21 Day Bible Reading Challenge
Day 4: John 4 - 21 Day Bible Reading Challenge
Good morning All! This is our 4th day and we are all very excited to see so much participation and comments. It's a blessing to be part of this with all of you.
We have a tendency to think everybody's fine and nobody really wants to hear the message of Jesus. I would say that's totally false. As a matter of fact, it's completely backwards. I don't think most people are fine. I think most people are experiencing deep pain, frustration, despair, hopelessness and, actually, they would very much like a meaningful, respectful, compassionate conversation about Jesus. I think, if you look at our culture, the evidence of pain is everywhere--from our addictions, from our busyness, to our materialism, to our immorality, there are so many evidences that we are a people in pain.
Our challenge is to see people through a biblical lens rather than this lens that is so driven by the media that divides the world into "us" and "them." If you take away the behaviors and the labels, at the end of the day, we're people that want to love. We want to be loved; we want to find happiness; we want to find joy; we want to have meaning and purpose in life. If we separate all that other stuff that divides us, we're very much alike, we're a people in pain. It is sobering to realize that we, as Christians, have the message of hope to carry into the darkness to meet people at their point of pain and to let them know there is hope. When you read John 4, you'll be able to see Jesus put this love into action.
PRAYER
Father, as we read of Jesus' conversation with the woman at the well, we pray that You'll remind us of those in our lives who have yet to meet Jesus. We pray that you would provide opportunities to share the Good News with our friends and family. Help us to see the world as You see it; to see the hurts and pains might otherwise go hidden. Give us the words to say to shine the message of hope brightly to the world around us.
John 4 English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.[a]
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[b] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.
Jesus Heals an Official's Son
46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you[c] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants[d] met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour[e] the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
REFLECTION & APPLICATION
In the last chapter, we saw a theme begin--the theme of a new spiritual life, of being born again into an everlasting life through belief in Jesus. In this chapter, we find that spiritual lives, like physical lives, need nourishment. Jesus begins by discussing spiritual thirsts. The woman Jesus talked to at the well had a spiritual thirst for a relationship, but after five husbands, she was still thirsty. That's the thirst Jesus wants to quench--the thirst for a deep, meaningful relationship.
Jesus talks later to His disciples about spiritual hunger that is satisfied through doing the will of God.
There's many people who have yet to hear about God, many opportunities yet for the spiritually hungry to be filled. Is your spirit being nourished today?
We look forward to your comments and questions below!
We have a tendency to think everybody's fine and nobody really wants to hear the message of Jesus. I would say that's totally false. As a matter of fact, it's completely backwards. I don't think most people are fine. I think most people are experiencing deep pain, frustration, despair, hopelessness and, actually, they would very much like a meaningful, respectful, compassionate conversation about Jesus. I think, if you look at our culture, the evidence of pain is everywhere--from our addictions, from our busyness, to our materialism, to our immorality, there are so many evidences that we are a people in pain.
Our challenge is to see people through a biblical lens rather than this lens that is so driven by the media that divides the world into "us" and "them." If you take away the behaviors and the labels, at the end of the day, we're people that want to love. We want to be loved; we want to find happiness; we want to find joy; we want to have meaning and purpose in life. If we separate all that other stuff that divides us, we're very much alike, we're a people in pain. It is sobering to realize that we, as Christians, have the message of hope to carry into the darkness to meet people at their point of pain and to let them know there is hope. When you read John 4, you'll be able to see Jesus put this love into action.
PRAYER
Father, as we read of Jesus' conversation with the woman at the well, we pray that You'll remind us of those in our lives who have yet to meet Jesus. We pray that you would provide opportunities to share the Good News with our friends and family. Help us to see the world as You see it; to see the hurts and pains might otherwise go hidden. Give us the words to say to shine the message of hope brightly to the world around us.
John 4 English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.[a]
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[b] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.
Jesus Heals an Official's Son
46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you[c] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants[d] met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour[e] the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
REFLECTION & APPLICATION
In the last chapter, we saw a theme begin--the theme of a new spiritual life, of being born again into an everlasting life through belief in Jesus. In this chapter, we find that spiritual lives, like physical lives, need nourishment. Jesus begins by discussing spiritual thirsts. The woman Jesus talked to at the well had a spiritual thirst for a relationship, but after five husbands, she was still thirsty. That's the thirst Jesus wants to quench--the thirst for a deep, meaningful relationship.
Jesus talks later to His disciples about spiritual hunger that is satisfied through doing the will of God.
There's many people who have yet to hear about God, many opportunities yet for the spiritually hungry to be filled. Is your spirit being nourished today?
We look forward to your comments and questions below!
If you found value in this post, please share your comments, questions, and prayers with us!
Discipleship Tip: Sharing is discipleship. Invite a friend to join you each day for a morning coffee and conversation about God. Click the sharing button below to get the conversation started.
Discipleship Tip: Sharing is discipleship. Invite a friend to join you each day for a morning coffee and conversation about God. Click the sharing button below to get the conversation started.
- Follow & Post
- Login
Amen
We all hunger for fulfilling relationships. We can be in healthy relationships that we enjoy but if the spiritual relationship with Jesus is not there, we will always be reaching for something more to satisfy that hunger than only God has reserved for Himself. We see the spiritual hunger thoroughout the world but wants to do life its own way. Just like the Samaritian women who had five husbands, the world keeps reaching for fulfillment but comes up empty and at times causing chaos and delusion throughout the world. It is only in salvation and actively seeking Him daily are our spiritual thirst and hunger is fulfilled.
Thank you Lord for showing us how to share your word with others! Thank you for your example!
When Jesus crossed over the cultural boundary to share the gospel with the Samaritan woman and others, He was letting us know that the gospel message is for everyone, not just "good news" for the jews. Therefore we need to be open to witnessing and sharing the gospel with whomever and whenever the opportunity arises.
AMEN