John 4

Summary: Jesus, sensing He would be made King in a revolution, leaves Jerusalem and the whole territory, going back to the border area of Galilee but in an odd route, compelled by the Spirit to make a beeline through the traitorous Samaria. There, He talks with a woman at a well, comparing Himself to water but that He quenches completely and eternally. When His disciples return, He compares His work to food, that He is sustained by doing God's will. The woman gets many more Samaritans, who welcome Jesus more favorably than either 'loyal' Jewish territory. After two days, He and His disciples head back to Galilee, meeting a non-Jewish (Gentile from here on out) bureaucrat who asks Jesus for a miracle. Again, Jesus hesitates, but upon telling the man it was done, even two towns away, he believes Him immediately, sight unseen, and is rewarded for his faith.

Response: Testimony time: Jesus reveals Himself as Messiah (the Saving One), but only to one person, a six-time adulteress. But she shows Him to her whole town, who then agree and proclaim the same with her, even broadening the scope (not just saving the Jews, but the whole world). After the miracle, the royal official's entire household believed.

Another category/theme that is emerging is people misunderstanding Jesus' words. Granted, He speaks in double entendres a lot of the time, but that acts as a sort of hook to get and keep people engaged. In John 2, for instance, He confuses Nicodemus by talking about being born again. In this chapter, Jesus refers to food and water, essentials to life, and then to what is essential spiritually, that is, doing God's will and communing with Jesus Himself, respectively.

So there's basically two kinds of feelings I get from Scripture: the "you have work to do" feeling, and the "you're doing good, keep going" feeling. There was something in the chapter that put me in the latter feeling today, just trying to remember what... Oh well, I'm sure it'll come to me. In the meantime, I have a new little blueprint. I'm not sure I've ever heard a sermon or lesson on Jesus telling people the two things you need a la water and food.