John 6: 25 – 59 Jesus the bread of life

John 6: 25 – 59 Jesus the bread of life

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’

Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’

Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’

This seems like a fair question, but I’m not sure that it is. The Jews had a detailed religious law that covered their entire daily life. They believed that they already knew what they must do to do the works God requires. At best, they were wondering what changes of emphasis Jesus thought necessary. More likely they wanted to measure his reply against their existing practices in order to judge him.

It wasn’t an honest question because they had no intention of changing.

And if I am to be honest in my faith, I must be prepared to change. In fact, that’s only step one. I must work diligently with Jesus to accomplish change in my life

Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’

What does this mean? My provisional and tentative thought is that it means I should act as I see Jesus acting; that everything I do should be motivated by what I believe Jesus wants me to do.

By comparison with the life I lead now, that seems like a tall order. I shall take heart from Jesus’ teaching to Martha, who was distracted from his message by household tasks. He was wonderfully gentle with her. (See Luke 10: 38 – 42)

So they asked him, ‘What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness: as it is written: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’

The Jews ask for a sign. They compare Jesus with Moses and say, “Feed us with manna like Moses fed our ancestors.” Perhaps some of them remember an earlier clash, when Jesus told them that Moses would be their accuser (see John 5: 45 – 47)

Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’

‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread.’

Okay. Go on. Prove it. Give us this bread.

Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’

The emphasis of this gospel has been on eternal life being spiritual life. When Jesus says “I am the bread of life,” he is referring to spiritual life.

At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I came down from heaven”?’

It must have been difficult for the Jews of Galilee to accept what Jesus was saying about himself. I can imagine that if one of my near neighbours suddenly claimed divine authority, I would find it very difficult to accept the claim.

‘Stop grumbling among yourselves,’ Jesus answered. ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the prophets: “They will all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness yet they died. Yet here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’

“This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

That must have caused tremendous controversy and disquiet. Even today, with the benefit of hindsight, knowing of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, it stops me in my tracks.

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’

From their stand-point, a very good question. But once again they have taken Jesus’ words as referring to the material world rather than the spiritual.

Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live for ever.’ He said this while teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

The flesh and blood of Jesus refer to his death on the cross. Exactly what that means, exactly how it plays out in this material world in which we live, I’m not sure. What I am sure of, is the centrality of Jesus’ death on the cross and his subsequent resurrection.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I want to do your will. Help me to always be aware of the presence of Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

John 6: 16 – 24 Jesus walks on the water

John 6: 16 – 24 Jesus walks on the water

When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. But he said to them, ‘It is I; don’t be afraid.’ Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realised that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. Once the crowd realised that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

As well as this passage in St John’s gospel, this story appears in two of the other three gospels, in Matthew 14: 22 – 32 (this account adds that Peter, too, walked on water with Jesus’ encouragement), and in Mark 6: 45 – 52. It doesn’t appear in St Luke’s gospel.

John, Matthew and Mark all place the story immediately after the feeding of the five thousand. I suppose it could indicate a common source for the accounts, either written or oral; I don’t know – I’m not a bible scholar. But let’s look at the context in St John’s gospel.

John 5: 36 says ‘I have testimony weightier than John (the Baptist). For the works that my Father has given me to finish – the very works that I am doing – testify that the Father has sent me.’

Jesus is saying that the miracles he is performing are equivalent to a legal witness declaring that the Father sent him. This is why St John has included the accounts both of the feeding of the five thousand and of Jesus walking on the sea.

Now, it is possible to understand the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand in human, non-miraculous terms, by saying that people had brought food but had been unwilling to share until Jesus set the example. How, though, do you understand walking on water in non-miraculous terms? It either happened and was a miracle, or it didn’t happen at all. And if walking on water happened, then why shouldn’t the feeding be miraculous as well?

St John is making it very clear:

  • Jesus is the Son of God;
  • God the Father confirms that by having Jesus perform miracles;
  • We need to believe in Jesus as the Son of God.

I have believed that Jesus is the Son of God for many years, without necessarily believing that all the stories recorded in the bible are literally true. But in these linked stories, Jesus is leading me to walk more closely with him, to open my spiritual eyes and recognise that he really is who he says he is – the Son of God. And that means believing that these accounts of miracles are true.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Thank you for calling me to walk more closely with Jesus. Help me to put my trust in you more fully every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen

John 6: 1 – 15 Jesus feeds the five thousand

John 6: 1 – 15 Jesus feeds the five thousand

Sometime after this, Jesus crossed to the far side of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing those who were ill.

According to John, most of the large crowd following Jesus were doing so because they had seen him perform healing miracles. John has explained to his readers in John 5: 36 that Jesus’ healing miracles are ‘testimony’ to who he is. Some of those in the crowd would have understood the miracles in this way, but John implies that others of them were sensation seekers.

Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Why did Jesus test his disciples like this? Was it to discover how much they had understood of his ministry, and his power?

Well, it may have been, but I suggest that it was, at least in part, to fix the event very firmly in their minds. He challenged them, put them on the spot. ‘How are you going to deal with this problem?’ They were forced to think about the scale of the need Jesus was about to fill.

Philip answered him, ‘It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’

There was no way the disciples would have been carrying that much money. “Can’t afford it.” When faced with a challenge of human needs, how often do we say this? Perhaps we should pray for the faith to trust God to provide.

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’

One boy’s lunch to feed five thousand grown men? Can’t be done. Except by God.

Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).

What was in the disciples’ minds as they organised the people into seated groups? Within moments they would have to satisfy the crowd with food they didn’t have. Personally, I would have been apprehensive. The best outcome I would expect would be ridicule.

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

It’s important that Jesus gave thanks – all the gospels record it. Jesus didn’t ask God to provide more food; he thanked him for the food that he had already supplied through the boy’s generosity, and he distributed it.

Jesus knew the will of his Father in this matter; he didn’t need to ask. I sometimes wonder whether we ask too frequently and earnestly for God to provide things. Might it not be better to seek God’s will, since God already knows what we need?

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

There were far more left-over pieces of bread than in the original meal that the boy had given to Jesus.

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

The crowd had seen the miracle. In human terms they believed, but they hadn’t understood. They thought of Jesus as an invincible king, one who would drive out the Romans and establish the kingdom of Israel. To avoid this, Jesus gave them the slip and withdrew from them.

It’s a mistake that it’s all too easy to make. We want our vision of Jesus, our version of salvation. That’s not how it’s going to be; we’re God’s creation, and He calls the shots.

Which is what this blog is all about. It’s my way of trying to discover God’s will by getting closer to Jesus.

*       *       *

All four of the gospels have an account of this event, and they are all very similar. You can find the other accounts in Matthew 14: 13 – 21, Mark 6: 30 – 44 and Luke 9: 10 – 17. Each version says that Jesus tested his disciples by telling them to feed the crowd (or, in John’s version, asking them how the crowd was to be fed); that all the disciples had was five small loaves and two small fish; that Jesus gave thanks to God before distributing the food; that five thousand men were fed; and that the disciples gathered twelve baskets of scraps afterwards.

There are slight divergences as to the nature of the crowd and Jesus’ response to it. Matthew says that Jesus had compassion on them and healed those who were ill. Mark says that Jesus had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Luke says that Jesus healed those who needed healing. John, though, says that a great crowd of people followed him “because they saw the signs he had performed by healing those who were ill.”

John 5: 31 – 47 Testimonies about Jesus

John 5: 31 – 47 Testimonies about Jesus

‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

I think, in view of what comes later in this passage, that Jesus means that if he were claiming credit for his actions, then such claims would not be true. But he’s not claiming credit; he is exclusively focused on doing the Father’s will.

There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is true.

The one who testifies for Jesus is the Father.

‘You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

Jesus refers his accusers to John the Baptist. These words suggest that some at least of the Jewish leaders must have endorsed the ministry of John the Baptist.

He tells them that he is not relying on this human testimony, but pointing them to it so that they may be saved. As he did with Nicodemus, as he did with the Samaritan woman, Jesus takes pains to present his message in a way that the listener to whom he is speaking will best understand.

‘I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish – the very works that I am doing – testify that the Father has sent me.

In John 5: 1 – 15, we have read that Jesus healed a man by telling him to pick up his mat and walk. Because this was on a Sabbath, the Jewish leaders attacked Jesus. Jesus says that this work (and others implied by Jesus’ words) was testimony that the Father had sent him. In other words, performing miracles showed that the Father had sent him.

But it’s important to remember that healing was not the whole of Jesus’ ministry. He was sent to save the world (John 3: 17). Jesus is claiming here that the miracles show not just that he was sent by God but that he was the Son of God (see John 5: 19 – 30)

And the Father who sent me has testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Here, Jesus is talking of the many prophecies about the Messiah in the Jewish scriptures (our Old Testament). He’s saying that although his accusers study the scriptures diligently, they haven’t accepted him. The prophecies are testimony by God to Jesus’ life and works

‘I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Jesus now contrasts his truth with the Jewish leaders’ hypocrisy. He points out that what they’re really interested in is human glory. Unlike him, they don’t have the love of God in their hearts. This desire for human glory blinds them to the truth.

‘But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?’

Jesus now makes it plain that they are completely mistaken. They have placed their hopes in Moses, and Moses prophesied about Jesus. Jesus won’t accuse them before the Father; their accuser will be Moses.

The prophesy of Moses is in Deuteronomy 18: 15 – 19

‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see his great fire any more, or we will die.’

The Lord said to me: ‘What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.’

In its essence, the words in bold face are the message that Jesus has spoken to Nicodemus, and now to the Jewish leaders. Surely they must have recognised it?

John 5: 16 – 30 The authority of the Son

So.

We’ve come to some doctrine.

I struggle with doctrine.

Lord Jesus, please help me to understand what I need to understand; to feel what I need to feel; to hear what you want me to do and to be obedient. Amen.

It seems very likely that St John’s gospel was actually written by John, the beloved disciple, an eye-witness to the ministry of Jesus. The earliest physical evidence we have of the gospel is a fragment that dates from about 130 AD. On the basis of other evidence, historians date the writing of the gospel to about 90 AD, either when John was in exile on Patmos, or when he was in Ephesus after being released from Patmos.

*       *       *

So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.

It’s quite early in Jesus’ ministry, but already the Jewish leaders are after him. They must have felt justified in their persecution because Jesus is breaking the Sabbath, and encouraging others to copy. He’s breaking the law and in their eyes that makes him a sinner.

In his defence Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’

Here, Jesus appears to me to say that the work of creation continues. He says that his Father, God, is actively maintaining his creation, just as he has done since the beginning.

For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

To the Jews, for Jesus to claim God as his Father was blasphemy; it was claiming equality with God. For that, the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him.

Jesus gave them this answer: ‘Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.

Jesus claims to know what God wants to be done. He claims that he and the creator God are so close that their relationship is that of Father and Son. He claims that everything he is doing is copying what he sees his Father doing.

Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

Jesus prophesies. Just as the Father raises the dead, so too will he, Jesus, raise the dead. And he does. John chapter 11 tells us how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

The prophecy is also figuratively true. Jesus raises the spiritually dead to life, then and now.

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.

How does this relate to the affirmation of John 3: 17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him”? I don’t know. I will have to trust in God that he will make it clear to me when I need to know,

‘Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

We have heard this claim before. Jesus makes it to Nicodemus in John 3:18 and to John the Baptist in John 3:36. Now he makes it to the Jewish leaders who are accusing him of blasphemy.

One thing that St John is telling us with this repetition is that this was no hole-in-the-corner affair. Jesus’ identity as the Son of God had been a central part of his ministry from the beginning. He had told supporters like John the Baptist, waverers like Nicodemus, and opponents like the Jewish leaders, with no attempt to conceal or dilute the message.

Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

‘Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

It would be possible to read these paragraphs as metaphorical, meaning the raising to life of the spiritually dead, and I think there is an element of this. We have already seen Jesus instilling belief in doubters like Nicodemus and people outside the strict Jewish faith like the Samaritans.

But why should we restrict the interpretation to being a figurative one? The resurrection of Jesus is the absolute centre of our faith. According to the gospels, Jesus raised Lazarus and others from the dead.

Our faith is about life.

I thought when I started to study this passage that the story was primarily a device by St John to insert a passage of doctrine held by the early church. My mind has been changed. The passage teaches that Jesus is the Son of God and that he only does what he sees his Father doing. St John probably witnessed this repeatedly during the ministry of Jesus.

What were Jesus’ actions?

Healing, and proclaiming life to those who believed in him. Actions based in love, in other words.

Prayer

Heavenly Father

Thank you for opening my heart to your message for me through these words. Thank you for the love you show in Jesus, in whose name I pray.

Amen

John 5: 1 – 15 The healing at the pool

John 5: 1 – 15 The healing at the pool

Before starting to look in detail at the story, let me explain that the NIV translation that I am using relegates verse 4 to a footnote, saying “Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralysed – and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.” This explanation helps the story make more sense.

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralysed.

St John paints us a detailed picture of the scene, the sort of description that an advocate might give in a court of law. He tells us what the place was, what it was called, where it was and who was there.

To me, this scene feels like superstition. Why did people believe in the healing power of the stirred water? How many people were healed? How did they explain it when somebody wasn’t healed after reaching the water first?

It was, though, a good place for the disabled to spend their time. The five covered colonnades would have provided shelter from the weather, and there was plenty of company. Quite possibly – although this is conjecture – it would have been recognised as a place to go if you wished to give alms to the disabled.

One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’

Thirty-eight years! Surely this man had no real hope left? What did Jesus see in him? He must have seen something or he wouldn’t have asked the question. ‘Do you want to get well?’

‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no-one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’

This is an excuse, isn’t it? If he had really wanted to be well, he could have sat on the very edge of the pool.

Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’

Why? Why did Jesus pick this man out of all those who had been waiting there day after day?

At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

At once. No ifs or buts. The man picked up his mat and walked. Was his faith so strong? He certainly obeyed Jesus immediately and without question.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.’

Keeping the Sabbath holy was one of the original ten commandments given to Moses. There were very strict limits on what a Jew could or could not do on the Sabbath. Is it surprising that Jesus told the man to break those rules? What does this tell us about his priorities?

But he replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me “Pick up your mat and walk.”’

So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?’

The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

The man didn’t know that it was Jesus who had healed him. I suppose that there was commotion when the man was healed; at all events, Jesus had slipped away before the man had even thanked him.

The man had been healed without knowing who had healed him. He had not put his trust in the Son of God. He had not known Jesus by name as a healer before he trusted him. He had just obeyed Jesus without question.

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Another puzzle! There has been no mention so far that the man had some sin of which to repent, and yet Jesus is saying, ‘Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’ What are we to learn from that?

And one final conundrum; the man who has been healed goes to the Jewish authorities and, in effect, betrays Jesus to them. What a way to say thank you!

*        *        *

You will have noticed my confusion over this passage. In fact, I was so confused that I read on a little further. This healing miracle is the preface to a section on Jesus’ authority. The Jewish leaders challenge Jesus fiercely, especially over his Sabbath breaking.

The story of the man’s healing is to set the scene for this, by highlighting Jesus’ deliberate flouting of the Sabbath. This doesn’t eliminate all my questions, but it does suggest that St John may not have been completely meticulous about recording all the detail of the event.

Is it conceivable that the man was only pretending to be an invalid? I’m left with the nagging feeling that this would answer some of my questions…

This is a time for me to have faith, to trust in Jesus’ love for me.

Prayer

Lord Jesus

Thank you for being close to me even when I question you. Thank you that you love me.

Amen

John 4: 43 – 54 Jesus heals an official’s son

John 4: 43 – 54 Jesus heals an official’s son

After the two days he left for Galilee.

As it says in John 4: 5 and 40, Jesus had spent two days at Sychar in Samaria and many Samaritans had come to believe that he was the Saviour of the world. Now John picks up the story with Jesus returning to Galilee, the place where he grew up, and where his ministry started.

(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honour in his own country.)

This is St John using a writer’s technique called ‘foreshadowing’. He’s introducing the idea that there were people who rejected Jesus, so that when we read about conflict and opposition later in the gospel, we aren’t surprised. It’s a device that makes us more inclined to believe the narrative.

When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.

Notwithstanding Jesus’ words about a prophet having no honour in his own country, at first the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen the signs he had worked. There might have been a feeling that “their boy” had scored some points against the religious hierarchy in Jerusalem.

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay ill at Capernaum.

The royal official would have worked for Herod Antipas, who was Tetrarch of Galilee throughout Jesus’ ministry. Herod governed the area all around Galilee on behalf of the Romans. He ruled with sensitivity towards the Jews, (for example, his coinage didn’t follow the Roman custom of showing the ruler’s head on one side; instead Herod’s coins had an image of a menorah); and he had some support from the Jewish hierarchy.

When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

If my child were sick and close to death, I would grasp at any straw to save them. The request made by the court official doesn’t imply any real faith; the man was just doing everything he could think of for his son.

‘Unless you people see signs and wonders,’ Jesus told him, ‘you will never believe.’

This seems like a harsh response; Jesus is casting doubt on the man’s motives.

Maybe it’s because of the difficulties he has had with the religious leaders? John 2: 23 – 25 says, “Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.”   

But in those verses, it also says that “He knew what was in each person.” If the man had had faith Jesus would have known, so we need a different explanation. It seems to me that often when God intervenes miraculously it is to teach something to the person seeking a miracle. Jesus’ tough response would have made the official confront the reality of what he was doing. He would have had to ask himself, “Do I really believe this man can heal my son?” Perhaps he looked into Jesus’ eyes and saw the mercy that he craved.

The royal official said, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’

He’s no longer begging. He’s asking in faith.

‘Go,’ Jesus replied, ‘your son will live.’

Just five words that gave the man the hope, the reassurance, that Jesus was in control of the situation.

The man took Jesus at his word and departed.

He didn’t need to question. He didn’t repeat his pleas that Jesus should come with him. He believed what Jesus told him. That is what faith is; trust that Jesus tells the truth, and trust that he has the power to do all things.

While he was still on the way, his servants met him with news that his boy was living. When he enquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.’

Then the father realised that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he and his whole household believed.

Jesus had been right to say “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe.’ The miraculous healing was a sign, and the official and his whole household believed. But the step of faith that the official made was actually when he “took Jesus at his word and departed”.

This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

What does this story tell us about Jesus? It tells us that he can and does bring physical healing.

Was the healing because Jesus felt compassion for the man? Was it primarily a sign to invoke faith? Are there any circumstances under which he wouldn’t have healed, even if the petitioner had faith?

I am trying to learn how to put the answer to prayer into Jesus’ hands, because he always knows better than I do what is needed. I find it hard, though.

This blog is a step of faith for me. I believe I heard Jesus invite me to draw closer to him; I believe he told me that I need to spend more time with him every day, and because I’m a writer I could use a blog to help me be diligent in prayer and study. This blog has had very few views – some days none at all – and that doesn’t matter. What matters is God’s faithfulness and my obedience.

Prayer

Heavenly Father

Thank you for showing your love for us through Jesus. Please help me to be attentive and obedient.

In Jesus name

Amen

John 4: 27 – 42 Many Samaritans believe

John 4: 27 – 42 Many Samaritans believe

Yesterday, I read about Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman. He led her from hostility and scorn to a state where she could hear and perhaps accept Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Today’s study continues that account.

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, ‘What do you want?’ or ‘Why are you talking with her?’

If the disciples didn’t ask Jesus about this episode, how do we know about it? Presumably the Samaritans told the disciples.

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?’ They came out of the town and made their way towards him.

The woman left her water jar. The water jar was an important household item; picking it up would have been automatic, something done several times a day almost all her life. That she left it behind says that her mind must have been full of what Jesus had said. Her excitement galvanised the townsfolk, who came out to see Jesus.

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’

But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’

Then his disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought him food?’

‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, “It’s still four months until harvest”? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying “One sows and another reaps” is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour.’

This passage seems enigmatic. It doesn’t seem to relate to the story about the Samaritan woman. Perhaps St John has included it because it speaks metaphorically about the harvest. Perhaps he is telling us in this way that Jesus’ teaching of the Samaritans is part of the reaping to eternal life.

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I’ve ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.

They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’

Jesus’ words that the fields are ripe for harvest are proved true. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony; and because of his words many more became believers. Jesus recognised the right moment to give testimony.

We are not told specifically what Jesus taught the Samaritans during his two day visit, neither are we told of any signs. I would guess – and it is only a guess – that his teaching was that ‘a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’ By teaching this, Jesus would be healing the separation between Jews and Samaritans. He would have showed, by his actions as well as his words, that the doctrinal differences about temple worship were no longer important, because God is to be worshipped in the Spirit and in truth.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, please let the truth spoken by Jesus fill our hearts, and heal the differences between communities all over the world. Please help us to contribute to this healing as best we can.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

John 4: 1- 26 Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman

John 4: 1 – 26 Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John – although in fact it was not Jesus who baptised, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

St John has set the scene for his story. Now comes the action.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

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.)

Samaritans and Jews both accepted Mosaic law as set down in the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), but differed in the details of their faith, in particular, where they were called to worship God.

When St John says ‘For Jews do not associate with Samaritans,’ he is understating matters. The historian Josephus says there were numerous violent clashes between Jews and Samaritans during the first century AD. It’s not surprising that the woman wondered what Jesus was after when he asked her for water. She is reluctant to help him.

 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.’

Jesus uses her reluctance to help him as an opening to speak to her about profound matters.

‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?’

The woman is incredulous. Jesus doesn’t have a bucket. How can he draw water from a deep well? She pours scorn on the idea.

Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water that I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’

Have you ever looked at a spring of water? It’s not usually dramatic. Often it’s just a damp area with little trickles of water bubbling up from the ground. It can be tiny, and yet, ultimately it can become a substantial river.

The Samaritan woman doesn’t take such a poetic view of a water spring. She jokes about Jesus’ offer. What she wants is something to make her day-to-day life easier.

The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’

But Jesus doesn’t mind her laughing. He just proceeds gently to the next step

He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’

The woman is now quite at her ease. Jesus is not a threat. A bit odd, perhaps, but harmless. She’s quite happy to flirt a little.

‘I have no husband,’ she replied.

Then it comes.

Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’

Oof! I wonder how long it took her to recover from the shock? The woman has to re-evaluate Jesus.

‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’

Is she now testing Jesus? Or does she genuinely want to know where she should worship God? Or is she just saying something, anything, while she wonders how this stranger knows her intimate personal history?

‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’

Jesus once more gives her much more than she asked for. He tells her that temple worship is to be replaced by worship in the Spirit and in truth

The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’

The woman picks up on the change. She wants to show that she understands what Jesus is talking about. The coming of the Messiah was eagerly awaited by the Jews, and, it would seem from this, by the Samaritans also.

Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you – I am he.’

There we have it. Jesus states again that he is the Messiah, the Son of God. The Samaritan woman is another witness.

Reflecting on this passage, three things strike me.

  • Jesus treats the woman with great gentleness and respect. Although at first she is hostile, and later she pokes fun at him, he just continues to teach her calmly. There is no sense of pride or point-scoring about his approach.
  • Jesus does not condemn the woman. She’s had five husbands and she’s living with a man to whom she is not married. Jesus does not point out that this is sinful; he just steers her in the direction of a more fulfilling way of life.
  • Just like Nicodemus, the woman underestimates Jesus. Her first response is to label him – “Prophet” – probably as a defence mechanism. (For Nicodemus, it is that “God is with Jesus in his signs”). And that is a particular message for me today. I’m tempted to look out for the aspects of Jesus that sit comfortably with my liberal theology. That is emphatically not what I’m called to do. My job in writing this blog is to grow to know Jesus better and to let him draw me closer to himself.

Prayer

Heavenly Father

Thank you for the love you show in all your dealings with us. Please help me to be willing to let you draw me closer to you.

In Jesus name

Amen

John 3: 22 – 36 John testifies again about Jesus

John 3: 22 – 36

After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptised.

One new thing that I have learned from this study of St John’s gospel is that Jesus had an important ministry of baptism. What significance does baptism have in our church today?

Now John also was baptising at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptised. (This was before John was put in prison.) An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 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 – look, he is baptising, and everyone is going to him.’

In this passage, St John records that Jesus’ ministry of baptism became more important than John the Baptist’s. He tells us by means of a story. John’s disciples had an argument with ‘a certain Jew’ over ceremonial washing. I don’t think the nature of the argument, or the identity of the Jew, are important. What is significant is that John the Baptist’s disciples were feeling upset – and they expressed this by telling John that Jesus is baptising, and ‘everyone is going to him.’

To this John replied, ‘A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, “I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.” 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. He must become greater; I must become less.’

John the Baptist explains that Jesus’ ascendancy is as it should be. He reminds his disciples that he had told them that he was not the Messiah. His job had been to prepare things for Jesus. He compares himself to the best man at a wedding; he’s organised matters, waited for the bridegroom, and now that the bridegroom has arrived, he is ‘full of joy’.

It’s a small point, but note the quotation mark after ‘I must become less.’ The NIV has a footnote which says ‘Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 36.’ That translation would put all the words of verses 31 – 36 into the mouth of John the Baptist. If the quotation properly ends with verse 30, then verses 31 – 36 are a commentary by St John.

I wonder if the difference comes down to St John’s intent to show us the witnesses to Jesus life? When we read verses 31 – 36, they are very familiar; we read them earlier in the chapter in verses 11 – 21. Why are they repeated?

In verses 11 – 21, Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, who is therefore a witness to Jesus claiming to be the Son of God. If verses 31 – 36 are spoken by John the Baptist, then he is a second witness to Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God. Jewish law requires two witnesses to establish the truth of a matter.

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. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no-one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

This teaching contains a verse that is significant to me, here and now. It’s verse 33: ‘Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful’. I can’t trust unless I believe that God is truthful.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

I have faith; please help me where my faith falls short.

In Jesus name

Amen