Day 24: John 4-6. Living Water, Signs, and Bread
The story of the Samaritan woman takes up most of John chapter 4, except a brief digression after Jesus leaves the village, but before we hear the results of the woman's evangelism (she is very successful; we could take lessons from her). The digression has to do with the disciples trying to get Jesus to eat something, and Jesus telling them that he has food they don't know about. (This is John's Gospel, and we KNOW that he doesn't literally mean bread; it's spiritual food; it's a METAPHOR.) As well (and it almost seems tacked on_ there's the story about the healing of the royal official's son at the very end of chapter 4. It is Jesus' second sign (count the signs in John; he calls them signs instead of miracles) and the idea is that the moment Jesus said the son was healed, he was healed, even though Jesus was far away at the time. But Jesus is the Word, and when the word is spoken, healing happens.
Chapter 5 includes the healing at the pool at Siloam (Jesus is in Jerusalem again, by the way), and then the controversy because it was the Sabbath (notice that the initial controversy is because the man picked up his mat on the Sabbath, and only afterwards, did the fact that Jesus heal someone become a part of the equation). Jesus say that his father is still working, and that means that God is working too. (this implies a pretty close connection with God, and this is another problem for the religious leaders).
Jesus makes some pretty pointed and provocative statements about himself here and later in John. After he does a sign (and often connected to a sign), he will speak about who he is and his relationship with the father. (The other gospels do not use 'father' language for God nearly as often as John does.) Often Jesus will use the words, "I am..." I am the light. I am the bread of life. I am the resurrection and the life...." The word "I am" remind me of the Hebrew name for God, "Yahweh," which is often translated, "I am", or "I am who I am."
Heading into chapter 6, I'm reminded about one of the things I like about John's gospel: he pays attention to some of the other disciples. It's not all Peter all the time. Philip and Andrew and Thomas and even Nathanael get to play a part. I like that.
So one of the first things I noticed in this chapter is that it is Philip that Jesus asks to figure out how to feed 5,000 people. And it is Andrew who finds the little boy who has the fish (a detail mentioned only in John).
Later (after Jesus walks on water, by the way), Jesus will spend many verses helping us to know that the feeding of five thousand people isn't just about feeding people, but has a deep spiritual meaning. but at the beginning, I really enjoyed how different disciples are involved in the story. (And keep looking for these other disciples to show up later in the gospel as well.) At the end of John 6, disciples are already beginning to desert Jesus, because they already can't get into what he is saying about being the bread of life.
And Jesus says, "Well? Are you going to leave me too?" And Peter (yes, it's Peter this time) says, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
That just about says is all, doesn't it?
Sometimes the gospel seems impossible to believe. Other times, it seems impossible NOT to believe.
Chapter 5 includes the healing at the pool at Siloam (Jesus is in Jerusalem again, by the way), and then the controversy because it was the Sabbath (notice that the initial controversy is because the man picked up his mat on the Sabbath, and only afterwards, did the fact that Jesus heal someone become a part of the equation). Jesus say that his father is still working, and that means that God is working too. (this implies a pretty close connection with God, and this is another problem for the religious leaders).
Jesus makes some pretty pointed and provocative statements about himself here and later in John. After he does a sign (and often connected to a sign), he will speak about who he is and his relationship with the father. (The other gospels do not use 'father' language for God nearly as often as John does.) Often Jesus will use the words, "I am..." I am the light. I am the bread of life. I am the resurrection and the life...." The word "I am" remind me of the Hebrew name for God, "Yahweh," which is often translated, "I am", or "I am who I am."
Heading into chapter 6, I'm reminded about one of the things I like about John's gospel: he pays attention to some of the other disciples. It's not all Peter all the time. Philip and Andrew and Thomas and even Nathanael get to play a part. I like that.
So one of the first things I noticed in this chapter is that it is Philip that Jesus asks to figure out how to feed 5,000 people. And it is Andrew who finds the little boy who has the fish (a detail mentioned only in John).
Later (after Jesus walks on water, by the way), Jesus will spend many verses helping us to know that the feeding of five thousand people isn't just about feeding people, but has a deep spiritual meaning. but at the beginning, I really enjoyed how different disciples are involved in the story. (And keep looking for these other disciples to show up later in the gospel as well.) At the end of John 6, disciples are already beginning to desert Jesus, because they already can't get into what he is saying about being the bread of life.
And Jesus says, "Well? Are you going to leave me too?" And Peter (yes, it's Peter this time) says, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
That just about says is all, doesn't it?
Sometimes the gospel seems impossible to believe. Other times, it seems impossible NOT to believe.
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