What do you believe? Is God far off and we are just here to survive as best we can? That isn’t what Jesus taught. In John 8:31–32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”. He taught that the truth would set you free from slavery to sin. He also taught that being born blind wasn’t anyone’s fault, but it was an opportunity in John 9:3 “so that the works of God could be revealed in him”. The will of God, the power of God, is available to demonstrate miraculous change for good. Here is the question Jesus asked, in John 8:46 “If I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me?” What miracle do you need? It says in Hebrews 11:6 “Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him”. So I ask again, what do you believe?

Many Believed in Him

John 8:21–30 

If You Continue in My Word

John 8:31–38
We are given a gift, the gift of eternal life, the gift of forgiveness as it says in

Romans 3:24–25 being justified as a gift by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God made publicly available as the mercy seat through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness, because of the passing over of previously committed sins,

and now Jesus says to us, just as he said to those Jews who believed, in

John 8:31–32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

While we are immediately forgiven of our sin when we accept Jesus Christ, we are set free from sin when we “know the truth”. We may not have known it, but we were “a slave of sin” in John 8:34 but Jesus says in

John 8:36 So if the son sets you free, you will be truly free.

When we accept Christ, we are not only “born again” (see “born from above” John 3:3) and accepted into God’s kingdom but we are also sealed with the Holy Spirit who now is our teacher (guide) in

John 16:13 But when he—the Spirit of truth—comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak from himself, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will proclaim to you the things to come.

Abraham is Our Father

John 8:39–47 

Before Abraham Was, I Am!

John 8:48–59
As Jesus was speaking to “the Jews”, and lets clarify here, he had spoken to those that “those Jews who had believed him” in John 8:31, but as the discourse continues, there were others in the crowd, and now ‘the Jews Refers to the religious leaders in Jerusalem. John often uses this label to categorize those who are opposed to Jesus and His ministry (e.g., John 5:16; 11:57). While the term can be used in a neutral or even a positive sense (e.g., 2:6; 4:22), the prevailing connotation with the expression is “unbelieving Jews.”’¹

So, as Jesus is speaking to “the Jews” he says in

John 8:46 Who among you convicts me concerning sin? If I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me?

and they respond in

John 8:48 The Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not correctly say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

These people are in self-defense mode. They are not seeing the power of God manifested before them. They are not hearing the truth of the words Jesus is speaking, they are rejecting him to preserve their religious thinking. They accuse Jesus saying twice you “have a demon” in John 8:48 and again in John 8:52 then they say in

John 8:53 You are not greater than our father Abraham who died, are you?* And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself to be?”

Jesus was born, not as every other man, but of a virgin. He took on flesh and blood walked among us. John’s gospel opens with these words in

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not recognize him.

and now, Jesus is speaking the truth to them and they not only deny the truth but accuse Jesus of having a demon. The truth though is in

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am!”

 

That the Works of God Could be Revealed

John 9:1–12
After his encounter with “the Jews”, in

John 9:1 And as he went away, he saw a man blind from birth.

His disciples were with him and asked a question that exposes what they believed, and it is a common misconception. They asked in

John 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?”

It is true that sin can be the cause of sickness or disease, and we might rightly say that sin is the reason there is any sickness or disease. But the common misconception is that there is a one to one correlation between an individuals sin and the sickness or disease in their life. As Jesus explains, there is just sickness and disease in the world and it is not God’s judgment on someone that it is there in

John 9:3 Jesus replied, “Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but it happened so that the works of God could be revealed in him.

This is what Jesus came to do and the way he introduced his work in the earth in

Luke 4:18–19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

Then Jesus acted and “smeared clay on his eyes” in John 9:6 and sent the man to “wash in the pool of Siloam” in John 9:7 and the man “came back seeing” in John 9:7. We often think that miracles just happened, but they always begin with some action by word or point of contact. Then, there is a point of obedience, and action in faith believing as this man went and washed. And then there is the manifestation of something new, a miracle, a blind man sees.

As much as we want a formula, it is necessary for us to listen, and hear the prompting of the Holy Spirit and then do whatever he says. Would you spit in the dirt and rub it on someone’s eyes? I think few would. Even more though, are you listening to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying?

They Were Afraid of the Jews

John 9:13–23

Although I Was Blind, Now I See!

John 9:24–34

Study Verses

• John 8:31–38 If You Continue in My Word
• John 8:48–59 Before Abraham Was, I Am!
• John 9:1–12 That the Works of God Could be Revealed

Today’s Reading

• John 8:21-59
• John 9:1-34

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References

• 1. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jn 1:19). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Jesus is demonstrating the power of God through the miracles he is doing and many recognize him and believe in John 7:31 But from the crowd many believed in him and were saying, “Whenever the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than this man has done, will he?” yet some still ask for a sign that he is the Messiah. Jesus taught in the temple and in John 7:28–29 Then Jesus cried out in the temple courts, teaching and saying, “You both know me and you know where I am from!”. and again in John 7:37–38 Now on the last day of the feast—the great day—Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink, 38 the one who believes in me. Just as the scripture said, ‘Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.’ ” and for many in the crowd, in John 7:40–41a Then, when they heard these words, some from the crowd began to say, “This man is truly the Prophet!” 41 Others were saying, “This man is the Christ!” but not everyone believed John 7:43 “So there was a division in the crowd because of him”. The works of Jesus are well recorded. The prophecies concerning him are well fulfilled. Can you deny that “This man is the Christ!”.

No One Was Speaking Openly About Him

John 7:6–13

How Does This Man Possess Knowledge

John 7:14–24 

I Am From Him and He Sent Me

John 7:25–36
As Jesus is speaking out in Jerusalem and Galilee, there are those that are persecuting him and as he goes back to Jerusalem in

John 7:25 Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem began to say, “Is this not the one whom they are seeking to kill?

people are talking about Jesus, they are talking about the reaction of the religious leaders, there are statements being made about “the Christ” as in

John 7:27 Yet we know where this man is from, but the Christ, whenever he comes—no one knows where he is from!”

and in the midst of these rumors and murmurings and misunderstood words of prophecy, Jesus continues to speak out in

John 7:28–29 Then Jesus cried out in the temple courts, teaching and saying, “You both know me and you know where I am from! And I have not come from myself, but the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know. 29 I know him, because I am from him and he sent me.”

and many of the people believed what Jesus was saying, at least they responded to Jesus because there were many obvious miracles that he had done in

John 7:31 But from the crowd many believed in him and were saying, “Whenever the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than this man has done, will he?”

 

The One Who Believes in Me

John 7:37–39
The context for this section is important and it begins in

John 7:2 Now the feast of the Jews—the feast of Tabernacles—was near.

Jesus had resisted his brother’s suggestion that he should go and make a public show in John 7:2-8 but later he did go and taught in the “temple courts” in John 7:15. This feast of Tabernacles, also called Booths and ingathering lasted eight days and part of the ceremony that is lost to us, involved pouring water over the altar as described here, “At the same time, a priest took a golden pitcher which held three logs—that is, about two pints—and went down to the Pool of Siloam and filled it with water. It was carried back through the Water Gate while the people recited Isaiah 12:3: ‘With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.’ The water was carried up to the Temple altar and poured out as an offering to God. While this was being done, the Hallel—that is, Psalms 113–18—was sung to the accompaniment of flutes by the Levite choir”.¹

And, there was one other important part, that “In Deuteronomy 16:13–15 the Feast of Tabernacles is equated with the Feast of Ingathering and is said to be a celebration for all the ways God has blessed Israel. Every seventh year, the Jubilee, the people were to read the law during the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut 31:9–13), as Ezra does in Neh 8:13–18 (see also Ezra 3:4)”.²

and now we can understand that Jesus is not just interjecting an interesting thought or commenting on someone’s inquiry, but he is taking his place in the fulfillment of the purpose of this feast in

John 7:37–38 Now on the last day of the feast—the great day—Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink, 38 the one who believes in me. Just as the scripture said, ‘Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

 

This Man is the Christ!

John 7:40–53
Some in the crowd, there in Jerusalem at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, recognized that there was something different about Jesus in

John 7:40 Then, when they heard these words, some from the crowd began to say, “This man is truly the Prophet!”

and some said in

John 7:41a Others were saying, “This man is the Christ!”

while others reacted negatively in

John 7:41b But others were saying, “No, for the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he?

There were those that believed and those that rejected Jesus just as it is today, so that in

John 7:43 So there was a division in the crowd because of him.

The words of Jesus were so powerful on this day that the officers of the chief priests who were charged with keeping order in the temple and who had been charged to seize Jesus returned without him saying in

John 7:46 The officers replied, “Never has a man spoken like this!”

Neither Do I Condemn You

John 8:1–11

I Am the Light of the World

John 8:12–20

Study Verses

• John 7:25–36 I Am From Him and He Sent Me
• John 7:37–39 The One Who Believes in Me
• John 7:40–53 This Man is the Christ!

Today’s Reading

• John 7:6-53
• John 8:1-20

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References

• 1. Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of John (Rev. and updated., Vol. 1, p. 290). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.
• 2. Austin, B. M. (2016). Booths, Feast of. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Jesus is performing miracles of healing and the people are following him. After he feeds the five thousand, he leaves the area but the crowds seek, and find him. In John 6:26 Jesus replied to them and said, “Truly, truly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were satisfied!” Jesus begins to explain a spiritual truth in John 6:35 “I am the bread of life” and goes on to say in John 6:40 “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him would have eternal life”. As Christians, we sometimes focus our attention on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and they are an important part of our life and witness for Jesus Christ. Our primary mission though is the “work of God” which Jesus described in John 6:29 “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one whom that one sent”.

Jesus Was Not There

John 6:22–24 

This is the Work of God: That You Believe

John 6:25–34
The crowds were looking for Jesus because he had done miracles in Jerusalem and taught them on the mountainside in Galilee and fed the thousands of them with five barley loaves and a few fish. They saw his disciples leave by boat but Jesus had not been with them. Then “on the next day” in John 6:22 as the crowd was looking for Jesus in

John 6:24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.

the crowd inquired when he got there in John 6:25 and Jesus responded, not by answering their question, but by pointing out their motivation in

John 6:26 Jesus replied to them and said, “Truly, truly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were satisfied!

Jesus had fed them the day before, and now, where is breakfast? Jesus had come to heal and set the captives free and he was doing good by feeding them, but he wanted them to look beyond the miracles and understand that in

John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one whom that one sent.”

they respond with “Then what sign will you perform, so that we can see it” in John 6:30 and have missed the spiritual impact Jesus wanted to convey. Jesus then uses another miracle saying in John 6:32 “Moses did not give you bread from heaven” in other words, the Lord fed them with manna that fell from the sky and nourished them physically, but this was just that, physical nourishment. Now Jesus brings them the truth they need to understand about God’s kingdom, that they should believe in Jesus Christ in

John 6:33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

 

The One Who Believes Has Eternal Life

John 6:35–48
Jesus has laid the groundwork for understanding, he is not talking about natural miracles of healing or multiplying natural food to feed them. There is a spiritual truth that has eternal implications in

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty again.

Jesus calls himself “the bread of life” and just as natural bread sustains our life and we die without it, so it is in the spirit realm. Now Jesus goes on to make his main point, that eternal life is available to them in

John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him would have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

There are three important points that Jesus makes here:

1. It is God’s will for us to have eternal life. Jesus is not doing this on his own but “this is the will of my Father”.
2. Each person must see “the Son”. No one else can do this for you but “everyone who looks at the Son” or it also says in Acts 15:7 “hear the message of the gospel” so whether we see or hear, the point is clear, we individually must have an encounter with Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
3. Each person must choose whether they will believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God or not. So that “everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him would have eternal life”

Jesus goes on to say in

John 6:47 Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life.

and it is God who validates our choice as it says in

Acts 15:8 And God, who knows the heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us.

I Am the Living Bread That Came Down From Heaven

John 6:49–59

The Spirit is the One Who Gives Life

John 6:60–65 

You Have the Words of Eternal Life

John 6:66–71
Jesus has used bread as a way to convey himself as the bread of life, as a necessary part of sustaining life. He then goes a step further and says in

John 6:56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me and I in him.

at the first hearing, the Jews were forbidden from eating blood and would not have thought to eat human flesh, but Jesus had been using his flesh metaphorically. The Jews would have understood the blood as part of the sacrifice, and eating the flesh of the sacrificial animal was part of their way of life. Yet it seems that no one, even Jesus disciples, understood the connection, the sacrifice that Jesus was to make with his own life. So, in

John 6:66 For this reason many of his disciples drew back and were not walking with him any longer.

Jesus disciples may not have understood these statements, but they did recognize Jesus as the Son of God in

John 6:68–69 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 And we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

No One Does Anything in Secret

John 7:1–5

Study Verses

• John 6:25–34 This is the Work of God: That You Believe
• John 6:35–48 The One Who Believes Has Eternal Life
• John 6:66–71 You Have the Words of Eternal Life

Today’s Reading

• John 6:22-71
• John 7:1-5

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Jesus is going around and doing good. He heals the man at the pool of Bethesda and the religious people of the day respond in John 5:10 “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permitted for you to pick up the mat!”. Jesus and his disciples are followed by a great crowd and the people don’t have any food. His disciples respond that they don’t have the money, then notice one boy that has a little food. By our natural way of thinking, there are needs all around us and we better get our piece before it is all gone! But Jesus has a different message, in John 5:17 “My Father is working until now, and I am working” and in John 5:40 “come to me so that you may have life”. With God, there is healing. With God, there is provision. With God, there is a future and hope if we will seek him, and come to him. 

My Father is Working and I Am Working

John 5:14–18
When Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, the man didn’t ask who he was, he was just happy to have been healed. But the religious Jews complained at him saying you cannot pick up your mat on the Sabbath in

John 5:10 So the Jews were saying to the one who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permitted for you to pick up the mat!”

Doing work on the Sabbath was against the law and “In ordinary circumstances, the rulers had the law on their side (Ne 13:15; Je 17:21)”.¹

But Jesus had not told him to do work, he had told him to take his belongings, his mat, and leave the pool. Jesus told him to go and live his life and when Jesus saw him later at the temple he instructed him further in

John 5:14 After these things Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well! Sin no longer, lest something worse happen to you.”

This man’s sickness had been the direct result of sin in his life and Jesus warned him not to go back to the way he had lived before.

Then here come the religious Jews again “to persecute Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath” in John 5:16. Jesus responds, with the truth they don’t understand, it is always right for everyone to do good, to heal, to help even on the Sabbath. Jesus says it this way in

John 5:17 But he answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

In this response, “Jesus said: ‘Even on the Sabbath God’s love and mercy and compassion act; and so do mine.’ It was this last passage which shattered the Jews, for it meant nothing less than that the work of Jesus and the work of God were the same”.²

What He Sees the Father Doing

John 5:19–30

There is Another Who Testifies About Me

John 5:31–38 

Come To Me So That You May Have Life

John 5:39–47
Jesus faces people that claim to have the truth, they claim to know God and have God’s blessing. He says of them in

John 5:39 You search the scriptures because you think that you have eternal life in them, and it is these that testify about me.

What they don’t understand is that the letter, the law alone, kills. Paul said it this way in

2 Corinthians 3:6 who also makes us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Knowledge alone isn’t enough, and it says in

Proverbs 26:12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Jesus has now come, with the anointing of the Holy Spirit to demonstrate God’s love, God’s will, which is forgiveness for those that come to him. These people though, are self-satisfied, standing on their “own name” in John 5:43 and Jesus says of them in

John 5:40 And you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

They Were Observing the Signs That He Was Doing

John 6:1–7 

After He Had Given Thanks, He Distributed It

John 6:8–15
Jesus faced the persecution of the religious Jews while in Jerusalem but as he traveled through Galilee, crowds of people followed him. As Jesus saw the crowd, he talked with his disciples about food for the people and they responded as we might, as Philip said, we don’t have enough money to feed them in

John 6:7 Philip replied to him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for them, in order that each one could receive a little.”

But it wasn’t just that they didn’t have enough money, even if they had the money, where would they be able to buy food? There wasn’t a corner supermarket where they could find the provisions even if they wanted them. Then, one of the disciples offers a suggestion in

John 6:8–9 One of his disciples, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”

Imagine if you made this suggestion today, someone would immediately dismiss this thought because this is the boys’ lunch and what right do we have to take it? How could you think to rob the little bit he has? And even if we did, it isn’t enough. But this is worldly natural thinking that says I need to protect what is mine. Jesus simply says to them “Make the people recline” in John 6:10 and then in

John 6:11 Then Jesus took the bread, and after he had given thanks, he distributed it to those who were reclining—likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted.

This is the way faith works. God takes what we have and as we give it, he multiplies it. With God, there is always enough, and in the end, there was more left over.

It is I! Do not be Afraid!

John 6:16–21

Study Verses

• John 5:14–18 My Father is Working and I Am Working
• John 5:39–47 Come To Me So That You May Have Life
• John 6:8–15 After He Had Given Thanks, He Distributed It

Today’s Reading

• John 5:14-47
• John 6:1-21

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References

• 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, pp. 135–136). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
• 2. Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of John (Rev. and updated., Vol. 1, p. 213). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

We all have developed ideas about who God is and how we are to please him, but many of these ideas are based on historic social experience as Jesus said in Mark 7:7 “And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men”. As Jesus passed through Samaria, he confronted prejudice and religious thinking by presenting spiritual truth in the context of life experience. It wasn’t Jesus prejudice that was the problem, it was the Samaritan woman in John 4:9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How do you, being a Jew, ask from me water to drink, since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)”. Jesus answered her every deflection, her every defensive response to bring her to an understanding that he was the Messiah in John 4:26 “I, the one speaking to you, am he”. 

If You Had Known The Gift of God

John 4:1–12
Some believe that everything Jesus did was foreordained, that his actions were all a result of God’s pre-planned course and in one sense, God knows all, but here, we find Jesus reacting to the circumstances around him in John 4:1, 3 “when Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard … he left Judea”. Jesus heads to Galilee in John 4:3 and in

John 4:4 And it was necessary for him to go through Samaria.

Samaria was between Jerusalem and Cana of Galilee where he is headed in John 4:46 and the Jews often took this shortcut rather than the longer route that was by way of the Jordan river that was maybe twenty miles longer. The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans though because of their corruptions that began when “the Assyrians brought other people—from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Ava, from Hamath and from Sepharvaim (2 Kings 17:24)”¹ and later when “the renegade Jew Manasseh married a daughter of the Samaritan Sanballat (Nehemiah 13:28) and proceeded to found a rival Temple on Mount Gerizim”.²

So, this was an opportunistic meeting between Jesus and the woman at the well and we often find that Jesus altered or delayed his journey to meet the need of one person. Here in

John 4:8 (For his disciples had gone away into the town so that they could buy food.)

Jesus was at the well by himself as this woman approaches. The woman was surprised that Jesus would ask her for water, first because he was a Rabbi and it was improper for him to greet a woman in public but also because “many a Jew would not eat with a Samaritan on the latter’s home turf for fear of incurring ritual defilement”.³ That is, the Jews would not share even the water that she had drawn from the well. Jesus though is demonstrating a different standard of acceptance. Jesus spoke beyond the prejudice and traditions of the day as he said in

Mark 7:7 And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

This is a recurring theme with Jesus as he showed what true love and compassion were all about, for example ‘in the parable of the good Samaritan (10:30–37), Jesus clearly breaks through the traditional prejudices in portraying the despised Samaritan, not the respected Jewish priest or Levite, as the true neighbor to the man in need. Here as elsewhere, Jesus, in confronting his audience with God’s demand, breaks through traditional definitions of “righteous” and “outcast.”’⁴ Jesus is beginning to break through all of the pre-conceived, prejudicial, and traditional social boundaries to speak the truth that she would be able to hear in

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

and by her response, we know she could not yet grasp this spiritual concept as she rapidly fires back in John 4:11-12 “you have no bucket … where do you get this living water … You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you”.

We should recognize this common response of rapid-fire questions, as someone tries to understand, as they begin to glimpse revelation. The truth of God’s word, an encounter with Jesus Christ by the spirit of God breaks the mental barriers that have kept people bound as Jesus said in

John 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

The Water Which I Will Give

John 4:13–26
Jesus speaks a spiritual truth to this woman in

John 4:14 But whoever drinks of this water which I will give to him will never be thirsty for eternity, but the water which I will give to him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

She doesn’t have any spiritual context for his statement so she responds with her natural understanding, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or come here to draw water!” in John 4:15. Jesus then responds with a word of knowledge and demonstrates that he knows about her life in

John 4:16 He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.”

She acknowledges Jesus as a prophet in John 4:19 and then deflects with a defensive religious response in John 4:20 “you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship.” Jesus steps right past her statement and breaks down her religious barrier by saying in

John 4:23 But an hour is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for indeed the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers.

As she the truth Jesus is speaking starts to break her religious mind-set, she deflects once more to some future time when Messiah comes in

John 4:25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ); “whenever that one comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”

but with Jesus, today is the day, now is the time, there is no excuse for delay, only one question matters, will you accept Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God and in

John 4:26 Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.

Do the Will of the One Who Sent Me

John 4:27–38 

This One Is Truly the Savior of the World!

John 4:39–42
As this Samaritan woman believes, she brings the townspeople out to meet Jesus in

John 4:39 Now from that town many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything that I have done.”

Our personal testimony of our experience with God is a powerful tool to reach others. But these people went a step further, they invited Jesus to stay. They spent time with him and had their own personal experience with him. Now, it wasn’t just her testimony or word, but they had entered into their own experience, their own relationship with Jesus in

John 4:42 And they were saying to the woman, “No longer because of what you said do we believe, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this one is truly the Savior of the world!”

They Had Seen All the Things He Had Done

John 4:43–45

Your Son Will Live

John 4:46–54

Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda

John 5:1–13

Study Verses

• John 4:1–12 If You Had Known The Gift of God
• John 4:13–26 The Water Which I Will Give
• John 4:39–42 This One Is Truly the Savior of the World!

Today’s Reading

• John 4:1-54
• John 5:1-13

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References

• 1. Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of John (Rev. and updated., Vol. 1, p. 174). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.
• 2. Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of John (Rev. and updated., Vol. 1, pp. 174–175). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.
• 3. Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John (p. 217). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.
• 4. Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Samaritans. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 1888). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Most have heard that Jesus came to bring the message that God loves us, and he does. Jesus also came to bring righteousness and justice as he demonstrated when he drove the money changers out of the temple in Mark 11:17 “Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations,’ but you have made it a cave of robbers!” We may have many things to say about God, Jesus, Christianity, and our own beliefs, but John the Baptist understood in John 3:30 It is necessary for that one to increase, but for me to decrease”. Our role is not to defend our position or denomination, but to point others to Jesus Christ because He is the savior, He is over all, and in John 3:36 “The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life—but the wrath of God remains on him”.

Whatever He Says to You, Do It!

John 2:1–11

He Drove Them All Out

John 2:12–22
Jesus had been to Jerusalem for the Passover many times before. In fact the Passover was “One of the three pilgrimage festivals during which all Jews were to travel to Jerusalem to worship at the temple (Exod 12:1–28)”.¹ And it wasn’t that these functions were wrong in themselves, in fact, “The provision of cattle, sheep and doves, and the exchange of money were all necessary for temple worship. Pilgrims who had traveled up from Galilee (a journey of about 90 miles), for example, could not bring animals for sacrifice with them. Pilgrims traveling from other countries would need to change their money into Tyrian coinage, the prescribed currency (Mishnah, Bekorot 8:7)”.²

It isn’t clear why Jesus reacted at this Passover but his action was driven by two factors: First, “The only place, then, where Gentiles could come and pray in the temple was the court of the Gentiles, and this had been turned into a noisy market”.² and second, what seemed like extortion because the “People who had traveled from a great distance for the festival could hardly have brought their sacrificial offerings with them; traders took advantage of that by selling animals for sacrifice … People likely paid exorbitant prices”.³ and Jesus response makes this clear as recorded in

Mark 11:17 And he began to teach and was saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations,’ but you have made it a cave of robbers!”

Many Believed Because They Saw His Signs

John 2:23–25

Unless Someone is Born From Above

John 3:1–15

God Loved the World

John 3:16–21

All Are Coming to Him!

John 3:22–29
As Jesus has begun his ministry and has called his disciples, he is baptising, but this is a work that had been carried on by John the Baptist in

John 3:23 Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and they were coming and were being baptized.

Here is one of the challenging areas for us, we want to be rewarded for our efforts, we want to hold on to our work and see it expand. In John 3 25 “John’s disciples” noticed what Jesus was doing and spoke up because he was encroaching on their territory in

John 3:26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, about whom you testified—look, this one is baptizing, and all are coming to him!”

John understood that Jesus was the answer, the Messiah, and responds first that God has a plan that we are following in

John 3:27 John answered and said, “A man can receive not one thing unless it is granted to him from heaven!

Yes, this is as it should be, all should come to him. We are simply pointing the way to him as John himself, “the friend of the bridegroom” in

John 3:29 The one who 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. So this joy of mine is complete.

We are not, as the natural man thinks, contending with other people keep what is ours, to hold onto our space because there isn’t enough for all of us. With God, there is more than enough for all and in God’s kingdom, we are all to direct others to Jesus Christ. It is God that establishes the work of our hands in

Psalm 90:17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish for us the work of our hands, yes, the work of our hands, establish it.

The One Who Comes From Above Is Over All

John 3:30–36
Jesus came to the earth to demonstrate God’s love for us, to pay the price for the sin of the world, and ultimately to take his place as Lord of all. John the Baptist recognized that in

John 3:30 It is necessary for that one to increase, but for me to decrease.”

We each have a part to lay in God’s kingdom and his plan of redemption and that is to point others to Jesus Christ as it says in

John 3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life—but the wrath of God remains on him.

We often hear this message about the gift of God, the salvation of God through Jesus Christ, but we seldom hear this other part of the message, “the wrath of God remains on him”. Yes, God loves us. Yes, God’s desire is that all be saved, Yes, God has extended salvation to all, but to all that will receive it. There are though, some that will refuse as it says in

2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved.

Study Verses

• John 2:12–22 He Drove Them All Out
• John 3:22–29 All Are Coming to Him!
• John 3:30–36 The One Who Comes From Above Is Over All

Today’s Reading

• John 2:1-25
• John 3:1-36

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References

• 1. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jn 2:13). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
• 2. Kruse, C. G. (2003). John: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 4, p. 100). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
• 3. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jn 2:14). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.