Reflection on John 4 #2

After Jesus revealed Himself plainly to the Samaritan woman His identify as Messiah, his disciples, carring the food they bought, returned from town to Him at Jacob's well. They were surprised by two things. First, they found Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman. They didn't understand why their Master and Rabbi did a thing forbidden by the Jewish law. They had questions. But no one dared to ask, "What do you want?" Or "Why are you talking with her?"  They kept their questions to themselves not  because they totally respected their Master, if this was the case, they wouldn't even have questions in their heart to start with. They didn't ask the questions because it was uncomfortable to ask those kind of question. They should have asked those hard questions to get clear answers which could help them better understand how to minister to women later. The Samaritan woman dared to ask Jesus all her questions, His own disciples didn't. Today we should ask Jesus whatever questions bothering us. He will give us answers. But even we don't ask Him, His answers are in the Bible already. Like in this case, the Lord used His action, His way of approaching to the despised Samaritan woman, to show His followers how to approach a sinful woman, or man.

The second thing which surprised the disciples was that they found their hungry and tired Master whom they left at the well, didn't seem hungry and tired now. But this time they clearly showed their curiosity by urging Him, "Rabbi, eat something." The warm food in their hands must smell good. But their Master wasn't paying attention to the food in their hands. He told them, " I have food to eat that you know nothing about." The disciples were more curious than before. They asked one another, " Could someone have brought Him food." Previously, Nicodemus couldn't understand "born again" mentioned by Jesus, the Samaritan woman couldn't understand "the living water" Jesus mentioned. Now the disciples couldn't understand what was His "food", what drove His hunger and tiredness away, what brought joy in His eyes. 

Having captured His disciples curiosity, Jesus started to train them. He began to prepare them to labor alongside Him, to taste the joy and delight of spiritual childbirth. Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." The secret food which sustained Him was to "do the will of" His Father" who sent Him and to finish triumphantly. This was also the secret source of His joy in His eyes. His Father sent Him to win people's souls. Jesus took deepest joy in offering His "living water" to the Samaritan woman, and to countless others, to win their souls for His Father. Jesus' life aim on earth was to do His Father's will and finish it. Do we make His goal ours? Do we know this is the only goal which can satisfy us and bring us true lasting joy? Present joys brought by wealthy, fame or power fade into insignificance soon or later. But the labor you did to do the will of God has eternal significant and gives you eternal joy.

We all have goals we wish we can achieve. And this undoubtedly involves effects we don't want to make. But we need to make the efforts we don't want to make to achieve the goals we wish to achieve. The goal or aim "to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work" is a divine calling. It involves divine effort to achieve the goal. We need Holy Spirit to help us to answer the call and achieve the goal.

Perhaps at that time, Jesus and His disciples saw a big crowd of Samaritans coming toward them. They were coming to meet Jesus. Jesus asked His disciples, "Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’?" Yes, farmers plant and harvest at different times, but the same is not always true of spiritual harvest. In Nicodemus' case, Jesus sowed the seed, but the harvest was yet to come. With the Samaritan woman, Jesus just sowed the seed, immediately, the harvest was ready to reap. Jesus reminded them, "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the field! They are ripe for harvest." And Jesus both sowed and reaped for this crop of Samaritans. He explained, "Even now the reaper draws his wage, even now he harvest the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together." Jesus' joy for being the sower and the reaper at the same time was so obviously. This is the reward or wage Jesus tasted that day to empower Him to bear the pain of the cross and give His Father the glory. And later He would receive the reward in far greater measure in heaven. As His followers, we are either sowing or reaping, by faith in Him, we can possess the joy of harvest now and taste it in far greater measure in eternity. 

Next Jesus quoted an old saying "One sows and another reaps" before He explained to them the nature of their future task, "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 labor." The Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit had done the hard work for all the followers' later task. They would or will reap the benefits of Jesus' sacrificial work.

Just as Jesus finished training class for His disciples, the men and women from the Samaria town Sychar came in front of Him. They could not ignore that the woman changed tremendously. She was so shameful that she had to avoid the crowd. How could she has the courage to ask them in loud voice, " Come, see a man who told me everything I did." She said such thing without any shame, but with abundant joy, and even with kindness toward them who dispised her so obviously. The woman boldly told them, "Could this be the Messiah?" They wondered too. Other than Messiah, who could make the woman changed so completely and instantly? They followed the woman to find out the truth for themselves because they were not content merely to hear about Him from her. They found Jesus waiting for them at the well. "They urged Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days." This was exactly what He had desired when He knew He "had to go through Samaria". Our Lord Jesus was the first One who broke the barriers to serve and save the dispised Samaritans. He knew the needs of Samaritans. "And because of His words many more became believers." Some years later, mentioned in Acts 8, when "Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.... there was great joy in that city." By then, their Lord had been on the cross, had resurrected and ascended. The Lord did His hard work for them to benefit from His labor. They were thankful and joyful.

The first big group of Samaritan believers told 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 Savior of the world." Their faith became grounded in their own personal relationship with Jesus. True faith can never be a "hand me down". It is always a first hand, personal experience. The phrase "the Savior of the world" proclaimed by the Samaritans appears in the Gospel of John for the first time here, and it is the only time in the book. The first group of people who received salvation and openly confessed Jesus as "the Savior of the world" were Samaritans, not Jews. Salvation came first to the Jews, but God sent Jesus into the world to save the world, not only Israel. At that time, majority of Jews  who were privileged to receive the Savior first ignored or dispised Him. But the unprivileged, less educated Samaritans received Jesus as their Savior and "the Savior of the world." 

"After the two days He left for Galilee. ... When He arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him." It seemed very strange at the time when He should enjoy the open welcome by His own town folks, Jesus Himself "pointed out that a prophet has no honor in His own country." What did He mean? Let see the reason behind the welcome Galileans gave to Jesus. It was because "They had seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there." In another words, they were welcoming Jesus because what He was able to do, but giving no credit for who His word said He was. The Galileans honored Jesus for what He did, but not for who He is. They were welcoming Jesus' service, not Himself as a person. Today so many people want God's service, God's gifts, God's blessings, want God to be their personal aid. But they want nothing about God Himself and His word. Jesus wants us to honor Him for who He really is. His Father desires the same.

"Once more He visited Cana in Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine." The first sign He performed. At the same town, He would perform "the second miraculous sign" to save a boy in another town called Capernaum without even leaving this town Cana.

"There was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea", He must ride on his fastest horse, rushed from Capernaum to Cana. "He went to Him and begged him to come and heal his son who was close to death." He probably tried to get all the medical help he could get. Now he turned to Jesus of Nazareth as his last hope for his son's life. He asked Jesus for a service to "heal his son". Jesus never turned down anyone's request for help. Jesus would heal the boy. But Jesus wanted to offer more than this simple service to the officer who came from another town to ask His help.

Jesus told him, "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe." Jesus used "you people" to address a much bigger audience than the desperate father. Jesus spoke to all unbelievers who not honor Him for who He is, but beg Him for services only. The officer needed to know that Jesus didn't need to do as he suggested, "to come and heal his son". Jesus is the Almighty Himself. Space and time, even death are not limitations for Him. Jesus challenged this father to have higher level of faith in Him.

The father must felt that Jesus encouraged him to take the next step to show he believed in His power to heal. But he still didn't grasp how mighty He is. He said to Jesus, "Sir, come down before my child dies." As a officer, this man's words are short and clear. But this man needed first to believe the word of Jesus without any outward proof. His full faith would be built up this way. It applies to all true believers. To help to build the full faith in this desperate father, Jesus gave him a short and clear command, "You may go. Your son will live." Jesus refused the man's simple request in order to give him much more. Jesus gave the man full faith to trust His word and wait with peace in heart to see the realization of every word He said. His word is as powerful as Himself. His word gives life and sustains life. His word is the power of creation and salvation. To believe Jesus is to believe His word. To honor Jesus is to honor His divine word and act on it.

Faith is not a feeling, it is an action. To believe is to act. The royal official understood the command. He believed Jesus' word and acted on it to show his true faith. "The man took Jesus at His word and departed." He didn't rush back to his son's sickbed. On that day he went on to do his other business with peace in his heart. He decided to return home the next day.

"While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living." The servants may worried about their master who didn't return the day before to be with his deadly ill boy. They surly wanted to share with him the unbelievable good news. They told him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." The father remembered that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him ,"Your son will live." He had believed Jesus' word without seeing the realization. Now the realization of Jesus' word in turn strengthened his faith, gave him much more joy, made him much more thankful to Jesus. The Lord Jesus answered his request in His way which blessed him so much more. 

The father must shared with his household what happened at Cana. "So he and all his household believed."