Samaritan Woman

Spirit and Truth

Week of the Samaritan Woman

The abundant outpouring of the Divine Spirit upon all is now at hand, as the Scripture says. This is proclaimed by the midpoint of the blessed period after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ our God, when He gave His disciples His unfailing and true promise, which clearly revealed and made manifest the coming of the Comforter. (Vespers of the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, third hymn of the stichera of Mid-Pentecost)

“Give Me a drink.” So begins one of the most profound dialogues in the Gospels—that between Christ and a woman of Samaria:

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria 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. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” …

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” (John 4:5–13, 19–26)

The Samaritans were heretics who accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament. They also believed Mount Gerazim—one of the highest peaks in the West Bank in the vicinity of the city Nablus (Shechem in the Bible)—and not Jerusalem to be the one true sanctuary and holy place of God. We see in the Gospel passage a reference to an all-too-familiar religious quarrel: God is here, not there; we, not they, are the chosen people of God; the Lord is on our side, not theirs.

And now our Lord overturns this religious narrow-mindedness and arrogance with one simple phrase: “In Spirit and truth.” Through the Holy Spirit, all who are baptized will become the dwelling place of God:

“The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20–21)

Through the Holy Spirit, we are all made temples of God. This gift of becoming vessels of the Holy Spirit is freely offered to all, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, saint and sinner. The Church invites us to draw from the well of repentance, to wash ourselves clean in the tears of contrition, and to be made new, that we may be fit for the Holy Spirit to abide within us:

Wash me with my tears, O Savior, for I am defiled by many sins. Wherefore, I fall down before You. I have sinned; have mercy on me, O God. (Matins of the Tuesday of the Samaritan Woman, second hymn of the Praises)

When the compassionate Lord came to the well, the Samaritan woman entreated Him, saying: Grant me the water of faith, and I shall receive the waters of the font of baptism for gladness and redemption. O Giver of life, Lord, glory to You. (Vespers of the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, second hymn of the stichera of the Samaritan woman)

The references to the water of life in the Gospel reading for the Sunday of the Samaritan woman are vividly expressed in St. John the Evangelist’s description of the establishment of God’s heavenly Kingdom on earth:

“I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.…” And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.… And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev. 21:6–7; 22:1, 17)

This places Pentecost in the context of the “last days” (in Greek, the eschata), that is to say, in the context of the Second Coming and the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom. The life of the world to come has already broken through, and in the Holy Spirit we already sense that “the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.… They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads” (Rev. 21:3; 22:4).

Through baptism we are made members of Christ’s Body, heirs of His Kingdom and inheritors of His eternal blessings. Though we have all made ourselves unworthy of these, He came into the world to pour upon us His great mercy and to wash us in the baptism of His Blood and in the waters of humility. Having returned to the heavenly Father, from whom He is eternally begotten and from whom the Holy Spirit forever proceeds forth, He poured the Holy Spirit upon us that we may have God living within us, transforming and renewing us from within. The Holy Spirit never abandons us, and no matter how often we reject Him and cast Him from us, He returns to all who repent, longing to fill us with His abundant love and the joy of salvation:

On this mid-feast does Christ our God, the mighty river of divine glory, bestow the streams of His great compassion upon all, and He cries out: You that are thirsty, come and draw for yourselves. He pours out forgiveness upon the world, since He is in truth a gulf of mercy and a wellspring of compassion. He purges our sins and expunges our maladies. He saves those who keep the memorial of His Resurrection and protects those who honor and celebrate with longing His Ascension in glory. And He grants to our souls His peace and great mercy. (Vespers of the Monday of the Samaritan Woman, second hymn of the stichera)^[1]

^[1] Papavassiliou, Vassilios. Meditations for Pascha: Reflections on the Pentecostarion. Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2014. Print.