Samaritan Woman 2022 Fr. James Jorgenson

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.