: Mount Gerizim, because it was the place of blessing when Israel crossed the Jordan, or Mount Zion, where Solomon built the temple (Origen). Christ calls for faith from the woman, leading her higher and higher in her understanding (Chrysostom). He speaks of a future worship that will not be bound to a specific place for the dwelling of God (Cyril of Alexandria) but will rather be built on the living stones of the church (Origen). In saying, “You worship what you do not know, while we worship what we do know,” Jesus proclaimed that salvation is from the Jews but not only for the Jews (Augustine). It is also true that salvation was contained in the Jewish Scriptures (Origen), but the intimation is that neither the Jewish nor the Samaritan sanctuaries of worship will survive ultimately (Theodore). “The hour is coming” is repeated a second time with the addition of “and now is” to allude to worship that occurs now as an approximation of that more perfect worship that is yet to come (Origen). God is adored not in a place but in the Spirit. Those who worship the Father in spirit ultimately worship the Trinity (Ambrose). The Spirit he gives, as he seeks us through the Son, makes us alive to a life that is more divine (Origen).

Jesus identifies God as Spirit here to distinguish him from corporeal beings, since God is by nature incomprehensible and unlimited (Origen). But he is a being, and not simply wind (Didymus). Identifying God as Spirit is also appropriate since it is the Spirit who makes alive (Origen). Because he is without a body and is everywhere, true worship is not bound to just one place; rather, he is honored everywhere by those who approach him with a pure conscience and with the right intention (Theodore). There is freedom and knowledge for those who worship the Spirit in spirit and in truth (Hilary). When we worship him in spirit, we do as Elijah did when he found him in the still small voice (Origen). True prayer can only take place through the Spirit (Evagrius). Those who no longer fulfill the desires of the flesh walk in the Spirit and thus worship in the Spirit (Origen) as they are illuminated by him (Basil). In other words, pray in the temple after you become the temple (Augustine). Spiritual prayer is appropriately offered to one who is Spirit (Abraham of Nathpar).

The woman knew that the Messiah would teach, since the Samaritans also expected the Christ (Chrysostom), but she did not know who it was who was teaching her at that moment (Augustine). It should be mentioned that the Samaritans too had their false christs (Origen). Jesus’ gradual revelation of himself, however, leads her to a confession and worship of him as the true Messiah (Ephrem).

4:16 Go, Call Your Husband
The Value of Her Condemning Herself.
Origen: She already had, as it were, something of the water that leaps into eternal life since she had said . . . “I have no husband,” having condemned herself on the basis of her association with such a husband. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.50.

The Woman’s Haste to Receive the Gift.
Chrysostom: Since the woman demonstrates some urgency in asking for the promised water, Jesus says to her, “Go, call your husband,” to show that he too ought to have a share in these things. But she was in a hurry to receive the gift and wanted to conceal her guilt (for she still imagined she was speaking to a man). “The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’” Christ answers her with a timely rebuke, exposing her in regard to her former husbands and as to her present one whom she had concealed. Homilies on the Gospel of John 32.2.

4:17-18 The Woman’s Marital History
An Illicit Union.
Augustine: Understand that the woman did not have a lawful husband but had rather formed an illicit union with someone who was not her lawful husband. . . . And, just in case the woman might suppose that the Lord knew about this because he had learned this from someone—and not because he knew it by his own divinity—[he says], Listen to something that you have not said, “For you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband.” Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.20.

Christian Marriage Is Blameless.
Cyril of Alexandria: The Savior was not ignorant that she had no lawful husband, and his inquiry about her husband was not the plea of one who needed hidden things revealed. . . . He had full knowledge of her circumstances and helpfully affirms her comment that she has no husband, although she had had so many. For it is not the union of pleasure but the approval of the law and the bond of pure love that makes marriage blameless. Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.4.

She Meets Her Sixth Husband.
Romanus Melodus: [Jesus says] “If you wish that I give you the streams of pure water, Go, and call your husband; I shall not imitate your reproach; I shall not say: ‘You are a woman of Samaria, and how is it that you ask for water?’ I do not increase your thirst; for I have brought you to thirst through thirst. I exaggerated being thirsty and I was tormented by thirst in order that I might reveal you as thirsty. Go, then, and call your husband and return.” The woman said, “I think that I have no husband,” and the Creator said to her: “Truly do you have none? You have five, the sixth you do not possess, So that you may receive Exceeding great joy and redemption.” O wise enigmas! O wise characteristics! In the faith of the holy woman is pictured All the features of the church in true colors which do not grow old; For the way in which the woman denied a husband when she had many, Is just the way the church denied many gods, like husbands, And left them and became betrothed to one Master in coming forth from the water. She had five husbands and the sixth she did not have; and leaving the five Husbands of impiety, she now takes Thee, as the sixth, as she comes From the water, Exceeding great joy and redemption. . . . The espoused church of the nations, then, left these things, And she hurries here to the well of the baptismal font And denies the things of the past, just as the woman of Samaria did; For she did not conceal what had formerly been true from Him who knows all in advance, But she said, “ . . . Even if I formerly had husbands, I do not now wish to have These husbands which I did have; for I now possess Thee who hast now taken me in Thy net; And I am by faith rescued from the filth of my sins That I may receive Exceeding great joy and redemption.” Kontakion on the Woman of Samaria 9.11-12, 14.

4:19 You Are a Prophet
No Other Way to Account for Jesus’ Knowledge.
Chrysostom: The woman 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.’” . . . “I perceive” means “You appear to me to be a prophet.” And having come to this belief [that Jesus was a prophet], she does not ask any questions relating to life, health or sickness of the body. . . . She is not troubled about thirst; rather, she is eager to be taught. Homilies on the Gospel of John 32.2-3.

4:20 Our Ancestors Worshiped on This Mountain
“Our Fathers” Designates Abraham.
Chrysostom: By “our fathers,” she means Abraham, who is said to have offered up Isaac here. Homilies on the Gospel of John 32.2.

Origins of Disagreement.
Origen: On the statement “our fathers” and what follows one must understand the disagreement between the Samaritans and the Jews over the place they considered holy. For the Samaritans worship God on the mountain called Gerizim, because they consider it to be holy. Moses refers to this mountain in Deuteronomy when he says, “And Moses commanded the people in that day saying, ‘These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed the Jordan.’” . . . The Jews, on the other hand, because they think Zion is divine and God’s dwelling place, think it has been chosen by the Father of all. For this reason they say Solomon built the temple on Zion, and all the levitical and priestly service is performed there. As a consequence of these assumptions, each nation has considered its fathers to have worshiped God, but one on this mountain and one on the other. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.77-79.

4:21 Believe Me, the Hour Is Coming
Christ Calls for Faith.
Chrysostom: Everywhere, beloved, we have need of faith. Faith is the mother of all good, the medicine of salvation in order to obtain any real good. Without it, it is impossible to possess any of the great doctrines. Those who try anything without it are like those who venture on the sea without a boat and are drowned because they can barely swim. . . . Similarly, those who try to figure things out before they have learned anything are prone to suffer shipwreck. . . . To insure that this does not happen to us, let us hold fast to the sacred anchor by which Christ brings over the Samaritan woman now. Homilies on the Gospel of John 33.1, 2.

Christian Worship Is Not Bound to a Particular Place.
Cyril of Alexandria: Jesus equally condemns the foolishness of all, saying that the worship of both Jews and Samaritans shall be transformed to a truer worship. Jesus in effect says that people will no longer seek after a particular place where God properly dwells. Rather, Jesus is both able to fill and able to contain all things. And so, they shall worship the Lord “every one from his place,” as one of the holy prophets says. Jesus implies that his own sojourn in the world with a body is the time and season for a change of such customs. Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.4.

The Church Built Out of Living Stones.
Origen: The Jews stand for those who think intelligently and salvation is from them. The Samaritans represent the heterodox. So they deify Gerizim, which means “separation” or “division.” . . . The Jews, on the other hand, revere Zion, which signifies “watchtower.” . . . Inasmuch, then, as the hour mentioned by the Lord has not yet come when they worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, one must flee the mountain of the Samaritans and worship God on Zion, where Jerusalem lies. Christ calls this Jerusalem the city of the great king. And what else would the city of the great king, the true Jerusalem, be than the church that is built of living stones? This is the place of the holy priesthood, the place where spiritual sacrifices are offered to God by people who are spiritual and who have understood the spiritual law. But when the fullness of time is imminent, when one is no longer in the flesh but is in the Spirit and everyone is no longer still in the type but is in truth, then one must no longer bring true worship and perfect piety to Jerusalem to be offered. Such a person has been prepared so that he is like those whom God seeks to worship him. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.81, 83, 85.

4:22 Worship and Salvation from the Jews
Christ Born of the Jews.
Augustine: Divergent walls have come to the cornerstone, the Jews from there, the Gentiles from here. You have seen and you know that the further walls are from the corner, the further they are from each other. As they approach the corner, so they approach each other. When they reach the corner, they join each other. Christ [as cornerstone] has joined Jews and Gentiles, who were far away from each other. . . . Those who came from the Jews are to be counted as being part of a good wall because those who came did not remain in the ruin. We have become one, they and we; but in the One, not in ourselves. Of what lineage was Christ born? Of the Jews. That is what you find written: “Salvation is from the Jews,” but not only for the Jews. He did not say, after all, “Salvation is for the Jews” but “Salvation is from the Jews.” Sermon 375.1.

Salvation from the Jewish Scriptures.
Origen: The “you” refers literally to the Samaritans but anagogically to all who are heterodox regarding the Scriptures. The “we” literally means the Jews, but allegorically it means, “I, the Word, and all who are changed by me receive salvation from the Jewish Scriptures.” For the mystery now revealed was revealed both through the prophetic Scriptures and through the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.101.

The Sanctuaries Will End.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: It is proper for Jesus to say now, “Believe me,” after he had clearly demonstrated the truth of the words that he had spoken to her before. “The hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” This, he says, is what you want to be instructed about. Know then that there will be a time when both places will end. However in order that it might not appear that Jews and Samaritans had to be considered equal (because he predicted the end of both their sanctuaries) he says, “You worship what you do not know,” that is, you Samaritans; “We worship what we know,” that is, we Jews. Then he adds, “For salvation is from the Jews.” He did not say “in the Jews” but “from the Jews.” In fact, salvation was not in them but from them because Christ in flesh came from them. Therefore, he says, the truth is by the Jews, but both sanctuaries will be emptied out. Commentary on John 2.4.21-22.

4:23 A Time That Is Coming and Now Is
Sons Worship the “Father.”
Origen: Twice it is written, “The hour is coming.” The first time it is written without the addition of “and now is.” I think the first alludes to that purely spiritual worship that will begin at the time of perfection. The second, however, means, I think, the worship of those being perfected in this life so far as it is possible for human nature to progress. It is possible, therefore, to worship the Father in spirit and in truth not only when “the hour comes” but also when it “now is.” . . . For just as the angels do not worship the Father in Jerusalem because they worship the Father in a better way than those in Jerusalem, so those who can already be like the angels in their attitude will not worship the Father in Jerusalem but in a better way than those in Jerusalem. . . . When, however, someone worships neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, once the hour has come he worships the Father boldly because he has become a son. Therefore it is not said, “worship God” but “worship the Father.” . . . True worshipers worship the Father in spirit and truth not only in the coming hour but also in the present. But those who worship in spirit, since they worship as they have received, worship at present in the pledge of the Spirit. But when they shall receive the Spirit in his fullness, they will worship the Father in spirit. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.86-88, 99-100, 112.

God Is Adored Not in a Place but in Spirit.
Ambrose: She learned the divine mysteries: that God is spirit and is adored not in a place but in spirit. She also learned that Christ is the Messiah and therefore that he who was still awaited by the Jews had already come. Hearing these things, that woman, who manifests the beauty of the church, learned and believed the mysteries of the law. Isaac, or the Soul 4.26.

Worshiping the Father in Spirit Is Worshiping the Trinity.
Ambrose: What does it mean, then, that the Father is worshiped in Christ, except that the Father is in Christ and the Father speaks in Christ and abides in Christ? He does not abide, indeed, as a body in a body, for God is not a body. . . . So not an engrafting of a body is meant, but unity of power. Therefore, by unity of power, Christ is jointly worshiped in the Father when God the Father is worshiped in Christ. In the same way then, by unity of the same power the Spirit is jointly worshiped in God when God is worshiped in the Spirit. . . . When God is said to be worshiped in truth (by the proper meaning of the word itself often expressed after the same manner), it ought to be understood that the Son too is worshiped. So, in the same way, the Spirit is also worshiped because God is worshiped in Spirit. Therefore the Father is worshiped both with the Son and with the Spirit, because the Trinity is worshiped. On the Holy Spirit 3.11.82, 85.

The Father Seeks True Worshipers Through Jesus.
Origen: If the Father seeks true worshipers, he seeks them through the Son, “who came to seek and to save that which was lost,” purifying and educating those whom he equips to be true worshipers through the Word and sound doctrine. . . . God is a Spirit. . . . God, who brings us into the true life, is called Spirit, and in the Scriptures, the Spirit is said to make us alive. It is clear from this that “making alive” refers not only to ordinary life but to what is more divine. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.119, 140.

4:24a God is Spirit
“Spirit” Distinguishes God from the Material World.
Origen: In the language of the Gospel itself, it is declared that “God is a Spirit.” . . . To the opinion of the woman that God is rightly worshiped according to the privileges of the different localities . . . the Savior answered that anyone who would follow the Lord must lay aside all preference for particular places. He expressed himself as follows: “The hour is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain shall the true worshipers worship the Father. God is a Spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Observe how logically he has joined together the spirit and the truth. He called God a Spirit so that he might distinguish him from bodies; and he named him the truth in order to distinguish him from a shadow or an image. For they who worshiped in Jerusalem worshiped God neither in truth nor in spirit, being in subjection to the shadow or image of heavenly things. And such also was the case with those who worshiped on Mount Gerizim. Having refuted, then, as well as we could, every notion that might suggest that we were to think of God as in any degree corporeal, we go on to say that, according to strict truth, God is incomprehensible and incapable of being measured. On First Principles 1.1.4-5.

The Spirit Is a Being, Not Wind.
Didymus the Blind: Since God cannot be seen, his incorporeal nature follows directly on his invisibility. For if God is unseen, then he must be incorporeal. And if this is the case, then the Spirit spoken of here cannot be air that has been set in motion. For among people a body reveals its spirit; however, we cannot say the same about God. Just as the Light spoken of here is not a physical light, but an intellectual light since it illuminates the mind, not the face, and just as he who is called Love is not a disposition but rather a Being who loves what he has made and takes care of it, so he does not address the Spirit as a blast of wind, but rather presents him as an incorporeal and life-giving Being. Everyone who has learned that “God is spirit” worships him spiritually “in spirit and truth” and no longer worships the God of all under the shadows of types. He makes a distinction between the letter and the spirit and distinguishes between the type and the truth. The letter and the type were useful for a time, but when the truth came, that is, when Christ arrived, all these things came to an end. Fragments on John 3.

God Is Spirit in Bringing Us True Life.
Origen: Since we are made alive by the spirit as far as ordinary life is concerned—and what we usually mean by the term “life” concerns when the spirit that is in us draws, what is called, in the literal sense, the breath of life—I suppose it has been understood from this that God, who brings us to true life, is called spirit. In the scriptures, the spirit is said to make alive. It is clear that this “making alive” refers not to the ordinary life, but to the more divine life. For the letter also kills and produces death, but it is not death in the sense of separation of the soul from the body, but death in the sense of the separation of the soul from God, and from the Lord himself, and from the Holy Spirit. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.140.

God Is Without a Body and Is Everywhere.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: God is of an incorporeal nature and cannot be circumscribed into any one place. Rather, he is everywhere, and it is necessary that he be worshiped according to this understanding. The true worshiper is the one who honors him with the right intention and believes with a pure conscience that everywhere he can speak with the one who is incomprehensible. Commentary on John 2.4.23-24.

Freedom with Knowledge in Worship.
Hilary of Poitiers: We see that the woman, her mind full of inherited tradition, thought that God must be worshiped either on a mountain, as at Samaria, or in a temple, as at Jerusalem. . . . The prejudices of both confined the all-embracing and illimitable God to the crest of a hill or the vault of a building. God is invisible, incomprehensible, immeasurable. The Lord said that the time had come when God should be worshiped neither on mountain nor in temple. For the Spirit cannot be shut up, as if in a cabin, or confined. It is omnipresent in space and time, and under all conditions it is present in its fullness. Therefore he said that they are the true worshipers who shall worship in the Spirit and in truth. And these who are to worship God the Spirit in the Spirit shall have the One for the means, the Other for the object, of their reverence. For each of the two stand in a different relation to the worshiper. The words “God is Spirit” do not alter the fact that the Holy Spirit has a name of his own and that he is the gift to us. . . . The imparted gift and the object of reverence were clearly shown when Christ taught that God, being Spirit, must be worshiped in the Spirit, and revealed what freedom and knowledge, what boundless scope for adoration, lay in this worship of God the Spirit, in the Spirit. On the Trinity 2.31.

4:24b Worship in Spirit and Truth
The Spirit in the Still Small Voice.
Origen: In the [First] Book of Kings, the Spirit of the Lord, who came to Elijah, makes the following suggestions concerning God: “For he said, you shall go out tomorrow and stand before the Lord on the mountain. Beyond, the Lord will pass by as a great and strong wind destroying mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord. The Lord is not in the wind (but in other texts we find: “in the spirit of the Lord”). After the wind, an earthquake; the Lord is not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire; the Lord is not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a gentle breeze.” Perhaps, indeed, these words reveal how many must experience the fire of the direct apprehension of the Lord. . . . But who could more properly tell us about whom God is than the Son? “For no one has known the Father except the Son.” We too aspire to know how God is spirit as the Son reveals it, and to worship God in the spirit that gives life and not in the letter that kills. We want to honor God in truth and no longer in types, shadows and examples even as the angels do not serve God in examples and the shadow of heavenly realities but in realities that belong to the spiritual and heavenly order. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.145-46.

The Theologian’s Prayer.
Evagrius of Pontus: If you wish to pray, you have need of God, “who gives prayer to him who prays.” Invoke him, then, saying, “Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come”—that is, the Holy Spirit and your only begotten Son. For this is what he taught us, saying, “Worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” He who prays in spirit and in truth is no longer dependent on created things when honoring the Creator but praises him for and in himself. If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian. Chapters on Prayer 59-61.

Those Who Walk in the Spirit Are Worshiping in the Spirit.
Origen: If there are many who profess to worship the Creator, there are some who are no longer in the flesh but in the spirit, because they walk in the spirit and do not fulfill the desire of the flesh. And there are others who are not in the spirit but in the flesh and wage war according to the flesh. If this is so, then one must say that those who worship the Father in spirit and not in flesh, in truth and not in types, are the true worshipers, and that those who do not so worship are not true worshipers. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.109.

Illumination of the Spirit Enables Worship.
Basil the Great: To worship in the Spirit implies that our intelligence has been enlightened. Consider the words spoken to the Samaritan woman. She was deceived by local custom into believing that worship could only be offered in a specific place. But the Lord, attempting to correct her, said that worship ought to be offered in Spirit and in truth. By truth he clearly meant himself. If we say that worship offered in the Son (the truth) is worship offered in the Father’s image, we can say the same about worship offered in the Spirit since the Spirit in himself reveals the divinity of the Lord. The Holy Spirit cannot be divided from the Father and the Son in worship. If you remain outside the Spirit, you cannot worship at all, and if you are in him you cannot separate him from God. Light cannot be separated from what it makes visible, and it is impossible for you to recognize Christ, the image of the invisible God, unless the Spirit enlightens you. Once you see the image, you cannot ignore the light; you see the light and the image simultaneously. It is fitting that when we see Christ, the brightness of God’s glory, it is always through the illumination of the Spirit. Through Christ the image, may we be led to the Father, for he bears the seal of the Father’s very likeness. On the Spirit 26.64.

Pray in the Temple After You Become the Temple.
Augustine: “O for a mountain to pray on,” you cry, “high and inaccessible so that I may be nearer to God and God may hear me better. For he dwells on high.” . . . Yes, God dwells on high, but he is also considerate of the humble. . . . Come down so that you may come near him. But do you want to ascend? Ascend, but do not seek a mountain. “The ascents,” it said, “are in his heart, in the valley of weeping.” A valley has humility. Therefore, do everything within. Even if perhaps you seek some lofty place, some holy place, make yourself a temple for god within yourself. “For the temple of God is holy, which means you.” Would you pray in a temple? Pray in yourself. But first be a temple of God, for he in his temple hears the one who prays. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.25.

Spiritual Prayer.
Abraham of Nathpar: Do not imagine, my beloved, that prayer consists solely of words or that it can be learned by means of words. No, listen to the truth of the matter from our Lord: spiritual prayer is not learned and does not reach fullness as a result of either learning or the repetition of words. For it is not to a man that you are praying, before whom you can repeat a well-composed speech. It is to him who is Spirit that you are directing the movements of prayer. You should pray, therefore, in spirit, seeing that he is spirit. He shows that no special place or vocal utterance is required for someone who prays in fullness to God. On Prayer and Silence 1-2.

4:25 When Messiah Comes, He Will Teach Us All Things
The Samaritans Expected Christ Too.
Chrysostom: How is it that the Samaritans expected Christ’s coming, since they only acknowledged the books of Moses? Their expectation came from the writings of Moses themselves. . . . Jacob prophesies of Christ, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until he comes to whom it belongs, and he is the expectation of nations.” And Moses says, “The Lord your God shall raise up a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers.” Homilies on the Gospel of John 33.2.

Messiah Will Level the Mountain and the Temple.
Augustine: She says in effect, The Jews now contend for the temple, we for the mountain. But he, when he comes, will level the mountain, overthrow the temple and teach us how to pray in spirit and in truth. She knew who could teach her, but she did not yet know him that was now teaching her. . . . The Hebrew Messias is in Greek Christ and means in Latin the anointed one. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.27.

False Christs Arose Among Samaritans Too.
Origen: The Samaritan woman, who accepts only the Pentateuch of Moses, expects the coming of Christ as announced only by the law. The Samaritans probably expected the visitation on the basis of Jacob’s blessing on Judah, when he said . . . “A ruler shall not fail from Judah.” . . . We must not fail to remark that, as Jesus arose from among the Jews, not only saying that he was the Christ but also proving it, so also a certain Dositheus arose from among the Samaritans and declared himself to be the Christ who had been prophesied. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.154, 162.

4:26 I Who Speak to You Am He
Jesus’ Gradual Revelation of Himself.
Ephrem the Syrian: “And if you are a king, how is it that you are asking me for water?” It was not in this way that he first made reference about himself to her, but rather first as a Jew, and then as a prophet, and thereafter as the Messiah. Step by step he brought and placed her at the highest level. At first, she saw him as a thirsty person, then as a Jew, then a prophet, and afterwards as God. As he was thirsting, she was persuading him; as he was a Jew, she loathed him; as he was a person of learning, she made enquiry of him; in his being a prophet, she was rebuked by him; as he was the Messiah, she worshiped him. Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 12.18.

Overview: The disciples were amazed at Jesus’ treatment of this woman, but she was made in the image of God as much as anyone else (Origen) and so Jesus sets an example of how one should regard women with respect (Cyril of Alexandria). She leaves behind the water jar as she now carries in herself (Romanus) the living water she had found there (Augustine). She returns to her own village and becomes an apostle as she speaks of what she has heard at the well (Origen), doing the work of an evangelist as well. She did all of this without any concern about how her former life might be perceived (Chrysostom).

Her exuberance follows the example of Jesus, who neglected food in his zeal for the church (Cyril of Alexandria). He, however, intimates to his disciples about a food they know nothing about, which provides nourishment to him from his Father (Origen). The disciples understand his words about food, however, about as much as the woman understands his words about the water (Augustine). He explains to his disciples that his hunger lies in the desire for our salvation, which is what he calls his food (Chrysostom). God’s will is that we repent and are saved (Ambrose). The food of the Son is to accomplish this will of the Father, a will that becomes almost indistinguishable from his own. But the work Christ needs to do to accomplish that will is not completed at this point because he has not yet perfected us (Origen, Ambrose), and the human race has not yet been converted to the saving gospel (Theodore).

Jesus instructs his disciples to lift up their eyes so that their thoughts may be focused on what God wants to accomplish (Origen). The fields that are white for harvest are the multitudes of souls prepared for receiving the preaching of the gospel (Chrysostom). Both sowers and reapers rejoice together (Origen) as Moses and the prophets prepared the harvest (Chrysostom), along with the seeds sown by Christ (Theodore). The harvest is then reaped by the glittering and sharp word of the apostles, who then bring their harvest to the floor of the church (Cyril of Alexandria). Jesus had done the spadework for the apostles as he cultivated the prophets from the beginning (Theodore).

The Samaritans ask Jesus to remain with them, which he does, remaining not only for them but for all who ask (Origen). The Evangelist does not relate what Jesus told them while he was with them, which often seems to be the case when the results are positive, as they were here when we are told that practically the whole city was convinced by his words (Chrysostom). The people then dismiss their first instructor in favor of getting instruction directly from the source (Origen, Chrysostom).

4:27 Talking with a Samaritan Woman
Jesus’ Treatment of Women.
Origen: We learn that he is meek and lowly in heart and does not disdain to speak of such great matters with a woman carrying water who goes out of the city because of her great poverty and labors to draw water for herself. When the disciples arrive they are amazed, for they previously beheld the greatness of the divinity in him, and they marvel that so great a man was speaking with a woman. We, however, carried away with pride and arrogance, despise those below us and forget that the words “Let us make man according to our image and according to our likeness” apply to each person. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.166-67.

Gender Equality in the Gospel.
Cyril of Alexandria: He shows here, as the one Creator of all, that he does not give men only this life through faith but imparts this faith to women as well. Let him that teaches in the church follow this pattern and not refuse to help women. For in all things one must not follow one’s own will but the service of preaching. Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.5.

4:28 The Woman Left Her Water Jar
The Woman Leaves Carrying Other Water.
Romanus Melodus: But when the Merciful One was near the spring, . . . Then the woman of Samaria, coming from her native village, Sichar, arrived, and she had her urn on her shoulders; And who would not call blessed the arrival and departure of this woman? For she departed in filth; she entered into the figure of the church as blameless; She departed, and she drew out life like a sponge. She departed bearing water; she became a bearer of God; And who does not bless This woman; or rather who does not revere her, the type of the nations As she brings Exceeding great joy and redemption? Kontakion on the Woman of Samaria 9.5.

Before You Preach, Leave Your Water Jar.
Augustine: Having heard, “I that speak with you am he,” and having received Christ the Lord into her heart, what could she do now but leave her water jar and run to preach the gospel? She cast out lust and hurried to proclaim the truth. Let those who would preach the gospel learn: let them throw away their water jar at the well. You remember what I said before of the water jar. It was a vessel with which the water was drawn, called hydria, from its Greek name, because water is hydor in Greek; just as if it were called aquarium, from the Latin. She threw away her water jar then, which was no longer of use but a burden to her, such was her eagerness to be satisfied with that water. Throwing her burden away to make Christ known, “she ran to the city and says to those men, ‘Come, and see a man who told me everything I ever did.’” Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.30.

The Samaritan Woman an Apostle.
Origen: He also uses the woman as an apostle, as it were, to those in the city. His words to her are so forceful that she leaves her water jar to go to the city and tells them to her fellow townspeople. . . . I think there was a definite purpose why the Evangelist recorded that the woman left her water jar and went into the city. At the literal level, then, this shows the tremendous eagerness of the Samaritan woman, who forsakes her water jar and is more concerned for how she may benefit the multitude than for her more humble duty related to material things. For she was very benevolently moved and wished to announce the Christ to her fellow citizens by bearing witness to the one who told her “all I ever did.” And she invites them to behold a man whose speech is greater than man, for his appearance to the eye was human. So must we, too, therefore, forgetting things that are more material in nature and leaving them behind, be eager to impart to others the benefit of which we have been partakers. For by recording the woman’s commendation for those capable of reading with understanding, the Evangelist challenges us to this goal. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.169, 173-74.

4:29 Could He Be the Christ?
The Work of an Evangelist.
Chrysostom: As the apostles left their nets on being called, so she leaves her water jar to do the work of an evangelist by calling not one or two people, as Andrew and Philip did, but a whole city. Homilies on the Gospel of John 34.1.

One Need Only Taste of That Well to Feel as She Did.
Chrysostom: She was not prevented by any concern for losing face from spreading around what had been said to her. For the soul, once kindled by the divine flame, does not consider glory or shame or any other earthly consideration: only the flame that consumes it. . . . She did not want them to trust only her own report but to come and make a judgment about Christ for themselves. . . . “Come, see a man, she says. She does not say, “Come and believe,” but “Come and see,” which is an easier matter. For she certainly knew that if they only tasted of that well, they would feel as she did. Homilies on the Gospel of John 34.1.

4:31 The Disciples Urge Their Rabbi to Eat
Diligence in Teaching the Gospel.
Cyril of Alexandria: Having initiated the conversion of the Samaritans . . . Jesus focuses entirely on the salvation of those who are called and has no concern for bodily food, though wearied with his journey. In this way, he encourages the teachers in the churches and persuades them to disregard all fatigue and be more zealous for those who are being saved than caring for their own bodies. For the prophet says, “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness.” Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.5.

4:32 Food to Eat That the Disciples Did Not Know
Jesus Replenishes Himself from the Father.
Origen: And it is not out of place to say that not only do people and angels need spiritual food, but so too does the Christ of God. For, if I may put it this way, he is always replenishing himself from the Father, who alone is without need and sufficient in himself. Now the common person who is being taught receives his foods from the disciples of Jesus who are commanded to distribute food to the crowds, and Jesus’ disciples receive their food from Jesus himself. . . . The Son of God, however, receives his food from the Father alone, without the intervention of any other being. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.219-220.

4:33 Who Brought Food?
The Disciples Do Not Understand.
Augustine: It is no wonder that the woman did not understand what he said about the water when you consider the disciples did not understand about the food either. Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.31.

4:34 Doing the Will of God
Christ Hungry for Our Salvation.
Chrysostom: He calls the salvation of men and women his food, showing his great desire that we should be saved. His desire for our salvation is as great as our desire for food. And see how often he does not express himself directly but figuratively. This necessarily makes it difficult for his hearers to comprehend his meaning, but it also gives a greater importance to that meaning once it is understood. Homilies on the Gospel of John 34.1.

The Will of God Is Repentance and Forgiveness.
Ambrose: The food of a priest is the remission of sins. Therefore, the Prince of priests, Christ, says, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” What is the will of God but this: “When you turn and groan, then shall you be saved”? Letter 57 (to Simplicianus).

One Will.
Origen: It is proper food for the Son of God when he becomes a doer of the Father’s will, that is, when he wills in himself what was also the Father’s will, so that the will of God is in the will of the Son, and the will of the Son has become indistinguishable from the will of the Father, and there are no longer two wills but one. It is because of this one will that the Son said, “I and the Father are one.” And because of this will, he who has seen him has seen the Son, and has seen also the one who sent him. . . . Only the Son has comprehended the complete will of God and does it. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.228, 231.

Being Perfected and Made Ready for Solid Food.
Origen: Perhaps the Savior was sent for the following reasons. First, that he might do the will of the one who sent him, having become his worker here, too, and second, that he might perfect the work of God, so that each one who has been perfected might be made fit for solid food and be present with wisdom. “Solid food is for the perfect, the mature, who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” . . . And when each of us, a work of God, has been perfected by Jesus, he will say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As for the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.241-42.

The Work of the Father Is Not Yet Finished.
Ambrose: But as Christ is not yet made subject [to the Father], so also is the work of God not yet perfected. For the Son of God said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” How can anyone doubt that the subjection of the Son in me is still in the future when the work of the Father is still unfinished [in me] because I myself am not yet perfect? On the Christian Faith 5.13.169.

The Conversion of the World.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: What is this work? It is the conversion of the human race. And quite appropriately, by speaking like a human being, he said that that work was more important than any corporeal food. He also said that he did the will of him who sent him because he had been entrusted with that work. Commentary on John 2.4.34.

4:35 Fields White for Harvest
“Lift Up Your Eyes.”
Origen: “Lift up your eyes” occurs in many places in Scripture when the divine Word admonishes us to exalt and lift up our thoughts, and to elevate the insight that lies below in a rather sickly condition and is stooped and completely incapable of looking up, as is written for instance in Isaiah, “lift up your eyes on high and see. Who has made all these things known?” . . . No one who indulges his passions and clings to the flesh with a concern for material things has observed the command that says, “Lift up your eyes.” Such a person will not see the fields, even if they are “already white for harvest.” Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.274, 278.

The Fields of Salvation.
Chrysostom: What the will of the Father is, he now proceeds to explain: “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes harvest?’” . . . He leads them, as his custom is, from low things to high. . . . Fields and harvest here express the great number of souls ready to receive the Word. The eyes are both spiritual and bodily, for they saw a great multitude of Samaritans now approaching. This expectant crowd he calls very suitably white fields. For as the corn, when it grows white, is ready for the harvest, so these were ready for salvation. But why doesn’t he say this in direct language? . . . Because, by making use in this way of the objects around them, he gave greater vividness and power to his words and brought the truth home to them. He also spoke in this way so that his discourse might be more pleasant and might sink deeper into their memories. Homilies on the Gospel of John 34.1-2.

4:36-37 Both Sowers and Reapers Rejoice
Moses as Sower and Apostles as Those Who Reap.
Origen: It is my opinion that in the case of every art and science of the more important subjects of investigation, the one who discovers the first principle is the sower. Others receive and elaborate on these principles. They then hand on to others of a later time what they have discovered . . . who then take this up as if it were a harvest of the full fruit of the art or science they have received that has now reached maturity. But if this is true in the case of certain arts and sciences, how much more is it evident in the case of the art of arts and the science of sciences? . . . Consider the possibility that those who “sow” are Moses and the prophets, since they wrote “for our admonition on whom the ends of the world have come,” and proclaimed the sojourn of Christ. And consider if those who “reaped” were the apostles who received the Christ and beheld the glory which agreed with the intellectual seeds of the prophets about him. These were reaped by the elaboration and grasping of “the mystery that has been hidden from the ages, but that is manifested in these last times,” and “in other generations was not known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets.” The seed [that is being sown] in this case is the whole plan related to the revelation of the mystery that has been kept silent for eternity and now has been made known through the prophetic Scriptures and the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. At that time the true light made the fields white already for harvest by shining upon them. According to this explanation then, the fields in which the seeds had been sown are the writings of the law and prophets that were not white to those who had not received the presence of the Word. They became such, however, to those who become disciples of the Son of God—those who obey him when he says, “Lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are white for harvest.” As genuine disciples of Jesus, therefore, let us also lift up our eyes and see the fields that have been sown by Moses and the prophets, that we may see their whiteness and how it is possible to reap their fruit to eternal life. Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.302-3, 305-8.

Prophets and Apostles.
Chrysostom: Who is “he that sows”? Who is “he that reaps”? The prophets sowed, but they did not reap; rather, the apostles are the ones who reaped. Yet, the prophets are not deprived of the pleasure and reward of their labors on this account, but they rejoice and are glad with us, even though they do not reap with us. For harvesting is not the same kind of work as sowing. I therefore have reserved for you what involves less work and greater pleasure, that is, harvesting instead of sowing, because there is a lot more hardship and work involved in sowing. At the harvest, the return is large and the labor not so great. In fact, it is quite easy. By these arguments Jesus here desires to prove that the desire of the prophets is that all people should come to him. The law was also utilized in this, and the prophets sowed the law for this same reason so that they might produce this fruit. Jesus shows, moreover, that he sent those prophets as well, and that there was a very intimate connection between the new covenant and the old. All this he effects by this one parable. Homilies on the Gospel of John 34.2.

Jesus Sows, and the Apostles Reap.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: Jesus calls himself a sower because he has begun to teach and preach. He calls the apostles reapers because they have taken their start from him and have thus been able to offer men and women as fruits to God. Therefore he adds . . . “and the reaper is already receiving wages,” that is, not because the impetus and start of the work comes from me or because your labor will be without reward—which is not the case—but because you will also receive your wages according to your labor. So the benefit is held in common: it is mine because I sowed, but it is also yours because you reap. You rejoice in gathering the fruits, and I rejoice in seeing the seed grow. The truth of grace is revealed more clearly in this as well because, through the seeds sown by me, such a great power has been given to you that you will be enabled to lead many to faith because of the help you derive from me. And the fact that, empowered by me, you are able to do these things again confirms the excellence of my virtue. Commentary on John 2.4.36-37.

The Threshing Floor Is the Church.
Cyril of Alexandria: The spiritual sowing indicates those who tilled beforehand by the voice of the prophets. The multitude of spiritual ears is those brought to the faith that is shown through Christ. But the harvest is white, in other words, already ripe for faith, and confirmed toward a godly life. But the sickle of the reaper is the glittering and sharp word of the apostle, cutting away the hearers from the worship according to the law and transferring them to the floor, that is, to the church of God. There, they are bruised and pressed by good works and shall be set forth as pure wheat worthy of the divine harvest. Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.5.

4:38 Sent to Reap
Jesus Cultivated the Prophets from the Beginning.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: Even though he called himself the sower of the faith, the teaching of the faith nonetheless had its beginning before his coming in the flesh. It is obvious that it had already had a beginning through the prophets and the righteous ones who followed them. He also clearly shows that this beginning had been given by him as well. “I sent you, he says, to reap and enjoy the labor of others.” After they worked hard to enable the seed of faith to remain among men and women, you came, and from this crop you gather them and lead them to faith. I would have not invited you to reap and enjoy the work of others if that cultivation was not mine from the beginning. Some I entrusted with sowing, others with reaping. I did so according to time and the different phases of cultivation. Commentary on John 2.4.38.

4:40 The Samaritans Ask Jesus to Remain
Jesus Remains with Those Who Ask.
Origen: John has not written that the Samaritans “asked him” to enter Samaria or to enter the city but “to remain with them.” . . . In what follows he does not say, “And he remained in that city two days” or “he remained in Samaria” but “he remained there,” that is, with those who asked. For Jesus remains with those who ask, and especially when those who ask him come out of their city and come to Jesus, as if in imitation of Abraham when he obeyed God who said, “Go forth out of your country and from your kindred, and out of your father’s house.” Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.345-46.

4:41 Many More Believed Because of Jesus’ Word
What Did Jesus Say to the Samaritans?
Chrysostom: They acknowledge Christ not just as one of the many Christs but as the Savior. And yet, who did they see who had been saved at this point? They had only heard his words, and yet they spoke as though they had seen all these great and wonderful miracles. Why, then, don’t the Evangelists tell us what these words were and how admirably he spoke? By not doing so, they show that they pass over many important matters, and yet, by reporting the event itself, they lead us to understand everything. For he persuaded an entire people and a whole city by his words alone! On the other hand, when the hearers are not convinced, the Evangelists are obliged to provide the words of our Lord so that the failure may be seen as owing to the indifference of the hearers, not to any defect in the preacher. Homilies on the Gospel of John 35.1.

4:42 We Heard Him Ourselves
Direct Access to the Word.
Origen: The Samaritans renounce their faith that was based on the speech of the woman when they discover that hearing the Savior himself is better than that faith, so that they, too, know “that this is truly the Savior of the world.” It is better indeed to become an eyewitness of the Word and to hear him [directly]. . . . And so, there is nothing astonishing in the fact that some are said to walk by faith and not by sight, while others are said to walk by sight, which is greater than walking by faith. . . . Heracleon says, “People believe in the Savior first by being led by people. But whenever they read his words, they no longer believe because of human testimony alone, but because of the truth itself.” Commentary on the Gospel of John 13.353, 362-63.

The People Dismiss Their First Instructor for the Real Thing.
Chrysostom: “And they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.’” The pupils had gone beyond their first instructor . . . Notice how soon they arrived at the understanding that he had come for the deliverance of the whole world and could not therefore confine his purposes to the Jews but must sow the Word everywhere. . . . Their saying too, “The Savior of the world,” implies that they looked on this world as miserable and lost. They saw that whereas prophets and angels had come to save it, this was the only real Savior, the author not only of temporal but eternal salvation. . . . And notice how the woman had spoken doubtfully, “Is not this the Christ?” But they do not say, “We suspect” but “We know” that this is indeed the Savior of the world. Homilies on the Gospel of John 35.1.