Josh Benner

Tag: Gospel of John

  • The woman at the well. Studying John 4:1-9

    The woman at the well. Studying John 4:1-9

    In John 4, Jesus is on the move. He’s left Judea and is journeying into Galilee. He’s venturing out of Jewish territory. 

    John 4:1-2 says: 

    Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 

    First thing I want to focus on is where the text says that Jesus had to pass through Samaria. That’s relevant because it will be the location of our story today. There actually more than one route Jesus could have taken. But where the text says Jesus had to pass through Samaria, it’s an indication of the divine will. Jesus had to go this way because it put him in a place to have a divinely appointed meeting. 

    John 4:5: 

    5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

    John makes a reference to Jacob and Joseph. In the Old Testament, Jacob is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. And the region to which Jesus has traveled is an area of land that had been owned by Jacob and given to Joseph.  We see that in Genesis 48. It’s this land to which Jesus has come. 

    The humanity of Jesus

    John 4:6:

     6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 

    When the text talks of Jesus being worn from his journey, it is a reminder to us that Jesus is human. During his earthly ministry, he experienced fatigue. We see him sleep. We see times where he eats and drinks. Times where he goes off by himself to be alone. He was fully man. 

    This verse tells us it was the sixth hour. That’s relevant to the story. In first century Jewish time keeping, the first hour was sunrise, so in it being the sixth hour, it’s around noon. 

    All of this is setting the scene for what follows. 

    John 4:7:
    A woman from Samaria came to draw water.

    Background on Samaritans 

    We need some background. 

    When we were looking at passages in Isaiah over Christmas, one thing we talked a lot about was how Israel split into two kingdoms. You had a northern and a southern kingdom. 

    In 722 B.C, the northern kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians. 

    Thousands of the Jewish people from the northern tribes were deported from their land. The Assyrians procreated with the Israelites, and so you had an ethnic group who was half-Jewish and half-Assyrian. 

    That is the ethnic group which became known as the Samaritans. There are still Samaritans today. It’s a very small community of about 800 people and they mostly live in Israel. There are some very significant distinctions between Jewish people and Samaritans. 

    Samaritans do not believe the entire Old Testament is scripture. They only believe in the first five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. 

    Since they do not believe in the entire Old Testament, Jerusalem is not the sacred place to them that it is to other Jewish people. Because if all you have are the first five books, the Jewish people had not yet reached Jerusalem. 

    Instead, the sacred site of worship for the Samaritans then and now is Mount Gerizim. And actually, about half of present day Samaritans actually live there. 

    In the first century, there had been a lot of animosity between the two groups. About 160 years before Jesus had this interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well, a group of Israelite soldiers had destroyed the Samaritan temple at Mount Gerizim. 

    And there was later retaliatory attacks.  

    In John 8, when he’s being questioned, Jesus will be asked if he’s a Samaritan or has a demon (John 8:48), which essentially puts those two situations on the same plain. 

    The Samaritans were looked down upon. These two groups hated each other. 

    Within a generation of the life of Jesus, official Jewish teaching from their scholars ruled that Samaritans were inherently unclean and defiled. 

    In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gives the Parable of the Good Samaritan. A lawyer is questioning Jesus about the command to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells a parable about a man who had been severely beaten, left for dead. A priest and a levite both come by the man and stay on their journey, but it’s a Samaritan who sees the man, tends to him, sees that he gets taken care of. The Good Samaritan is the hero of the story. 

    It’s a spectacular picture of selflessness and love for your fellow man. 

    But when you understand that parable in the context of the hatred that existed between the Jews and the Samaritans, it makes the story all that much more striking. 

    I go into those details because the tensions will also color our passage this morning in John 4. 

    Give me a drink

    So we return to the passage. The woman is coming to the well in the middle of the day. Unusual for her to be coming to the well alone and also at the hottest point of the day.

    It was generally women who would come for water in the morning. The fact that she’s going at an off time alone suggests that she possibly doesn’t want to interact with others. 

    Jesus speaks to the woman at the end of verse 7 and says “give me a drink.” 

    Verse 8 adds the note that Jesus was by himself as his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

    So Jesus asks for a drink. A Jew speaking to a Samaritan. Verse 9, the woman is taken aback. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” 

    The verse ends with the parenthetical comment that Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 

    These are two groups who do not get along. As he often does in the gospels, Jesus is unconcerned with social customs or taboos. 

    We see Jesus touch lepers. We see him associating with sinners, with those on the margins. 

    Even within his band of disciples, he picks someone like Matthew who was a tax collector, a profession hated by Jews in the Roman world. 

    And here we see Jesus openly conversing with a woman in an ethnic group who was looked down upon.

    So the woman asks how it is that he could ask her for a drink. But Jesus will flip the conversation. 

    Because the matter of ultimate significance in the story is not about her giving a drink to Jesus, it’s about the water he can provide. 

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  • He who comes from heaven is above all. Studying John 3:31-33

    He who comes from heaven is above all. Studying John 3:31-33

    31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.
    -John 3:31-33

    We’re continuing in the Gospel of John this morning.

    Last week, we were looking at an interaction between John the Baptist and some of his followers. They’re seeing the early ministry of Jesus and he’s having more success than John the Baptist. We see in John’s response that he is humble to see what Jesus is doing. 

    In all four gospels, John the Baptist is seen prior to the ministry of Christ. In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist is present in the opening prologue and he’s seen as a forerunner to Christ. The last place where John the Baptist appears in this gospel is in section of John 3:31-36. It’s noteworthy that there are a lot of similar themes in John 3:31-36 to what is found in the opening section of John’s Gospel.

    The opening prologue of John’s Gospel tells us many realities about Jesus. That he was in the beginning, he was with God, he is God, he is God who came into the world, he brings the light of righteousness into the world, he makes God known, grace and truth come through him.

    But that passage is also interrupted by telling us about John the Baptist. 

    John 1:6-8:

    6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 

    We see from the outset that John has been sent by God, he’s not the light, he’s a witness to the light. 

    And the opening prologue immediately follows into a section where John the Baptist is ministering and baptizing. He sees Jesus and witnesses to who the Lord is. 

    Just to give a reminder. 

    John 1:29-31. John sees Jesus and says: 

    “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

    In John’s Gospel, as the ministry of John the Baptist, the divinely sent forerunner comes to a close, it’s the end of a section in this book. And in that sense, it’s fitting that this section would make so many allusions to the opening prologue. 

    Because we’re learning about Jesus in the opening prologue. It’s telling us the glorious truths about Jesus. But Jesus isn’t yet present in the story in the opening section. It is after the opening prologue where we’re actually seeing Jesus living out what has been said about him. 

    John the Baptist comes onto the scene prior to Jesus’ ministry but here John’s ministry ends and we’re seeing that what he has borne witness to is true. 

    I know I’m talking a lot about John the Baptist so far, but make no mistake. This section is ultimately about Jesus. 

    As John fades from the story, this passage concludes with his words last week in 3:30: 

    He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

    In John 3:31, John the Baptist is speaking: 

    He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.

    The text says that Jesus comes from above and is above all. The end of this verse will also speak of Jesus and say that he who comes from heaven is above all. 

    First thing I want to focus on is that word “above.” I think this will be helpful to understanding the passage. 

    Jesus is above all yet he is contrasted against John the Baptist. “He who is of the earth belongs to the earth.” In a sense, John the Baptist is a representative for all of humanity in that line. 

    A similar idea is expressed in Paul’s writings when he looks at the role of Adam as a representative for sinful humanity. 

    1 Corinthians 15:47-49:

     47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 

    So there is sinful humanity which has no hope. 

    To be of the earth is to not posses the qualities that Jesus has. It’s to speak in an earthly way. It’s showing our imperfections. With as important of a ministry as John the Baptist had, he was still ultimately a fallen person. 

    But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus is different. The earth is sinful and fallen. Humanity is incapable of redeeming itself. 

    But Jesus comes into the world with a ministry which is from above. 

    Verse 32:

     He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.

    The “he” in verse 32 is Jesus. Jesus bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 

    To what does Jesus bear witness? It’s to the heavenly truths as one who is above all. Jesus is the word who existed in the beginning. In a world where no one has seen God, Jesus is the one who makes God known. 

    Again, referring back to the first chapter. John 1:18: 

    No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. 

    And while Jesus came into the world to reveal the truth of heaven, that he is the light of the world who brings us to God through his life, death, and resurrection, the world has largely rejected this gospel. 

    Again comparing this idea to the opening prologue. 

    John 1:10-11: 

    10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 

    It is a hyperbole, an exaggeration of speech when John says that “no one receives his testimony.” 

    Obviously there are people who receive Jesus’ testimony. We wouldn’t be here if not. But it’s a wonder that the whole world does not accept his testimony. 

    God came to earth, he had a life full of miraculous activities, he died and rose, He comes in perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament. Yet many do not believe in him. You have several ancient non-Christian historians who write about him but there are those who deny if Jesus was ever even a real historical figure. 

    It’s that the world wants to be blind to the righteousness of God. 

    John 3:19-21, Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus: 

    this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

    So we have those who do not receive the testimony of Jesus. We see that contrasted in the next verse of our passage. 

    Verse 33:

    Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.

    Compare that to John 1:12: 

    to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

    Whoever believes the testimony of Jesus, of his life, his teachings, his ministry, his identity as God and man, his role as the savior of the world, his death which was died for sinners, the life that he was raised to, whoever receives his testimony, whoever trusts in Jesus sets his seal that Jesus is the Lord and trusts in God and his promises.

    Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.  To trust in Jesus is to trust in God. John calls that setting ones seal that God is true. Even today, official documents often times come with an affixed seal. 

    If I were to try sell you some property and it was a handwritten note, that might seem a little..illegal to you. But when you own a home, or land, or a vehicle, you have official documents that have official seals from the state or the county on them. Same thing with documents like a birth certificate. There’s an official seal that comes on them. 

    Well in the ancient world, official seals were also important on documents. The seal could be very telling as to who the sender was and what authority they had. This was especially significant in a time when a lot of people could not read. 

    What this verse is saying is that the person who receives the testimony of Jesus, the one who believes in Jesus is staking their very soul on the truth of who Jesus is. 

    This verse is really a packed theological statement. 

    To trust in Jesus is to place your eternal security and hope in his gospel. Have you? Where’s your seal? 

    Do you trust in yourself? In your goodness? And Jesus is there off to the side? 

    Or is he the Lord of your life? Do you look to Jesus as the one who is above all and who came to be with us on earth so we could be with him in heaven? 

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  • John the Baptist testifies to Jesus. Studying John 3:22-30

    John the Baptist testifies to Jesus. Studying John 3:22-30

    Summary: In John 3:22-30, John the Baptist testifies about the identity of Jesus. 

    The ultimate significance of John the Baptist is that he was the forerunner to Jesus. He comes in fulfillment of Old Testament passages which talk of one who could prepare the way for the Messiah (Malachi 3:1. 

    John’s life was lived to point to Jesus as the promised savior of the world. 

    And that is important to know for this passage because John the Baptist knew who he was, and just as important, he knew who he wasn’t. 

    Setting the scene 

    John 3:22:

    After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing.

    The section begins “after this” referring to the preceding section. It’s showing that we’re moving in time. 

    Jesus is with his disciples. 

    Here we learn that there was a period in the early ministry of Jesus where Jesus also had a ministry of baptism. This entire event is absent from the other three gospels. 

    In the first century, there was a cleansing ritual which was similar to baptism in which non-Jewish people sometimes partook when they converted to Judaism. But there were key differences between that ceremony and modern baptism. For starters, people would baptize themselves. Whereas when John the Baptist came along, he personally baptized people. John’s baptism was associated with repentance. 

    Jesus would give baptism its fuller meaning at the end of his ministry when he instituted triune baptism, calling upon his disciples to baptize in the name of the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19. 

    However, at this point in his ministry, there is no reason to think that Jesus was doing a triune baptism, because he had not yet died and rose, nor had he given the Great Commission to his followers. It’s more plausible that this baptism was similar to John’s. 

    Something else which should be noted. In our passage, verse 22 says that Jesus was with his disciples and he remained there with them baptizing. I take that to refer to the disciples of Jesus baptizing people not as Jesus personally baptizing people. 

    Why do I think that? Because the next chapter begins with:  

    Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples (John 4:1-2.

    I see no Biblical evidence that Jesus ever personally baptized anyone in water. 

    Moving forward. 

    John 3:23-24:

    23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison. 

    Geographically, we don’t know the exact location of Aenon. The text does tell us that there was an abundance of water in this place where they were baptizing. 

    Verse 24 makes the interesting note that John had not yet been put in prison. 

    The author will make no further references to John the Baptist’s imprisonment. It’s mentioned in all four of the gospels. Matthew’s Gospel goes into the most detail when it talks of how John would be beheaded under Herrod. 

    In the event here, John has not yet been imprisoned and that is noteworthy when considering the timeline within Jesus’ ministry. 

    For instance, almost all of Mark’s Gospel is written after the time of John the Baptist’s arrest. 

    Mark 1:14:
    Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God

    That’s the fourteenth verse of the whole book. 

    Yet at this point in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist has not yet been imprisoned, implying that this event happens prior to the ministry of Jesus beginning in the other gospels. 

    Conflict 

    John 3:25:

    Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification.

    We don’t know for sure what the discussion was. It’s ultimately secondary to the entire narrative. It’s possible that the discussion or debate came up regarding John’s baptism or contrasting the baptism of John and Jesus or looking at John’s baptism in the light of other Jewish cleansing ceremonies. 

    It does remind us to the fact that John had disciples of his own. We also saw that in chapter 1, and it was a couple of John’s disciples who would be Jesus’ first disciples. 

    John 1:35-37:

    35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

    So John has a following. Our passage this morning introduces us to the idea that some of John’s disciples are defensive of their teacher. 

    They approach John. The entire focus of the discussion shifts away from purification rituals. 

    And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”

    In calling John rabbi, we see his disciples are giving him a title of honor. No one else is called rabbi in the gospel of John, aside from Jesus. 

    They refer to Jesus as the one who was with John across the Jordan and acknowledge that it is Jesus to whom John is bearing witness, yet there seems to be some bitterness in their response when they say “look, he is baptizing and all are going to him.” 

    Obviously there is some exaggeration in the report of John’s disciples. All are going to him. . 

    John gives his response in the next four verses. 

    A response 

    John 3:27:

    John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

    This is an important statement and insight into the sovereignty of God. Everything that we have comes from the Lord. 

    The life you have, the abilities you have, the things you have, the salvation you have. All of it is from the Lord. 

    God made everything and everyone. There is nothing we have created without the tools God has given us.

    The oddity of John 

    John’s disciples see the followers that Jesus has amassed. They don’t realize exactly who Jesus is and why this fruitfulness is something to celebrate. Their focus is clearly misplaced and on how it impacts John and their ministry rather than Jesus coming into the world to fulfill the divine plan through his sinless life, death, and resurrection. All they see are dwindling numbers. They look at Jesus like he’s their competition. 

    On the one hand, you have a first century prophet who is the forerunner to Christ and we’re seeing how their ministries interact with each other. I understand that this is not a specific situation we face. 

    But in the attitude of his disciples, I think it’s actually very relatable to human nature. 

    John’s response is noteworthy because there’s always the temptation to put ourselves on a pedestal, to make much of ourselves, to want others to glorify us. It’s a constant temptation. 

    It’s tempting to ignore where God is leading us, and what he wants of us. 

    It’s easy to be arrogant. We’re arrogant with God all the time. Our world judges his laws and what God decrees as moral. But even as Christians, in our heart of hearts, there are times where we don’t like what God says about something. 

    Numerous Bible commands that we can find reasons to ignore. 

    Or maybe it’s not a moral issue. But there are other ways in which we judge God. We judge why God allows certain things to happen or not to happen. 

    We judge what he’s given us or not given us.  

        Illustration – Mozart 

    One of my favorite films is the movie Amadeus, about the life of Mozart. 

    Early in the movie, you have another composer: Antonio Salieri, and more than anything, he wants to be a great composer. And as a child, he prays to God: 

    “Make me a great composer. Let me celebrate Your glory through music and be celebrated myself. Make me famous through the world, dear God. Make me immortal. After I die, let people speak my name forever with love for what I wrote. In return, I will give You my chastity, my industry, my deepest humility, every hour of my life.”

    But then you meet Mozart and he’s a musical prodigy. Seemingly inexhaustible and effortless talent flows through him. But his character is also vain, crass, condescending, and childish. 

    In a later scene, when Salieri sees he has been totally transcended by the greatness of Mozart, you see the bitterness of Salieri. He burns a crucifix and tells God that they are now enemies. 

    In contrast that example with John the Baptist because it’s so easy to read John’s words here and think we would all be just as humble and submissive to the will of God as John. 

    But we’re so often not. 

    We’re more like the apostles. 

    Matthew 10:35-37:

    35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

    They’re jockeying for positions of honor. There’s no humility in that. 

    We see it again. Luke 9:46, a debate begins among the disciples as to which of them was the greatest. And that’s not the last time we see this in the gospels. Luke 22:24, almost the same wording:

    A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 

    They’re arguing over which disciple is the best one. Luke 22. This event happens right after the Last Supper. They’ve just partook of the most significant meal in human history. Jesus has broken the bread as a symbol of his body which would be broken. He’s taken the cup and poured out the wine as the blood of the new covenant. Jesus would be arrested, crucified, and die in less than 24 hours. 

    And here the disciples are caught up “But which one of is the best? Is it me? It’s probably me.” 

    So it’s easy to just assume we’d be humble and totally submissive to the will of God. But envy is tempting. Status and recognition are powerful idols. 

    John continues speaking. 

    Verse 28:

    You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

    John is continuing to speak about his purpose in the world. In the first chapter of this gospel, people are trying to figure out who John the Baptist is. 

    He tells them that he is not the Christ (John 1:20). He quickly confirms that he himself is not the long-awaited Messiah. 

    When they finally ask John for an answer as to who he is, John says “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness ‘make straight the way of the Lord,” quoting from the Book of Isaiah (John 1:23. 

    As we’ve already said, he is the one who is to come before the ministry of the Lord. And in Jesus beginning his ministry, John is beginning to see his own ministry coming to its fulfillment. 

    John the Baptist lived in this world with the purpose of pointing people to Christ. 

    And in that sense, John the Baptist is no different from anyone who is a believer in Jesus because everyone who knows Jesus and believes in his gospel exists to point to Jesus and to decrease so that he may increase  

    The purpose of your life is to humbly serve the Lord with the gifts he has given you an to point others to Christ by loving God, loving people, living out your faith, and sharing the gospel. 

    The Wedding 

    John is continuing to comment on his role. He makes an analogy to a wedding celebration. 

    John 3:29:

    The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.

    John compares himself to a friend of the bridegroom. In other words, a friend of the groom. 

    That’s close to the idea of a best man, but in the first century, in this culture, the best man had a lot of responsibilities. He was somewhat of a coordinator for the wedding. He was an official witness to the wedding. He was often a contributor to the wedding. It was an honored position. 

    I’ve been in several weddings, officiated several weddings, been married. So I feel like I can say this on pretty good authority: the bridal party is pretty pointless in a modern American wedding. It’s pretty much a bunch of people who prove that the bride and groom really do have friends besides each other.  Definitely it’s a way to honor siblings and close friends, obviously they’re there for the bride and groom on the big day. 

    But functionally, they don’t do much. In the first centry, the friend of the bridegroom was a really important role. 

    John’s metaphor is also significant because wedding imagery is used throughout the Bible to describe the relationship of God and people. 

    The true bridegroom

    In the Old Testament, God is often described as the groom and Israel is the bride. God is faithful to Israel in spite of her unfaithfulness to God.  

    In the New Testament, Jesus is the groom and the church is the bride. This is not the first time we’ve seen wedding imagery in the Gospel of John. In chapter 2, Jesus performs his first miracle at a wedding feast when he turns water into wine. The story is meant to point to his own wedding feast, the finalization of his kingdom in the new heaven and the new earth, as is foretold in Revelation 19. The church is the bride of Chrsit at that wedding. 

    While Israel was the unfaithful bride in the Old Testament, in the final inauguration of the wedding supper of the lamb in Revelation, it is a perfect wedding between Christ and his bride, the church. 

    I’m not saying that John the Baptist fully understood all of that when he made this statement. 

    But there is a metaphor we see throughout the gospels in looking at the ministry of Jesus in the world. 

    In the other gospels, there’s a later scene where John’s disciples are actually compared to Jesus and his. Others point to the zealousness of John’s disciples and say in Mark 2:18-19:

    18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

    Jesus is pointing to the time of celebration and joy that his ministry ushered into the world. 

    Again, there’s no better metaphor to make for a joyous occasion than a wedding. 

    And so in our passage, John again reminds us that Jesus is the groom and John is the best man. 

    At a wedding, the best man is not the main focus. He’s not the star. He’s not why you’re there. 

    It’s the bride and groom. 

    In that, we again see humility for John. For the best man, he’s not in competition with the groom. The best man has one goal and that is to see the wedding of the bride and groom. 

    Verse 30, John tells his disciples: 

    He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

    It’s not that it’s a good idea that Jesus increase and John decrease. But that Jesus must increase and John must decrease. 

    John is embracing the will of God. He’s not concerned with who’s greater or with his standing. His concern is for the ministry of Christ.  

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  • Jesus and eternal life – studying John 3:16-21

    Jesus and eternal life – studying John 3:16-21

    The result of belief 

    In John 3:16, Jesus says: 

    God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

    One of the things that this verse teaches is that belief in the son is necessary. Our society really struggles with that idea. 

    I know that 75% of Americans identify as Christians but when you talk to people about their beliefs, far too many people seem to think that Jesus is this really good guy and that most of us are pretty good too and we’re going to get the benefit of heaven because we’re good and he’s good and wants to bless us. 

    That’s not the gospel. 

    The gospel is that Jesus is good. You’re not. He died in your place. Believe in him as your Lord. 

    Eternal life is reserved for the one who believes in Jesus.

    John refers to eternal life more than any other writer in the New Testament. We saw it referenced in our passage last week when Jesus was talking about his crucifixion. 

    John 3:14-15:

    And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 

    It is through his death and resurrection that we have eternal life. 

    Couple more noteworthy examples of Jesus talking of eternal life. John 5:24: 

    Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

    We are spared eternal death when we turn to Jesus. 

    In John 10, Jesus talks of himself as the good shepherd and talks of eternal life when he says: 

    27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27-28)

    There he is, among other things, talking about the relationship he invites us into. 

    The eternal life which Jesus offers to all who believe in him is both a future promise but a present reality. 

    It’s not that those who believe in Jesus are eligible for eternal life or may get eternal life. 

    But the person who believes and trusts in Jesus as Lord and savior HAS eternal life. 

    And that assurance is there because it is in the work of Christ that the gift of eternal life is given. 

    It’s an eternal promise which also bears present-day results in the life of a believer. 

    That’s actually how the passage ends in verse 21. 

    whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” 

    Not sent to condemn

    Continuing to speak about the salvation which comes through Jesus. 

    Verse 17: 

    For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 

    Verse 17 is not saying that there is no condemnation ever. It’s saying that condemnation was not the purpose for Jesus coming into the world. 

    Jesus came into the world to bring salvation. And that salvation comes through his life, death, and resurrection. 

    Part of what I love about this passage is how simple it all is. 

    Some passages are difficult to understand and are enhanced by a lot of digging into historical context. Some passages are best explained when comparing them to numerous other Biblical passages. 

    These verses are simple enough to understand just through honestly reading them for what they say. 

    God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

    What do you believe in? 

    Is it that Jesus is the Son of God and through him and him alone we have eternal life? Or do you believe in something else? Is your faith in Jesus? Or is it in yourself? 

    We’ve seen the love of God. We’ve seen the result of believing in Jesus. 

    We close this passage with a warning of the consequences of unbelief in Jesus.

    The consequences of unbelief

    John 3:18:

    Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already

    We again are reminded of the catalyst for eternal life. Believing in Jesus. No matter what you do, what you say, how you live, none of that gives you standing before a Holy God. 

    It’s believing in Jesus. Whoever does not believe in Jesus is condemned because there is no other way to God. 

    Jesus did not come to bring condemnation, but you are already condemned and dead in your sins without him. 

    That’s your starting point. 

    So we can either turn to Christ and find life or we can reject Jesus and still be dead. 

    If we could earn our way to God, then God would not have needed to send his son. 

    This passage is not saying “believe what you want.” It’s not saying you’re pretty good.

    It’s saying the opposite. John 3:19-20:

    19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

    Those two verses sum up the human condition apart from Christ. It confronts us with reality. We are dead apart from Christ. 

    We either believe that or we don’t. We either believe Jesus is the way or we don’t. 

    What do you believe? Jesus is the light, the truth, the goodness, the salvation which has come into the world. And in a dark world, a world of sin and death, Jesus shines. 

    People loved darkness rather than the light. 

    This is why the world needs Jesus. Because we love our sin more than we love the righteousness of God. 

    A lot of sins make us feel good in the moment. 

    Being drunk can feel good at the moment. Looking at things you shouldn’t look at online feels good at the moment. Gossip feels good at the moment. Selfishness and doing whatever you want to do feels good at the moment. 

    A lot of sinful behaviors feel good. Don’t look at me like you don’t look at me like you have no idea what I’m talking about. 

    That’s why the world loves them. The Bible is the realest book that’s ever been written. 

    And in Hebrews 11:25, it talks about the “fleeting pleasures of sin.” 

    It’s not calling sin good. But it is saying that sin is often pleasurable. At least for a season. At least for a little while. If sin didn’t feel good, then the world wouldn’t love it so much. It wouldn’t be a problem. Nobody grudgingly sins. Nobody sins like it’s a chore that you have to do. “Ok, I guess I’ll say this really nasty thing about my coworker.” Nobody has to work at being prideful. 

    No kid had to be taught to sin. It comes naturally. 

    Eve wasn’t tempted with something she thought was bad. It was the promise of knowledge. David didn’t see Bathsheeba and think “oh what an ugly woman.” The world loves sin. 

    Some of those things might be different for different people. But make no mistake. We love sin. Again, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that that’s a good thing.It’s a horrible thing. It’s why we are condemned and separated from God. By the grace of God, there is redemption. 

    But the world hates the light of the gospel, because the light exposes sin. 

    The world is dead in sin. That’s the bad news.

    But there is good news. 

    Borrowing a quote from Kent Hughes in his commentary on John that I’ve slightly modified. 

    God. The greatest being.

    So loved. The greatest act. 

    The world. The greatest company.

    That he gave. The greatest act. 

    His only Son. The greatest gift. 

    That whoever believes. The greatest offer.

    In him. The greatest savior. 

    Shall not perish. The greatest promise.

    But have. The greatest certainty.

    Eternal life. The greatest hope.

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  • New life in Jesus – Studying John 3:4-6

    New life in Jesus – Studying John 3:4-6

    In John 3, Jesus is approached under the cover of night by a leader among the Jews, a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Just as a reminder, the Pharisees were people who were highly respected within the Jewish community.  Nicodemus would have been a man of stature in his community.

    The Pharisees were devout in their lifestyle, their love for the word of God, their study of God’s word. For a man like Nicodemus, he would have had the first five books of the Bible memorized. He was an expert in the law of God.

    He would have always been at church, always at Sunday school, always at the Sunday night study, always at the potluck. A stand up guy. 

    And he comes to Jesus and says to him “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God” (John 3:1) and as Nicodemus talks to Jesus, he talks about the signs Jesus has done. Nicodemus says in verse 2: “no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 

    With a guy like Nicodemus, it would be easy to never question his salvation. Clearly he was walking with God. 

    Nicodemus receives Jesus command to be born again with confusion. Again, Nicodemus is a teacher. He knows God’s word. He’s very moral. And Jesus stops him dead in his tracks: Unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

    John 3:4:

    Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

    Nicodemus is either totally dumbfounded by what Jesus says or he’s giving a bit of a sarcastic response, but he responds to Jesus referring only to the physical process of birth. 

    Verse 5-6:

    5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

    Again, we’ll talk about this more next week, but regeneration, being born again is a work of the Holy Spirit and Jesus touches upon that in these verses. 

    It is a Spiritual rebirth. And it’s because regeneration is spiritual that it necessitates a life that is changed and transformed by the gospel. Because it’s not us who change ourselves. It’s the Spirit in us. 

    The gospel is meant to change your life. 

    We just assume that a person who goes to church is a Chrisitan. You’re not if you haven’t been born again. Not if you haven’t truly turned from sin and turned to Jesus. 

    So I ask again: what do you actually believe? Have you trusted in Jesus as your Lord and savior? Have you confessed him to be the Lord? Have you turned away from sin? He didn’t die to keep us the same. Not when we’re given the Holy Spirit. We’re born again. We are a new creation. And that means a changed life. Has your life changed because of Jesus? 

    Be honest. 

    Has it really? 

    Or are you going through the motions? Saying the right things because you need to toe the company line but without really believing what you’re saying? 

    He makes us new. 

    The Bible says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

    It’s not just about saying “well I don’t want to go to hell. Sure I’m a Christian.” It’s having an actual faith that Jesus is the way. That Jesus is your savior. It’s not about believing that you’re basically the key to your own salvation but Jesus is some formality. 

    It’s that there is no other way apart from Christ and falling at his feet in thankfulness for his mercy. 

    Have you surrendered your life to Christ? If he’s not your Lord is he really your savior? Is Jesus the Lord of your life? 

    Philippians 2:12 says to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And that puts our focus on the cross, and what Jesus has done for us. Do you believe that you’re a sinner? It’s hard to accept Christ as your savior if you don’t believe you’re a sinner. It’s hard to trust in Jesus as your savior if you don’t believe you have anything to be saved from. 

    Too often in our culture, we like to emphasize the love of God without wanting to ever even talk about the justice of God. God is love. But he is also just. And there is a price to be paid for our sins. Do you believe that? Or do you find yourself thinking that you’re actually not that bad, that your sins really aren’t such a big deal, but you believe that there is a God and say you’re a Christian but you don’t belong to Christ? 

    Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

    For a person who is walking in faith, let us thank God for the work of regeneration that he has done in your life. But for the person who knows in your heart of hearts that you don’t really believe. Stop trusting yourself and your own goodness for your salvation. 

    Have you been born again? 

    You don’t have to be a master of theology. You don’t have to figure it all out. You don’t have to have all of the answers before coming to Jesus. It’s about trusting in him. You can come to Jesus this moment. And trust in him. To say, “Lord, not my will but your will be done.”  

    The Bible says salvation is in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). 

    And it also says all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). Coming to Jesus in faith. And when we do that, the grace and forgiveness that Jesus extends is sufficient. 

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