Scripture reading:
43After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
46Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
49The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
53Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
54This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.
Observations:
· Why is Jesus so harsh on the Galilians?
At first, the approach of Jesus in this case appears to be a little puzzling.
The warm welcome which Jesus received, along with the request of the royal official would at first appear to indicate a positive response on behalf of the Galileans in terms of receiving the gospel.
Yet Jesus is particularly skeptical of these people. Why?
The answer would not appear to have anything to do with his previous visit to the region (refer John chapter 2), during which time the performance of his first miracle saw him turn water into wine. There did not appear to be anything which stood out about that encounter in particular which would have suggested any special degree of hostility toward him.
To be sure, immediately after leaving the region on the previous occasion, Jesus had encountered a degree of resistance from the Jews in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival. (After Jesus had overturned the table of moneychangers, the Jews who were in attendance at the festival had demanded from him the production of some form of miraculous sign in order to prove his authenticity – refer John chapter 2).
But this occurred in Jerusalem not Galilee, and there is nothing in particular found in the gospel to indicate that Jesus had, at this point, been subjected to any abnormal degree of resistance and hostility from the Galileans in particular.
So why then was Jesus so scathing of them?
There is no doubt in my mind that the answer lies in future events, which Jesus would have no doubt foreseen at the time of this event.
Whilst no abnormal degree of hostility was apparent Jesus’ previous visit to the region, the same cannot be said for later events, in which the gospels do appear to describe a significant level of resistance toward his message.
Chapter 6 in the book of John, for example, describes how the Jews of Capernicum demanded to see additional miraculous signs in order to authenticate his claims about himself, and how many of his followers were unable to accept some of the more controversial aspects of his teaching.
At the time of this passage, Jesus would have been well aware about how these future events would occur, and there is no doubt in my mind that this is what explains his behavior in this passage.
Prayer:
Lord, you can see through into the future.
In particular, you can see into each and every one of our hearts. You can tell who truly has faith in you from who does not. You can tell those whose hearts toward you are hard from those whose are not. You can distinguish without a shadow of a doubt those who have truly accepted your offer of forgiveness and salvation through faith in Christ from those who have not.
Lord, I pray that you may cleanse my own heart along with any of those who may happen to share in this prayer. Yes, lord, we ask for miracles especially in times of adversity. But lord whenever we ask for miracles, let it be because we have absolutely no doubt in our own hearts about what you are capable of, not because our hearts are hard and we are demanding some form of proof.
In these things I pray.
In your great name.
Amen.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The power of direct encounters with Jesus (John 4:39-42)
Scripture Reading:
(39) Many of the Samaritans in town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” (40) So when the Samaritans came to see him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. (41) And because of his words many more became believers.
(42)They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you have said; now we have heard it for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the savior of the world.”
Observations:
(1) Being witnessed to is good, but directly seeing Jesus is better.
Pretend, for a moment, that you were a judge, and an accused murderer was on trial.
Which of the following would represent more conclusive evidence of his guilt – (a) hearing testimony from a witness who claims to have seen him commit the murder; or (b) seeing him commit the murder yourself?
The answer should be obvious, and for good reason, too. Whilst witnesses are prone to lying or being mistake, evidence seen through one’s own eyes is beyond dispute - a principle which we can see at work in the above passage.
We can see from the above passage that for some Samaritans, the woman’s testimony alone was sufficient for them to put their faith in Jesus.
But consider, for a moment, the statement in verse 41, that many more became believers after a direct encounter with him. It is apparent from the statement that for some people, the woman’s testimony alone did not in itself represent a sufficient basis for them to put their faith in Jesus. Instead, they wanted to see direct proof, a requirement which was satisfied through their own direct encounter with him.
Testimony about Jesus, it seems, though powerful, was not as conclusive as a direct encounter for some.
(2) Testimony should still be enough.
Notwithstanding the above point, this does not provide us with any form of excuse for refusing to believe the word of god in any way.
True, we do not live in the time that Jesus literally walked on the earth, and will not experience a direct encounter with him. And whilst it is possible to receive the message of Christ by direct revelation, testimony of others continues to represent the most common method by which the majority of us will be introduced to the gospel.
But not having physically seen Jesus does not, in any way, provide us with any excuse for unbelief. And when it comes time to face judgment, we will either be believers in Jesus as our savior or we will not be.
“I never saw him,” will be no excuse for not knowing him. Either you will know him or you won’t. No excuses.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, your presence is powerful and we can read in the gospels about how time and time again, people believed as a result of a direct encounter with you.
Lord, we will not have a direct physical encounter with you in our lifetime. But let us not use that as an excuse for unbelief, and when the day of judgment comes, please do not let me say that ‘I didn’t believe because I didn’t see you.’
Instead, let you say ‘he believed without seeing me, and therefore, he is one of mine.’
In your great name, I pray.
Amen
(39) Many of the Samaritans in town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” (40) So when the Samaritans came to see him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. (41) And because of his words many more became believers.
(42)They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you have said; now we have heard it for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the savior of the world.”
Observations:
(1) Being witnessed to is good, but directly seeing Jesus is better.
Pretend, for a moment, that you were a judge, and an accused murderer was on trial.
Which of the following would represent more conclusive evidence of his guilt – (a) hearing testimony from a witness who claims to have seen him commit the murder; or (b) seeing him commit the murder yourself?
The answer should be obvious, and for good reason, too. Whilst witnesses are prone to lying or being mistake, evidence seen through one’s own eyes is beyond dispute - a principle which we can see at work in the above passage.
We can see from the above passage that for some Samaritans, the woman’s testimony alone was sufficient for them to put their faith in Jesus.
But consider, for a moment, the statement in verse 41, that many more became believers after a direct encounter with him. It is apparent from the statement that for some people, the woman’s testimony alone did not in itself represent a sufficient basis for them to put their faith in Jesus. Instead, they wanted to see direct proof, a requirement which was satisfied through their own direct encounter with him.
Testimony about Jesus, it seems, though powerful, was not as conclusive as a direct encounter for some.
(2) Testimony should still be enough.
Notwithstanding the above point, this does not provide us with any form of excuse for refusing to believe the word of god in any way.
True, we do not live in the time that Jesus literally walked on the earth, and will not experience a direct encounter with him. And whilst it is possible to receive the message of Christ by direct revelation, testimony of others continues to represent the most common method by which the majority of us will be introduced to the gospel.
But not having physically seen Jesus does not, in any way, provide us with any excuse for unbelief. And when it comes time to face judgment, we will either be believers in Jesus as our savior or we will not be.
“I never saw him,” will be no excuse for not knowing him. Either you will know him or you won’t. No excuses.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, your presence is powerful and we can read in the gospels about how time and time again, people believed as a result of a direct encounter with you.
Lord, we will not have a direct physical encounter with you in our lifetime. But let us not use that as an excuse for unbelief, and when the day of judgment comes, please do not let me say that ‘I didn’t believe because I didn’t see you.’
Instead, let you say ‘he believed without seeing me, and therefore, he is one of mine.’
In your great name, I pray.
Amen
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Enounters with Jesus change us - and people notice (John 4:28-30)
Scriptural reading:
(28) Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, (29)“Come, see a man who told me everything that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (30) They came out of the town and made their way before him.
Observations:
The two key things which we can observe from these passages are as follows:
(1) Encounters with Jesus change us.
I find it highly unlikely that the woman described in this passage has ever had a greater life changing event than her encounter with Jesus.
She went to the well that day a broken woman, so ashamed (she was a prostitute, had five husbands, and was sleeping with a man who was not her husband) that she went to the well by herself in the middle of what we can only presume was a stinking hot day just to avoid any form of uncomfortable confrontation.
But she did not leave that way.
Her encounter with Jesus changed everything, a fact which is clearly evident in the immediate changes in her demeanor, actions and behavior.
No more tiptoeing out to the well by herself to avoid confrontation. No. Gone were her fear and shame as she was absolutely and completely overcome by a whole-hearted conviction to share the experience with other Samaritans.
Encounters with Jesus change lives, and it is just not possible to have a genuine encounter with Jesus for the first time and not be impacted.
(2) Others notice the changes.
Under no circumstances should the changes referred to above represent mere internalized changes which go unnoticed by others.
No, they are profound, and compel others to take notice.
Prior to her encounter with Jesus, it is pretty clear that the Samaritans did not think much of the woman and it is highly likely that they would not have given here the time of day.
Not so after the encounter, where they left immediately in the middle of a stinking hot day to go and see what she was talking about.
What changed? One could imagine that they would have been a long way from certain as to whether or not she had seen the messiah.
But they sense that something about her had changed, and that she had most certainly seen something very significant. No longer could she be brushed off, she now had to be taken seriously.
That’s what I think happens when we ourselves have an encounter with Jesus. The response of others may not always be positive, but they do sit up and take notice.
Prayer:
Lord,
We cannot help but be changed upon the experience of our first encounter with you.
You are what we have been searching for all our lives. You, and only you, are our salvation. You, and only you are have everything we need.
You are so powerful that we just cannot avoid being changed by such encounters.
And lord, let the changes within us not remain solely in us. Rather, lord, let us shimmer like stars with your love, and let us be beacons of the light so that others can see your greatness and power.
In your great name I pray.
Amen.
(28) Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, (29)“Come, see a man who told me everything that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (30) They came out of the town and made their way before him.
Observations:
The two key things which we can observe from these passages are as follows:
(1) Encounters with Jesus change us.
I find it highly unlikely that the woman described in this passage has ever had a greater life changing event than her encounter with Jesus.
She went to the well that day a broken woman, so ashamed (she was a prostitute, had five husbands, and was sleeping with a man who was not her husband) that she went to the well by herself in the middle of what we can only presume was a stinking hot day just to avoid any form of uncomfortable confrontation.
But she did not leave that way.
Her encounter with Jesus changed everything, a fact which is clearly evident in the immediate changes in her demeanor, actions and behavior.
No more tiptoeing out to the well by herself to avoid confrontation. No. Gone were her fear and shame as she was absolutely and completely overcome by a whole-hearted conviction to share the experience with other Samaritans.
Encounters with Jesus change lives, and it is just not possible to have a genuine encounter with Jesus for the first time and not be impacted.
(2) Others notice the changes.
Under no circumstances should the changes referred to above represent mere internalized changes which go unnoticed by others.
No, they are profound, and compel others to take notice.
Prior to her encounter with Jesus, it is pretty clear that the Samaritans did not think much of the woman and it is highly likely that they would not have given here the time of day.
Not so after the encounter, where they left immediately in the middle of a stinking hot day to go and see what she was talking about.
What changed? One could imagine that they would have been a long way from certain as to whether or not she had seen the messiah.
But they sense that something about her had changed, and that she had most certainly seen something very significant. No longer could she be brushed off, she now had to be taken seriously.
That’s what I think happens when we ourselves have an encounter with Jesus. The response of others may not always be positive, but they do sit up and take notice.
Prayer:
Lord,
We cannot help but be changed upon the experience of our first encounter with you.
You are what we have been searching for all our lives. You, and only you, are our salvation. You, and only you are have everything we need.
You are so powerful that we just cannot avoid being changed by such encounters.
And lord, let the changes within us not remain solely in us. Rather, lord, let us shimmer like stars with your love, and let us be beacons of the light so that others can see your greatness and power.
In your great name I pray.
Amen.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Jesus knows who you are (refer John 4:16-18)
The passage referred to above describes part of a rather peculiar conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob.
Upon being asked by the woman to deliver on his promise with respect the provision (from a spiritual viewpoint) of ‘living water,’ which would lead to eternal life, Jesus asks the woman to fetch her husband. He did this knowing full well the truth about her - that she had five husbands and indeed, was currently sleeping with a sixth man to whom she was not married.
I feel that there are two main lessons that we can learn from this passage:
· Jesus knows who you are – the good and the bad.
Whilst Jesus does not express outright condemnation upon this woman, it becomes abundantly clear that he knows about the extent of the brokenness and sin in her life, with particular regard for her adulterous behavior.
God knows each and every aspect of our lives inside out. He has an intimate and complete knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses, both the positive aspects as well as any areas of brokenness.
Accordingly, there is no point in lying to god, nor is there any point in trying to hide from our sin or brokenness. He can see right through us, as he can see right through any attempts on our part to avoid confrontation of the issues in our lives. Such effort are pointless when it comes to dealing with him.
Instead, we should confront the issues head on by acknowledging our areas of brokenness in an honest and open fashion before him. We need to come humbly before the lord and ask for forgiveness for the sins which we have committed in our lives.
When we do this, god has promised full forgiveness of our sins anyway.
Don’t hide before sins. Take them straight to the lord and ask for forgiveness through Christ.
· Jesus does not rush to condemn you for your sin.
In the passage referred to above, Jesus makes it abundantly clear to the woman that he knows and understands all about her life of promiscuity.
But he does not condemn her.
The worldly views prostitutes with disdain, and cannot wait, it seems to look down upon them with a sense of scorn.
But not Jesus. It is clear from the passage that Jesus does not approve of what the woman does, nor does he see it as any way acceptable.
But he did not scorn her, he was not interested in that. Instead, he had a point to make, to demonstrate to the woman his power to heal her brokenness.
It’s the same with us. We all have areas of some kind and Jesus knows full well about these. There is no point in trying to hide them from him, nor is there any point in trying to pretend that they are not particularly important – they are.
But Jesus does not want to condemn us. He does not want to look upon our areas of sin and brokenness with an attitude of scorn. Rather his desire is for the lord to be glorified and for his amazing love to be demonstrated by virtue of the act of restoring our relationship with him through his death on the cross.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, there is no point in us trying to hide from you.
You know us inside out. You know each of our strengths. You also know our areas of weakness, where each of us fall short, and the sin that stains each and every one of us.
Thank you that even though you know our darkest corners, you do not condemn us.
Indeed, you offer us the chance to come into the light, the opportunity to have our sins forgiven and to come into a right relationship with you.
Lord, without you, we are lost in our ways of sin. But in your presence, we can find peace, love, and more importantly, amazing grace.
For this I can only praise and thank you.
In your great name.
Amen.
Upon being asked by the woman to deliver on his promise with respect the provision (from a spiritual viewpoint) of ‘living water,’ which would lead to eternal life, Jesus asks the woman to fetch her husband. He did this knowing full well the truth about her - that she had five husbands and indeed, was currently sleeping with a sixth man to whom she was not married.
I feel that there are two main lessons that we can learn from this passage:
· Jesus knows who you are – the good and the bad.
Whilst Jesus does not express outright condemnation upon this woman, it becomes abundantly clear that he knows about the extent of the brokenness and sin in her life, with particular regard for her adulterous behavior.
God knows each and every aspect of our lives inside out. He has an intimate and complete knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses, both the positive aspects as well as any areas of brokenness.
Accordingly, there is no point in lying to god, nor is there any point in trying to hide from our sin or brokenness. He can see right through us, as he can see right through any attempts on our part to avoid confrontation of the issues in our lives. Such effort are pointless when it comes to dealing with him.
Instead, we should confront the issues head on by acknowledging our areas of brokenness in an honest and open fashion before him. We need to come humbly before the lord and ask for forgiveness for the sins which we have committed in our lives.
When we do this, god has promised full forgiveness of our sins anyway.
Don’t hide before sins. Take them straight to the lord and ask for forgiveness through Christ.
· Jesus does not rush to condemn you for your sin.
In the passage referred to above, Jesus makes it abundantly clear to the woman that he knows and understands all about her life of promiscuity.
But he does not condemn her.
The worldly views prostitutes with disdain, and cannot wait, it seems to look down upon them with a sense of scorn.
But not Jesus. It is clear from the passage that Jesus does not approve of what the woman does, nor does he see it as any way acceptable.
But he did not scorn her, he was not interested in that. Instead, he had a point to make, to demonstrate to the woman his power to heal her brokenness.
It’s the same with us. We all have areas of some kind and Jesus knows full well about these. There is no point in trying to hide them from him, nor is there any point in trying to pretend that they are not particularly important – they are.
But Jesus does not want to condemn us. He does not want to look upon our areas of sin and brokenness with an attitude of scorn. Rather his desire is for the lord to be glorified and for his amazing love to be demonstrated by virtue of the act of restoring our relationship with him through his death on the cross.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, there is no point in us trying to hide from you.
You know us inside out. You know each of our strengths. You also know our areas of weakness, where each of us fall short, and the sin that stains each and every one of us.
Thank you that even though you know our darkest corners, you do not condemn us.
Indeed, you offer us the chance to come into the light, the opportunity to have our sins forgiven and to come into a right relationship with you.
Lord, without you, we are lost in our ways of sin. But in your presence, we can find peace, love, and more importantly, amazing grace.
For this I can only praise and thank you.
In your great name.
Amen.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
God is about the spiritual, not the physical (John 4(7-24))
(refer John 4: 7-24)
Observations:
(1) We care about the physical, god cares about the spiritual.
In the passage referred to above, which describes a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at a well, we see two good examples about how the nature of our focus differs from that of god.
In short, we tend to focus predominately upon the physical world, whereas god is far more concerned about spiritual matters than concerns of a physical nature.
The first example of this refers to the realm of drinking, water and nourishment. The conversation commences when Jesus asks the woman for a drink, but it soon becomes clear that the woman and Jesus are on completely different wavelengths, and their focus is worlds apart.
The primary focus of the woman is on the physical aspects, both in terms of the physical process of drawing the water from the well and in terms of the physical benefit which water provides in terms of temporary refreshment.
In contrast, Jesus was merely using the water as a metaphor from which to teach the woman a lesson. His focus was concentrated upon spiritual needs, about he (subsequently through his death and resurrection on the cross), and only he, could fill our needs on a permanent basis from a spiritual basis.
The second example concerns the realm of worship, a topic to which the conversation progresses after the initial conversation about water.
Here the primary focus of the woman is based around the physical aspects of worship, in particular the appropriateness of the location in which it takes place. Again in contrast, the concerns of Jesus revolve primarily around spiritual aspects. He makes it clear that god is much more concerned the state of our heart during worship, and the extent to which worship is conducted in a manner of genuine sincerity or public show.
Don’t get me wrong, I am certainly not saying that god ignores or is not aware of the physical world, and countless of examples of how Jesus provides for our needs in a physical sense abound throughout the gospels, with the feeding of five thousand or the healing of Lazarus being two good examples.
Nevertheless, it is also made clear throughout the gospels that the physical world is not his primary focus, with the passage referred to above being a prime example, along with the conversation which follows the feeding of the five thousand in John Chapter 6.
Bottom line – we focus on the physical, but god cares about the spiritual.
Prayer:
Lord, our feeble minds are so small, we can only understand what we see around us.
Lord, we thank you that you take care of our physical needs. But lord help us to lift our hearts far above the physical attributes of this world, and set our hearts above and let thoughts of your magnificent greatness permeate from the core of our very inner being.
Lord, when we come to worship, let us not be concerned about physical aspects, such as the location in which the worship takes place. Rather, lord, let us set our hearts upon you, and upon the praising and honoring of your great name in a true spirit of wonderment and awe.
In your great name I pray.
Amen
Observations:
(1) We care about the physical, god cares about the spiritual.
In the passage referred to above, which describes a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at a well, we see two good examples about how the nature of our focus differs from that of god.
In short, we tend to focus predominately upon the physical world, whereas god is far more concerned about spiritual matters than concerns of a physical nature.
The first example of this refers to the realm of drinking, water and nourishment. The conversation commences when Jesus asks the woman for a drink, but it soon becomes clear that the woman and Jesus are on completely different wavelengths, and their focus is worlds apart.
The primary focus of the woman is on the physical aspects, both in terms of the physical process of drawing the water from the well and in terms of the physical benefit which water provides in terms of temporary refreshment.
In contrast, Jesus was merely using the water as a metaphor from which to teach the woman a lesson. His focus was concentrated upon spiritual needs, about he (subsequently through his death and resurrection on the cross), and only he, could fill our needs on a permanent basis from a spiritual basis.
The second example concerns the realm of worship, a topic to which the conversation progresses after the initial conversation about water.
Here the primary focus of the woman is based around the physical aspects of worship, in particular the appropriateness of the location in which it takes place. Again in contrast, the concerns of Jesus revolve primarily around spiritual aspects. He makes it clear that god is much more concerned the state of our heart during worship, and the extent to which worship is conducted in a manner of genuine sincerity or public show.
Don’t get me wrong, I am certainly not saying that god ignores or is not aware of the physical world, and countless of examples of how Jesus provides for our needs in a physical sense abound throughout the gospels, with the feeding of five thousand or the healing of Lazarus being two good examples.
Nevertheless, it is also made clear throughout the gospels that the physical world is not his primary focus, with the passage referred to above being a prime example, along with the conversation which follows the feeding of the five thousand in John Chapter 6.
Bottom line – we focus on the physical, but god cares about the spiritual.
Prayer:
Lord, our feeble minds are so small, we can only understand what we see around us.
Lord, we thank you that you take care of our physical needs. But lord help us to lift our hearts far above the physical attributes of this world, and set our hearts above and let thoughts of your magnificent greatness permeate from the core of our very inner being.
Lord, when we come to worship, let us not be concerned about physical aspects, such as the location in which the worship takes place. Rather, lord, let us set our hearts upon you, and upon the praising and honoring of your great name in a true spirit of wonderment and awe.
In your great name I pray.
Amen
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Permanency of the Healing of Jesus
Scripture reading
1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7When 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.)
9The 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])
10Jesus 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? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
15The 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."
Observations:
(1) The gift of Jesus does not perish
Not much beats a cold drink on a hot day.
Perhaps except a nice warm shower after coming in out of freezing cold weather.
Only one problem – two hours later, you are thirsty again and in need of another drink. Or, with the shower example, by the next morning, or even by later that evening, you are dirty and cold, and in need of another shower.
In other words, the benefits provided by cold drinks or hot showers are temporary in nature and do not last. If you want to stay warm or refreshed as the case may be, you have to have another drink or shower – you have to keep going back for more.
Not so for the impact of Jesus, an impact which sustains us now and for the rest of our lives. In addition to the obvious benefit of salvation, we also receive something else when we truly accept Jesus as our savior – spiritual rebirth and a new heart.
The moment that you and I truly accept Jesus Christ as our savior, a kind of spiritual re-birth begins to take place. Under this process, the lord our god plants in us a seed of his own being and spirit in our hearts, which changes us on the outside by first changing us on the inside.
Jesus does not simply just simply visit us once (spiritually speaking) and go away, never to be seen again. No, instead, he invests a seed of rightesnous, a seed which never dies or leaves us. The seed grows, producing a spirit of righteousness which permeates our very being. Over time, it changes us, and helps us to grow up as children of god, overflowing with the type of characteristics which come from him, such as righteousness, kindness, compassion and love, just to name a few.
We receive the spirit of god once and once only, have no need to go back and keep receiving it. Instead, we receive it once, it is planted firmly in our hearts, and it stays with us for all time.
(2) God does not need us – we need him.
Refer back to versus seven, eight, nine and ten. The sequence of events is quite curious, commencing with Jesus asking the woman for a drink, it soon becomes apparent that indeed, it is the woman, rather than Jesus, who is in need.
I think there is an important lesson here for us to learn about our place before god. On one hand, it is certainly true that god, as our maker, is also our master, and that we must serve him by honoring him with all of our hearts. Nevertheless, I think it is all too easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking that we have something that god requires, and that he is somehow dependant upon us.
Not true. Rather, god has what we need – righteousness and the forgiveness of sins. We, as fallen man, have sinned before the lord, and are in need of forgiveness. He, great and mighty god, is the only one who is in a position to grant the forgiveness which we need. These are his and his only to give, and these represent our deepest and most desperate need.
We are the ones in need – not him.
True, under no circumstances should we adopt any form of consumer mentality towards the lord. Our thoughts and hearts should always be set on how we can honor the lord, not what he can give for us or do for us.
But we are the ones in need of forgiveness, something only our great lord can give.
Prayer:
Lord,
I thank you that you do not leave us, that instead, when we truly accept your peace offering on the cross, that you do not leave us to our own devices, but instead invest a part of you into our own beings, so that whilst we might occasionally feel hungry, thirsty or tired from a physical viewpoint, we need never feel that way from a spiritual viewpoint.
Lord, I pray that you let your spirit take control of my heart, and that you grow me up in the type of characteristics which I need in order to live a life which is honorable to your name. Characteristics of love, patience, kindness, compassion, meekness and self control, just to name a few.
Lord, we are sinful man, and there is nothing which we can do for you. We are in need of you, not the other way around. It is we who have sinned and are in need of forgiveness. It is you and only you who has the authority to grant what we so badly need.
I can only thank you that you promise to grant forgiveness so freely to anyone who accepts Christ as their savior.
In these things I pray.
In your great name,
Amen.
1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7When 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.)
9The 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])
10Jesus 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? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
15The 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."
Observations:
(1) The gift of Jesus does not perish
Not much beats a cold drink on a hot day.
Perhaps except a nice warm shower after coming in out of freezing cold weather.
Only one problem – two hours later, you are thirsty again and in need of another drink. Or, with the shower example, by the next morning, or even by later that evening, you are dirty and cold, and in need of another shower.
In other words, the benefits provided by cold drinks or hot showers are temporary in nature and do not last. If you want to stay warm or refreshed as the case may be, you have to have another drink or shower – you have to keep going back for more.
Not so for the impact of Jesus, an impact which sustains us now and for the rest of our lives. In addition to the obvious benefit of salvation, we also receive something else when we truly accept Jesus as our savior – spiritual rebirth and a new heart.
The moment that you and I truly accept Jesus Christ as our savior, a kind of spiritual re-birth begins to take place. Under this process, the lord our god plants in us a seed of his own being and spirit in our hearts, which changes us on the outside by first changing us on the inside.
Jesus does not simply just simply visit us once (spiritually speaking) and go away, never to be seen again. No, instead, he invests a seed of rightesnous, a seed which never dies or leaves us. The seed grows, producing a spirit of righteousness which permeates our very being. Over time, it changes us, and helps us to grow up as children of god, overflowing with the type of characteristics which come from him, such as righteousness, kindness, compassion and love, just to name a few.
We receive the spirit of god once and once only, have no need to go back and keep receiving it. Instead, we receive it once, it is planted firmly in our hearts, and it stays with us for all time.
(2) God does not need us – we need him.
Refer back to versus seven, eight, nine and ten. The sequence of events is quite curious, commencing with Jesus asking the woman for a drink, it soon becomes apparent that indeed, it is the woman, rather than Jesus, who is in need.
I think there is an important lesson here for us to learn about our place before god. On one hand, it is certainly true that god, as our maker, is also our master, and that we must serve him by honoring him with all of our hearts. Nevertheless, I think it is all too easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking that we have something that god requires, and that he is somehow dependant upon us.
Not true. Rather, god has what we need – righteousness and the forgiveness of sins. We, as fallen man, have sinned before the lord, and are in need of forgiveness. He, great and mighty god, is the only one who is in a position to grant the forgiveness which we need. These are his and his only to give, and these represent our deepest and most desperate need.
We are the ones in need – not him.
True, under no circumstances should we adopt any form of consumer mentality towards the lord. Our thoughts and hearts should always be set on how we can honor the lord, not what he can give for us or do for us.
But we are the ones in need of forgiveness, something only our great lord can give.
Prayer:
Lord,
I thank you that you do not leave us, that instead, when we truly accept your peace offering on the cross, that you do not leave us to our own devices, but instead invest a part of you into our own beings, so that whilst we might occasionally feel hungry, thirsty or tired from a physical viewpoint, we need never feel that way from a spiritual viewpoint.
Lord, I pray that you let your spirit take control of my heart, and that you grow me up in the type of characteristics which I need in order to live a life which is honorable to your name. Characteristics of love, patience, kindness, compassion, meekness and self control, just to name a few.
Lord, we are sinful man, and there is nothing which we can do for you. We are in need of you, not the other way around. It is we who have sinned and are in need of forgiveness. It is you and only you who has the authority to grant what we so badly need.
I can only thank you that you promise to grant forgiveness so freely to anyone who accepts Christ as their savior.
In these things I pray.
In your great name,
Amen.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
God is not constrained by cultural barriers
Scripture reading
1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7When 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.)
9The 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])
10Jesus 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."
Observations
This is the first part of the famous story about the curious meeting of Jesus with a Samaritan woman.
For today, I would like to look at the social barriers and how the work of god is not constrained by them.
Look again at verse 9, where the woman was greatly surprised about being approached by Jesus. Why – because of the social barriers which she had thought would prevent such interaction.
Broadly speaking, these social barriers stemmed from two causes; (a) racial divisions between Jews and Samaritans and (b) the woman’s own social status within her own people.
Jewish Samaritan hostility
A brief background is necessary in order to fully appreciate the divisions between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Prior to the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel consisted of twelve different tribes. However, after his death, attempts by his son, Rehoboam, to become king, were rejected by all but two of the tribes.
As a result, the nation of Israel was split into two, with ten tribes from the north (those who did not accept Rehoboam’s rule) electing Jeroboam as their king, whilst the remaining two tribes accepted Rehoboam as their king.
During the period of 724-722 B.C, the capital of the northern tribes, Samaria, was overrun by the Assyrians, who instituted a policy of mixing ethnic populations of captured nations. The result – a form of mixed breed, or hybrid race evolved, and these came to be known as Samaritans.
Feelings of bitter enmity developed between the Samaritans and the two remaining Jewish tribes, for which there were several causes. The mixed race nature of the Samaritans formed one source of contention, with the Jews seeing them as a source of half breeds, who were not proper Jews. Another factor was the division of land following the split, under which the northern tribes received the vast majority of the fertile land and springs. Finally, there was a considerable degree of competition between the two groups in terms of supremity of religious practices.
One consequence of the resulting chasm was a refusal on the part of the Jews to approach or talk to a Samaritan (and vice versa) – to do so being effectively taboo from a social standpoint.
An outcast
Aside from racial tensions, the woman’s own social status would have prevented any form of interaction between herself and Jesus.
It emerges later in the story that the woman had five husbands, and indeed, was living with a sixth man who was not her husband. Accordingly, she had a well earned reputation for sleeping with any man who would take her, and for this, she was a complete outcast, one who was ostracized even within her own community.
Evidence of the extent of this is prevalent throughout the story. Firstly, she was at the well alone, unusual as it would have no doubt been the norm for women to go together. It is more than likely that her ostracism was the cause of this.
A second indication is the time of day. Our passage above indicates that she went to the well at about the sixth hour, which, as I understand it, translates to about midday. Normal practice would have been to go early in the morning, before the worst of the heat struck, and the most likely reason for the woman going at this time would have been to avoid an uncomfortable confrontation.
Jesus not limited by social taboos
My point is that under normal circumstances, this interaction would simply not have taken place.
As people, our own behavior is naturally influenced by social taboos and customs, and as such, a Jew would not have talked to a Samaritan under such circumstances.
But Jesus was no ordinary Jew. He was nothing less than the son of god, and as such, he is a long way above social taboos, norms or customs, which will not constrain him in any way from completing the masterful plan of god
It was the will of god for this conversation to take place, and Jesus had every intention of the fulfillment of that will, irrespective of any form of social taboos or customs.
My key point here is simply this – the gospel is powerful, and no social or cultural barrier will ever constrain god in any way from revealing himself or making himself known to whomever he pleases.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, it is simply beyond our comprehension just how far you are above our petty social conventions and taboos.
I pray that through this episode, as well as throughout the entire bible, that you help us to be reminded of how far above our miserable squabbles you are. We can only thank you and praise you that your perfect will is carried out both in heaven and on earth. This is in spite of our pettiness and because of your greatness.
In your great name I pray.
Amen.
1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7When 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.)
9The 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])
10Jesus 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."
Observations
This is the first part of the famous story about the curious meeting of Jesus with a Samaritan woman.
For today, I would like to look at the social barriers and how the work of god is not constrained by them.
Look again at verse 9, where the woman was greatly surprised about being approached by Jesus. Why – because of the social barriers which she had thought would prevent such interaction.
Broadly speaking, these social barriers stemmed from two causes; (a) racial divisions between Jews and Samaritans and (b) the woman’s own social status within her own people.
Jewish Samaritan hostility
A brief background is necessary in order to fully appreciate the divisions between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Prior to the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel consisted of twelve different tribes. However, after his death, attempts by his son, Rehoboam, to become king, were rejected by all but two of the tribes.
As a result, the nation of Israel was split into two, with ten tribes from the north (those who did not accept Rehoboam’s rule) electing Jeroboam as their king, whilst the remaining two tribes accepted Rehoboam as their king.
During the period of 724-722 B.C, the capital of the northern tribes, Samaria, was overrun by the Assyrians, who instituted a policy of mixing ethnic populations of captured nations. The result – a form of mixed breed, or hybrid race evolved, and these came to be known as Samaritans.
Feelings of bitter enmity developed between the Samaritans and the two remaining Jewish tribes, for which there were several causes. The mixed race nature of the Samaritans formed one source of contention, with the Jews seeing them as a source of half breeds, who were not proper Jews. Another factor was the division of land following the split, under which the northern tribes received the vast majority of the fertile land and springs. Finally, there was a considerable degree of competition between the two groups in terms of supremity of religious practices.
One consequence of the resulting chasm was a refusal on the part of the Jews to approach or talk to a Samaritan (and vice versa) – to do so being effectively taboo from a social standpoint.
An outcast
Aside from racial tensions, the woman’s own social status would have prevented any form of interaction between herself and Jesus.
It emerges later in the story that the woman had five husbands, and indeed, was living with a sixth man who was not her husband. Accordingly, she had a well earned reputation for sleeping with any man who would take her, and for this, she was a complete outcast, one who was ostracized even within her own community.
Evidence of the extent of this is prevalent throughout the story. Firstly, she was at the well alone, unusual as it would have no doubt been the norm for women to go together. It is more than likely that her ostracism was the cause of this.
A second indication is the time of day. Our passage above indicates that she went to the well at about the sixth hour, which, as I understand it, translates to about midday. Normal practice would have been to go early in the morning, before the worst of the heat struck, and the most likely reason for the woman going at this time would have been to avoid an uncomfortable confrontation.
Jesus not limited by social taboos
My point is that under normal circumstances, this interaction would simply not have taken place.
As people, our own behavior is naturally influenced by social taboos and customs, and as such, a Jew would not have talked to a Samaritan under such circumstances.
But Jesus was no ordinary Jew. He was nothing less than the son of god, and as such, he is a long way above social taboos, norms or customs, which will not constrain him in any way from completing the masterful plan of god
It was the will of god for this conversation to take place, and Jesus had every intention of the fulfillment of that will, irrespective of any form of social taboos or customs.
My key point here is simply this – the gospel is powerful, and no social or cultural barrier will ever constrain god in any way from revealing himself or making himself known to whomever he pleases.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, it is simply beyond our comprehension just how far you are above our petty social conventions and taboos.
I pray that through this episode, as well as throughout the entire bible, that you help us to be reminded of how far above our miserable squabbles you are. We can only thank you and praise you that your perfect will is carried out both in heaven and on earth. This is in spite of our pettiness and because of your greatness.
In your great name I pray.
Amen.
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