24 Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, 1980
25 The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary
26 Richard Allen, First Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1831
27 Charles Henry Brent, Bishop of the Philippines, and of Western New York, 1929 was an American Episcopal bishop who served in the Philippines and western New York.
28
29 John Keble, Priest, 1866
30 Innocent of Alaska, Bishop, 1879 also known as Saint Innocent Metropolitan of Moscow (Russian Святитель Иннокентий Митрополит Московский) was a Russian Orthodox missionary priest, then the first Orthodox bishop and archbishop in the Americas, and finally the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia.



OLD TESTAMENT: Exodus 17: 1 - 7 (RCL)
                                Exodus 17: 3 - 7 (Roman Catholic)

Exod 17:1 (NRSV) From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded. They camped at Reph'idim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarreled with Moses, and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?" 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?" 4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me." 5 The LORD said to Moses, "Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Ho'reb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink." Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Mas'sah and Mer'ibah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"


PSALM 95 (all but Roman Catholic)
Psalm 95: 1 - 2, 6 - 9 (Roman Catholic)

Psal 95:1 (NRSV) O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Mer'ibah,
as on the day at Mas'sah in the wilderness,
9 when your ancestors tested me,
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not regard my ways."
11 Therefore in my anger I swore,
"They shall not enter my rest."


95   Venite, exultemus   (ECUSA BCP)

1      Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
     let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

2      Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
     and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

3      For the Lord is a great God, *
     and a great King above all gods.

4      In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
     and the heights of the hills are his also.

5      The sea is his, for he made it, *
     and his hands have molded the dry land.

6      Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
     and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

7      For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
     Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
 
8      Harden not your hearts,
as your forebears did in the wilderness, *
     at Meribah, and on that day at Massah,
     when they tempted me.

9      They put me to the test, *
     though they had seen my works.

10  Forty years long I detested that generation and said, *
     "This people are wayward in their hearts;
     they do not know my ways."

11  So I swore in my wrath, *
     "They shall not enter into my rest."


NEW TESTAMENT: Romans 5: 1 - 11 (all but Roman Catholic)
                                 Romans 5: 1 - 2, 5 - 8 (Roman Catholic)

Roma 5:1 (NRSV) Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

h/t Montreal Anglican

Paul has already demonstrated that “we are justified by faith”. He says that there are three consequences of being justified (found worthy in God’s court):
“peace with God”, a state of harmony with him,
“hope” (v. 2) of sharing his power and eternal life, and
being reconciled with him.

It is through Christ that we have “access to this grace”, this blessed state of harmony. We also bask in the glory (“boast”) of “our sufferings” (v. 3, and not our accomplishments). Through a progression from them to patient “endurance” under spiritual duress, to maturity in the faith (“character”, v. 4) we come to hope. This is hope of a certainty (“does not disappoint”, v. 5) for God’s love enters our very beings “through the Holy Spirit” (which is also God’s gift). “For while we were still weak” (v. 6, i.e. before we knew Christ), at the appropriate time in God’s plan, “Christ died for the ungodly”. It would be rare enough for anyone to die for a pious (“righteous”, v. 7) person, and perhaps a bit more likely for a particularly “good person”, but Christ sacrificed his life for us when we were neither: we were unredeemed sinners then! This proves God’s love for us. So even more certainly, having been made worthy through his death (“blood”, v. 9), will we evade adverse judgement (“wrath”) at the end of time. Then we were against God (“enemies”, v. 10), then we were restored to favour with God by Christ’s death. Even more certainly will we be given eternal life (“saved”) by the risen Christ (“by his life”). We even bask in God’s glory through Christ, being now reconciled (v. 11).

Paul develops these ideas further in 8:1-39: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death ...”. [ NJBC]

Verse 1: “justified by faith”: This is the theme of 3:21-31. [ CAB]

Verse 1: “peace”: In Hebrew, this is shalom, the state of being in which one enjoys all the benefits of a right relationship with God, namely partnership in reconciliation, eternal well--being and wholeness of life. Being justified is very similar, although it implies action.

Verse 1: “through our Lord Jesus Christ”: Christ is active as the mediator, the interface between the Father and humans, in carrying out God’s plan of/for salvation. In some form or other, Paul makes frequent use of this phrase in this chapter: see also vv. 2, 9, 11, 17, 21. [ JBC] He writes in 1:5: “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name”; see also 2:16. “Through” means mediated by, in the Father’s plan of salvation. [ NJBC]

Verse 2: “obtained access”: JBC offers secured an introduction. We have been introduced into the sphere of divine favour through Christ. He has, as it were, led Christians into the royal audience chamber and into the divine presence.

Verse 2: “we boast in our hope ...”: In contrast to the boasting by Jews of their relationship to God mentioned in 2:17: “But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God”. [ CAB]

Verses 2,3,11: “boast”: In Paul’s writings, this word is sometimes meant in the obvious sense, but not here. Basking in glory is what he means here. [ NJBC]

Verse 3: “boast in our sufferings”: Paul also uses the word “boast” in 2 Corinthians 11:30; 12:9 and also 1 Corinthians 1:31; 3:21; 2 Corinthians 10:17; Galatians 6:13; Philippians 3:3. [ CAB]

Verse 3: “endurance”: See also 8:25 (where the Greek word is translated as “patience”) and 15:4-5. [ CAB]

Verse 4: “character”: The Greek word is dokime, from a verb meaning to test, so the sense is proven--ness under testing. [ CAB]

Verse 4: “hope”: Openness to God’s future. [ CAB]

Verse 5: “and hope”: The sense is easier to see if we insert such between and and hope. A human may disappoint one by not doing what he or she commits to do, but God is not like this. [ NJBC]

Verses 5,8: “God’s love has been poured ... through the Holy Spirit”, “Christ”: In v. 5, God is the Father. These verses lead later to the doctrine of the Trinity.

Verse 5: “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit”: In the Old Testament and Apocrypha, pouring out of a divine attribute is commonplace: for example, mercy in Sirach 18:11, wisdom in Sirach 1:9, grace in Psalm 45:2, and wrath in Hosea 5:10 and Psalm 79:6. See especially Joel 2:28 for the outpouring of the Spirit. [ NJBC]

Verses 6-11: Christ, in his death, has borne the consequences of our sin and thus has reconciled us to God. [ NOAB]

Verse 6: “weak”: NJBC offers helpless.

Verse 6: “Christ died for the ungodly”: Paul writes in 4:5: “But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness”. [ CAB]

Verse 8: God’s love is unconditional, spontaneous, not dependent on human love for him.

Verse 9: “justified by his blood”: This is a restatement of 3:24-25: “they [those who have fallen short of true godliness] are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith ...”. [ CAB] In 4:25, justification is the result of Christ’s resurrection, but here it is the result of his death. [ NOAB]

Verse 10: In Galatians 2:20, Paul writes: “... the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”. [ CAB]

Verse 10: “while we were enemies”: Perhaps Paul thinks partly of himself here, as a former persecutor of Christians.

Verse 11: In 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, Paul writes: “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’”. [ CAB]

Verse 11: “we have now received reconciliation”: In 3:21-22, Paul writes: “But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe”. [ NOAB]


GOSPEL: John 4: 5 - 42 (RCL)
                   John 4: 5 - 15 (16 - 19a) 19b - 26 (27 - 38) 39a (39b) 40 - 42   (Roman Catholic)

John 4:5 (NRSV) So he came to a Samaritan city called Sy'char, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" 13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." 17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, "I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" 19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." 26 Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."
27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 33 So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, "Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, "One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world."

Jesus enters Samaria en route from Judea to Galilee. Exhausted by the heat, Jesus rests; his disciples go for food (v. 8). Rabbis did not speak to strange women in public and Jews considered Samaritans ritually unclean, so the woman is surprised by Jesus’ request (v. 9). Jesus answers her: if you knew that God gives to those who ask (“‘the gift of God’”, v. 10) and that I am his agent, you would be the one asking for a drink, “‘and he would have given you living water’”. She misunderstands, thinking that he asks for bubbly spring water. (A legend about Jacob: for him water rose to the top of this well and overflowed.) Are you counting on such a miracle, for “you have no bucket” (v. 11). This water was good enough for Jacob, so are you greater than him? Jesus contrasts the well water with “water gushing up to eternal life” (v. 14). (In John, living water is the vehicle of the gift of the Spirit in baptism.) While she still doesn’t understand, she at least now asks (v. 15). Vv. 16-18 are difficult, but they do show that Jesus has insight, so he must be “a prophet” (v. 19), and can therefore resolve a religious dispute: the common ancestors of the two peoples worshipped on Mount Gerizim (“this mountain”, v. 20) but Jews claim that the only proper worship site is Jerusalem. Jesus replies (v. 21): “the hour” of God’s intervention in the world “is coming”; then cultic sites will be irrelevant. Samaritans, by accepting only part of the Bible, denied themselves access to the part of God’s end--time plans given through the prophets (“what you do not know”, v. 22); “Jews” are at least on the right track. The time is both “coming, and ... now here” (v. 23) to worship God spiritually, discerning “truth”, the reality revealed in Jesus. God is “spirit” (v. 24, life--giving power). She decides to wait to understand until the “Messiah” (v. 25) comes, but Jesus tells her: “‘I am he’” (v. 26). In her haste to tell others about this amazing man, she leaves her “water jar” (v. 28) behind. Come, she says, judge for yourselves! Jesus tells his disciples that the food that sustains his life is obeying the Father and completing his task (v. 34). There is no time for delay (v. 35a) for God’s harvest, “gathering fruit for eternal life” (v. 36, conversion to Christ) is ready now. Others have already begun to sow, have preached the good news. Meanwhile, after hearing the woman’s witness, many hear for themselves and come to belief in Christ. Jesus is “truly the Saviour of the world” (v. 42).

Verses 3-4: “he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria”: The direct route from Judea to Galilee was through Samaria. The Samaritans were a mixture of Jews whom the conquering Assyrians (in 721 BC) had deemed too insignificant to deport to Babylon and of Gentile people whom the Assyrians had settled in Palestine. See 2 Kings 17; Ezra 4:1-3; Nehemiah 4:1-9. Relations between Jews and Samaritans were never good, but in 52 AD a clash was so serious that it was resolved by Roman intervention (see Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 20.6.1-3 118--36; Jewish Wars 2:12.3-5 232--46). [ NJBC]

Verse 5: “Sychar”: No Samaritan city by this name is known. Traditionally, scholars have considered “Sychar” to be Shechem, but most scholars today think that “Sychar” was Askar. The two villages were close together, and within sight of Mount Gerizim. [ CAB] [ NJBC]

Verse 5: In Genesis 33:19, Jacob buys land at Shechem. In Genesis 48:22 he gives land to Joseph and his brothers, giving Joseph a double portion. In Hebrew, portion sounds like Shechem. See also John 1:51, where Jesus tells Nathanael, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man”. Jacob, with his ladder to heaven, is the type (forerunner) of Jesus. [ NOAB] [ NJBC]

Verse 6: “It was about noon”: That a person would visit the well to draw water in the middle of the day is surprising; Water was usually drawn during the less hot times of the day: morning and evening. That the woman draws water about noon suggests that she was an outcast from her village.

Verse 9: “(Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans)”: Clearly this is a note for readers unfamiliar with the strained relations between Jews and Samaritans. Whether John the Evangelist wrote these words or they were added by a later editor is unclear. [ NJBC]

Verse 10: “the gift of God”: Traditions found in targums show that Numbers 21:16-20 was interpreted such that the place name “Mattanah” there was interpreted in terms of its root (which means gift) combined with the promise in 21:16c, “I [God] will give them water.” Jesus’ comment that he is “the gift from God” may echo this tradition. 7:37-39 links “thirsty”, “living water” and “Spirit”: Jesus becomes the source of living water, the Spirit. [ NJBC]

Verse 10: Comments: A legend about Jacob: for him water rose to the top of the well and overflowed: For the legend, see Targum Yerusalmi I Numbers 21:17--18 and Targum Neofit I Genesis 28:10. [ NJBC]

Verse 10: “living water”: In Jeremiah 2:13, Yahweh, speaking through the prophet, refers to himself as “the fountain of living water”. See also Jeremiah 17:13. [ NOAB]

Verse 11: “the well is deep”: Today it is 23 to 32 metres (75 to 105 feet) deep.

Verse 12: In 8:53, Jews ask the same question about Jesus’ stature compared to Abraham. [ NJBC]

Verses 13-15: Not only is Jesus greater than Jacob (for whom the well was an entirely adequate source of water for him, his family and his flocks) but Jesus supplants the reality described in the Old Testament. He is also “the bread of life” which supplants the bread from heaven. See also 6:49-51. In Exodus 16:4, Yahweh tells Moses “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you”. [ NJBC]

Verse 14: “a spring of water gushing up to eternal life”: In 10:10, Jesus says: “‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly’”. [ NOAB]

Verses 17-18: Jesus’ insight would not surprise his readers: see 1:42 (Jesus knows who Simon Peter is); 1:48 (he knows Nathanael); 2:24-25 (“... he himself knew what was in everyone”). [ NJBC]

Verse 22: The Samaritans accepted only the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) as Scripture.

Verse 22: “for salvation is from the Jews”: John has already told his readers that Jesus supplants Jewish purification rites (see 2:6-11, the wedding at Cana, and 3:25-30) and that the “risen Lord” supplants the Jerusalem Temple (see 2:13-22, Jesus cleanses the Temple), so they know the sense in which this clause is meant. [ NJBC]

Verse 23: “truth”: Jesus is the truth, for he is the revelation of God. In 8:45, Jesus tells some unbelievers: “... because I tell the truth, you do not believe me”. See also 14:6; 17:17-19. [ NJBC]

Verse 25: “(who is called Christ)”: BlkJn offers (which means Christ).

Verse 25: “‘I know that Messiah is coming’”: The exact nature of Samaritan messianic hopes is unknown. Whatever it was, it was surely based on Deuteronomy 18:15 (a prophet like Moses) for they recognized none of the prophetic books. [ BlkJn]

Verse 26: “I am he”: Perhaps Jesus points to his divinity, in an echo of God’s self--identification in Exodus 3:14: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you’’”. This is the first of a series of self--revelatory sayings, all echoing an Old Testament formula This is particularly striking in those sayings ( 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5-8) in which Jesus uses the words I am without any predicate. This verse is in striking contrast to the synoptic gospels, where Jesus tells his disciples not to disclose to anyone who he is. Perhaps he felt he could say openly in Samaria what would have seriously impeded his mission in Jewish territory. [ BlkJn]

Verse 27: Whether the disciples were dumbfounded that he would speak to a woman or that they already knew his freedom from Jewish prejudice in the matter is unknown. See Mark 7:25-30; Matthew 15:22-28 (the Canaanite woman’s faith); John 7:53-8:11 (a woman caught in adultery). [ BlkJn]

Verse 34: “‘to do the will of him who sent me’”: This is a common expression in Jesus’ ministry: see also 5:30 and 6:38. Jewish tradition could understand Torah as food: in Proverbs 9:5 Wisdom says “Come, eat of my bread ...”. See also Sirach 24:21. [ NJBC]

Verse 34: “complete his work”: This is echoed at the conclusion of Jesus’ ministry: see 5:36; 17:4; 19:30 (as he dies, Jesus says “‘It is finished’”). [ NJBC]

Verses 35-42: The following would have been part of Comments, had there been space:

Verses 35-42: The following would have been part of Comments, had there been space:

Verses 35-42: The following would have been part of Comments, had there been space:

Verse 36: “wages”: The only point in mentioning the reward seems to be that the harvest is really being gathered now. [ BlkJn]

Verse 36: “sower and reaper may rejoice together”: This is a sign of the new era. Leviticus 26:5 describes the ideal reward as being when the wheat harvest, grape harvest and sowing follow consecutively. This idea is also found in Amos 9:13. [ NJBC]

Verses 37-39: See also 12:23-24. The woman is the first missionary.

Verse 37: “‘One sows and another reaps’”: Normally the sower’s lot is sorrow and the reaper’s is joy: see Psalm 126:5-6. [ NJBC]

Verse 40: “he stayed there two days”: In 1:38, the Greek word translated “stayed” infers conversion. So was the conversion of these Samaritans of short duration, i.e. not permanent? There is no evidence of the conversion of Samaritans outside this gospel before the preaching of Philip (see Acts 8:5-17). Perhaps this is an isolated episode not recorded in the other gospels. [ NJBC]