ENCOUNTER WITH A SAMARITAN WOMAN

John began his Gospel with an affirmation that "The Word was God" (1:1) but went on to affirm that "the Word became flesh." (v 14) Now he illustrates from an encounter with a Samaritan woman how vulnerable that humanity was. It was about twelve noon when Jesus and his disciples reached Jacob's well and the sun was at its hottest. Jesus was tired after his morning's walk, so he sat by the well to rest. He was hungry so he sent his disciples to the neighbouring village to buy food. He was also hot and thirsty, so he asked the Samaritan woman for a drink.Thus Jesus was no superman immune to the frailty of ordinary mortals. He was an authentic human being.

The other characteristic of Jesus that this story highlights is his attitude to tradition. He was conservative in relation to Scripture, believing it to be the Word of God, but radical in relation to tradition, knowing it to consist of only human words. A radical is someone who is critical of all traditions and conventions, refusing to accept them merely because they have been handed down from the past.

Now the Samaritan woman had a threefold conventional disability. Firstly she was a woman, and it was not done for a man to talk to a woman in public. But Jesus did what wasn't done.
Secondly she was a Samaritan, and Jews did not associate with Samaritans. Thirdly she was a sinner,having had five husbandsand now cohabiting with a man to whom she was not married.
But respectable people like rabbis did not mix wit sinners like her. Thus three times over Jesus did what was not done. He deliberately breached the social conventions of the day. He was entirely free of gender discrimination, ethnic prejudice, and moral priggishness. He loved and respected everybody and shrank from nobody.

Thus Jesus was both conservative ( in relation to Scripture) and radical (in relation to culture)
at the same time. It seems to me we need a new generation of 'RCs,' now not for Roman Catholics but for Radical Conservatives.

Yours Aye

Roy

THE ENCOUNTER WITH NICODEMUS

Jesus declared 'I tell you the truth, that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.

Nicodemus is a supreme example of a sincere example of a seeker after truth. If only there were more Nicodemuses in the world today-men and women who are prepered to lay aside apathy,
prejudice, and fear and seek the truth with an honest and humble spirit. 'Seek and you will find,' Jesus promised. (Matt 7:7)

Jesus must have startled Nicodemus by telling him that he must be born again. What did he mean?

Obviously he was not referring to a second physical birth or an act of self reformation. Nor can Jesus have been alluding to Christian Baptism, since it was not instituted until after the resurrection. To be sure baptism is the sign or ordinance which seals the evidence of new birth, but we must not confuse the outward sign with the inward thing signified. Baptism is a visible public dramatisation of the new birth, which is itself an invisible and secret work of God, by which he gives us new life, a new beginning.

Moreover ( Jesus said ) we must be born again. Without the new birth we can neither see nor enter God's kingdom. Nicodemus was religious, moral, educated, respectable and courteous. He even believed in the divine origin of Jesus. But all this was not enough. He still needed to be born again.

So how does this new birth take place ? From one point of view, it is entirely a work of God. No one has ever given birth to himself. So the new birth is a birth, 'from above,' a birth of the 'Holy Spirit'. But from our side we have both to repent and to believe. Nicodemus could not bypass John's baptism of repentance. This surely was what Jesus meant by being born 'of water' Then he must believe putting his trust in Jesus the Messiah, who was the Saviour he needed.

Notes from 'Through the Bible through the Year' John Stott.

Yours Aye

Roy

JESUS THE GIVER OF LIFE

John tells us that his ultimate purpose in writing his Gospel was that his readers might receive life through Jesus Christ. In order to receive life from Christ, they must believe in Christ, and in order to believe in Christ, John has selected certain signs that bear witness to Christ. Thus testimony leads to faith, and faith to life .

Indeed, John sees his gospel primarily as testimony to Christ. It is almost as if his Gospel were a court scene and Jesus Christ were on trial. A succession of witnesses is called, beginning with John the Baptist, and the trial continues with seven miraculous signs, each of which is a dramatised claim.

1. Jesus turned water into wine, claiming to inaugurate a new order.

2. and 3. Jesus performed two healing miracles, claiming to give new life.

4. Jesus fed five thousand people, claiming to be the Bread of Life.

5. Jesus walked on water, claiming that the powers of nature were under his authority.

6. Jesus gave sight to a man born blind, claiming to be the Light of the World.

7. Jesus raised Lazarus from death, claiming to be the Resurrection and the Life .


Yet there is another side to John's witness to Jesus. The seven signs recorded in the first half of his Gospel, are signs of power and authority. In the second half of his Gospel, however, John records signs of weakness and humility-first in the washing of the disciples feet and then in the cross which John sees as the glorification of Jesus.

To sum up, John's Gospel is in two halves: part 1 is the Book of Signs, and part 2 is the Book of the Cross. But in both, throughout the Gospel, John is bearing witness to Jesus in order that his readers may believe in him and so receive life from him.

Yours Aye

Roy