John

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The Text

“When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,² (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)³ He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.⁴ And he must needs go through Samaria.⁵ Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.⁶ Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.⁷ There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink . . . “ (John 4:1-26)

Christmas Desires

While the Samaritan woman does not usually make the list for Advent passages, this story illustrates the deep longings of humanity and the One sent from God to satisfy these desires. This woman desired water, and Jesus offers water that provides eternal life. She wanted men, and Jesus reveals God as a Father. She sough to worship rightly, and Jesus explains that God is seeking her as a worshipper. The story of the Samaritan woman forms part of the larger story that begins at Christmas with the good news of great joy that the Father is seeking people to worship him in spirit and truth.

Journey to Samaria (vs. 1-6)

Jesus along with his disciples trek from Judea to Galilee in northern Israel. Verse 4 states that “Jesus had to go through Samaria.” In a practical sense, Jesus did not have to pass through Samaria. Many strict Jews avoided Samaria, but Jesus intentionally travels to Samaria and rests at a well outside Sychar.  Since it’s around lunchtime, Jesus sends all the disciples to the town for food. He arranges

A Samaritan Woman at a Jewish Well (vs. 7-9)

A Samaritan woman comes alone to the well to draw water. Culturally, most women draw water in the cool of the morning. Her arrival at noon reveals a clue of her situation. She’s on the outskirts of the Samaritan social scene. If the Samaritans shun you, you’re really hurting. Then Jesus asks the woman for a drink. She responds. “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan woman?” About 750 years of hatred are bearing down on this request for a drink of water.

Living Water and Cracked Cisterns (vs. 10-15)

Jesus continues with his surprises, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that said to you ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (vs. 10). Notice that Jesus initiates with a known desire of the woman––water. This woman is an expert on the water in this well. She knows the stats. She knows the urban legend of Jacob. But this woman who everyday lugs her pot to the well knows the need and preciousness of water.

Jesus is offering the woman not something that can be put in  a bucket, but he is offering himself. Jeremiah the Prophet compares living water and cracked cisterns, “Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13-14). Living water is found in the Lord, and in him alone. But those who refuse to drink from this source must dig from their own cisterns that can hold no water. Jesus now identifies the cracked cistern of men that has left her soul thirsty.

Husband Thirst and Wrong Worship (vs. 16-22)

“Go, call your husband, and come here.” She becomes a linguist, “I have no husband.” Jesus confronts her spiritual thirst by pointing out that she has had five husbands and now a live-in boyfriend. The woman is dumbfounded that Jesus knows the details of her life and assumes he is a prophet (vs. 19). A prophet reveals a person’s place in the eyes of God and the way to make things right between God and man. The woman recognizes her sin and the necessity of repentance, but she has been worshipping wrong.

Worship the Seeking Father (vs. 23-26)

Worship of God is possible because the Father is seeking people to worship him. When was the last time this woman experienced a father? Over the years, she had experienced men as husbands, but not a father. God the Father is not distant or scornful but actively seeks to find people. God’s desire for you realigns the desires of your life. What does God want? He wants you to know him as your Father. He wants you to worship him as your God in spirit and truth. This woman has a deep thirst that can only be satisfied in the worship of the Triune God and by the work of the Triune God.

What does the Father want? A world of worshippers. And so the Father has sent his Son Jesus to a world full of people with messed up desires and wrong worship. This is the joyful announcement the angels shouted to the scruffy shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:11) This great news of great joy came to the Samaritan woman. And we join in this celebration even now in the season of advent that the Messiah, the Savior of the World, the Desire of the Nations, has come.

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The Text

“After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison). Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him’ . . .” (John 3:22-36)

Life in Community

We are part of the Moscow community which covers the spectrum of people from the Renaissance Fair to our Reformation Fest. Within this cultural hodgepodge there forms tighter communities––church community, school community, work community, family community. But what happens when one community appears to compete with another community? An unassuming statement like “I love our church community” can reveal competition, rivalries, envy.

A similar situation prompts our story in John 3 when some of John’s disciples vent their frustration about the upstart Jesus and his rival baptism ministry, “Look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” But instead of adding his own grumbles, John directs his disciples to truth that completes his joy––Jesus must increase, but I must decrease. John gives the guiding principle for a godly and joyful life and community. When you live with this mentality––Jesus must increase, but I must decrease, you enter into the life of the Trinity and discover complete joy.

Rival Baptizers? (vs. 22-24)

Jesus and his disciples depart from Jerusalem and begin baptizing. And we could rightly assume that John the Baptist would now retire from his job as the Baptist. Jesus has arrived and He can take it from here. But the passage says that John and his disciples continue to baptize in Aenon near Salim. There’s still water, there’s still people, there’s still time before he’s imprisoned and beheaded. How about this to reshape our thinking on retirement.

Ministry Monopoly (vs. 25-26)

A discussion arises between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. The discussion group comes to John to sort things out. But instead of presenting a question, they vent their frustration, “Rabbi, he who was with you across from the Jordan, to whom you bore witness––look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” They are wounded for John and concerned for his ministry. They thought they had set up a monopoly on the baptism market, and now they feel competition.

He Must Increase, But I Must Decrease (vs. 27-30)

John holds an open hand to his ministry knowing that it all has come from God in Heaven. And remember what he’s said all along––I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. John has not set himself up as a rival to Jesus and doesn’t let his disciples hoist him up on the pedestal either. In fact, his disciples are thinking about it all wrong. They shouldn’t regret Christ’s advancement but rejoices in it. That’s what John is doing. He’s like the friend of the groom on the wedding day beaming as he watches the groom laugh and hug and kiss his bride. The friend has done lots of work preparing this moment (setting up chairs, last minute ice-run, escorting Great Aunt Marge), and it all out of joy.

“Therefore this joy of mine is complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” This seems like a backwards way to achieve joy, at least by the world’s reckoning but not in God’s world. The principle is that when Jesus increases, joy increases.

From Heaven and Not From Earth (vs. 31-33)

In the last verses of the chapter, John explains why we should rejoice in the exaltation of Jesus Christ. To begin with, Jesus is not from around here. Jesus has breathed the air at the summit of Heaven and has come down to earth and so has greater authority over man. But Jesus is not only different in superiority but also in substance than any other man. Man belongs to the earth, and as Paul says, “We have borne the image of the man of dust” (1 Cor. 15: 47-49). What do we look like when we share a family resemblance to Adam? We are selfish, envious, quarrelsome, murdering, drunkards and that just gets us a few chapters into Genesis. But 1 Corinthians 15 gives hope of a new image––of the man from heaven who is infinitely different from Adam or any of his earthy descendants.

Life with the Triune God (vs. 34-36)

In verses 34-35, we glimpse the life in the Trinity. Two present tense verbs reveal what the Father does 1)The Father is always giving to the Son the Spirit without measure and 2) the Father is always loving the Son. Giving and loving are central to the community of the Trinity.

Remember we are answering the question, “Why should we rejoice that Jesus increases?” Look at how the Father thinks of Jesus.The Father has sent Jesus from heaven to speak for God. The Father has given Jesus the Spirit in abundance. The Father loves Jesus. The Father has given all things into his hand. What’s the Father’s thinking? “My son must increase!” The Father then turns to the world and asks, “Do you agree?”

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The Text

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.” (John 2:23-3:21)

What is in man? (2:23-25)

Born again of water and the Spirit (3:1-8)

How can these things be? (3:9-12)

Salvation through a serpent on a pole (3:13-15) 

The Father’s love for a condemned world (3:16-18)

Love darkness or love light (3:19-21)

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The Text

“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there . . . “ (John 2:1-22)

Introduction

The ministry of Jesus begins at a wedding celebration in John and will climax in Revelation with the another wedding celebration––the marriage of the Lamb and his Bride (Rev. 19:6-8). And so, Jesus begins making preparations for the future wedding and starts with the transformation of water into a lot of wine. The Bride in Revelation is described as being pure so Jesus sees to her purification as well. Jesus, as the Lamb of God, goes to the temple on Passover and foreshadows his own death. Jesus gives a taste of the celebration at the future wedding that will come through those purified by his new temple.

A Wedding without Wine (vs. 1-5)

The days continue to be eventful in the first week of Jesus’ ministry in John. On the first day, John identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God. The next day, Jesus rallies his first disciples. And now, there’s a wedding celebration in the town of Cana of Galilee. Perhaps Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathanael, James and John were already on the wedding invite list, or maybe they were the last minute invites who showed up at the party with Jesus. The inevitable happens when the wine runs out. Mary realizes the looking embarrassment for the groom as well as the end of the festivity and scrambles to find a solution, “They have no more wine.”

Empty Purification Jars (vs. 6-8)

John states that “there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons” (vs. 6). These jars have a specific function––used for the Jewish rites of purification. Mark further explains their purpose when the Pharisees ragged on Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands in Mark 7:3-4. But this washing goes beyond good hygiene with the intention to cleanse the inside as well as the outside of a person. The water pots are empty and Jesus instructs the servants to fill them up––and they are filled to the brim, between 120-180 gallons total.

The Good Wine until Now (vs. 9-11)

The master of the feast sips the water made wine and his eyes light up and the cockles of his heart are warmed, “Where did this come from?” The master calls the bridegroom and relays the party proverb, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” This would have been good news for the wedding celebration. We have a bathtub of wine, the best wine! The wine would have been drunk and thoroughly enjoyed. But that wasn’t the only result––glory manifested and discipled believed. This should return us to Jesus’ purpose, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. And from his fulness, we have all received grace upon grace” (Jn. 1:14-17). Water to wine filled up to the brim is grace upon grace.

The Lamb of God at Passover (vs. 13)

“Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand…” (vs. 13). Passover was the annual feast that memorialized the Lord’s deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt. In Exodus 11 and 12, the Lord tells Moses of the final and awful tenth plague against Egypt––the death sentence of all the male first born sons. But the LORD provides protection for the people of Israel. Each family should take a male lamb without blemish and kill the pure lamb. They are to smear the lamb’s blood on the wooden doorframe of the home and the LORD will pass over because of the blood (Ex. 12:5-13). The Passover of the Jews was at hand and so the Lamb of God makes his way to the temple altar and prophecies his destruction.

Clearing my Father’s House (vs. 14-17)

Jesus enters the temple which looks like the county fair had come into the sanctuary––buying and selling animals, exchanging money. Jesus turns a whip against the animal sellers and their animals and herds them out of the temple. “Take these away! Do not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (vs. 16) In all the pandemonium of baa-ing sheep and irate bearded men and little kids pocketing scattered joins, Jesus says two profound things in a simple phrase––my Father’s house. God is “my Father” (and so Jesus is his Son), and the temple is the Father’s house (and so the Son lives there and has the right to kick out the salesmen).

Temple Raised in Three Days (vs. 18-22)

Jesus delivers a challenge to the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Jesus again manifests his glory by pointing to the future sign of how his own death, his own blood, will be the final, decisive, ultimate purification for sins. It’s not through the sacrifice of a lamb or a ox or a pigeon in the temple. It’s certainly not through commercial profit around the temple. But it’s through Jesus death and resurrection. 1 John 1:7, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son purifies us from all sin.” The wedding feast is prepared in the Father’s house. The Lamb has purified his Bride. Grace, like the wine, is abundant. And so come.

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