[John 4:35] Behold, I say to you: Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are white already to harvest.
In many places in scripture is the phrase "Lift up your eyes" set forth by the divine word, urging us to elevate and raise our thoughts and our vision, which is cast down and stooped, unable to fully look up and to rise on high; just as in Isaiah: "Lift up your eyes on high and see: who has created these things?" And the Savior, when about to proclaim the Beatitudes to those gathered on the plain, lifted up his eyes to his disciples and said, "Blessed are they" and so forth; for no true disciple of Jesus is below, just as neither is the one resting in Abraham's bosom. Thus the rich man, being in torments, lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham and Lazarus in his bosom. Moreover, the woman "bowed together and could in no wise lift up herself" was straightened by Jesus so that she might lift up her eyes. And no one involuntarily afflicted or attached to the flesh or immersed in material things has kept the commandment that says, "Lift up your eyes," whence such a one shall not see the fields even if they are "already white to harvest." Yet again, no one working the deeds of the flesh has lifted up their eyes. The fields are "already white for harvest" when the word of God is present, making all the fields of scripture fully illumined by His presence. Perhaps even all perceptible things, up to the very heavens and those within them, are fields white and ready for harvest to those who lift up their eyes, clearly shown to those receiving the word concerning each thing, transformed from glory to glory, an image of the eyes seeing how each created thing was good; for the "God saw" concerning each creature, "that it was good" is such because God inserted into each the word concerning it and saw how each created thing is good according to the words concerning them. But if someone does not thus accept "God saw that it was good," let them tell how in "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life, and fowl that fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heaven" is preserved the "God saw that it was good," especially since "God created the great sea creatures." Rather, the word concerning each of these things, seen by God, is what is "good." The same must be said concerning "Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind," to which also is appended "God saw that it was good." For how are the beasts and creeping things good unless the word concerning them is what is good? These things are said to us because of "Lift up your eyes and look at the fields for they are white already to harvest," exhorting the hearers of the present word to lift up their eyes both to the fields of scripture and to the fields of the word within each being, that someone might see the whiteness and brightness of the light of truth everywhere. "For all things are straight before those who understand," according to Solomon, "and right to those who wish to find knowledge."
[John 4:36] The one who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps may rejoice together.
I think it is necessary to present in how many ways the harvest is mentioned in scripture and on what grounds it is arranged, so that we may be able to see here to which of the many meanings the word is applied. We see in Matthew, when the disciples came to the Lord saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field," the Lord's teaching about this says among other things, "The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels." But indeed also in another place, concerning the multitude of believers seeking a clear teaching to them about the things they believe in, our Savior says, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Besides this, the apostle names the seed as the good deeds or sins of people in this life, and the harvest as the retribution for these, each according to its merit, saying thus; "For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." I believe that the prophet expressed something similar in Psalms, "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." The term is also used in customary matters, for instance in Ruth through this: "They arrived at Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest." Having presented five significances at this time, it is evident that neither the customary meaning is implied here, nor that assigned to the end of the age; for neither the customary “the one who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life” nor the encouraging thought about the angel reapers can be sensibly understood in this context. Nor can the phrase “the one who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life” be taken here according to “the one who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, and the one who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” For according to the apostolic sayings, the same one is both sowing and reaping, whether to the flesh or to the Spirit, and hence gathering either corruption or eternal life; but according to the current passage, “one is the sower and another the reaper.” Similarly, the same one both sows and reaps according to what we have stated in the Psalms, distinctly differing from the apostolic in its more mystical and inscrutable nature. For the apostolic is expressed more simply, not teaching about the differing nature of the seeds from where they are taken. However, the Psalms seem to me to indicate about the descent of the nobler souls arriving in this life with the salvific seeds, and arriving indeed almost unwillingly with a sigh, but returning with rejoicing because the seeds have been well cultivated and have grown and multiplied, along with those who have gathered them. "One sows and another reaps" in the proposed phrase. And Heracleon will say, perhaps along with someone ecclesiastical in agreement with this view, that these things are similarly stated to the one indicated by "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few," that they are ready for harvest and suitable to already be gathered into the storehouse through faith for rest, and suitable for salvation and reception of the word. According to Heracleon, through their preparation and nature, and according to the ecclesiastical, through some preparation of the leading part, ready for completion so that it may also be harvested. Therefore, it must be spoken to those who received it in this manner, if they wish to accept, that there has perhaps not been a harvest similar to the one hoped for from the times of the gospel preaching before the advent of our Savior. For if many have believed because the harvest is plentiful, though there were few workers beyond the apostles as many as received the word, either through "Look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already," no one before the physical advent of our Savior believed, nor was there any worker among the believers—which is the most absurd to claim—Abraham and Moses and the prophets did not occupy the position of workers or the reaped. Or if indeed there were workers and harvest even before, it will not seem paradoxical for the Savior to promise to those who lift up their eyes to see the fields "that they are white for harvest already." From these things, indeed, it may be somehow clear that none of the aforementioned is understood here according to the harvest. Nor will the thing said by the apostle elsewhere be applied here, saying "The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." Therefore, we seek a seventh meaning suitable to the previously given ones concerning "Do you not say, 'There are still four months, and then comes the harvest?' Behold, I say to you, lift your eyes, and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already." So, the clear discourse about the clarity of the scriptures or how "all that God has made is very good" in connection with the harvest, which the reaper has two fruits of reaping: one that he receives a reward, and another that he gathers fruit for eternal life. And I think that due to the promises to come after these things according to what is written: "Behold, the Lord and His reward is with Him, to give to each one according to his work," it was said "Receives a reward"; and due to the benefit from the very contemplation itself, naturally inherent in the intellect, and inherently superior to reason and apart from other promises beside this, it is written: "Gathers fruit unto eternal life," which indicates some well-being of the ruling part, as we have demonstrated in the third book of the Stromata explaining "Your Father who sees in secret will reward you." But Heracleon thinks that "Reaps a reward" was said because the Savior says that he is a reaper. And he considers the reward of our Lord to be the salvation and restoration of those being reaped, in that he is pleased with them. And he says that "Gathers fruit unto eternal life" was spoken either because what is gathered is the fruit of eternal life, or because it itself is eternal life. But I think his interpretation is forced, claiming the Savior receives a reward and confusing the reward and the gathering of the fruit into one, while the scripture presents two distinct things, as we have previously explained. Therefore, if we have attained the exaltation of the apostles' eyes and the vision of the fields already white unto harvest, we must next examine what "That both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together" means. I think that in every art and science derived from many theories, he who finds the principles sows, and others taking them and working on them, passing on what was found to others, become the cause of what they found for the later ones who were unable to find the principles and link the subsequent parts and complete the end of arts and sciences, to receive the full fruit of such arts and sciences as in the harvest. If this is true for arts and certain sciences, how much more can it be perceived in the highest art and science of sciences. For those coming after have elaborated on what was found by the predecessors and handed it down to those who approach the findings inquisitively, providing sources so that the one body of truth can be gathered together with wisdom. Therefore, with the whole work of the highest art completed, "both he who sows and he who reaps rejoice together," with God rewarding and bringing to a unified end all. Consider if "those who sow" are Moses and the prophets, who wrote for our admonition, reaching the ends of the ages, and proclaimed the advent of Christ; and "those who reap" are the apostles who received Christ and witnessed His glory, in agreement with the prophetic rational seeds harvested through their elaboration and understanding of the mystery hidden from the ages, now revealed at the end of times, which "in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets." The whole word was a seed "according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now revealed through the prophetic scriptures" and the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, when the true light made the regions, illuminating them, already white unto harvest. According to this argument, the regions in which the seeds were sown are the legal and prophetic scriptures, which were not white to those who had not advanced to the presence of the Word. But they become such to the disciples of the Son of God and to those who obey Him who says, "Lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are white for harvest already." Therefore, as genuine disciples of Jesus, let us lift up our eyes and behold the fields sown by Moses and the prophets, so that we may see their whiteness and in what way it is already possible to harvest them and gather fruit unto eternal life, while also hoping for wages from the Lord of the fields and the giver of the seeds. For the sower and the reaper to rejoice together when "pain and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" in the age to come, everyone who agrees with the readers will confess: "That many shall come from the east and the west and will sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." If anyone hesitates to accept that every sower already rejoices together with every reaper, let him understand that the transformation of Jesus in glory was seen not only by the reapers Peter, James, and John, who went up with Him, but also by the sowers Moses and Elijah; they too rejoiced seeing the glory of the Son of God, which neither Moses nor Elijah had seen before, though enlightened by the Father, now illuminated and illuminating those seeing it, as they now behold it along with the holy apostles. Thus, we understand universally the statement "He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together," since more reapers and more laborers are addressed following it, as it clearly pertains to sowing. It is said to many reapers, "I sent you to reap what you did not labor for," and to many who toiled in the sowing, "Others have toiled and you have entered into their labors." This equally can be understood universally in "He who reaps receives wages" and the following phrase, "Everyone who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto eternal life," so that everyone who sows and everyone who reaps may rejoice together. Some will readily accept these words, not doubting that what was hidden in past generations and to Moses and the prophets has been revealed to the holy apostles through Christ's presence, illuminating them with the knowledge of all scripture's light; others will hesitate to accept it, not daring to say that such great Moses and the prophets had not yet reached what was understood by the apostles while they lived in human life and because this is sown in the divine scriptures ministered by them. The former will use the saying "Many prophets and righteous men longed to see the things you see but did not see them, and to hear the things you hear but did not hear them", and "Behold, something greater than Solomon is here", and "In other generations, it was not known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ", and that which is written in Daniel after a certain vision, "I arose, and there was none who understood", and that in Isaiah, "The words of this book are like the words of a sealed book, which if they give it to a man learned in letters, saying, Read this, he will say, I cannot, for it is sealed. And if they give it to a man not learned, saying, Read this, he will say, I am not learned."
But the latter will resolve all these with the saying, "A wise man will understand from his own mouth, and on his lips, he wears discernment," saying Moses and each of the prophets comprehended what was ministered by them, not so that they might hand it down to others and unfold the mysteries; but the apostles, as having become in the time of revelation, will say, "Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught" and "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also", and that although many prophets and righteous men longed to see what the apostles saw and heard from the Savior, they did not long for the legal and prophetic writings, but for greater things being declared in addition to the spiritual matters of the law and the secrets of the prophets by the Savior to the apostles, such as "I heard ineffable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" and things similar to what the Comforter says.
Yet another will argue that if the evangelist is narrating about the one reaping receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, saying "that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together," then, if it is so that both the sower and the reaper may rejoice together, receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, perhaps the sower, participating in the reaper's reward and gathering the fruit gathered for eternal life, will rejoice at the same time as the reaper. Another will say that all the legal and prophetic words were precisely understood spiritually by Moses and the prophets and were written as they should be covered and concealed; and since " When a wise man hears a word of wisdom, he will praise it and add to it," it is clear that the apostles, using the seeds of more mysterious and deeper things understood by Moses and the prophets, have advanced to reach the many-fold sights of truth, as Jesus was lifting their eyes and enlightening their minds, and the many-fold were the harvests of the many fields; not because the prophets and Moses from the beginning could not see as much as the apostles during Jesus' presence, but as those waiting for the fullness of time, in which after the exceptional presence of Jesus Christ, exceptional things beyond what had been spoken in the world or written were to be revealed by Him who did not regard "being equal with God a thing to be grasped," but emptied Himself and took "the form of a servant."
[John 4:37] For in this the saying is true: that one sows and another reaps.
Whether we take the example from the arts and sciences in place, it is clear how this saying is true: that one is the sower and another the reaper; whether in that Moses and the prophets sow, but those who lift their eyes according to the exhortations of our Savior Jesus see that the fields were white already for harvest, it is thus clear that one sows and another reaps. Consider if it is possible to understand the "one" and "another" in that those are justified in such a manner of life, and these in another way, so that we may say that one is the legalist and another the evangelical. However, they both rejoice in one end from one God through one Christ in one Holy Spirit. And Heracleon explained "that the sower may rejoice together with the reaper" thus: for he says that the sower rejoices because he sows, and because some of his seeds are already gathered, having the same hope for the rest; and the reaper likewise because he also reaps; but the first began by sowing, and the second by reaping. For they could not both begin at the same time; for it was necessary for it first to be sown, and then later to be reaped. Moreover, while the sower has ceased to sow, the reaper still reaps; yet at present, each performing their own work, both rejoice together considering the completion of the seeds to be a common joy. And again, in "In this the saying is true: that one sows and another reaps," he says: the son of man sows above the place; but the savior, being himself also the son of man, reaps and sends reapers who are understood as angels through the disciples, each over his own soul. But he did not very clearly set forth who the two sons of man are, one of whom sows and the other reaps.
[John 4:38] I sent you to reap what you have not labored for; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.
It is not difficult from the foregoing to see how Jesus sent the disciples to reap this, for which they did not labor, but others before them did; for Moses and the prophets labored, that they might be able to comprehend the mysteries, the traces of which they left us in their writings. The apostles have entered into the labor of Moses and the prophets, with Jesus their mystagogue reaping and gathering into the storehouses of their souls the understanding from those [writings]. Moreover, the word always makes the labor of the predecessors clearer to those being taught genuinely, without the similar toil of the sowers. In all things concerning those sowing by others and reaping by others, it is to be considered whether the apostles, helpers in the completion of what has been sown, enter into the labor of others, reaping and finding fruits in those benefited, which the coming of Jesus has made ready for harvest even before the hopeful four-month period. If these things are so, it is worth pondering whether the ministry of angels to sow souls into bodies is laborious, bringing together in unison two contradicting natures, beginning to administer each individual case in due time, and advancing to completion what has been preformed. But someone might say that it is contradictory to assert that God himself is the one who forms, both in "Your hands have made and fashioned me" and in "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you." To this, it should be said that just as the law was ordained through angels, and the word spoken by angels was confirmed, it is clear that it was spoken by God. Thus, it is also conceivable that God, through the angels appointed over creation, is said to fashion in the womb. I do not know if it accounts for what is uncertain and something like this could be said: that those who said "Your hands have made and fashioned me"—Job and David—being part of God's portion, were fashioned by Him, and Jeremiah hearing, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you"—as being to be part of God’s portion—was fashioned by Him; while those of other portions are fashioned by those who received them by lot. And even more curiously, this argument avoids the "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," as said by God about all men and initiating the work which was later performed also by the rest unto whom the word was addressed, according to their own portion, God saying to them, "Let us make man," and who again says at the confusion of the languages, "Come, let us go down and there confuse their language." But we say these things without making any determinations, for such deep matters require much examination, to determine whether it is indeed so or otherwise. Yet we must not disdain such an interpretation; each person is a portion of someone according to the "When the Most High divided the nations, as He dispersed the sons of Adam, He set the borders of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and God's portion became His people, Jacob, the lot of His inheritance Israel." If each person is thus certainly a portion of someone, with God dispersing the sons of Adam, each of the angels works with his own portion, managing what pertains to it. But during the Savior's coming, they are taken captive into the obedience of Christ from every portion by the apostles and evangelists and teachers serving the gospel, under Christ, and are brought to become the inheritance of Christ among the nations. Could it therefore perhaps be said, to those apostles who would soon after hear, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations," "Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor"? If holy angels are those who have received the other portions separate from the chosen one and are appointed over the dispersion of souls, it is not unreasonable for the sower and the reaper to rejoice together after the harvest. But Heracleon says that these seeds were not sown by or from the apostles, but those who have toiled are the angels of the economy, through whom, as intermediaries, the seed was sown and nurtured. And in "You have entered into their labor," he interpreted this: for the labor of those who sow and those who reap is not the same; for those who sow, digging the earth in cold and water and toil, and throughout the winter care, cleaning and selecting the woods, while those who enter the ready fruit during summer rejoice harvesting. It will be permissible for the one comparing, encountering what we have said and what has been found by Heracleon, to see which of the narratives could be achieved.
[John 4:39] And from that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me everything I ever did."
When the Samaritan woman left her water jar and went into the city to evangelize about the Savior, and those who believed in the word of the woman came to the Lord, in the meantime, the Savior being with the disciples has spoken the previously mentioned words, while the disciples were asking him to eat. After speaking to the disciples as much as possible, the scripture returns to those who came from the city to him and believed because of the testimony of the woman saying, "He told me everything I ever did." If we hold to what was previously said about Samaria and the Samaritan woman and Jacob's well, it is not difficult to see how those initially constrained by other teachings, upon encountering sound doctrine, leave the city of dogmas, and going out, come to healthy belief by means of one who had first progressed at Jacob's well in saving teaching, and leaving the aforementioned water jar to invite others to similarly benefit. Heracleon understood "from the city" as "from the world"; "because of the word of the woman" as by means of the spiritual church; he also marks "many" as referring to many of a psychic nature, and he speaks of the one as the incorruptible nature of the chosen, singular and unique. We have stood by what was previously said, as far as it was possible, to address these matters.
[John 4:40-41] So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word.
It is not improbable that someone might correlate the statement, "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans," with this passage. Because when the Savior was asked to stay with the Samaritans, "he stayed there two days," though he had said, "Do not enter a city of the Samaritans." Clearly, then, his disciples also had entered with him. It should be said here that to go into the way of the Gentiles is to adopt some doctrine foreign to the "Israel of God," and to follow it; to enter a city of the Samaritans is to engage in spurious knowledge, concerning those who profess to focus on the words of the law, or the prophets, or the gospel, or the apostles. However, when the Samaritans left their own city and came to Jesus by Jacob's well, recognizing the good intention of those who believed, Jesus stayed with those who asked him. I think that John precisely recorded that the Samaritans did not ask him to enter Samaria, or to enter their city, but simply to stay with them; for it is not the same thing to stay with a believer and to enter his city. Furthermore, the passage also does not say, "And he stayed in that city two days," or "he stayed in Samaria," but, "He stayed there," that is, with those who asked him. For Jesus stays with those who ask him, especially when those asking him leave their own city and come to Jesus, in imitation of Abraham, who was persuaded by God saying, "Get out of your country and from your kindred and from your father's house." Jesus stays with those who ask him for two days because they could not yet accommodate his third day, since they were not capable of receiving a great miracle, like those in Cana of Galilee who dined with Jesus on the third day at the wedding. The beginning of the belief by many from Samaria was due to the word of the woman testifying, "He told me all that I ever did"; but the growth and increase in the many more who believed were not any longer because of the woman's word but because of his own word. For the word itself, shining light on the receiver, is not perceived the same when it testifies through another. Heracleon interprets that he stayed "with them" and not "in them" for two days, suggesting this means the present age and the future age represented in marriage, or the time before his passion and the time after, during which he brought many to faith by his own word and then separated from them. This interpretation implies that "with them" and not "in them" is written, comparing it to "Behold, I am with you always," for he did not say, "I am in you." Mentioning the two days also signifies this age and the next, or the time before and after the passion. However, it overlooks the future ages following the coming age, as stated by the apostle, "that in the ages to come he might show," nor does it recognize that Jesus remains with those who come to him not just before and after his passion but always, never leaving his disciples, so much so that they could say, "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me."
[John 4:42] They said to the woman: "No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is truly the savior of the world."
They renounce the faith because of the woman's words, having found a better one than that, in having heard the savior himself, to know also that "this is truly the savior of the world." And it is indeed better to become an eyewitness of the word and to hear directly from him teaching without instruments and to perceive through the teaching the clearest forms of truth, than not seeing him and also not being enlightened by his power through ministers who have seen him, to hear the word about him. For it is impossible for the one learning from the seer and recounting to affect the rational soul in the same way as to the one who has seen, and indeed it is better to walk by sight than by faith. Therefore, those who walk as if by sight are said to be in the earlier gifts in "the word of wisdom" through the Spirit of God and "the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit"; and those who walk by faith, even if faith is a gift according to "to another faith by the same Spirit," are in the later order than the previous ones. But we must examine when and how Paul says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." For how, as many suppose, does the one who says most profoundly walk by faith and not by sight: "Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?" Let us then see how we should understand the statement "For we walk by faith, not by sight," considering it from what has been stated above: "Now the one who has formed us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore we are always courageous and we know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight." It is clear, then, that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord—being courageous, "we would rather be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." When these things are spoken in this way to understand what it means to be at home in the body and away from the Lord, and what it means to be away from the body and at home with the Lord, let us learn what we shall say about the apostle. Whether being at home in the body, he was away from the Lord, or being away from the body, he was at home with the Lord. Clearly, since "those who are in the flesh cannot please God," the saints are not in the flesh "but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in them." Paul was not in the flesh nor in the body; for he says truly, "I think that I also have the Spirit of God," not being at home in the flesh and body, but walking by faith, not by sight. And see if it can belong to apostolic precision to distinguish between "being in the flesh" and "being at home in the body"; "for those who are in the flesh cannot please God"; but those who are at home in the body are "away from the Lord"; nevertheless, they walk by faith, even if not yet proceeding by sight. And I think that those who are in the flesh are those who wage war according to the flesh, and those who are at home in the body and away from the Lord are those who do not understand the spiritual things of scripture, but wholly adhere to it and the body; for how is he not away from the Lord if "the Lord is the Spirit," who has not yet grasped the life-giving Spirit and the spiritual meaning of scripture? However, such a one walks by faith, and is away from the body and at home with the Lord, who compares spiritual things with spiritual and becomes spiritual, who judges all things but is judged by no one. Although these things may seem to have been said with a digression into apostolic words, they are nevertheless most necessary for distinguishing the reason of the Samaritans, who no longer believe because of the woman's speech but having heard for themselves and knowing that "this is the Savior of the world." It is not at all surprising that it is said concerning some that they walk by faith and not by sight, and concerning others, by sight greater than walking by faith. Heracleon, however, more simply took the words "we no longer believe because of your speech" saying that "only" is missing. For still towards the words "for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is the Savior of the world," he says: people at first believe in the Savior being led by humans, but when they encounter His words, they no longer believe through mere human testimony, but through the truth itself.
[John 4:43-44] After the two days He departed from there to Galilee, for Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
The phrase appears very inconsistent. What connection is there between His leaving after two days from the Samaritans, with whom He stayed, and going to Galilee, “for Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country”? For if Samaria were His country and He was dishonored there, then it would have consistently followed that “for Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country” applies here. But even if it were written, “After the two days He departed into Galilee, but it did not happen in His own country,” “for Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country,” the statement would still make sense. And perhaps the intent of the speaker is this, though John expressed it awkwardly, as he was unpolished in his use of language.
For it is not mentioned where in Galilee they accepted Him, “having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast.” Nonetheless, it is recorded that He came “to Cana of Galilee” afterward. The evangelist listens to himself and is not puzzled about the narrative. After mentioning in what manner the Lord left Judea and went to Galilee – and describing how He necessarily had to pass through Samaria, narrating the incidents near the plot of ground Jacob gave to Joseph by Jacob's well, and how He stayed two days with the Samaritans – he resumes the account of His arrival in Galilee, despite many intervening matters being narrated. Since we have previously noted that Judea symbolizes something superior as it is positioned above, and Galilee something inferior, the compassionate God does not overlook the inspection of the lesser, and hence leaves the Samaritans promptly to attend to those Galileans who would willingly receive Him and to heal a nobleman’s son. Having done these things in Galilee, with the feast of the Jews at hand, He goes up to Jerusalem, making the feast more joyful and significant by His presence.
Let us see also what this means, “for Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country,” and let us seek the sense of the phrase deserving of Jesus’ testimony. The homeland of the prophets was indeed in Judea, and it is evident that they did not receive honor among the Jews, having been stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword, wandering in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. And the Jews are reproached by the one who says to them: "Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they have killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One?" Furthermore, they dishonored even the ultimate prophet, through whom the prophets became prophets: "Away with him, away with him, crucify him," they said. In my homeland, however, all the prophets and the one raised up by God according to what was said about him by Moses— "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brethren like unto me; him shall you hear"—are honored; for was not his homeland among the nations that had accepted salvation through Israel's transgression? And it is also written elsewhere: "No prophet is accepted in his homeland and in his own house," and it is useful to gather from the Gospels when and to whom this was said regarding the Savior. It is remarkable to observe the truth of the Savior’s statement, which is seen not only in regard to the holy prophets who were dishonored by their own people and to our Lord himself but also to those who excelled in some wisdom and were despised by their fellow citizens, so that some of them were even led to death. This can be gathered from Greek history concerning those who philosophized and practiced astronomy or excelled in any other study. And there are such voices of dishonor: "Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers are with us? From whence then does this man have all these things?" And it is most paradoxical of the prophets that, while alive, their fellow citizens did not honor them, but upon their death, they attend to them by building and adorning their tombs. To build and adorn the monuments of the prophets is when someone, leaving aside the life-giving spirit that resides in the intentions of their writings, attends to and decorates the letter that kills, thinking the beauty of the prophecy lies in the mere letter. This is the work of those who are tormented by the Lord—the scribes and Pharisees, the scribes named after the mere letter, and the Pharisees, who are divided and have lost the divine unity; for Pharisee means "the separated ones."
[John 4:45] When therefore he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.
It is worth seeing the reason for the acceptance of the Galileans, who received the Savior coming into Galilee, if it was such as to instill amazement and wonder about the Savior, so as to receive him; and what is referred to by the many things he did in Jerusalem, the "having seen all the things he did in Jerusalem at the feast.” We find nothing mentioned before, except that "he found in the temple those selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting; and having made a scourge of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables, and to those who sold doves he said, 'Take these things hence, make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.'” What therefore is so great in these things, that the Galileans, moved by them, received the Lord, testified because of this to have received him, since having come to the feast in Jerusalem they saw all the things Jesus did there? If we remember the things said in the place indicating no less power to be manifested by the Savior in those things than that which worked to make the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk, it must be said that what the Galileans, realizing what they never thought, and being astonished at the divinity of Jesus, received him coming into Galilee "having seen all the things he did in Jerusalem.” And the "all these things” were, with the scourge of cords, driving out of the temple both the sheep and the oxen and pouring out the changers' money and overturning the tables, and with authority telling those who sold doves, "Take these things hence, make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.” Yet I think he did not only these things then, but also other signs; for it is added to those, "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did"; upon which also Nicodemus says, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” But it is permitted for a Galilean to be celebrating in Jerusalem, where the temple of God is, and to see all the things Jesus did there, especially how he drove out with the scourge of cords those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, the sheep and the oxen and the rest. For the feast in Jerusalem is the beginning for the Galileans to also receive the Son of God coming to them; for if they had not seen the things at the feast, they would not have received him; nor would he have so eagerly come to them if they had not been prepared to receive him, having left those who asked him to "stay with them." But those who received Jesus also received the one who sent him; for he says, "He who receives me receives the one who sent me." First, then, one must see, that is, understand, all the works of Jesus in Jerusalem, how he cleanses the temple, restoring it to be "the house of my Father" and no longer “a house of merchandise,” so that after seeing these things, we may receive the word who worked these things. I think that the one who has not seen all the works of Jesus in Jerusalem will not receive Jesus, nor will he come to this visit, which is a symbol of the visit to those who have not previously gone up to the feast and have not seen all the things he did in Jerusalem.
[John 4:46] Then he came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine.
Whatever we have discussed concerning Cana, we have said above. And not without reason are there two visits of Jesus in Cana; for perhaps they signify the two comings of the Savior into the world: the first, to bring joy to those feasting, and the second, to raise the son of a certain royal one, now near death, but not a king's son. Perhaps the royal one was Abraham or Jacob, whose people—the son—, after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, he will save in the end. And there can also be two presences of the Word in the soul: the former offering wine made from water for the joy of those at the feast, and the latter removing every remaining weakness and the threat of death. It is not surprising if most of the works of God are hidden, with Jesus doing many things for the salvation of those in various places, of which types are the remaining recorded passages. By visiting twice in this Cana, he confirms the possession of those who believe in the Father through him from this land.
[John 4:46-53] And there was a certain royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. And he believed, and his whole house as well.