Homilies on John 32.1–32.3

“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; but the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit sometimes fire and sometimes water, showing that these names do not represent its substance but its operation. For the Spirit is not composed of different substances, being invisible and simple. John shows the one when he says, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”; Christ the other: “Rivers of living water will flow from his belly.” “Now this he said about the Spirit,” it says, “whom [those who believed in him were to receive.” So too here, conversing with the woman,] he calls the Spirit water: “For whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.” He calls the Spirit so, hinting by the name of fire at the rousing and warming power of grace and its power to consume sins, and by that of water wishing to show the cleansing that comes from it and the great refreshment it gives to the minds that receive it. And rightly so. For it makes the willing soul like a paradise [thick] with all kinds of trees, [fruitful and ever-flourishing, allowing it to feel] neither despondency [nor the plots of Satan], easily quenching all the fiery darts of the evil one.

But consider Christ's wisdom, how gently he leads the woman up. For he did not say at the first, “If you knew who it is that says to you, ‘Give me to drink’”; but when he had given her occasion to call him a Jew, and she had brought him under a charge, then, repelling the accusation, he says this. And having said, “If you knew who it is that says to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ you would have asked him,” and having forced her by his great promises to mention the patriarch, he in this way lets the woman see more clearly. Then, when she retorted, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” he did not say, “Yes, I am greater”; for he would have seemed merely to boast, since the proof had not yet appeared; but by what he says he establishes it. For he did not simply say, “I will give you water,” but first set aside Jacob's water and then exalts his own, wishing to show from the nature of the things given how great is the difference between the persons and between the givers, and his superiority over the patriarch. If you admire Jacob, he says, because he gave this water, what will you say if I give you water far better than this? You yourself were first to confess that I am greater than Jacob, by retorting, “Are you greater than Jacob, that you promise to give better water?” If you receive that water, you will certainly confess that I am greater. Do you see the woman's impartial judgment, giving her verdict from the facts, both about the patriarch and about Christ? The Jews were not so: even seeing him cast out demons, they not only did not call him greater than the patriarch but even called him possessed. The woman was not like that; she draws her verdict from the source from which Christ wishes, from the proof of the works. For he himself too is judged from this, saying, “If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works.” So the woman too is brought to faith. That is why he too, on hearing, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” leaves Jacob aside and speaks about the water, saying, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again”; and he makes the comparison not by finding fault but by showing superiority. For he does not say that this water is nothing, nor that it is cheap and contemptible; but he states what nature itself testifies: “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.” The woman had heard of living water before this but had not understood it. For since water that is perennial and always bubbling up, its streams never failing, is also called living, the woman thought that this was what was meant. That is why, making clearer to her at last what he meant, and showing the superiority by comparison, he added, “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst,” showing the superiority by this, as I said, and by what is said next; for perceptible water has none of these qualities. And what is said next? “It will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” For as one who has a spring stored within would never be overcome by thirst, so neither would one who has this water. And the woman believed at once, showing herself much more intelligent than Nicodemus—and not only more intelligent but also more courageous. For he, hearing countless such things, neither called anyone else to this nor spoke out boldly himself; but she performs the deeds of an apostle, announcing the good news to all, calling them to Jesus, and drawing a whole city out to him. He, on hearing, said, “How can these things be?” and when Christ set before him the clear example of the wind, not even so did he accept the word. Not so the woman: at first she was perplexed, but afterwards, accepting the word not with argument but as a plain declaration, she at once hastens to receive it. For when Christ said, “It will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life,” immediately the woman says, “Give me this water, so that I may not thirst nor come here [to draw].”

Do you see how she is led up little by little to the height of doctrines? First she thought he was some lawbreaking Jew; then, when he had repelled this accusation (for the person who was going to instruct her in such things must not be under suspicion), hearing of living water, she thought this was said of perceptible water. Afterwards, learning that what was said was spiritual, she believed that the water could take away the need caused by thirst, but did not yet know what it was; she was still perplexed, thinking it higher than perceptible things but not understanding it clearly. Here, however, seeing more precisely, though not perceiving the whole (for “Give me this water,” she says, “so that I may not thirst nor come here to draw”), she has for the time being preferred him to Jacob: I have no need of this spring if I receive that water from you. Do you see how she puts him before the patriarch? This is the mark of a fair-minded soul. She had shown how great an opinion she had of Jacob; she saw the better one, and was not held back by her prejudice. So the woman was neither credulous (for she did not simply accept what was said—how could she, who inquired with such exactness?), nor disobedient and contentious; and this she showed by her request. Yet he once said to the Jews too, “Whoever eats of my flesh will not hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” But they not only did not believe; they even took offense. The woman suffered nothing of the kind, but both stays and asks. To the Jews, then, he said, “Whoever believes in me will not thirst”; but not so to the woman, rather in more material terms: “Whoever drinks of this water will not thirst.” For the promise was of spiritual and invisible things. That is why, having lifted her mind by the promises, he still lingers on words of the senses, because she could not yet take in the exact sense of spiritual things. For if he had said, “If you believe in me, you will not thirst,” she would not have understood what was said, not knowing who it was that was speaking to her, nor what sort of thirst he meant. Why then did he not do this in the case of the Jews too? Because they had seen many signs, whereas she had seen no sign but heard these words first. That is why he next reveals his power through prophecy, and does not bring in the reproof at once; but what does he say? “Go, call your husband, and come here.” She says, “I have no husband.” Jesus says to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.” The woman says to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.”

Oh, how great is the woman's wisdom! How meekly she receives the reproof! “But how could she not?” someone says. Why, tell me? Did he not often reprove the Jews too, and with greater things than this? For it is not the same to bring into the open the secrets of the mind and to make known a deed done in secret. The first belongs to God alone, and no one else knows it except the one who has it in his mind; the second, all who shared in it know. Yet when reproved they do not bear it meekly; when he said, “Why do you seek to kill me?” not only do they not marvel, as the woman did, but they even revile and insult him. And yet they had the proof from other signs too, while she had heard only this; still they not only did not marvel, but even insulted him, saying, “You have a demon; who seeks to kill you?” But she not only does not insult him; she even marvels and is astonished, and suspects that he is a prophet. And yet this reproof would have touched the woman more than that one touched them. For this was her sin alone, but that was common; and we are not stung so much by common faults as by our own. They, moreover, thought they would achieve something great if they killed Christ, whereas the woman's conduct was admitted by all to be wicked. Yet the woman was not vexed, but was astonished and marveled. And Christ did this very thing in the case of Nathanael too. For he did not bring in the prophecy first, nor say, “I saw you under the fig tree”; but when he said, “How do you know me?” then he added this. For he wished to take the beginnings both of predictions and of miracles from those who came to him, so that they might be more attached to what was done, and he might escape the suspicion of vainglory. This he does here too. For to reprove her straightaway with “You have no husband” would have seemed offensive and superfluous; but to take the occasion from her and then set all this right was very fitting, and made the hearer gentler. “And what connection is there,” someone says, “in saying, ‘Go, call your husband’?” The talk was of a gift and a grace that surpasses human nature. The woman was pressing, seeking to receive it; and he says, “Call your husband,” as if indicating that he too must share in these things. But she, eager to receive, hiding the shame of the matter, and thinking she was talking to a man, says, “I have no husband.” Hearing this, Christ then brings in the reproof at the right moment, saying both things exactly: for he counted all the former ones and exposed the one now concealed. What then did the woman do? She was not vexed, nor did she leave him and flee, nor think the matter an insult; but she marvels at him more and holds to him the more: “I see,” she says, “that you are a prophet.” And consider her understanding: not even here did she rush on at once, but she still looks him over and marvels. For “I see” means this: You seem to me to be a prophet. Then, since she suspected this, she asks him nothing about this life—not about bodily health, not about money, not about wealth—but at once about doctrines. For what does she say? “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain” (meaning Abraham and his household; for they say that he led his son up there), “and how do you say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship?”

Have you seen how she has grown loftier in mind? She who was anxious not to be troubled by thirst now asks about doctrines too. What then does Christ do? He did not resolve the question (for it was not his concern simply to answer what was said, since that was beside the point), but leads the woman again to a greater height; and he does not discuss these things with her until she had confessed that he was a prophet, so that she might thereafter hear what was said with full conviction. For once persuaded of this, she could no longer doubt what was to be said.

Let us then be ashamed and blush at last. A woman who had had five husbands, and was a Samaritan, shows such zeal about doctrines; and neither the hour of the day, nor her having come for something else, nor anything else drew her away from inquiry into such things. But we not only do not inquire about doctrines; we are careless and casual about everything. That is why everything is neglected. For which of you, tell me, when at home, takes a Christian book in hand, goes through its contents and searches the Scripture? No one could say so. Draughts and dice we shall find among most people, but books nowhere, or among few. And even these are disposed like those who have none, tying their books up and storing them away permanently in chests; and all their zeal is for the fineness of the parchment and the beauty of the lettering, not for reading. For they have not acquired them for benefit and gain, but have been zealous about these things to make a display of wealth and ambition—so excessive is their vainglory. For I hear of no one priding himself on knowing the contents, but on having a book written in letters of gold. And what is the gain, tell me? The Scriptures were not given for this, that we should have them in books only, but that we should also engrave them on our hearts. For this kind of possession, having the commandments laid up in letters only, belongs to Jewish ambition; but to us the law was not given in this way at all from the beginning, but on fleshly tablets of the heart. And I say this not to forbid owning books; on the contrary, I urge it and earnestly pray for it. But I want both the letters and the thoughts from them to be carried about in our mind, so that it may be cleansed by receiving the understanding of the writings. For if the devil will not dare to approach a house where a Gospel lies, much less will any demon or the nature of sin ever touch or set foot on a soul that carries such thoughts about. Sanctify then your soul, sanctify your body, always having these on your heart and on your tongue. For if foul talk defiles and calls in demons, it is clear that spiritual reading sanctifies and draws down the grace of the Spirit. The Scriptures are divine charms. Let us then charm ourselves with them, and prepare from them remedies for the passions in our soul. For if we know what is being read, we shall hear it with great eagerness. These things I say always, and I will not stop saying them. For is it not absurd that those who sit in the marketplace can tell the names, families, cities and styles of performance of charioteers and dancers, and report precisely the merits and faults of the very horses, while those who come here know nothing of what goes on here, but are ignorant even of the number of the books? If you pursue those things for pleasure, I will show you that there is more pleasure here. For what is sweeter, tell me, what more wonderful—to see a man wrestling with a man, or a man boxing with the devil, a body grappling with a bodiless power, and winning? Let us watch these wrestling matches; for these it is both seemly and profitable to imitate, and those who imitate them may be crowned; not those whose emulation brings shame on the imitator. That wrestling you watch with demons, if indeed you watch it; this one with angels and with the Master of the angels. For tell me: if you could sit with rulers or kings watching and enjoying the spectacle, would you not consider it the greatest honor? But here, watching with the King of the angels, and seeing the devil held around the middle of his back, struggling hard to prevail but with no strength at all, do you not run to such a spectacle? “And how can this happen?” someone says. If you have the book in hand. For you will see in it the pits, the long double courses, his holds, and the skill of the righteous man. And watching this, you too will know how to wrestle so, and will be freed from demons. For what is performed outside is a festival of demons, not a theater of men. For if it is not lawful to enter an idol's temple, much less a satanic festival. I will not stop saying this and pestering you until I see you turn back. “For to say these things,” he says, “is not tiresome to me, and for you it is safe.” Do not then be weighed down by the exhortation. If anyone ought to be weighed down, it ought to be me, who speak often and am not heard, not you, who always hear and always pay no heed. But may it never be that you are charged with this for ever; rather, freed from this shame, may you be counted worthy of the spiritual spectacle and enjoy the glory to come, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, to the ages of ages. Amen.