Category: BSF John Study 2016-2017

As a follower of Jesus Christ, hopefully the answer to that question is to spread the good news to others.  You can do that in many different settings and situations.  It doesn’t need to be done in a church or on a mission trip, it can be done where you work, eat, live.  It can be done with words, but also with service, through interactions or even in quiet prayer.

But, being honest, how many days of this past week could you say that was your big rock for the day?  To use the Stephen Covey analogy, we may call that the big rock, but then we first fill our lives with little rocks, the little details of life of laundry, cooking, work, etc.  If the big rock happens to fit in, great, but many days go by and it just didn’t fit.

Obviously, there isn’t anything wrong with laundry, cooking or work.  There isn’t anything wrong with most of the day-to-day things we do.  The thing that is wrong is when we get so much in a rut or a mistaken priority, that they become the things that prevent us from sharing and caring for others.

I think this is one of the key messages of the woman at the well.  She came for water.  She needed water.  She got water every day.  But when Jesus presented her with the opportunity to share, she left the water jug behind and rushed off to share.

Are you willing to interrupt your day to help and serve?  Which directs your life, your todo list or Matthew 28:19?  Is your living water acting like it is alive, or do you keep it all bottled up so you can just get some stuff done?

My Answers:

11.
a.
She came for water, she drew water, she left the water.  Her mind was no longer on the water in her jar or the well.  Once having tasted the truth, she didn’t turn immediately back to the physical, but was compelled to tell others.

b.
she went and told others and they came to him – she heard and was saved

12.
a. Jewish men didn’t chat with unchaperoned women, b. Jews didn’t associate with Samaritans
He was above both of these social norms

13.
I know, yet I still don’t ask for living water each day

Jesus tells the woman at the well that “true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

To me, one of the most important words in that sentence is the word AND.

There are many that seek the spirit.  They want joy, peace, love.  They want good feelings.  They want euphoria.  They don’t care about the truth.  Truth, words, study, those all are weights that bring down the spirit they seek, in their eyes.  Let’s just all get along.  Live and let live.  All paths lead to God.  Love wins.  All are God’s children regardless of what they believe.

There are also many that seek the truth, but they begin that search by rejection of the spirit.  They are the scientists and skeptics who seek physical proof alone.  They begin their theorem with the rejection of God and the bible because, well, just because.  With that possibility rejected outright, they then construct a new tower of theory and “fact”.  But all are incomplete and all insufficient.  Take evolution.  First, there must be a complete rejection of the creation story.  Second, it does not withstand the question of “and what was before that?” because it is an incomplete theory.

But these are not the worshipers that God seeks.  These are people who follow in the tradition of the Samaritans.  They may “worship” God, but it is a God AND worship.  God and myself.  God and my own logic.  God and the almighty dollar.  God and science.  God and what makes me feel good.  God and whatever I want to do.  God and how I identify myself in this world.  God and my own world view.

But our God is a jealous God.  He desires only a personal and complete relationship with you.  Exclusively.  No other Gods.  No God AND, only in the Spirit AND in truth.

My Answers:

8.
There is worship of lies and theorems instead of the truth.  Most of the theories can only stand up at all by first absolutely denying the word of God as a possibility

9.
He said “We” of the Jews.  Jesus did not separate Himself from the promise God gave to Abraham, He endorsed it and came to fulfill the covenant and return the “children of God” to the state before original sin.

10.
In Spirit and in the Truth.  By coming to God first in prayer and repentance, not casually, but with intention and resolve and respect, humility and trust.

When we think of the things of the world that we thirst for, most of them are lonely.  The vices of this world, whether power or lust or greed are largely self-serving, self-gratifying, self-indulging.

The wrongs we do, but in these vices and in our efforts to grasp them, often leads us to hide.  We do not want to face those we step on.  We don’t want to be with others that we consider ourselves better than or above.  We, too often, want to only be served.

But, that is one of the reasons that these things never fulfill.

We were created for relationship.  One of man’s first desires, recognized and ordained by God, was for a partner relationship between Adam and Eve.  Our coming in to being was an act of relationship with God as He breathed life into us.  We find that our entire beings, all the way down to our body chemistry, interact with other people.

The woman at the well came from many broken relationships.  We don’t know if her past was marred by divorce or death?  We only know that the man she currently was with was not a husband and she came to the well totally alone in the middle of the day.  But Jesus, the least likely person in the world to which she might have a relationship, sought one with her.  He sought to drink with her, to talk with her, to share with her, and to give her the gift of eternal life with Him.

My Answers:

6.
a.
Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst

b.
The Word of God, the gift of Salvation sealed on the inside by the Holy Spirit

c.
The vices of the world, temptations to sin and then to hide

7.
a.
She asked Jesus for the water, but still equated it only with the physical (so I don’t have to keep coming here)

b.
By inviting me into a relationship with Him. By reminding me that He is Lord – the one who exercises ownership of everything and who provides food, shelter and work

John’s account of Jesus’ encounters with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman (whom I will refer to as Sam), provide bookends to the spectrum of those who approach Jesus.  While they have many similarities, as archetypes, they couldn’t stand farther apart.  Male/female, judge/judged, night/day, scholar/worker, Jew/Samaritan.  But, in the course of their life, either from direct action or consequence, they both have an encounter with Jesus.  Both of these individuals live in the weeds of day-to-day life.  Whether it be the minutia of the law of the tediousness of retrieving water, their focus is on their day-to-day work.  Both also have very specific definitions of how things work in the world, particularly in regard to relationships between people and God.

While Jesus does engage them where they are, His focus is not their focus.  They are in the weeds.  They are in the arguments of differences.  They are in the weeds of power and peoples’ judgments of other people.

But Jesus starts at the mountaintop, not in the weeds.  With Nic, He starts with being born again into eternal life.  With Sam, He talks about gifts and fulfillment to never thirst again and true worship.  With both he speaks truth, about where they are now, but with a focus on where they can go.

How about in your life?  As you study these passages and reflect on your own life, are you in the weeds or are you keeping an eye on the mountaintop?  It is easy to feel lost, to lose joy, to become afraid and worried and concerned, if we live heads-down in the weeds.  But, if we start each day’s journey with a reminder of the eternal gifts that await us, it brings fresh power and joy.

This is also the same way we should address those we evangelize.  Do you find yourself in denominational arguments, or discussions over minute details of belief in the Lord?  Or, do you focus on the big gift and each of our desire for fulfillment, joy, relationship and eternal life?

My Answers:

3.
If you knew the gift of God, If you knew who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water – I seek the gift of God in prayer, in scripture and in trusting in Him each day, both to provide for me and my family, to help me grow in holiness and to show me how I can serve Him and His Kingdom

4.
a.
Both Nic and the Sam were solidly fixed in the physical world and missed the spiritual message.  Nic saw a Rabbi, Sam saw a Jew (someone who acts superior).  Nic came at night, Sam in mid day.  Nic sought something from Jesus, Sam didn’t want anything to do with Jesus.  Nic praised Jesus, Sam’s words had attitude/scorn.
Jesus did not respond in kind but spoke to them with a gift/offer at no cost.  He focused not on the physical, but the eternal.

b.
Do not start at their arguments but at the gift from God.  It is about spirit, not physical.  When their soul not their hangups.

5.
a.
They worshiped the Lord AND other gods.  They worked against the rebuilding of the temple

b.
Language impatience.  Lack of cultural understanding (TLPN)

When John discussed Jesus, he said that He comes from above and is above all.

When Jesus addressed Nicodemus at the beginning of the chapter, He replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”  The word used for “again”, is the same word that also means “from above”

When we are “born again”, we are not born again the same.  When we descend into the water of baptism, either in sprinkling or in full immersion, we symbolically follow the path of Christ into the grave, leaving our sins to be washed in the water and to emerge into a new life of the Spirit.  We are born again not of the flesh and to the flesh but from above to the Spirit.

Jesus was the first human to be born “from above.”  He is the first born of the saved and brother to all who follow Him, as the first Son of all the children of God.

As those who follow Him, we are directed to follow the model of John the Baptist.  We must speak the truth.  We must accept Jesus as our Lord.  We must recognize and pronounce Him for all that He is, the bridegroom, the one who comes from heaven, the Messiah.  We must become smaller so that we reflect more of His light.

And, most importantly, we must have joy.  We share the love of Jesus by sharing the joy of salvation, the peace that passes all understanding, that keeps our hearts and minds on Him.

My Answers:

13.
1. He spoke the truth.  2. He pointed to Jesus.  3. He accepted Jesus as His Lord and testified as such 4. He recognized the voice of God present in Jesus

14.
God, the bridegroom, the greater.  He comes from above all and is above all.  He comes from Heaven and is Lord.  He is the Son of God the Father

This week I was having a time of growing weary and discouraged in the events of the world.  I was involved in conducting interviews at work and had a number of candidates discussing their work history and seeing the impact of some of the poor decisions they had made in their lives and the impact those decisions have made.  And, let’s face it, who can read or watch the news these days, especially politics or the economy, and not grow increasingly weary and discourage by the world.

So, when I read our memory verses for this next week, it hit me hard.  John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world…”  How can God possibly love this world.  At every turn we choose sin over holiness.  We choose darkness instead of light.  We choose paths that lead to pain and suffering instead of goodness and glory.  We choose ourselves over others and especially over God.

But the Word of God does not lie.  God does love us, all of us.  He loves us enough that He sent His son, Jesus, into the world to die for us.  He loves us enough to do all the work of redemption of our sins, all sins, for all mankind, for all time.  He also loves us enough to give us free-will and choice, even when He knows we will choose to reject Him.  He even loves us enough to be just, even when justice means condemnation, wrath and everlasting destruction.

But no one is sentenced to being shut out.  No one has done something which is irredeemable.  No one has gone so far that He cannot bring them back.  No one lacks the means to be redeemed because redemption is not paid by our blood but by Jesus’ work on the cross.

I was convicted by these words to not grow disheartened, but to see God’s love.  I can still hate the sin of the world.  It can still anger me and bring me to tears, but, God’s creation is His creation and, as He said “in the beginning”, in His eyes, it is good.  And, while we breath, their is still hope for all people of the world, because God’s love is great enough.  We need only repent, and turn to Him and accept the gift of that love.

My Answers:

10.
J316: shall perish and not have eternal life
J317: not saved, condemned – love darkness, stay in evil
J336: will not see life, God’s wrath remains on them
2T18: punished with everlasting destruction & shut out from the presence of the Lord & His glory

11.
not condemned, has eternal life, no wrath remains on them

12.
Light has come to the world.  Jesus is evident and available to each and every one (God loves “the world”, not just believers).  But many love darkness because their actions (and their hearts) are evil and do not wish for their wickedness to be exposed in the light but to continue to live in the lie of sin

In 1400 B.C. Moses is told by God to make and image of a snake on a stick and hold it up.  Those who looked upon the image and had faith were saved and did not die.  Talk about some strange bible stories!

But, like the rest of the bible, this is a story that points to Jesus and helps us understand the attributes of God.

With Moses, God used snakes, a creature most commonly associated with the serpent from the garden, a representation of evil and wickedness, to bring His people back to repentance.  The snakes desired only to kill.  But God instructed Moses to take the thing that brought death and hang it on a pole so that by looking on it and believing, the people might be saved from death and healed.

With Jesus, He Himself took on all the sin of the world, the thing that desired only to kill.  As Isaiah prophesied in 52:14, His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness.  But all who look upon the work of Jesus on the cross and believe are saved from eternal death and are healed.

I was struck as well by the way Satan has always worked to co-opt and corrupt that which God has made.  We see evidence of it in the garden of Eden, in the way he twisted God’s gifts into temptation.  We see it in the image of the snake on the pole, as well.  Moses, at God’s direction, made it in 1400 B.C.  By 700 B.C, the people had begun to worship the item, the image of the snake on the pole, and Hezekiah, at God’s direction, destroyed it.  300 years later, the Greeks bring it back as the Rod of Asclepius, a greek god, who just happened to be the god of medicine (go figure!).  The symbol was adopted through the ages by physicians and still is used on many hospitals and doctors’ offices, ambulances and treatment centers world wide.

But while evil works to hide and disguise, God’s Word, opens the eyes of those who believe in Him and study His word.  Those in darkness see a snake on stick.  Those in the light see our sins hung on the cross through the sacrifice of Jesus.

This is evident in so many other things as well.  Those in the dark see Christmas as a season of spending and profiting.  Those with sight see that all have a yearning to share with each other, like We have a yearning to share the good news and great gifts of the birth of our Lord and Savior.  Those in the dark see a rainbow as a celebration of homosexuality.  Those in the light know it is a promise by God never to destroy mankind again regardless of the level of sin and depravity.

And, like the snake on the staff – what is foolishness to man is a symbol of great hope to those who believe.

My Answers:

6.
The prophets had spoken of an indwelling of the Holy Spirit as well, a new heart, put my Spirit in you and you will live

7.
a.
JTB

b.
He was speaking first to the pharisees and Jewish leaders, but also broader to the Hebrews who looked only for a spectacle.  If they have not been willing to listen to Jesus and John about things going on in the midst, how can they hear about heaven

8.
It was a foreshadowing of the healing power of the Cross.  By taking on the image of that which was causing death (with Moses it was snakes, with Jesus it was the sin of the world), and then being raised up as a “sign” to look at and be healed when accompanied with a repentant and honest heart.

9.
a.
Life was a gift given to me (us/mankind) by God to live in unity with Him.  Sin is a choice I/we have made to stand apart from God.  The result is that I no longer have rights to life.  Death is the cost of that disobedience.  Jesus paid the price to save me.

b.
That He did this for me not based on anything I do or did and while I was still steeped in sin.  It is a free gift for my benefit alone.

The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus is, arguably, one of the most interesting in the scriptures.  As noted in our lesson, Nicodemus is a Jewish leader, a pharisee and likely a member of the Sanhedrin.  He is very, very well educated and, most likely someone who is considered both by others and by himself as being very devout in his faith.

He comes to Jesus as a seeker, but as a seeker who already knows what he wants and expects.  He doesn’t come to Jesus with a question, he comes to Him with a statement.  In Jesus he recognizes something different, something from God, something that is not evident (at least to the same degree) in others.  He addresses Jesus as teacher, Rabbi, and, I believe, his expectation is that this teacher will teach him how to add that on to his life.  He is looking for an add-on module, another tool in his already very full toolbox.

And, Jesus, despite not being asked a question, gives Nicodemus the answer to the final exam.  You must be born again.

Nicodemus is looking for some teaching, some knowledge, some power that he can acquire that will add to his life and beliefs.  Jesus says believe and you will have knowledge and power and eternal life.

It is the difference between seeing to believe and believing to see.  It takes us back to Nathanael in John 1 who also called Jesus Rabbi when he believed because of what Jesus told him.

Think of it this way.  The writing that we seek is written on the wall, it is plain, it is freely available, it is everything that we seek to fulfill us and join us in unity with God.  But a wall has 2 sides.  To truly see the writing, we must pass through the doorway.  That doorway is belief in Jesus, it is being born anew.  It is becoming a soul with a body, not a body with a soul.  There is no cost of entry (Jesus paid it all).  There is no penalty or nothing that is demanded from us.  There is nothing we add to or give.  We simply either step through or we do not.  But stepping through the door changes everything.

It is interesting to see the difference that step makes.  Nathanael was able to walk with Jesus and grow in faith and power and love every day.  Nicodemus, while having continued inward struggles, remained fixed on the other side of the wall.  John 7:48-49:  “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?  No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”  Nicodemus missed out.  The last mention we have of Nicodemus is still one in secret as he helps Joseph of Arimathea take the body of Jesus from Pilate without it being known by the Jewish leaders.  He helps wrap the dead Christ and brings 75 lbs of myrrh and aloes and lays Him in the tomb.

My Answers:

3.
a.
It is what must come first – Faith before comprehension, faith before spiritual power, faith before teaching

b.
Jesus is discussing spiritual gifts and Nicodemus is stuck in the physical world.  Nicodemus is searching for God in the physical (signs and miracles), Jesus is explaining that He is to be found in Spiritual rebirth which then bridges the spiritual and physical

4.
Human life comes from human parents, flesh refers to human nature, flesh refers to the physical world

5.
a.
dead in transgressions and sins – Without rebirth we are dead in sin

b.
It is by faith alone that one is reborn.  It is in both the act of accepting the gift of salvation and inviting the spirit to dwell within combined with a desire to grow in holiness and love for Him who first loved me.

We have all been caught, from time to time, in the lure of “what is in”.  It may be the latest fashion, the latest food or fad.  It may be electronics, toys, tools.  It may be news.  It can also be people, events, what has been done or is just new and exciting.

At the Passover Feast, Jesus began to accumulate a following.  It was a following of the curious and hangers on.  Those interested in the works and not the man.

Works can be an interesting thing.  On one hand, James 2 tells us that faith without works is dead.  If we have faith, then we are compelled to live out that faith in our thoughts, words and deeds.  However, Hebrews 9:14 speaks of “acts that lead to death”, or as the KJV called them, “dead works”.  The works that are not done from a basis of faith in Jesus Christ.

In either scenario, it is not the works but the heart that is key.

The crowds followed Jesus because of His works and the power of His name.  They were following Him because “He was in.”  They followed the crowd.  The heard each others’ testimony and stories and followed along. They looked for entertainment and excitement and to see what happened next.  But it did not change their heart.

But Jesus sees “what’s in” differently.  John 2:25 tells us “He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.”  For Jesus, “what’s in” is what is in your heart.

My Answers:

11.
a.
The disciples believed that Jesus was the Messiah and thus He had power and authority.  The many believed He had power and authority because they saw the power and authority, they didn’t see the Messiah.

b.
Everywhere.  WII-FM.  “I’m not getting that much out of reading the bible, praying, going to church.”  That may be true for you but it doesn’t mean it is true for me.  I only believe what I can see.

12.
He knew their hearts.  When I submitted fully to Him in times of worship and especially in times of need.

First of all, let me say that signs are not the problem.  God is active and alive and we see signs of His activity and direction for and in our lives every day.  When we pray, we ask Him to reveal Himself to us and also to reveal the timing and direction that He desires for our specific lives and specific needs and calling.

The problem comes when you substitute a reliance on signs over the word of scripture.  The problem comes when you continue to do what you know is wrong because, well, you are waiting on a sign.

The priests knew the activity going on at the temple was wrong.  One need only look at the care with which the original priestly tribe, the Levites, were tasked with handling every aspect of the tabernacle, from the poles to the cloth to the articles to see the importance.  One need only look back to the original sacrifices of Cain and Able to see God’s desire for a sacrificial heart, not a sacrifice given out of obligation.

I doubt that, all of a sudden, one day, the priests said, “let’s ignore what is written about the temple and set up a lot of shops and dishonest money changers.”  It probably started innocently enough.  Someone, coming to the temple, may have suffered a mishap, such as an attack by wild animals or a disease, and the lamb, dove or other animal that they had planned to bring and sacrifice was killed.  Wouldn’t it be better if a replacement was available?

That is how clutter begins in our own houses.  It is also how clutter begins in our hearts and our own lives.  When it is pointed out to us that our house is a mess or that our life is a mess, we sometimes respond like the priests.  “Who are you to tell me how to run my house, how to live my life?”

The response that Jesus gave to the priests is truly amazing.  In response He said, my authority and your sign is that I came into this world to die and defeat death for you.

So, when it comes to cleaning the clutter of sin out of your heart and out of your life, so you need more of a sign than that?  He also demonstrated that you need not do the work alone.  Jesus is more than happy to chase the sin away from your life, the same way He cleared the temple courts, the same way He sent demons scurrying and the same way He transformed you on the day you first believed: with His power, with His might, with His authority and with His Holy Spirit.

My Answers:

9.
a.
1. burden of proof.  They sided with the money changers and merchants, Jesus had to produce proof and signs to justify His side, although He was in the right.
2. They had all the scripture and the law.  The activity was either right or wrong under the law.  A new sign would not have overturned what was written in the scripture.

b.
I have asked for signs to indicate direction and to confirm my actions, not His authority over me.  I do not ask my parents for signs or proof of their authority, I know love and love them in return.  (I see why this question is worded the way it is and I probably was at that stage at one time in my faith).

10
a.
His body was the temple of God, the dwelling place of the most High – It was an admission, a sign, that He is God.  It also demonstrated His full knowledge of His mission and His power over both life and death.

b.
They twisted to say that He said, “I can/will destroy the temple”.  Their twisted wording made it to sound as if Jesus was an enemy to the temple of God as opposed to the one who would reconstruct it.