John 4: 1-24 The Samaritan Woman at the Well

WORK IN PROGRESS This familiar story speaks to the radical inclusion of Jesus. It's necessary to understand that the Samaritans were very deeply hated by the Jews. Perhaps surprisingly the Samaritans are of Jewish descent, however the Israelites believed the Samaritans had become corrupted by worshiping other Gods in addition to YHWY and intermarrying with people of the surrounding nations. Recall that most of the Levitical laws were all about avoiding mixture of any kind, which "God hates." (I have to say that the words "God hates," which do in fact appear numerous times in the Old Testament, upsets me. It simply is not possible in my mind.) Jewish rabbis simply never spoke to Samaritans; doing so would/could make them unclean. On top of that, we find Jesus "preaching the Good News" to a woman. This too was outrageous at the time. Women were often treated as property, maybe one step up from the slaves. They too, were unclean on a monthly basis and not part of religious education. We'll see in a moment that she was also in sexual sin. I believe we can assume that Jesus and the Holy Spirit orchestrated this opportunity to boldly expand the understanding of God's love for ALL. ...and so we begin: 1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a]) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” Resources: http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/the-fourfold-gospel/by-chapters/john/john-4.html 3. As we search, hunger, and thirst for more of God, REAL WORSHIP touches the area of the heart that is unfulfilled. Essentially, WORSHIP is not music, but rather the cry of the SON for the FATHER from the HEART (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6)! In TRUE WORSHIP, the HEART is ADDRESSED as to its CONDITION, and AWAKENED to its true PURPOSE! The woman at the well of Samaria (Jn. 4) had been married to FIVE husbands (an experience governed by the five natural senses), and was presently flirting with the SIXTH (all that MAN longs for, as in 1 Jn. 2:15-17). But when she met the SEVENTH MAN, the PERFECT MAN. She dropped her water pot and became a water pot, reached into Him, and then ran into the city, crying, “Come, see a Man…!”

John 3: 22-36 > John the Baptist hands the reigns to Jesus

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."
27 To this John replied, "A person can receive only what is given from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.' 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less."
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The person who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God [i] gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.

This is a pretty big chunk, enough for two or three posts, yet it really needs to be considered as a whole. So heck, it's the weekend, grab a cup of coffee and tinkle on the way back to the laptop, and here we go:

22: The passage says "after this," yet we really have no clue as to the amount of time that passes between Jesus's meeting with Ol St. Nic and the moving to the area outside Jerusalem. John does try to put the timing of this in context by noting in verse 24 that it was before John's arrest---although that fact would be implied by John's freedom. Many scholars suggest that these events actually happened right after the wedding at Cana (which is in chapter 1). There is an interesting theory about the location where John was baptizing---verse 23 says it is at "Aenon near Salim." Aenon means spring, and Salim means peace. Some theologians have suggested this is symbolic of John's ministry being near peace although it is just as likely that it's a simple geographic location. John often used intentional double meanings in his writing, so I'm inclined to think both may be true. Note too, I seem to recall reading somewhere that Jesus Himself did not actually baptize folks, only His disciples, however the text here implies He does. Interesting...

25: One would love to think that the power of God beaming within John the Baptist and Jesus would be enough to subdue all petty arguing---especially among the disciples, yet noooo; here, John's disciples are in a tizzy thinking Jesus is cashing in on John's fame or perhaps the fuss is over Jesus's teaching that the Jewish ceremonial washings are old school, and a new day has come; we don't really know the full nature of the dispute. It's amazing how often the disciples, both John's and Jesus's, were clueless. Here, John's disciples seem to be the precursor of the closed door meeting where the Baptist church leaders are fussing because they're suddenly losing members to Methodists who have a new praise band. I think perhaps John's disciples were expecting permission to go smite Jesus's disciples---it's funny and sad how things stay the same.

27-29: John lays it out to his disciples---many of these guys likely saw the Holy Spirit descend like a dove when John baptized Jesus not long before, still they have not grasped that they are not following the messiah, but rather the messiah's advance guy. John seems to have kept telling these guys the game plan, yet they were so hopeful, they did not believe him. They wanted John to be the one. I believe some of them saw in John the traits they hoped to see in the Messiah and simply bet on the wrong horse. In another passage it is noted that many of these same guys left John and followed Jesus.

Regarding verse 30 "He must become greater, I must become less," this was a beautiful saying and totally appropriate in context for John. Unfortunately I hear this as a mantra from many Christians in a manner that I believe is wrong. Jesus said that we would do greater things than He did (through Him of course) so I suggest that we should look not to be less, but rather ALL He created us to be---which in perfection is MORE than Jesus in the flesh. The other argument is the weakness of the flesh and sinful nature of our bodies---to this I must respectfully call bullshit. God created us in perfection and all goodness. Jesus came, lived, died, and bodily resurrected to restore us to that state of perfection and goodness. There is a delicate balance here, yet we must not diminish the calling God has on us by dwelling on the old nature. We must embrace our highest self, even when we can't see it in the mirror.
As we get into verse 31, it appears that the comments by John the Baptist have concluded (the quotation marks indicate this, and the tone shifts too). The comments beginning in 31 are likely the thoughts of the author of the gospel, and in that context we begin to get a better idea of why this passage directly follows the story with Nicodemus. Keep in mind that John, probably more than any other gospel writer, has an agenda---to demonstrate the divinity of Jesus. John had just written about Jesus saying that being born again means being born from above; so in verse 31 John makes it clear that Jesus is the One (the first one) that is born from above. John also clarifies that John the Baptist is born of the earth, although, it is generally understood that the spirit of Elijah was mysteriously in John, so I don't know that he's a good example of one born of earth. Verses 31 to 36 seem a continuation of John's sermon in the first part of the first chapter.
John speaks of Jesus's speaking the very words of God, the creator, by and through the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. John is continuing to hammer home Jesus's divinity. I love verse 35, that God loves Jesus and has put all power in Jesus's hands. This perhaps uses John's typical hyperbole, however it clarifies that God has put the reigns to the kingdom in Jesus's care (not John the Baptist's).

Last, 36 is one of those verses that traditional folks seek to use to prove that you either accept Jesus and go to heaven or the opposite occurs---you stay in wrath and presumably go to hell. I do see some distinction here: rejecting Jesus is different from simply never coming into a place where you are able to accept the gospel. When you grow up in India and have never known anything other than Hinduism---are you really rejecting Jesus? I hope not; if God is a "just God" as I believe and so often hear, it's really not fair to send someone to eternal horrific torment for being born into the wrong culture. I think rejecting Jesus must be overt, as deliberate an act as can occur on earth.

To be honest, I really don't like the final phrase "God's wrath is still upon them." Of course it's there regardless of whether I like it. I understand God's wrath when someone kills or hurts or betrays or commits a great injustice upon other people, yet millions of people live decent lives, and regardless of what they believe religiously, they are good moral people. Is God's WRATH on them too? That is not what I expect from a "just" God. Unfortunately, once you blur the line on whether someone can escape the wrath by good behavior you have to pick a side. Either a small percentage of all that have ever lived will enter the Kingdom of God, or nearly all people will. You have to pick your presupposition one way or the other in light of your understanding of the heart of God. (You know my pick, and my hope.)

To those that read all this---Blessings, I love you...

John 3:16 > But wait, there's more!

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 All those who do evil hate the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But those who live by the truth come into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Other than perhaps, "Jesus wept," John 3:16 is the best known and most memorized verse in the Bible. In fact, I believe most of those who would identify as Christians base their belief system on this verse. It's true that 3:16 is a good summary of the faith, yet anytime one single verse serves as the basis for any theological point it becomes misunderstood and dangerous. At the very least this full paragraph needs to be taken together.

16A God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son > wow. This does not say that God loved the people who He predestined to believe and be saved. It does not even say He loved the people of the world---It says He loved the world. When God created the earth and everything in it, He proclaimed all of it GOOD. Of course man screwed it up a bit, yet not so badly that God is not able to bring it back fully into the manifestation of goodness that He intended from the beginning. God did not send His son to save souls, He sent His son to save the world---everything. Will God be satisfied to save just portions of His creation, or just some of the people? or is His heart and love for "the world" such that He will succeed in redeeming all? Did God make the ultimate sacrifice knowing that only a small percentage of the people He created and loves will be saved? That's not what John 3:16 says.

16B that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life > When God first created man---indeed all creatures, Genesis says there was no death. With this ultimate sacrifice God restored the eternal life granted in the garden of Eden. What does it take to believe? Here, it is so straight forward and easy---just believe. It's like simply looking up at the bronze snake that was discussed earlier. Does it say we must get our bronze snake theology right? or even worship the snake? or live by the rules of the snake? There is no sinner's prayer here; just look up. Yes, that's way too easy, yet that's the point. God made a way where there was no way. What's this about "shall not perish?" When John wrote these words in the late first century hundreds of believers had died so he knew well that we do indeed die, at least our bodies do. Still, when does eternal life begin? at death? No, eternal life begins the moment we believe.

17 For God did not send His son into the world to condemn it, but to save the world through Him > Actually this ought to be the verse we all should memorize if we only chose to know just one. Again we see God's intent to save "the world." Will God fail? Will God destroy the very world He sacrificed His son to save? There is a lot of messed up belief on this. Why would God send His son to save the world if His soon intent was to destroy the world? This is a whole other can of worms, yet remember this verse when someone says it's all gonna burn. I recently spoke with someone I love, who is a hardcore fundamentalist Christian, who kept on and kept on hammering that God was a God of justice, and He would indeed condemn the world, and all those who do not repent and ask Jesus into their heart would be punished in eternal torment. Lots of western Christians believe that, yet how does that jive with this verse? Again, did God fail? Focus on the last phrase, it was God's plan to "save the world through Him." That is what I believe, that the world was saved, is being saved, and will be saved through Jesus. One more thing on this, was it Jesus's dying or His resurrection or His coming that saved the world? The answer is d, all of the above. It's a shame that we so often lose sight of the part that it was the sending and the giving that saved us.

Verse 18 causes a lot of confusion if presented on its own. The big question here is what does it take to believe? Literally thousands of differing denominations have been launched over this issue alone, so no one can say there is a consensus. Our only sure guide is to look at the heart and plan of God. Yes He is just and justice will be done, however His plan and heart was to save the whole world. I find it hard to believe that His path of grace is narrow. If believing means a hard to nail down system of saying just the right words and doing the right things then ultimately God fails in His mission. I can't believe that. Verses 19, 20, and 21 follow in the same vein; what does it mean to be in the light? If anyone seeks the truth, and strives to live a good life, how can they remain in darkness? Does the sun/Son only shine on a particular religion? how about on just a particular denomination? Or does the sun/Son shine over the whole earth---missing only those who make an overt choice to remain in the dark? If light is the analogy, light has few boundaries: it shines even into places where every attempt has been made to seal the doors and windows; light always triumphs over darkness. Light falls over all the earth, and God will fulfill His dream of restoration of all. God will not fail.

John 3:9-15 > Lifting the Snake and The Son

9 "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
10 "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."

First, a quick apology for the delay between posts. I took on a job that required I work 70 to 90 hours a week. There was scarce little time to attend to this or anything else. I'm back, and perhaps smarter since I've done a tremendous amount of reading and contemplation on spiritual matters. I'm always evolving towards greater Truth, I hope, and in many ways awakening to a completely new operating system---like MS Vista, along with the difficulties in adapting the old programs.

In this passage I am immediately struck by Jesus' somewhat callous tone towards Nicodemus. Our pal Nic is a Pharisee, the sect that consistently pissed Jesus off, and certainly participated in Jesus's death. Still Nic deserves some respect since he is here trying to understand what Jesus is teaching---giving Jesus the benefit of a doubt. The real issue I trust is Jesus's sadness that the religious leaders were so busy with their own agenda that they somehow missed God's.

We now have the rest of the New Testament to clue us in here, but to Nic it must have seemed Jesus was speaking in code. Poor Nic simply didn't get it. Jesus was speaking of "heavenly" things---things of God's simultaneous coming and present Kingdom. Jesus did not help matters by continuing to speak in third person---referring to One who had been to heaven rather than plainly saying He was The One, and talking prophetically about being lifted up without explaining what was to come. Of course the Truth was/is in the scriptures (the Old Testament), yet frankly even the disciples who were with Jesus day in and day out did not fully comprehend what was going to happen. It was not until Jesus explained things after the resurrection that the disciples finally connected the dots with the prophecies of scripture. This has a lot to do with presuppositions---the Jewish leadership of the time and even some of the disciples had such a different image of the Messiah built in their mind that they mostly missed Him when He came.

Verses 14 and 15 are really heavy. There's a story in the Old Testament where folks are dying of snake bites, and God has Moses erect a pole with a bronze snake on it. Whenever someone is snake bit they only had to look up at the pole, and they were "saved." This made no sense whatsoever in the Exodus story unless it is seen as a type and shadow of the holistic salvation to come through Jesus' death on the cross. It's also a beautiful image of the simplicity of "being saved:" one must only look the way of the cross, and all is well. These last two verses actually answer Nic's question about how it is possible to be born again---only through the sacrifice and resurrection of the Son of Man. After this Nic vanishes from the book of John, never to be heard from again. I'd love to know "the rest of the story." Did Jesus here tip his hand enough that Nic came into the truth? or was Nic so entrenched in misunderstanding that Jesus Himself could not break through?

John 3:5-8 The Holy Spirit blows all over the world

5 Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Here, the Greek for the word for spirit and for wind is the same. Jesus is speaking to a man extremely well versed in scripture. In some Old Testament passages speaking of the coming Messianic Kingdom water represents the Spirit (Is. 44:3-5) and wind or breath represents Spirit (Ezekial 37:9-10). Nicodemus should have recognized these clues about water and wind as referring to the coming Kingdom. Indeed Messiah was standing right in front of him.

In verse five the original text says we must be born of water and wind--the translators make it "the Spirit" as a guess from the context. This is a crucial lesson on understanding what we read in various versions of the Bible; it is never a direct word for word translation. The translator brings his/her personal beliefs to the table and makes judgment calls on every passage. The concept of presuppositions is never more crucial than in the translation itself. Perhaps more important, this double meaning in the Greek was intentional by the author---it can indeed be interpreted both ways, and nuances of both meanings add to the overall message here.

In John 3:5-8 we have Holy Spirit flowing silently, "blowing" wherever Holy Spirit chooses to blow. This is huge since this group of verses does not state that accepting Jesus is the way to be born again, rather, Holy Spirit "blows wherever it pleases." The last phrase, "so it is with everyone born of the Spirit" really intrigues me. Verses 5-8 seem to indicate a concept of election---that God blows on whomever He wills. In the concept of election who would God leave out? Time and time again scripture says God loves ALL. He would not leave anyone out. Even if one of a hundred strayed from the wind, scripture says God leaves the 99 and seeks out the stray. Jesus told Nicodemus that he could not tell where the wind/Holy Spirit came from or where it was going---the priests and pharisees could not dictate or discern who would be saved.

The wind blows over all the earth. All earthly creation, every man and woman, is bathed in wind everyday. This becomes so common that we ignore it. So it is with Holy Spirit; we all are blessed with the constant breath of God, yet we must be "hear" and honor the Source.

God, please grant us the ability to feel and bask in the breath of Holy Spirit.

John 3: We're going to take this slow

John 3 is probably ground zero on this whole issue. Certainly there is no verse more universal known than John 3:16. So let's start small. John 3 opens with Jesus having a clandestine (I presume) chat with Nicodemus, who was a man on the Jewish ruling council. Old St. Nic here really took a chance with this since Jesus was largely seen as directly challenging the Jewish way of life. Still, Nic seems sincere in learning from the Master. Jesus opens with this line:

3 Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again. It's interesting that Jesus does NOT say we have to be born again to be saved. He says we have to be born again to SEE the Kingdom of God. Being born again opens our eyes to the truth that is already present before us.

I love the movie The Matrix. In it, there is a hidden world behind the Matrix---one is that is the truth and always present. Neo is born again as he comes to realize that what he knew of the world is a cyber existence. The transition is shocking and painful and comes with great responsibility. Being born again is being willing to accept the Truth behind what we see, to trust and see the Divine Creator continuing to weave and create. Coming into the Kingdom is an act of BEING and SEEING. Later we will see that while the Truth is revealed at no cost whatsoever, that knowing the Truth commands a response.

John 2---Desecration of Pots and Temples

Of course not all chapters in John will deal directly with this concept of Christ taking away the sin of the whole world. A secondary issue of great interest to me is Christ's constant demonstration that the code of law established by Moses and the Levitical priests had passed away with His coming. Note first that it is Christ's coming that mattered most, not his death and resurrection. This is made obvious by the fact that if His arrival had not superseded the law then Jesus would have been a notorious sinner---not just breaking the law, but engaging in acts which could be conceived as mocking it.

In John 2 we begin with Jesus' first public miracle---the changing of water into wine. It was no accident that He choose the huge ceremonial cleansing pots to contain the wine. These held blessed water that was used through the day for pre-meal washing. After having the servants fill them to the brim, the water became wine which defiled the pots. Further the quantity here is staggering---a hundred and fifty gallons of wine---enough to make all the wedding party drunk many times over. At verse ten we hear the comment from the master of the banquet,
"Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." I believe this is a prophetic comment about Christ's arrival---God had revealed himself through the prophets of old, and yet Jesus was a giving of the very best at the end of the season of the wedding party between God and Israel. Throughout the Bible fine wine is referred to as a blessing from God. Here, the fine wine is God Himself, "This is my blood..." We commune with Him in a declaration of abundance.

John 2 begins with Jesus making a mockery of the ceremonial cleansings by desecrating the cleansing pots. The chapter ends with his clearing the temple of the money changers and those selling sacrifice. He did so not with words of admonition or a kindly plea, he runs through like a mad man with an instrument of violence. Interestingly he takes the whip to the physical temple in an act symbolic of the scourging His own body---the true temple of God---will receive at the end of His life. This is a demonstration that the old ways are set aside; the striving is gone, and perfection has come. Jesus desecrates the temple---at least in the understanding of those at the time. The true temple---the true dwelling place of God---supersedes all buildings and monuments which were a shadow of what has come.

John 1:17-51 "The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"

Continuing in our examination of the Gospel of John from a presupposition that God will actually accomplish what He set out to do: the Restoration of ALL. We are specifically setting out verses which either refers to this or the converse side. Read the whole chapter to maintain context.

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. This will be examined more later. Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law, but to fufill it. In looking at the actions of Jesus in the chapters to come we will see he often behaved contrary to the law of Moses. If we are to ask WWJD? we must note that He did not honor the law of Moses very much. Jesus brings both grace and truth. Grace means unmerited, unconditional favor. That's a hard truth for the legalistic folks.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This one just blows me away. Here we have John the Baptist, the one sent ahead to make way for a new order between God and man, and he is proclaiming that Jesus takes away the sin of the world. There are no qualifiers here, no specifying that just those who believe will be saved. Indeed, the whole world becomes sinless, which to me indicates that not just humankind is brought into restoration, but all the earth---all of creation. The term Lamb of God is important. I don't truly understand the whole sacrifice thing; I suspect that in Old Testament times the sacrifice process was simply a type and shadow of the sacrifice God Himself would make by and through His Son Jesus. If we simply looked to John's proclamation, we would be done here: Jesus took away the sin of the world. Amazing.

To Be Continued...