Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. John 5:2-3
Thirty-eight years lying on a mat, unable to walk. Imagine the things that mat has seen. Though you are desperate to get off the mat, the mat has become quite comfortable to you in a sick sort of way. It is almost part of you now…your identity; who you are. You despise the mat and cling to the mat at the same time. “Do you want to get well?” That is the question Jesus asks. Of course! The impulse reaction. But then you start thinking about life up from the mat. Unknown. Scary. Unpredictable. You start to wonder if the misery of the mat is preferred to the messy unknown. You start to wonder if you will make it apart from the mat. You rationalize that laying by the pool and living off of scraps and handouts isn’t so bad. The real truth is, it seems so impossible. “I have no one to help me….” “If I could just….” “If only….” The thing that put you on the mat isn’t in your head. It is real. It is hard. It is painful. You’ve been trying to get off the mat for So. Many. Years. You know what it takes to get off the mat, and you know you don’t have it. You’ve long given up, but yet you keep at it nonetheless. Are you willing to try something else? To loosen the grip on the familiar and what you think you need to get well? Jesus comes to show us another way. Questions: What things are holding you back from the things God has for you? What are your “if I could just ____” or “If only I _______”?
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So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him. John 4:28-30 The woman at the well hears noises as the disciples return. Her heart is pounding. She sees now. The Messiah. Here. Seeing her; speaking to her; loving her. A Savior for even her; especially her. She drops all pretense, prejudice, push-back, preconceived notions, pride. She drops the water jar and runs as fast as she can back home. “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” Jesus wants to offer us living water too. Are we ready to receive it? Do we see a Messiah or a match for religious debate? Do we see a Savior or no bucket, focusing on circumstances our limited eyes can see? Come, see... It starts with understanding our sin and need for a savior. Jesus brings the woman to a point of facing the thing that has brought her sorrow and shame. He is the one who can wash it clean. We just need to speak it and repent of it and accept His gift of forgiveness and renewal. Just as water is needed for survival, Jesus comes to bring eternal water that not only satisfies but also never runs out. And when we experience the love and grace of God to find us – even in our mess – and offer us a gift of Salvation, we can’t help but tell others. The woman becomes an evangelist…she goes and tells others about Jesus and people come to see for themselves. Not only does she meet Jesus, but she becomes a catalyst for her entire village to meet the Messiah. This one Divine encounter. This one woman who came to a well during the worst time of day to avoid being seen, who was shunned in the town for her sinful life, who was living in guilt and shame…this woman was seen and loved by Jesus and her life was forever changed. Challenge: Click on the YouTube video below for a powerful spoken word from the perspective of the woman at the well. The woman said to him, “I know the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” John 4:25-26
“Go, call your husband, and come here,” Jesus says to the woman at the well after she expresses interest in the water He offers. But He knows she needs more than physical water. He knows she needs to acknowledge her need for the spiritual water He offers. No time to mince words, He gets right to the heart of the matter. "I have no husband," she quickly responds. Why? Why do we have to go here, I imagine her asking herself. The truth is, she had five previous husbands, and the man she is with now is not her husband. It’s part of her shameful past and shameful present. This is her life. Almost in sync with her silent reflection, Jesus speaks it all out loud. He knows. He knows of the husbands. He knows of her current living situation. He knows she is a Samaritan, a woman, a sinner and He is still speaking to her. And the kindness with which He speaks…she has never experienced anything like it. Ever. It is all too much to take in. Change the subject… she tells herself. Think, think. Ahhh, a long-debated religious disagreement between our people… “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship,” she blurts out. He isn’t distracted or diverted though. He explains that the time is coming – now; here even – when the Father will be worshiped in spirit and truth. He is looking for such people to worship. This is feeling too personal; too close to home. Her head spinning; the questions too vast to verbalize as she responds, “I know the Messiah is coming…He will tell us all things.” She doesn’t understand, but she knows who can. “I who speak to you am he,” Jesus replies. To be continued… Question: Are you comforted knowing God knows everything about you – the good and the bad – and still pursues you? Think on this today Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
The Samaritan woman processes this encounter at the well. What is he thinking? No Jewish man is permitted to talk to her. A woman AND a Samaritan. Much less ask for and offer a drink. Is this a trick? Has he a sinister plan? All these thoughts likely dance in her mind. Her thoughts morph into words as instead of accepting His offer, she asks what he is doing talking to 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,” Jesus answers the woman at the well. He doesn’t even have a bucket to draw water, she reasons, unable to look beyond the immediate circumstances she can see. Did he just say IF I knew the gift of God? And living water? Who does he think he is? Better than Jacob who dug this well? Her emotions are floating between anger, confusion, and intrigue. “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” He says. He is on a mission with His words. He isn’t interested in winning an argument about a well; He is after a soul today. Never thirst again, she thinks. Never walk to this blasted well again. Never carry the heavy jug miles back home. She is in. She doesn’t know what he is talking about, but the sound of never thirsting again is awfully appealing. To be continued… Question: Why do you think Jesus uses water and thirst to talk about what He has to offer this Samaritan woman at the well? A woman from Samaria came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” John 4:7
Beads of sweat drip onto the wisps that have long fallen out of her pinned hair. Hot. Tired. So sick of the long and lonely daily walk. But she would take that any day over the jeers and looks she would surely get coming earlier or later when the noon sun wasn’t set high in the sky. Besides, there is something peaceful about the quiet walk alone. Lord knows, things aren’t peaceful back at home. How had she gotten herself into this situation again? Why does she continue to go back to what didn’t work any time before? But what choice does she have? She feels unworthy; unlovable. She regularly replays the highlight reel of her mistakes on this daily walk. And just as often she pushes the thoughts away. What good does it do to dwell on them? She reminds herself she made her bed, now she must lie in it. This is her lot. The recurring conversation in her head is as exhausting as the recurring walk to the well. Beads of sweat pool on His hairline. Hot. Tired. Weary from the journey. But He is excited; expectant. He HAD to come. A divine appointment ordained thousands of years ago. Something beautiful is happening today, He mutters under his breath as the well comes into view. The disciples long gone to get food for the evening, Jesus sits. Right on time…He sees her. His heart is full. He silently prays to His Father. Looking up she sees someone at the well. Oh boy. Why can’t I just do this in peace, she thinks? She braces for the insults she knows will be coming. From His attire, she can tell He is Jewish, and a rabbi no less. Let’s just get this over with…her likely attempt at a pep talk to herself. “Give me a drink,” He says. To be continued… Questions: Do you believe God orchestrates encounters? Is there a person God put in your life at a time when you were trying to avoid people? This is the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. John 2:11a
At the wedding that had run out of wine, Jesus tells the men to draw some water out and take it to the master of the feast. Again, it doesn’t make sense, but again, they do what He tells them. I picture the scene…the men holding their breath, all eyes are glued to the master as the ladle reaches his lips. They know it is only water in the jars. They filled them with their own hands. What will he say? “You have kept the good wine until now,” he says. Exhale. Shame diverted. Not only wine but the BEST wine. The first of His signs that manifested His glory is how John describes it. It might seem a strange way to begin the unfolding of who He is, but it is a beautiful picture of what Jesus is here for and what He will do. The jars for ceremonial washing were continuously emptied and filled. Emptied and filled. Washing that is repeated over and over again. It is never complete. Jesus came to change that. Before the miracle, He told His mother it wasn’t His hour, but It won’t be long before it will be His hour. He will turn the constant re-cleansing into a one-time restoration. A cleansing not with water, but with His blood. A problem we can’t solve on our own, Jesus comes to solve for us. The cleansing of sins we can’t accomplish on our own, no matter how many times we wash, Jesus came to take care of once and for all with His blood. But His bloodshed isn’t the end of it, on the third day, He will rise from the dead. Death will be defeated. Water to wine. Old to new. Never enough to never again. This, the first of His signs. Questions: What are your thoughts on the significance of this first miracle? What other symbolism or foreshadowing do you see? His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:5
If you were Jesus, how would you announce your ministry? Would you hold a huge press conference? Start big…raise someone from the dead? Peel back your flesh to reveal the brightness of your glory? Turn water into wine at a wedding? Wait, what??? “On the third day…” John tells us Jesus is at a wedding. Crisis ensues. The wine runs out. Major social faux pas. “They have no wine,” the mother of Jesus says to Him. Though He has not yet performed any miracles, she knows He can do something about this. We know so little about the childhood and early adulthood of Jesus. What had she seen? How long she must have been waiting for what the angel revealed to her thirty years earlier to come to pass. “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus replies. Not disrespectfully, but matter-of-factly. His mother does not fully know, but Jesus knows, that His hour will involve His suffering and bloodshed. One might think that is the end of the discussion. Not Mary. She turns to the servants and says, “Do whatever he tells you.” Do. Whatever. He. Tells. You. Tucked in the corner of the room are six stone water jars used for Jewish rights of purification; ceremonial cleaning according to the law. Jesus instructs them to fill the jars with water. The men aren’t sure how this will help with the wine situation, but they obey. They fill them to the brim…and they wait to see what Jesus will do with it... Questions: How would you introduce yourself to an audience? What words or actions would you use for them to know more about you? He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30
Have you ever felt really in your element? God nudged you to start something and you did. People pay attention and respond. It just feels right. But then something or someone enters the scene and things begin to change. Attention is shifted. Audiences decrease. You wonder what happened. You clearly heard God call you to this. Why doesn’t it seem to be successful anymore? You question your role. The disciples of John the Baptist are going through this same identity crisis. They love the Lord. They have been part of John’s ministry for some time now. People are coming from all over, repenting, and being baptized. But then Jesus comes. It is joyful at first as they hear their beloved teacher announce that Jesus is the Messiah they have been waiting for. They witness the Holy Spirit descending on Him and the voice of God speak as Jesus is baptized by John. They are part of something big and beautiful. Until their crowds start to decrease. The attention disappears. People are flocking to Jesus instead of them. They still love the Lord; they are still all in, but somewhere along the way, they have tangled up their role with the true reward. John, their teacher, tries to re-shift their focus upward…the one they have been preparing the way for has come. Jesus is to be glorified, not us. Sometimes our role or assignment or passion can become our god and even our work for Jesus can take the place of Jesus in our heart. Jon Bloom says, “We must remember that our role is not our reward. Jesus is our reward. Roles will begin and they will end. And the only way for us to end well is if in our heart Jesus has increased and we have decreased.” Questions: God’s Word is such a gift and opportunity for self-evaluation. In the excitement of a role, have you ever forgotten the true reward? Have your roles (even those for Jesus) become the reward you are seeking instead of Jesus? Is your goal always to point to Him and glorify Him? …And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14b
John continues with the Word – Jesus, the Son of God – now dwelling among us. …and we have seen His GLORY…The glory of God no longer dwelling behind the unapproachable temple curtain. Now a living, breathing, walking, human tabernacle with no separation. …glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of GRACE and TRUTH. Grace: Unearned or undeserving kindness and favor. Unmerited mercy. Receiving something beautiful we don’t deserve and couldn’t get on our own. Truth: That which is, has been, or shall be. True state of facts or things. Scholar G. Campbell Morgan says, “God is grace and truth. Not one without the other. Not the other apart from the one. In His government there can be no lowering of the simple and severe standard of truth, and there is no departure from the purpose and possession of grace.” Grace without truth corrupts and leads to a false license to keep sinning. Truth without grace condemns and fosters legalism. Jesus came to show us how both coexist. He shows us in how He lives, and He shows us in how He dies. Truth: sin carries a penalty of death. Grace: Jesus takes that penalty for us. A convergence to come on the cross. Jesus comes fully God and fully human, and Jesus comes full of grace and full of truth. Questions: Does the idea that Jesus is both grace and truth help you understand why He had to come, and why He had to die for us? Which part do you think people struggle the most with: grace or truth? Why? And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… John 1:14a
Matthew’s gospel tells us of Jesus from the seed of Abraham; the royal line of King David. Mark tells us of Jesus from Nazareth; the humble carpenter’s son. Luke tells us of Jesus from Adam; the man sin entered through to be saved by the only man who can defeat it. But John…John tells of Jesus from Heaven; Jesus as God. John takes us back to the beginning of all things. In the BEGINNING was the Word…Here all along. The beginning of the beginning. Before creation or time. …and the Word was WITH God…Community. WITH-ness. God the Father WITH the Word. …and the Word WAS God...Not only with God, the Word WAS God. …and the Word became FLESH…This. Oh man! The Word that always was. That was WITH God. That WAS God. All the holiness squeezed into skin. Flesh temporarily constraining glory that eyes couldn’t otherwise take in. …and DWELT among us…Closer. Personal. Interacting in mundane daily life. The original word dwelt is translated “pitched a tent” or “tabernacled.” The Word – Jesus – stepped out of heaven and pitched a tent here on earth. It’s a temporary dwelling. He won’t be here long. Only about 33 years. He is coming with an assignment. That He would come to earth as one of us is mind-blowing. God is so big and mysterious and unfathomable, but in Jesus, we have a visible expression of the invisible. He comes in a form and language we can understand. We can see how God chooses to spend His time, how He lives in the ordinary and extraordinary, what He says, how He interacts with humanity…all in a way we can grasp. We get a glimpse of what God looks like and how much He loves us. Jesus – Son of God – God in the flesh. Question: What is most incredible to you about God coming down to earth in human flesh? Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. John 8:56
Fast-forwarding to the New Testament when Jesus is walking the earth. In this passage we see a reference looking back to the story about the ram taking Isaac’s place as the sacrifice. Jesus is talking to religious leaders at the time. He tells them Abraham rejoiced that he would see Jesus’ day; that he saw it and was glad. When Abraham heard the angel and saw the ram that was to be the sacrifice to take Isaac’s place, he was indeed glad. Abraham believed God and knew that He would save Isaac. He didn’t know all the details, but He trusted and believed God. And God came through. The religious leaders would be very familiar with this story passed on from generation to generation. Jesus is basically saying, “Hey, remember when Abraham rejoiced at the substitutionary sacrifice? Well, that was all a glimpse into an even bigger substitutionary sacrifice for all mankind. And it is about me. I’m here! I’m the one who will take your place. I’m the one who will be sacrificed so that you can be made right with God for eternity. I’m the one you have been waiting for. In all of your religious pomp and activity, don’t miss ME.” The message is for us too. The Messiah has come. The one who takes away our sins and makes us whole. He loves us just the way we are…in our mess, confusion, disobedience, fear, anxiety…He alone knows how to keep us from staying there. He is the one our heart longs for, but can’t quite pinpoint. He is the one to make things right again. Don’t miss Him. Question: How are we at risk of missing Jesus, even in our religious activities? He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies…The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 8:44, 10:10
There is this ongoing battle between good and evil; between God’s goodness and the evil schemes of the devil (the “thief” as he is referred to in this verse). God has allowed the devil to have this time to prowl around, wreaking havoc, but Satan also knows God keeps His promises and his destructive impact will come to an end. The devil isn’t about to waste this limited time he has. God desires us to have a relationship with Him – to choose the good. But He doesn’t force it on us. He is always pursuing us, even when we are fighting it. God has good things in store for us, where the devil is only out for our destruction. Satan wants to pull us into the pit with him. Jesus is the one talking in this verse, saying He, unlike the devil, came that we might have life and have it abundantly. Conversely, the devil is a deceiver, making things that are opposite of God’s desire for us look super appealing. He seeks only to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus calls him the father of lies. There are only two paths we can be on. One leads to eternal life and one to utter destruction. It is a daily decision to choose which side we want to follow. The devil works hard to pull us on his team, or at least get us off track. But God’s way is the only way to abundant life. Question: What can you do each day to serve as a reminder to choose God’s side and not fall for the lies of the devil to try to get us off track? |
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