Whoever

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WHOEVER

John 4:7-14

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.) 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 flocks and herds?" 13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but 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." 

NIV

This might be a large amount of words to deal with but it is difficult to divide them and considering they speak to a singular issue it benefits us to take the whole of it at once. Well actually there are several issues that we could spend some time with, the first being the simple fact Jesus was not only talking to a Samaritan but that he was asking for a drink from this woman. Again we have to know that God does not show favoritism, or in other translations, he is not a respecter of any person. Although the Jews as a whole did not associate with the half bred Samaritans Jesus engage this woman to bring her salvation. We could learn a lesson from this as far as not being a respecter of any person, or showing favoritism in choosing who we share the gospel with and who we don’t. We also could look to a more pointed truth about how we look at and deal with sinners. Are we more accepting of one kind of sinner than another? Could we say that we would tell a person in adultery even befriend them in order to bring the gospel into their lives, but we would shun a gay man or lesbian woman because their sin is an ‘abomination’ to God? How can we decide to shun any sinner when Jesus shows us he will talk to the most despised group of their culture? This does not say we should accept their sin as alright, for not one sin, even any of ours is alright, and we have enough sin of our own to content with, so why should we shun another person who has sin, oh right ours is not as bad as theirs, but we should accept them as a person in need of the gospel as we were and are. Have we quite all our sin, so why should we expect them to as soon as they accept the gospel? Jesus has a gift available for this Samaritan woman, a gift of living water that will well up within a person to eternal life. Should we not offer this gift we have knowledge of to all, even the most despised sinners in our culture? How can we share this gift if we do not engage with them in conversation, without condemnation? How can we share this gift if we respect them as much as we respect our pastor or some other who we think is a “great Christian”? How can we share this gift if we show favoritism? Jesus told her that whoever drinks the water he gives, which mean whoever, that is inclusive, which mean anyone, not matter their sin. Whoever drinks. 

He is Waiting

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HE IS WAITING

John 4:4-6

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 the sixth hour.

NIV

We all know the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman which is narrative is the set up for, but there is something else here that perhaps might be of a slight interest to investigate. Why would John write that Jesus was tired from the journey?  Why would Jesus get tired, isn’t he God in the flesh? How can God get tired? Although it is true that he is fully God he is also fully man, but why was he the only one that was tired as his disciples kept going on into town to buy food and bring it back to him? Weren’t they tired as well from the journey? It does seem strange that Jesus was the only one that was so tired he had to sit down by Jacob’s well. Now if he had not gotten tired he would have never had the opportunity to talk with the woman which led to a whole area of people experiencing his divine personality and coming to believe in him. Is it possible that Jesus, although fully human, and maybe experiencing tiredness so he can identify with us when we are tired from a journey, was actually pretending to be tired so as to have this encounter with the Samaritan woman. Is it possible that Jesus is always right there ready to have an encounter with whoever needs to have an experience of a lifetime? The answer is a resounding yes. Jesus will always reveal the truth about our lives to us. He will be there waiting to meet us, to speak with us, to give us an opportunity to serve him, as he was to ask of this woman. But we get ahead of ourselves here and we should simply see the truth here of Jesus waiting for us to come along, to be there ready to show us the truth of our lives. He was not really tired, he needed to be there, he knew want he was going to do and he set it up perfectly as only he could. Whenever we need, Jesus will always be there waiting by the well to speak with us. He is waiting.

The Right Time

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THE RIGHT TIME

John 4:1-3

4:1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

NIV

This is what seems to be a historical narrative in the life of Christ, yet could there be a lesson for us as well. We know that all scripture is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so there must be a lesson of some sort for us here. We know the Pharisees were not happy with John who was baptizing without their permission as they asked him by what authority is he baptizing. We have to assume they were far more irritated with Jesus as he; or rather his disciples were baptizing even more people than John. How did Jesus learn of the Pharisees knowledge of his activities? Could it be because he knew all things, being God? Could it be someone told him about what the Pharisees were up to? Either way, he decided to leave the area because if the Pharisees were already plotting to do away with him, to kill him, and his time was not yet right for being killed, he withdrew. So what is our lesson? Jesus did not stand down from a fight, he did not back away from a confrontation with anyone, but timing was all important. Jesus had other things to do for the kingdom before he would allow them to put him to death. Yes he came for that purpose, but he also had to make sure his disciples were ready for the task after his death. Our lives are more than facing confrontations with unbelievers trying to convince them to get saved. Our lives are more than debating denominational differences trying to convince others of their error in doctrine. There may be a time when we must face opposite head on, but there also may be situations when we should make a timely withdrawal as Jesus did, so we can go about doing more for the kingdom of God in another way, in another place. Yes we should speak up in order to be heard, but timing is, as we see here, important. There is a time to confront and a time to withdraw. We should be aware of the right time for each.

Without Limits

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WITHOUT LIMITS

John 3:33-36

 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God 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 him."  

NIV

This is the last of the testimony of John regarding Jesus which he spoke as an answer to those who were arguing over baptism. One thing we should notice is that the Spirit is giving to Jesus without limits. Does this mean that the Spirit is given to us with limits? The truth is that God gives the Spirit without measure, without limits, he pours out the Spirit in all his fullness upon Jesus, and upon all who want him. We see here that God the Father has placed everything in the hands of Jesus and Jesus told his disciples that he must go so that he could sent the Spirit, and he poured it out upon his disciples without limit on that day of Pentecost. If we are in Christ, that is, if we are born again or if we are believers, followers of Jesus then we too have the privilege of having Jesus pour out the Spirit without limits upon us as well. How many of us are living a crippled life not experiencing the full measure of the Spirit in our lives? How many of us are trying to live according to the rules of regulations of some denominational statement of faith or beliefs rather than living in the Spirit? God explains it all through the Apostle Paul in the letter to the Galatians about being under the law but that we have been freed from the law and have been giving the Spirit and he asks then why do we want to enslave ourselves back under the law, or the principles of the world, or religious ceremonies, denominational rules and regulations. We have been set free from the law and are now sons and daughters of God, with all the rights as co-heirs of Jesus, with the full measure the Spirit to guide and direct our lives. We also see that we have the additional benefit of eternal life, being able to live forever, never having to perish, and never having to fact the second death. We never have to actually die, which is a result of experiencing the wrath of God. Death, the second death is the ultimate wrath of God, but he does not desire this upon anyone, that is why he sent his Son, Jesus to paid the price, but it still is up to each person to either accept Jesus or reject, the result of that choice is clear. How thankful we who believe should be that we responded to the Spirits wooing. How thankful we who believe should be that the Spirit has been poured out upon us in the fullness of measure, without limits, giving us the power to live as sons and daughters of God. We must also choose to live in the Spirit without limits. 

Truthful

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

TRUTHFUL

John 3:31-33

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 man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.

 NIV

We are still in the response of John to this argument between his disciple and some Jews. Here John makes it very clear there is a great distinction between Jesus and the rest of us. Jesus is the only one who has ever been in heaven in the presence of the Father and the Holy Spirit. But John makes it even clearer that Jesus, although we always think of him as one of the Trinity, is God. Jesus is above all, and only God can be above all. John has been inspired to see Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us. John also makes sure we understand that we are not from heaven, but are but creations of God, here on this earth. We should know our place in creation as being from the earth, and we cannot speak any other truth than what we know, and all we know, no matter how much that might be, is only about the earth, while Jesus being from above speaks about things from above. What John is saying here is all about accepting Jesus Christ as God, as the Savior, as Lord of our lives, as the one who is above us, who created us. If people reject what Jesus says, they will never understand the reality of truth, for all they can know is facts of the earth, which in truth is all about Jesus, but they would never see that for they have closed their minds to the real truth. There are even some who study the scriptures searching for knowledge, but miss the truth. Perhaps their motive for this knowledge is misplaced on personal gain. But for those of us who accept the words of Jesus, that he is the Christ, that he is God in the flesh, that what he came to do is satisfy his own need for justice so that we might be saved, we can certify that God is truthful, that the words he has inspired men to write and collect into this one book, the Bible, is completely without error, totally truthful, for as we will see in the rest of Johns response we have the fullness of the Spirit, unlimited amounts of the Spirit so that we may be sure God is truthful. What else is there? Who else has any truth? The fact is that all science, all truth of this earth is simply man discovering what God has created. Yet many are blinded to this truth because they have closed their minds to the reality of God. We will also see their fate in the rest of John’s response. But for now let us simply be thankful for we can certify that God is truthful.

More or Less

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

MORE OR LESS

John 3:27-30

27 To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ 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.

NIV

We are in the middle of this narrative of an argument between some Jews and some disciples of John and they had come to him to resolve their disagreement. Here we see his answer, his response to them telling him about people going to Jesus to be baptized instead of him. John knew who he was and what his life was all about. He did not try to be more than who he was or make himself out to be more than who he knew he was. He told them he could only be who God had called him to be. He reminded them he never said that he was anybody other then who he was, a voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord.” John knew the great call that was upon his life and that he had done what he was called to do. He knew Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah and that it was Jesus who would save the world. The incredible lesson for us to learn is all about knowing who we are and who we are not, but we should also see that we, the self within us, should decrease and allow the Spirit of Christ to increase within us. We should not think more of ourselves than we should, as we are but sinners saved by grace. Yet it is also true that we all have a call on our lives, perhaps never as great a one John had, but nevertheless we have a call to be a voice crying in the wilderness of this sinful world, “Prepare the way of your life, the Lord is returning.”  Without being judgmental, it is difficult to understand how God calls some to be great performers, gaining such fame and fortunes, being the center of attention instead of declaring, prepare the way for the Lord. Again without any judgment, it is difficult to understand how we can live so much of our lives doing what we want to do instead of what God desires for us to do. John became less, knowing Jesus would become more, John got out of the way of Jesus, should we not also get ourselves out of the way so Jesus can become more? It is not about us, it is about Jesus. Why do we spend so much time talking about us, talking about what we have done, where we have gone, what we are going to do, where we are going to go? Should we not be spending time talking about Jesus? Yes we should enjoy our lives, he gave them to us. Yes we should enjoy the blessings from God, both the spiritual and the material, but that is not what our lives are about. Our lives should be about Jesus, we becoming less while he becomes more. All that we are, that we have, that we do is a result of Jesus. Should our lives not reflect that? The definition of Grace is his divine influence upon our lives and how that is reflected in our lives. Are we more or less?

Spending Time

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SPENDING TIME

John 3:22-26

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 constantly coming to be 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 — well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."

NIV

 Here we have a lengthy discussion which we must divide up so as to deal with one portion at a time. First we should consider the argument between this matter of baptism or ceremonial washing between some of John’s disciples and certain Jews, which the original word could indicate, rather than just one Jew. They were expecting John to settle the matter, to give them the solution to their argument. But as we will see he may not have answered the way they were expecting. But for now we should be focused on the fact that first Jesus went with his disciples into the Judean countryside and spent some time with them, and baptized. We may not be privy  to what went on between Jesus and his disciples during that time he spent with them, yet the point is he wanted some quality alone time with those few men. There were many people who followed around after Jesus while he was in the city or villages, but when he set out for the countryside they followed not because they had no business out there, no reason to leave their daily life of commerce, but his disciples who not only followed him, but attended him, went with him and he spent time with them. We should learn that lesson we see here. When we follow Jesus, leaving all else behind, he spends quality time alone with us. There may be many who follow after Jesus in his public ministries, wanting to see miracles or see what they can get from being a believer, seeking out the big shows, but how many will attend to Jesus in the quite of the countryside, alone just with him? We are told here that only those few disciples. What kind of follower is each one of us? Do we just want to be around the big shows, or do we what to follow Jesus into those quite places and attend to him, having him spend some quality alone time with us? These are the moments which really count in our lives, moments alone with Jesus. Sure the big shows, the big crowds, the miracles, the healing, the excitement of it all, is exhilarating for a time, but it is when we are alone with Jesus, when he spends that time just with us, we grow, we mature, we gain wisdom and understanding, we gain strength and courage to live out our faith in ways many will never be able to do. It might cost us something, unlike those who would not leave their commerce in the city to follow him out to the countryside, but we will gain so much more because of spending time with Jesus.