Volume 67:l January 2003
TabZe of Contents
Jesus and the Woman at the Welk Where Mission Meets
Worship
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter 1. Scaer 3
Baptism as Consolation in Luther's Pastoral. Care
................................... John T. Pless 19
Luther's Care of Souls for Our Times
Reinhard Slenczka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Paul's Use of the Imagery of Sleep and His Understanding
of the Christian Life
Piotr J. Malysz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theological Observer 79
An Appeal for Charity with Clarity: Observations and
Questions on Terms and Phrases in Need of Clarification
Why are there SmaU Churches?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Book Reviews 89
The Letter to Philemon. By Joseph A. Fitzmyer.
Charles R. Schulz ..............................
Mark: Images of an Apostolic Interpreter. By C. Clifton Black.
.................................. Peter J. Ccaer
Introducing the Reformed Faitk Biblical Revelation,
Christian Tradition, Contemporaty Significance. By
Donald K. McKim. ............. Timothy Maschke
On My Heart Imprint Your Image: A Collection of Hymns for
the Christian Year. By Kathryn M . Peperkorn,
soprano/ Rev. John M. Berg, Organ.
.............................. Kevin Hildebrand
The Company of Preachers: Wisdom on Preaching, Augustine
to the Present. Edited by Richard Lischer.
................................. Mark Nuckols
Books Received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Jesus and the Woman at the Welk
Where Mission Meets Worship
Peter J. Scaer
Introduction
The purpose of the fourth gospel is explicit and well known: that those
who hear it might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and
that, believing in Him, they might have life in His name (John 20:31). As
such, the engendering of faith that leads to eternal life lies at the very
heart of John's purpose. Eternal life, however, is not simply something
that we will inherit at our death or receive at our Lord's second coming;
it is the present possession of God's people. Jesus makes this clear, saying,
"He who hears my word and believes the One who sent me has eternal
life, . . . and has [already] crossed over from death to life" (5:24).' Even
now the believer has streams of living water flowing from within (4:14).
Indeed, the one "who lives and believes in [Christ] will never die" (11:26).
More so than any other evangelist, John would have us understand that
eternal life already belongs to all those who trust in Hirn who is "the
Way, the Truth, and the Life" (14:6). Since eternal life is a present reality,
we do well to consider how this life is defined, and what it looks like.
John's Apocalypse: An Eternal Life of Worship
For a picture of eternal life we customarily turn to John's other great
work, the Apocalypse. In the Revelation, John offers a tantalizing glirnpse
into the heavenly realities, an extraordinary preview of the life to come.
Once we adjust our vision to the technicolor landscape of golden streets
and jewel-laden walls, we See that eternal life is defined by Christ-
centered worship. John invites us to gather around the Lamb, slain for the
sin of the world. With people from every nation we sing the songs of
angels, sit by the life-giving, crystalline river, and eat from the tree of
healing. John describes heavenly worship as a marriage feast in all its
glory (Revelation 19:7).
If, however, the Apocalypse offers us a picture of worship drawn from
the heavenly perspective, so also John's Gospel offers us an introduction
'All Scripture translations are those of the author.
Dr. Peter J. Scaer is Assistant Professor of Exegetical Theology a f
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
to heavenly worship as we experience it here, on earth. Throughout the
Gospel of John, we see that Christ's own evangelism and teaching
prepares the would-be believer for a life of eternal worship. This worship
begins not when we die or when our Lord returns, but even now.
Heavenly worship, like eternal life itself, is, for the Christian, a present
reality. Even now, we are invited to stand in the presence of Christ, who
is Himself the true Lamb, the new temple, the source of life-giving
waters, and the long-awaited bridegroom.
As such, evangelism and worship are not easily separated. Indeed, they
form a natural continuum, even as courtship leads to marriage. So it is
that our Lord said to the Samaritan woman, "But the hour is coming, and
is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and
truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him" (John
423). Let us then turn to the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
Jesus' Encounter with the Samaritan Woman: The Intersection
Between Evangelism and Worship
Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well (John 4:l-42) is one of the
most beloved stories in the Gospels. Many have turned to this well-
crafted narrative as a prime example of evangelism and ~utreach.~ The
One who breaks down the barriers between God and man through His
incarnation now begins to bridge the gaps that separate fallen humanity.
Missiologists commonly observe that in this story Jesus crosses over a
number of cultural bridges: the holy, Jewish man reaches out to a sinful,
Samaritan woman3 Along the way, He breaks down barriers of holiness,
ethnicity, gender, and religion. Moreover, by offering the gift of salvation
to the fallen Samaritan woman, the Lord shows that there is hope for all
of us. He is, indeed, the Savior of the ~ o r l d . ~
'See, for instance, Johannes Nissen, "Mission in the Fourth Gospel: Historical and
Hermeneutical Perspectives," in New Readings in lohn, edited by Johannes Nissen and
Sigfred Pedersen (Sheffield, United Kingdom: Sheffield Publishing, 1999), 213-232. See
also, Tesera Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission (Tübingen: J. C . B. Mohr, 1988),
79-196.
%e Robert Maccini, Her Testimony is True: Wornen as Witnesses According to lohn,
Journal for the Cociety of New Testament Studies USNTS] 125 (Sheffield, United
Kingdom: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), 118-144.
S e Okure, Johannine Approach to Mission, 184-185.
Jesus and the Woman at the Well 5
The fact that this text also offers a beautiful picture of the intersection
between mission and worship receives less attention. Christ, as God's best
missionary, at once reaches out to the Samaritan woman, but He also
draws her in. Rather than leaving her in the purgatorial limbo of the
seeker-service, He leads her to Himself, into a place from which living
waters flow, and true bread is discovered. In short, He draws her into His
church, where alone there is worship of the Father, marked by Spirit and
truth.
Worship and Courtship
If John describes heaven as a wedding feast at which Christ is the
groom and the church is His bride, we should not be surprised that in his
Gospel John depicts evangelism as a type of courtship that leads to
marriage.
Indeed, a growing number of scholars have come to See the story of
Jesus and the Samaritan woman as a Johannine variation on an Old
Testament betrothal story. According to Robert Alter, the typical Old
Testament betrothal Scene consists of the five following elements: (1) the
future bridegroom or his surrogate travels to a foreign land (just as Jesus
Himself traveled to Samaria), with its very different customs; (2) He
encounters a girl at the well (here, in an ironic twist, Jesus encounters not
a girl, but a woman, who is, shall we say, experienced); (3) someone
draws water from the well (in John's story, there is, instead, a lengthy
discussion about drawing water); (4) the girl rushes home to tell her
family about the strange man (here the Samaritan woman also rum home
to tell the others about Jesus); and (5) the strange man is invited to a
family meal and a betrothal is concluded between the stranger and the
girl (in this case, after a discussion about a meal, Jesus becomes the focal
point of the entire community. As a result, the Samaritans proclaim Him
tobe the Savior of the cosmos). Thus, in the story of Jesus' encounter with
the Samaritan woman, all the elements of Old Testament betrothal are
present, but with a number of surprising twi~ t s .~
We might, then, regard the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman as
a type of romance. First, consider the setting. The reader, familiar with
the Old Testament, would take special note of the fact that the encounter
between Jesus and the Samaritan woman takes place at Jacob's Well. The
-
'Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (New York: Basic Books, 1981), 52.
well, in Old Testament times, was the place of co~rtship.~ It was at a well
that Moses met Zipporah (Exodus 2:15-22), and that Abraham's servant
found a bride for Isaac (Genesis 249 and following). Of Course, it was at
a well that Jacob first gazed upon Rachel's lovely eyes, causing his own
to weep with joy (Genesis 29:l-14).
The story of Jacob's courtship at the well, in particular, remained a
popular one in both rabbinic and Hellenistic-Jewish writings. Josephus's
own retelling of the Old Testament includes a tender picture of Jacob and
Rache1 at the well? Thus, when John tells us that the place of meeting was
a well, and Jacob's Well at that, he is not only offering us a geographical
detail, but he is preparing us for a particular type of story.
The context also argues for interpreting this story as a courtship. Jesus
begins His ministry at Cana, performing His first miracle at a wedding,
thus signaling His status as the true bridegroom (John 2). Following the
story of the wedding, and immediately preceding the story of the woman
at the well, John the Baptist describes his relationship to Christ in
matrimonial terms, claiming, "The one who has the bride is the
bridegroom; the best man, who Stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly
at the bridegroom's voice" (3:29). Thus, John the Baptist compares his
work to that of a best man preparing for the groom, who is Christ. The
reader is left to wonder what kind of groom the Christ will be.
We should add that not only is a matrimonial theme suggested by the
context and setting of the story, but it also plays prominently in the
content. After a discussion of water at the well, Jesus abruptly changes
the subject, telling the woman to fetch her husband (4:16). The woman
replies that she has no husband. Undoubtedly she is embarrassed to
reveal her scandalous past. 1s she also making herself available to a new
suitor? Surely, this is not the first time, nor would it be the last, that
people would fail to comprehend the words of Jesus. John loves to play
with ironic confusion and misunderstanding. What is true bread? What
is true water? Who is truly blind and who can truly see? As
representative of the Jewish people, Nicodemus was confused as to the
nature of heavenly birth. The context leads the reader to wonder whether
the Samaritan woman was still thinking in earthly terms, leaving herself
6Cee Jerome Neyrey, "Jacob Traditions and the Interpretation of John 410-26,"
Catholic Biblical Quarterly 41 (1979): 419-437.
'Antiquities 1:286-292.
Jesus and the Woman at the Well 7
Open for a sixth marriage and a husband who could finally make her
happy. In a provocative article, John Bligh puts it this way:
Perhaps she is another example of persons who want Christ for the
wrong reason. The first word which he addresses to his prospective
followers is: "What do you want?" (1:38). The Galileans come to him
wanting bread and fish (compare 6:26); he offers them the true
bread, which is himself. The woman standing before him wanting,
perhaps only half-consciously, marriage; he offers her instead the
reality of which marriage is a figure?
Indeed, when the disciples returned from their trip to the city to buy
bread, they too may have misunderstood the Situation. Though they were
too embarrassed to say it, they were "amazed that he was talking to a
woman," and wanted to ask, ".What are you looking for?" and "Why are
you talking with her?" (4:27). The problematic issue for the disciples,
most interestingly, was not that Jesus was talking to a Samaritan, but to
a woman. Representative of common opinion on the subject, Rabbi
Nathan writes, "One does not speak with a woman on the street, not even
his own wife, and certainly not with another woman, on account of
go~sip."~ Accordingly, the disciples were scandalized by Jesus'
relationship with the woman, though they were too afraid to challenge
Him on the matter.
Jesus, however, had other intentions. He was seeking more than an
earthly marriage. So when the woman claimed she had no man, our Lord
replied that, in fact, the Samaritan woman had five husbands, and the
man she had then was not her husband (4:18). Here many commentators
have detected a sly reference to the Samaritan people as a whole, who
were known for their religious promiscuity. J. Eugene Botha concludes,
"The implication is that the woman's moral life, as representative of the
Samaritans', is also indicative of the quality of the worship of the
Samaritans."lo Indeed, the woman's marital history echoes that of the
Samaritans as described in 2 Kings 17:30-32. In their syncretism, the
Samaritans were said to have worshiped the gods of five other nations.
Josephus echoes this commonly-held assumptioninhis Antiquities, where
"John Bligh, "Jesus in Samaria," Heythrop Journal 3 (1962): 335-336.
'Aboth Rabbi Nathan 2 (ld).
"'J. Eugene Botha, Jesus und the Samaritan Woman: A Speech Act Reading of lohn 4:l-42
(Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1991), 155.
he notes that the Samaritans incorporated the gods of five other countries,
thus provoking "the Most High God to anger and wrath."" The
Samaritan woman is, of Course, an historical personage, but she also
stands as a symbolic figure for her people. The question John would have
us ask is whether the Samaritan woman will find in Jesus her true
bridegroom. Five husbands had not brought her any personal satisfaction
or ultimate meaning. Earthly water could never satisfy her thirst. False
religions could not deliver what she, representative of the Samaritan
people, needed. Only Jesus could satisfy her longing. Only Jesus could
provide living water. Only Jesus could serve as her true bridegroom.
Jesus as the True Locus for Worship
Indeed, this pericope makes it plain that true satisfaction is to be found
nowhere except in the flesh and blood bridegroom, Jesus Christ. True
worship, therefore, must be through the Son. The Samaritan woman first
broached the topic of worship, saying: "Our ancestors worshiped on this
mountain, but you people claim that the place where men ought to
worship God is in Jerusalem" (John 4:20).
Many commentators have surmised that the Samaritan woman
changed the subject in order to avoid the delicate matter of her own
marital history. Yet our Lord took this as an opportunity to discuss the
nature of true worship. Jesus replied,
Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the
Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people
worship what you do not understand, while we understand what we
worship; after all salvation is from the Jews. Yet an hour is coming
and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in
Spirit and truth. And indeed, it is just such worshipers that the Father
seeks. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in
Spirit and truth (John 4:21-24).
The Greek word for worship, "npomvvEo," appears ten times in five
Verses. Remarkably, the very heart of Jesus' evangelism of the Samaritan
woman centered on a discussion of worship. Evangelism and worship
intersect and overlap. Yet the dialogue, while fascinating, has proven
somewhat enigmatic. What does it mean "to worship inSpirit and truth"?
"Antiquities 9288.
Jesus and the Woman at the Well 9
Does this mean, as some have suggested, that true worship must eschew
earthly elements? 1s such worship marked by authenticity and sincerity
of heart? - or is there more?
Given the immediate context, we would do well to conclude that, with
the advent of Christ, the worship of God will no longer be limited
geographically . The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim. According
to the Samaritan Pentateuch, Moses commanded that an altar be built on
Mount Gerizim. Samaritans also claimed the mountain as the holy place
upon which Jacob received his vision of ascending and descending
angels.12 Having received his vision, Jacob himself confessed, "This is
none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven" (Genesis 28:16-
18). If Jacob claimed Mount Gerizim as the house of God and the gate of
heaven, who were the Samaritans to disagree?
Jesus contradicted the woman's assumptions, however, calling
Samaritan worship inadequate: "You [Samaritans] worship what you do
not know. We worship what we know" (John 422). Perhaps Jesus is
playing on the words of Jacob, who, having awoken from his vision said,
"Surely, the Lord was in this place and I did not know it" (Genesis
28:16)?3 In words reminiscent of His conversation with the Canaanite
woman, Jesus added, "Salvation Comes from the Jews" (John 15:24).
However, our Lord did not stop with anti-Samaritan polemic; He
proceeded to say that even the Jerusalem temple was becoming obsolete.
"For the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this
mountain nor in Jerusalem" (John 4:21). Physical descent from the
patriarch Abraham would not save the Jews, nor would Jacob save the
Samaritans. Jacob's water could not satisfy. Jacob's ladder was not the
gate into heaven, and they would no longer find God in the temple. Or,
perhaps, we should put the matter positively: Jesus is Jacob's ladder, the
true gate to heaven. He is the true temple of God, the place of His
dwelling. By speaking in this way, Jesus prepared the Samaritan woman
for heavenly worship, in which "there is no need of a temple," for the
saints stand always in the presence of God and the Lamb. Not
surprisingly, when the Samaritan woman left Jesus, she also left behind
her water jug, for she wanted only the water that could truly satisfy. She
'%ee John MacDonald, The Theology of the Samaritans (Philadelphia: Westminster,.
1964), 327-333; Antiquities 18:85-87.
'%ee Neyrey, " Jacob Traditions," 427-428.
then invited her fellow Samaritans on a pilgrimage of sorts, a pilgrimage
not to Jerusalem or to Mount Gerizim, but to Jesus, the one who reveals
all things.
Worship in Spirit and Truth
With the passing significance of Gerizim and Jerusalem, some have
concluded that the worship of God in this new hour is purely spiritual,
that is, entirely without ties to physical or earthly elements. Worship in
Spirit and truth has been accordingly understood as synonymous with a
type of heart-felt devotion, in opposition to the ceremonies of Judaism,
Catholicism, or, for that matter, liturgical Lutheranism. In exegeting this
Passage, Calvin defined worship in Spirit and truth in this way: "It is to
lay aside the entanglements of ancient ceremonies, and to retain merely
what is spiritual in the worship of God; for the truth of the worship of
God consists in the Spirit, and the ceremonies are but a sort of
appendage."14 Such an interpretation finds its modern-day counterpart
in the work of F. F. Bruce, who writes, "Material things could at best be
the vehicle of true worship but could never belong to its essence." This
type of interpretation lays the center of worship squarely within the
human heart, and has little use for outward ceremonies. Within our own
circles, many would agree that the liturgy is likewise an appendage to the
gospel, and that heart-felt faith must take precedence.
However, the focus of John is not upon inward cleansing or pure
intention, but upon the question of where God may be found and
worshiped. The issue for discussion between the Samaritan woman and
Jesus was not sincerity of heart, but the location of God. Where can God
be found, so that He might bestow His blessings, even as we offer Him
our worship? John would have us know that there is a true geography of
worship, and that worship centers in the Person of Christ. Our Lord is the
place where one meets and worships God. As Johannes Nissen puts it,
"Jesus is the temple for the true worship of the Father. He is the new holy
pla~e."'~ To worship in truth, then, is to recognize that the Father can only
be known through His S n .
"John Calvin, Cornrnentaty on the Gospel According to lohn, translated by William
Pringle (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1949), 163.
"Johames Nissen, "Mission in the Fourth Gospel: Historical and Hermeneutical
Perspectives," in N m Readings in lohn, edited by Johames Nissen and Sigfred
Pederson, JSNTC (Sheffield, United Kingdom: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 224.
Jesus and the Woman at the Well 11
Worship, Wisdom, and the Word of Jesus
John would have us know that Jesus is the true place of God's presence.
To enter into His presence is to enter sacred space. As Marianne Meye
Thompson puts it, "Ac the locus of God's presence, Jesus serves as the
'place' of epiphany, and so reidentifies the 'place' of wor~hip."'~ This then
begs the questions: How does the reader enter into the sacred space that
is Jesus? How does one come into contact with Jesus, and thereby
worship the Father?
As Jesus is the very revelation of God in the flesh, this revelation comes
first through the self-revelation of His word. The story of the Camaritan
woman is, after all, a conversation in which Jesus revealed Himself
through words. During this conversation, Jesus took His interlocutor
from the position of unbelief towards that of faith. Jesus led the woman
from a discussion of water to living water, and from a discussion of
worship to the revelation that He is, indeed, the promised Messiah, the
one called Christ. The culmination of the conversation came when the
woman said, "I know that Messiah, the one called Christ, is coming.
When that one comes, he will announce to us all things" (John 425).
Indeed, Jesus then announced the most important thing, declaring, "I am,
the one speaking to you" (John 4:26).
The Samaritans themselves began to believe in Christ when they heard
the story of the woman, especially of her account of the small miracle:
"He told me everything I have done" (John 4:39). However, the
Samaritans came to deeper belief not because of Jesus' miracles, but
because of His teaching, or, more precisely His word: "Many began to
believe in Hirn because of His word, and they said to the woman, 'We no
longer believe because of what you said; for we have heard ourselves,"
(John 442). Through the word of Jesus, God accomplished His purpose.
He found worshipers who would worship Him in truth and Spirit. As
Jesus preached the word, so also the Samaritan people confessed Jesus as
"the Christ, the Savior of the world" (John 442).
'6Marianne Meye Thompson, "Reflections on Worship in the Gospel of John,"
Pnnceton Seminay Bulletin 19 (1998): 269.
Jesus as the Object of Worship
Much of recent Johannine scholarship has rightly recognized the role
of Jesus as the place and mediation of God's presence. We might add that
this pericope, among others, also prepares us for the reality that Jesus is
Himself the proper object of worship. As noted above, when discussing
the role of the Messiah, Jesus Himself claimed the title, saying, "I am, the
one speaking to you." For the woman, this probably was no more than a
declaration of Messiahship. Notably, though, this is the first in a series of
seven absolute "I am" sayings in the Gospel of John. Richard Bauckham
makes the intriguing observation that the number of "I am" Statements
in the Gospel of John matches the number of times in the Old Testament
where God identifies Himself as the great "I am." Bauckham writes, "The
series of sayings thus comprehensively identifies Jesus with the God of
Israel who sums up his identity in the declaration 'I arn he.' More than
that, these sayings identify Jesus as the eschatological revelation of the
unique identity of God."" Thus, through His evangelism of the Samaritan
woman, He also prepared her for worship. This worship must be through
Him as mediator. Furthermore, He prepared her, as representative of the
church, to see that worship must also be to Hirn, who is true God who
had made Himself known even in the Old Testament.
The Baptismai Context of Worship
As we have Seen, the story of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan
woman might be described as a type of courtship, during which
catechesis, or teaching, takes place. In other places in Scripture we See
that teaching leads to, and is paired with, baptism (for example, Matthew
28). May we also See in the story of the Samaritan woman a link between
teaching and baptism?
In order to come to some preliminary answer to this question, we
would do well, once again, to consider the context. Chapter 3 of John's
gospel is essentially baptismal in emphasis. The chapter begins with the
story of Nicodemus, whom John pictures as representative of the Jewish
people. He learned from Jesus the baptismal necessity "of being born of
water and the Spirit" (John 3:5). Those who are baptized are indeed "born
of the spiritr' (John 3:s). Baptism is clearly the means by which the Spirit
works His miracle of regeneration. This is followed shortly after by a
17Richard Bauckham, God Crucified (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 55-56.
Jesus and the Woman at the Well 13
story of John the Baptizer, who was baptizing in Aeon because of the
abundance of water. After discussing ceremonial washing with the Jews,
the disciples of the Baptist described Jesus in this way: "Here he is
baptizing and everyone is coming to him" (John 3:26). The Baptist's
disciples pictured Jesus as a type of magnet, attracting people to Himself.
As He drew people to Himself, so also He baptized.
Chapter 4 then further develops the baptismal theme. John tells us the
very reason that Jesus went to Sarnaria was that He had gained a
reputation as a baptizer. Though He did not personally perform any
baptisms, He "was making and baptizing more disciples than John," and
this fact apparently disturbed the jealous Pharisees (John 4:l).
Once Jesus met the Samaritan woman, the conversation centered on the
topic of water. The Samaritan woman thought Jesus was speaking of
ordinary water, but Jesus informed her that the water He provides is: (1)
a h i n g water (John 410); with the result that (2) whoever drinks it will
never thirst again (John 413); and within them will be (3) "a spring of
water welling up to eternal life."
This water, of Course, has reference to the word of God. The book of
Proverbs speaks of the teaching of the wise as "a fountain of eternal life"
(Proverbs 13:14; See also 18:4 and Isaiah 55:l). This living water is also
closely associated with the Spirit of God, whom the prophets predicted
God would pour out upon His people (for example, Ezekiel36:25-27). In
John 7, Jesus Himself speaks about the Spirit .as a "Life-giving water"
gohn W-3~):~
May we see in this living water also a reference to baptism? The
preceding context argues for such a conclusion. John introduces the story
by describing Jesus as one who baptizes even more than John. Now, at
the well, He carries out this baptismal ministry. Some object that this is
an unwieldy mixing of metaphors. Immersion clearly symbolizes the
death of the old man, and a new birth from on high. The external
application of water points to the washing away of sins. The drinking of
water, however, seems to have no direct baptismal anaology. However,
"For a discussion on this water imagery, See Larry Paul Jones, The Symbol of Water
in the Gospel of John (Sheffield, United Kingdom: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997). Cee
also Craig Koestef s Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995),
155-184.
this type of logic did not prevent Paul from writing, "For by one Spirit we
were all baptized into one body . . . and all were made to drink of one
Spirit" (1 Corinthians 1213). Neither did this mixed metaphor stand in
the way of early Christians. One of the earliest Christian symbols
associated with baptism was that drawn from Psalm 42: "Ac the deer
longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, 0 God" (421). Not
surprisingly, early catacomb art featured pictures of the woman at the
well as a symbol for bapti~m?~ Indeed, the imagery of drinking in the life-
giving spirit at baptism is natural, for it teaches an essential baptismal
truth: namely, that not only do the waters of baptism wash away sins and
offer second life, but through them, the Spirit enters the Christian and
makes His home therein. By teaching about baptism in this way, John
may be combating a tendency towards seeing baptism as simply an
outward, symbolic ritual.
If we find it difficult, however, to decide whether the living water refers
primarily to the word, the Holy Spirit, or baptism, this is, I suppose, as it
should be. For the water, the Spirit, and the words of life all come from
the Same source, namely our Lord. Jesus is the one who offers life-giving
waters (Job 4), His Spirit is life-giving (John 7), and He baptizes with the
Spirit (John 1). John thus links life and water, water and the Spirit, the
Spirit and life, and baptism and the Spirit. Indeed, for the baptized
Christian, word, water, Spirit, and baptism are essentially and eternally
linked in the Person of Christ, from whose crucified body Comes both
water and Spirit (19:34). Did the Samaritan woman understand the
baptismal context of Jesus' words? - perhaps not at first. But then, many
of the things that Jesus said, He said in order that they might be
remembered and understood later. The pericope then works on any
number of levels. For the Samaritan woman, as well as for the first-time
reader, the words are enticing, and are for the purpose of evangelism. For
the Christian, the reference to living water serves as catechesis, deepening
our understanding of the sacramental reality of the church and of
worship. To enter into the church is to receive the living waters. To
receive the living waters is to prepare for the heavenly worship of
Revelation, where water flows from the throne of God and the Lamb.
'Tau1 Niewalda, Sakramentssymbolik im Johannesevangelium (Limburg, Germany:
Lahn-Verlag, 1958), 126.
Jesus and the Woman at the Well 15
We might add yet one more parallel to the story. Ac noted above, the
story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is essentially one of betrothal.
Jesus leads a woman, representative of the Camaritans, to the water of
life. Perhaps Paul was thinking about these links between marriage and
baptism when he wrote, "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself for her; that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word (Ephesians 5:25-26).
The link between baptism and marriage is not simply a Pauline
construction, but it has foundation in Christ's own ministry. This is the
marvel of John's gospel. He demonstrates that theological truths and
church practice have an incarnational basis within the life and work of
our Lord.
Food and Obedience: Pointing Towards the Eucharist
Having discussed baptism, we naturally tum towards the altar and
expect to find a discussion of our Lord's Supper. This we do not find, at
least explicitly, in the story of the Samaritan woman. However, we do
note the following curious exchange, which occurs upon the disciples'
retum from the city, where they had purchased food: "Meanwhile, the
disciples urged him, 'Rabbi, eat! But he said to them, 'I have food to eat of
which you do not know.' So the disciples said to one another, 'Could
someone have brought him something to eat?' Jesus said, 'My food is to do
the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work' (J0h.n 4:31-34).
As Nicodemus misunderstood our Lord's reference to being born from
on high, and the Samaritan woman did nat understand Jesus' reference
to h i n g water, the disciples were likewise befuddled by Jesus' reference
to hidden food. While the disciples were thinking about earthly food,
Jesus was thinking about fulfilling the will of His Father. What was the
will of His Father? - that He be lifted up on the Cross, and thereby draw
all peoples to Himself. By bringing the Samaritans to Himself, He was
fulfilling that very mission. So, in this case, food is mission, the
fulfillment of God's will; or simply put, food is obedience.
This link between obedience and food is intriguing on any number of
levels. It takes us back to the initial creation, where God issued one, and
only one, command. Then the food of disobedience led to eternal death
and Separation from God. Ac God began to create a new people for
Himself, He also used food as both a gift and a test of obedience. W