What is Sexagesima Sunday? See the explanation at the end!
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The
Sunday called Sexagesima, or the
second
Sunday before Lent.
The
Collect.
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O
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LORD God, who seest that we put not
our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be
defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
31 In
the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the
disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work. 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then
cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36 And
he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that
both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And
herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I
sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye
are entered into their labours. (Mark 4
)
These verses, taken in isolation, may not open to us as fully as is made
possible by reading the full context in which they occurred. In order to know
which direction a stationary train will be moving, we need to see on which end
is the locomotive, and which the caboose – merely observing the middle cars
alone will not fully enlighten. So we need to read the preceding account to
fully grasp the present.
The Occasion
1 When
therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and
baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his
disciples,) 3 He
left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go
through Samaria. 5 Then
cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of
ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being
wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
The Purpose
7 There
cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were
gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
We read these lines as if this meeting occurred by simple chance, but it did
not.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ: 4 According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, (Ephesians 1)
With God, nothing happens by chance …
all is predestined and foreordained before of God. The last thing this woman
expected was to find a Jewish man at the well, for Jews avoided the Samaritans
as they would a leper.
The Process
A The Woman
She wanted to avoid the stares and gossip of other more reputable women
(for she was one of ill-repute) comes to the well in the heat of the day. It
was customary to come to draw water during the cool evening hours, but she
comes at noon. She expects no company. She does not have the least suspicion
that great changes are about to happen in her heart and in her life.
9 Then saith the woman of
Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which
am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans
B The
intriguing proposition
10 Jesus answered and said
unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who
it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him,
and he would have given thee living water.
Do you know to whom you address your inquiry, madam?
C The furtive response
11 The woman saith unto
him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence
then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which
gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
Not being a Bible scholar, the woman latches onto her only known Bible
knowledge to respond to the Author of the Bible itself. She remembers the
account of Jacob. She knows he was the greatest of the ancestors of the
Samaritans (or at least believes this to be true). But her mind and heart
is set upon the water located some scores of feet down in a hole in the ground.
She has no knowledge of the Water of which Christ speaks. The Fountain of
Living Waters is beyond the present vision of this woman, but Jesus draws her
closer that she might, at last, see. Christ tickles her curiosity and draws her
interst more deeply into His own being:
13 Jesus answered and said
unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall
thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall
give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in
him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
This
woman, a castoff of society, has never heard of this beautiful and perpetually
satisfying Water.
Christ, the greatest of Fishermen, has carefully set a loving hook in
the woman’s heart: He then makes a seemingly unknowing appeal by asking:
16 Jesus saith unto her,
Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
Do you believe that Jesus did not know all about this woman – her life, her
sin, he need for salvation?
The woman responds with a technical truth, but a spiritual lie:
17 The woman answered and
said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her,
Jesus knows of all the
dirt we sweep under the carpet: He responds: Thou
hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five
husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou
truly.
The woman has failed in virtue and she knows it, but is surprised that Jesus –
a total stranger – also knows it.
She is living in open adultery and has the equivalent of five husbands
– for to sleep with a man is the same as being united in a marriage
relationship. But God condemns this kind of sexual relationship.
The Rev SA Brooks beautifully describes the need of this woman in these words: The
woman at the well, feeling about for light, was led to her own Scriptures, and
in those Scriptures to a prophecy—a prophecy of a great Teacher who was to
come—the Messias. The coming Teacher, she knew, would solve all her
difficulties, and make her way quite clear. It is very beautiful, very
comforting, very teaching, to watch this poor, earnest, baffled woman's soul,
gathering itself at last till it centres upon Christ. She was in a great
strait; where was the escape? Messias comes; He makes all things right. As the
key fits into the lock, as the light matches to the eye, or as sweet music to
the ear, so Christ is made for the soul, and the soul is made for Christ. Till
nature has that filling it must be incomplete, and life must be restless till
it settles on that one resting-place; and this that thirsting, confessing,
enquiring mind was finding out, when God took her by the hand and led her, and
put it into her heart to feel, "I know that Messias cometh, which is
called Christ: when He is come, He will teach us all things."
So the woman relies on that little
spiritual and biblical knowledge that she can foster:
19 The woman saith unto
him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped
in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to
worship.
Now Jesus draws the hooked fish even closer to the Ark of Life:
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither
in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye
worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the
Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth.
The woman stills clings to her own limited knowledge of God: she struggles
against the hook - 25 The
woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when
he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I
that speak unto thee am he.
Now this exchange between Christ and this fallen woman is not only for her own
benefit, but also for our own benefit, and the benefit of her village, and for
the benefit of countless millions of sinners count in the net of Satan.
Look at the impressions the disciples have of
this encounter: 27 And
upon this came
his
disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What
seekest
thou?
or, Why talkest thou with her?
They did not understand, but they knew Christ well enough not to
question His intent. Here He is talking with a woman whose very appearance
revealed that she was not a righteous and faithful wife to any man.
D The Catch
Knowing Christ changes things. The woman who was embarrassed to come with other
women to the well, is now going into the city shouting to all who will listen
the greatness of Christ!
The steady love and purpose of Christ has drawn the hesitant fish to
safe harbor: 28 The
woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the
men, 29 Come,
see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then they went out of
the city, and came unto him
The testimony of one, even one of ill repute, can have dramatic
results. Sometimes, we are so overcome with joy that we are not hungry for the
food of this world. We can only think upon that Bread that comes down from
Heaven – the spiritual food of Christ!
E The Effect!
Now we can read the sermon text with understanding can’t we?
In the mean while his
disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I
have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the
disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work. 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then
cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36 And
he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that
both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And
herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I
sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye
are entered into their labours.
F The
results of a single soul’s salvation!
39 And many of
the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which
testified, He told me all that ever I did. 40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they
besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 41 And
many more believed because of his own word; 42 And
said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have
heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of
the world.
So may you believe!
What is Sexagesima?
Sexagesima, or, in full, Sexagesima Sunday, is the name for the second Sunday before Ash Wednesday in the Catholic (Universal or Whole) Church Calendar.
The name "Sexagesima" is derived from the Latin sexagesimus, meaning "sixtieth," and appears to be a back-formation of Quinquagesima, the term formerly used to denote the last Sunday before Lent (the latter name alluding to the fact that there are fifty days between that Sunday and Easter, if one counts both days themselves in the total). Through the same process, the Sunday before Sexagesima Sunday is known as Septuagesima Sunday, and marks the start of the Pre-Lenten Season, which eventually became the time for carnival celebrations throughout Europe, this custom being later exported to places settled and/or colonized by Europeans. While Quinquagesima (50th day) is mathematically correct (allowing for the inclusive counting), Sexagesima and Septuagesima are only approximations (the exact number of days is 57 and 64 respectively). The earliest Sexagesima can occur is January 25 and the latest is February 28 (or February 29 in a leap year).
The 17-day period beginning on Septuagesima Sunday spanning Sexuagesima and Quinquagesima Sundays was intended to be observed as a preparation for the season of Lent, which is itself a period of spiritual preparation (for Easter). In many countries, however, Septuagesima Sunday marks the start of the carnival season, culminating on Shrove Tuesday, more commonly known as Mardi Gras.
