Table of Contents
Commentary
John (4:1 – 42) Do you consider the gifts given you by God? The Samaritan woman Sunday comes just in the middle of Great Lent: Central Sunday; “to start the second half of the fast”. The narrative it tells is that well-known of the Samaritan woman who went to draw water… whose name the Holy Scripture does not mention. But God so wanted as to cover her; that through her dialogue with the Lord Christ, some weakness within her appeared. That is why her name was not written. But her story is useful for us all: for when the Holy Scripture tells of an event with names declared, that is to say, it is a proper one; but to tell of an event including no names is to indicate that such is to be directed to all, and must be applied on each of us. The Readings of the Lent are all set for repentance, and for the sake of the cleanness and purity of Man. Here goes the Lord Christ on this Sunday to meet with such a woman. Be careful: for, despite its being limited, the narrative has a very broad significance. This is due to many facts: –
1 The Lord Christ was wearied, He needed to go through Samaria: the distance from Judea to Samaria is about 40 miles (nearly 64 kilometers); which He walked: on foot! He was determined to stop at Samaria so as to meet with this woman.
2 He showed being thirsty: the word ‘thirsty’ is always said to imply water. But on the cross Christ said, “’I am thirsty.’” Here thirst was for the repentant souls; as nothing is to satisfy Christ’s thirst but the repentant souls.
3 As the Lord Christ met the Samaritan woman, He purposed to meet her at midday: the sixth hour; which is the very hour of crucifixion.
4 The disciples left Christ and went for to buy food: just like what they did when they left Him at the time of crucifixion: as if the story of Christ’s meeting with the Samaritan was that of the cross, whereas God the Savior encountered the sinner. The narrative of these events is the preparation to the cross. This woman was a pattern of the human who seems to have knowledge. So what was this woman? The Samaritan woman did not have but a little knowledge.
5 Having a historical background: she had learned about the adversity between the Jews and the Samaritans since the age of the son of Solomon: when the kingdom was divided into two parts: – the northern part, which was containing ten tribes –those who took Samaria to be the capital of theirs- and the southern one, including two tribes –who made Jerusalem their capital. Thus a severance between them both arose. Because she had already known about this enmity, so on meeting the Lord Christ she said to Him, “’How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” (John 4:9). Rather, it was known of the Jewish tradition that men were not to speak openly to women in public spots – even if they had been married!
6 Having Scriptural knowledge: it sounds that this lady has had a good knowledge of the Scriptures; that she, during the talk, said to Christ: “’our father Jacob, who drank from it (the well) himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?’” So she was likely to have a kind of religious background.
7 Concern for worship: she was concerned with the issue of worship, particularly the matter of where to bow down: if it had to be done in Samaria or Jerusalem. Generally, we could say that she had some kind of knowledge. Now what was this woman’s problem? Her problem was that she had not been perceiving the perfect gift of God to mankind, given by the Holy Spirit as dwelling inside each. For one may live in grace, but not considering the preciousness thereof. So the question of Christ to us is: do you consider the gift given you by God? Are you aware of the grace given you by God? For each of us God gives some kind of blessings. Example: the blessing of good health: you realize how precious the gift of health is? There also is the blessing of salvation! Do you consider such a grace, and what the Lord Christ has made, through the cross, on your behalf and for your sake? I always like to remind you of Job the righteous; this who had not so perfectly known God that he once said: “’I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.’” (Job 42:5). That is to say, he had passed a transition at which he had not experienced that sense. When the Lord Christ met with this woman (that meeting which shows how He dealt with her), His dialogue with her went through a progression of steps so that she would be able to perceive His gift. At the beginning, she saw Him as a Jew, one of the enemies of the Samaritans. Then the acknowledgement went a little bit further; so she addressed Him, “’Sir’”. Just after, the dialogue made some progress: as she perceived His being “Prophet”. Afterwards she said to Him, “Messiah.’” And finally she said about Him that He is “’the Christ.’” And as she went to preach the people of Samaria, at the end of Christ’s visit to them she knew that He is “’indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.’” Such six stages we call: knowledge building. So, for you to consider the gift of God you could study or read. But what really matters is your understanding and heartedly feeling of the greatness of these blessings. Through the Prayer of Thanksgiving we say, “We thank You, Lord, for You have covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us to Yourself, spared us, supported us, and have brought us to this hour.” Have you thus understood the meaning of these seven blessings? Have you understood what it means that our Lord covers you? Do you realize that our Lord has been guarding you up to this moment? Do you consider that He has brought you to this holy hour? You realize and consider all these words? The Samaritan woman, by the end of that nice talk (John 4), knew and understood. Thus did the Lord Christ; He had prepared for encountering this Samaritan woman by whose repentance she has become the preacher to the city of Samaria. So Christ communicated with one woman so as to save the city of Samaria. Therefore we can say that this woman is regarded as the door key, leading to the repentance of the whole city of Samaria.
+What has the Lord Christ done with this woman?
1 The human soul is so precious to our Lord: – when the Lord was on the cross and said “’I am thirsty’”, He was not lusting for water; but thirsty for all souls to repent and receive the gift of salvation. For God seeks the soul of every human being, even if he-she were in a house like that of Simon the leper Pharisee, into which He has entered to reveal the preciousness of the woman who had been a sinner: who came, poured out tears on His feet, and anointed them with the hairs of her head. To her Christ has spoken; and not that only, but has also made a comparison between her as a sinner and winner, and Simon the Pharisee. Then He returns and passes by the places where tax collectors work, to come to one of them and say to him, “’Follow Me!’” (Matt.9:9). As a result, Matthew the tax collector becomes Matthew the disciple and apostle, the writer of the first of the Gospels, the man of so many missions, a lot of which he was to do after the ascension of our Lord Jesus. Like his example was Zacchaeus the tax collector. The human soul is precious to Christ. So if you ask why would Christ suffer pain, we answer you: He suffers pain for every person living in sin, far away from Him; while He rejoices for every person coming to Him with a pure heart: “’There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.’” (Luke 15:7). So Christ always esteems the human soul as so precious; that is why The most obvious theme illustrated by the parable of the prodigal son was that the father meets his returned, repentant son and takes him in his arms! Nevertheless there are some whose thoughts might lead to their loss. But at the same time, each person should know that the gate of repentance is open.
The greatest type and pattern of the preciousness of the soul before Christ is, “Saint Paul the apostle”: this who had before been “Saul of Tarsus”, a persecutor of the church of God; who had, for 36 years, lived in distance from our Lord, boasting of being a Jew and Pharisee. Even though, his soul is so precious to the Lord that He abode in wait for his repentance and return. Day by day, and year by year God had been giving him opportunities so that he might have repented and restored. Then came the time when Saul met with Christ in the way to Damascus. Then He gave him temporal sort of blindness, and since then, he has started to acknowledge the way of Christ. Thus he started a new way so as to become Paul the apostle and preacher.
2 Whenever the Lord Christ deals with a person, He so acts very gently: – He has been very tender with the Samaritan woman despite her being very sharp with Him at the very beginning of the talk. The Lord Christ’s gentleness is illustrated in the verse, “’Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart’” (Matt.11:29); this gentleness of the Lord Christ’s comes forth by His lowliness. A lowly person is always gentle. I would like to call to your remembrance the day when the Lord Christ went to John the Baptist to be baptized of him, and John refused at first: but what happened was that the Lord Christ said to him, “’Permit it to be so now’” Thus, so gently does the Lord Christ break into the human soul for to follow Him. Now as He met this Samaritan woman, He had perceived that the entrance to her heart is, water! So He appeared before her as being in need, and said to her, “’Give Me a drink.’” And the dialogue went on with consecutive gentleness. Then Christ searches for the beam of light within this woman; by the end she says to Him, “’I know that Messiah is coming’ [who is called Christ].” He says to her, “’I who speak to you am He.’” Christ is so gentle in dealing with the soul! He sometimes treats us with tender acts, while at other times He so does with heaviness, due to the hardness of Man.
3 Progress of knowledge: – through her talk with Him, the Lord Christ noticed how the Samaritan woman was longing for knowledge. Such is called: “The human will”. Thus she begins to talk, and the Lord Christ helps her repent, until she reaches one of the degrees of the perfectness of knowledge. So the Scripture tells us that this woman went to talk to the people of her city, leaving her water pot. Here we see that the pot and water were everything to this woman; as embodying her world. No sooner then had she known Christ than she left everything; for Christ became her main concern. Such is declared by Paul the apostle, saying: “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Phil.3:8). However, you have to note the succession which may have led to the city’s deliverance. We should notice that after having been an unknown person -whom no one knows-, on that day this Samaritan woman turned to be a saint and preacher: as she has witnessed of Christ in all Samaria.
The church reads the gospel text of the Samaritan woman for three times a year: –
Firstly, for the fourth Sunday of Great Lent (the central Sunday of Great Lent) –for the purpose of highlighting the conversion of the Samaritan woman and of all the Samaritans, and their repentance and faith in Christ – as a doorway to baptism.
Secondly, for the third Sunday of the holy Pentecost: so as to focus on “the living water” as a sign of the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of life” given to us by Christ who rose from among the dead.
Thirdly, through the third Prayer of Prostration: to illustrate that true worship should be in spirit and in truth. The Samaritan woman asks, seeks, yearns and desires; and finally, she receives the great blessings and becomes aware of God’s gift for her. All of us are in need of spiritual renewal. Man has to have life renewed. This Samaritan woman’s story is that which motivates us so to do. Rather, it is a calling to each one of us. Open your heart and understand the holy word you read. Know and be sure that whenever you go for communion and partake of the holy sacraments, you will be enlightened so as to consider the grace. For if you consider the grace given you by God, you will be in continual contentment and gratitude. As for the complainant, such will lose everything. The question set before us through this day’s story is: do you consider the gift given you by God? Do you feel it? This is the question of the Samaritan woman to give to us today, seeking life and salvation for all of us…