ACC ~ John 4 v16 - 26

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 illumined 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. [1]

[1] FC 89:79**; SC 222:58.

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. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:113**.

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 [1] 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. [2]

[1] Or“irregular.”

[2] NPNF 1 7:104*.

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. [1]

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, [2]

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, [3] 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 [4] 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. [5]

[1] LF 43:210**. Augustine makes an allegorical comparison between the five husbands and the five books of the law. See Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.21.

[2] Christ, in this case, is the sixth. The church is his bride.

[3] “The woman of the nations” is the church, which reaches out beyond Jews to Samaria.

[4] Lit.“to bail out,” pointing to the act of drawing water from the well. It also connotes“to be exhausted from.”

[5] KRBM 1:91-93.

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. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:113**.

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. [1] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.2. [2]

[1] The majority of patristic tradition identified Zion (or Moriah, according to the Jewish tradition), rather than Gerizim as the place of Isaac’s sacrifice.

[2] NPNF 1 14:113*.

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.’” [1] … 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. [2]

[1] Deut 27:11-12.

[2] FC 89:84*; SC 222:70-72.

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 [1] by which Christ brings over the Samaritan woman now. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 33.1, 2. [2]

[1] Faith; cf. 1 Tim 1:19.

[2] NPNF 1 14:115**.

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,” [1] 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. [2]

[1] Zeph 2:11.

[2] LF 43: 211**.

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. [1] 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. [2] But when the fullness of time is imminent, [3] 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]

[1] See Mt 5:35.

[2] See 1 Pet 2:5; Rom 7:14.

[3] See Gal 4:4.

[4] FC 89:85-86**; SC 222:72-76.

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. [1] 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. [2]

[1] Augustine may be alluding allegorically to the fallen walls of Jerusalem, destroyed in the captivity, which symbolize Judaism apart from Christ.

[2] WSA 3 10:329*.

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. [1]

[1] FC 89:89**; SC 222:84.

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. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:90-91.

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 [1] 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. [2] 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. [3]

[1] See Lk 20:36.

[2] See 2 Cor 5:5.

[3] FC 89:86, 88, 91.

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. [1]

[1] FC 65:27*.

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. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 10:146-47**.

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. [1] 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. [2]

[1] 2 Cor 3:6.

[2] FC 89:92, 97**; SC 222:94, 106.

4:24a | God is Spirit

“SPIRIT” DISTINGUISHS 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. [1]

[1] ANF 4:243*. See also Augustine Letter 238.

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. [1]

[1] JKGK 178.

GOD IS SPIRIT IN BRINGING US TRUE LIFE

ORIGEN: Since we are made alive by the spirit [1] 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 [2] —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. [3]

[1] See Gen 2:7, 2 Cor 3:6.

[2] Gen 2:7.

[3] FC 89:97**; SC 222:106.

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. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:91.

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, [1] the Other for the object, [2] 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. [3]

[1] Worship in the Spirit.

[2] The Spirit as God is to be worshiped.

[3] NPNF 2 9:60-61*.

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 [1] 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.” [2] 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.” [3] 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 [4] 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. [5]

[1] Pneuma, which means wind, as well as spirit.

[2] See 1 Kings 19:11-12.

[3] Mt 11:27.

[4] See Heb 8:5.

[5] FC 89:98-99; SC 222:108-10.

THE THEOLOGIAN’S PRAYER

EVAGRIUS OF PONTUS: If you wish to pray, you have need of God, “who gives prayer to him who prays.” [1] Invoke him, then, saying, “Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come” [2] —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. [3] If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian. CHAPTERS ON PRAYER 59-61. [4]

[1] 1 Sam 2:9 LXX.

[2] Mt 6:9-10.

[3] God.

[4] TP 1:62.

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. [1] And there are others who are not in the spirit but in the flesh and wage war according to the flesh. [2] 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. [3]

[1] Gal 5:16.

[2] 2 Cor 10:3.

[3] FC 89:90*; SC 222:88.

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. [1]

[1] OHS 97.

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.” [1] 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.” [2] 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. [3]

[1] Ps 84:6 (83:7 LXX, Vg).

[2] 1 Cor 3:17.

[3] NPNF 1 7:105-6**.

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. [1] ON PRAYER AND SILENCE 1-2. [2]

[1] Abraham then cites Jn 4:21-24 as well as 1 Cor 14:15.

[2] CS 101:191**.

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.” [1] And Moses says, “The Lord your God shall raise up a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers.” [2] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 33.2. [3]

[1] Gen 49:10; Chrysostom also cites Gen 1:26 and Gen 18 as further proof.

[2] Deut 18:15.

[3] NPNF 1 14:116**.

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. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:106**.

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.” [1] … 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. [2]

[1] Gen 49:10.

[2] FC 89:101-2*; SC 222:116, 120-22.

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. [1]

[1] CB709:92.