"Come To Me, You Who Are Weary"

Having said the negative, Jesus now gave the positive, beginning with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to His Father

“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do." (Matthew 11:25-26)

Those who come with a childlike heart, open, trusting and humble, are the ones who are going to understand and receive the gospel, rather than those who have a sense of self importance, who delight in their own mental abilities, and mistake their knowledge for wisdom.

Jesus explained God’s plan of revelation:

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Matthew 11:27)

Only Jesus can show the way to the Father.

Jesus saw people burdened with trying to please God,
...getting right with God,
......using all the methods that the Pharisees were insisting on.
.........It was a great load of rules, and they were weary with trying,
............sensing, deep down, that none of it was working...

Jesus offered rest, freedom from trying and never succeeding.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Think about the yoke as what rabbis called their way of understanding and living by scripture, which they expected all their disciples to take on themselves.

The Pharisees' yoke was heavy. It made people bone weary with trying to labor under it.

Jesus’ yoke is light, it’s freeing, it’s enabling so that your work becomes joy. Jesus’ yoke fits perfectly because we are designed to wear His yoke, and His yoke is designed for us.

Jesus gives wisdom and rest to those who come to Him

Following Jesus brings relief from sin’s burdens. Those who follow Jesus find that Jesus’ yoke brings equilibrium and Jesus’ power.

* In what ways can you say that you have taken on Jesus' yoke?

* An encounter with Jesus demands a response – what’s yours?

* Do you believe in Him Have you said yes to Him?

* Will you serve Him, and co-labor with Him in the harvest?

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Some Thoughts on Judgment

Jesus' teaching on the fate of Tyre, Sidon and Sodom, as compared with Bethsaida, Chorazim and Capernaum, seem to indicate that there are degrees of punishment in the judgment of God.

Though there is not a lot written in the New Testament about this teaching, it does show that even in judgement God is just and fair.

Judgment is meted out according to the light given to the individual.

Indifference to the claims of Christ are a terrible sin. An encounter with Jesus demands a response, and not to respond is to decide against Jesus.

When Jesus speaks of judgement, we know there will be judgement. God’s judgement goes clear back to the story of humankind's fall from original righteousness and communion with God, found in Genesis 3. The first man and woman had the opportunity to grow in the knowledge of good and evil through obedience to the goodness of God and His word. But they were tempted to
1) Doubt God's goodness
2) Question God's word
3) Desire to be "as God" thinking one could have God's position and authority.

After their fall, Adam and Eve showed the effects of sin by hiding from God and by blaming others for their own wrongdoing. God judged the man and the woman in specific and distinct ways, but the chief judgement was the penalty of death which God had said would be the result of they chose to eat from the forbidden tree.

1) Their spirits died. Their deep communion with God was broken, which they proved by running away from God when He came to them in the Garden.
2) Their souls died. They experienced a break down of their originally righteous and good character as they suppressed the truth and laid the blame for their own sin on someone else.
3) Their bodies died. God said, "Dust you are, and to dust you will return," and eventually both Adam and Eve, as well as all their offspring, died.

These three aspects of death are eternal unless they are overcome by the work of the Messiah. In Christ we
1) Receive a new spirit, by the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which loves God
2) Receive a new soul, which begins to live for God,
3) Eventually every believer will receive a new body patterned on the resurrection body of Jesus, and has now a deposit on that resurrection power to live by faith.

Those who refuse to respond to Jesus will be judged. Many people today hear God’s word, and remain unmoved. They witness God’s power in someone else’s life and say, that’s okay for you, but it isn’t for me. They remain indifferent.

Rather than get special exemption from judgement, those who know God, and know His law have an even greater responsibility to obey God and honor Him.

When are you guilty of refusing to repent, and count on your standing with God instead to get you by?

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Jesus Denounces Coldness

Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

"And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

The two key words in this section are “repent” and “judgment.”

Jesus was saying: Because you were given evidence and you refused to repent, you are under the judgment of God for either not deciding for God, or for rejecting His offer of rescue.

Jesus pronounced judgement on Bethsaida, Chorazin and Capernaum. Bethsaida was the home town for five of His disciples. Jesus healed a blind man there, and very near there Jesus fed 5,000 people.

Not much is known about Chorazin.

Jesus had made Capernaum His home town, and many miracles were performed there.

Tyre and Sidon were infamous for their wickedness, and Sodom was considered the epitome of wickedness, yet Tyre, Sidon and Sodom would have repented had they been given the same level of evidence as Jesus was now giving these towns

Read the above passage again. God did judge those wicked cities of old, as recorded in scripture, and Tyre, Sidon and Sodom certainly will be judged by God on the last day, since all people can know God
* Through the witness of creation,
* Through the witness of their own consciences,
* and through an instinctive law of righteousness that God has written into every person's heart.

But why will it be more bearable for those pagan cities than for the people of these Jewish towns?

Because the Jews had far more than the Gentiles.
--> They had God's law,
--> They had His wisdom and prophecies recorded in scripture,
--> They had the temple and the sacrifices,
--> They had God's covenants.

And they had the long prophesied Messiah

Jesus was God incarnate, He was authenticating His deity, but the people were blase, unimpressed, they didn’t want to hear His message. Jesus was heartbroken in His anger over their refusal to repent.

Jesus didn't fit the profile His own people had crafted for their ideal Messiah. So they rejected Him. The people most privileged and able to know the Savior were the people most hardened to receiving Him.

Who would those people be today? People who are religious without actually believing what God's word has to say. People who are more enamored with their religious traditions, and their own good deeds and relgious activity, than they are with God.

Where do you stand in comparison with Tyre, Sidon and Sodom?

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Jesus Then Taught The Crowds

What The Lord Jesus said next is difficult to understand,

"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." (Matthew 11:12)

- It could mean that the gospel had been forcefully advancing in spite of opposition.

- Or, it could mean that the gospel was being violently opposed.

Either way John was like Elijah in that he called people’s attention to their sins, and called people back to God, to make a decision to follow God rather than the gods of this world.

John was not a reincarnation of Elijah.

The Bible never teaches that reincarnation is any kind of a possibility at all. What Jesus referred to here was John’s function. In Luke 1:16-17 an angel told John’s father that John would go before the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the disobedient and to make the people ready for the Lord.

If people accepted that, then they also needed to accept that Jesus was Messiah

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 11:15

But, Jesus went on to tell the people, you people don’t listen, you don’t accept, you’re never happy with what you hear.

People did not want to hear God’s message, they wanted to call the tune and have God sing the song they wanted to hear.

They had complained that John was too austere, so they called him a demon.
On the other hand, they complained that Jesus was too familiar, so they called him a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of sinners.

"Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds."(Matthew 11:19

Wisdom is proved right by actions. You will be able to assess God’s wisdom by what He does. Jesus’ miracles authenticated who He claimed to be.

Jesus gives answers to doubters who come to Him

* Where do you turn with your questions?

The best place to go for answers is scripture, God’s word. You will find the answers about Who He is, and what He promises to do for you and for me.

God may provide answers through other means
- Maybe in a Bible study group,
- Or your pastor’s sermon,
- Or an event in your life,
- Or a talk with a friend.

But the best place to go for clarification and finding out the truth is in God’s word itself, praying that God will help you understand.

Scripture isn’t necessarily going to give you specific instructions about where to go tomorrow, what job to take, how to work out a particular situation – but scripture will provide insight into God’s character, His ways, and what He has provided for you.

Through that you will have the beginning of your answers.

Jesus is also kind, His answers will be more than you asked or imagined, Jesus will encourage you whether through a friend, or answer to prayer, or something you hear on the radio, or read.....look for the encouragement that God provides

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Jesus' Answer to John

Jesus answered John from the prophetic book of Isaiah,

"Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them." (Matthew 11:4-5)

that’s the text John the Baptist most often preached from. Sinners must be restored first before God will come to rule the earth in righteousness. Jesus was about the business of bringing restoration

Jesus was not condescending, not judgmental, not impatient. Instead He spoke gently and clearly to John’s disciples, teaching from the very same scriptures that John knew best, and understood.

Jesus did not condemn John, who, after all, of all people, had the very best reasons not to doubt. And Jesus does not condemn you or me, either, when we doubt, so long as we come to Him with our questions and listen to His answers.

Doubt is a mind game, and the antidote for doubt is truth.

Jesus was telling John “I’m working My plan, just trust Me,” then He gave a gentle warning,

"And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." (Matthew 11:6)

An encounter with Jesus always demands a response. John’s response must have been a continuing response of faith. We know he stood firm for the truth to the end.

Jesus gave John more than he asked or imagined in commending his ministry and his faith: John was truly a prophet in every sense of the word – he was strong, powerful, fearless, unswerving, uncompromising. He even looked like a prophet.

Jesus said,

"This is he of whom it is written,

'Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.'

"Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist." (Matthew 11:10-11)

Not only was John filling the characterization of a prophet, he gave the message of a prophet, he was the very one Malachi had prophesied would come right before the Messiah.

--> He was the greatest among prophets in that he had the greatest role, he had the privilege of announcing Jesus the Messiah.

But as great as John the Baptist was, he would not live to see, and understand, the rest of the gospel unfold.

Those who have been born again, after the cross, are greater than John the Baptist because you and I, and all those who follow Christ, have the full gospel, the whole story, and we have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We may not have greater character than John, but we do have the understanding and ability to bring the full good news to others.

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Why Did John the Baptist Question Jesus?

After sending the disciples off to preach and teach in pairs, Jesus began to teach in the disciples' hometowns. This is where John the Baptist’s disciples found Him and asked Him the question their rabbi, John the Baptist, had given them:

"Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" (Matthew 11:3)

John was genuinely doubting whether the message he’d preached was all true, and the person he’d introduced was really the Messiah. Doubt is not sin unless you ignore the evidence and stay where you are in your doubt.

John had been tirelessly promoting the good news of repentance and salvation through Messiah, and many people were repenting and being baptized. The pinnacle of his ministry was to baptize Messiah, and work side by side with Christ, flanking Jerusalem, preaching and baptizing.

Then John was arrested and imprisoned. He had his disciples left, but everything else was suddenly, shockingly, taken away – his ministry, the wide open desert where he lived, his place as prophet and co-laborer with Messiah.

And Jesus seemed to be doing nothing about it.

Could this really be Messiah, Who was supposed to come and right all wrongs, to rule in righteousness, to “open prison’s doors and set the captives free”? John was a captive, he was Jesus' strongest advocate, and yet he was not being set free.

Why do we doubt?
1) Difficult circumstances John was in the worst possible place with no rescue in sight

2) Incomplete knowledge John knew only just a little bit more than all the Old Testament prophets, since he knew that Jesus was Messiah, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.

John was not going to see the crucifixion or the resurrection. He didn’t understand the entire scope of what God was doing

3) Unfulfilled expectations When John was prophesying about Jesus he the Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit, and He would judge. John expected this to happen during his life time, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit didn’t come until Pentecost, and the day of judgement is still future to us right now.

* What, in your life, is disappointing to you right now? Does it feel the opposite of what you expected God's promises would look like?

* Where do you go with your disappointments and doubts? Do you ask God for insight?

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The Miracle In Capernaum Was Faith

The Bible teaches that we are to move from faith to faith The official had started out with a crisis of faith. He was about to lose his son and he had no one to go to but Jesus.

His crisis of faith became confident faith when he decided to take Jesus at His word. He believed Jesus and experienced peace in his heart. He was even able to delay his trip home rather than rush off in an anxious panic, because of his confidence in Jesu' word.

Then his confident faith became confirmed faith when he found out that his son had been completely healed, and at that very moment when Jesus had spoken the word.

The official shared first with his servants, and then with the rest of his family, resulting in the conversion of his entire household. The official moved his faith from Jesus' specific power to heal a sick boy, to a deeper faith of Jesus as a person, the Messiah.

Read how John put it all together,

The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (John 4:53-54)

This miracle of faith in the official and his entire household, confirmed by the healing of his son, was Jesus' second sign.

Meeting the spiritual need is always Jesus' priority

* In what ways is the Lord moving you from faith to faith?

* Are you in a crisis of faith? Then what word of Jesus do you need to believe this week?

* Have you moved to confident faith? Then what do you need to do this week to show your trust in Jesus?

* Are you experiencing confirmation of your faith? Then who around you needs to hear you say so, this week, telling them the glorious things Jesus is doing right now?

True satisfaction is not found in having our needs met in the way we think they should be met. Relief may feel like satisfaction for a while. But true satisfaction, the deep and lasting kind, can only come through faith in Jesus, personally relating to Jesus and doing His will.

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Jesus Healed the Capernaum Official's Son From Afar

Jesus, because He is God, could easily restore life at a distance. The word of His power spans distance, time, life and even death. The healing power of Jesus is not limited by geography. He is never so far away that He cannot answer your prayers.

Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." (John 4:50a)

Doesn't it seem like Jesus wanted this miracle to seem as unmiraculous as possible? "You don't have to see to believe. First believe -- then you will see," Jesus seemed to say.

John called this Jesus' second sign, but possibly the real miracle is what happened in the official's heart,

The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. (John 4:50b)

Here is an illustration of true faith. The official decided to believe, and the servants, twenty miles away, saw the immediate healing.

It was a real miracle, a stunning one. The man believed the witness of Jesus and acted upon it. He simply trusted what Jesus said to be true and went about his business, He believed without the evidence of a sign or miracle. This is what Jesus consideered to be a strong and more appropriate faith.

For whatever reason, the man did not return to Capernaum the day his son was healed, but instead found a place to spend the night. It's possible that it was too late in the day to start the twenty mile trip home. In any case, the official waited until the next day to start home, and met his servants along the way. The father thought his son would gradually improve,

So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, (John 4:52a)

But above and beyong his expectations, the servants replied,

"Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." (John 4:52b)

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The Official's Need For Stronger Faith

After His two-day retreat with the Samaritans it was time for Jesus and His disciples to continue on to Galilee. Here, John wrote, in parentheses,

(For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) (John 4:44)

And yet the very next verse says that the Galileans welcomed Him. What was John trying to say, then? The Samaritans had put their faith in Jesus as the prophet Moses had prophesied, as the Savior of the world. They didn't need any signs to believe.

Now look at why the Galileans welcomed the Lord: because they had

...seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. (John 4:45b)

They didn't know Jesus for His teaching, or for Who He was. They were just glad to have the miracle worker in town.

Jesus and His disciples made their way to Cana, which was Nathanael's home town, very likely to revisit friends and family,

...where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. (John 4:46-47)

This man was likely an official of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee.

It's possible this is the same person we read about in Luke 8, Herod's steward Chuza, whose wife Joanna helped provide for Jesus' ministry. Or, he might have been Herod's foster brother Manaen, from Acts 13, who was one of the early leaders in the church. In either case, this is how the Lord became connected with his life.

Capernaum was twenty miles away, so this official had spent all day getting to Jesus. He was worried about his little boy, and he had come to Jesus for a miracle. It was his last-ditch chance to save his child's life.

Imagine the scene.

Jesus was probably at Nathanael's house with His disciples around Him. Others were there because of Jesus' fame for performing these signs. Now a royal official had arrived and wanted to take Jesus all the way back to Capernaum to heal his son. Imagine Jesus looking at the crowd around Him, then saying,

"Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."

That seems like a harsh answer to a father who's on the verge of losing his son!

You know the saying, "seeing is believing." The official took it for granted that Jesus would have to go to Capernaum to heal his son. He was convinced that Jesus' power did not extend beyond His immediate surroundings. He also thought that all would be lost if his little boy died. So whatever faith this official had, it was not in the person of the Lord Jesus, Messiah, God the Son. It was the kind of faith you might put into a miracle worker.

A faith based on miracles is a weak faith. A faith based on what that sign points to is biblical faith. Miracles should never be a substitute for the person from Whom that power comes: the Lord Jesus, Messiah, God the Son. Miracles are secondary and they should have a secondary place in our lives to trust.

Jesus' purpose for this official was not just for his little boy to be healed. After all, that little boy would one day grow up and die of something else. We all eventually die of something. When God doesn't seem to meet your urgent need, there there is a spiritual need that is even more urgent. Jesus' purpose for this man, and his household, was to have eternal life.

So the Lord challenged the official to a stronger faith, to take Jesus at His word, even without any visible change or sign. "Don't just believe in what I can do for your little boy," Jesus was saying, "Believe in Who I AM!"

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The Disciples See Righteousness In The Samaritans

The Samaritans were despised by the Jews as a mixed-race, mixed-religion people. The very word "Samaritan" conjured up in the Jewish mind everything they considered to be abhorrent to God; unlike themselves, whom they (rightly) considered to be God's treasured people. However, they saw themselves as righteous and the Samaritans as unrighteous, just by virtue of birth.

However, measured against God’s standard of righteousness, every person ever conceived stands condemned. Nobody can have genuine, authentic, righteousness without having God’s nature, for he alone is sinless.

But God understands our failure and has provided His own true righteousness, His perfect righteousness, in place of the righteousness you and I do not have. It is given to us freely, without contribution on our part, as we have faith in Jesus Christ. This is called justification, which means that we are now “made right” or “just” before God on the basis of Jesus’ achievements.

Once righteousness has been received into your inward being through the indwelling Holy Spirit, then your character traits and outward behavior can’t help but change to reflect the profound spiritual change you’ve undergone.

Righteousness does also refer to “upright moral conduct,” in keeping with God’s standard set down in His law. Certainly your and my testimony to the reality of God’s goodness and righteousness to the people around us would have little effectiveness if our conduct and our character were not also morally upright.

But to live morally is not just about outward moral behavior. Our confession that Jesus is Lord, and that God raised Him from the dead is going to be more than what we say. To live morally, according to God’s way, is to actively enrich the lives of the people around you.
According to this standard, the Samaritan woman was the most righteous person there, and her townspeople were also learning true righteousness at Jesus' feet.

* A righteous person lives in humility, submitting her life to God, inviting the Holy Spirit to control her thoughts, her feelings and thereby her words and actions.

* A righteous person, in submission to God, understands her complete and utter dependence on Him for the course of her life, the course of her day-to-day living, and sees the hand of God in all the events and people in her life.

* A righteous person’s words naturally glorify God and build up the people who listen. Her words come out of the overflow of her heart, filled with God’s righteousness.

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The Disiciples Learn Righteousness

The disciples were doing good. They were doing what they could to serve their rabbi and take care of His needs.
+ They made sure He had a place to rest
+ They did the work of finding food
+ And when they came back they tried to get Him to eat as they watched all these people begin to stream out of Sychar towards them.

Their whole focus was on the physical plane, thinking about Jesus’ physical needs, not on the spiritual plane, realizing the amazing spiritual birth that had taken place in the Samaratian woman, and the immediate spiritual fruit all these people coming towards them meant.

Jesus was training His disciples to recognize a different kind of being good than simply serving Him by taking care of His physical needs. This kind of work, providing for your family, is good work. But there is an even more important work that transcends the needs of earthly life, and that is meeting the need for eternal life.

The Lord was opening His disciples’ eyes to the deep satisfaction of true righteousness, believing in Him and doing God’s will. This kind of righteousness wasn’t unknown to Jewish thinking. The Jewish concept of wisdom was what a person needed to know in their heart and mind to live a life of righteousness.

Wisdom and a life of righteousness are, in other words, inseparable.

Every person, regardless of their cultural and religious background, understands God’s Moral Law. And because we understand it, deep down, that can fool us into thinking we’re good people. The temptation is to reassure ourselves of our own righteousness by comparing ourselves with someone who seems less mature, less righteous.

But the standard for righteousness is perfection, it is God’s standard, not people’s standards.

Righteousness means just what it sounds like: “Right - ness.” The human definition of righteousness is more about character traits and outward conduct, while God’s righteousness is an expression of His divinity, His holiness.

-->Since righteousness and goodness flow out from the character of God Himself as a part of His attributes, as part of His nature, righteousness is actually a matter of your inner essence.<-- Righteousness refers to a right standing with God, free from guilt and sin.

[More on Righteousness tomorrow]
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The Samaritans Need To Know Jesus Personally

Many people from the Samaritan woman's village of Sychar believed in Jesus because of what the woman had told them about Him. They immediately recognized something powerful about Jesus because of the woman's testimony that Jesus had seen into her past, and into her heart.

So the Samaritans invited Jesus to stay with them. It was a sacrifice of time for these Samaritans, as they put aside their work and other daily tasks and responsibilities in order to have this two-day retreat with the Lord. And Jesus did stay with them and taught them. John recorded no miracles, or even requests for signs.

What a remarkable difference to the time Jesus spent in Jerusalem during the Passover. People were amazed at the miracles Jesus performed there, and John wrote that people did believe Jesus, but we know it was an insincere and shallow belief that did not honor the Lord, because John also wrote that Jesus did not entrust Himself to the people in Jerusalem....like He entrusted Himself to these people in Sychar.

The Samaritans' faith became grounded, not in supernatural experiences of signs and wonders, but rather in the good strong teaching of Jesus' words,

And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world." (John 4:41-42)

That's the strongest faith, and the most spiritually mature confession recorded thus far in Jesus' ministry. They had met Jesus themselves, and as they spent time with Him, their relationship became firsthand.

How often do you spend time personally with Jesus? It's easy to let our faith hang on someone else's testimony -- books, pastors, spiritual friends. That's why a very important part of your life is going to be spending time reading the Bible and asking God to personally instruct you.

You and I need to have our faith grounded in the good strong teaching of God's word being taught directly to us by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, through His Spirit.

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The Samaritan Village Comes To Jesus

Jesus showed the disciples all the people coming towards them and explained that their satisfaction would come from doing the work God was presenting to them, reaping the harvest in front of them,

"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'?" (John 4:34b)

All around them were fields with young crops, four months away from harvest, but

"Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." (John 4:35)

I think Jesus nodded His head towards the people coming down the road. "Look guys, that 'field' walking toward us is ready! Now's the time!"

When the opportunity presents itself, regardless of what your personal agenda might have been, that's the time to take that opportunity and do the most with it. We never know how much time we truly have.

"Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.'" (John 4:36-37)

The disciples had just been in Sychar buying food. They had had plenty of opportunity to let the townspeople know that the Lord Jesus, Messiah, Who had been performing many signs and miracles in Jerusalem, was just right outside of town by Jacob's well, come and see.

But they didn't.

John's gospel tells us it was the woman who testified about Jesus, and the whole town was her harvest, not the disciples'. Now Jesus was going to rejoice with this woman as her entire town came out to meet Him.

Jesus explained this to His disciples,

"I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." (John 4:38)

Archeologists have located Aenon near Salim, where John the Baptist had been baptizing at the end of his ministry. It was near Shechem, which was close to Sychar and Jacob's well. John the Baptist had prepared the 'soil' of this town, and planted the 'seed,' and Jesus had come with His disciples to reap the harvest. His disciples were now going to enter into the harvest even though they really hadn't done anything but go buy food.

The disciples had food for Jesus, but Jesus had food for the Samaritans, and He was teaching His disciples to reach beyond their little group to the world around them, recognizing and feeding those who were so hungry spiritually.

True satisfaction is found in doing God's will

Jesus has sent you and me into the harvest as well. God gives every Christian chances to plant His word in others' hearts, and to cultivate that seed with our love and prayers. In due time that seed will bear fruit to the glory of God.

There are times when you and I will only sow and others will be the ones who get to reap the fruit of the harvest.

Sometimes it is us who will get to reap.

Either way, doing the will of God is the important thing

* In what ways are you accomplishing the mission God has set for you?

* Where are the fields white for harvest around you?

* The disciples needed to broaden their view, get out of their little group. In what ways might you need to look beyond your family or friends?

* All the disciples had to do was reorient their thoughts as they looked at those Samaritans headed towards them. Who do you need to reorient your thoughts about?

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Knowing God's Will

Doing God's will is not just about doing general good works, and applying His word to your life in practical, every day ways. God also has good works in mind for you to personally do, as the Apostle Paul explained in his letter to the Ephesians,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

People often ask me: How can we know what those things particular things are?

There are several approaches to this knotty issue, which I talk about here and here

Some food for thought, for today:

1) Believe that God knows what He wants for you, and for your family, to do. Breakthroughs happen for people who believe God.

2) Sometimes God will first speak to you directly from His word, words that seem to leap right up off the page for you in your Bible as you are studying. God guides people through His word in Scripture.

3) The Bible teaches that we should also seek godly advice from those who are wise and to be trusted. Be humble and teachable as you listen to what they have to say.

4) God will also cause circumstances to reveal His will -- such as an invitation that you didn't first cause to happen, to serve God in some way; or maybe a job offer, or the chance to do something, or move somewhere, or be with a certain person, or an opportunity arises.

5) If God invites you with circumstances, He will give you confirmation through Scripture, His published word. If God invites you through His word, then He will provide the opportunity as well, through your circumstances.

6) Be in prayer throughout this process to sense the Spirit's message to your inner being. Ask God for this inner guidance. Throughout Scripture God promises to guide you, so believe that and pray for God's direction, trusting that He knows how to speak to you in a way that you will recognize is from Him. God will guide through the inward witness of the Holy Spirit.

The "peace of God" in a decision is that sense of knowing within you that this is right -- a contented peace, or a conviction that it is the right thing to do, or a compelling desire -- it is difficult to describe, but easy to identify.

When these things are present, you can be sure that God has called you into doing whatever it is you have asked Him about. Right after there will often come some testing, either doubts or opposition of some kind, that will rattle you. Then you must go back to the process and the circumstances that proved the settling of God's will for you in order not to be moved away from the direction God has shown you.

It helps if you write it all down, as you go through the process, to remind you in times of need what the Lord has been revealing to you.

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The Disciples Learn True Satisfaction In Samaria

The disciples had come back from the town of Sychar with some food. When they got to Jacob's well they saw Jesus talking with this Samaritan woman, and they were surprised. That word in Greek means they were astonished, utterly amazed. But they didn't ask Jesus why He was talking with her, nor what He was talking with her about. I think they must have just hung back, politely, and waited for the woman to leave.

A half mile from town, without her water jar, it probably took her no more than fifteen minutes, maybe, to get back, tell everybody about Jesus and have everyone drop whatever they were doing to follow her back to the well. Think quick turnaround!

In the meantime, the disciples had started digging into their meal and trying to get Jesus to eat, too. But I think Jesus was watching the road coming out of town. He had bigger things on His mind. Sure enough, He began to see some people walking back towards Him, as He sat on the lip of Jacob's well.

Imagine Jesus watching those people walking towards Him, while the disciples kept urging Jesus to eat something,

Jesus said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." (John 4:32)

Why would Jesus phrase it in that way rather than just flat out teach them about true heart satisfaction?

He captured their attention by bringing in what their minds were occupied with. And they were all about the food. When did Jesus get food? they asked. How did He get the food? Who brought Him food? they asked as they looked meangingfully at each other.

Jesus had only a few minutes to explain to the disciples that something really big was happening,

Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (John 4:34)

God the Son had come to accomplish God's work, salvation.

Jesus explained that doing the Father's will -- in this case, leading the Samaritan woman to salvation, and preparing to speak to her whole town -- was true nourishment to His soul. This truth, for Jesus, had been tested in the wilderness when He was tempted (right after He was baptized).

During that time of temptation Satan knew Jesus had been fasting for forty days, and that He was weak with starving. So Satan told Jesus to use His super powers to turn a stone into a loaf of bread. After all, the devil insinuated, if He died of hunger, His whole mission would be a failure.

Jesus' answer was to quote from scripture. A person did not live by bread alone, but by the word of God. Eternal life, and God's will, that is even more important than earthly life.

Now the disciples needed to know where true satisfaction in life comes from:
* Food satisfies physical hunger. In the same way, the food of God gives us meaning in life, satisfying our spiritual hunger.

* Food strengthens the body. In the same way, the food of God strengthens us spiritually. Doing God's will strengthens us for doing the greater things God has for us to do.

* Food supplies enjoyment, and doing God's will brings spiritual enjoyment.

* Food nourishes, keeps us healthy, and protects us from getting sick. In the same way, the food of God keeps us spiritually healthy.

* Food is necessary to live, we eat every day. So it is with God's will. Doing God's will is necessary when you have been born again, for God dwells within you, and every day you and I need to be in His will to receive nourishment, strength, enjoyment and health.

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The Samaritan Woman's "Fruit of Faith"

Can you imagine Jesus’ joy and delight in this woman? How much more joy did she bring Him than Nicodemus, who had all his advantages, but left Jesus that night without putting his faith in Him.

The epilogue to this one woman’s willingness to run back and tell her village about Jesus is found in Acts 8:4-25. The seeds planted on this day became a great harvest of believers when the apostle Philip went back to Samaria three years later to tell them about the Lord Jesus’ resurrection.

What you’re full of is always going to come out

That’s right! Whatever it is.

What are you full of? Have you been born again?

Is God’s eternal life welling up within you like a spring of living water? You don’t have to think about it, you don’t have to work at it, it just comes out naturally because it’s your nature, whether your old nature, or the new nature God has given you. The Samaritan woman had found love and significance in Jesus and she had to tell everyone she kne

An effective witness will have to leave some things behind. Maybe you have been damping down God’s Holy Spirit within you because there are some things you haven’t left at Jesus feet –

* Maybe you are a shy person.
* Maybe you feel like you don’t know enough to talk about the gospel.
* Maybe you’re afraid people will ask you questions you can’t answer, or they will argue with you, or not like you any more.
* Maybe you’re carrying unforgiveness, or prejudice.

If you recognize that this is where you are, I hope you will ask God to make it possible for you to be intentional and proactive about addressing in practical ways what is holding you back.

Think what joy you bring the Lord Jesus when you are filled to overflowing with His love and joy, and you are willing to bring others to Him.

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The Samaritan Woman's Confession of Faith is Followed by Action

Have you ever heard the phrase “Leave it at the feet of Jesus”? Well this is what the Samaritan woman literally did with her water jug, the symbol of her old life, having to walk a half mile each way every day just to get water.

Leaving her jug was a symbol of repentance, putting down her old life and taking up the new eternal life that Jesus offered her.

– She would not longer seek satisfaction through one romance after another. Her thirst for love and acceptance, for a sense of significance would come from her knowledge of God’s love, and His life, welling up within her.

What do you need to symbolically leave at Jesus’ feet? What have you been trying to find satisfaction in that you now realize is actually standing in the way of you finding true satisfaction in Jesus?

– She could trust Jesus with the things of her life. After all, He had proven that He knew everything about her, but instead of condemning her, He loved her and entrusted His revelation of Himself to her.

What do you need to let go of, and trust Jesus with, so that you will be able to receive more from Him?

– She knew she was coming back, and that Jesus would be there, taking care of her water jug for her. He is trustworthy with the things of our lives.

What do you need Jesus to take care of for you, so that you will be free to tell others about Him?

She was born again, and we immediately see the power of God working through her

1) Her values changed, she was no longer burdened about her old life
2) She ran towards the very people she had been trying to avoid before. 3) She was concerned for other people, not protecting herself
4) The most important thing to her was bringing them to the Lord

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The Samaritan Woman's Response of Faith

The woman was tracking right along with Jesus, but it hardly seemed possible that Jesus could be the one everyone had been waiting for, for centuries

"The woman said to him, 'I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.'

"Jesus said to her, 'I who speak to you am he.'" (John 4:25-26)

The Samaritans called the Messiah “Tahav,” the Revealer. Someday the Messiah would come, and He would bring about this radical change in worship, but Jesus certainly can’t mean that time had come now
...could He?

The words that John records Jesus having said at this point are, literally, in the Greek: “I that speak to you – I AM” Jesus spoke out loud the holiest of names, the “I AM” of God, Yahweh. It is the boldest claim yet in John’s gospel, and it was to one of the lowliest people you could think of.

You would have thought Jesus would have saved this incredible revelation for someone who could really appreciate it, like Nicodemus, or at least His disciples, or at the very least a Jew, and a man. The rabbis of that day had a saying, “It is better that the words of the law be burned that to be delivered to a woman.” Women weren’t considered to be worthy of receiving revelation from God in that day.

But here the Lord gave this Samaritan, and a woman at that, the revelation the whole world had been waiting to hear.

Why?

* She had so little spiritual truth.
* She hadn’t been raised up in the scriptures, or God’s Law.
* She was considered a lowly sinner even by Samaritan standards.

But what she had was humility. She was teachable. She wanted what Jesus had to give. She was willing to receive whatever He had for her.

You don’t need to be a Nicodemus to receive understanding from God. You just need to be humble, teachable, and want to learn.

God desires people to worship Him in spirit and in truth

How often do you really worship God? Even on Sunday mornings, when our minds and hearts are not in it, singing songs and reciting words are not really worship.

When you feel like your joy has gone away, then worship is one of the places you can find your joy back. If prayer has come to feel like a burden, then temporarily put aside all those petitions and spend your time praising and worshiping for a while. Sing songs of praise. Pray scripture that worships God. This is how you drink from the spring of living water, God’s life within you.

When you feel weak, or down, or joyless
1) Think about God’s attributes
2) Find verses that talk about God’s great power, His love and goodness and meditate on them
3) Remember before God all those times that He showed His power in your life
4) Tell the Lord how you know He will meet you powerfully in your current situation

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The Samaritan Woman's Question: Are You The Messiah?

The Samaritan women didn’t try to defend herself or get away from Jesus. Instead of retreating, she came in closer to Jesus. She was, in effect, admitting the Lord was right about her.

She said “You must be a prophet, you really see me, you know everything about me, you know what’s in my heart.” She was finally stepping into the spiritual plane with Jesus, and this was Jesus other purpose for her – to discover Who He really is.

Remember that the Samaritans only believed in the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. So they didn’t believe in any of the Bible prophets. The only prophet they had ever believed in was Moses.

As far as they were concerned there would only be one more prophet, the prophet Moses had prophesied about, the Messiah. But here Jesus was, obviously a prophet! So she asked Jesus about her religion –

1) What about our holy mountain?
2) Have we been wrong after all?
3) Are the Jews right after all?

Jesus made three remarkable statements in answer to her question:

1) "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.'" (John 4:21)

The question of whose mountain was right was soon going to be irrelevant. The Jewish form of worship, with all the sacrifices, would no longer be necessary because Jesus was going to fulfill all that symbolism by dying on the cross.

Jesus’ death and resurrection would make every believer’s body God’s temple. Wherever believers are gathered together, that’s a holy place, that’s where God is worshiped.

2) "'You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.'" (John 4:22)

The Samaritans had some truth, but it was mixed with error.

The Jews alone had the scriptures, the revelation of God, and the right symbolic worship, and through the Jews would come Jesus Himself, the fulfillment of all the scriptures.

3) "'But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit.'" (John 4:23-24)

Man-made religion is not acceptable to God.
* True worship is done in the human spirit.
* True worship comes from the heart. It’s not something you do while your mind is somewhere else.

God is spirit, and so are you and I, in our innermost being. Worship is the human spirit meeting God’s Spirit, a communion which is intimate union.

That can only happen when you are born again. Truth is transparency with God, and it is also meeting God through Jesus Christ Who is the truth.

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The Definition of Repentance

In scripture, repentance means to "undergo a change of one's mind" which results in a change of the entire direction of a person's life.

Biblical repentance is a radical turning away from sin and towards Christ. It is a key element of saving faith

According to the Bible, repentance and faith go together. There can be no genuine turning to Christ in faith without an accompanying repudiation of sin.

The Bible explains that in the past you and I were spiritually dead, unfeeling towards God. We followed the ways of this world and, even though we didn't realize it, we obeyed Satan, who rules the world. Satan has power over everyone who is dead to God. Before you and I were born again, we were also ruled by the selfish desires of our human natures. Because of this, we were already under God's wrath.

But look at how Jesus was with this Samaritan woman. That is the picture of God's real mercy! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that He made you and I who received Him alive with Messiah Jesus. It is God's wonderful kindness which saves you and me, which woos us to repentance, and flows into our lives when we repent.

As a person hears the gospel, understands it and accepts it, God's regeneration of that person from being dead in their sins to being spiritually alive, and that person's repentance and calling on God all seem to happen together.

True repentance involves three important steps:
1) Conviction: Becoming convinced, through the work of the Holy Spirit, that what you have done – or not done – constitutes sin, it was wrong and you now hate it as God hates it.

You and I know when we do things that are wrong – yelling at our kids, being rude to someone, breaking a promise we don’t want to keep. Then we try to protect ourselves from feeling bad about it by trying to justify it, trying to make it seem less than it really is. But scripture teaches that confessing our sins honestly and completely, without trying to gloss over it, or make excuses, is really the only way to spiritual health, and that brings us to the next step.

2) Contrition: Along with your confession of sin, with no attempt to excuse it or justify it, you also experience the sorrow that you have offended God and broken fellowship with Him.

3) Conversion: Resolving, deeply, to turn away from sin and turn towards Christ, coupled with a willingness to make restitution whenever possible.

Repentance is a prerequisite, a necessary condition for salvation. But even after a you and I are saved, we continue to sin. The Bible calls us to repent again and again as we are convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit.

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