The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John. May God,
through his prayers and holy, glorious, honorable
Apostle and Evangelist John, may we each proclaim
the glad tidings with great power to the fulfillment
of the gospel of his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. Wisdom, stand aright. Let us hear the
Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according
to John. Jesus cometh to a city of Samaria, which
is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground
that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's
well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied
with his journey, sat thus on the well. And it
was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman
of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her,
Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone
away into the city to buy food. Then saith the
woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou,
being a Jew, ask drink of me, which am a woman
of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with
the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto
her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who
it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink,
thou wouldst have asked him, and he would have
given thee living water. The woman saith unto
him, Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw water with,
and the well is deep. From whence hast thou the
living water? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us this well, and drank thereof
himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus
answered unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this
water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall
be in him a well of water springing up. unto
everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
give me this water, that I thirst not, neither
come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go,
call thy husband, and come hither. The woman
answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus saith
unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband,
for thou hast had five husbands, and him whom
thou hast now is not thy husband. And that saith
thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I
perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers
worshipped in this mountain. Ye say that Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus
saith unto her woman, Believe me, the hour cometh
when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet
at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye
know not what. We know what we worship, for salvation
is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now
is. when the true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father
seeketh such to worship him. God is the Spirit,
and they that worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him,
I know that the Messiah hath come, which is called
Christ. When he is come, he will tell us all
these things. Jesus saith unto her, I am he that
speak unto thee. And upon this his disciples
marveled when he talked with the woman. Yet no
man said, Why seekest thou, or why talkest thou
with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and
went away into the city, and saith to the men,
Come, see a man which told me all things that
I ever did. Is not this the Christ? Then they
went out of the city, and came unto him. In the
meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, Master,
eat. But he said to them, I have no food. I have
food that ye eat that ye know not of. Therefore
his disciples, one to another, hath any men brought
him ought to eat. Jesus saith unto him, My food
is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work. Do ye not say, There are yet
four months, and then cometh the harvest, behold?
I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on
the fields, for they are white already with harvest.
And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth
fruit into life eternal, that both he that soweth
and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And
herein is the saying true, one soweth and another
reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereupon you
bestowed no labor, other men labored, and ye
are entered into their labors. And many of the
Samaritans of that city believed on him for the
saying of the woman which testified. He told
me all that I ever did. When the Samaritans were
come unto him, they besought him that he would
tarry with them, and he abode there two days.
And many more believed because of his own word,
and said unto the woman, Now we believe not because
of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves,
and know that this is indeed the Christ, the
Saviour. Today's gospel is to me one of the most
beautiful and for me personally one of the most
charming events that's related about stories
in our Lord's life. the Jesus meeting the Samaritan
woman at Jacob's well. Again, it's one of those
stories and events which is found only in St.
John's Gospel. St. John's the last of the Gospels
to be written, and if you use the line of thought
that several of these prominent individuals that
are only related in John's Gospel, Lazarus, And
then this Samaritan woman, whom Christian tradition
has given the name Fotini, that these are not
mentioned in earlier Gospels in this line of
thought because they were still living. And John
wrote his Gospel probably in the 90s of the first
century, the last and latest of the Gospels,
when he was in exile at Patmos. But here we have...
The living water that Jesus gives offers first
to the Samaritan woman and by extension offers
to all of us. What is this living water? Of course,
it's a symbol. What does it stand for? The most
immediate thing that comes to mind is the water
of baptism. This water which begins our entrance.
into the Christian life. But it is not only the
water of baptism, it is deeper than that. This
living water is something that once we taste
it, as our Lord says, we will never thirst again.
And this living water is living in communion
with God. This thought occurs throughout the
Old Testament. people that are looking for God
or thirsting for God. Just to mention the first
quotation that comes immediately to my mind is
Psalm 42. As the deer longs for flowing water,
so longs my soul for thee, O God. My soul thirsts
for God, for the living God. A true believer
is someone who thirsts for communion with God.
And one of the ironies is, once we taste this,
which our Lord gives to us by being in communion
with him, we're still thirsty. What are we thirsty
for? Not communion with God, but for more and
a deeper communion with God. Here in this world,
which finds its ultimate fulfillment in the kingdom
of heaven. But today's gospel takes place at
noontime at Jacob's well. Jesus is tired from
the journey. He sits down to rest. And a Samaritan
woman comes with a water jar to pick up some
of this water. And Jesus starts the conversation.
and asks for a drink. Now, this was very unconventional
because a rabbi did never, never address a woman
alone that he didn't know. So Jesus breaks a
convention there. And the dialogue continues,
and Jesus tells this woman, the water that you
would give me, whoever drinks of this will thirst
again. But I have water, which once you have
drunk of this, you will never thirst again. And
then the woman may be sort of teasing and ironically
says, well, you don't have anything to draw,
the well is deep, you have nothing to draw this.
And Jesus tells her that he is the living water.
Whoever Give me a drink, you would have asked
me, and he would have given you living water.
The woman then says, Are you greater than our
father Abraham? And here's the irony. We, who
hear this gospel, know indeed that Jesus is greater
than father Jacob, who gave them this well. Whoever
drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever
drinks of the water that I will give him will
never thirst. The water that I shall give will
become in him a fountain of life, springing up
to everlasting life. Then Jesus tells her, well,
go and get your husband. And, of course, Jesus
knows what the answer to that is. And she says,
well, I have no husband. He says, ah, yeah, I
know. You've had five husbands. And the woman
says, I perceive that you are a prophet. What
an understatement that is. So that this woman,
like so many people, when they're cornered in
a conversation, what do you do? Change the topic.
which is exactly what happens. Our fathers worshipped
here, and Jesus says, Woman, believe me, the
hour is coming when you will neither worship
on this mountain, but we worship what we know,
for salvation is from the Jews. And remember,
the Samaritans and the Jews, there was antipathy
between them. because Samaritans were Jews who
intermarried with the non -Jewish residents and
adopted some of their religious and cultural
practices as well. Notice, interestingly enough,
in the Gospels, the Samaritans, who the Jews
despise, they are invariably the good guys in
the Gospel narrative. Which of the lepers came
back to thank Jesus? Samaritan, of the ten lepers
that was cured. Only one came back, he was a
Samaritan. Another gospel event, which is only
in St. John, again, by the way, the Good Samaritan,
who, when the officials in Judaism, the priests
and the Levite, pass up that guy who was beaten
on the road to Jericho, and left half dead and
robbed. It was the Samaritan who came and bound
up his wounds. And then the ultimate irony here
is in today's gospel too. When the woman calls
her fellow Samaritans to listen to Jesus, and
Jesus stays there for two days with them. And
what do they, how many... Days and weeks and
months did Jesus spend teaching the Jews, the
people who had the pure, unadulterated faith.
Some believed, some didn't. The officials of
Judaism turned their back and ultimately called
for his crucifixion. But Jesus is with Samaritans
for two days, and then what happens? The woman
tells the Samaritans, he told me everything I
ever did. So when the Samaritans had come to
him, they urged him to stay with them, and he
stayed there for two days. And many more believed
in him because of his word. They said to the
woman, now we believe, not because of what you
said. But we ourselves have heard him, and we
know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior
of the world. So they acknowledge him as the
Messiah. But more than that, one step beyond
being the Messiah is a unique term which is only
used by St. John here and in his first epistle
where he describes Christ as the Savior of the
world. He's not only the one promised, the promised
Messiah for the Jewish people, but he's the savior
of all mankind. This is the great revelation
that is acknowledged by the Samaritans that the
Jewish people were reluctant to give. So to us
then, this means that the beginning of our...
relationship with God began specifically and
especially at the fountain of baptism. But throughout
our life as Christians, our life should be one
of thirsting for God, for drinking from this
fountain, and being thirsty, because it does
satisfy our inner longing. But once we've drunk,
this water, we want to drink more and more and
more and more to come into deeper communion with
God. So this is what Jesus offers to us. He who
is the fountain of life, the savior of the world,
offers us communion with him in this world, in
the church, in the sacraments of the church,
which begin at baptism and were nourished especially.
in the Holy Eucharist, receiving his body and
blood, we drink of this in anticipation of that
never -ending fountain of life that we participate
in in the kingdom of heaven. So to our Lord Jesus
Christ, the author of our life and the fountain
of our life, be glory and honor forever and ever.
Amen. Christ is risen.