Christ is risen!

Again, today we have seen the true light changing the life of one more person, as we continue reading the Gospel of Resurrection for all the people.

We have seen the encounter with Christ of one woman from Samaria, that took place near the plot of the land that the forefather Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Christ, tired on the way, stopped at the well. It was about twelve o’clock, at noon.

At this very hot time, a woman came from Samaria to draw some water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me to drink.”

The most common everyday situation, at least for that old time, that we still might remember…

At first, she treats Christ as an ordinary person, who came from a Judea country. And the Jews and the Samaritans treated each other with contempt. And she said to him: how come that you are, being a Jew, ask for water from me, Samaritan women? But Christ, says to her: if you knew the gift of God and who says to you, “Give me a drink,” then you yourself would ask Him and He would give you living water.

The woman did not understand these words. The living water in the language of that time could be just running water from a spring, a spring water. She understood it that way; she just did not understand why He promises to give her living, spring water without having a vessel for this water in his hands.

And therefore she asks: you have nothing to draw with, but the well is deep; “Where then do You get that living water?” And Christ says to her (pointing at the well): whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. And whoever drinks the water that I’m going to give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a source of water flowing into life everlasting.

Now it became clear to the Samaritan woman that He was talking about the works of God.

And we see here the blessed faith of a child, that kind of trust, children often express…

She says: Sir! give me this water so that I will not thirst and not have to come here to draw.

Jesus said to her: Go, call your husband, and come here.

The woman answered: I have no husband.

She is not just childishly trusting… She herself appeared to be trustworthy.

She could bring the person with whom she lived and say: «Here is my husband.» But she did not do this, and Christ says: you told the truth that you did not have a husband, for you had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; it’s the truth what you have said.

Here’s the mystery of truth.

When people aware of having nothing, even if they have had more than everything.

But when facing the Truth they are asked… to go and bring a husband or a wife, or a field, or children, or houses and cars… they choose to acknowledge they don’t have anything that is more valuable than the Source of the Truth.

At the source of water she met the source of living water, the source of Truth.

And for her, the Source of Truth was not covered/hidden by the source of water.

She says: “I see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped God on this mountain, and you Jews say that the place where you should worship is in Jerusalem.”

She is able to see the Truth and to say, “now I don’t care what either people of Jerusalem would say, or even what her own people from the former capital of Israel – Samaria would claim. I am ready to hear the truth from you.”

The Israelites had their capital, Jerusalem, with the temple, and you can see it nowadays, what happens in the capitals of the world, either New York, or Moscow… It is not always something good that they can do or spread. Considering how many prophets, and the Lord Himself, were persecuted and killed in such capitals… Remember also the prime apostles and Rome…

Because they have what they think is the abundance of life and movement, and drive.., because, they have always had their temples… Remember how they sentenced the Lord Jesus to death: He said that He will ruin the temple…

And she says, I want to hear the truth from God, I’m much more impressed by what you have said to me… That I don’t care about all administrative, cultural power, and even what the high priest of either Jerusalem or Samaria say.

This is the mystery of spirit, that therefore was included into the Book of Gospel.

But this is the true spirituality – to be able choose the word of God, or the word from God, and to prefer it to all the joys and the power of the world, even the religious power.

This seems a very dangerous way of thinking and acting (that’s not far from self-delusion), but that was a special moment (all three years of Christ’s preaching was such a special moment) and the true worshipper should be ready for such moments as he/she might, if only once in one’s life, but experience this, what we call the time of temptation… to choose worshipping in spirit…

Well, actually to choose the best to the very good, I would say…

And Christ says to her: Believe me that the time is near when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Again: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman, and obviously wanted to rebuke Him, but didn’t dare…

But the rebuke was still imbodied in urging Christ to have something to eat. Rabi, eat!

But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

Therefore, the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

And He let them know what this food is, that is what extremely pleasant he has just met in the person of this insignificant (even for the disciples) woman:

Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

Everything is said about that woman, not openly praising her (and her people, that believed later by her word), not tempting her for a self-conceit, not depriving the disciples from the spiritual work of discerning the truth.

This is the lesson of the Gospel for us today, dear brothers and sisters. Let us also try to worship the Lord in spirit and truth, just like that Samaritan woman!

Amen.

Christ is risen!