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<CENTER><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 60pt">4</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE I</span></p></CENTER>
<BLOCKQUOTE><p>1 When, therefore, Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was making more disciples
and baptizing more than John 2 (although Jesus did not himself baptize, but his disciples did),
3 he left Judea, and went again to Galilee. 4 He had, however, to pass through Samaria. 5 He
came therefore to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the plot of land which Jacob had given
to his son Joseph. 6 This was the site of Jacob&#8217;s well. Jesus, tired from his journey, rested there
at the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus
said to her, &#8220;Give me a drink.&#8221; 8 (His disciples had gone to the town to buy some food.) 9 So the
Samaritan woman said to him, &#8220;How is it that you, being a Jew, ask me, a woman of Samaria,
for a drink?&#8221; (Recall that the Jews had nothing to do with the Samaritans.)</p></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>549 Having set forth the teaching of Christ on spiritual regeneration, and that Christ had given
this grace of spiritual regeneration to the Jews, he now shows how Christ gave this grace to the
Gentiles. Now the salutary grace of Christ had been dispensed in two ways to the Gentiles:
through teaching and through miracles. &#8220;Going forth, they preached everywhere&#8221;: this is the
teaching; &#8220;the Lord cooperated with them, and confirmed the word with signs&#8221;. These are the
miracles (Mk 16:20).</p>
<p>First, he shows the future conversion of the Gentiles through teaching. Secondly, their future
conversion through miracles (v 43). As to the first, he does two things. First, he sets down certain
matters preliminary to the teaching. Secondly, he presents the teaching and its effect (v 10). As
to the first, he sets down three preliminary facts. First, what relates to the one teaching. Secondly,
something about the matter taught. Thirdly, something about who received the instruction (v 7).
As to the person teaching, the preliminary remark is about his journey to the place where he
taught. Here he does three things. First, he gives the place which he left, that is, from Judea.
Secondly, the place where he was going, to Galilee. Thirdly, the place through which he passed,
Samaria. As to the first, he does three things. First, he gives the reason for his leaving Judea.
Secondly, he explains certain facts included in this reason. Thirdly, he describes Christ&#8217;s
departure from Judea (v 3).</p>
<p>550 The Evangelist says, <span style="font-weight: bold">When, therefore, Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard,
</span>because he wished to show that after the Baptist had calined the envy of his disciples, Jesus
avoided the ill will of the Pharisees.</p>
<p>551 Since we read: &#8220;All things were known to the Lord God before they were created&#8221; (Sir
23:29), and &#8220;All things are naked and open to his eyes&#8221; (Heb 4:13), it seems that we should ask
why Jesus is said to acquire new knowledge. We must answer that Jesus, in virtue of his divinity,
knew from eternity all things, past, present and to come, as the scriptural passages cited above
indicate. Nevertheless, as man, he did begin to know certain things through experiential
knowledge. And it is this experiential knowledge that is indicated when it says here, <span style="font-weight: bold">When Jesus
learned, </span>after the news was brought to him, <span style="font-weight: bold">that the Pharisees had heard. </span>And Christ willed
to acquire this knowledge anew as a concession, to show the reality of his human nature, just as
he willed to do and endure many other things characteristic of human nature.</p>
<p>552 Why does he say: <span style="font-weight: bold">the Pharisees had heard that he was making more disciples and
baptizing more than John, </span>when this would seem to be of no concern to them? For they
persecuted John and did not believe in him: for as Matthew says (21:25), when the Lord
questioned them about the source of John&#8217;s baptism, they said: &#8220; &#8216;If we say from heaven, he will
say to us, &#8220;Why then did you not believe him?&#8221; &#8220; Thus they did not believe in John.</p>
<p>There are two answers to this. One is that those disciples of John who had spoken against Christ
were either Pharisees or allies of the Pharisees. For we see in Matthew (9:11, 14), that the
Pharisees along with the disciples of John raised questions against the disciples of Christ. And
so according to this explanation, then, the Evangelist says that <span style="font-weight: bold">When, therefore, Jesus learned
that the Pharisees had heard, </span>that is, after he learned that John&#8217;s disciples, who were Pharisees
or allied with the Pharisees, had raised questions and had been disturbed about his baptism and
that of his disciples, <span style="font-weight: bold">he left Judea.</span></p>
<p>Or, we might say that the Pharisees were disturbed at John&#8217;s preaching due to their envy, and for
this reason they persuaded Herod to arrest him. This is plain from Matthew (17:12), where
Christ, speaking of John, says, &#8220;Elijah has already come ... and they did with him whatever they
wanted,&#8221; and then he adds, &#8220;so also will the Son of Man suffer from them.&#8221; The Gloss comments
on this that it was the Pharisees who incited Herod to arrest John and put him to death. Thus it
seems probable that they felt the same way toward Christ because of what he was preaching. And
this is what it says, that is, the envious Pharisees and persecutors of Christ <span style="font-weight: bold">had heard, </span>with the
intention of persecuting him, <span style="font-weight: bold">that he was making more disciples and baptizing more than
John.</span></p>
<p>553 This kind of hearing is described by Job (28:22): &#8220;Death and destruction have said: We have
heard of his deeds.&#8221; The good, on the other hand, hear in order to obey: &#8220;We have heard him in
Ephrathah&#8221; (Ps 131:6), followed by, &#8220;We will adore at his footstool.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Pharisees heard two things. First, that Christ made more disciples than John. This was right
and reasonable, for as we read above (3:30), Christ must increase and John must decrease. The
second thing was that Christ baptized; and rightly so, because he cleanses: &#8220;Wash me from my
injustice&#8221; (Ps 50:4), and again in Psalm (7:7): &#8220;Rise up, O Lord,&#8221; by baptizing, &#8220;in the command
you have given,&#8221; concerning baptism, &#8220;and a congregation of people,&#8221; united through baptism,
&#8220;will surrond you.&#8221;</p>
<p>554 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">although Jesus did not himself baptize, </span>he explains what he has just
said about Christ&#8217;s baptizing. Augustine says that there is an apparent inconsistency here: for he
had stated that Jesus was baptizing, whereas now he says, as though correcting himself, <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus
did not himself baptize.</span></p>
<p>There are two ways to understand this. This first way is that of Chrysostom. What the Evangelist
now says is true, i.e., that Christ did not baptize. When he said above that Jesus was baptizing,
this was the report received by the Pharisees. For certain people came to the Pharisees and said:
You are envious of John because he has disciples and is baptizing. But Jesus is making more
disciples than John. and is also baptizing. Why do you put up with him? So the Evangelist is not
himself saying that Jesus was baptizing, but only that the Pharisees heard that he was. It is with
the intention of correcting this false rumor that the Evangelist says: It is true that the Pharisees
heard that Christ was baptizing, but this is not true. So he adds: <span style="font-weight: bold">although Jesus did not himself
baptize, but his disciples did. </span>And so for Chrysostom, Christ did not baptize, because the Holy
Spirit was not given at any time before the passion of Christ in the baptism of John and his
disciples. The purpose of John&#8217;s baptism was to accustom men to the baptism of Christ and to
gather people in order to instruct them, as he says. Moreover, it would not have been fitting for
Christ to baptize if the Holy Spirit were not given in his baptism; but the Spirit was not given
until after the passion of Christ, as we read below (7:39): &#8220;The Spirit had not yet been given,
because Jesus had not yet been glorified.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to Augustine, however, one should say, and this is the preferable, way, that the
disciples did baptize with the baptism of Christ, that is, in water and the Spirit, and the Spirit was
given in this baptism, and also that Christ did and did not baptize. Christ did baptize because he
performed the interior cleansing; but he did not baptize because he did not wash them externally
with the water. It was the office of&#8217; the disciples to wash the body, while Christ gave the Spirit
which cleansed within. So in the proper sense Christ did baptize, according to: &#8220;The man on
whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit,&#8221;
as was said above (1:33).</p>
<p>With respect to the opinion of Chrysostorn that the Holy Spirit was not yet given and so on, we
might say that the Spirit was not yet given in visible signs, as he was given to the disciples after
the resurrection; nevertheless, the Spirit had been given and was being given to believers through
an interior sanctification.</p>
<p>The fact that Christ was not always baptizing gives an example to us that the major prelates of
the churches should not occupy themselves with things that can be performed by others, but
should allow them to be done by those of lesser rank: &#8220;Christ did not send me to baptize, but to
preach the Gospel&#8221; (1 Cor 1:17).</p>
<p>555 If someone should ask whether Christ&#8217;s disciples had been baptized, it could be said, as
Augustine answered Stelentius, that they had been baptized with the baptism of John, because
some of Christ&#8217;s disciples had been disciples of John. Or, which is more likely, they were
baptized with the baptism of Christ, in order that Christ might have baptized servants through
whom he would baptize others. This is the meaning of what is said below (13:10): &#8220;He who has
bathed does not need to wash, except his feet,&#8221; and then follows, &#8220;and you are clean, but not all.&#8221;</p>
<p>556 He then mentions Christ&#8217;s going away, <span style="font-weight: bold">he left Judea. </span>He left for three reasons. First, to get
away from the envy of the Pharisees, who were disturbed because of what they had heard about
Christ, and were preparing to harass him. By this he gives us the example that we should, with
gentleness, yield ground to evil for a time: &#8220;Do not pile wood on his fire&#8221; (Sir 8:4). Another
reason was to show us that it is not sinful to flee from persecution: &#8220;If they persecute you in one
town, flee to another&#8221; (Mt 10:23). The third reason was that the time of his passion had not yet
come: &#8220;My time has not yet come&#8221; (above 2:4). And there is an additional reason, a mystical one:
he indicated by his leaving that because of persecution the disciples were destined to abandon
the Jews and go to the Gentiles.</p>
<p>557 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">and went again to Galilee, </span>he shows where he was going. He says,
<span style="font-weight: bold">again, </span>because above (2:12) he had mentioned another time when Christ went to Galilee: when
he went to Capernaum after the miracle at the wedding. Since the other three evangelists did not
mention this first trip, the Evangelist says <span style="font-weight: bold">again </span>to let us know that the other evangelists had
mentioned none of the matters he mentions up to this point, and that he is now beginning to give
his account contemporaneous with theirs. According to one interpretation, Galilee is understood
to signify the Gentile world, to which Christ passed from the Jews; for Galilee means &#8220;passage.&#8221;
According to another interpretation, Galilee signifies the glory of heaven, for Galilee also means
&#8220;revelation.&#8221;</p>
<p>558 Then he describes the intermediate place through which Christ passed; first in a general way,
then specifically.</p>
<p>559 On his way to Galilee, Christ passes through Samaria; hence he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">He had to pass
through Samaria. </span>He says, <span style="font-weight: bold">had to pass, </span>lest he seem to be acting contrary to his own teaching,
for Christ says in Matthew (10:5): &#8220;Do not go on the roads of the Gentiles.&#8221; Now since Samaria
was Genthe territory, he shows that he went there of necessity and not by choice. Thus he says,
<span style="font-weight: bold">had to pass, </span>the reason being that Samaria was between Judea and Galilee.</p>
<p>It was Amri, the king of Israel, who bought the hill of Samaria from a certain Somer (1 Kgs
16:24); and it was there he built the city which he called Samaria, after the name of the person
from whom he bought the land. After that, the kings of Israel used it as their royal city, and the
entire region surrounding this city was called Samaria. When we read here that Christ <span style="font-weight: bold">had to
pass through Samaria, </span>we should understand the region rather than the city.</p>
<p>560 Describing it in more detail, he adds, <span style="font-weight: bold">He came therefore to a city of Samaria, </span>i.e., of the
region of Samaria, <span style="font-weight: bold">called Sychar. </span>This Sychar is the same as Shechem. Genesis (33:18) says that
Jacob camped near here and that two of his sons, enraged at the rape of Dinah, Jacob&#8217;s daughter,
by the son of the king of Shechem, killed all the males in that city. And so Jacob took possession
of the city, and he lived there and dug many wells. Later, as he lay dying, he gave the land to his
son Joseph: &#8220;I am giving you a portion more than your brothers&#8221; (Gn 48:22). And this is what
he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">near the plot of land which Jacob had given to his son Joseph.</span></p>
<p>The Evangelist is so careful to record all these matters in order to show us that all the things
which happened to the patriarchs were leading up to Christ, and that they pointed to Christ, and
that he descended from them according to the flesh.</p>
<p>561 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">This was the site of Jacob&#8217;s well, </span>the Evangelist gives the material
setting for the spiritual doctrine about to be taught. And this was most fitting: for the doctrine
about to be taught was about water and a spiritual font, and so he mentions the material well, thus
giving rise to a discussion of the spiritual font, which is Christ: &#8220;For with you is the fountain of
life&#8221; (Ps 35:10), namely, the Holy Spirit, who is the spirit of life. Likewise, the well symbolizes
baptism: &#8220;On that day a fountain will be open to the house of David, to cleanse the sinner and
the unclean&#8221; (Zec 13:1).</p>
<p>He does three things here. First, he describes the well. Secondly, Christ&#8217;s rest at the well. Thirdly,
the time.</p>
<p>562 He describes the water source saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">the site of Jacob&#8217;s well. </span>Here one might object that
further on (v 11) he says this source is deep; thus it did not gush water like a fountain. I answer,
as does Augustine, that it was both a well and gushed water like a fountain. For every well is a
fountain, although the converse is not true. For when water gushes from the earth we have a
fountain; and if this happens just on the surface, the source is only a fountain. But if the water
gushes both on the surface and below, we have a well; although it is also still called a fountain.
It is called Jacob&#8217;s well because he had dug this well there due to a shortage of water, as we read
in Genesis (c 34).</p>
<p>563 <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus, tired from his journey, rested there at the well. </span>Jesus reveals his weakness (even
though his power was unlimited), not because of a lack of power, but to show us the reality of
the [human] nature he assumed. According to Augustine, Jesus is strong, for &#8220;In the beginning
was the Word&#8221; (above 1:1); but he is weak, for &#8220;the Word was made flesh&#8221; (above 1:14). And
so Christ, wishing to show the truth of his human nature, allowed it to do and to endure things
proper to men; and to show the truth of his divine nature, he worked and performed things proper
to God. Hence when he checked the inflow of divine power to his body, he became hungry and
tired; but w4en he let his divine power influence his body, he did not become hungry in spite of
a lack of food, and he did not become tired in his labors. &#8220;He had fasted forty days and forty
nights, and was hungry&#8221; (Mt 4:2).</p>
<p>564 Seeing Jesus becoming tired from his journey is an example to us not to shrink from our
work for the salvation of others: &#8220;I am poor, and have labored since my youth&#8221; (Ps,87:16). We
also have an example of poverty, as Jesus <span style="font-weight: bold">rested there, </span>upon the bare earth.</p>
<p>In its mystical meaning, this resting [literally, a sitting] of Christ indicates the abasement of his
passion: &#8220;You know when I sit down (i.e., the passion), and when I rise&#8221; (Ps 138:2). Also, it
indicates the authority of his teaching, for he speaks as one having power; thus we read in
Matthew (5:1) that Christ, &#8220;sitting down, taught them.&#8221;</p>
<p>565 He indicates the time, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">It was about the sixth hour. </span>There are both literal and
mystical reasons for fixing the time. The literal reason was to show the cause of his tiredness: for
men are more weary from work in the heat and at the sixth hour [at noon]. Again, it shows why
Christ was resting: for men gladly rest near the water in the heat of the day.</p>
<p>There are three mystical reasons for mentioning the time. First, because Christ assumed flesh and
came into the world in the sixth age of the world. Another is that man was made on the sixth day,
and Christ was conceived in the sixth month. Third, at the sixth hour the sun is at its highest, and
there is nothing left for it but to decline. In this context, the &#8220;sun&#8221; signifies temporal prosperity,
as suggested by Job (31:26): &#8220;If I had looked at the sun when it shone, etc.&#8221; Therefore Christ
came when the prosperity of the world was at its highest, that is, it flourished through love in the
hearts of men; but because of him natural love was bound to decline.</p>
<p>566 Next, we have a preliminary remark concerning the one who listens to Christ. First, we are
introduced to the person who is taught. Secondly, we are given her preparation for his teaching.</p>
<p>567 The teaching is given to a Samaritan woman; so he says, a <span style="font-weight: bold">Samaritan woman came to
draw water. </span>This woman signifies the Church, not yet justified, of the Gentiles. It was then
involved in idolatry, but was destined to be justified by Christ. She <span style="font-weight: bold">came </span>from foreigners, i.e.,
from the Samaritans, who were foreigners, even though they lived in the neighboring territory:
because the Church of the Gentiles, foreign to the Jewish race, would come to Christ: &#8220;Many will
come from the East and the West, and will sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the
kingdom of heaven,&#8221; as we find in Matthew (8:11).</p>
<p>568 Christ prepares this woman for his teaching when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Give me a drink. </span>First, we have
the occasion for his asking her. Secondly, the Evangelist suggests why it was opportune to make
this request (v 8).</p>
<p>569 The occasion and the preparation of the woman was the request of Christ; thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Give
me a drink. </span>He asks for a drink both because he was thirsty for water on account of the heat of
the day, and because he thirsted for the salvation of man on account of his love. Accordingly,
while hanging on the cross he cried out: &#8220;I thirst.&#8221;</p>
<p>570 Christ had the opportunity to ask this of the woman because his disciples, whom he would
have asked for the water, were not there, thus the Evangelist says, <span style="font-weight: bold">His disciples had gone to the
town.</span></p>
<p>Here we might notice three things about Christ. First, his humility, because<span style="font-weight: bold"> he was left alone.
This </span>is an example to his disciples that they should suppress all pride. Someone might ask what
need there was to train the disciples in humility, seeing that they had been but lowly fishermen
and tentmakers. Those who say such things should remember that these very fishermen were
suddenly made more deserving of respect than any king, more eloquent than philosophers and
orators, and were the intimate companions of the Lord of creation. Persons of this kind, when
they are suddenly promoted, ordinarily become proud, not being accustomed to such great honor.</p>
<p>Secondly, note Christ&#8217;s temperance: for he was so little concerned about food that he did not
bring anything to eat. Thirdly, note that he was also left alone on the cross: &#8220;I have trodden the
wine press alone, and no one of the people was with me&#8221; (Is 63:3).</p>
<p>571 Our Lord prepared the woman to receive his spiritual teaching by giving her an occasion to
question him. First, her question is given. Secondly, her reason for asking it (v 9).</p>
<p>572 Here we should point out that our Lord, when asking the woman for a drink, had in mind
more a spiritual drink than a merely physical one. But the woman, not yet understanding about
such a spiritual drink, though only of a physical drink. So she responds: <span style="font-weight: bold">How is it that you,
being a Jew, ask me, a woman of Samaria, for a drink? </span>For Christ was a Jew, because it was
promised that he would be from Judah: &#8220;The scepter will not be taken away from Judah ... until
he who is to be sent comes&#8221; (Gn 49:10); and he was born from Judah: &#8220;It is evident that our Lord
came from Judah&#8221; (Heb 7:14). The woman knew that Christ was Jewish from the way he dressed:
for as Numbers (15:37) says, the Lord commanded the Jews to wear tassels on the comers of their
garments, and put a violet cord on each tassel, so that they could be distinguished from other
people.</p>
<p>573 Then the reason for this question is given: either by the Evangelist, as the Gloss says, or by
the woman herself, as Chrysostom says; the reason being, <span style="font-weight: bold">the Jews had nothing to do with
Samaritans.</span></p>
<p>Apropos of this, we should note that, as mentioned in 2 Kings, it was on account of their sins that
the people of Israel, i.e., of the ten tribes, who were worshipping idols, were captured by the king
of the Assyrians, and led as captives into Babylonia. Then, so that Samaria would not remain
unpopulated, the king gathered people from various nations and forced them to live there. While
they were there, the Lord sent lions and other wild beasts to trouble them; he did this to show that
he let the Jews be captured because of their sins, and not because of any lack in his own power.
When news of their trouble reached the Assyrian king and he was informed that this was
happening because these people were not observing the rites of the God of that territory, he sent
them a priest of the Jews who would teach them God&#8217;s law as found in the law of Moses. This
is why, although these people were not Jewish, they came to observe the Mosaic law. However,
along with their worship of the true God, they also worshipped idols, paid no attention to the
prophets, and referred to themselves as Samaritans, from the city of Samaria which was built on
a hill called Somer (1 Kgs 16:24). After the Jews returned to Jerusalem from their captivity, the
Samaritans were a constant source of trouble, and as we read in Ezra, interfered with their
building of the temple and the city. Although the Jews did not mix with other people, they
especially avoided these Samaritans and would have nothing to do with them. And this is what
we read: <span style="font-weight: bold">Jews had nothing to do with the Samaritans. </span>He does not say that the Samaritans do
not associate with Jews, for they would have gladly done so and have cooperated with them. But
the Jews rebuffed them in keeping with what is said in Deuteronomy (7:2): &#8220;Do not make
agreements with them.&#8221;</p>
<p>574 If it was not lawful for the Jews to associate with Samaritans, why did God ask a Samaritan
woman for a drink? One might answer, as Chrysostorn does, that the Lord asked her because he
knew that she would not give him the drink. But this is not an adequate answer, because one who
asks what is not lawful is not free from sin&#8212;not to mention the scandal&#8212;even though what he
asks for is not given to him. So we should say, as we find in Matthew (12:8): &#8220;The Son of Man
is Lord even of the sabbath.&#8221; Thus, as Lord of the law, he was able to use or not use the law and
its observances and legalities as it seemed suitable to him. And because the time was near when
the nations would be called to the faith, he associated with those nations.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in">&#160;</p>
<p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 2</span></p>
<BLOCKQUOTE><p>10 Jesus replied and said:</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in">&#8220;If you knew the gift of God,
<br>and realized who it is who says to you,
<br>&#8216;Give me a drink,&#8217;
<br>You perhaps would have asked him
<br>that he give you living water.&#8221;
<p style="text-align: justify">11 The woman challenged him: &#8220;You, sir, have no bucket, and the well is deep. How then could
you have living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank
from it with his sons and his flocks?&#8221; 13 Jesus replied and said:</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in">&#8220;Whoever drinks this water
<br>will be thirsty again,
<br>but whoever drinks the water that I give,
<br>will never be thirsty again.
<br>14 The water that I give
<br>will become a fountain within him,
<br>leaping up to provide eternal life.&#8221;
<p style="text-align: justify">15 &#8220;Lord,&#8221; the woman said, &#8220;Give me this water so that I shall not grow thirsty and have to keep
coming here to draw water.&#8221; 16 Jesus said to her: &#8220;Go, call your husband, and then come back
here.&#8221; 17 &#8220;1 have no husband,&#8221; replied the woman. Jesus said, &#8220;You are right in saying you have
no husband, 18 for you have had five, and the man you are living with now is not your husband.
What you said is true.&#8221; 19 &#8220;Sir,&#8221; said the woman, &#8220;I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors
worshiped on this mountain, but you people claim that Jerusalem is the place where men must
worship God.&#8221; 21 Jesus said to her:</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in">&#8220;Believe me, woman,
<br>the hour is coming
<br>when you will worship the Father
<br>neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
<br>22 You people worship what
<br>you do not understand,
<br>while we understand what we worship,
<br>since salvation is from the Jews.
<br>23 But the hour is coming, and is now here,
<br>when true worshipers will worship the Father
<br>in spirit and in truth.
<br>Indeed, it is just such worshipers the Father seeks.
<br>24 God is spirit,
<br>and those who worship him
<br>ought to worship in spirit and truth.&#8221;
<p style="text-align: justify">25 The woman said to him: &#8220;I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called Christ; when he
comes he will tell us everything.&#8221; 26 Jesus replied:</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in">&#8220;I who speak to you am he.&#8221;</p></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>575 Now (v 10), the Evangelist gives us Christ&#8217;s spiritual teaching. First, he gives the teaching
itself. Secondly, the effect it had (v 27). As to the first, he does two things. First, a summary of
the entire instruction is given. Secondly, he unfolds it part by part (v 11).</p>
<p>576 He said therefore: You are amazed that I, a Jew, should ask you, a Samaritan woman, for
water; but you should not be amazed, because I have come to give drink, even to the Gentiles.
Thus he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">If you knew the gift of God, and realized who it is who says to you, Give me
a drink, you perhaps would have asked him.</span></p>
<p>577 We may begin with what is last, and we should know first what is to be understood by water.
And we should say that water signifies the grace of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes this grace is
called fire, and at other times water, to show that it is neither one of these in its nature, but like
them in the way it acts. It is called fire because it lifts up our hearts by its ardor and heat: &#8220;ardent
in Spirit&#8221; (Rom 12:11), and because it burns up sins: &#8220;Its light is fire and flame&#8221; (Sg 8:6). Grace
is called water because it cleanses: &#8220;I will pour clean water upon you, and you will be cleansed
from all your uncleanness&#8221; (Ez 36:25), and because it brings a refreshing relief from the heat of
temptations: &#8220;Water quenches a flaming fire&#8221; (Sir 3:33), and also because it satisfies our desires,
in contrast to our thirst for earthly things and all temporal things whatever: &#8220;Come to the waters,
all you who thirst&#8221; (Is 5 5:1 ).</p>
<p>Now water is of two kinds: living and non-living. Non-living water is water which is not
connected or united with the source from which it springs, but is collected from the rain or in
other ways into ponds and cisterns, and there it stands, separated from its source. But living water
is connected with its source and flows from it. So according to this understanding, the grace of
the Holy Spirit is correctly called living water, because the grace of the Holy Spirit is given to
man in such a way that the source itself of the grace is also given, that is, the Holy Spirit. Indeed,
grace is given by the Holy Spirit: &#8220;The love of God is poured out into our hearts by the Holy
Spirit, who has been given to us&#8221; (Rom 5:5). For theHoly Spirit is the unfailing fountain from
whom all gifts of grace flow&#8221;One and the same Spirit does all these things&#8221; (1 Cor 1251,1.). And
so, if anyone has a gift of the Holy Spirit without having the Spirit, the water is not united with
its source, and so is not living but dead: &#8220;Faith without works is dead&#8221; (Jas 2:20).</p>
<p>578 Then we are shown that in the case of adults, living water, i.e., grace, is obtained by desiring
it, i.e., by asking. &#8220;The Lord has heard the desire of the poor&#8221; (Ps. 9:17), for grace is not given
to anyone without their asking and desiring it. Thus we say that in the justification of a sinner an
act of free will is necessary to detest sin and to desire grace, according to Matthew (7:7): &#8220;Ask
and you will receive.&#8221; In fact, desire is so important that even the Son himself is told to ask: &#8220;Ask
me, and I will give to you&#8221; (Ps 2:8). Therefore, no one who resists grace receives it, unless he
first desires it; this is clear is the case of Paul who, before he received grace, desired it, saying:
&#8220;Lord, what do you want me to do?&#8221; (Acts 9:6). Thus it is significant that he says, you perhaps
would have asked him. He says perhaps on account of free will, with which a person sometimes
desires and asks for grace, and sometimes does not.</p>
<p>579 There are two things which lead a person to desire and ask for grace: a knowledge of the
good to be desired and a knowledge of the giver. So, Christ offers these two to her. First of all,
a knowledge of the gift itself; hence he says, If you knew the gift of God, which is every desirable
good which comes from the Holy Spirit: &#8220;I know that I cannot control myself unless God grants
it to me&#8221; (Wis 8:2 1). And this is a gift of God, and so forth. Secondly, he mentions the giver;
and he says, and realized who it is who says to you, i.e., if you knew the one who can give it,
namely, that it is I: &#8220;When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit
of truth ... he will bear witness to me&#8221; (below 15:26); &#8220;You have given gifts to men&#8221; (Ps 67:19).</p>
<p>Accordingly, this teaching concerns three things: the gift of living water, asking for this gift, and
the giver himself.</p>
<p>580 When he says, The woman challenged him, he treats these three things explicitly. First, the
gift; secondly, asking for the gift (v 19); and thirdly, the giver (v 25). He does two things about
the first. First, he explains the gift by showing its power. Secondly, he considers the perfection
of the gift (v 15). About the first he does two things. First, he gives the woman&#8217;s request.
Secondly, Christ&#8217;s answer (v 13).</p>
<p>581 We should note, with respect to the first, that this Samaritan woman, because she was
sensual, understood in a worldly sense what the Lord understood in a spiritual sense: &#8220;The
sensual man does not perceive those things that pertain to the Spirit of God&#8221; ( 1 Cor 2:14).
Consequently, she tried to reject what our Lord said as unreasonable and impossible with the
following argument: You promise me living water; and it must come either from this well or
from another one. But it cannot come from this well because <span style="font-weight: bold">You, sir, have no bucket, and the
well is deep; </span>and it does not seem probable that you can get if from some other well, because you
are not <span style="font-weight: bold">greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well.</span></p>
<p>582 Let us first examine what she says, <span style="font-weight: bold">You, sir, have no bucket, </span>i.e., no pail to use to draw
water from the well, <span style="font-weight: bold">and the well is deep</span>, so you cannot reach the water by hand without a
bucket.</p>
<p>The depth of the well signifies the depth of Sacred Scripture and of divine wisdom: &#8220;It has great
depth. Who can find it out?&#8221; (Ecc 7:25). The bucket with which the water of wisdom is drawn
out is prayer: &#8220;If any of you lack wisdom, ask God&#8221; (Jas 1:5).</p>
<p>583 The second point is given at, <span style="font-weight: bold">Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this
well?</span> As if to say: Have you better water to give us than Jacob? She calls Jacob her father not
because the Samaritans were descendants of the Jews, as is clear from what was said before, but
because the Samaritans had the Mosaic law, and because they occupied the land promised to the
descendants of Jacob.</p>
<p>The woman praised this well on three counts. First, on the authority of the one who gave it; so
she says: our father Jacob, who gave us this well. Secondly, on account of the freshness of its
water, saying: Jacob drank from it with his sons: for they would not drink it if it were not fresh,
but only give it to their cattle. Thirdly, she praises its abundance, saying, and his flocks: for since
the water was fresh, they would not have given it to their flocks unless it were also abundant.</p>
<p>So, too, Sacred Scripture has great authority: for it was given by the Holy Spirit. It is delightfully
fresh: &#8220;How sweet are your words to my palate&#8221; (Ps 118:103). Finally, it is exceedingly
abundant, for it is given not only to the wise, but also to the unwise.</p>
<p>584 Then when he says, Jesus replied and said, he sets down the Lord&#8217;s response, in which he
explains the power of his doctrine. First, with respect to the fact that he had called it water.
Secondly, with respect to the fact that he called it living water (v 14).</p>
<p>585 He shows that his doctrine is the best water because it has the effect of water, that is, it takes
away thirst much more than does that natural water. He shows by this that he is greater than
Jacob. So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus replied and said, </span>as if to say: You say that Jacob gave you a well; but
I will give you better water, because <span style="font-weight: bold">whoever drinks this water, </span>that is, natural water, or the
water of sensual desire and concupiscence, although it may satisfy his appetite for a while, <span style="font-weight: bold">will
be thirsty again, </span>because the desire for pleasure is insatiable: &#8220;When will I wake up and find
wine again?&#8221; (Prv 23:35). <span style="font-weight: bold">But whoever drinks the water, </span>that is, spiritual water, <span style="font-weight: bold">that I give,
will never be thirsty again. </span>&#8220;My servants will drink, and you will be thirsty,&#8221; as said in Isaiah
(65:13).</p>
<p>586 Since we read in Sirach (24:29): &#8220;Those who drink me will still thirst,&#8221; how is it possible
that we will never be thirsty if we drink this water of divine wisdom, since this Wisdom itself
says we will still thirst? I answer that both are true: because he who drinks the water that Christ
gives still thirsts and does not thirst. But whoever drinks natural water will become thirsty again
for two reasons. First, because material and natural water is not eternal, and it does not have an
eternal cause, but an impermanent one; therefore its effects must also cease: &#8220;All these things
have passed away like a shadow&#8221; (Wis 5:9). But spiritual water has an eternal cause, that is, the
Holy Spirit, who is the unfailing fountain of life. Accordingly, he who drinks of this will never
thirst; just as someone who had within himself a fountain of living water would never thirst.</p>
<p>The other reason is that there is a difference between a spiritual and a temporal thing. For
although each produces a thirst, they do so in different ways. When a temporal thing is possessed
it causes us to be thirsty, not for the thing itself, but for something else; while a spiritual thing
when possessed takes away the thirst for other things, and causes us to thirst for it. The reason
for this is that before temporal things are possessed, they are highly regarded and thought
satisfying; but after they are possessed, they are found to be neither so great as thought nor
sufficient to satisfy our desires, and so our desires are not satisfied but move on to something
else. On the other hand, a spiritual thing in not known unless it is possessed: &#8220;No one knows but
he who receives it&#8221; (Rv 2:17). So, when it is not possessed, it does not produce a desire; but once
it is possessed and known, then it brings pleasure and produces desire, but not to possess
something else. Yet, because it is imperfectly known on account of the deficiency of the one
receiving it, it produces a desire in us to possiss it perfectly. We read of this thirst: &#8220;My soul
thirsted for God, the living fountain&#8221; (Ps 41:2). This thirst is not completely taken away in this
world because in this life we cannot understand spiritual things; consequently, one who drinks
this water will still thirst for its completion. But he will not always be thirsty, as though the water
will run out, for we read (Ps 35:9): &#8220;They will be intoxicated from the richness of your house.&#8221;
In the life of glory, where the blessed drink perfectly the water of divine grace, they will never
be thirsty again: &#8220;Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for what is right,&#8221; that is, in this world,
&#8220;for they will be satisfied,&#8221; in the life of glory&#8221; (Mt 5:6).</p>
<p>587 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The water that I give will become a fountain within him, leaping up
to provide eternal life, </span>he shows from the movement of the water that his doctrine is living
water; thus he says that it is a leaping fountain: &#8220;The streams of the river bring joy to the city of
God&#8221; (Ps 45:4).</p>
<p>The course of material water is downward, and this is different from the course of spiritual water,
which is upward. Thus he says: I say that material water is such that it does not slake your thirst;
but the water that I give not only quenches your thirst, but it is a living water because it is united
with its source. Hence he says that this water <span style="font-weight: bold">will become a fountain within </span>one: a fountain
leading, through good works, to eternal life. So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">leaping up</span>, that is, making us leap up,
<span style="font-weight: bold">to eternal life, </span>where there is no thirst: &#8220;He who believes in me, out of his heart there will flow
rivers &#8220; that is, of good desires, &#8220;of living water&#8221; (below 7:38); &#8220;With you is the fountain of life&#8221;
(Ps 3 5:10).</p>
<p>588 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The woman said, </span>he states her request for the gift. First, her
understanding of the gift is noted. Secondly, the woman is found guilty (v 17). As was said, the
way to obtain this gift is by prayer and request. And so first, we have the woman&#8217;s request.
Secondly, Christ&#8217;s answer (v 16).</p>
<p>589 We should note with respect to the first that at the beginning of this conversation the woman
did not refer to Christ as &#8220;Lord,&#8221; but simply as a Jew, for she said: &#8220;How is it that you, being a
Jew, ask me, a woman of Samaria, for a drink?&#8221; But now as soon as she hears that he can be of
use to her and give her water, she calls him &#8220;Lord&#8221;: Lord, give me this water. For she was
thinking of natural water, and was subject to the two natural necessities of thirst and labor, that
is, of going to the well and of carrying the water. So she mentions these two things when asking
for the water: saying in reference to the first, <span style="font-weight: bold">so that I shall not grow thirsty; </span>and in reference
to the second, <span style="font-weight: bold">and have to keep coming here to draw water, </span>for man naturally shrinks from
labor: &#8220;They do not labor as other men&#8221; (Ps 72:5).</p>
<p>590 Then (v 16), the answer of Jesus is given. Here we should note that our Lord answered her
in a spiritual way, but she understood in a sensual way. Accordingly, this can be explained in two
ways. One way is that of Chrysostom, who says that our Lord intended to give the water of
spiritual instruction not only to her, but especially to her husband, for as is said, &#8220;Man is the head
of woman&#8221; (1 Cor 11:3), so that Christ wanted God&#8217;s precepts to reach women through men, and
&#8220;If the wife wishes to learn anything, let her ask her husband at home&#8221; (1 Cor 14:35). So he says,
<span style="font-weight: bold">Go, call your husband, and then come back here; </span>and then I will give it to you with him and
through him.</p>
<p>Augustine explains it another way, mystically. For as Christ spoke symbolically of water, he did
the same of her husband. Her husband, according to Augustine, is the intellect: for the will brings
forth and conceives because of the cognitive power that moves it; thus the will is like a woman,
while the reason, which moves the will, is like her husband. Here the woman, i.e., the will, was
ready to receive, but was not moved by the intellect and reason to a correct understanding, but
was still detained on the level of sense. For this reason the Lord said to her, Go, you who are still
sensual, <span style="font-weight: bold">call your husband, </span>call in the reasoning intellect so you can understand in a spiritual
and intellectual way what you now perceive in a sensual way; <span style="font-weight: bold">and then come back here, </span>by
understanding under the guidance of reason.</p>
<p>591 Here (v 17), the woman is found guilty by Christ. First, her answer is set down. Secondly,
the encounter in which she is found guilty by Christ.</p>
<p>592 As to the first, we should note that the woman, desiring to hide her wrongdoing, and
regarding Christ as only a mere man, did answer Christ truthfully, although she keep silent about
her sin, for as we read, &#8220;A fornicating woman will be walked on like dung in the road&#8221; (Sir 9:10).
She said, <span style="font-weight: bold">I have no husband. </span>This was true; for although she previously had a number of
husbands, five of them, she did not now have a lawful husband, but was just living with a man;
and it is for this that the Lord judges her.</p>
<p>593 Then the Evangelist reports that Jesus said to her: <span style="font-weight: bold">You are right in saying you have no
husband, </span>a legitimate husband; <span style="font-weight: bold">for you have had five, </span>before this one, <span style="font-weight: bold">and the man you are
living with now, </span>using as a husband, <span style="font-weight: bold">is not your husband. What you said is true, </span>because you
do not have a husband. The reason our Lord spoke to her about these things he had not learned
from her and which were her secrets, was to bring her to a spiritual understanding so that she
might believe there was something divine about Christ.</p>
<p>594 In the mystical sense, her five husbands are the five books of Moses: for, as was said, the
Samaritans accepted these. And so Christ says, <span style="font-weight: bold">you have had five, </span>and then follows
[understanding Christ&#8217;s words in a slightly different sense, as meaning:] <span style="font-weight: bold">and he whom you now
have, </span>i.e., he to whom you are now listening, i.e., Christ, <span style="font-weight: bold">is not your husband, </span>because you do
not believe.</p>
<p>This explanation, as Augustine says, is not very good. For this woman came to her present
&#8220;husband&#8221; after having left the other five, whereas those who come to Christ do not put aside the
five books of Moses. We should rather say, <span style="font-weight: bold">you have had five, </span>i.e., the five senses, which you
have used up to this time; but <span style="font-weight: bold">the man you are living with now, </span>i.e., an erring reason, with
which you still understand spiritual things in a sensual way, <span style="font-weight: bold">is not your </span>lawful <span style="font-weight: bold">husband, </span>but an
adulterer who is corrupting you. <span style="font-weight: bold">Call your husband, </span>i.e., your intellect, so that you may really
understand me.</p>
<p>595 Now the Evangelist treats of the request by which the gift is obtained, which is prayer. First
there is the woman&#8217;s inquiry about prayer. Secondly, Christ&#8217;s answer (v 21). Concerning the first
the woman does two things. First, she admits that Christ is qualified to answer her question.
Secondly, she asks the question (v 20).</p>
<p>596 And so this woman, hearing what Christ had told her about things that were secret, admits
that the one who up to now she believed was a mere man, is a prophet, and capable of settling
her doubts. For it is characteristic of prophets to reveal what is not present, and hidden: &#8220;He who
is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer&#8221; (I Sin 9:9). And so she says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Sir, I see that
you are a prophet. </span>As if to say: You show that you are a prophet by revealing hidden things to
me. It is clear from this, as Augustine says, that her husband was beginning to return to her. But
he did not return completely because she regarded Christ as a prophet: for although he was a
prophet&#8212;&#8220;A prophet is not without honor except in his own country&#8221; (Mt 13:57)&#8212;he was more
than a prophet, because he produces prophets: &#8220;Wisdom produces friends of God and prophets&#8221;
(Wis 7:27)</p>
<p>597 Then she asks her question about prayer, saying: <span style="font-weight: bold">Our ancestors worshiped on this
mountain, but you people claim that Jerusalern is the place where men must worship God.
</span>Here we should admire the woman&#8217;s diligence and attention: for women are considered curious
and unproductive, and not only unproductive, but also lovers of ease (1 Tim 5), whereas she did
not ask Christ about worldly affairs, or about the future, but about the things of God, in keeping
with the advice, &#8220;Seek first the kingdom of God&#8221; (Mt 6:33)</p>
<p>She first asks a question about a matter frequently discussed in her country, that is, about the
place to pray; this was the subject of argument between Jews and Samaritans. She says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Our
ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you people say. </span>We should mention that the
Samaritans, worshiping God according to the precepts of the law, built a temple in which to
adore him; and they did not go to Jerusalem where the Jews interfered with them. They built their
temple on Mount Gerizim, while the Jews built their temple on Mount Sion. The question they
debated was which of these places was the more fitting place of prayer; and each presented
reasons for its own side. The Samaritans said that Mount Gerizim was more fitting, because their
ancestors worshiped the Lord there. So she says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain.</span></p>
<p>598 How can this woman say, <span style="font-weight: bold">our ancestors, </span>since the Samaritans were not descended from
lsrael? The answer, according to Chrysostom, is that some claim that Abraham offered his son
on that mountain; but others claim that is was on Mount Zion. Or, we could say that <span style="font-weight: bold">our
ancestors </span>means Jacob and his sons, who as stated in Genesis (33) and as mentioned before,
lived in Shechem, which is near Mount Gerizim, and who probably worshiped the Lord there on
that mountain. Or it could be said that the children of Israel worshiped on this mountain when
Moses ordered them to ascend Mount Gerizim that he might bless those who observed God&#8217;s
precepts, as recorded in Deuteronorny (6). And she calls them her ancestors either because the
Samaritains observed the law given to the children of Israel, or because the Samaritans were now
living in the land of Israel, as said before.</p>
<p>The Jews said that the place to worship was in Jerusalem, by command of the Lord, who, had
said: &#8220;Take care not to offer your holocausts in every place, but offer them in the place the Lord
will choose&#8221; (Dt 12:13). At first, this place of prayer was in Shiloh, and then after, on the
authority of Solomon and the prophet Nathan, the arc was taken from Shiloh to Jerusalem, and
it was there the temple was built: so we read: &#8220;He left the tabernacle in Shiloh,&#8221; and a few verses
later, &#8220;But he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved&#8221; (Ps 77:60). Thus the
Samaritans appealed to the authority of the patriarchs, and the Jews appealed to the authority of
the prophets, whom the Samaritans did not accept. This is the issue the woman raises. It is not
surprising that she was taught about this, for it often happens in places where there are
differences in beliefs that even the simple people are instructed about them. Because the
Samaritans were continually arguing with the Jews over this, it came to the knowledge of the
women and ordinary people.</p>
<p>599 Christ&#8217;s answer is now set down (v 21). First he distinguishes three types of prayer.
Secondly, he compares them to each other (v 22).</p>
<p>600 As to the first, he first of all gains the woman&#8217;s attention, to indicate that he was about to say
something important, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Believe me, </span>and have faith, for faith is always necessary: &#8220;To come
to God, one must believe&#8221; (Heb 11:6); &#8220;If you do not believe, you will not understand&#8221; (Is 7:9).</p>
<p>Secondly, he mentions the three kinds of worship: two of these were already being practiced, and
the third was to come. Of the two that were current, one was practiced by the Samaritans, who
worshiped on Mount Gerizini-, he refers to this when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">the hour is coming when you will
worship the Father neither on this mountain, </span>of Gerizim. The other way was that of the Jews,
who prayed on Mount Zion; and he refers to this when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">nor in Jerusalem.</span></p>
<p>The third type of worship was to come, and it was different from the other two. Christ alludes
to this by excluding the other two: for if the hour is coming when they will no longer worship on
Mount Gerizim or in Jerusalem, then clearly the third type to which Christ refers will be a
worship that does away with the other two. For if someone wishes to unite two people, it is
necessary to eliminate that over which they disagree, and give them something in common on
which they will agree. And so Christ, wishing to unite the Jews and Gentiles, eliminated the
observances of the Jews and the idolatry of the Gentiles; for these two were like a wall separating
the peoples. And he made the two people one: &#8220;He is our peace, he who has made the two of us
one&#8221; (Eph 2:14). Thus the ritual observances [of the Jews] and the idolatry of the Gentiles were
abolished, and the true worship of God established by Christ.</p>
<p>601 As for the mystical sense, and according to Origen, the three types of worship are three kinds
of participation in divine wisdom. Some participate in it under a dark cloud of error, and these
adore on the mountain: for every error springs from pride: &#8220;I am against you, destroying
mountain&#8221; (Jer 51:25). Others participate in divine wisdom without error, but in an imperfect
way, because they see in a mirror and in an obscure way; and these worship in Jerusalem, which
signifies the present Church: &#8220;The Lord is building Jerusalem&#8221; (Ps 146:2). But the blessed and
the saints participate in divine wisdom without error in a perfect way, for they see God as he is,
as said in 1 John (3:2). And so Christ says, <span style="font-weight: bold">the hour is coming, </span>i.e., is waited for, when you will
participate in divine wisdom neither in error nor in a mirror in an obscure way, but as it is.</p>
<p>602 Then (v 22), he compares the different kinds of worship to each other. First, he compares the
second to the first, Secondly, the third to the first and second (v 23). As to the first he does three
things. First, he shows the shortcomings of the first type of worship. Secondly, the truth of the
second (v 22b). Thirdly, the reason for each statement.</p>
<p>603 As to the first he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">You people worship what you do not understand.</span></p>
<p>Some might think that the Lord should have explained the truth of the matter and solve the
woman&#8217;s problem. But the Lord does not bother to do so because each of these kinds of worship
was due to end.</p>
<p>As to his saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">You people worship, </span>and so on, it should be pointed out that, as the
Philosopher says, knowledge of complex things is different than knowledge of simple things. For
something can be known about complex things in such a way that something else about them
remains unknown; thus there can be false knowledge about them. For example, if someone has
true knowledge of an animal as to its substance, he might be in error touching the knowledge of
one of its accidents, such as whether it is black or white; or of a difference, such as whether it has
wings or is four-footed. But there cannot be false knowledge of simple things: because they are
either perfectly known inasmuch as their quiddity is known; or they are not known at all, if one
cannot attain to a knowledge of them. Therefore, since God is absolutely simple, there cannot be
false knowledge of him in the sense that something might be known about him and something
remain unknown, but only in the sense that knowledge of him is not attained. Accordingly,
anyone who believes that God is something that he is not, for example, a body, or something like
that, does not adore God but something else, because he does not know him, but something else.</p>
<p>Now the Samaritans had a false idea of God in two ways. First of all, because they thought he
was corporeal, so that they believed that he should be adored in only one definite corporeal place.
Further, because they did not believe that he transcended all things, but was equal to certain
creatures, they adored along with him certain idols, as if they were equal to him. Consequently,
they did not know him, because they did not attain to a true knowledge of him. So the Lord says,
<span style="font-weight: bold">You people worship what you do not understand, </span>i.e., you do not adore God because you do
not know him, but only soipe imaginary being you think is God, &#8220;as the Gentiles do, with their
foolish ideas&#8221; (Eph 4:17).</p>
<p>604 As to the second, i.e., the truth of the worship of the Jews, he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">we understand what we
worship. </span>He includes himself among the Jews, because he was a Jew by race, and because the
woman thought he was a prophet and a Jew. <span style="font-weight: bold">We understand what we worship, </span>because through
the law and the prophets the Jews acquired a true knowledge or opinion of God, in that they did
not believe that he was corporeal nor in one definite place, as though his greatness could be
enclosed in a place: &#8220;If the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain you, how
much less this house that I have built&#8221; (1 Kgs 8:27). And neither did they worship idols: &#8220;God
is known in Judah&#8221; (Ps 75:2).</p>
<p>605 He gives the reason for this when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">since salvation is from the Jews. </span>As if to say:
The true knowledge of God was possessed exclusively by the Jews, for it had been determined
that salvation would come from them. And as the source of health should itself be healthy, so the
source of salvation, which is acquired by the true knowledge and the true worship of God, should
possess the true knowledge of God. Thus, since the source of salvation and its cause, i.e., Christ,
was to come from them, according to the promise in Genesis (22:18): &#8220;All the nations will be
blessed in your descendents,&#8221; it was fitting that God be known in Judah.</p>
<p>606 Salvation comes from the Jews in three ways. First in their teaching of the truth, for all other
peoples were in error, while the Jews held fast to the truth, according to Romans (3:2): &#8220;What
advantage do Jews have? First, they were entrusted with the words of God.&#8221; Secondly, in their
spiritual gifts: for prophecy and the other gifts of the Spirit were given to them first, and from
them they reached others: &#8220;You,&#8221; i.e., the Gentiles, &#8220;a wild olive branch, are ingrafted on them,&#8221;
i.e., on the Jews (Rom 11:17); &#8220;If the Gentiles have become sharers in their (i.e., the Jews&#8217;)
spiritual goods, they ought to help the Jews as to earthly goods&#8221; (Rom 15:27). Thirdly, since the
very author of salvation is from the Jews, since &#8220;Christ came from then in the flesh&#8221; (Rom 9:5).</p>
<p>607 Now (v 23), he compares the third kind of worship to the first two. First, he mentions its
superiority to the others. Secondly, how appropriate this kind of worship is (v 23b).</p>
<p>608 As to the first point, we should note, as Origen says, that when speaking above of the third
kind of worship, the Lord said, <span style="font-weight: bold">the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither
on this mountain nor in Jerusalem; </span>but he did not then add, <span style="font-weight: bold">and is now here. </span>But now, in
speaking of it, he does say, <span style="font-weight: bold">the hour is coming, and is now here. </span>The reason is because the first
time he was speaking of the worship found in heaven, when we will participate in the perfect
knowledge of God, which is not possessed by those still living in this mortal life. But now he is
speaking of the worship of this life, and which has now come through Christ.</p>
<p>609 So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and in truth.</span></p>
<p>We can understand this, as Chrysostom does, as showing the superiority of this worship to that
of the Jews. So that the sense is: Just as the worship of the Jews is superior to that of the
Samaritans, so the worship of the Christians is superior to that of the Jews. It is superior in two
respects. First, because the worship of the Jews is in bodily rites: &#8220;Rites for the body, imposed
only until the time they are reformed&#8221; (Heb 9:10); while the worship of the Christians is in spirit.
Secondly, because the worship of the Jews is in symbols: for the Lord was not pleascd with their
sacrificial victims insofar as they were things; so we read, &#8220;Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink
the blood of goats?&#8221; (Ps 49:13), and again, &#8220;You would not be pleased with a holocaust&#8221; (Ps
50:18), that is, as a particular thing; but such a sacrificial victim would be pleasing to the Lord
as a symbol of the true victim and of the true sacrifice: &#8220;The law has only a shadow of the good
things to come&#8221; (Heb 10:1). But the worship of the Christians is in truth, because it is pleasing
to God in itself: &#8220;grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ,&#8221; as we saw above (1:17). So
he is saying here that <span style="font-weight: bold">true worshipers will worship in spirit, </span>not in bodily rites, <span style="font-weight: bold">and in truth,
</span>not in symbols.</p>
<p>610 This passage can in interpreted in a second way, by saying that when our Lord says, <span style="font-weight: bold">in spirit
and in truth, </span>he wants to show the difference between the third kind of worship and not just that
of the Jews, but also that of the Samaritans. In this case, <span style="font-weight: bold">in truth, </span>refers to the Jews: for the
Samaritans, as was said, were in error, because they worshiped what they did not understand. But
the Jews worshiped with a true knowledge of God.</p>
<p>611 <span style="font-weight: bold">In spirit and in truth </span>can be understood in a third way, as indicating the characteristics of
true worship. For two things are necessary for a true worship: one is that the worship be spiritual;
so he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">in spirit, </span>i.e., with fervor of spirit: &#8220;I will pray with spirit, and I will pray with my
mind&#8221; (1 Cor 14:15); &#8220;Singing to the Lord in your hearts&#8221; (Eph 5:19). Secondly, the worship
should be <span style="font-weight: bold">in truth. </span>First, in the truth of faith, because no fervent spiritual desire is meritorious
unless united to the truth of faith, &#8220;Ask with faith, without any doubting&#8221; (Jas 1:6). Secondly, <span style="font-weight: bold">in
truth, </span>i.e., without pretense or hypocrisy; against such attitudes we read: &#8220;They like to pray at
street cofners, so people can see them&#8221; (Mt 6:5).</p>
<p>This prayer, then, requires three things: first, the fervor of love; secondly, the truth of faith; and
thirdly, a correct intention.</p>
<p>He says, the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, because under the law,
worship was not given to the Father, but to the Lord. We worship in love, as sons; whereas they
worshiped in fear, as slaves.</p>
<p>612 He says <span style="font-weight: bold">true </span>worshipers, in opposition to three things mentioned in the above
interpretations. First, in opposition to the false worship of the Samaritans: &#8220;Put aside what is not
true, and speak the truth&#8221; (Eph 4:25). Secondly, in opposition to the fruitless and transitory
character of bodily rites: &#8220;Why do you love what is without profit, and seek after lies&#8221; (Ps 4:3).
Thirdly, it is opposed to what is symbolic: &#8220;Grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ&#8221;
(above 1:17).</p>
<p>613 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Indeed, it is just such worshipers the Father seeks, </span>he shows that this
third kind of worship is appropriate for two reasons. First, because the One worshiped wills and
accepts this worship. Secondly, because of the nature of the One worshiped (v 24).</p>
<p>614 Concerning the first, we should note that for a man to merit receiving what he asks, he
should ask for things which are not in opposition to the will of the giver, and also ask for them
in a way which is acceptable to the giver. And so when we pray to God, we ought to be such as
God seeks. But God seeks those who will worship him in spirit and in truth, in the fervor of love
and in the truth of faith; &#8220;And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God want from you, but that
you fear the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and love him, and serve the Lord your God
with all your heart&#8221; (Dt 10:12); and in Micah (6:8): &#8220;1 will show you, man, what is good, and
what the Lord requires of you: to do what is right, and to love mercy, and to walk attentively with
your God.&#8221;</p>
<p>615 Then he shows that the third type of worship is appropriate from the very nature of God,
saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">God is spirit. </span>As is said in Sirach (13:19), &#8220;Every animal loves its like&#8221;; and so God
loves us insofar as we are like him. But we are not like him by our body, because he is
incorporeal, but in what is spiritual in us, for <span style="font-weight: bold">God is spirit: </span>&#8220;Be renewed in the spirit,&#8221; of your
mind (Eph 4:23).</p>
<p>In saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">God is spirit, </span>he means that God is incorporeal: &#8220;A spirit does not have flesh and
bones&#8221; (Lk 24:39); and also that he is a life-giver, because our entire life is from God, as its
creative source. God is also truth: &#8220;I am the way, and the truth, and the life&#8221; (below 14:6).
Therefore, we should worship him in spirit and in truth.</p>
<p>616 When he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The woman said to him, </span>he mentions the one who gives the gift; and this
corresponds to what our Lord said before, <span style="font-weight: bold">If you knew the gift of God, and realized who it is
who says to you, Give me a drink, you perhaps would have asked him. </span>First, we have the
woman&#8217;s profession. Secondly, the teaching of Christ (v 26). As to the first, he does two things.
First, the woman professes her faith in the Christ to come. Secondly, in the fulness of his
teaching, <span style="font-weight: bold">he will tell us everything.</span></p>
<p>617 The woman, wearied by the profound nature of what Christ was saying, was confused and
unable to understand all this. She says: <span style="font-weight: bold">I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called
Christ. </span>As if to say: I do not understand what you are saying, but a time will come when the
Messiah will arrive, and then we will understand all these things. For &#8220;Messiah&#8221; in Hebrew
means the same as &#8220;Anointed One&#8221; in Latin, and &#8220;Christ&#8221; in Greek. She knew that the Messiah
was coming because she had been taught by the books of Moses, which foretell the coming of
Christ: &#8220;The scepter will not be taken away from Judah ... until he who is to be sent comes&#8221; (Gn
49:10). As Augustine says, this is the first time the woman mentions the name &#8220;Christ&#8221;: and we
see by this that she is now beginning to return to her lawful husband.</p>
<p>618 When this Messiah comes, he will give us a complete teaching. Hence she says, <span style="font-weight: bold">when he
comes he will tell us everything. </span>This was foretold by Moses: &#8220;I will raise up a prophet for
them, from among their own brothers, like them; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he
will tell them all I command him&#8221; (Dt 18:18). Because this woman had now called her husband,
i.e., intellect and reason, the Lord now offers her the water of spiritual teaching by revealing
himself to her in a most excellent way.</p>
<p>619 And so Jesus says: <span style="font-weight: bold">I who speak to you am he, </span>i.e., I am the Christ: &#8220;Wisdom goes to meet
those who desire her, so she may first reveal herself to them&#8221; (Wis 6:14), and below (14:21): &#8220;I
will love him, and reveal myself to him.&#8221;</p>
<p>Our Lord did not reveal himself to this woman at once because it might have seemed to her that
he was speaking out of vainglory. But now, having brought her step by step to a knowledge of
himself, Christ revealed himself at the appropriate time: &#8220;Words appropriately spoken are like
apples of gold on beds of silver&#8221; (Prv 25:11). In contrast, when he was asked by the Pharisees
whether he was the Christ, &#8220;If you are the Christ, tell us clearly&#8221; (below 10:24), he did not reveal
himself to them clearly, because they did not ask to learn but to test him. But this woman is
speaking in all simplicity.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in">&#160;</p>
<p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 3</span></p>
<BLOCKQUOTE><p style="text-align: justify">27 His disciples, returning at this point, were amazed that Jesus was speaking with a woman. But
no one said, &#8220;What do you want?&#8221; or &#8220;Why are you talking to her?&#8221; 28 The woman then left her
water jar and went off to the town. And she said to the people: 29 &#8220;Come, and see the man who
told me everything that I have done. Could he not be the Christ?&#8221; 30 At that they set out from the
town to meet him. 31 Meanwhile, his disciples asked him saying, &#8220;Rabbi, eat something.&#8221; 32 But
he said to them,</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in">&#8220;I have food to eat of which you do not know.&#8221;</p>
<p>33 At this the disciples said to one another, &#8220;Do you suppose that someone has brought him
something to eat?&#8221;</p></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>620 After presenting the teaching on spiritual water, the Evangelist now deals with the effect of
this teaching. First, he sets down the effect itself. Secondly, he elaborates on it (v 3 1). The effect
of this teaching is its fruit for those who believe. And first we have its fruit which relates to the
disciples, who were surprised at Christ&#8217;s conduct. Secondly, its fruit in relation to the woman,
who proclaimed Christ&#8217;s power (v 28).</p>
<p>621 We are told three things about the disciples. First, their return to Christ: he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">His
disciples, returning at this point. </span>As Chrysostorn reminds us, it was very convenient that the
disciples returned after Christ had revealed himself to the woman, since this shows us that all
events are regulated by divine providence: &#8220;He made the small and the great, and takes care for
all alike&#8221; (Wis 6:8); &#8220;There is a time and fitness for everything&#8221; (Ecc 8:6).</p>
<p>622 Secondly, we see their surprise at what Christ was doing; he says, they <span style="font-weight: bold">were amazed that
Jesus was speaking with a woman. </span>They were amazed at what was good; and as Augustine
says, they did not suspect any evil. They were amazed at two things. First, at the extraordinary
gentleness and humility of Christ: for the Lord of the world stooped to speak with a poor woman,
and for a long time, giving us an example of humility: &#8220;Be friendly to the poor&#8221; (Sir 4:7).
Secondly, they were amazed that he was speaking with a Samaritan and a foreigner, for they did
not know the mystery by which this woman was a symbol of the Church of the Gentiles; and
Christ sought the Gentiles, for he came &#8220;to seek and to save what was lost&#8221; (Lk 19:10).</p>
<p>623 Thirdly, we see the disciples&#8217; reverence for Christ, shown by their silence. For we show our
reverence for God when we do not presume to discuss his affairs: &#8220;It is to the glory of God to
conceal things; and to the glory of kings to search things out&#8221; (Prv 25:2). So the Evangelist says
that although his disciples were surprised, none of them said, <span style="font-weight: bold">What do you want? </span>or asked him,
<span style="font-weight: bold">Why are you talking to her? </span>&#8220;Listen in silence&#8221; (Sir 32:9). Yet the disciples had been so trained
to observe order, because of their reverence and filial fear toward Christ, that now and then they
would question him about matters that concerned themselves, i.e., when Christ said things
relating to them, but which were beyond their understanding: &#8220;Young men, speak if you have to&#8221;
(Sir 3 2:10). At other times they did not question him; in those matters that were not their
business, as here.</p>
<p>624 Then (v 28), we have the fruit which relates to the woman; by what she said to her people,
she was taking on the role of an apostle. From what she says and does, we can learn three things.
First, her affective devotion; secondly, her way of preaching; thirdly the effect her preaching had
(v 30).</p>
<p>625 Her affection is revealed in two ways. First, because her devotion was so great that she forgot
why she had come to the well, and left without the water and her water jar. So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">the
woman then left her water jar and went off to the town, </span>to tell of the wonderful things Christ
had done; and she was not now concerned for her own bodily comfort but for the welfare of
others. In this respect she was like the apostles, who &#8220;leaving their nets, followed the Lord&#8221; (Mt
4:20). The water jar is a symbol of worldly desires, by which men draw out pleasures from the
depths of darkness&#8212;symbolized by the well&#8212;i.e., from a worldly manner of life. Accordingly,
those who abandon worldly desires for the sake of God leave their water jars: &#8220;No soldier of God
becomes entangled in the business of this world&#8221; (2 Tim 2:4). Secondly, we see her affection
from the great number of those to whom she brings the news: not to just one or two, but to the
entire town; we read that she <span style="font-weight: bold">went off to the town. </span>This signifies the duty Christ gave to the
apostles: &#8220;Go, teach all nations&#8221; (Mt 28:19); and &#8220;I have chosen you to go and bring forth fruit&#8221;
(below 15:16).</p>
<p>626 Next we see her manner of preaching (v 29). She first invites them to see Christ, saying,
<span style="font-weight: bold">Come and see the man. </span>Although she had heard Christ say that he was the Christ, she did not
at once tell the people that they should come to the Christ, or believe, so as not to give them a
reason for scoffing. So at first she mentions things that were believable and evident about Christ,
as that he was a man: &#8220;made in the likeness of men&#8221; (Phil 2:7). Neither did she say, &#8220;believe,&#8221;
but <span style="font-weight: bold">Come, and see</span>; for she was convinced that if they were to taste from that well by seeing him,
they would be affected in the same way she was: &#8220;Come, and I will tell you the great things he
has done for me&#8221; (Ps 65:16). In this she is imitating the example of a true preacher, not calling
men to himself, but to Christ: &#8220;What we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ&#8221; (2 Cor 4:5).</p>
<p>627 Secondly, she mentions a clue to Christ&#8217;s divinity, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">who told me everything that I
have done, </span>that is, how many husbands she had had. For it is the function and sign of the divinity
to disclose hidden things and the secrets of hearts. Although the things she had done would cause
her shame, she is still not ashamed to mention them; for as Chrysostom says: &#8220;When the soul is
on fire with the divine fire, it no longer pays attention to earthly things, neither to glory nor to
shame, but only to that flame that holds it fast.&#8221;</p>
<p>628 Thirdly, she infers the greatness of Christ, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Could he not be the Christ? </span>She did not
dare to say that he was the Christ, lest she seem to be trying to teach them; they could have
become angry at this and refuse to go with her. Yet she was not entirely silent on this point, but
submitting it to their judgment, set it forth in the form of a question, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Could he not be the
Christ? </span>For this is an easier way to persuade someone.</p>
<p>629 This insignificant woman signifies the condition of the apostles, who were sent out to
preach: &#8220;Not many of you are learned in the worldly sense, not many powerful ... But God chose
the simple ones of the world to embarrass the wise&#8221; (1 Cor 1:26). Thus in Proverbs (9:3) the
apostles are called handmaids: &#8220;She,&#8221; divine wisdom, i.e., the Son of God, &#8220;sent out her
handmaids,&#8221; the apostles, &#8220;to summon to the tower.&#8221;</p>
<p>630 The fruit of her preaching is given when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">At that </span>they set <span style="font-weight: bold">out from the town, </span>to
where she had returned, to meet him, Christ. We see by this that if we desire to come to Christ,
we must set out from the town, i.e., leave behind our carnal desires: &#8220;Let us go out to him outside
the camp, bearing the abuse he took,&#8221; as we read in Hebrews (13:13).</p>
<p>631 Now the effect of this spiritual teaching is elaborated. First, by what Christ said to his
disciples; secondly, by the effect of all this on the Samaritans (v 39). Concerning the first he does
two things. First, we have the situation in which Christ speaks to his disciples; secondly, what
he said (v 32).</p>
<p>632 The situation is the insistence of the apostles that Christ eat. He says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Meanwhile, </span>i.e.,
between the time that Christ and the woman spoke and the Samaritans came, <span style="font-weight: bold">his disciples asked
him, </span>that is, Christ, <span style="font-weight: bold">Rabbi, eat something: </span>for they thought that then was a good time to eat,
before the crowds came from the town. For the disciples did not usually offer Christ food in the
presence of strangers: so we read in Mark (6:3 1), that so many people came to him that he did
not even have time to eat.</p>
<p>633 After presenting the situation, he gives its fruit. First, it is given in figurative language.
Secondly, we see the disciples are slow in understanding this. Thirdly, the Lord explains what
he meant (v 34).</p>
<p>634 The fruit of his spiritual teaching is proposed under the symbols of&#8217; food and nourishment,
so the Lord says, <span style="font-weight: bold">I have food to eat. </span>We Should note that just as bodily nourishment is
incomplete miless there is both food and drink, so also both Should be found in spirittial
notirishment: &#8220;The Lord fed him with the bread of life and understanding,&#8221; this is the food, &#8220;and
gave him a drink of the water of saving wisdom,&#8221; and this is the drink (Sir 15:3). So it was
appropriate for Christ to speak of food after having given drink to the Samaritan woman. And
just as water is a symbol for saving wisdom, so food is a symbol of good works.</p>
<p>The food that Christ had to eat is the salvation of men; this was what he desired. When he says
that he has food to eat, he shows how great a desire he has for our salvation. For just as we desire
to eat when we are hungry, so he desires to save us: &#8220;My delight is to be with the children of
men&#8221; (Prv 8:3 1). So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">I have food to eat, </span>i.e., the conversion of the nations, <span style="font-weight: bold">of which you
do not know; </span>for they had no way of knowing beforehand about this conversion of the nations.</p>
<p>635 Origen explains this in a different way, as follows. Spiritual food is like bodily food. The
same amount of bodily food is not enough for everyone; some need more, others less. Again,
what is good for one is harmful to another. The same thing happens in spiritual nourishment: for
the same kind and amount should not be given to everyone, but adjusted to what is appropriate
to the disposition and capacity of each. &#8220;Like newborn babes, desire spiritual milk&#8221; (1 Pt 2:2).
Solid food is for the perfect; thus Origen says that the man who understands the loftier doctrine,
and who has charge of others in spiritual matters, can teach this doctrine to those who are weaker
and have less understanding. Accordingly, the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians (3:2): &#8220;Being little
ones in Christ, I gave you milk, not solid food.&#8221; And Jesus could say this with much more truth:
<span style="font-weight: bold">I have food to eat</span>; and &#8220;I have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now&#8221; (below
16:12).</p>
<p>636 The slowness of the disciples to understand these matters is implied by the fact that what our
Lord said about spiritual food, they understood as referring to bodily food. For even they were
still without understanding, as we see from Matthew (15:16). It is not surprising that this
Samaritan woman did not understand about spiritual water, for even the Jewish disciples did not
understand about spiritual food.</p>
<p>In their saying to each other, <span style="font-weight: bold">Do you suppose that someone has brought him something to
eat? </span>we should note that it was customary for Christ to accept food from others; but not because
he needs our goods: &#8220;He does not need our goods&#8221; (Ps 15:2), nor our food, because it is he who
gives food to every living thing.</p>
<p>637 Then why did he desire and accept goods from others? For two reasons. First, so that those
who give him these things might acquire merit. Secondly, in order to give us an example. that
those engrossed in spiritual matters should not be ashamed of their poverty, nor regard it
burdensome to be supported by others. For it is fitting that teachers have others provide their food
so that, being free from such concerns, they may carefully pay attention to the ministry of the
word, as Chrysostorn says, and as we find in the Gloss. &#8220;Let the elders who rule well be regarded
as worthy of a double compensation; especially those concerned with preaching and teaching (1
Tim 5:17).</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in">&#160;</p>
<p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in">LECTURE 4</p>
<BLOCKQUOTE><p style="text-align: justify">34 Jesus explained to them,</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in">&#8220;My food is to do the will of him
<br>who sent me, to accomplish his work.
<br>35 Do you not have a saying:
<br>&#8216;There are still four months, and it will be harvest time&#8217;?
<br>So I say to you: Lift up your eyes,
<br>look at the fields, because they are
<br>already white for the harvest!
<br>36 He who reaps receives his wages
<br>and gathers fruit for eternal life,
<br>so that the sower can rejoice
<br>at the same time as the reaper.
<br>37 For here the saying is verified:
<br>&#8216;One man sows, another reaps.&#8217;
<br>38 I have sent you to reap
<br>what you have not worked for.
<br>Others have done the work,
<BR>and you have entered into their labors.&#8221;</p></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>638 Since the disciples were slow to understand the Lord&#8217;s figure of speech, the Lord now
explains it. First, we have its explanatiot; secondly, its application (v 35).</p>
<p>639 As to the first, we should note that just as Christ explained to the Samaritan woman what he
had told her in figurative language about water, so he explains to his apostles what he told them
in figurative language about food. But he does not do so in the same way in both cases. Since the
apostles were able to understand these matters more easily, he explains to them at once and in
few words; but to the Samaritan woman, since she Could not understand as well, our Lord leads
her to the truth with a longer explanation.</p>
<p>640 It is perfectly reasonable for Christ to say, <span style="font-weight: bold">My food is to do the will of him who sent me,
to accomplish his work. </span>For as bodily food sustains a man and brings him to perfection, the
spiritual food of the soul and of the rational creature is that by which he is sustained and
perfected; and this consists in being joined to his end and following a higher rule. David,
understanding this, said: &#8220;For me, to adhere to God is good&#8221; (Ps 72:28). Accordingly, Christ, as
man, fittingly says that his food is to do the will of God, to accomplish his work.</p>
<p>641 These two expressions can be understood as meaning the same thing, in the sense that the
second is explaining the first. Or, they can be understood in different ways.</p>
<p>If we understand them as meaning the same, the sense is this: My food is, i.e., in this is my
strength and nourishment, <span style="font-weight: bold">to do the will of him who sent me; </span>according to, &#8220;My God, I desired
to do your will, and your law is in my heart&#8221; (Ps 39:9), and, &#8220;I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, but the will of him who sent me&#8221; (below 6:38). But because &#8220;to do the will&#8221;
(<i>facere voluntatem</i>)<i> </i>of another can be understood in two ways&#8212;one, by making him will it, and
second, by fulfilling what I know he wills&#8212;therefore, explaining what it means to do the will of
him who sent him, the Lord says, <span style="font-weight: bold">to accomplish his work, </span>that is, that I might complete the
work I know he wants: &#8220;I must do the works of him who sent me while it is day&#8221; (below 9:4).</p>
<p>If these two expressions are understood as different, then we should point out that Christ did two
things in this world. First, he taught the truth, in inviting and calling us to the faith; and by this
he fulfilled the will of the Father: &#8220;This is the will of my Father, who sent me: that everyone who
sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life&#8221; (below 6:40). Secondly, he
accomplished the truth by opening in us, by his passion, the gate of life, and by giving us the
power to arrive at complete truth: &#8220;I have accomplished the work which you gave me to do&#8221;
(below 17:4). Thus he is saying: <span style="font-weight: bold">My food is to do the will of him who sent me, </span>by calling men
to the faith, <span style="font-weight: bold">to accomplish his work, </span>by leading them to what is perfect.</p>
<p>642 Another interpretation, given by Origen, is that every man who does good works should
direct his intention to two things: the honor of God and the good of his neighbor: for as it is said:
&#8220;The end of the commandment is love&#8221; (1 Tim 1:5), and this love embraces both God and our
neighbor. And so, when we do something for God&#8217;s sake, the end of the commandment is God;
but when it is for our neighbor&#8217;s good, the end of the commandment is our neighbor. With this
in mind, Christ is saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">My food is to do the will of him who sent me, </span>God, i.e., to direct md
regulate my intention to those matters that concern the honor of God, <span style="font-weight: bold">to accomplish his work,
</span>i.e., to do things for the benefit and perfection of man.</p>
<p>643 On the other hand, since the works of God are perfect, it does not seem proper to speak of
accomplishing or completing them. I answer that among lower creatures, man is the special work
of God, who made him to his own image and likeness (Gn 1:26). And in the beginning God made
this a perfect work, because as we read in Ecclesiastes (7:30): &#8220;God made man upright.&#8221; But
later, man lost this perfection by sin, and abandoned what was right. And so, this work of the
Lord needed to be repaired in order to become right again; and this was accomplished by Christ,
for &#8220;Just as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one
man, many will be made just&#8221; (Rom 5:19). Thus Christ says, to <span style="font-weight: bold">accomplish his work, </span>i.e., to
bring man back to what is perfect.</p>
<p>644 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Do you not have a saying: There are still four months, and it will
be harvest time? </span>he makes use of a simile. Note that when Christ asked the Samaritan woman
for a drink, &#8220;Give me a drink,&#8221; he made use of a simile concerning water. But here, the the
disciples are urging the Lord to eat, and now he makes use of a simile concerning spiritual food.</p>
<p>There are some persons whom God asks for a drink, as this Samaritan woman; and there are
some who offer a drink to God. But no one offers food to God unless God first asks him for it:
for we offer spiritual food to God when we ask him for our salvation, that is, when we ask, &#8220;Your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven&#8221; (Mt 6:10). We cannot obtain salvation of ourselves,
unless we are pre-moved by &#8220;prevenient grace,&#8221; according to the statement in Lamentations
(5:21): &#8220;Make us come back to you, O Lord, and we will come back&#8221; (Lam 5:21). The Lord
himself, therefore, first asks for that which makes us ask through &#8220;prevenient grace.&#8221;</p>
<p>In this simile, we have first, the harvest. Secondly, those who reap the harvest (v 36). He does
two things concerning the first. First, he states the simile concerning the natural harvest;
secondly, concerning the spiritual harvest (v 35b).</p>
<p>645 <span style="font-weight: bold">Do you not have a saying: There are still four months, and it will be harvest time? </span>We
can see from this that, as stated in Matthew (4:12), Christ left Judea and traveled through Samaria
right after John was arrested, and that all this happened during the winter. So, because the
harvests ripen there more according to the season, there were four months froin that time till the
harvest. Thus he says, Do <span style="font-weight: bold">you not have a saying, </span>ahow the natural harvest, <span style="font-weight: bold">There are still four
months </span>that must pass, <span style="font-weight: bold">and it will be harvest time? </span>i.e., the time for gathering up the harvest.
So I say to you, speaking of the spiritual harvest, Lift up your eyes, <span style="font-weight: bold">look at the fields, because
they are already white for the harvest.</span></p>
<p>646 Here we should point out that harvest time is the time when the fruit is gathered; and so
whenever fruit is gathered can be regarded as a harvest time. Now fruit is gathered at two times:
for both in temporal and in spiritual matters there is nothing to prevent what is fruit in relation
to an earlier state from being seed in relation to something later. For example, good works are
the fruit of spiritual instruction, as is faith and other such things; but these in turn are seeds of
eternal life, because eternal life is acquired through them. So Sirach (24:23) says: &#8220;My
blossoms,&#8221; in relation to the fruit to follow, &#8220;bear the fruit of of honor and riches,&#8221; in relation to
what preceded.</p>
<p>With this in mind, there is a certain gathering of a spiritual harvest; and this concerns an eternal
fruit, i.e., the gathering of the faithful into eternal life, of which we read: &#8220;The harvest is the end
of the world&#8221; (Mt 13:39). We are not here concerned with this harvest. Another spiritual harvest
is gathered in the present; and this is understood in two ways. In the first, the gathering of the
fruit is the converting of the faithful to be assembled in the Church; in the second, the gathering
is the very knowing of the truth, by which a person gathers the fruit of truth into his soul. And
we are concerned with these two gatherings of the harvest, depending on the different
expositions.</p>
<p>647 Augustine and Chrysostom understand the gathering of the harvest in the first way, as
follows. You say that it is not yet the time for the natural harvest; but this is not true of the
spiritual harvest. Indeed, <span style="font-weight: bold">I say to you: Lift up your eyes</span>, i.e., the eyes of your mind, by thinking,
or even your physical eyes, <span style="font-weight: bold">look at the fields, because they are already white for the harvest:
</span>because the entire countryside was full of Samaritans coming to Christ.</p>
<p>The statement that the fields are already white is metaphorical: for when sown fields are white,
it is a sign that they are ready for harvest. And so he only means to say by this that the people
were ready for salvation and to hear the word. He says, <span style="font-weight: bold">look at the fields, </span>because not only the
Jews, but the Gentiles as well, were ready for the faith: &#8220;The harvest is great, but the workers are
few&#8221; (Mt 9:37). And just as harvests are made white by the presence of the burning heat of the
summer sun, so by the coming of the Sun of justice, i.e., Christ, and his preaching and power,
men are made ready for salvation. Malachi (4:2) says: &#8220;The sun of justice will rise on you who
fear my name.&#8221; Thus it is that the time of Christ&#8217;s coming is called the time of plenitude or
fulness: &#8220;When the fulness of time had come, God sent his Son&#8221; (Gal 4:4).</p>
<p>648 Origen deals with the second gathering of the harvest, i.e., the gathering of truth in the soul.
He says that one gathers as much of the fruit of truth in the harvest as the truths he knows. And
he says that everything said here (v 35) was presented as a parable. In this interpretation, the Lord
does two things. First, he mentions a false doctrine held by some. Secondly, he rejects it, I say
to you.</p>
<p>Some thought that man could not acquire any truth about anything. This opinion gave rise to the
heresy of the Academicians, who maintained that nothing can be known as certain in this life;
about which we read: &#8220;I tested all things by wisdom. I said: &#8216;I will acquire wisdom,&#8217; and it
became further from me&#8221; (Ecc 7:24). Our Lord mentions this opinion when he says, Do you not
have a saying: There are <span style="font-weight: bold">still four months and it will be harvest time? </span>i.e., this whole present
life, in which man serves under the four elements, must end, so that after it truth may be gathered
in another life.</p>
<p>Our Lord rejects this opinion when he says: This is not true, I say to you: Lift up your eyes.
Sacred Scripture usually uses this expression when something subtle and profound is being
presented; as, &#8220;Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things&#8221; (Is 40:26). For
when our eyes are not lifted away from earthly things or from the desires of the flesh, they are
not fit to know spiritual fruit. For sometimes they are prevented from considering divine things
because they have stooped to earthly things: &#8220;They have fixed their eyes on the earth&#8221; (Ps 16:11);
sometimes they are blinded by concupiscence: &#8220;They have averted their eyes so as not to look
at heaven or remember the judgments of God&#8221; (Dn 13:9).</p>
<p>649 So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Lift up your eyes, look at the fields, because they are already white for the
harvest, </span>i.e., they are such that the truth can be learned from them: for by the &#8220;fields&#8221; we
specifically understand all those things from which truth can be acquired, especially the
Scriptures: &#8220;Search the Scriptures ... they bear witness to me&#8221; (below 5:39). Indeed, these fields
existed in the Old Testament, but they were not white for the harvest because men were not able
to pick spiritual fruit from them until Christ came, who made them white by opening their
understanding: &#8220;He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures&#8221; (Lk 24.45).
Again, creatures are harvests from which the fruit of truth is gathered: &#8220;The invisible things of
God are clearly known by the things that have been made&#8221; (Rom 1:20). None the less, the
Gentiles who pursued a knowledge of these things gathered the fruits of error rather than of truth
from them, because as we read, &#8220;they served the creature rather than the Creator&#8221; (Rom 1:25).
So the harvests were not yet white; but they were made white for the harvest when Christ came.</p>
<p>650 Next (v 36), he deals with the reapers. First, he gives their reward. Secondly, he mentions
a proverb. And thirdly, he explains it, i.e., applies it (v 38).</p>
<p>651 Concerning the first, we should note that when the Lord was explaining earlier about
spiritual water, he mentioned the way in which spiritual water differs from natural water: a
person who drinks natural water will become thirsty again, but one who drinks spiritual water
will never be thirsty again. Here, too, in explaining about the harvest, he points out the difference
between a natural and a spiritual harvest. Three things are mentioned.</p>
<p>First, the way in which the two harvests are similar: namely, in that the person who reaps either
harvest receives a wage. But the one who reaps spiritually is the one who gathers the faithful into
the Church, or who gathers the fruit of truth into his soul. Each of these will receive a wage,
according to: &#8220;Each one will receive his own wage according to his work&#8221; (1 Cor 3:8).</p>
<p>The two other points he mentions concern the ways the two harvests are unlike each other. First,
the fruit gathered from a natural harvest concerns the life of the body; but the fruit gathered by
one who reaps a spiritual harvest concerns eternal life. So he says, he who reaps, i.e., he who
reaps spiritually, <span style="font-weight: bold">gathers fruit for eternal life, </span>that is, the faithful, who will obtain eternal life:
&#8220;Your fruit is sanctification, your end is eternal life&#8221; (Rom 6:22). Or, this fruit is the very
knowing and explaining of the truth by which man acquires eternal life: &#8220;Those who explain me
will have eternal life,&#8221; as we read in Sirach (24:3 1). Secondly, the two harvests are unlike
because in a natural harvest it is considered a misfortune that one should sow and another reap;
hence he who sows is saddened when another reaps. But it is not this way when the seed is
spiritual, for <span style="font-weight: bold">the sower can rejoice at the same time as the reaper.</span></p>
<p>According to Chrysostom and Augustine, the ones who sow spiritual seed are the fathers and
prophets of the Old Testament, for &#8220;The seed is the word of God&#8221; (Lk 8:11), which Moses and
the prophets sowed in the land of Judah. But the apostles were the reapers, because the former
were not able to accomplish what they wanted to do, i.e., to bring men to Christ; this was done
by the apostles. And so both the apostles and the prophets rejoice together, in one mansion of
glory, over the conversion of the faithful: &#8220;Joy and gladness will be found there, thanksgiving
and the voice of praise&#8221; (Is 51:3). This refutes the heresy of the Manicheans who condemn the
fathers of the Old Testament; for as the Lord says here, they will rejoice with the apostles.</p>
<p>According to Origen, however, the &#8220;sowers&#8221; in any faculty [of the soul] are those who confer the
very first principles of that faculty; but the reapers are those who proceed from these principles
to further truths. And this is all the more true of the science of all the sciences. The prophets are
sowers, because they handed down many things concerning divine matters; but the apostles are
the reapers, because in preaching and teaching they revealed many things which the prophets did
not make known: &#8220;which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has
now been revealed to his holy apostles&#8221; (Eph 3:5).</p>
<p>652 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">For here the saying is verified, </span>we are given a proverb. As if to say:
<span style="font-weight: bold">For here</span>, i.e., in this fact, <span style="font-weight: bold">the saying is verified, </span>i.e., the proverb in current use among the Jews
is fulfilled: <span style="font-weight: bold">One man sows, another reaps. </span>This proverb seems to have grown out of a statement
in Leviticus (26:16): &#8220;You will sow your seed in vain for it will be devoured by your enemies.&#8221;
As a result, the Jews used this proverb when one person labored on something, but another
received the pleasure from it. This then is what our Lord says: The proverb is verified here
because it was the prophets who sowed and labored, while you are the ones to reap and rejoice.</p>
<p>Another interpretation would be this. <span style="font-weight: bold">For here the saying is verified, </span>i.e. what I am saying to
you, <span style="font-weight: bold">One man sows, another reaps, </span>because you will reap the fruits of the labor of the prophets.
Now the prophets and the apostles are different, but not in faith, for they both had faith: &#8220;But now
the justice of God has been manifested outside the law; the law and the prophets bore witness to
it&#8221; (Rom 3:21). They are different in their manner of life, for the prophets lived under the
ceremonies of the law, from which the apostles and Christians have been freed: &#8220;When we were
children, we were slaves under the elements of this world. But when the fulness of time came,
God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those who were under the
law, so that we could receive adoption as sons&#8221; (Gal 4:3). And although the apostles and prophets
labor at different times, nevertheless they will rejoice equally and receive wages <span style="font-weight: bold">for eternal life,
so that the sower can rejoice at the same time as the reaper. </span>This was prefigured in the
transfiguration of Christ, where all had their own glory, both the fathers of the Old Testament,
that is, Moses and Elijah, and the fathers of the New Testament, that is, Peter, John and James.
We see from this that the just of the New and of the Old Testaments will rejoice together in the
glory to come.</p>
<p>653 Then (v 38), he applies the proverb. First, he calls the apostles reapers. Secondly, he says
they are laborers (v 38b).</p>
<p>654 he says concerning the first: I say that it is one who reaps, because you are reapers, and
another who sows, for <span style="font-weight: bold">I have sent you to reap what you have not worked for. </span>He does not say,
&#8220;I will send you,&#8221; but I have sent you. He says this because he sent them twice. One time was
before his passion, when he sent them to the Jews, saying: &#8220;Do not go on the roads of the
Gentiles ... but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel&#8221; (Mt 10:5). In this case, they were
sent to reap that on which they did not work, that is, to convert the Jews, among whom the
prophets worked. After the resurrection, Christ sent them to the Gentiles, saying: &#8220;Go to the
whole world, and preach the good news to every creature,&#8221; as we find in Mark (16:15). This time
they were sent to sow for the first time; for as the Apostle says: &#8220;I have preached the good news,
but not where Christ was already known, so as not to build on another&#8217;s foundation. But as it is
written: &#8216;They to whom he was not proclaimed will see, and they who have not heard will
understand.&#8217;&#8221; (Rom 15:20). And so Christ says, I have sent you, referring to the first time they
were sent. This is the way, then, the apostles are reapers, and others, the prophets, are the sowers.</p>
<p>655 Accordingly, he says, Others have done the work, by sowing the beginnings of the doctrine
of Christ, <span style="font-weight: bold">and you have entered into their labors, </span>to collect the fruit: &#8220;The fruit of good labors
is glorious&#8221; (Wis 3:15). The prophets labored, I say, to bring men to Christ: &#8220;If you believed
Moses, you would perhaps believe me, for he wrote of me&#8221; (below 5:46). If you do not believe
his written words, how will you believe my spoken words? But the prophets did not reap the
fruit; so Isaiah said with this in mind: &#8220;I have labored for nothing and without reason; in vain I
have exhausted my strength&#8221; (Is 49:4).</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in">&#160;</p>
<p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 5</span></p>
<BLOCKQUOTE><p>39 Many Samaritans of that town believed in him on the testimony of the woman who said, &#8220;He
told me everything I ever did.&#8221; 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay
with them awhile. So he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed in him because of
his own words. 42 And they said to the woman, &#8220;Now we believe not just because of your story,
but because we have heard him ourselves, and we know that.here is truly the Savior of the
world.&#8221;</p></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>656 Above, the Lord foretold to the apostles the fruit to be produced among the Samaritans by
the woman&#8217;s witness. Now the Evangelist deals with this fruit. First, the fruit of the woman&#8217;s
witness is given. Secondly, the growth of this fruit produced by Christ (v 41). The fruit of the
woman&#8217;s witness is shown in three ways.</p>
<p>657 First, by the faith of the Samaritans, for they believed in Christ. Thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Many
Samaritans of that town, </span>to which the woman had returned, believed in him, and this, <span style="font-weight: bold">on the
testimony of the woman, </span>from whom Christ asked for a drink of water, who said, <span style="font-weight: bold">He told me
everything I ever did: </span>for this testimony was sufficient inducement to believe Christ. For since
Christ had disclosed her failures, she would not have mentioned them if she had not been brought
to believe. And so the Samaritans believed as soon as they heard her. This indicates that faith
comes by hearing.</p>
<p>658 Secondly, the fruit of her witness is shown in their coming to Christ: for faith gives rise to
a desire for the thing believed. Accordingly, after they believed, they came to Christ, to be
perfected by him. So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">So when the Samaritans came to him. </span>&#8220;Come to him, and be
enlightened&#8221; (Ps 33:6); &#8220;Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you&#8221;
(Mt 11:28).</p>
<p>659 Thirdly, the fruit of her witness is shown in their desire: for a believer must not only come
to Christ, but desire that Christ remain with him. So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">they begged him to stay with them
awhile. So he stayed there two days.</span></p>
<p>The Lord remains with us through charity: &#8220;If anyone loves me, he will keep my word&#8221; (below
14:23), and further on he adds, &#8220;and we will make our abode with him.&#8221; The Lord remains for
two days because there are two precepts of charity: the love of God and the love of our neighbor,
&#8220;On these two commandments all the law and the prophets depend&#8221; (Mt 22:40). But the third day
is the day of glory: &#8220;He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up&#8221; (Hos
6:3). Christ did not remain there for that day because the Samaritans were not yet capable of
glory.</p>
<p>660 Then (v 41), the Evangelist says that the fruit resulting from the witness of the woman was
increased by the presence of Christ; and this in three ways. First, in the number of those who
believed. Secondly, in their reason for believing. Thirdly, in the truth they believed.</p>
<p>661 The fruit was increased as to the number of those who believed because while many believed
in Christ on account of the woman, <span style="font-weight: bold">many more believed in him because of his own words, </span>i.e.,
Christ&#8217;s own words. This signifies that although many believed becatise of the prophets, many
more were converted to the faith after Christ came, according to the Psalm (7:7): &#8220;Rise up, O
Lord, in the command you have given, and a congregation of people will surround you.&#8221;</p>
<p>662 Secondly, this fruit was increased because of the way in which they believed: for they say
to the woman: <span style="font-weight: bold">Now we believe not just because of your story.</span></p>
<p>Here we should note that three things are necessary for the perfection of faith; and they are given
here in order. First, faith should be right; secondly, it should be prompt; and thirdly, it should be
certain.</p>
<p>Now faith is right when it obeys the truth not for some alien reason, but for the truth itself; and
as to this he says that they said to the woman, Now we believe, the truth, <span style="font-weight: bold">not just because of
your story, </span>but because of the truth itself. Three things lead us to believe in Christ. First of all,
natural reason: &#8220;Since the creation of the world the invisible things of God are clearly known by
the things that have been made&#8221; (Rom 1:20). Secondly, the testimony of the law and the
prophets: &#8220;But now justification from God has been manifested outside the law; the law and the
prophets bore witness to it&#8221; (Rom 3:21). Thirdly, the preaching of the apostles and others: &#8220;How
will they believe without someone to preach to them?&#8221; as Romans (10:14) says. Yet when a
person, having been thus instructed, believes, he can then say that it is not for any of these
reasons that he believes: i.e., neither on account of natural reason, nor the testimony of the law,
nor the preaching of others, but solely on account of the truth itself: &#8220;Abram believed God, who
regarded this as his justification&#8221; (Gn 15:6).</p>
<p>Faith is prompt if it believes quickly; and this was verified in these Samaritans because they were
converted to God by merely hearing him; so they say: <span style="font-weight: bold">we have heard him ourselves, </span>and believe
in him, <span style="font-weight: bold">and we know that here is truly the Savior of the world, </span>without seeing miracles, as
the Jews saw. And although to believe men quickly is an indication of thoughtlessness, according
to Sirach (19:4): &#8220;He who believes easily is frivolous,&#8221; yet to believe God quickly is more
praisworthy: &#8220;When they heard me, they obeyed me&#8221; (Ps 17:45).</p>
<p>Faith should be certain, because one who doubts in the faith is an unbeliever: &#8220;Ask with faith,
without any doubting&#8221; (Jas 1:6). And so their faith was certain; thus they say, <span style="font-weight: bold">and we know.
</span>Sometimes, one who believes is said to know (<i>scire</i>),<i> </i>as here, because <i>scientia </i>[science,
knowledge in a more perfect state] and faith agree in that both are certain. For just as <i>scientia </i>is<i>
</i>certain, so is faith; indeed, the latter is much more so, because the certainty of scientia rests on
human reason, which can be decieved, while the certainty of faith rests on divine reason, which
cannot be contradicted. However they differ in mode: because faith possesses its certainty due
to a divinely infused light, while <i>scientia </i>possesses its certainty due to a natural light. For as the
certitude of <i>scientia </i>rests on first principles naturally known, so the principles of faith are known
from a light divinely infused: &#8220;You are saved by grace, through faith; and this is not due to
yourselves, for it is the gift of God&#8221; (Eph 2:8).</p>
<p>663 Thirdly, the fruit was increased in the truth believed; so they say, <span style="font-weight: bold">here is truly the Savior
of the world. </span>Here they are affirming that Christ is the unique, true and universal Savior.</p>
<p>He is the unique Savior for they assert that he is different from others when they say, here is, i.e.,
here he alone is who has come to save: &#8220;Truly, you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the
Savior&#8221; (Is 45:15); &#8220;There is no other name under heaven given to men, by which we are saved&#8221;
(Acts 4:12).</p>
<p>They affirm that Christ is the true Savior when they say, <span style="font-weight: bold">truly. </span>For since salvation, as Dionysius
says, is deliverance from evil and preservation in good, there are two kinds of salvation: one is
true, and the other is not true. Salvation is true when we are freed from true evils and preserved
in true goods. In the Old Testament, however, although certain saviors had been sent, they did
not truly bring salvation, for they set men free from temporal evils, which are not truly evils, nor
true goods, because they do not last. But Christ is truly the Savior, because he frees men from
true evils, that is, sins: &#8220;He will save his people from their sins&#8221; (Mt 1:21), and he preserves them
in true goods, that is, spiritual goods.</p>
<p>They affirm that he is the universal Savior because he is not just for some, i.e., for the Jews
alone, but is the Savior <span style="font-weight: bold">of the world. </span>&#8220;God did not send his Son into the world to judge the
world, but that the world might be saved through him&#8221; (above 3:17).</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in">&#160;</p>
<p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 6</span></p>
<BLOCKQUOTE><p>43 After two days he left that place and went to Galilee. 44 Jesus himself had testified that a
prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 When however he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans
welcomed him, because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem on the festive day,
where they too had gone. 46a He therefore went to Cana in Galilee once more, where he had
made the water wine.</p></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>664 Having described the conversion of the Gentiles due to teaching, their conversion due to
miracles is now given.  The Evangelist mentions a miracle performed by Christ: first, giving the
place; secondly, describing the miracle; and thirdly, its effect (v 53). He does two things about
the first. First, he gives the general location of the miracle, that is, Christ&#8217;s own homeland.
Secondly, the specific place (v 46). With respect to the first he does two things. First, he
mentions the general place. Secondly, he tells how Christ was received there (v 45). Concerning
the first he does two things. First, he indicates the general place. Secondly, he gives a certain
reason, at (v 44).</p>
<p>665 He says first of all: I say that Jesus remained with these Samaritans for two days, and <span style="font-weight: bold">after
two days he left that place, </span>i.e., <span style="font-weight: bold">Samaria, and went to Galilee, </span>where he had been raised. This
signifies that at the end of the world, when the Gentiles have been confirmed in the faith and in
the truth, a return will be made to convert the Jews, according to: &#8220;until the full number of the
Gentiles enters, and so all Israel will be saved&#8221; (Rom 11:2 5).</p>
<p>666 Then he gives a certain reason, saying: <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no
honor in his own country. </span>There are two questions here: one is about the literal meaning; and
the other about the continuity of this passage with the first.</p>
<p>The problem about the literal meaning is that it does not seem to be true, as stated here, that a
prophet has no honor in his own country: for we read that other prophets were honored in their
own land. Chrysostom answers this by saying that the Lord is speaking here about the majority
of cases. So, although there might be an exception in some individual cases, what is said here
should not be considered false: for in matters concerning nature and morals, that rule is true
which is verified in most cases; and if a few cases are otherwise, the rule is not considered to be
false.</p>
<p>Now what the Lord says was true with respect to most of the prophets, because in the Old
Testament it is hard to find any prophet who did not suffer persecution, as stated in Acts (7:52):
&#8220;Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?&#8221;; and in Matthew (23:37): &#8220;Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you.&#8221; Further, this statement of
our Lord holds true not only in the case of the prophets among the Jews, but also, as Origen says,
with many among the Gentiles, because they were held in contempt by their fellow citizens and
put to death: for living with men in the usual way, and too much familiarity, lessen respect and
breed contempt. So it is that those with whom we are more familiar we come to reverence less,
and those with whom we cannot become acquainted we regard more highly.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in">&#160;</p>
<p>However, the opposite happens with God: lor the more intimate we become with God through
love and contemplation, realizing how superior he is, the more we respect him and the less do
we esteem ourselves. &#8220;I have heard you, but now I see you, and so I reprove myself, and do
penance in dust and ashes&#8221; (Jb 42:5). The reason for this is that man&#8217;s nature is weak and fragile;
and when one lives with another for a long time, he notices certain weaknesses in him, and this
results in a loss of respect for him. But since God is infinitely perfect, the more a person knows
him the more he admires his superior perfection, and as a result the more he respects him.</p>
<p>667 But was Christ a prophet? At first glance it seems not, because prophecy involves an obscure
knowledge: &#8220;If there is a prophet of the Lord among you, I will appear to him in a vision&#8221; (Nm
12:6). Christ&#8217;s knowledge, however, was not obscure. Yet he was a prophet, as is clear from,
&#8220;The Lord your God will raise up a prophet for you, from your nation and your brothers; he will
be like me. You will listen to him&#8221; (Dt 18:15). This text is referred to Christ.</p>
<p>I answer that a prophet has a twofold function. First, that of seeing: &#8220;He who is now called a
prophet was formerly called a seer&#8221; (I Sm 9:9). Secondly, he makes known, announces; Christ
was a prophet in this sense for he made known the truth about God: &#8220;For this was I born, and for
this I came into the world: to testify to the truth&#8221; (below 18:37). As for the seeing function of a
prophet, we should note that Christ was at once both a &#8220;wayfarer&#8221; and a &#8220;comprehensor,&#8221; or
blessed. He was a wayfarer in the sufferings of his human nature and in all the things that relate
to this. He was a blessed in his union with the divinity, by which he enjoyed God in the most
perfect way. There are two things in the vision or seeing of a prophet. First, the intellectual light
of his mind; and as regards this Christ was not a prophet, because his light was not at all
deficient; his light was that of the blessed. Secondly, an imaginary vision is also involved; and
with respect to this Christ did have a likeness to the prophets insofar as he was a wayfarer and
was able to form various images with his imagination.</p>
<p>668 Secondly, there is the problem about continuity. For the Evangelist does not seem to be right
in connecting the fact that <span style="font-weight: bold">After two days he left that place and went to Galilee, </span>with the
statement of Jesus that <span style="font-weight: bold">a prophet has no honor in his own country. </span>It would seem that the
Evangelist should have said that Christ did not go into Galilee, for if he was not honored there,
that would be a reason for not going there.</p>
<p>Augustine answers this by suggesting that the Evangelist said this to answer a question that could
have been raised, namely: Why did Christ return to Galilee since he had lived there for a long
time, and the Galileans were still not converted to him; while the Samaritans were converted in
two days? It is the same as saying: Even though the Galileans had not been converted, still Jesus
went there, for <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.</span></p>
<p>Chrysostom explains this in a different way: After two days he left, not for Capernaum, which
was his homeland because of his continuous residence there, nor for Bethlehem, where he was
born, nor for Nazareth, where he was educated. Thus he did not go to Capernaum; hence in
Matthew (11:23) he upbraids them, saying: &#8220;And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to
heaven? You will descend even to hell.&#8221; He went rather to Cana in Galilee. And he gives the
reason here [for not going to Capernaum] : because they were ill-disposed toward him. This is
what he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.</span></p>
<p>669 Was Christ seeking glory from men? It seems not, for he says: &#8220;I do not seek my own glory&#8221;
(below 8:50). 1 answer that it is only God who seeks his own glory without sin. A man should
not seek his own glory from men, but rather the glory of God. Christ, however, as God, fittingly
sought his own glory, and as man, he sought the glory of God in himself.</p>
<p>670 Then he shows that Christ was received by the Galileans more respectfully than before,
saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">When however he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, </span>respectfully. The
reason behind this was <span style="font-weight: bold">because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem on the
festive day, where they too had gone, </span>as the law commanded.</p>
<p>This seems to conflict with the fact that we did not read above of any miracles being performed
by Christ at Jerusalem. I answer, with the opinion of Origen, that the Jews thought it a great
miracle that Christ drove the traders from the temple with such authority (above 2:14). Or, we
could say that Christ performed many miracles which were not written down, according to,
&#8220;Jesus did many other signs ... which are not written down in this book&#8221; (below 20:30).</p>
<p>671 In its mystical sense, this gives us an example that if we wish to receive Jesus Christ within
ourselves, we should go up to Jerusalem on a festive day, that is, we should seek tranquility of
mind, and examine everything which Jesus does there: &#8220;Look upon Zion, the city of our festive
days&#8221; (Is 33:20); &#8220;1 have meditated on all Your works&#8221; (Ps 142:5).</p>
<p>672 Note that as men were lesser in dignity, they were better with respect to God. The Judeans
were superior in dignity to the Galileans: &#8220;Look at the Scriptures and see that the Prophet will
not come from Galilee&#8221; (below 7:52); and the Galileans were superior in dignity to the
Samaritans: &#8220;The Jews had nothing to do with the Samaritans&#8221; (above 4:9). On the other hand,
the Samaritans were better than the Galileans because more of them believed in Christ in two
days without any miracles than the Galileans did in a long period of time and even with the
miracle of the wine: for none of them believed in him except his disciples. Finally, the Judeans
were worse than the Galileans, because none of them believed in Jesus, except perhaps
Nicodemus.</p>
<p>673 Then he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">He therefore went to Cana in Galilee</span>.  According to Chrysostom, this is
given as a conclusion from what went before; it is as though he were saying: Christ did not go
to Capemaurn because he was not held in honor there. But he was under an obligation to go to
Cana in Galilee: for on the first occasion he had been invited to the wedding, and now he goes
again without being invited. The two trips to Cana are mentioned by the Evangelist to show their
hardness of heart: for at the first miracle of the wine, only his disciples believed in Christ; and
at the second miracle, only the official and his household believed. On the other hand, the
Samaritans believed on Christ&#8217;s words alone.</p>
<p>674 In the mystical sense, the two visits to Cana signify the effect of God&#8217;s words on our minds.
First of all they cause delight, because they who hear the word &#8220;receive the word with joy&#8221; (Mt
13:20). This is signified in the miracle of the wine, which as the Psalm (103:15) says, &#8220;gladdens
the heart of man.&#8221; Secondly, the word of God heals: &#8220;It was neither a herb nor a poultice that
healed them, but your word, O Lord, which heals all things&#8221; (Wis 16:12). And this is signified
by the curing of the sick son.</p>
<p>Further, these two visits to Cana indicate the two comings of the Son of God. The first coming
was in all gentleness to bring joy: &#8220;Rejoice and give praise, people of Zion, for he is great who
is in your midst, the Holy One of Israel&#8221; (Is 12:6). So the angel said to the shepherds: &#8220;I bring you
good news of great joy ... this day a Savior has been born to you&#8221; (Lk 2:10). This is signified by
the wine. His second coming into the world will be in majesty, when he will come to take away
our weaknesses and our punishments, and to make us like his radiant body. And this is signified
in the cure of the sick son.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in">&#160;</p>
<p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 7</span></p>
<BLOCKQUOTE><p>46b There happened to be a certain official, whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard
that Jesus had come to Galilee from Judea, he went to him, and begged him to come down and
heal his son, who was at the point of death. 48 But Jesus said to him, &#8220;Unless you see signs and
wonders, you do not believe.&#8221; 49 The official said to him, &#8220;Lord, come down before my child
dies.&#8221; 50 Jesus told him, &#8220;Go, your son lives.&#8221; The man took Jesus at his word, and started for
home. 51 While he was on his way down, his servants ran up to meet him with word&#8217; that his son
was going to live. 52 He asked them at what time his boy got better. And they told him that
yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53 The father then realized that it was at that very
hour when Jesus told him, &#8220;Your son lives.&#8221; He and his whole household became believers. 54
This was the second sign Jesus had performed on returning from Judea to Galilee.</p>
<p>675 Having told us the place of this miracle, the Evangelist now describes the miracle itself:
telling us of the person who was ill; the one who interceded for him; and the one who healed him.
The one who was ill was the son of the official; his father interceded for him; and it was Christ
who was to heal him.</p></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>676 About the person who was ill, he first tells us of his status, a <span style="font-weight: bold">son</span> of an official; secondly,
where he was, at <span style="font-weight: bold">Capernaum; </span>thirdly, his illness, a <span style="font-weight: bold">fever</span>.</p>
<p>He says about the first, <span style="font-weight: bold">There happened to be a certain official, whose son lay sick. </span>Now one
can be called an official for a variety of reasons. For example, if one is in charge of a small
territory. This is not its meaning here for at this time there was no king in Judea: &#8220;We have no
king but Caesar&#8221; (below 19:15). One is also called an official, as Chrysostom says, because he
is from a royal family; and this is also not its meaning here. In a third way, an official is some
officer of a king or ruler; and this is its meaning here.</p>
<p>Some think, as Chrysostom reports, that this official is the same as the centurion mentioned by
Matthew (8:5). This is not so, for they differ in four ways. First, because the illness was not the
same in each. The centurion was concerned with a paralytic, &#8220;My servant is lying paralyzed at
home&#8221; (Mt 8:6); while this official&#8217;s son is suffering from a fever, <span style="font-weight: bold">yesterday at the seventh
hour the fever left him. </span>Secondly, those who are sick are not the same. In the first case, it was
a servant, &#8220;my servant&#8221;; but now we have a son, as it says, <span style="font-weight: bold">whose son. </span>Thirdly, what is requested
is different. For when Christ wanted to go to the home of the centurion, the centurion
discouraged him, and said: &#8220;Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say
the word and my servant will be healed&#8221; (Mt 8:8). But this official asked Christ to come to his
house, <span style="font-weight: bold">Lord, come down before my child dies. </span>Fourthly, the places are different. For the first
healing took place at Capernaum, while this one is at Cana in Galilee. So this official is not the
same as the centurion, but was from the household of Herod the Tetrarch, or some kind of a
herald, or an official of the Emperor.</p>
<p>677 In its allegorical sense, this official is Abraham or one of the fathers of the Old Testament,
in so far as he adheres by faith to the king, that is, to Christ, about which we read, &#8220;I was made
king by him over Zion&#8221; (Ps 2:6). Abraham adhered to him, for as is said below (8:56): &#8220;Abraham,
your father, rejoiced that he might see my day.&#8221; The son of this official is the Jewish people: &#8220;We
are the descendants of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to any one&#8221; (below 8:33). But
they are sick from evil pleasures and incorrect doctrines. They are sick at Capernaum, i.e., in the
abundance of goods which caused them to leave their God, according to, &#8220;The beloved grew fat
and rebellious ... he deserted the God who made him, and left God his Savior&#8221; (Dt 32:15).</p>
<p>678 In the moral sense, in the kingdom of the soul, the king is reason itself: &#8220;The king, who sits
on his throne of judgment&#8221; (Prv 20:8). But why is reason called the king? Because man&#8217;s entire
body is ruled by it: his affections are directed and informed by it, and the other powers of the soul
follow it. But sometimes it is called an official [not the king], that is, when its knowledge is
obscured, with the result that it follows inordinate passions and does not resist them: &#8220;They live
with their foolish ideas, their understanding obscured by darkness&#8221; (Eph 4:17). Consequently,
the son of this official, i.e., the affections, are sick, that is, they deviate from good and decline
to what is evil. If reason were the king, that is, strong, its son would not be sick; but being only
an official, its son is sick. This happens at Capernaum because a great many temporal goods are
the cause of spiritual sickness: &#8220;This was the crime of your sister Sodom: richness, satiety in
food, and idleness&#8221; (Ez 16:49).</p>
<p>679 Now we see the person making his request (v 47). First, we have the incentive for making
his request. Secondly, the request itself. Thirdly, the need for the request.</p>
<p>680 The incentive for making the request was the arrival of Christ. So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">When he, </span>the
official, <span style="font-weight: bold">heard that Jesus had come to Galilee from Judea, he went to him. </span>For as long as the
coming of Christ was delayed, men&#8217;s hope of being healed from their sins was that much fainter;
but when it is reported that his coming is near, our hope of being healed rises, and then we go to
him. For he came into this world to save sinners: &#8220;The Son of Man came to seek and to save what
was lost&#8221; (Lk 19:22). Further, as Sirach says (18:23), we should prepare our soul by prayer, and
we do this by going to God through our desires. And this is what the official did, as we read, he
went to him. Amos (4:12) says, &#8220;Be prepared to meet your God, O Israel.&#8221;</p>
<p>681 The request of the official was that Christ heal his son. So the Evangelist says that he begged
him to come down, out of compassion: &#8220;O that you would rend the heavens, and come down&#8221;
(Is 64:1), <span style="font-weight: bold">and heal his son. </span>We, too, ought to ask to be healed from our sins: &#8220;Heal my soul, for
I have sinned against you&#8221; (Ps 40:5). For no one of himself can return to the state of justice;
rather, he has to be healed by God: &#8220;I cannot help myself&#8221; (Jb 6:13). The fathers of the Old
Testament interceded for the people of Israel in the same way; for as we read of one: &#8220;He loves
his brothers, because he prays much for the holy city and for the people of Israel, Jeremiah, the
prophet of God&#8221; (2 Me 15:14).</p>
<p>682 The need for this request was urgent, for the son <span style="font-weight: bold">was at the point of death. </span>When a person
is tempted, he is beginning to become sick; and as the temptation grows stronger and takes the
upper hand, inclining him to consent, he is near death. But when he has consented, he is at the
point of death and beginning to die. Finally, when he completes his sin, he dies; for as we read:
&#8220;Sin, when it is completed, brings forth death&#8221; (Jas 1:15). The Psalm (33:22) says about this:
&#8220;The death of sinners is the worst,&#8221; because it begins here and continues into the future without
end.</p>
<p>683 Now he deals with the request for Christ to heal the son of the official. First, our Lord&#8217;s
criticism is given. Secondly, the official&#8217;s request. Thirdly, the granting of the request.</p>
<p>684 Our Lord criticizes him for his lack of faith, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Unless you see signs and wonders, you
do not believe. </span>This raises a question, for it does not seem right to say this to this official, for
unless he had believed that Christ was the Savior, he would not have asked him to heal his son.</p>
<p>The answer to this is that this official did not yet believe perfectly; indeed, there were two defects
in his faith. The first was that although he believed that Christ was a true man, he did not believe
that he had divine power; otherwise he would have believed that Christ could heal one even
while absent, since God is everywhere, as Jeremiah (23:24) says: &#8220;I fill heaven and earth.&#8221; And
so he would not have asked Christ to come down to his house, but simply give his command. The
second defect in his faith, according to Chrysostom, was that he was not sure that Christ could
heal his son: for had he been sure, he would not have waited for Christ to return to his homeland,
but would have gone to Judea himself. But now, despairing of his son&#8217;s health, and not wishing
to overlook any possibility, he went to Christ like those parents who in their despair for the health
of their children consult even unskilled doctors.</p>
<p>685 In the second place, it does not seem that he should have been criticized for looking for
signs, for faith is proved by signs. The answer to this is that unbelievers are drawn to Christ in
one way, and believers in another way. For unbelievers cannot be drawn to Christ or convinced
by the authority of Sacred Scripture, because they do not believe it; neither can they be drawn by
natural reason, because faith is above reason. Consequently, they must be led by miracles: &#8220;Signs
are given to unbelievers, not to believers&#8221; (1 Cor 14:22). Believers, on the other hand, should be
led and directed to faith by the authority of Scripture, to which they are bound to assent. This is
why the official is criticized: although he had been brought up among the Jews and instructed in
the law, he wanted to believe through signs, and not by the authority of the Scripture. So the Lord
reproaches him, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Unless you see signs and wonders, </span>i.e., miracles, which sometimes are
signs insofar as they bear witness to divine truth. Or <span style="font-weight: bold">wonders </span>(prodigia), either because they
indicate with utmost certitude, so that a prodigy is taken to be a &#8220;portent&#8221; or some &#8220;sure
indication&#8221;; or because they portend something in the future, as if something were called a
<span style="font-weight: bold">wonder </span>as if showing at a great distance some future effect.</p>
<p>686 Now we see the official&#8217;s persistence, for he does not give up after the Lord&#8217;s criticism, but
insists, saying. <span style="font-weight: bold">Lord, come down before my child dies: </span>&#8220;We should pray always, and not lose
heart&#8221; (Lk 18:1). This shows an improvement in his faith in one respect, that is, in that he calls
him &#8220;Lord.&#8221; But there is not a total improvement, for he still thought that Christ had to be
physically present to heal his son; so he asked Christ to come.</p>
<p>687 His request is granted by the Lord, for persevering prayer is answered. Jesus said to him: <span style="font-weight: bold">Go,
your son lives. </span>Here we have first, the statement by Christ, who cured the boy, that the boy was
cured. Secondly, we ire told of the persons who witnessed the cure (v 51 ). Two things are
mentioned concerning the first: the command of the Lord and the obedience of the official (v
50b).</p>
<p>688 As to the first, the Lord does two things. First, he orders; secondly, he affirms. He orders the
official to go: hence he says, Go, i.e., prepare to receive grace by a movement of your free will
toward God: &#8220;Turn to me, and you will be saved&#8221; (Is 45:22); and by a movement of your free will
against sin. For four things are required for the justification of an adult sinner: the infusion of
grace, the remission of guilt, a movement of the free will toward God, which is faith, and a
movement of the free will against sin, which is contrition.</p>
<p>Then the Lord says that his son is healed, which was the request of the official: <span style="font-weight: bold">Your son lives</span>.</p>
<p>689 One may ask why Christ refused to go down to the home of this official as asked, while he
promised to go see the servant of the centurion. There are two reasons for this. One, according
to Gregory, is to blunt our pride; the pride of us who offer our services to great men, but refuse
to help the insignificant: since the Lord of all offered to go to the servant of the centurion, but
refused to go to the son of an official: &#8220;Be well-disposed to the poor&#8221; (Sir 4:7). The other reason,
as Chrysostom says, was that the centurion was already confirmed in the faith of Christ, and
believed that he could heal even while not present; and so our Lord promised to go to show
approval of his faith and devotion. But this official was still imperfect, and did not yet clearly
know that Christ could heal even while absent. And so our Lord does not go, in order that he may
realize his imperfection.</p>
<p>690 The obedience of this official is pointed out in two ways. First, because he believed what
Christ said; so he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The man took Jesus at his word, </span>that is, <span style="font-weight: bold">Your son lives. </span>Secondly,
because he did obey the order of Christ; so he says, he <span style="font-weight: bold">started for home, </span>progressing in faith,
although not yet fully or soundly, as Origen says. This signifies that we must be justified by faith:
&#8220;Justified by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ&#8221; (Rom 5:1). We
also must go and start out by making progress: because he who stands still runs the risk of being
unable to preserve the life of grace. For, along the road to God, if we do not go forward we fall
back.</p>
<p>691 Next we see the servants bringing news of the healing. First, the news of the healing is given.
Secondly, there is an inquiry about the time of the healing (v 52).</p>
<p>692 He says, <span style="font-weight: bold">While he was on his way down, </span>from Cana of Galilee to his own home, <span style="font-weight: bold">his
servants ran up to meet him</span>&#8212;which shows that this official was wealthy and had many
servants&#8212;<span style="font-weight: bold">with word that his son was going to live: </span>and they did this because they thought that
Christ was coming, and his presence was no longer necessary as the boy was already cured.</p>
<p>693 In the mystical sense, the servants of the official, i.e., of reason, are a man&#8217;s works, because
man is master of his own acts and of the affections of his sense powers, for they obey the
command and direction of reason. Now these servants announce that the son of the official, that
is, of reason, lives, when a man&#8217;s good works shine out, and his lower powers obey reason,
according to: &#8220;A man&#8217;s dress, and laughter, and his walk, show what he is&#8221; (Sir 19:27).</p>
<p>694 Because this official did not yet believe either fully or soundly, he still wanted to know
whether his son had been cured by chance or by the command of Christ. Accordingly, he asks
about the time of the cure. <span style="font-weight: bold">He asked them</span>, the servants, <span style="font-weight: bold">at what time his boy got better. </span>And
he found that his son was cured at exactly the same hour that our Lord said, <span style="font-weight: bold">Go, your son lives</span>.
And no wonder, because Christ is the Word, through whom heaven and earth were made: &#8220;He
spoke and they were made; he commanded and they were. created&#8221; (Ps. 148:5).</p>
<p>695 <span style="font-weight: bold">And they</span>, his servants, <span style="font-weight: bold">told him that yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
</span>In the mystical sense, the seventh hour, when the boy is cured of his fever, signifies the seven
gifts of the Holy Spirit, through whom sins are forgiven, according to: &#8220;Receive the Holy Spirit;
whose sins you forgive, are forgiven&#8221; (below 20:22), and through whom spiritual life is produced
in the soul: &#8220;It is the Spirit that gives life&#8221; (below 6:64). Again, the seventh hour signifies the
appropriate time for.rest, for the Lord rested from all his work on the seventh day. This indicates
that the spiritual life of man consists in spiritual rest or quiet, according to: &#8220;If you remain at rest,
you will be saved&#8221; (Is 30:15). But of the evil we read: &#8220;The heart of the wicked is like the raging
sea, which cannot rest&#8221; (Is 57:20).</p>
<p>696 Next, we are given the effect of this miracle (v 53). First, its fruit is mentioned. Secondly,
this miracle is linked with another one (v 54).</p>
<p>697 He says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The father then realized, </span>by comparing the hour mentioned by the servants with
the hour of Christ&#8217;s affirmation, <span style="font-weight: bold">that it was at that very hour when Jesus told him, Your son
lives. </span>Because of this he was converted to Christ, realizing that it was by his power that the
miracle was accomplished. <span style="font-weight: bold">He and his whole household became believers, </span>that is, his servants
and his aides, because the attitude of servants depends on the condition, whether good or wicked,
of their masters: &#8220;As the judge of the people is himself, so also are his ministers&#8221; (Sir 10:2); and
in Genesis (18:19) we read: &#8220;I know that he will direct his sons.&#8221;</p>
<p>This also shows that the faith of the official was constantly growing: for at the beginning, when
he pleaded for his sick son, it was weak; then it began to grow more firm, when he called Jesus
&#8220;Lord&#8221; then when he believed what the Lord said and started for home, it was more perfect, but
not completely so, because he still doubted. But here, clearly realizing God&#8217;s power in Christ,
his faith is made perfect, for as Proverbs (4:18) says: &#8220;The way of the just goes forward like a
shining light, increasing to the full light of day.&#8221;</p>
<p>698 Finally, this miracle is linked with the previous one, <span style="font-weight: bold">This was the second sign Jesus had
performed on returning from Judea to Galilee. </span>We can understand this in two ways. In one
way, that our Lord performed two miracles during this one trip from Judea to Galilee; but the first
of these was not recorded, only the second. In the other way, we could say that Jesus worked two
signs in Galilee at different times: the one of the wine, and this second one about the son of this
official after he returned again to Galilee from Judea.</p>
<p>We also see from this that the Galileans were worse than the Samaritans. For the Samaritans
expected no sign from the Lord, and many believed in his word alone; but as a result of this
miracle, only this official and his whole household believed: for the Jews were converted to the
faith little by little on account of their hardness, according to: &#8220;I have become as one who
harvests in the summer time, like a gleaner at the vintage: not one cluster to eat, not one of the
early figs I desire&#8221; (Mi 7:1).</p>
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