Chapter Four
Jn. 4:1. When Jesus learned that the report had reached the Pharisees that He was gaining more disciples and baptizing than John, –
Jn. 4:2. Although Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples,
The Evangelist, hinting at the slander of the envious, says that although Jesus did not baptize, nevertheless the envious, wishing to incite the Pharisees against Christ, slandered Him by saying that He was baptizing.
Jn. 4:3. He left Judea and went again into Galilee.
The Lover of mankind, having once become incarnate for us, does everything for our benefit. So now too, having learned that the Pharisees heard of His fame, and knowing that they would envy Him and rise up against Him, He withdraws to Galilee, teaching us two things: first, to spare our enemies and to make every effort not to give them occasion for offense or envy; second, not to subject ourselves to temptations senselessly and without profit, but to withdraw for a time until the fury subsides.
Though He is powerful enough to stop His enviers even if they were to rush upon Him, He nevertheless withdraws, so that the matter of the Incarnation would not appear to be phantasmal. For if He were constantly removing Himself from their midst, what would the phantasiadocetists not have said — that is, Manes, Valentinus, the accursed Eutyches, and their disciples?
Jn. 4:4. And He had to pass through Samaria.
He comes to the Samaritans as if in passing. Notice: He did not say "it was necessary to go to Samaria," but "to pass through Samaria." He wanted to deprive the Jews of every pretext for accusation, so that they could not say that He, having left them, went over to the unclean—the Gentiles. For only when they drove Him out did He go over to the Gentiles, and even then not deliberately, but in passing.
It is worth saying where the Samaritans came from and from what they received such a name. Somoron was the name of a mountain, after the name of its owner, as Isaiah also says: "the head of Ephraim is Somoron" (Isa. 7:9). Those living beneath the mountain were originally called not Samaritans but Israelites. But for their offenses against God they were at various times delivered over to the Assyrians. Finally, when they resolved to rebel, the Assyrian took them captive and, fearing a new apostasy, did not permit them to remain any longer in their own country, but resettled them among the Babylonians and Medes, and from there brought peoples from various places and settled them in Samaria. After this, God, wishing to show the barbarians that He had delivered the Jews to them not out of His own powerlessness but for their sin, sent lions upon the barbarians who had resettled in Samaria, and the lions destroyed them all without exception. When this was brought to the attention of the king, he summons certain Jewish elders who were in captivity and asks what should be done so that the lions would no longer destroy the barbarians living in Samaria. They explain to him that the God of Israel watches over that place and does not suffer those ignorant of His laws to dwell there. Therefore, if he cares about the barbarians there, it is necessary to send Jewish priests who would teach the barbarians the laws of God; and in this way God would be appeased. The king heeds them and sends a priest to teach the Samaritan barbarians the law of God (2 Kings 17:24–28). But they accepted not all the divine books, only the five of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Nor did they completely abandon impiety, but only from time to time turned away from idols and honored God. Therefore the Jews, upon their return from captivity, always treated them with hatred as Assyrians by origin, and called them Samaritans after the name of the mountain. But they called themselves descendants of Abraham and Jacob, because Abraham was a Chaldean, and they considered Jacob their own on account of the well that was located there. The Jews, however, considered them unclean along with all the Gentiles, which is why as a reproach to the Lord they said: "You are a Samaritan" (John 8:48). And He Himself said to the disciples: "Do not enter a city of the Samaritans" (Matt. 10:5).
Jn. 4:5. So He comes to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Why does the Evangelist speak in detail about the place and the well of Jacob? First, so that you would not be amazed when you hear the woman say: "Our father Jacob gave us this well." For this place was Sychem (Shechem), where the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, carried out a cruel slaughter because their sister Dinah had been violated by the prince of the Shechemites. Then, from what the Evangelist conveys to us about the place and the well, we learn that the rejection of the Jews was from of old on account of their sins, and when they offended God, the Gentiles took possession of their places, and that they destroyed through impiety what the patriarchs had acquired through faith in Christ. Therefore it is nothing new if even now the Gentiles have been brought into the Kingdom of Heaven in place of the Jews. The place given by Jacob to Joseph was called Sychem. The sons of Jacob, having destroyed the Shechemites, laid waste the city, and once laid waste it was given by the father as an inheritance to Joseph.
Jn. 4:6. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, being wearied from His journey, sat down by the well.
The Evangelist, by saying that the Lord grew weary from the journey, shows us His humility and moderation, for He did not use beasts of burden for traveling, but went on foot, teaching us also not to require much. He also shows that He made the journey with effort, and not carelessly; from which we too learn to carry out the work of God with effort and diligence.
The word "sat" means that He sat down simply and, as it happened, not on a throne, but quite simply, resting His body on the pavement and refreshing it at the well.
Jn. 4:6. It was about the sixth hour.
Then He introduces another reason for why He sat by the well – that it was midday: "It was," he says, "about the sixth hour."
Note, if you will, the precision of the Evangelist as well. He did not say definitively "it was the sixth hour," but, so as not to err against the truth, he said "it was about the sixth hour," lending credibility to his word.
Jn. 4:7. A woman from Samaria comes to draw water. Jesus says to her: Give Me to drink.
And furthermore, lest anyone accuse the Lord of the fact that, having commanded His disciples not to go on the path to the Gentiles, He Himself comes to the Samaritans, for this reason he says that His sitting in this place was due to weariness, and that the conversation with the woman had a reasonable pretext — thirst. Since as a result of His human nature He thirsted, He also had need of drink.
When He asks for a drink, a woman with an inquisitive soul enters into conversation with Him. What then was to be done? Should He have rejected a woman so inquisitive and thirsting to hear the resolution of her perplexities? But this is by no means characteristic of the love of God for mankind.
Jn. 4:8. For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
Note, if you will, the Lord's modesty here as well. He remains alone by the road while the disciples have gone off to the city to buy food. They considered the needs of the stomach so secondary that at a time when nearly everyone had already dined and was resting, they were only just buying food — that is, bread alone — so that we too might learn not to concern ourselves with a variety of dishes.
Jn. 4:9. The Samaritan woman says 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.
By appearance and, perhaps, by clothing, and by other bodily bearing, and by the conversation itself, the Samaritan woman took the Lord for a Jew, which is why she says to Him: "How is it that you, being a Jew," and so on. See how perceptive the woman was. If anyone needed to be on guard, it would have been the Lord, not her. For she did not say "Samaritans have no dealings with Jews," but rather "Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." Nevertheless, the woman does not stop at this, but, having thought that the Lord was doing something unlawful, she corrects what was not according to the law.