Augustin Sokolovski
In the Orthodox Church, the fifth Sunday of Easter is dedicated to the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. This text appears at the very beginning of the Gospel according to Saint John and occupies almost the entire chapter 4, from verses 5 to 42. It is the penultimate Sunday before Ascension, the last Sunday after Easter, in a Gospel narrative in which women play the leading roles—as in the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers—or, as in this case, the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman.
By placing this text within the Paschal season—and indeed, by making it the theme of a specific Sunday’s main celebration—the Church encourages the faithful to read this text in a Paschal light. In this manner, the narrative of the Lord’s earthly life, up to the Cross and the Resurrection, is read and understood as if Jesus had already risen from the dead, and His words and deeds were proof—indeed, a demonstration—of the Resurrection. Thus, the Conversation with the Samaritan Woman is not merely a narrative or a teaching by Jesus to his disciples, such as the Sermon on the Mount or the parables, but a story that, through the Holy Spirit, becomes one of the most significant manifestations of the Risen One.
Jesus speaks of Himself as the “Source of Water flowing into eternal life,” which points to baptism as the sacrament of the Church that gives life, saves, and is never repeated, “for whoever has tasted it will never thirst again,” and does not merely signify a willingness to repent and follow Him, as was the case with John’s baptism before the Resurrection.
Jesus deliberately misleads the Samaritan woman when he asks her to call her husband but immediately declares that she does not actually have a husband, “for you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.” This is how the reality of the age to come is depicted, “where people neither marry nor are given in marriage,” and moral judgment takes on an apocalyptic dimension when Jesus sits on the Throne of Glory. He “holds a double-edged sword” (Revelation 1:16) and knows everything about human beings; he judges even the most trivial and ordinary matters, as well as the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
Jesus speaks of himself as the Messiah: “It is I who am speaking to you.” This is, in fact, one of the most radical declarations of Jesus’ messiahship in the entire Gospel text—one that literally takes your breath away in prophetic awe.
Finally, Jesus sends the disciples out to preach, and the Samaritans confess that they have believed His word, “for they themselves have heard and know that He is truly the Savior of the world, the Christ.” This is a clear reference to Pentecost and the preaching of the Gospel throughout the earth to all nations until the end of time.
Thus, the Conversation with the Samaritan Woman encapsulates the entire course of the Gospel narrative and, at the same time, becomes Jesus’s universal prophecy about Himself and about the fate the Church, and history and the world. This is an authoritative dogmatic account, clothed in the beauty of the humble yet timelessly majestic narrative, as the Lord does so uniquely in the Gospel of John. During the Easter season, the Church invites everyone to learn from and be inspired by the stunning, prophetic reality and eschatological clarity of these words. Christ is risen, has ascended, and will return soon!