THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
Then, hearing His exalted words about Himself, which especially irritates His enemies, she does not laugh and does not insult Him. What does she say?
“Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, as did his children and his cattle?”
Do you see how she introduces herself into the noble lineage of the Jews? Her words mean this: Jacob used this water. He neither had nor gave us any other water better than this.
Thus she showed that from His first answer she had already conceived a high and exalted thought about Him. The words, “he drank from it himself, as did his children and his cattle,” mean nothing else.
They show that she had conceived the idea of a better water, but had not yet found it and did not understand it well.
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If we express more clearly what she meant to say, it would be this: You cannot say that Jacob, who gave us this spring, used another, because he and his children drank from this one.
They would not have drunk from it if they had had another and better water. You cannot obtain even this water. It is impossible for You to have another and better water, unless You acknowledge Yourself greater than Jacob.
From where, then, do You have that water which You promise to give us (Jn 7:38)?
The Jews did not speak with Him so modestly, though He also spoke with them about this same subject and reminded them of such water. They gained no benefit from it.
When He mentioned Abraham, they even plotted to stone Him (Jn 8:56, 59). But the woman does not treat Him so. With great meekness, in the heat of noon, she speaks and listens to everything patiently.
She does not think to say, like the Jews, “He has a demon and is mad” (Jn 10:20). He keeps me at the well, giving nothing, and only boasts in words.
She listens patiently, expecting to find what she desires. If the Samaritan woman shows such zeal to learn something profitable, and remains with Christ though she does not yet know Him, what mercy can we receive?
We know Him, and we are not at a well, not in the wilderness, not at midday beneath the burning rays of the sun. We are in the morning, enjoying shade and coolness under this roof.
Yet with all this we have no patience to hear anything from the word of God, but are burdened by it.
The Samaritan woman is not like this. She was so captivated by the words of the Savior that she also called others to Him.
The Jews, by contrast, not only did not call others, but even hindered those who wished to come to Him and would not allow them.
Therefore they said, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd, which does not know the Law, is accursed” (Jn 7:48-49).
Let us, then, imitate the Samaritan woman. Let us converse with Christ. Even now He stands in our midst and speaks to us through the prophets and through His disciples.
Let us listen and obey. How long shall we live in vain, without profit? Not to do what is pleasing to God truly means to live in vain.
Or rather, it means not only in vain, but to our own harm. If we do not use the time given us for any profitable work, then, when we depart from here, we shall undergo the greatest punishment for lost time.
If a man who receives money for trade and then squanders it is held accountable by those who entrusted it to him, will the man who exhausts this life in vain not suffer punishment?
God did not bring us into this present life and breathe a soul into us so that we might use only the present. He did so that we might do everything for the life to come.
Only irrational creatures were created for this present life alone. We have an immortal soul precisely so that we may prepare ourselves completely for that life.
If someone asks what the purpose of horses, donkeys, oxen, and other animals is, we shall say that their purpose is none other than to serve us in the present life.
But this cannot be said of us. For us there is a better state after our departure from here. We must do everything so as to shine there, to rejoice with the angels, and to stand before the King always, unto endless ages.
For this reason our soul was created immortal. The body too will be immortal, so that we may enjoy endless blessings.
But if you fasten yourself to the earth while heavenly blessings are set before you, consider what an insult this is to Him who gives them.
He offers you the things above. But you, not valuing them greatly, prefer the earth. Therefore, as one insulted, He threatens Gehenna, so that from this you may know what blessings you deprive yourself of.
May it not happen that we undergo this punishment. Rather, having pleased Christ, may we be counted worthy of eternal blessings, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ.
With Him, to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
This woman had a great conception of the patriarch Jacob. Listen, I beg you, with all attention.
The Samaritan woman had a great opinion of Jacob and ascribed great glory to him as patriarch and righteous man, because he was the father of the twelve patriarchs. The twelve tribes of Israel trace their origin from Jacob.
She certainly knew that he wrestled with God and proved so strong that God said to him, “Let Me go, for the dawn has risen.”
Even God, wrestling with a man, said, “Let Me go, because you are My friend, and the dawn has risen.” But he answers, “I will not let You go unless You bless me” (Gen 32:26).
What is this wrestling of God with man, and what does it signify, if not that God was to clothe Himself for our sake in our flesh?
What then did God say to him? You shall no longer be called Jacob, but your name shall be Israel, “for you have wrestled with God, and you shall prevail with men” (Gen 32:28).
This is why the Samaritan woman had a lofty opinion of this patriarch. This is why she said to the Lord, “Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, as did his children and his cattle?”