der the symbol of living water, she meets with badinage. "Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; whence, then, hast thou that living water ?" His reiterated offer, "Whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" she repels with jeer. "Give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw."* Then he breaks in upon the conversation with a seeming irrelevant. request: "Go, call thy husband, and come hither." In vain she denies that she has a husband. By a single sentence he discloses his knowledge of her life. "Thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband," and so extorts from her the confession, "Thou art a prophet," and prepares the way for the announcement to her of his Messiahship. She essays to change the conversation from a tone too personal to be comfortable by bringing up the standing controversy between Jew and Samaritan as to place of worship; not the last time that men have endeavored to evade the plain duty of repentance for acknowledged sin by discussing doubtful theological problems; and she listens in a far different spirit to Christ's response," Neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father." The theological controversy is of the shell, not the substance. "The true worshiper shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him." Her request, made in sarcasm, "Give me this water, that I thirst not," he has already begun to answer in earnest.

The coming of the disciples breaks off the conversation. She hurries into the city in such haste that she not only quite forgets the original request of Jesus for a drink, but leaves her water-pot behind her. Her exaggerated story of Jesus's disclosures of her life awakens the curiosity of her acquaint

*That this request is a serious one is asserted by some commentators. But it seems more consonant with the character of the interview to suppose it to be a willful misunderstanding, as in the case of Nicodemus (John iii., 4), rather than the literal interpretation of a prosaic nature, as in Matt. xvi., 7, and Luke xxii., 38.

ances; a number come out to see this new Rabbi of whom such wonderful things are told, and the result is an invitation to remain and preach in their city, an invitation which he accepts without hesitation.

Jesus's conversational power is quite as remarkable a feature of his ministry as his power of public address. His conversation with the woman at the well is worthy the careful study of every disciple who desires to acquire facility in personal religious conversation, especially of every pastor and Sabbath-school teacher. His condescension in entering into the conversation at all has been often noted, and wisely. The Jewish Rabbis deemed it unworthy of their dignity to instruct a woman. Not one of them would have been seen conversing with a Samaritan. Few, even of modern ministers, would have ventured to address religious conversation to an adulteress. That a king, whose mission was the establishment of a universal empire, should spend his time in converse with such a woman, little consorts with popular ideas of kingly dignity. But Jesus never suffered dignity to stand between him and the common people. His affability and accessibility were characteristic. Something of this spirit has often characterized the truly great, and endeared their names to the communities to which they were given: Frederick the Great, Alfred the Great, Napoleon, and, not least of all, Abraham Lincoln.

Christ's method is equally noteworthy. Between a Jew and a Samaritan there was little in common. Christ finds somewhat in the universal wants of humanity, and so opens the conversation, not first by offering instruction to her, but by that surest method of access to a woman's heart, appealing to her generosity for a favor. Her refusal does not rebuff him. On the contrary, he makes it the text by a transition, sudden, but not abrupt, for spiritual discourse. To his mind every thing in nature is symbolical of spiritual truth. The lily of the field is significant of trust. The city on the hill is an illustration of the power of Christian example. The

leaven in the dough is a type of the moral forces that regenerate society. The wine in the cup reminds of the vine and its branches, and so of the Christian's dependence on his Lord. To such a mind the transition from the commonest objects to the deepest spiritual truths and experiences is never abrupt. It is easy for him to pass from a request for water to instruction respecting the spiritual needs and supply of the soul. He patiently persists in spite of her spirit of badinage.' At length, by a single stroke, he pierces her conscience. But he does not repeat the wound. He wishes not to compel the open confession of her shame, but only to arouse her own selfcondemnation; and, leaving his words to work their own result, he suffers her to change the conversation at her will.

Not less remarkable, certainly, is the moral power which he puts forth by his mere personal presence. That Christ should have condescended to converse with a Samaritan has seemed wonderful. To me it seems more wonderful that the Samaritans should have condescended to converse with Christ. Yet not only this: so were they impressed by the air and bearing of this seeming Jewish Rabbi, that, despite all their intense prejudice, they besought him to remain and preach, the first and only instance in which a Samaritan company has been known to request religious instruction of their hereditary foes, the Jews.

The effect of his two days' preaching was marked, and illustrates the meaning of his metaphorical prophecy, "One soweth and another reapeth. I send you to reap that whereon other men labored." Among the earliest of the Christian churches was that which was organized in Samaria, first under the preaching of Philip, and officially recognized by the council at Jerusalem through Peter and John,* the latter of whom, at least, was of the number that marveled that Jesus talked with a Samaritan woman. And among the earliest Christian apologists and martyrs was that Justin, surnamed philosopher for his learning and martyr for his death, who *Acts viii., 5, 14-17.

was born one half a century later, near the very spot where Jesus thus planted the seeds of the first Gentile Church. Perhaps it was the cordial reception which this Samaritan city gave to him, driven out of Judea by the machinations. of the Pharisees, and soon to be mobbed in his own city of Nazareth by his neighbors and the friends of his youth, that later suggested to him the parable of that good Samaritan who succored the wounded and half-dead traveler that silently appealed to priest and Levite for compassion and assistance, but in vain.

At Cana, how

After two days' sojourn in Samaria Jesus proceeded to Galilee. He had there now no fixed home. Joseph was dead.* Mary had left the old home at Nazareth, but had not yet established a new one at Capernaum. ever, Christ had friends who would give him a warm welcome. To Cana he repaired. The Sabbatic year had drawn to its close. The disciples, therefore—one of whom, at least, had accompanied him to Jerusalem-returned to their usual avocations. They had, as yet, no suspicion of the life-work which was before them. Christ was not yet ready to enter upon his. Not till the bud drops can the fruit appear. And John the Baptist's imprisonment, the accepted signal for the commencement of Christ's public and continuous ministry, had not yet taken place. A single and singular miracle added, however, to Christ's metropolitan reputation, and aided in preparing the public mind to receive him with honor, and listen to his teachings with attention.

* This, at least, is universally surmised from the change of residence, and the fact that his name is never subsequently mentioned, and that Mary is treated as the head of the household from this time.

† John ii., 12.