He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 [The woman] said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” 17 The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ 18 For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.”
27 At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, 29 “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 They went out of the town and came to him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”
39 Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” 40 When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more began to believe in him because of his word, 42 and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
Jesus is traveling from Judea to Galilee and stops at a well near the town of Sychar in Samaria. John notes that he “had to pass through Samaria.” Although this was the most direct route north, many Jews avoided the region because of long-standing hostility between Jews and Samaritans. The Samaritans were a people with partial Israelite ancestry who accepted only the first five books of Scripture and worshiped on Mount Gerizim rather than in Jerusalem. The tension between the two groups meant that social contact was often avoided.
Jesus, tired from his journey, sits beside Jacob’s well around midday. Midday was the hottest part of the day, so a Samaritan woman drawing water at that time would have been unusual. When Jesus asks her for a drink, she is surprised that a Jewish man would speak to a Samaritan woman and request water from her vessel. Such interaction crossed both ethnic and social boundaries.
Jesus immediately moves the conversation beyond ordinary water. He tells her that if she knew “the gift of God” and recognized who was speaking to her, she would have asked him for “living water.” In ordinary speech of the time, “living water” referred to flowing water from a spring or stream rather than water drawn from a well. The woman understands the phrase in that everyday sense and wonders how Jesus could obtain such water without a bucket. She even asks whether he claims to be greater than Jacob, who gave the well.
Jesus explains that the water from Jacob’s well only temporarily satisfies thirst. The water he gives is different. Whoever drinks it “will never thirst,” because it becomes a spring of water within the person “welling up to eternal life.” Later in John’s Gospel this living water is explained as the gift of the Spirit, the life of God given to believers. The conversation therefore moves from physical thirst to the deeper spiritual life that Jesus offers.
The discussion then shifts when Jesus asks the woman to call her husband. Her answer leads Jesus to reveal that he knows her past life, including her previous marriages. Recognizing that Jesus possesses knowledge beyond what an ordinary person could know, she concludes that he must be a prophet. Instead of continuing the personal discussion, she raises a theological question that had long divided Jews and Samaritans: where is the proper place to worship God?
The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, based on their interpretation of the Pentateuch (Deut. 11:29; 27:12), while the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. Jesus responds by explaining that the time is coming when worship will not be tied to either mountain. “True worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth.” God is Spirit, and therefore authentic worship must come from the Spirit and be grounded in the truth revealed by God. The focus of worship will no longer be a particular geographic place but the relationship between God and those who worship him through the life he gives.
The woman then speaks of the expected Messiah who will reveal everything. Jesus responds directly, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.” In this moment he reveals his identity to her in a clear and personal way.
The woman leaves her water jar and goes back to the town to tell others what has happened. Her testimony becomes the first step in the faith of many Samaritans. She tells them about the man who knew everything she had done and wonders whether he could be the Messiah. The townspeople come out to see Jesus for themselves.
While this is happening, the disciples return and urge Jesus to eat. He tells them that he has food they do not understand. As with the earlier misunderstanding about water, the disciples initially interpret his words in a physical sense. Jesus explains that his true nourishment is to do the will of the Father and to complete the work entrusted to him. In John’s Gospel, this work ultimately reaches its fulfillment when Jesus completes his mission through his death and resurrection.
Jesus then turns to imagery from agriculture. A common saying spoke of the time between sowing and harvest, but Jesus tells the disciples to look at the fields already ripe for harvest. The image refers to the people who are coming to believe. Some sow the seed and others reap the harvest, yet both share in the joy of the work. The disciples are entering into a mission already begun by others and will gather the fruits of that labor.
Many Samaritans come to believe in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony. After meeting him and hearing his words themselves, even more come to faith. Their belief moves beyond the initial report they heard from the woman. They now speak from their own experience: “We have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
This final confession reveals the full meaning of the encounter. The living water Jesus offers is not limited to one people or one place. The Samaritans—people who stood outside the center of Jewish religious life—recognize in Jesus the one who brings life to the world. The gift he offers is the life of God himself, a life that becomes within the believer a spring leading to eternal life.
Lord Jesus, you are the living water that satisfies the deepest thirst of the human heart. Help us to receive the life you offer and to worship the Father in Spirit and truth. May we come to know you more deeply and proclaim with faith that you are truly the Savior of the world. Amen.
_______________________
Sources and References
- New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Jn 4:4-42 and notes.
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, commentary on Jn 4:4-42, pp. 168-169.
- The Navarre Bible: St. John, commentary on Jn 4:4-42, pp. 376-379.
- Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., ed., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, commentary on Jn 4:4-42, pp. 956-958, paras. 57-65.
- John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, O.P., and Donald Senior, C.P., eds., The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, 3rd fully revised ed., commentary on Jn 4:4-42, pp. 1395-1397.
- The Paulist Biblical Commentary, commentary on Jn 4:4-42, pp. 1120-1123.
Comments