50. (Vers. 30.). They went out of the city and were coming to him. Rightly they went out, because Christ was before the gate as one unknown, and suffered outside the gate: whence in the last chapter of Hebrews: "Christ suffered outside the gate: let us therefore go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach." In this it is intimated that those who wish to be taught by Christ must leave the tumult of the city: Jeremiah 48: "Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab"; because it is said in the Psalm: "In a desert and pathless and waterless land, so in the sanctuary have I appeared to you."
51. (Vers. 31.). In the meanwhile they were asking etc. Here the second point is touched upon, namely Christ's desire for receiving those who are called: because he desires their salvation as food, indeed more than bodily food in a time of need, when he was hungry. Therefore he says: In the meanwhile, that is, while the woman went and the Samaritans were coming: his disciples were asking him, as if anxious about the Master, saying: Rabbi, eat: because they had brought food, and the hour of eating had already passed. Chrysostom: "Seeing him wearied from the journey and the heat and fasting, they were asking him to eat": but the Lord, desiring spiritual food more than bodily, refuses to eat. On account of which he says:
52. (Vers. 32.). But he said to them: I have food to eat which you do not know: that food I prefer to this. The disciples did not know that food, because it was spiritual, since they themselves were carnal: First Corinthians 2: "The natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God." Therefore it is clear that they did not know, because they understood carnally. Whence he says:
53. (Vers. 33.). The disciples therefore said to one another: Has anyone brought him something to eat? Augustine: "What wonder, if that woman did not understand the water? Behold, the disciples do not yet understand the food ." And because it belongs to the master to teach disciples who do not understand, therefore the explanation follows.
54. (Vers. 34.). Jesus says to them: My food is, which indeed you do not know, to do the will of him who sent me. The will of God is our salvation; below in chapter six: "This is the will of my Father who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life." The Lord wished to consummate this will through the work of redemption; therefore he says: That I may accomplish his work. The work of God is called par excellence the work of most merciful reconciliation; whence in the Psalm: "His mercies are above all his works." The work therefore of God is our conversion to God through faith; below in chapter six: "The work of God is that you believe in him whom he has sent."
55. Do you not say, etc. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the encouragement of the disciples to preach on account of the salvation of the Samaritans. And he encourages them to this both from consideration of their readiness to believe, and from consideration of the reward of preachers.
(Vers. 35.). He urges them to consider the readiness of believers under a parable, saying: Do you not say that there are yet four months, and the harvest comes? Literally, summer was near; and indeed people say this when they see the time of reaping approaching, which they await throughout the whole year. Behold, I say to you: Lift up your eyes, that is, your consideration, and see the regions, that is, the multitudes of the Gentiles; for they are white for the harvest, that is, near to faith, because they are ready to believe, if there is someone to announce it; Matthew nine: "The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest." Thus he encourages them from consideration of the readiness to believe; he also encourages them from consideration of the fruit of the reapers. Therefore he says:
56. (Vers. 36.). And he who reaps receives a reward, not temporal, but eternal. Whence he says: And gathers fruit unto eternal life, "where neither rust nor moth destroys, nor do thieves dig through nor steal," Matthew six. Of this reward it is said in Luke six: "Rejoice and exult, for behold, your reward is great in heaven." And this reward is common both to reapers and to sowers. Therefore he says: That both he who sows, etc. I say rightly that he who reaps gathers fruit not for the sower only, but also for himself; that both he who sows may rejoice together, and he who reaps; the Psalm: "Going, they went and wept, casting their seeds; but coming, they shall come with exultation," etc. And he gives the reason why both reapers and sowers ought to rejoice: because according to the proverb, the ones and the others are different. Therefore he says:
57. (Vers. 37.). In this the saying is true, namely what is customarily said: that one is he who sows, and another who reaps; for the Prophets sowed, but afterward the Apostles reaped, and this indeed by the Lord's beneficence and command, whose harvest it was. Therefore he says:
58. (Vers. 38.). I sent you to reap that upon which you have not labored. Concerning this harvest and mission, Matthew 9: "Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send laborers into his harvest." Others have labored, and you have entered into their labors: because you gather the fruits of their preaching: 1 Peter 1: "It was revealed" to the Prophets "that not to themselves" they were prophesying, "but to you they ministered those things which are now declared to you."
59. (Vers. 39.). Now from that city. Here is touched upon the devotion of the Samaritans to believing, which was begun through the word of the woman: on account of which he says: Now many of the Samaritans from that city believed in him. And the reason is added: Because of the word of the woman bearing testimony, concerning his Divinity: Because he told me all things that I have done. At the testimony of the woman the Samaritans believed, but the Jews refused to believe John: whence the Lord said to the Jews, Matthew 21: "Amen I say to you, that the publicans and harlots shall go before you into the kingdom of God." And although they did not believe firmly, they nevertheless believed devoutly. Therefore he adds:
60. (Vers. 40.). When therefore the Samaritans had come to him, they asked him to remain there: Luke 24: "Stay with us, for it is growing toward evening"; whereas the Jews cast him out. Chrysostom: "The Pharisees, seeing many signs, not only did not believe, but drove him away from the region." Whence it is said in Matthew 8, that "the whole city of the Gerasenes went out to meet Jesus, and seeing him, they asked him to depart from their borders." And the Lord condescended to the prayers of the Samaritans: whence it is said: And he remained there two days, to confirm and multiply their faith: which indeed he did. Whence he says:
61. (Vers. 41.). And many more believed because of his word. Nor is this surprising, because, as Peter says to him below in chapter 6, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." Nor did he only multiply, but also confirmed. Whence there follows:
62. (Vers. 42.). And they said to the woman: We now believe, not because of your speech, as though begging for a human reason: for we ourselves have heard and know that this is truly the Savior of the world: that is, by hearing we have come to know, because, as it is said in Romans 10, "faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God." Truly the Savior of the world, not of the Jews only; whence above in chapter 3: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son," etc. Therefore 1 John 2: "He is the propitiation for our sins, not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world." He was prefigured by Joseph, of whom it is said in Genesis 41, that "Pharaoh changed his name and called him in the Egyptian tongue Savior of the world ."
QUESTIONS.
63. Question I. A question arises here: since it is said in the Psalm: Your testimonies are made exceedingly credible, and the testimony of a woman is vain and fragile, as is the weaker sex, it seems that the Lord ought not to have manifested Himself to the Samaritans through a woman.
I respond: It must be said that Christ does not accept human testimony on account of His own need, but only on account of the need of the hearers. Therefore, because the testimony of the woman was not at all suspect to the Samaritans, the Lord willed to make Himself known to them through a woman — not because her testimony had strength, but because it was credible to the Samaritans.
Another reason was to condemn the hardness of the Jews at the judgment: because they did not believe John the Baptist, but the Samaritans believed one simple woman, just as the Lord Himself says to them that the queen of the south and the Ninevites will rise up in judgment against the Jews, Matthew twelve.
64. Question II. Likewise, a question is raised about the testimony of the woman, who said: Come and see the man who told me all things whatsoever I have done.
To the contrary: He told her only about the husbands she had had. Therefore either the woman had done nothing more, which is false; or she was lying and speaking falsely.
I respond: It must be said that when the woman said this, she was not looking only to the words of the one speaking, but to the wisdom by which He was speaking. And just as He had told her one secret, by the same power He could tell all things whatsoever she had done. Therefore the woman, wishing to express the power of Christ, spoke in a universal manner, etc.
65. Question III. Likewise, an objection is raised: since the evangelical law is not one of shadow or figure, but rather of open truth, why is it that the Lord speaks to His disciples in parables?
It seems that He ought not to speak in this way, but openly.
I respond: It must be said that to speak in figures is twofold: either such that the truth is enclosed therein and is not unfolded to the hearers — and this denotes shadow and obscurity, and this pertains to the old law, not to the new. In another way, to speak in similitudes is such that the similitude is unfolded and made manifest — and then it is not to speak in shadow, but rather in light; and in this way the Lord speaks, so that the matter obscurely proposed in figure may be clearly understood through exposition, and the human mind may be humbled, and the truth may be more ardently loved and more firmly held. For truth that is somewhat hidden becomes more pleasing when it is opened up.
66. Question IV. Likewise, an objection is raised concerning the fact that the Lord calls our salvation His food, and similarly above He called our faith His drink. — This does not seem properly said. For food sustains the one who is nourished, but Christ sustains us, not we Christ; therefore we are not the food of Christ.