ACC ~ John 4 v7 - 15

OVERVIEW:

The Samaritan woman who appears to Jesus at the well mystically signifies the church of the Gentiles, which approached him. He asks for a drink because he thirsts for her faith (AUGUSTINE) and for the salvation of the whole world (MAXIMUS OF TURIN). Like a hunter, he had sent his disciples away, lest they scare the woman and thus ruin his chance to capture the entire flock (EPHREM). When he makes a request of this woman for a drink of water, she demonstrates a concern for law and custom in her initial refusal (THEODORE, CHRYSOSTOM). The Samaritan woman is surprised that a Jew would ask a Samaritan for anything since, while Samaritans can interact with Jews, Jews did not interact with Samaritans (AUGUSTINE). Jesus, however, speaks with her even though she is a Samaritan because the old law no longer applies (CHRYSOSTOM). He both thirsts and seeks to satisfy thirst with the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the water he speaks of here and in John 7:37 as a gift of God (AUGUSTINE). Zechariah prophesied that living water of the gospel would come forth from Jerusalem. Jesus is now the fulfillment of that prophecy to the Gentiles of Samaria (EUSEBIUS). Living water is not stagnant (AUGUSTINE). It gushes out as the Spirit of Christ for our eternal life and others (HERACLEON) as it waters our parched human nature (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Not everyone knows the gift of this living water found in baptism; otherwise they would not delay receiving it (CAESARIUS).

The woman continues her conversation with Jesus by addressing him reverentially as Lord (CHRYSOSTOM), but she still does not understand the implications of the living water of which he speaks (THEODORE). She speaks of the deep well that needs a bucket to draw out the water, but our Lord knows that he has no need of a bucket when he has that refreshing water in him already that he seeks to pour into our minds (CAESARIUS). All do not draw from Jacob’s well, that is, the Scriptures, in the same way; some drink deeply, others drink more like Jacob’s livestock (ORIGEN). “Those who drink deeply” from this well clearly receive the grace of the Spirit, who is the fountain of eternal life (AMBROSE).

In her questioning, the woman claims Jacob as part of her ancestry, citing two reasons: Samaritans were close to Israel in geography and in worship and ancestry, and Jeroboam, a descendant of Jacob, had settled the land at the time of Rehoboam (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Jesus’ answer, while not stated directly, implies he is much greater than Jacob. The woman, nevertheless, holds onto the superiority of this well for a time and the water that comes from it (CHRYSOSTOM). Jesus knows of water that not only satisfies thirst, however, but that is also a source of perpetual refreshment (THEODORE). This “water” can be compared with an idea that one has: the idea first appears to satisfy, although on reflection it only raises more questions, but when one receives the water Christ has to give, a fountain capable of discovering everything there gushes forth inside him (ORIGEN). The living water of Christ satisfies our spiritual thirst as the pleasures of this world never will (AUGUSTINE). The water Jesus speaks of here is the Spirit, which gushes forth from within (APOLLINARIS), making the willing soul like a plush garden and quenching the fiery darts of the wicked one (CHRYSOSTOM) as well as the fires of Gehenna through baptism (MAXIMUS OF TURIN). One who has the grace of the Spirit welling up within him will never be thirsty (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

The Samaritan woman is more receptive to Jesus’ words than was Nicodemus. Not only is she receptive, but she even begins to honor Jesus more than the patriarchs she had previously named (CHRYSOSTOM). Jesus was inviting her to stop working so hard and instead receive refreshment from him (AUGUSTINE).

4:7 | A Woman of Samaria

THE WOMAN IS THE CHURCH

AUGUSTINE: It is pertinent to the image of the reality that this woman, who bore the type of the church, comes from strangers, for the church was to come from the Gentiles, an alien from the race of the Jews. In that woman, then, let us hear ourselves, and in her acknowledge ourselves and in her give thanks to God for ourselves. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.10. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:101-2*.

JESUS’ THIRST FOR THE WOMAN’S FAITH

AUGUSTINE: His “drink” was to do the will of him that sent him. That was why he said, “I thirst; give me to drink,” namely, to work faith in her and to drink of her faith and transplant her into his own body, for his body is the church. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.31. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:107*.

JESUS THIRSTS FOR HER AND THE WORLD’S SALVATION

MAXIMUS OF TURIN: The Savior asks for water from the woman, then, and feigns thirst so that he might give eternal grace to the thirsty. For the source was not able to be thirsty, [1] nor was he in whom there is living water able to draw water full of earthly sediment. Did Christ thirst, then? He thirsted, to be sure, but for salvation and not [merely] for human drink. He was thirsty not for the water of this world but for the redemption of the human race. [2] In a wonderful way, therefore, the source sitting by the well produces streams of mercy in that very place, and with flowing, living water he purifies the woman who is fornicating with a sixth man, not her husband but an adulterer. And in a new kind of miracle the woman who had come to the well of Samaria as a prostitute returned chaste from the source of Christ. She who had come to look for water brought back chastity. As soon as the Lord points her sins out to her she acknowledges them, confesses Christ and announces the Savior. Abandoning her pitcher she brings not water but grace back to the city. She seems, indeed, to return without a burden, but she returns full of holiness. She returns full, I say, because she who had come as a sinner goes back as a proclaimer, and she who had left her pitcher behind brought back the fullness of Christ, without the slightest loss to her city. For even if she did not bring water to the townspeople, still she brought in the source of salvation. Sanctified, then, by faith in Christ, the woman goes back home. SERMON 22.2. [3]

[1] The reference to Christ’s having feigned (simulat) his thirst and having been unable to drink is undoubtedly to be taken in a rhetorical way, contra Clement of Alexandria Stromateis 6.9.71. See also Maximus’s Sermon 51.1 and contrast this with Ambrose De Fide 5.4.53 and Augustine’s Sermon 78.6, where “the source descended so that he might thirst.” See also comments on Jn 4:6.

[2] See Sermon 2.2 and 66.4.

[3] ACW 50:54-55.

4:8 | The Disciples Had Gone Away

LIKE A HUNTER, JESUS COMES TO THE WATERING HOLE

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Our Lord came to the spring of water like a hunter. He asked for water in order to give water, with water as a pretext. He sought something to drink, like a thirsty person, so that the way could be opened for him to quench thirst. He asked from her in order to teach her, and she in turn would ask from him. He was not ashamed as a rich person to ask like one in need, to teach poverty how to make a petition. He was not afraid of reproach because he was speaking to a woman by herself, in order to teach me that whoever keeps to the truth will not be shaken. “They were indeed amazed that he was standing and talking with a woman.” He had dismissed his disciples from his presence so that they would not chase his prey away. He had cast bait for the dove so that by means of her he might capture the entire flock. He asked her in a way that was opposite to the real situation, so that she could answer honestly. “Give me water to drink.” Here was the beginning of the meeting. He asked for water, and he made a promise about living water. He made a request, and he ceased from his request, even as she also left her pitcher. He ceased pretexts because she came to the truth, for the sake of which the pretexts [had arisen]. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 12.16. [1]

[1] CB709:88-90.

4:9 | How Is It That a Jew Asks a Drink of a Samaritan?

THE VIRTUE OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: It is evident that the blessed John wanted to reveal the virtue of the woman through this story. This request for water was not to be taken lightly. She instead first brings up the rules of the law. With great honesty she did not tolerate this infringement of the law even with strangers, even though it could have happened easily and almost necessarily [because of the thirst needing to be quenched]. Therefore, in order that it might not appear that the woman did not want to give water to the foreigner out of meanness or hostility, the Evangelist added these words: “Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans,” so that we might know that she refused to give him water not as to someone who was a stranger to her religion but because she wanted to warn him not to transgress the rules of the law by being led by his thirst. At this stage our Lord took this answer of the woman as the right opportunity for his teaching. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.9. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:87.

SAMARITANS CAN HAVE DEALINGS WITH JEWS, NOT VICE VERSA

CHRYSOSTOM: After the Jews returned from their captivity, they were jealous of the Samaritans whom they regarded as outsiders and enemies…. The Samaritans did not use all the Scriptures, but only the writings of Moses, and made little use of the prophets. They were eager to claim their Jewish origin and prided themselves on Abraham, whom they called their forefather since he was from Chaldea, and also Jacob since they were his descendants. But the Jews considered them Gentiles and thought they were as much an abomination as the rest of the Gentile world…. And so the woman, on being told, “Give me a drink,” very naturally asks, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”… She knew he was a Jew from his appearance and speech. Observe how considerate she is here. For even if our Lord had been bound to abstain from dealing with her, that was his concern, not hers. The Evangelist does not say that the Samaritans would have no dealings with the Jews but that the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. The woman, however, though not at fault herself, wished to correct what she thought was done unlawfully. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.2, 4. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:108-9**.

JEWS WOULD NOT EVEN USE THEIR VESSELS

AUGUSTINE: The Jews would not even use [the Samaritans’] vessels. And as the woman brought with her a vessel to draw the water, it made her wonder that a Jew sought a drink from her—something Jews were not accustomed to do. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.11. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:102*.

CHRIST ABOLISHES THE CEREMONIAL LAW FOR THE FUTURE

CHRYSOSTOM: But why did Christ ask for a drink when the law did not permit it? It is no answer to say that he knew ahead of time that she would not give it, for in that case, he clearly should not have asked for it. Rather, his very reason for asking was to show his indifference to such observances since, if he was going to induce others to abolish them, then it was even more important for him to pass them by. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.4. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:109**.

4:10a | The Gift of God

THIRST SATISFIED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

AUGUSTINE: He asks for a drink and promises to give a drink. He longs as one about to receive; he abounds as one about to satisfy. “If you knew,” he says, “the gift of God.” The gift of God is the Holy Spirit. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.12. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:102*.

WATER AND SPIRIT AS GIFT OF GOD

AUGUSTINE: Is it shown in the sacred books that the Holy Spirit is called the “gift of God”? If people look for this too, we have in the Gospel according to John the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who says, “If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink: he that believes on me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” And the Evangelist has gone on further to add, “And this he spoke of the Spirit, which they should receive who believe in him.” [1] And hence Paul the apostle also says, “And we have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” [2] The question then is whether that water is called the gift of God, which is the Holy Spirit. But as we find here that this water is the Holy Spirit, so we find elsewhere in the Gospel itself that this water is called the gift of God. For when the same Lord was talking with the woman of Samaria at the well, to whom he had said, “Give me to drink,” and she had answered that the Jews “have no dealings” with the Samaritans, Jesus answered and said to her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is that says to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.”… Because this living water, then, as the Evangelist has explained to us, is the Holy Spirit, without doubt the Spirit is the gift of God, of which the Lord says here, “If you had known the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.” For that which is in the one passage, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” is in the other, “shall be in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” ON THE TRINITY 15.19.33. [3]

[1] Jn 7:37-39.

[2] 1 Cor 12:13.

[3] NPNF 1 3:217-18*.

THE DRINK GIVEN IS THE GOSPEL

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: And in that day it says, “Living water shall come forth out of Jerusalem.” [1] This is that spiritual, sweet, life-giving and saving drink of the teaching of Christ. He speaks of it in the Gospel according to John, when instructing the Samaritan woman…. What was this drink, then, that came forth from Jerusalem? For it was there that its gospel went forth and its heralds filled the world. This is what is meant by the words “The living water shall go forth to the first sea and the last sea,” [2] by which is meant the bounds of the whole world. That which is toward the eastern ocean is called “the first sea,” that toward the west is meant by “the last sea,” which, indeed, the living water of the saving gospel teaching has filled. [3] He also taught about this when he said, “Whosoever shall drink of the water, which I shall give him, shall never thirst.” PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6.18.48-49. [4]

[1] Zech 14:8.

[2] Zech 14:8.

[3] Zechariah would have been referring to the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. It is a question as to whether Eusebius means anything more than to the uttermost ends of the earth.

[4] POG 2:35.

LIVING WATER FLOWS FROM JERUSALEM

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: And in them too the rest of the prophecy was fulfilled, when on the day of our Savior’s coming living water came forth from Jerusalem. [1] The fruitful living word of Jerusalem, yes, from Jerusalem itself, and was spread over all the earth, even to the utmost bounds of the world. The Lord and Savior himself speaks of this water to the Samaritan woman…. And he goes on to teach what advantage would accrue to everyone who tastes of the living spiritual spring. Those that drink of it, denying the many evil demons who ruled them of old, will confess their one Lord and King, and that the Lord, who once was known only to the Hebrews, will become King of all nations that believe in him from all the earth, and that his name will be one, encircling all the earth and the wilderness. And who is not struck at seeing this fulfilled? For the Christian name, derived from the name of Christ (and Christ was indeed the Lord) has encircled every place and city and land and the very nations that dwell in the wilderness and at the ends of the earth, as the prophecy foretold. PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 10.7.7-8. [2]

[1] See Zech 14:8.

[2] POG 2:215.

4:10b | Living Water

LIVING WATER IS NOT STAGNANT

AUGUSTINE: Water issuing from a spring is what is commonly called living water. Water collected from rain in pools and cisterns is not called living water. It may have originally flowed from a spring; yet if it collects in some place and is left to stand without any connection to its source, separated, as it were, from the channel of the spring. It is not called “living water.” Water is designated as “living” when it is taken as it flows. This is the kind of water that was in that fountain. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.12. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:102**.

THE LIVING WATER IS CHRIST’S SPIRIT AND POWER

HERACLEON (VIA ORIGEN): [Heracleon] is not wrong when he says that “the water that the Savior gives is of his spirit and power.” And he has explained the statement “But he shall not thirst forever” as follows with these very words: “For the life he gives is eternal and never perishes, as, indeed, does the first life that comes from the well; the life he gives remains. For the grace and the gift of our Savior is not to be taken away, nor is it consumed, nor does it perish, when one partakes of it.”… Now [Heracleon’s] interpretation of the “leaping water” is not unconvincing. He takes it to refer “to those who partake of that which is richly supplied to them from above and who themselves cause what is supplied to them to gush out for the eternal life of others.” But he also praises the Samaritan woman “because she demonstrated a faith that was unhesitating and appropriate to her nature, when she had no doubt about what he said to her.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.59-60, 62-63. [1]

[1] FC 89:81-82; TS 1 4:72-73.

HUMAN NATURE BUDS INTO A VIRTUOUS LIFE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Jesus calls the quickening gift of the Spirit “living water” because mere human nature is parched to its very roots, now rendered dry and barren of all virtue by the crimes of the devil. But now human nature runs back to its pristine beauty, and drinking in that which is life-giving, it is made beautiful with a variety of good things and, budding into a virtuous life, it sends out healthy shoots of love toward God. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4. [1]

[1] LF 43:207**.

IGNORANCE OF THE GIFT IS THE CAUSE FOR DELAY OF BAPTISM

CAESARIUS OF ARLES: Not everyone knows the gift of God, because not all desire the living water, for if they did desire it they would never postpone the sacrament of baptism…. Do not delay the remedies of your salvation because you do not know when your soul may be demanded of you. SERMON 170.4. [1]

[1] FC 47:421.

4:11 | The Well Is Deep

TITLE OF “LORD” IMPLIES REVERENCE

CHRYSOSTOM: Already, our Lord raises the woman’s low opinion of him, making her realize that he was no common person. She addresses him reverentially by the title of “Lord.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.4. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:110*.

THE WOMAN DOES NOT UNDERSTAND

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: However, since the woman did not yet understand these words and did not know what “living water” was, she said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” The tone of her conversation changed. Above she had said daringly, “How is it that you, a Jew”; now she conveniently set the appellation “sir” before her words. Before she talked to him, suspecting that he would have transgressed the law because of his strong thirst. Then, when she understood from his answer and his peaceful words that he had not asked for water because he was oppressed by thirst, she attributed the right honor to his words. “From where do you give me, [she says], that living water? You have no bucket, and the well is deep.” COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.11. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:88.

REFRESHING WATER DRAWN INTO OUR MINDS

CAESARIUS OF ARLES: Before the coming of the Lord, the well was also deep, and without a pail no one could draw water for himself. Our Lord, the living fountain, came to cleanse the hearts of all people, to quench their thirst and to satisfy their souls. Moreover, he did not look for a pail to draw the water, but of his own accord he poured himself into the minds of each one. SERMON 170.4. [1]

[1] FC 47:421.

DRINKING FROM JACOB’S WELL

ORIGEN: The Scriptures, therefore, are introductions, and are called Jacob’s well. Once they have now been accurately understood, one must go up from them to Jesus, that he may freely give us the fountain of water that leaps into eternal life. But everyone does not draw water from Jacob’s well in the same way…. Some who are wise in the Scriptures drink as Jacob and his sons. But others who are simpler and more innocent, the so-called sheep of Christ, [1] drink as Jacob’s livestock. And others, misunderstanding the Scriptures and maintaining certain irreverent things on the pretext that they have apprehended the Scriptures, drink as the Samaritan woman drank before she believed in Jesus. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.37-39. [2]

[1] Jn 10:26.

[2] FC 89:76*; SC 222:50-52.

THIS WELL IS THE GRACE OF THE SPIRIT

AMBROSE: This well is clearly the grace of the Spirit, a stream proceeding from the living fountain. The Holy Spirit, then, is also the fountain of eternal life…. This water, the grace of the Spirit, is so refreshing. Who will give this fountain to my breast? Let it spring up in me, let what gives eternal life flow on me. Let that fountain overflow on us and not flow away…. How shall I keep this water so that it does not flow or glide away? ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 1.16.180-81. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 10:114**.

4:12 | Greater Than the Patriarch Jacob?

TWO REASONS SAMARITANS CLAIMED JACOB

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Samaritans then were aliens (for they were colonists of the Babylonians), but they call Jacob their father for two reasons. They inhabited a country bordering on Jewish land and so, as neighbors, they were influenced by their worship and were accustomed to boast of the Jews’ ancestors. Besides, it was really true that the greater number of the inhabitants of Samaria were sprung from the root of Jacob. For Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, having gathered together ten tribes of Israel and the half-tribe of Ephraim, departed from Jerusalem in the time of the kingdom of the son of Solomon, and took Samaria and built houses and cities there. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4. [1]

[1] LF 43:208**.

JESUS IS GREATER THAN JACOB

CHRYSOSTOM: When the woman objects, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” Jesus does not reply, “Actually, I am greater,” which would make him sound like he is boasting since there was no proof at this point. Nonetheless, his answer implies it…. It is as if he said, If Jacob is honored because he gave you this water, what would you say if I give you far better water than this?… He makes the comparison, however, not to put Jacob down but to honor himself. Notice, Jesus does not say that the water is inferior or vile. Rather, he asserts a simple fact of nature: whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:111-12**.

THE BEST WELL AROUND

CHRYSOSTOM: It is as if she said, you cannot say that Jacob gave us this spring and then used another for himself. For he and his descendants drank from it, which they would not have done if they had another well that was better. Therefore, you cannot then give me water from this spring. And you do not have a better spring, unless you confess that you are greater than Jacob. Where then does the water come from then that you promise to give us? HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.4. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:110*.

4:13 | Those Who Drink of This Water Will Thirst Again

THE WATER THAT SATISFIES

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: There is a great difference, he says, between that water [in the well] and the water I promise to give. That [water], after they have drunk it, extinguishes their thirst for a short time. But then, when it has been consumed according to its nature, it leaves the one who shortly before had drunk it thirsty again. The water that I give is such in its nature that not only is it not consumed and does not leave the one who drinks it oppressed by thirst, but on the contrary, it becomes in him like a spring gushing up forever. The water from a spring does not run out, nor does it need to be brought from another place or to be introduced, but it constantly offers perpetual nourishment to those who want it. In a similar way also the virtue of this water provides the one who receives it with perpetual help and will always preserve him and not allow him to perish. Therefore the one who receives this grace will never reach death. He said what he did for good reason, because this is what the virtue of the Spirit is. And so we also receive from him the firstfruits of the Spirit with the hope of the future resurrection. Since now this operation is performed symbolically, we hope then to receive the perfect grace when, through his participation, we will remain imperishable. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.13-14. [1]

[1] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1

IDEAS THAT DO NOT SATISFY AND ONES THAT GIVE ETERNAL LIFE

ORIGEN: One must investigate what is meant by “will thirst” in the statement “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again.”… What is meant in the first place would be something like this: he who partakes of supposedly profound thoughts, even if he is satisfied for a little while and accepts the ideas that are drawn out and that he thinks he has discovered to be most profound, will, however, when he has reconsidered them, raise new questions…. But [the Word] says, I have the teaching that becomes a fountain of living water in the one who has received what I have declared. And he who has received of my water will receive so great a benefit that a fountain capable of discovering everything that is investigated will gush forth within him. The waters will leap upward. His understanding also will spring up and fly as swiftly as possible in accordance with this briskly flowing water, the springing and leaping itself carrying him to that higher life that is eternal. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.13, 15-16. [1]

[1] FC 89:71-72**; SC 222:40-44.

PLEASURES OF THE WORLD NEVER SATISFY OUR THIRST

AUGUSTINE: Let us not overlook the fact that it is something spiritual that the Lord was promising. What does he mean when he says, “Whoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again”? It is true both for this water and what the water signified. Since the water in the well is the pleasure of the world in its dark depth: from this people draw it with the vessel of lusts. Stooping forward, they let down the lust to reach the pleasure fetched from the depth of the well, and they enjoy the pleasure and the preceding lust that they let down to fetch it. For he who has not dispatched his lust in advance cannot get to the pleasure. Consider lust, then, as the vessel and pleasure as the water from the depth of the well. When one has gotten into the pleasure of this world, whether it be food or drink, a bath, a show, an affair, is there any way he or she will not thirst again? Therefore, “whoever shall drink of this water,” he said “will thirst again.” But if he receives water from me, “he shall never thirst.” “We shall be satisfied,” it says, “with the good things of your house.” [1] Of what water, then, is [Jesus] to give except of which it is said, “With you is the fountain of life”? [2] For how shall they thirst who “shall be drunk with the fatness of your house”? [3] TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.16. [4]

[1] See Ps 65:4 (64:5 LXX, Vg).

[2] See Ps 36:9 (35:10 LXX, Vg).

[3] See Ps 36:8 (35:9 LXX, Vg).

[4] NPNF 1 7:102-3*. See also Sermon 53.4 (WSA 3 3:67).

4:14 | The Water of Eternal Life

IMMORTALITY AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: He says that visible water can quench one’s thirst for a little while, but the unseen water cures one of thirst altogether because there is no longer a thirst for life when immortality is gushing forth on you. What follows clearly demonstrates that the Holy Spirit is what is freely being promised here, as the spiritual water spoken of here corresponds with the physical water spoken of…. The Spirit of wisdom, whose presence is unceasing, gives of its abundance freely. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 17. [1]

[1] JKGK 10.

THE FIRE AND WATER OF THE SPIRIT

CHRYSOSTOM: Sometimes Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit “fire,” other times it calls it “water.” In this way, it shows that these names are not descriptive of its essence but of its operation. For the Spirit, which is invisible and simple, cannot be made up of different substances…. In the same way that he calls the Spirit by the name of “fire,” alluding to the rousing and warming property of grace and its power of destroying sins, he calls it “water” in order to highlight the cleansing it does and the great refreshment it provides those minds that receive it. For it makes the willing soul like a kind of garden, thick with all kinds of fruitful and productive trees, allowing it neither to feel despondency nor the plots of Satan. It quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:111*.

BAPTISM EXTINGUISHES THE FIRES OF HELL

MAXIMUS OF TURIN: Frequently indeed we see that water poured out extinguishes a fire. But sometimes we see the opposite—that huge balls of fire consume streams of water and that the flames grow more vehement, drawing strength from the water as if from food, so that the water does not seem to put out the burning but to aggravate it. What, then, is that water that consumes flames but is not itself consumed? It is, I think, that which, flowing in the bath from the fountain of Christ is not consumed by sins but consumes the fires of Gehenna, and which, once poured out on people in baptism, itself both lives in them and puts out the fire of hell. It is clear that it lives in people from what the Lord says [here]…. But in a wonderful way the water of Christ both vivifies and extinguishes by one and the same operation. For it vivifies souls and extinguishes sins. The souls are renewed by the refreshment of its bath; the sins are consumed by its surging stream. And as far as the higher grace of baptism is concerned, in the heavens a mystery is celebrated and in hell Gehenna is extinguished. In the one the waters flow; in the other the fire grows cold. In the one we are submerged in the bath; in the other we are set free from the underworld. Yet there is nothing astonishing if hell is opened by the sacrament of baptism since heaven is also unlocked. For these places are opened so that freedom and grace might come together in the bath of Christ— grace from heaven and freedom from hell. SERMON 22A.3. [1]

[1] ACW 50:56-57.

THE SPIRIT IN THE WORD SUFFICES TO INSTRUCT

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: We must know again that the Savior here calls the grace of the Holy Spirit water. If anyone drinks of this water, he will have the gift of the divine teaching constantly welling up from within him. He needs no admonition from others. Rather, it is enough to exhort those who thirst after the divine and heavenly Word that they are yet living in this present life and on earth along with the holy prophets and apostles. They are heirs of their ministrations of whom it was written, “And you shall draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation.” [1] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4. [2]

[1] Is 12:3.

[2] LF 43:209*.

THE SAMARITAN WOMAN MORE RECEPTIVE THAN NICODEMUS

CHRYSOSTOM: The woman immediately believed, showing that she was not only much wiser than Nicodemus but also more courageous. For when he heard ten thousand things like this, he neither invited any others to hear what he heard, nor did he himself speak openly [about his encounter]. But she exhibited the actions of an apostle, preaching the gospel to everyone she could and calling them to Jesus. She even drew out a whole city to hear him. When Nicodemus heard Jesus, his reaction was, “How can these things be?” And when Christ set before him a clear illustration utilizing “the wind,” even then he did not receive the Word. But this is not the case with the woman. At first she doubted, but afterwards, receiving the Word not by any regular demonstration but in the form of an assertion, she immediately hurried to embrace it. For when Christ said, “It shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” immediately the woman said, “Give me this water so that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:112.

4:15 | Give Me This Water, That I May Not Thirst

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*.