After asserting that every instrument raised against the Church shall be thwarted, and every tongue wielded against the knowledge of God shall be silenced, he invites the faithful to the river of God, overflowing with refreshing waters, whose stream brings joy to the city of God; they may drink from the springs of the Savior. As He told the Samaritan woman, if you had known the gift of God, you would have asked Him for a drink, and He would have provided you with living water. The water I shall give will become in you a spring flowing into eternal life (John 4:10-14). Regarding this water, He proclaimed at the temple, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who drinks of the water that I will give him, rivers of living water will flow from his belly” (John 7:37-38), referring to the Holy Spirit, which believers are to receive, as the prophet mysteriously declared: My soul longs for the living God (Psalm 41:3), and again: You have the fountain of life (Psalm 35:10). He lamented, “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
These waters descend from the heavens, to which God’s truth has come, as it is written, “Let the heavens sprinkle down righteousness” (Isaiah 45:8). The thirsty are instructed not to drink the murky waters of Sior or the turbulent depths of Assyria but rather to seek the quiet, flowing waters of Siloam. They should not fear a lack of the Word, even without means, but heed the apostle who proclaimed: by grace you are saved (Eph. 2:8), and the Lord who instructed His disciples: freely you received, freely give (Mt. 10:8). Indeed, they acquire water at no cost, yet do not merely drink it, rather they partake of it as sustenance. For He is both the water and the bread that came down from heaven (John 6). Thus, what some manuscripts refer to as "buy and drink" was altered by unskilled copyists who believed it more fitting for the water to be consumed rather than eaten. Yet currency is also of poor worth, which Scripture denounces, stating, “The silver given with insincerity is considered as hardly valued” (Proverbs 26:23), and elsewhere, “Your silver is worthless” (Jeremiah 6:30). Additionally, silver is likened to God’s words, for the words of the Lord are pure words, refined like silver, tested on the earth, and purified seven times (Psalm 11:7). Therefore, disregarding that silver and currency which could purchase the Lord’s waters, let us approach Him who, holding the cup of the sacrament, said to His disciples, “Take and drink; this is My blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). He blended this wine with wisdom in His cup, summoning all who are feeble-minded and lacking worldly knowledge to drink. Not only should we obtain wine but also milk, symbolizing the innocence of infants, a practice still reflected in the Western Church, where both wine and milk are given to those reborn in Christ. Paul also referred to this milk: “I fed you with milk, not solid food” (1 Cor. 3:2), and Peter wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word” (1 Pet. 2:2). Furthermore, Moses speaks of wine and milk in a mystical context, saying: “His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk” (Gen. 49:12).
The LXX translates milk here as tuk, of which David states in the Psalm, “My soul shall be satisfied with tuk and marrow” (Ps. 62:6), and again, “They shall be filled with the tuk of wheat, and from the rock of honey, they shall be nourished” (Ps. 80:17). These tukas represent the sacred flesh to which the Lord invited His disciples, saying, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Hence, He was betrayed in Gethsemane, which signifies a place of abundance or dullness. At the same time, He rebukes those who pursue worldly wisdom and the twisted doctrines of heretics, along with the traditions of the Pharisees and every false knowledge that opposes God, who, with great effort, pay silver for teachings devoid of nourishment, and grow weary from food that cannot satisfy. It becomes evident that we should seek wisdom that is not superficial, composed of mere words, but one that fills the heart and produces life-giving thoughts, elevating the spirit. To learn such wisdom does not require crossing oceans or incurring great expense, for the word is near to us—in our mouth and in our heart.
THEOSIS