John 4 - Jacob's Well

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John 4 contains some extraordinary details!

From time to time people realised who Yahshua truly is. He's not just a wise teacher, a generous judge, or a great prophet (though he is all of those things). But he is the Messiah, the Son of the Most High, the Promised One sent from Heaven by the Almighty himself! He is an awesome person, the One the ages have been waiting for, the very turning point of history.

But in Galilee or Judaea, almost every time someone realised the truth Yahshua told them to keep quiet about it, to tell no-one. And rarely, if ever, did he volunteer the information. But here, in Samaria of all places, to a woman, without the presence of the twelve, to a person living a sinful life - he actually spells it out. Doesn't that seem a little strange?

He spills his great and most precious secret to the lowest kind of person (in legalistic Jewish eyes). Even the disciples are puzzled, just think what the Scribes and Pharisees would have made of this!

Why did he do it?

Perhaps the simple truth is that Yahshua is not looking for holy people. He is not looking for achievement, but for obedience. And he knows what is in a person's heart.

Picture the scene. It was the sixth hour, in other words midday. The sun was at its highest and hottest, shade was hard to find, the road was dusty, they've been travelling since dawn and are tired, thirsty, and hungry. The twelve have gone to find something to eat and drink. Yahshua sits here in the dusty heat alone beside the well, Jacob's Well. Perhaps he's thinking about the passage in Genesis where his ancestor Jacob is at a similar well in another foreign land at around midday. The sheep couldn't be watered until they were all gathered and the heavy covering stone was rolled away from the mouth of the well.

That he thought about this is speculation of course, but it's possible. Perhaps it's even quite likely.

Here he is in a foreign (and despised) land. The people who live here are also distant relatives sharing the same ancestors. Yahshua has come for the gathering of his own flocks, and like Jacob he has come to roll away the stone that blocks the mouth of the well so that the sheep can be watered. And here comes a woman to draw water much as Rachel must have done all those centuries before.

So he asks her for a drink, knowing already that this is a conversation the Father wants him to have. And in the conversation about living and eternal water, a heavy metaphorical stone is partly rolled away in the Samaritan woman's heart. He finally tells her who he is, the stone falls aside, her understanding becomes clear, and she leaves her jar to run back to town to tell everyone. She tells them all, they spend some time with the Master, and many of them believe.

Nothing in the Bible is there by mistake. This despised, foreign, sinful woman has a place in John's Gospel for a reason. She is there to inspire us and encourage us. Yahshua's gift of life and his promise of an endless supply of living water is for all people of any status in any land. It's for those leading sinful lives. It's for those who are despised. It is for you and for me - HalleluYah!

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John 3 - you must be born again

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How do people come to believe in Yahshua (Jesus)? What is the process? John 3 provides an example and Yahshua's unexpected response.

Nicodemus was a Jewish leader, a member of the Governing Council (the Sanhedrin), the ultimate religious and civil power under the Romans themselves. To bring this into perspective, imagine Nicodemus as an archbishop and a cabinet minister rolled into one. This religious and political heavyweight came to see Yahshua already convinced that he came from the Almighty. Not every member of the Sanhedrin would have agreed, but for Nicodemus the miracles were sufficient evidence. He knew this man was sent, perhaps a great prophet, maybe even the Messiah, but he wasn't yet thinking in terms of the Son of the Most High. This would have been a very difficult concept and wouldn't have occured to Nicodemus.

So what did Yahshua say to him? 'You must be born again. This time not of water, but of the Spirit.' Nicodemus must have thought, 'Uh?'

So the Lord explained in more detail. An outpouring of water from the womb is part of the process of natural birth by which a person enters this world. But there's a second birth and part of that process is an outpouring of the Spirit. In neither case are we talking about a negligible amount. In both cases there's a sudden flow where before there had been nothing.

Without this 'second birth', it's not possible even to see the Almighty's Kingdom.

Of course Nicodemus still doesn't get it, Yahshua is speaking mysteries here. Until the time of Pentecost it will remain a mystery even to the twelve disciples. Nonetheless, Nicodemus believed this Yahshua was someone special, a great teacher. He became a follower (see John 7:45-53 and John 19:38-42).

'How can this be?' he asks again.

Yahshua replies, 'You're Israel's Teacher, don't you understand these things?'

This hints at Nicodemus' status, perhaps he had a special responsibility for interpreting and teaching the ancient scriptures. If he can't understand, nobody can!

And then Yahshua points him to a scriptural analogy that Nicodemus does understand. Read Numbers 21:4-9, then John 3:13-21. Do you see the parallel? This would have made some sense to Nicodemus and he surely would have remembered it later after the crucifixion and resurrection.

What was the key for the bronze snake to be effective to save life? The poisoned person must look at the snake, must see the snake. And so with the Messiah, if he is to be effective you must look at him, you must see him, you must understand who he truly is and know that in seeing and believing you have recieved eternal life.

< John 2 | Index | John 4 >

Colworth (CU) - The Good Samaritan

Nothing had been arranged for today's meeting, so we met and chatted for a while. We talked about the way we feel when we see something wrong - a car in the ditch, somebody lying on the ground. Normally we slow down, but we may be past the incident before we have decided what to do. If there are other people already helping we may just continue on our way, especially if there are official helpers present - the police, an ambulance etc.

But if we're first on the scene, how do we react? Obviously we need to investigate and offer help if we can. But what if we see a beggar asking for money, or a man hitting a child? We know what we should do, but what would we actually do?

This led us on to read the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) which we discussed before finishing with prayer.

John 2 - at the right time

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Everyone knows of the wedding in the village of Cana near the Sea of Galilee and the water into wine event. There's not much left at Cana now, just some remains of walls in a field at best (even the precise location is uncertain).

There's a great deal in this rich chapter (John 2) that we could discuss, but for me one of the significant features is hidden away in this business of water and wine. Notice in verse 4 how Yahshua tells his mother, rather brusquely, 'What's it got to do with me, woman? My time hasn't come yet'. Yet just a short time later he's telling the servants what to do and the water they draw is wine when it is poured out.

What's going on? Why does he say one thing but do another? This is not the only example. When his brothers were going to the feast in Jerusalem and invited him to join them he told them, 'No, my time has not come'. But as soon as they had left, he too set out for the city! (John 7:1-10) Why?

Perhaps the answer is that Yahshua, when he was here in the world in a human body, did literally what he later explained to his critics, 'I only do what I see the Father do' (John 5:19). So look at it like this...

Mary - 'They're going to be embarrassed, they've run out of wine.'

The Father - 'It's not your time yet, Son.'

Yahshua - 'It's not my problem, my time hasn't come yet.'

Mary (to the servants) - 'Just do whatever he tells you.'

The Father - 'Now is the time, my Son.'

Yahshua - 'Go and fill those pitchers with water. Then draw some out and take it to the MC.'

I think that really is how the Lord lived his life day by day. He did and said what his Father showed him and told him, moment by moment. And that is how he wants us to live too. He sent the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ) as a permanent advocate and comforter for all his people. If we are listening we will hear, if we are looking we will see.

There was a short time when the Father stopped speaking to Yahshua, and he cried out in a loud and desperate voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, why have you forsaken me?' (Mark 15:33-34) But that was a unique occasion. He has not (and never will) forsake his followers on the earth today.

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John 1 - the Word

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River Church in St Neots is studying a chapter of John's Gospel each day beginning today, January 10th. As John has twenty-one chapters the process will finish on the last day of January. Rob McFarlane is planning to post a blog entry every day with some thoughts on the chapter. I thought I'd like to do the same thing because it's a really great idea.

Here's Rob's post on John 1. And here's mine...

First, a general comment. John's Gospel (and indeed every book in the Bible) is rich with depths of meaning. There are superficial things that everyone will see right away, and there are also deep things that are more difficult to dig out. But we each have our own personal approach to the book too, so to some degree each reader has a unique understanding of the content. What follows is just a note on what stood out as I read today - nothing more and nothing less.

I was deeply struck by the reminder that Yahshua (Jesus) is the voice of the Almighty. He is not his own voice, he is his Father's voice. He is the Word and was there right at the start (verse 1-2). Once, in discussion with some Pharisees about the washing of cups, Yahshua said that it's not what goes into a person's mouth that makes them unclean, but what comes out. It's not whether we drink from ritually clean cups or not, it's what comes out, what we say, because the source behind the words is contained in our hearts (Mark 7:1-23).

Yahshua is the Word spoken into the world by the Almighty. And the Father's heart is clean and holy, therefore so is the Word that he speaks. And 'the Word became human and lived among us' (John 1:14).

This is so awesome that we struggle to grasp the significance of it! Imagine if the Queen came to live in your home for the rest of her life; left Buckingham Palace, rang your doorbell, and came in to share your family home. How would you feel about that?

The King of the Universe came to live amongst us! How awesome is that! One of the first things he did on arrival here was to call people to follow him. He still does that. He still wants us to follow. But first we need to understand who he really is. If you want to know more about all of that read the rest of John 1.

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St Neots - lunch at Barretts

Today we met for coffee and lunch at Barretts in St Neots. It was refreshingly different to sit together at a table surrounded by the buzz of shoppers stopping for a cuppa or a quick lunch before dashing back to the bargains again. We were in no such rush, Paul and I arrived first and then Roger joined us. We had a leisurely coffee followed by an equally leisurely light lunch, and then stayed at our table to talk and pray.

We shared news about the many friends we regularly pray for and we also tried out something else. Paul and I are already doing Church of Two (CO2) together daily, but this time we were able to include Roger as well.

This was a good experience as always, it helps us to express things that otherwise might remain unsaid. Not that we would deliberately hide our feelings from one another, but just because the simple VIRKLER process gives us a good set of hooks to hang things on.