John 4.43-54 - Seeing is / Believing / is Seeing

[43-46a] So, Jesus leaves Samaria, continues on His way from Judea to Galilee, and returns to the backwater of Cana of all places [map].  Where He turned water into wine.  What is He doing back there?  Why is He not in His hometown [John never records it; maybe cuz of the HT prophet thing?]?  Or why not in the “bustling metropolis” of Capernaum?

[54 This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.] This becomes Jesus' second "official" sign?  So far we’ve seen a bunch of signs that apparently “don’t count”?  They all clearly point to the truth that Jesus is THE God•send.  The Lamb of God.  Son of God.  The Savior of the world.  But here John says this is a SECOND sign [specifically in Cana] - the first one being when Jesus turned the water into wine [literally, He took H2O and added carbon to it (out of nothing)].  (He is about to do a miracle where He is not even physically present…)

[46b-47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.] So now a man comes to see Jesus.  John refers to him as a [basilikos] [Basil, Basilio, Vasily].  Gives us our word [“basilica”].  Let’s call him ‘B’.  And B’s son is dying.  Parents, what would you do for the life of your child?  Anything.  Go to any length, travel any distance - to the ends of the earth, if that might help.  Suffice it to say, parents are not designed to outlive their children.  But it happens, and when it does, it’s brokenness at its worst.  Why does the Lord allow it to happen?  There is no good answer.  But in all brokenness, God is always good, and [works all things for good].  He has a good plan - even if/when we don’t feel it or see it.  AND, even as He reminds us in John of how the [physical is just a temporary expression of this greater eternal spiritual] kingdom, the Kingdom of God, we do need to be careful not to place too much import on the how’s and the how-long’s of how things play out in this life.  This life is broken.  [Death has entered in] - and we were never designed to experience that.  It’s why we hate the brokenness so much.  Sadly, most of us have or will experience death (loved ones, strangers, our mortality) in ways that feel very broken.  It just feels wrong, so bad.  But this is also why the Good News is so good.

Jesus has been talking about these two realms, these two realities - this [physical temporal] (temporary) life, and this [spiritual eternal] life.  And the truth is, there is absolutely no comparison between the two [Paul: "very much better" in Phil 1.23].  This truth informs us that the MOST important thing we can do for our kids is to help prepare them to enter eternal life.  That’s what this life is all about - getting ready for eternity.  Those we love - and everyone else.  And whether the Lord gives us 6 years or 6 decades (plus or minus) - a few extra days or decades is not the be-all end-all of existence.  Not in light of eternity [dot/line].  Cuz Life doesn’t end when our physical body [ceases to function].  In fact, THAT is when the Life we were designed to live really comes in.  This is what Jesus is telling us.  We need to be born from above, this 2nd birth (which we don’t get from our biological parents, we get it from the Holy Spirit).  This other food.  Other water, Living Water from heaven.  Jesus.  Because that’s what this is all about.  Yes, there’s a lot to enjoy physically/temporarily while we’re getting ready for heaven.  And once we’re ready, if the Lord leaves us here for a season, there IS a lot to enjoy while we’re helping others get ready for heaven.  Fruit.  Harvest.  And that IS the main reason God does leave us here: helping others get ready for heaven.  Assuming that we’re ready.  But again, that’s why the Good News is so good - there is something so good, very much better waiting for us in eternity - and Jesus came to make the way for us to get there.  Speaking of these two realities:

[48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.”] People get stuck in this false assumption that seeing is believing.  They want to see some [physical] sign, they insist on concrete proof about Who Jesus is before they believe, before they put their trust IN Him.  Nic was like, I don’t see it.  Sam was like, Messiah the Christ will come physically and explain it.  He’ll help us to see it.  And Jesus is like, I AM.  All you need is to trust Me.

Come - physically, in person, and heal my son.  It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t just say ‘yes’ to B.  He could’ve just said, ok.  He knows what He is going to do.  He knows He is going to heal B’s son.  But it feels almost like Jesus is telling B, no.  Telling him why He’s not going to come down to Capernaum and heal B’s son.  But Jesus is helping B here.  Sometimes the Lord needs to show us that HE is all and everything we need.  And so He lets us wait.  It can feel like He is saying no.  And He brings us to the point of desperation…

[49 The royal official says to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”] Now B is desperate.  He uses the imperative.  “Lord.  Come down”.  He’s not using [meaningless repetition].  No flippant or flowery language.  He is at his wit’s end.  Out of options.  Jesus is his last resort.  But isn’t that sort of how we roll?  We try these other options.  These other water wells.  Try to handle it ourself.  And the Lord wants to help us realize that He is our first, last, best and only option.

But B is totally stuck on the physical train as well.  Lord, You need to come.  You have to be there physically.  And yes, there is something about [physical presence][Emmanuel].  But Jesus is about to blow his mind, blow this physical mindset out of the water yet again.

[50 Jesus says to him, “Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.] Jesus says, Go.  And, “Your son lives.”  5 words (in Greek).  He Himself does not go - but He doesn’t have to.  God’s power transcends any and all distance.  [map] 

The first sign in Cana was [something out of nothing].  It doesn’t exist?  No problem - Jesus calls all things into existence.  All things out of no-thing.  This second sign is, something you can’t even see.  My power is such that, I don’t need to go to Capernaum - or any physical place.  My power does not depend on My visible physical presence.  It is not limited by space in ANY way.   

BTW, that’s why prayer works.  You and I can come to the Lord - Who we can’t even see - and engage our almighty God in a conversation about some person or situation across town or clear on the other side of the planet, and this omnipresent One not only hears us (cuz He’s right here with us) but He is able to engage with that need (cuz somehow He is right there in that place too).  Because distance does not deter our God, not in the least [Ps 139.7-8].  Any place.  Any heart, no matter how hard or distant.  He is there.  He is here - IF we have eyes to see it.

And Jesus tells B, [be going].  The going gives feet to our faith.  B doesn’t see it with his physical eyes, but he trusts, and he goes.   [cf Abraham - Gen 12.1-2] Trusting/believing is seeing. [Heb 11.1,3,13]  Sometimes we need to go, to get up and get going, even tho we don’t see where we’re going.  Even tho we don’t see the provision [Gen 22.7-8].  Sometimes we need to keep going - and how do we do that? [Heb 12.1]

Note, too - B thought he needed one thing.  What was that? (Jesus to come down) - but Jesus totally provides in a way B did NOT expect.  What B - AND his family really needs [51-53].  We think we know what we need.  But only the Lord knows what we REALLY need.  More than anything else, we need to get ready for heaven.  And how do we know we’re ready for heaven?  Born from above.  Living water.  Believe/trust in Jesus - have you done that?

Referenced verses:

Psa. 139:7  Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8  If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

Gen. 12:1  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; 2 and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing.”

Gen 22.7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

Heb. 11:1   Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. 13  All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Heb. 12:1  Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith

John 4:27-42 - True Food/The Jesus Diet

 [27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?”]  

What is going on here?  Rabbinic principle: “Let no one talk with a woman in the street, no, not with his own wife”.  Much less an immoral Samaritan woman.  But as we’ve seen, Jesus is a Trend-buster.  God•sends break trends.  The disciples are amazed, astonished - which usually provokes questions and discussion.  Why don’t the disciples ask Jesus about this?  “Respect the Rabbi”, yes - but I think they’re shocked.  If it were anyone else, they would have blasted them for this shameful breach of decorum.  They’re like, "we got the food [8a], let’s just eat and get out of this 'God-forsaken' place…" (Which we’ve seen is an oxymoron)  

[31  Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”]  They wait till she leaves, and they’re like, "Lord, you need to eat.  So let’s just eat and get out of here."  The disciples now show how focused even they are on the physical.  He “needs” to have some physical nourishment, that’s what most important here.  They’re “right” - He must be starving, but they don’t seem to have any clue that there is something deeper, something eternal taking place here.

[32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”] Knowing that they’re totally focusing on the physical, Jesus lobs another truth grenade designed to further blow up their bias towards the temporal.  This is now the third time Jesus has done this.  Messing with people’s perceptions.  "I have (Jesus has) other food you don’t know about.  Other water.  There’s this other birth you don’t know about.  Other food."  And look at their answer: [33 So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?”]  They’re just so focused on the [physical].  On the temporal.

[34 Jesus says to them, “My food is to do the [theléma] of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.]  The Jesus diet.  Not 3 square meals at specific times of day per se.  Not in any cookbook or [FDA food pyramid].  "My true nourishment is living into and pursuing what God wants."  That’s the Jesus Diet.  The wants of the One Who sent Me. [Mt 6,4]  What does HE want?  God wants you and me to want what He wants.  He wants us to want Him first and foremost.  And to live into all that He has for us as we live out our days here on this earth.  Living like sent ones.  Your Kingdom come.  In - and thru me.  "I haven’t put you on earth to live for what you want.  That is NOT going to satisfy - it’s going to leave you empty."  No, the Jesus Diet is living into all the moments of opportunity He puts before us each day [like the fleeting sands of the hourglass].  We get it in our head that this life is me-time, all 24hrs of it, and we even put our eating on that same me-time.  But the Jesus Diet supersedes all that.  (We are learning that) Every moment is lived with Him, every moment is an opportunity to enjoy how good He is, to help someone else know how good He is [Eph 5.16, Col 4.5 - God's kairos time].  This is not about our agenda to hurry thru a meal and get to Galilee.  "This (life) is about making the most of every opportunity, guys, and there is an opportunity right here in front of your faces - and you’re missing it entirely..."

[35 “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.]  "There’s a harvest out there, guys.  Right now - and you don’t even see it.  In fact, you’re blind to it - cuz you’re so focused on the physical.  Look up.  Look around.  Stop your navel-gazing.  You’re so driven by the temporal.  Me-time.  You know when you see a physical [harvest of wheat].  But this is an eternal spiritual harvest."  We need to learn to see with spiritual eyes, to look at our selves AND the people around us as eternal souls who desperately need to connect with their Maker, way more than we/they need food in our belly.  Making this connection - and helping others to do the same - that’s true food.  That’s the Jesus Diet.

[36 “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 “For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”]  There’s true food - and there’s true reward.  We get so focused on the daily grind of daily bread and “making bread”.  Perhaps it’s no coincidence that bread/dough are slang for money.  We spend so much of our time and so much of our life sowing and reaping for life temporal.  Temporary.  Passing away - sooner than you think.  I think it’s real easy to lose sight of (or never see) what this all is all about.  We show up to a meeting on Sunday morning, then the temporal/physical crowds it all back out for 6.8 days/wk, and if we don’t look up and look around - look at the fields, at the harvest of souls, we can wind up giving our lives for little more than [chaff].  The goal is, gathering fruit for life eternal.  "I sent you to reap", to gather for life eternal.  How are we doing?

And notice the [synergy].  It’s a team effort.  There is sowing and reaping.  Some sow, others reap.  And the end result is rejoicing together.  Meanwhile - there IS a harvest breaking out…

[28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and says to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.]  So we have this Samaritan woman.  "Sam" barely knows anything about Jesus.  But she just leaves her waterpot!  Meaning…? (Living water can spring up in an instant)  And off she goes, gathering fruit for life eternal.  She’s already tapping the Jesus Diet.  Better translation: “Is this not the Christ?”  Cuz she IS witnessing:

[39  From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who witnessed, “He told me all the things that I have done.”] She hasn’t been to seminary.  She hasn’t been “ordained" - or licensed.  Never been discipled.  Probably never went to school. What does she know?  She knows Jesus is Messiah (He is everything and all we need...)

[40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”]  The Jesus Diet is lived on Jesus-Time [not by the watch but by God-given moments of opportunity].  The disciples wanted to get out of there - but they wind up spending two days in the middle of someplace they never expected.  Never wanted to be there.  But Jesus HAD to go there - and stay there!  Where is Jesus going?  Where does He need to be?  That’s where I’m going - the Jesus Diet.

Savior of the world.  Sotér [soteriology].  El Salvador (del mundo).  Savior appears just 3x in all the Gospels.  Only one time in the book of John.  Right here.  [He is, THE Savior of the world].  The One Who comes to save, to rescue the world.  The entire world - Not just Jews.  Every nation, people from every tribe and tongue and ethnic group.  Jews had forsaken Samaritans - but not Jesus.  And don’t miss, how did these Samaritans come to know that Jesus was Savior?  “We have heard…” They heard His Word.  Now faith/belief comes from what?  [Rom 10.17] Hearing the Word of God… We might feed them or serve them, meet some physical need, but we must always prioritize helping people to hear the Word(s) of Christ.

The Jesus Diet.  My food is to do what He wants.  Nothing else lasts forever.  Nothing else, no one else satisfies… [] “Lord, what do You want today?

Referenced verses:

Eph. 5:16 "...making the most of your time, because the days are evil."

Col. 4:5   "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity."