ACC ~ John 4 v15

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. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:112**.

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!” [1] 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. [2]

[1] Mt 11:28.

[2] NPNF 1 7:102-3*.