March 2022

THERE ARE FIVE REASONS WHY JESUS WAS SUPERIOR TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.

1. Jesus comes “from above” (heaven). 2. In heaven, Jesus had first-hand experience learning from His Father. 3. Jesus’ testimony is always in harmony with God the Father. 4. God the Father gives His Son the Spirit without measure. 5. Jesus is superior because God the Father “has given all things into his hand”.

3:31 – He who comes from above is above all. The Greek term ‘above all’ suggests what is written in John 3:3. To be “born from above” is to have faith in Jesus.” He who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks of the earth… “The man whose insights are conditioned merely by his nature ‘in the flesh’ cannot (understand) the meaning of that which originates in the realm of the Spirit” (The Interpreter’s Bible). [Read 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 & 1 John 5:10].

3:32 – What he has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His witness. It’s likely the author was thinking of the Jewish nation. Many of the Jews rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah.  

3:33 – He who has received His witness has set his seal to this… His seal that God is true- “feeling that he (Jesus) whose word is the truth is absolutely dependable, and will stand to his promises, however impossible they sound; and testifying… that God means what he says and does it” (The Interpreter’s Bible).  

3:34 – For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure (without limit). “The fullness of the Spirit marked the Lord’s ministry on earth, whereas the prophets of the Old Testament we’re given the Spirit by measure.

3:35 – The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand (Jesus). This is about the delivery of authority by the Father toward the Son (Read John 5:26-27; 17:2).   

3:36 – (he) who believes in the Son has eternal life… (he) who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him… We have two alternatives: genuine faith or defiant disobedience. The ultimate consequence of failure to believe is “the wrath of God” (John MacArthur).

-All of the Scripture passages are taken from the World English Bible-

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The background for the story of the Samaritan woman. 

In about 722 B.C. the Assyrians invaded and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. Many of the Israelites were deported, but some of the Israelites remained in the land. The northern kingdom of Israel became known as Samaria. Gradually the king of Assyria brought foreigners into the land. In time, some of the Jews and non-Jews (Gentiles) intermarried. Samaria became a mixed race. The Jews thought they had committed an unforgivable crime. A hatred developed between them. The Jews and the Samaritans tried to avoid each other as much as possible.

For example, from Judea, some Jews crossed over the Jordan River on the east side of Samaria to travel to Galilee. When they traveled north far enough, they crossed the Jordan River again to enter Galilee. Under normal circumstances, it would have made better sense to travel to Galilee through Samaria. It was the shortest route.

He (Jesus) left Judea and departed into Galilee. He needed to pass through Samaria

(John 4:3-4). Because of the tension that existed between the Jews and the Samaritans, why did Jesus feel like He needed to go through Samaria? The text doesn’t give us an answer. Could it be He felt like He had a mission to fulfill? Why did Jesus ask the Samaritan woman to Give me a drink (John 4:7)?“For a Jewish man to speak to a woman in public, let alone to ask from her, a Samaritan, a drink, was a definite breach of rigid social custom… (John Mac Arthur).

The story of the Samaritan woman will continue next week.

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The Story of the Samaritan Woman 

4:6 – Jacob’s well was there. It was located on land Jacob had given to Joseph. The word “well” here means “a running spring.” In John 4:11-12 the word for “well” suggests “it was dug out and fed by an underground spring.

 Jesus, therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. These words remind us that Jesus was also a human being. He got tired like we get tired. When He lived on the face of this earth, He had some physical limitations.

 4:6-7 – It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. The Jewish day began at 6:00 A.M., so she came to the well at noon. Why did she come to the well to draw water in the hotter part of the day? The other women came to the well to draw water in the evening when the weather was not as hot.    

 4:9 – … How is it that you, (Jesus) being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? She was shocked when Jesus asked her for a drink. She knew the Jews despised the Samaritans. The Jews who had intermarried with Gentiles (non-Jews) formed a mixed-race. They were known as Samaritans. Devout Jews believed the Jews who had intermarried non-Jews had committed an unforgivable crime. They had lost their racial purity. The Samaritan woman knew … if “a Jewish man spoke to a woman in public,” (and especially if he asked a Samaritan woman for a drink it) “was a definite breach (violation) of rigid (unbreakable) social custom…” (John MacArthur)   

4:10 – … Jesus answered her, If you knew… who it is who says to you ‘give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The words living waterhave an important symbolical significance in the Old Testament. For example, the prophet said my people have… forsaken me (God), the spring of living waters… (Jeremiah 2:13). Zechariah said, it will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem… (Zechariah 14:8).John takes themes like these and relates them “to Jesus Christ as the living water which is symbolic of the eternal life (which is) mediated by the Holy Spirit from Him” (John MacArthur). 

The Samaritan woman’s misunderstanding of Jesus’ words about living water is similar to Nicodemus’misunderstanding of Jesus’ words about the new birth (read John 3:4). It’s important that we remember the best the world can offer us is temporary. It is wonderful to live a life in Christ. A life that is supreme in quality and is eternal.

                            -All Scripture passages are taken from the World English Bible (WEB)- 

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The Story of the Samaritan Woman 

In the Old Testament, the word “water” is a symbol that represents the satisfaction of mankind’s greatest need. The Psalmist says He (God) leads me beside still waters (Psalm 23:2b). The emphasis is on the      peacefulness of these waters. Isaiah says, “Therefore, with joy, you will draw water out of the wells of    salvation” (Isaiah 12:3).                                                                                                                               

When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, He talked to her about the “living water.”             However, she thought only of her physical thirst and the water which was in Jacob’s well.                     

4:14 – (Jesus said) …whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. Jesus said, …He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water…  he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive… (John 7:38-39). 

4:15 – The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw (John 4:15). It is obvious the Samaritan woman didn’t understand the hidden meaning of Jesus’s words. 

In the Bible, “living water” is comparable to “living bread.” Jesus says I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh (John 6:51). 

The gift of God is Jesus Christ. This spiritual gift, like real bread (John 6:32), brings eternal satisfaction. Merrill F. Unger says, “the believer may claim rest and refreshment” (Merrill F. Unger). The Holy Spirit is the other “counselor” who dwells within the life of the believer (read John 14:16-17).

-All the Scripture passages are taken from the World English Version (WEB)-

Email address: walnutave1234@comcast.net  

4: 16 – Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband…”  4:17 –The Samaritan woman answered, “I have no husband…” 4:18 – Jesus said, “… you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband …” Once again, the Bible reminds us of Jesus’ supernatural ability. Even though the Samaritan woman didn’t realize it, Jesus already knew the kind of life she was living. He focused on her spiritual condition.

4:20 – Our fathers worshiped in this mountain (Mt. Gerizim), and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship When Jesus confronted her with the facts of her life, she tried to change the subject by having a discussion about religion. There was a long-standing quarrel between the Jews and the Samaritans about the divinely appointed place to worship and to offer sacrifices to God. Newman maintains that it is quite a common thing for people to use their religion as a shield between them and God. 

4:21 –Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour (His death) comes, when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. “There was no reason to debate locations since both places would be obsolete soon and neither would have any role to play in the lives of those who genuinely worship God” (John Mac Arthur).

4:22 – You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. The Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). The Jews accepted all of the Old Testament. From them, God’s good news was to be shared with all the world.

4:24 – God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.  The words, God is Spirit is a testimony of His divine nature.  We would not be able to understand the invisible God unless God had revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. We must worship Him in spirit and truth. The word “spirit” refers to the human spirit. We must worship God with a proper attitude. The word “truth” is a reference to worship. The kind of worship   that is consistent with the message of the Bible, God’s Holy Word

-All Scripture passages are taken from the World English Bible (WEB)-

Email address: walnutave1234@comcast.net