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John 4:1. When Jesus learned about the rumor that had reached the Pharisees that He was making more disciples and baptizing than John, John 4:2. Although Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples - The Evangelist, hinting at the slander of envious people, says that although Jesus did not baptize, however, the envious people, wanting to incite the Pharisees against Christ, slandered that He baptized. John 4:3. Then he left Judea and went again to Galilee. The lover of humanity, once incarnated for us, does everything for our benefit. So now, having learned that the Pharisees had heard about His glory, and knowing that they would envy Him and rebel against Him, he retired to Galilee, teaching us two subjects: first, to spare our enemies and try in every possible way not to give them a reason for temptation or envy; secondly, it is unreasonable and useless not to be exposed to temptations, but to withdraw for a while until the rage is tamed. Although He is strong to stop His envious people, even if they rushed at Him, He nevertheless evades so that the work of the incarnation does not seem illusory. For if He were constantly withdrawing from their midst, then what would not the Phantasiodocetes, that is, Manes, Valentinus, the accursed Eutyches and their disciples, say? John 4:4. He had to pass through Samaria. He visits the Samaritans casually. Look. He did not say “it was necessary to go to Samaria,” but “to pass through Samaria.” He wanted to take away from the Jews any pretext for accusation, so that they could not say that He, having left them, went over to the unclean - the pagans. For when they drove Him out, then He went over to the pagans, and not deliberately, but in between. It is worth saying where the Samaritans came from and how they got their name. Somoron was the name of the mountain on behalf of its owner, just as Isaiah says: “the head... of Ephraim Somoron” (Is.7, 9). Those living under the mountain were originally called not Samaritans, but Israelites. But at different times they were handed over to the Assyrians for insulting God. Finally, when they intended to fall away, the Assyrian took them captive and, fearing a new apostasy, did not allow them to stay any longer in their country, but settled them between the Babylonians and Medes, and from there he brought peoples from different places and settled them in Samaria. After this, God, wanting to show the barbarians that He betrayed the Jews to them not out of His powerlessness, but because of their sin, unleashed lions on the barbarians who moved to Samaria, which destroyed them all. When this was brought to the attention of the king, he calls to him some of the elders of the Jews who were in captivity, and asks what needs to be done so that the lions no longer destroy the barbarians living in Samaria. They explain to him that the God of Israel watches over that place and does not tolerate those who do not know His laws living there. Therefore, if he cares about the barbarians there, then he needs to send Jewish priests who would teach the barbarians the laws of God; and thus God will be appeased. The king listens to them and sends one priest to teach the Samarian barbarians the law of God (2 Kings 17:24-28). But they did not accept all the divine books, but only five of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They did not completely abandon wickedness, but at times they abandoned idols and worshiped God. Therefore, the Jews, upon returning from captivity, always treated them with hatred, as they were Assyrians by origin, and on behalf of the mountain they called them Samaritans. And they called themselves the descendants of Abraham and Jacob, because Abraham was a Chaldean, and they considered Jacob theirs because of the spring that was located here. The Jews considered all the pagans and them (the Samaritans) unclean, which is why they said in reproach to the Lord: “You are a Samaritan” (John 8:48). And He Himself told the disciples: “Do not enter the city of the Samaritans” (Matt. 10.5). John 4:5. So He comes to the city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Why does the evangelist talk in detail about the town and Jacob's well? First, so that you will not be amazed when you hear the woman say: “Our father Jacob gave us this well.” For this place was Sikim (Shechem), where the sons of Jacob Simeon and Levi carried out a cruel murder because their sister Dinah was violated by the prince of the Sikimites. Then, from what the evangelist tells us about the town and the well, we learn that the Jews were rejected for a long time because of their sins, and when they offended God, then the pagans took possession of their places, and that by wickedness they destroyed what the patriarchs acquired through faith in Christ. Therefore, it is not at all new if even now the pagans are brought into the Kingdom of Heaven instead of the Jews. The place given by Jacob to Joseph was called Sikimah. The sons of Jacob, having destroyed the Sikimites, devastated the city, and the devastated city was handed over by their father to Joseph as an inheritance. John 4:6. Jacob's well was there. Jesus, weary from the journey, sat down by the well. The Evangelist, saying that the Lord was weary from the journey, shows us His modesty and moderation, for He did not use livestock for the journey, but walked on foot, teaching us not to demand much. It also shows that He made the journey vigorously, and not carelessly; from where we also learn to do God’s work with effort and diligence. The word “sat down” means that He sat down simply and, as it happened, not on a throne, but quite simply, calming his body on the platform and refreshing it at the well. Then he introduces another reason for the fact that He sat down at the well - that it was noon: “It was,” he says, “about the sixth hour.” Note, perhaps, the accuracy of the evangelist. He did not say affirmatively “it was the sixth hour,” but, in order not to sin against the truth, he said “it was about the sixth hour,” conveying the authenticity of his word. John 4:7. A woman comes from Samaria to draw water. Jesus says to her: Give me something to drink. And also, so that someone would not accuse the Lord of the fact that He, having commanded His disciples not to go on the way to the pagans, Himself comes to the Samaritans, for this purpose He says that sitting in this place was due to fatigue and that the conversation with the woman had a blessed reason - thirst. Since He was thirsty due to human nature, He also needed drink. When He asks for a drink, a woman with an inquisitive soul enters into conversation with Him. What should have been done? Is it really possible to reject a woman who is so inquisitive and eager to listen to an explanation of her perplexities? But this is by no means characteristic of God’s love for mankind. John 4:8. For His disciples went into the city to buy food. Note, perhaps, the Lord’s modesty here too. He alone remains on the road when the disciples go to the city to buy food. They considered the needs of the stomach to be so secondary that when everyone had almost dined and rested, they only bought food, that is, only bread, so that we too would learn not to worry about the variety of dishes. John 4:9. The Samaritan woman said to Him: How can you, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink? for Jews do not communicate with Samaritans. By appearance and, perhaps, by clothing, and by the different position of the body, and by the conversation itself, the Samaritan woman considered the Lord to be a Jew, which is why she says to Him: “like you, being a Jew,” and so on. Look how insightful the woman was. If she needed to be careful, it would be the Lord who needed it, not her. For she did not say “Samaritans do not communicate with Jews,” but “Jews do not communicate with Samaritans.” However, the woman does not stop there, but, thinking that the Lord is doing something illegal, corrects what is happening not according to the law. John 4:10. Jesus answered her: if you knew the gift of God and Who says to you: Give Me a drink, then you yourself would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. Christ does not reveal Himself before the woman’s virtue is revealed. When a woman’s virtue, her insight and accuracy are revealed, then he begins to talk with her about higher subjects. “If you,” he says, “knew the gift of God,” that is, if you knew what God gives, that He gives eternal and imperishable blessings, if you knew Me, knew that I, as God, can give them to you, then you would ask and receive living water. “Water” refers to the grace of the Holy Spirit, because it cleanses those who receive it and imparts great refreshment to them; not stagnant water, such as is found in pits and wells, rotten and spoiled, but “living”, that is, gushing, jumping up, quickly flowing. For the grace of the Spirit makes the soul always moving towards good, always determined to ascend (Ps. 8:3, 6). Such water, living and always moving, was drunk by Paul, forgetting what is behind and striving for what is ahead (Phil. 3:13-14). John 4:11. The woman says to Him: Master! you have nothing to draw with, but the well is deep; Where did you get your living water from? The woman says to Him “Lord!” You see how quickly she abandoned her low opinion and gives Him great honor, calling Him Lord. However, she did not comprehend the depth of Christ’s speeches, but He speaks about water in a different sense, and she understands it in a different sense. John 4:12. Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, and his children, and his cattle? He considers Jacob his father and considers himself among the Jewish nobility. Look, perhaps, at the intelligence of a woman, how she quickly infers from the difference in the waters the difference in those who give. “If,” he says, “you give such water, then, without a doubt, you are greater than Jacob, who gave us real water.” The words “and drank from it” indicate the pleasantness of the water. “The Patriarch,” he says, “liked this source so much that he and his children drank from it.” The words “and the cattle drank of it” indicate an abundance of water. “This water,” he says, “is not only pleasant, and so pleasant that Jacob drank it, but also abundant, and so abundant that there was enough of it for the multitude of the patriarch’s livestock.” John 4:13. Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, John 4:14. And whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. When the woman said, “Are You greater than our father,” the Lord, although he does not directly say that I am truly greater, so that, without yet presenting proof of My power, I would not appear vain, but prepares for this with His words, “Whoever drinks this water will thirst again, and whoever drinks My water will not thirst.” That is, if you are surprised at Jacob, who gave this water, then all the more should you be surprised at Me, who gives much better water. For the water that I give becomes a source of water, constantly and continually multiplying. For the saints not only preserve to the end what they receive from God, but through grace they receive the seeds and firstfruits of good, and they themselves multiply and grow them. The Lord points to this with the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-31) and the innkeeper (Luke 10:35). He who received two talents acquired two more through business (Matthew 25:17). And to the innkeeper, who received the wounded man from the robbers, the Lord promises: “If you spend anything from yours, I will give it back to you” (Luke 10:35). The Lord points to this here too. I give water to the thirsty; but the water that I give does not remain in the same amount, but multiplies and becomes a source. Thus, in the catechumens of Ananias, the Lord gave Paul some water (Acts 9:17); but Paul showed this small water of Anania’s teaching as a source, so that the streams of this source from Jerusalem reached Illyricum. John 4:15. The woman says to Him: Master! give me this water so that I won’t be thirsty and won’t have to come here to draw. What kind of disposition is this in a woman? Although it is not yet high, because she thinks that we are talking about sensual water, however, she also reveals some movement forward. Before, she was perplexed and said: “Where do you get living water?” And now, having accepted that word as undoubted, he says: “Give me this water.” Therefore, she seems more understanding than Nicodemus. He, having heard a lot of this, said: “How can this be?” (John 3:9). And she is already beginning to neglect the source of Jacob. “If,” he says, “you have such water, then give it to me, and I will no longer go here to draw.” You see how she already puts the Lord above Jacob. John 4:16. Jesus says to her: Go, call your husband and come here. Seeing that she insists on receiving, and encourages Him to give, she says: “Call your husband,” as if showing that he too should participate with you in this gift of Mine. John 4:17. The woman answered: I have no husband. Jesus says to her: you said the truth that you have no husband, She, in order to quickly hide and get it together, says: “I don’t have a husband.” John 4:18. For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband; That's right what you said. Now the Lord, through prophetic knowledge, reveals His power, lists her former husbands and reveals the one whom she is now hiding. Some by the “five” husbands of the Samaritan woman meant the five books that the Samaritan woman only accepted. “The one,” he says, “whom you now have, that is, My teaching, which you now accept from Me, is not your husband; for you have not yet united yourself with My teaching – Jesus’. Another will say that the Samaritan woman serves as an image of human nature. Our nature previously lived on the mountain, possessed a mind full of divine grace. For Adam, before he sinned, was adorned with all divine gifts. He was also a prophet. Having awakened from sleep, he spoke clearly about the creation of the wife and about the husband’s attitude towards her, for he said: “This is now bone of my bones” and “for this. .. a man will leave his father and mother” (Gen. 2:23–24). On this mountain, a high mind, was our nature, but for insulting God we were taken into captivity. And the devil, having captured us, took the holy seed, that is, every divine thought, to Babylon, that is, to the confusion of this world. Instead of holy thoughts, he settled rude thoughts: the lions reigning in us devoured good thoughts until they convinced them to accept the words of God. But they did not accept them entirely. For malice, having once settled on our mountain, that is, in our minds, although it accepted the books of Moses, however, did not become entirely good, but was still under a curse. So, Jesus, having completed the journey, that is, having gone through many paths of economy and methods for our salvation, improving our life now with threats, now with blows of disasters, now with benefits, now with promises of benefits, and trying to correct us in such ways, he became troubled. But He also found another dispensation, which, as satisfactory, He sat down and calmed down. Which one? The source of baptism, with which He blessed our nature, like a certain Samaritan woman. This source of baptism can rightly be called the source of Jacob, that is, the reproacher, for in this source everyone tramples the devil. In it, the Lord also destroyed the head of the dragon, which he gave as food to the Ethiopian people (Ps. 73:14). For none other than people who are darkened and black in soul, having no participation in the divine light, amuse themselves and feed on this dragon. With this nature of ours, five men entered into a union, different laws given to it from God: the law in paradise, the law under Noah, the law under Abraham, the law under Moses, the law through the prophets. For Noah after the flood accepted a certain commandment (Gen. 9:1–17), and Abraham accepted the commandment of circumcision (Gen. 17:1–14). Having united with these five laws, our nature subsequently accepted the sixth law of the New Testament, which it did not have a husband and with which it had not yet been combined. Another may understand by the sixth law, which our nature did not have a husband, the law of idolatry. For this law was not given to him by God as a husband, but it was mixed with him as an adulteress. Therefore, the prophet says: “and they committed fornication in the tree” (Jer. 2:20) and again: “they committed fornication behind every tree” (Ezek. 16), obviously speaking about the fact that they revered images and trees. For our nature has reached such a state of madness that sacrifices were made to beautiful trees, cypresses, sycamores and the like, for their beauty. So, when a person fell in love with this sixth adulterer and fell into idolatry, then the Lord comes and frees us from him, which is why he says: “the one whom you now have.” For by the time of the coming of Christ, indeed, the wise men of the Jews had turned to paganism, as shown by the heresy of the Pharisees, who believed in fate and stargazing. The Samaritan woman is also every soul that foolishly submitted to the five senses, then accepted false teachings, as if it were the sixth adulterer, but to whom Jesus benefits either with baptism or with a source of tears. And tears can be called Jacob's well, that is, our mind, trampling on malice. The mind itself drinks this water, and its children - thoughts, and its cattle - the unreasonable parts of the soul, anger and desire. For tears serve as refreshment for the mind and for thoughts, and for other powers of the soul. John 4:19. The woman says to Him: Lord! I see that you are a prophet. Wasn't she annoyed after hearing this? Didn’t she leave Him and run away? No, she was even more surprised, even more strengthened and said: “Lord! I see that You are a prophet"; and asks Him about divine things, and not about everyday things, for example, about the health of the body or about property. So chaste and well-disposed to virtue is her soul! What is he asking about? John 4:20. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, This says about Abraham and his successors. “For here,” they say, “Isaac was sacrificed to them.” and you say that the place where one should worship is in Jerusalem. “How then,” he says, “you say, that we should worship in Jerusalem”? Do you see how she's gotten taller? Shortly before this, she was concerned about not being tormented by thirst, and now she is asking about teaching (dogmas). John 4:21. Jesus says to her: Believe Me, that the time is coming when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Therefore, Christ, seeing her understanding, although he does not resolve this bewilderment of her (for it was not of particular importance), but reveals another, more important truth, which He did not reveal to either Nicodemus or Nathanael. “The time is coming,” he says, “when God will be worshiped neither in Jerusalem nor here.” “You,” he says, “are trying to prove that the Samaritan customs are more worthy than the Jewish customs. But I tell you that neither one nor the other has dignity, but another certain order will come, which is better than both of these. But even at the same time, I declare that the Jews are more worthy than the Samaritans.” John 4:22. You don't know what you're bowing to, but we know what we're bowing to, “You,” he says, “bow to what you do not know, but we Jews bow to what we know.” He classifies Himself among the Jews, because He speaks in relation to the concept of a woman, and she understood Him as a Jewish prophet. That is why He says: “we” bow down. How did the Samaritans not know what they were bowing to? They thought that God was limited to place. Therefore, when the lions devoured them, as was said above, they conveyed through ambassadors to the king of the Assyrians that the God of this place did not tolerate them. However, even after that they continued to serve idols for a long time, and not God Himself. But the Jews were free from such a concept and, although not all, recognized Him as the God of all. These words give us a double thought. Or the one that the good for the universe came from the Jews, for the knowledge of God and the rejection of idols from them had its beginning, and all other teachings (dogmas), and this very kind of your Samaritan worship, although incorrect, received its beginning from the Jews. Or He calls “salvation” His coming, which was from the Jews. By “salvation” we can also mean the Lord Himself, Who was of the Jews according to the flesh. John 4:23. But the time will come and has already come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such worshipers for Himself. John 4:24. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. Although we Jews are superior to you Samaritans in the way of worship, the way of Jewish service will also end in the end. And a change will occur not only in place, but also in the way of serving, and this change is very close and has already arrived. For these things will not have meaning at all times, as the sayings of the prophets have. He calls true worshipers those who live according to His law, who do not limit God to a place, like the Samaritans, or do not honor Him with bodily service, like the Jews, but bow in spirit and truth, that is, with soul and purity of mind. Since God is spirit, that is, incorporeal, then He must be worshiped incorporeally, that is, with the soul. This is meant by the word “in the spirit.” For the soul is a spirit and an incorporeal being. And since many apparently worship Him with their souls, but do not have a true concept of Him, for example, heretics, therefore he added: “and in truth.” For one must worship God with the mind, but one must also have a true concept of Him. Another, perhaps, will say that here these two words “in spirit and truth” hint at two parts of our wisdom: activity and contemplation. The word “in the spirit” hints at activity. For, according to the words of the divine apostle, all who are led by the Spirit of God mortify the deeds of the flesh (Rom. 8:13-14). And again: “the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Gal. 5:17). Thus, the word “in spirit” hints at activity, while the word “in truth” hints at contemplation. So Paul (1 Cor. 5:8) understands when he says “with unleavened bread of purity,” that is, purity of life, or, what is the same, activity, “and truth,” that is, contemplation, for contemplation is concerned with the truth of dogmatic teaching. And otherwise: since the Samaritans limited God to a place and said that they should worship in this place, and among the Jews everything was done in images and shadows, then against the difference of the Samaritans he uses the word “in the spirit,” so that the speech has the following meaning: you, Samaritans, perform some kind of local service to God, and true worshipers will perform something that is not local, for they will serve “in the spirit,” that is, with their mind and soul. They will not worship under an image and a shadow, like the Jews, but “in truth,” since the customs and ceremonies of the Jews will be abolished. Since the Jewish law, understood literally, was an image and a shadow, then perhaps the word “in the spirit” was used to distinguish it from the letter; for the law no longer operates in us of the letter, but of the spirit, for “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). To distinguish it from image and shadow, the word “in truth” is used. “The time will come,” he says, “and has already come,” namely: the time of My appearance in the flesh, when true worshipers will worship not in one place, like the Samaritans, but in every place “in the Spirit,” performing not only bodily worship, as Paul says (Whom (God) I serve “in my spirit” (Rom. 1:9)), they will perform service that is not figurative, shadowy and pointing to the future, like the Jews, but the service is true and has no shadows. For God seeks such worshipers for Himself: as the Spirit - spiritual, as Truth - true. John 4:25. The woman says to Him: I know that the Messiah will come, that is, Christ; when He comes, He will tell us everything. How did the woman know that the Messiah, called Christ, would come? From the writings of Moses. For we said above that the Samaritans accepted the Pentateuch of Moses. As they accepted the books of Moses, from them they knew the prophecy about Christ and that He was the Son of God. So the words “let us make man” (Gen. 1:26) were obviously spoken by the Father to the Son. The Son who talked with Abraham in the tent was the Son (Gen. 18); Jacob spoke prophetically about Him: “The prince of Judah will not fail until he comes to whom it is postponed” (Gen. 49:10), and Moses himself: “The Lord will raise up a prophet from among your brothers, like me, you will listen to him” (Deut. 18:15), and many other places announce the coming of Christ. That is why the woman says: “I know that the Messiah will come.” John 4:26. Jesus says to her: It is I who speak to you. When, therefore, the very course of speech demanded it, the Lord already reveals Himself to her (the Samaritan woman). If He had said from the very beginning that Christ is Me, He would not have convinced the woman, and he might have seemed somehow arrogant and proud. And now, having little by little forced her to remember the promise of Christ, He is already revealing Himself. Why does He tell the woman that He is the Messiah, but He does not reveal Himself to the Jews, who often asked: “Tell us, are you the Christ?” He did not tell them anything because they asked not in order to find out the truth, but in order to further slander; and He clearly reveals Himself to her, because she is well-intentioned. She asked innocently and with a desire to know the truth. This can be seen from the following. Having heard the revelation, she not only believed herself, but also attracted others to faith, and in everything she is a thorough and believing woman. John 4:27. At this time His disciples came and were surprised that He was talking to a woman; however, not one said: what do you require? or: what are you talking to her about? While the conversation with the woman and the teaching were already ending, the disciples came and were amazed at His humility, due to which He spoke with such condescension to a poor woman and a Samaritan woman, while everyone was in glory and fame. They are surprised, but do not dare to ask what He is talking to her about. This is how they were trained and maintained the respect due from students to the Teacher! At other times they appear to be bold. For example, John falls to his chest (John 13:25); they begin with the question: “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” (Matthew 18:1); The sons of Zebedee ask that one sit on the right hand, and the other on the left (Mark 10:35, 37). In these cases, they ask about what concerned them and what seemed necessary to them at that time. And since here the question did not occupy them so much and was not absolutely necessary, then they do not use courage as untimely. John 4:28. Then the woman left her waterpot and went into the city and said to the people: At the words of the Lord, the woman’s heart was so inflamed that she even left her waterpot. So soon she preferred the water of Christ to Jacob’s well, and by the faith that embraced her heart, she was elevated to the rank of apostle, taught and attracted the whole city. John 4:29. Come see the Man Who told me everything I've done: Truly, the soul, ignited by divine fire, does not look at anything earthly, neither at shame nor at dishonor. So she is not ashamed to reveal her deeds, but says: “Who told me everything that I did.” She could have said it another way: “go, see the prophet who prophesies”; but she does not say so, but despises her opinion of herself and has only one thing in mind - to preach the truth. He does not say affirmatively that He is the Christ, but “isn’t He the Christ” in order to bring them to the same opinion with themselves and make the word more acceptable. For if she had claimed that He was Christ, then some, perhaps, would not have agreed, would not have accepted her opinion as an outcast woman. John 4:30. They left the city and went to Him. John 4:31. Meanwhile, the disciples asked Him, saying: Rabbi! eat. The disciples asked, that is, asked the Lord to eat, not out of recklessness, but out of strong love for the Teacher, for they saw that He was tired from the journey and from the scorching heat. John 4:32. But He said to them: I have food that you do not know. And the Lord, knowing that the Samaritan woman would attract almost the entire city to Him and that the Samaritans would believe in Him, says: “I have what I have, namely, the salvation of people, because I desire this salvation as much as none of you desires sensual food. You, My disciples, do not know the food that I have to eat. You are still carnal and cannot understand what I say in secret, and therefore you do not know that I call the salvation of people food.” And otherwise: “You do not know this food, for you do not know that the Samaritans will believe in Me and be saved.” Calling the salvation of people food, the Lord teaches the disciples so that when they are ordained as teachers of the universe, they should not worry much about bodily food, but should devote all their zeal to the salvation of people. John 4:33. Therefore the disciples said among themselves: Who brought Him anything to eat? What about the students? They are still wondering if anyone brought Him something to eat? They do not dare to propose a question to Him out of usual respect for Him. Notice also that the Lord accepted food when someone brought it. For the disciples say: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? The Lord did this not because he needed the service of others, for He Himself gives food to all flesh (Ps. 135:25), but so that those who bring them would have a reward and get used to feeding others, and to show all people that there is no need to be ashamed of poverty and be burdened by eating from others. It is typical and even necessary for teachers to entrust the care of food to others in order to perform the ministry of the Word themselves, without having fun. Therefore, He even commanded the disciples to eat at the expense of those instructed by them (Luke 10:7). John 4:34. Jesus says to them: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work. However, He, although they did not ask, explains what was said in secret and says: “My food is to do the will of him who sent Me (for the salvation of people is the will of God) and to complete His work.” The prophets and the law could not accomplish the work of God, because, while showing themselves images and shadows of future blessings, they themselves were imperfect. And the Lord accomplished God’s work, that is, our salvation and renewal. By the work of God we understand, perhaps, a person who was perfected only by the Son of God, since He in Himself revealed our sinless nature and, through the divine life in the flesh, perfected in every good deed, showed it perfect and completely conquered the world. And the law is the work of God, since it was written by the finger of God (Deut. 9:10). The Lord completed this law because Christ is the end of the law (Rom. 10:4). He stopped everything that was done in the law and raised it from physical service to spiritual service. The Lord often speaks in secret in order to make the listeners more attentive, to excite them to study and understand what is said in secret. John 4:35. Don't you say that there are still four months and the harvest will come? The Lord now begins to more clearly reveal to the disciples what he had previously spoken in secret. He says: “You say, that is, you think, that in the fourth month from now on the harvest will come, that is, the sensual one; but I tell you that the reasonable harvest has already arrived.” He spoke this about the Samaritans who were already coming to Him. But I say to you: lift up your eyes and look at the fields, how they are white and ripe for harvest. “Lift up your eyes,” both rational and sensual, and look at the multitude of Samaritans coming here, and at their souls, disposed and ready for faith, which, like whitened fields, are in need of harvest. For just as the ears of corn are ready for harvest when they turn white, so they are ready for salvation. Some of the words “look at the fields, how they have turned white and are ripe for harvest” are applied to the elders, because of their gray hair and reaping of death. John 4:36. He who reaps receives his reward and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that both he who sows and he who reaps will rejoice together, The meaning of these words is this: the prophets sowed, but did not reap. However, through this they did not lose pleasure, but they rejoice with us, although they do not reap with us. This does not happen in sensory harvests. There, if one happens to sow and another to reap, the tender one grieves. But in spiritual harvests it is not so. But the prophets, who preached and predisposed the minds of people, rejoice with us, who attracted people to salvation. John 4:37. For in this case the saying is true: one sows, and another reaps. A fair saying calls the proverb used among the people: “One sows, and another reaps.” John 4:38. I sent you to reap what you did not labor for: others labored, but you entered into their labor. “I sent you to reap what you did not labor for.” The Lord says this so that when He sends the disciples to preach, they will not be embarrassed by the fact that they are being sent to a difficult task. “The most difficult things,” He says, “the prophets took upon themselves, but I send you to the ready.” See how He says everything with authority and command: “I have sent you to reap.” Let the disciples of the accursed Marcion, and Manes, and the like, who alienate the Old Testament from the New, hear this. They are exposed here too. For if the Old Testament were alien to the New, then how would the apostles reap what the prophets sowed? If the apostles reaped what was sown in the Old Testament, then it is not alien to the New Testament, but both are one Testament. Let the Arians also hear that Christ sends disciples as Lord and Master. He sends them so that they reap and cut off the pagans and Jews who are addicted to them from earthly objects, and take them to the threshing floor, that is, to the Church. In it, through threshing by oxen, that is, teachers, and submission to them, they are ground and, freed from all chaff, from everything carnal and devoured by fire, they are folded into clean grains into the heavenly granary and then become food for God, who rejoices over their salvation. So Paul reaped, cutting us off from the earth and teaching us that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). John 4:39. And many Samaritans from that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman, who testified that He told her everything that she had done. The Samaritans believe according to the word of the woman, prudently judging from themselves that the woman would not have revealed her life to everyone because of pleasing another, if the one she preached were not truly great and more excellent than many. John 4:40. And therefore, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. John 4:41. And an even greater number believed at His word. Therefore, proving faith by deeds, they asked Him to stay with them completely. For “to be” means precisely to settle completely. But He does not agree to this, but spends only two days with them, and according to His teaching, an even greater number of them believed. Although the Evangelist does not tell in particular about the wonderful sayings of His teaching, he allows us to understand the power of His divine teaching from the end of the matter. For the evangelists omit many great things, because they write not out of ambition, but for the sake of truth. Probably, even during his time with the Samaritans, the Lord taught something divine; because they, having not seen any miracle, believe in Him and ask Him to stay. And the Jews, who had received countless speeches and miracles from Him, still persecuted Him. Truly, “a man’s enemies are his own household” (Mic. 7:6; Matt. 10:36). John 4:42. And they said to that woman: We no longer believe because of your words, for we ourselves have heard and learned that He is truly the Savior of the world, Christ. Look, perhaps in a short time the people surpassed their teacher. For they call Him not a prophet, not the Savior of Israel, but the Savior of the world, and also with a member: He is that Savior who actually and truly saved everyone. Many came to save: the law, the prophets, and the angels, but the true Savior is He. John 4:43. And after two days He left there and went to Galilee, The Lord, leaving Samaria, comes to Galilee. Then, so that someone would not investigate and wonder why He did not always stay in Galilee, but came to it at intervals, while apparently coming from Galilee, He says: “That is why He did not live in Galilee, because the Galileans did not show Him any honor.” John 4:44. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. Jesus himself testified that a prophet is not honored in his own country. For we people usually despise what has become commonplace, but we always pay attention to the strange and extraordinary. What then? Do we not see many in honor among our own? Yes, but this is very rare. If others are honored in their own country, then in a foreign country they will be honored much more, so that the honor shown in the fatherland, when compared with honor in a foreign country, will seem dishonorable. For envy does not allow compatriots to give due glory, but they give it less, considering the glorification of a fellow tribesman a shame. John 4:45. When He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen everything that He did in Jerusalem on the feast, for they also went to the feast. When the Lord came to Galilee, the Galileans believed, seeing the signs that He did in Jerusalem. But the Samaritans are worthy of greater praise, because they believed without signs, according to the word of the woman. Look: those who are revered as outcasts are everywhere distinguished by their faith; I mean the Samaritans and Galileans. For even these latter were despised as living like villagers, which is why they said that a prophet does not come from Galilee (John 7:52). And those who were considered the chosen ones, such as the Jerusalem Jews were, are rejected. We, the pagans, are truly and fairly accepted. For in his own fatherland, according to another, in the Jewish synagogue, the “Prophet” Christ did not have the honor, as Moses calls Him: our Lord will raise up a prophet (Deut. 18:15). John 4:46. So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he turned water into wine. There was a certain courtier in Capernaum whose son was sick. The Evangelist reminds us of the miracle at Cana, where water was turned into wine, firstly, in order to more clearly demonstrate the dignity of the Samaritans. “The Galileans,” he says, “received the Lord because of the signs done in Jerusalem and among them, and the Samaritans - according to one testimony of a woman and according to the teaching of the Lord Himself.” Secondly, in order to show us that from the miracle in Cana the king’s husband also received some good, although not entirely worthy, understanding of Christ. He calls him “tsar” either because he was from a royal family, or because he had some dignity of power of such a name. Another will say: “Isn’t this courtier the same as the centurion mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 8:5-15)? For he too was in Capernaum.” I think it's not the same, it's different. When Christ wants to come, he restrains Him, saying: “I am not worthy for You to come under my roof” (Matthew 8:8). And this one strongly calls Jesus to his home. This one’s boy, that is, a slave, suffered from relaxation, and this one’s son suffered from fever. There the Lord came to Capernaum after descending from the mountain, and now he comes from Samaria, and not to Capernaum, but to Cana. In all respects, he is a centurion, and this one is a king’s husband in dignity. John 4:47. He, having heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, came to Him and asked Him to come and heal his son, who was dying. The courtier asks the Lord to come and heal his son, and the Lord reproaches him for not fully believing, but only partially. For the words “come before my son dies” (John 4:49) reveal that his faith is weak. He does not believe that even if his son dies, the Lord is able to resurrect him. John 4:48. Jesus said to him, “You will not believe unless you see signs and wonders.” Therefore, reproaching him, He says: “You will not believe unless you see signs and wonders,” condemning with him the other inhabitants of Capernaum. For they are everywhere presented as guilty of strong unbelief. John 4:49. The courtier says to Him: Lord! come before my son dies. John 4:50. Jesus says to him: Go, your son is well. He believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went. Since the courtier was unsteady in his thoughts and insisted that the Lord come to heal his son, the Savior shows him that He can heal him in absentia, and says: “Go, your son is healthy.” Thus, at one time he healed his son from fever, and his father from unbelief. Know also that one thing is a miracle, and another is a sign. A miracle is something that is beyond nature, for example, opening the eyes of a man born blind, raising the dead, and a sign is something that is not outside of nature, for example, healing a sick person. The Lord still performs such a miracle on everyone who comes. Every person is, as it were, a royal husband, not only because he is akin in soul to the King of all, but also because he himself has received royal power over everything. It often turns out that another’s mind, like the son of a courtier, suffers from the fire of inappropriate pleasures and lusts. If he goes to Jesus and asks Him to come, that is, to show the condescension of humanity and forgive him his sins, before he finally dies from the disease of lust (for if God does not condescend to us, but looks at our iniquities and judges them, then “who can stand” (Ps. 129:3))? So, if he goes to Christ, then, as it is said (Matthew 7:7-8), he will find what he is looking for and his mind will receive health. However, note that the Lord says to him: “Go, your son is healthy,” that is, do not be motionless towards good, but go and show constant movement towards good. For in that case your son is alive. If you stop the procession, then your mind will finally die, having received mortification from immobility towards good. John 4:51. His servants met him on the road and said, “Your son is well.” The servants, amazed by the sudden change in illness, meet the master and tell him about his son’s health. For he got rid of the fever not simply and as if by accident, but suddenly. This matter, obviously, was not a consequence of nature, but the action of the power of Christ. John 4:52. He asked them: at what time did he feel better? They told him: yesterday at seven o'clock the fever left him. John 4:53. From this the father knew that this was the hour at which Jesus said to him, “Your son is well, and he and his whole house believed.” Having learned from the servants about the hour in which the son felt better, that is, when the son came to a better and healthier state, the father completely believes in the Lord. For his former faith was imperfect. Don’t tell me that he wouldn’t have gone to Christ if he hadn’t believed. For fathers, out of love for their children, usually turn to doctors not only experienced, but also to unskilled ones, not wanting to leave anything behind. So, he came by faith, let’s admit this too, but by cold and imperfect faith, which no one else would call faith; and then, when he learned about the hour, he completely believed. John 4:54. Jesus performed this second miracle when he returned from Judea to Galilee. Why does the evangelist say that Jesus performed this second miracle in Cana? To show what praise the Samaritans deserve; although, he says, this was a second miracle, however, the Galileans did not reach the height of those who did not see a single sign and believed.