Mon, Apr 7th - 11:20AM
Book of John
Chapter 4:25-30
The Subject of the Messiah
"The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah comes, which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us things. Jesus said to her, I that speak to you am He. And His disciples came upon this, and marvelled that He spoke with the woman: yet no man said, What do You seek? or, Why talk with her? The woman left her waterpot, and went into the city, and said to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all the things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came to Him."
Here we can see a dramatic picture of witnessing and then conversion. Messiah is discovered and this discovery is excitedly shared with others. This woman knew from the Old Testament that the Messiah was to come. That was the expectation. Jesus revealing her sin and claiming to be Messiah caused her heart to reach out towards God. She could sense something very special about Jesus.
We see that she brought up a couple of things that she believed. That the Messiah was coming and that He would tell us all things. Her second belief reveals her belief that the Messiah would be the Supreme Authority. She had mental or intellectual belief but not a saving belief. So many people today only have the intellectual belief in Jesus but not the personal, saving belief that is necessary for redemption from their sins. This Samaritan woman was open to being reached by God. Whereas the agnostic or atheistic person is seldom reached for Christ.
We also see here three claims made by Jesus. That He was the Messiah, that He was the great "I am," and that He was the One who could tell people everything there was to know about them. Now when His disciples finally arrive at the well we get to consider their attitudes. Prejudice towards Samaritans. There was also the matter of Jesus speaking alone to a woman. The scriptures reveal that the disciples were amazed, bewildered, marvelling at the fact that He was sitting and talking with this Samaritan woman. It was considered improper in that day for Rabbis to be alone or talk with women in public. Granted, leaders must be aware of what people will gossip about, what they will assume. But this can't be carried too far. Wisdom and self control must be utilized in all situations. As for her being a Samaritan, well, they were despised by Jews, considered below their social standing, unfit to be seen with in public.
Jesus did not care about social standing policy. The disciples had at least learned enough by this time to keep their comments to themselves and only wonder why He had stopped here to talk with this woman. We find here a method of witnessing. Meet people where they are, strike up a conversation, listen intently, and ask targeted questions that lead to talking about Jesus. This reminds us of Mark 5:19, Acts 4:20, Titus 2:15, Psalm 66:16, And Daniel 4:2.
Please understand this, this woman was of no importance socially. She had been often misused, the subject of gossip and jokes. But she was willing to listen to Jesus and then recognize who He truly was. This event at the well changed her behavior and attitude so much that people were willing to listen to her. A good number of people responded to what she said and went out to find this Messiah and see for themselves. Isn't that what we want people to do after we talk with them about Jesus?
That is all for today my friends. Next time we shall look at the matter of laboring for God in verses 31-42.
Have a blessed day!
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Thu, Mar 27th - 11:53AM
Book of John
Chapter 4:15-24
"The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water, that I do not thirst, neither need to come here to draw. Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband, and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have said well, I have no husband: For you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband: in that you spoke truth."
Jesus had spoken earlier about her receiving living water. The Samarian woman asks to receive it so that she won't be thirsty anymore and won't have to come and draw water every day. But Jesus wants to discuss something first. He wants to discuss with her all of the "baggage" that is part of who she is. She needed to be honest and face her truth, that she had sinned. This woman asks for the living water based upon physical needs. Thirst and having to always draw water. Isn't that how we often respond to God? We are so immersed in our physical world, in meeting our physical needs, that that is how we automatically relate to Jesus.
This woman had not yet grasped the spiritual meaning, the inner satisfaction that Jesus could give that would fulfill all of the thirst that she had in her heart. Each of us has an inner, spiritual thirst. We may feel empty, lonely, lost, hopeless, or despair. But once we drink of His living water we are stirred to engage in ministry to help others find this water also because our inner thirst has been met. Now before this woman could receive the living water of spiritual rebirth, she had to be convicted of her sin and repent of it. Why? First of all she was weary and heavy burdened due to her sin. She had to come to this well at this hour of the day because the other women would not allow her to draw water with them due to her living with a man in sin. She had to renounce her sin, then she could become free of it. It was also like a disease. She was infected by sin, it had consumed her life even though she remained unaware of its presence.
We can see here that Jesus did not accept any sort of evasion. She tried but failed. He revealed all that He knew about her. Jesus knew why she had had five husbands and why she was no longer married to any of them. Now she had not even bothered to marry the man that she currently lived with. And just as Jesus knew everything about her He also knows everything about each of us. "For My eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from My face, neither is their iniquity hid from My eyes. (Jeremiah 16:17)" You and I have to face the truth, the fact of our sin, and we must renounce it if we wish to receive the living water. We have to do exactly what Jesus says to do.
"The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. You do not know what you worship: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour comes and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
This declaration by Jesus changes how anyone must approach worshipping God. Place of worship is unimportant, true worship and salvation is of the Jews, and we must worship God in spirit and in truth. The woman could have become angry and just left. But she sensed that Jesus was a prophet, in touch with God. Samaritans worshipped God on their mountain, Gerizim. But Jesus says that soon that won't be acceptable. So where is she to go to worship God? Today people ask these same questions, looking for answers. Where can I find help from God?
Jesus tells her that it will soon not be a place but that it will happen within herself. Jesus told her, in essence, that a radical change to how people must worship God was coming. A historical event that would impact and change the world forever. Place of worship is no longer the Temple, the synagogue, the mosque, the worship center, sanctuary, tabernacle, or any other building. The location of worship now is in each person's heart. This is where we meet His Holy Spirit to have fellowship, to have reproof, to be edified, to be counseled. The question put to each and every person born into this world now is: What/Who do you worship in your heart?
We should note that worship and salvation are of the Jews and of no one else. The Messiah, who is the salvation of all people, comes through the Jews, not the Greeks, Romans, or Babylonians. Jesus was a born a full Jew. He was not of any other nationality nor a mixture of of ethnicities. All other forms of worship are simply expressions of peoples' imaginations, no matter how rational, highly esteemed, or greatly followed. Having 30,000 members meeting each Sunday in sanctuary does not make it Godly worship.
Let's look quickly at the nature of worship that Jesus ushered in. It means worship with the spiritual drive and ability of my soul, seeking the most intimate communion and fellowship with God. I worship with the spiritual core of my life and being. I must approach God in the right way, through His Son Christ Jesus. I must worship God sincerely and truthfully, my mind completely focused upon what I am doing. Distractions must be pushed aside. Stray thoughts pushed out of my mind.
God wants to reestablish worship and fellowship with mankind. He had that in the Garden of Eden for a time. He chose the long path to fixing the problem of sin in the world. He could have fixed it immediately. But He chose to give mankind time and opportunity to freely choose to repent of their sin and return to Him. We all know what history teaches us about mankind being willing to repent of anything. The more the world changes the more it remains unchanged. People are more educated today but continue to treat each other very badly. People may be born into great wealth and choose to not use it to help those who are in desperate need. People may have found spiritual salvation and yet refuse to share it with others who still desperately need it as well. Good breeding, good education, good job; none of these guarantee that people will treat others politely, let alone help them. These advantages do not automatically translate into lack of bigotry, racism, hate, indifference, or greed. These all lead to conflict: personal, local, regional, national, and eventually international. Mankind can't create utopia here on earth because we are all flawed individuals and our flaws inevitably find their way into our choices. Only Jesus can, and will, create utopia here on this earth. But we must wait for His return in the future.
Have a blessed day!
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Wed, Mar 12th - 7:38PM
Book of John
4:1-14
Jesus left Judaea out of some necessity. It was for John the Baptist's sake. Crowds were leaving John and going to Jesus and the religionists were using this fact to try and downgrade John's ministry. So Jesus reduced the tension by returning to Galilee.
"When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples,) He left Judead, and departed again into Galilee. And He must needs go through Samaria. Then he comes to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph."
The word "must" meant necessity, compulsion, destiny. Jesus did not simply decide to go through Samaria. He was driven by God's plan to go there, for the sake of His mission. Samaria needed the gospel as much as any other area. Nothing Jesus did in His public ministry was done accidentally, it was all done with purpose. Jesus entered Sychar and sat on the wall of a well. While sitting there one of the events for which He had come there for happened: He met a woman and confronted her with the claims of the Messiah.
She came to draw water, He struck up a conversation with her by asking for a drink of water.
"Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat on the wall: and it was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus said to her, Give Me a drink. (For His disciples were gone away to the city to buy meat. Then the woman said to Him, "How is it that you, being a jew, ask drink from me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans."
Samaria was the central part of Palestine. Judaea was the southern section and Galilee was the northern section. There was bitter hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. Samaritans were half-Jews, caused by birth. The king of Assyria sent people from all over his empire to live in Samaria to replace all those whom he deported when he conquered Israel. Intermarriage was simply a natural occurrence but it was completely unacceptable to the Jews. They held to a pure race of God's people. The transplanted people brought their gods with them to eventually create a hybrid type of worship.
What caused this hatred? Well, when Ezra led Jews back from exile in Babylon they immediately began to rebuild the temple. The Samaritans offered to help, but the Jews rejected them claiming that through intermarriage with heathens and accepting to worship false gods forfeited their right to worship the only true God. This embittered the Samaritans, as you can easily imagine. They went and built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim to compete with the temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritans twisted Scripture to favor themselves and nation. They only accepted five books of the bible, the Pentateuch. They then claimed that Abraham offered Isaac up as a sacrifice on Mount Gerizim, it was the place where Melchizedek met Abraham, and where Moses built his first altar after leading Israel out of Egyptian bondage. This is the context of Jesus talking to this Samaritan woman.
"Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give Me a drink; you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water. The woman said to Him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from where then have You that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus said, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
To people of that time "living water" normally meant water that was moving, flowing, such as creeks, rivers, spring-fed lakes. Jesus meant the living water that comes only from God. Living water is the gift of God. It is freely given, not earned nor deserved. Living water is given by asking for it. Living water comes from a Person, and this woman quickly realized that Jesus was making an unusual claim. She was a person of keen observation: Jesus had nothing with which to draw water. So she asks Jesus where did He get this water. Then she wants to know if He is greater than Jacob. She recognized Jesus claimed to be greater than one of their greatest Patriarchs.
How does this relate to us today you may ask? Everyone has two thirsts: the physical one and the spiritual one. People may deny that they have a spiritual thirst but it is still there. You and I know exactly how to quench our physical thirst: get some water and drink it down. But our spiritual thirst is a different problem to try and solve. We all sense a thirst for purpose in life, meaning, significance, fulfillment, freedom from excessive anxiety, stress, and pressure. So many of us try to satisfy this thirst by means of lust, immorality, drunkenness, pride, love of money, love of possessions, etc., etc. None of these quench our spiritual thirst. They are like drinking salt water; we only crave more and more.
Living water comes from Christ Jesus. It is placed within a person and it continually is in motion, moving at all times. Isaiah 12:3 tells us that it comes from the wells of salvation. It is seen again in Rev 7:17 and 22:17. The Holy Spirit of God is this living water. We shall see this later in the book of John.
I hope that this post answers a few of your questions about this passage. I hope that it provides you with some comfort. Always remember this, nothing Jesus does is accidental nor is it rushed because He is late. He does everything at its appointed time.
Have a blessed day and the peace of God be upon you.
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Fri, Mar 7th - 11:27AM
Book of John
3:22-36
"After these things came Jesus and His disciples into the land of Judaea; and there He tarried with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. For John was not yet cast into prison."
Once Jesus finished talking with Nicodemus during the night He and His disciples traveled to Judaea and stayed there awhile baptizing people. John the Baptist, since he was still a free man, was also baptizing in that same area. And some tension between the two groups of followers surfaces.
"Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came to John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with you beyond Jordan, to whom you bore witness, behold, the same baptizes, and all men come to him."
Are they jealous? Are they genuinely confused? Who are we to believe and follow after for teaching, repentance, and baptizing? The text does not plainly reveal whether or not they are jealous. I believe that they were feeling like they were caught between a rock and a hard place. Their master had been preaching and calling for repentance which then lead to water baptism. Jesus comes along to the Jordan, gets baptized by their master, is proclaimed to be the Lamb of God, and then proceeds to go about teaching, healing, and baptizing people also. So, who is the Master? Who do we follow? John or Jesus? Legitimate questions that should be asked by them. Since all men were turning towards following Jesus they obviously were becoming fearful that John would lose all of his followers. But notice John's response.
"John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness,that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom"s voice: my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease."
John the Baptist makes a very, very, clear statement here. He is not the Christ, the bridegroom, nor God. He is the one who was sent ahead of Christ to prepare the way for Him. Jesus is the bridegroom, those who choose to believe in Him become His bride, the Church. John in essence is the best man, he is the one who ensures that everything at the wedding and afterwards points towards the Bride and Bridegroom. Other New Testament scriptures describe weddings or contain parables about the feast that happens after t wedding ceremony. These teach us valuable truths about our relationship with Jesus.
If we stop and think about this passage, it is clear that the Baptist is not in the Church but is actually the last of the Old Testament prophets. Who is the bride? The church. Who is the bridegroom? Jesus. He that has the bride is the bridegroom: sets the stage for our personal relationship spiritually with Jesus. Husband and wife. Jesus is the Head of the wife. The wife is His pride and joy, His love. So John is the friend of the bridegroom, His best man. He will be there at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb but will not be a member of the Church, at least not in the same way that believers in Christ become a part of His Church. Salvation has not been created on Golgotha yet.
John states that no person can receive anything except it be given to them from heaven. Jesus Himself said, "No man can come to Me, except it were given to him of My Father." (John 6:65). Then what a shocker to John's disciples! Christ must increase and I must decrease. John tells them that his ministry must come to an end. How would you feel at that moment?
Before moving on, let"s consider why the Jews questioned about the purifying nature of baptism. The Jews were quite familiar with ritual cleansing for they understood the need to remove uncleanness. Their questions about baptism"s ability to purify remained completely in the physical sense of becoming clean. They missed the importance of one"s heart becoming purified. Even today people seek to find something that will "clean" their heart of their guilt, shame, failure, sense of wrong. Rarely do people choose to seek this in Christ Jesus. They generally choose doing good deeds, attending church, giving to charity, or joining some religion. Who am I to turn to for cleansing in my life? Other religious leaders? An expert in personal relationships? Business leaders? Or Christ Jesus?
The truth is this: we all follow some master in our lives. We all give our allegiance to someone or something.
"He that comes from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth: He that comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies to; and no one receives His testimony. He that has received His testimony has set to his seal that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God: for God gives not the Spirit by measure to Him. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that does not believe the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him."
John lays out to his disciples, and us, that Jesus is from heaven above and we are from the earth. We think, act, and speak based upon our earthly senses. We have distinct problems when it comes to thinking heavenly thoughts. John says that Christ is superior, God the father has given everything to the Son, who is Christ Jesus. Jesus has come to share with mankind those things which He has seen and heard up in heaven. The only Messiah is Jesus! God calls people to become His servants. He appoints people to a particular service and then equips them to carry it out. Therefore any appointment or gift that has not come from heaven is false. John the Baptist was not appointed by God to be the Messiah but to be the forerunner, the herald. John had clear understanding of who he was and what his specific appointment and ministry were. John also demonstrates to all of us what humility is all about.
Perhaps all believers today need to remember that they serve God, not other people. I am God's servant, not someone else's. I can trust God to take care of me and my ministry. It means that I do not envy what others have. I need to be satisfied in my service and ministry. God has chosen me to bring His Word to you on this site (John 15:16).
Another thing, I can speak about earthly things that I am knowledgeable of. Heavenly things are beyond me for I have no direct access to heaven. I can speculate or imagine but since I have never been there I can't describe anything based upon firsthand observations. Therefore I must rely upon Someone who came from heaven to tell me all about it. That is Jesus. He came out of the Spiritual realm into our physical realm. From the supernatural into the natural. Christ Jesus is the only Spokesman of God. Either you and I accept and believe Jesus' words as true or we choose to not believe. Jesus won't force us. Whatever Jesus spoke was the words of God. It is not technical or complex, we do not require access to the very first manuscripts. If God is all powerful, if nothing is impossible for Him, then I believe that God can easily ensure that today we are reading His words and can accept them as true.
Now in verse 33 there is mention of a man's seal. Back in those times a man's seal was set to a document to show that he agreed with it. It signified that he considered it to be legal,binding, valid, and authentic. A seal guaranteed that the record was true and genuine. By receiving and accepting the testimony of Jesus a person shows that God is true. In verse 34 we could become confused with the wording but it simply means that Jesus had the full measure of the Holy Spirit not just a part. There was no limit to what Jesus could have done. Jesus has been given the purpose of determining each person's destiny. All things have been given to Christ Jesus. There is only one doorway to entering into heaven: Jesus. It is a narrow one. I suggest that everyone find a copy of Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan and read it all the way through. If you do not recognize yourself within its characters stop and begin again and read more slowly.
I am not going to write about God's wrath here, that is another topic for another day. Simply understand that if you choose to not believe in the Son of God that you have the wrath of God remaining upon you. Have a wonderfully blessed day and I pray that you feel the presence of Christ in your life toda!
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Sat, Feb 22nd - 6:27PM
Book of John Chapter 3
3:16-21
Here we look at a very commonly quoted passage of scripture. It frankly reveals to the reader God's great love for humanity. All of humanity. Now the Jews believed that God loved the religious, the true Jew, and hated the non-religious or Gentiles. But shockingly, God loves both the Jew and the Gentile. Perhaps you are thinking how could God love murderers, wife beaters, child abusers, prostitutes, enslavers, tyrants, and thieves?
Here in this passage it states plainly and clearly that God loves the good, the bad, and the ugly. He loves those whom no one else loves, those who cannot love themselves. He loves the unloving, the obstinate, the selfish and the vengeful. I Timothy 2:4 talks about God wanting all people to be saved, to come to the knowledge of the truth. For people to be able to leave behind the world's nonsense.
Why would God love all of us? It is in His very nature. He is love (I John 4:8,16) therefore He loves. He acts, demonstrates, and shows us His love. He does this while we still are sinners far, far, removed from knowing the truth about God.
But how did God demonstrate His neverending love for us? In verse one of today's text it tells us that He gave us His only begotten Son. Whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Would you sacrifice your only child to save someone else? This is not a human concept, willingly giving one's child in exchange for anothers life. It comes from a higher plane of existence.
Many people who do not accept that God is real allege that He hates every person, that He is just waiting patiently for each of us to screw up so that He can slap us into hell forever. But that is not the truth. Verse seventeen of our text states the Son was not sent into this world to condemn it but that through the Son it might be saved.
You see, God took the initiative to come into our world to save us from ourselves. We did not seek to save ourselves. God gave us His Son that we might be forgiven and saved. God gave the most dear thing to His heart in order to redeem the world. This was planned from before creation of the heavens and the earth.
The purpose of giving His Son was to redeem people from their sins. God desired to save us from perishing, to save us to eternal life, and to save us through our belief. In essence God desires to take us from being dead people walking and transform us into new creations. To fundamentally change our spiritual natures. There are all sorts of passages that I could quote showing what Jesus was meant to do while living in our world. He came to minister to people, to heal them physically and spiritually. He came to be the Passover Lamb for the entire world, both Jews and Gentiles.
If anyone chooses to not believe in Jesus then they condemn themselves by their choice. If people cannot recognize that light has come into our world and choose rather to continue to live darkness, then they condemn themselves. There are many who choose to live in the shadows in order that no one else may witness what they are doing. Light always reveals what the darkness has been concealing.
Christ is the great remedy for humanity's sins. He is the only way for people to truly change the way they live and treat others. Unbelief is rejecting and refusing to believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
So who escapes condemnation? Those who practice truth and live righteously. They know what is right and then do it. They practice truth. They are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination for they are still sinners. Those who come to the Light escape condemnation. Light reveals pitfalls in front of us we "walk" through life. Light helps us avoid stumbling and falling into sin.
Next posting I will look at the disciples' conflict over who was to be their Master, John the Baptist of Jesus.
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Name: Eric Rajaniemi
