Please forgive me for my hiatus over the last week. There have been some things happen that didn't really permit me the time I need to write these daily blogs for study. So, for the current time being I will do my best to catch us up and do as many of these studies as I can per day till we are back on track. Hopefully you have been reading as planned (1 chapter in John per day) and you can simply read these studies and review what you've read as I write and post them. Once again I'm sorry for getting so behind.
JOHN 4: (read the chapter here)
This is a long chapter, 54 verses in all, and as is with most chapters in John it is loaded. I will try and keep the content of this post as short and to the point as possible so it isn't a massive undertaking to read.
The Samaritan Woman (verses 1-26, 39-42):
Jesus was creating quite a stir in Judea and not wanting to do this yet, he and his apostles left the area and headed back to Galilee. To do this from Judea they had to go through Samaria which is where the Samaritans lived. Samaritans where like the Jew's reject cousins. They were all related way back in the family tree, but they hated each other. And this point is important to remember going forward. Jesus stops at a well in Sychar (a town in Samaria) at about the 6th hour (that would be Noon/12pm) and a woman comes to the well while he is there. This is BIG...woman in this day typically went to the wells for water in the morning; partially because it was cool, but it was also like their social hour. It was a time for the woman of the town to meet, chat, gossip, etc. This woman apparently was not welcome at the well in the morning, we'll find out why in the next few verses.
Jesus asks the woman for a drink of water...STOP...a big deal here; Jesus, a JEW, asks a SAMARITAN (most Jews hate Samaritans)...WOMAN (men did not chat with woman they weren't married to, it was even considered by some to be stooping below yourself to look a woman in the eye that wasn't your wife)...for a drink of water. This was a massive NO-NO for a Jewish man, and the woman knows it and calls him out on it in verse 9. But Jesus had a reason (as he always does), he tells here she should actually be the one asking him for a drink, because the water he has gives everlasting life and she will never go thirsty again. She thinks he is still actually talking about literal water and asks him for this water so she'll never be thirsty again and have to come to the well everyday.
Before "giving her" this water; Jesus needs to address a problem, rather a sin in her life. So he tells her to go get her husband, which he knows she has none. He tells her she has in fact had five husbands and currently is living with a man who is not her husband (now we see why she isn't welcome at the well in the mornings). She is shocked at his knowledge and understanding he is someone who is very close to God (she says a "prophet") she asks him a religious question about the appropriate places to worship God. Jesus' response is that soon there will not be a need for a place to worship properly, because true worship will take place through the Spirit (referring to the Holy Spirit). The woman responds, acknowledging that she knows about the coming Messiah and that when he comes he will make all things clear and understandable to all people; Jesus says: "he's here, and I am he!!"
In verse 27-30 Jesus' Disciples return and the woman runs off and tells everyone she knows about Jesus; then jumping ahead to verse 39-42 we see that because of the woman's testimony about Jesus many people come to meet him, hear him speak and believe in his teachings and who he says he is. In fact, they ask him to stay as their guests for more time and he stays for 2 more days.
Teaching the Disciples (verses 27-38):
Back to verses 27-38; Jesus' disciples return and the woman runs off to tell everyone about her encounter with Jesus. The disciples are somewhat stunned at Jesus for having this private conversation with a Woman...a Samaritan Woman (as we often are today, the disciples were often caught up in keeping a certain public profile and reputation that they thought would appeal to "everyone"). Despite their surprise no one dare call Jesus out on this because they knew better.
After the woman ran off the disciples tried to get Jesus to eat and he says, I don't need food because I have food that you know nothing about. Jesus says, I survive on the nourishment of doing the will of my father who sent me. Then in verse 35-38 he says something that has puzzled me as to what he is actually talking about. 1) On one level I think he is trying to get it through his followers heads that now, here, in Samaria is a time to love people and bring them to my father, because he wants all people to be his followers, not just Jews. Jesus is showing his followers that he is not here just for Jews, he is here to bring salvation to the entire world. 2) But on another level, I think he may simply be trying to tell them that many people participate in the work of God. Some people do the sewing of the gospel seed into the hearts of the world and other people do the watering and still others may actually get to see the fruit of all that work come to bear. 3) But he also makes it pretty clear in verse 38 that the hard work is done for us...the hard work of the teaching the Law (Moses and the Rabbis), preaching repentance (the Prophets of the OT and John the Baptist), and even more so the hard work of Jesus dying on the Cross and Rising from the dead wiping all sins of the earth away.
***Like I said, this chapter is loaded***
Healing an Official's Son (verses 43-54)
Here Jesus returns to his home region of Galilee, specifically Cana (which was basically home, very near Nazareth). While there an Official, a royal official (meaning, again probably not a JEW), comes to Jesus and asks him, in fact begs him to come heal his son in Capernum (a major city in Galilee). Something of note to mention here, this royal official heard Jesus was in Cana, and came out from the big city to find him in the country region of Cana to BEG him to come heal his son. Jesus tells the people near him, I think maybe with some frustration in his heart, that unless they see him do miracles they will not believe.
So what does Jesus do...he tells the guy go home your son will be healed and on the way home a servant meets the official to tell him his son is well and they discover that it was actually at the same time Jesus told him his son would be healed that was healed all the way over in Capernum. This healing is interesting to because Jesus tells the people that they need to see miracles in order to believe in him, but the then he does a miracle they can't see, so they and the official have to take him at his word that he does what he says he is doing.
Jesus cares for, has compassion on, heals, and saves those that we (his followers) think he should have no business even talking to. This is the "upside-down Gospel", Jesus upside-down way of doing things. It's upside-down to us, but we are actually the ones who need to change our point of view.
"Give me you eyes for just one second; Give me your eyes so I can see everything that I've keep missing. Give me your LOVE for Humanity." -Brandon Heath-
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