Day #288
Scripture Reading: John 3 - 4 …
As Jesus began His ministry it was not long before
people began to be drawn to Him. First it was for the miracles, but where
the Spirit was working it was what He said that moved them to believe He was
the Messiah. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to Jesus at night, undoubtedly
afraid of the rest of the Pharisees and what they would think of him talking
with Jesus. He declared that Jesus was "a teacher who has come
from God" (3:2), based on the miracles He had done. But
Jesus quickly turned his observation into a teaching moment.
Jesus came to reveal the kingdom of God … a
spiritual kingdom that could be entered only by being born again by the very
Spirit of God. "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is
born again," Jesus said (3:3). And again, "No one can
enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit" (3:5-6).
Jesus is speaking of spiritual things here, quite probably pointing to
God's promise in Ezekiel 36:25-27: "I will sprinkle clean water on you,
and you will be clean … I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
in you … I will put MY Spirit in you …"
Jesus was not referring to baptism, but to the "living
water" that would wash spiritually those who believed.
Significantly, Jesus would say to the Samaritan woman in
chapter 4, verse 14, "Whoever drinks the water I give him will never
thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become IN him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life." Only the Spirit can produce
spiritual life in those who are spiritually dead … which includes all of
mankind!
Jesus said that He would be lifted up (on the
cross) so that "everyone who believes in Him may have eternal
life" (3:15). Then comes that famous verse: "For
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish but have eternal life!" (3:16). What a
wonderful promise!! But there's more in
the following verses and most people miss what Jesus says next and so
misunderstand what He says in verse 16.
Verse 18 is crucial to understanding how God brings
salvation. "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever
does NOT believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the
name of God's one and only Son." We might ask, "What do
people have to do to face God's judgment in hell?" The answer
is, "NOTHING!" Men love the darkness because they don't
want their evil deeds exposed. They will go to churches that never talk
about sin or judgment or hell because they just want to feel better about
themselves. They don't want their evil deeds exposed; they want to
believe they deserve eternal life … but no one does!!
John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, continued to
baptize with water and to call people to repentance, and now Jesus was teaching
and His disciples were baptizing, so some thought John would be upset that he
was "losing disciples" to Jesus, but John testified that Jesus was from
heaven … "The One who comes from heaven is above all" (3:31).
He declared the truth about Jesus and about His message: "Whoever
believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see
life, for God's wrath remains on him" (3:36).
God chose a Samaritan … and a Samaritan woman at
that, to reveal perhaps for the first time in person, who Jesus was. It
was at Jacob's well that Jesus would reveal HIMSELF as the "living
water" that people needed if they were to have eternal life. God's plan was to save this woman, and through
her testimony, others from the Samaritans. In doing so, God's grace is on
display already before Jesus even goes to the cross. Jesus Himself says, "Salvation
is from the Jews" (4:22), but in Jesus God was offering salvation to “all the world,” to Jews AND to
Gentiles.
As He spoke to the woman, Jesus confronted her with
the reality of her sin before God. Do you see how dangerous it is to
pretend with God? You must come to the Light and you must be cleansed by
the blood of Christ and empowered by the Spirit to confess your sin and to turn
from it. Where there is no confession of sin or desire to turn from sin
there is no spiritual life. Jesus said, "the water I give will
become a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (4:14). It
cannot and will not be otherwise. Those who receive God's testimony
concerning Jesus will then bear testimony of Jesus!
That's precisely what this Samaritan woman now did.
She said, "I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He
will explain everything to us"
(4:25). Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am
HE!" (4:26). There it is: the testimony of Jesus
concerning Himself … a testimony the disciples had not yet grasped themselves.
But now this woman went and told everyone she knew about Jesus and what
He had said. When the disciples returned and wanted Jesus to eat He told
them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about" (4:32).
They didn't understand, so Jesus said, "My food is to do the will
of Him who sent me and to finish His work. … The fields … are ripe
for harvest!" (4:34-35).
And the evidence was in the reaction of many other
Samaritans who now believed that this Jewish man was, indeed, the long-awaited
Messiah, the One who would be Savior! Jesus stayed with them for two days
and many more became believers, not because they saw miracles, but "because
of His words" (4:41). Every person who becomes a true believer,
who is born again by the Spirit, is born again by the message Jesus came to
bring. Paul writes in Romans 10:17 that "faith comes from hearing
the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ."
So it is today. At the end of his Gospel John
wrote, "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His
disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written
that you may believe that Jesus IS the Christ, the Son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in His name" (20:31).
"Heavenly Father, it is in Your Word that I
find the testimony that has changed my heart and my life. I thank You for
the work of Your Spirit within me, and I pray that You will continue Your work
in me, empowering me daily to testify to the truth that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Christ, the Anointed One, and that He is MY Savior and MY Lord. May
my life be a testimony of thanksgiving and praise to You for the gift of Your
Son, in Jesus' name, Amen"
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