THE NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE STORY #3
THE GOSPELS WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR CHILDREN
by Keith Hunt
Chapter Seven:
Jesus' Three Temptations from Satan
Many of the servants and prophets of God before the time
Jesus was to enter His teaching ministry, had fasted (going
without food, and often without water also) for a certain number
of days, in order to really draw close to God, and put their mind
on the task that lay before them. Moses and the prophet Elijah
were two that it is said and written of them, that they fasted
for 40 days. Moses did it twice, so it is written in the book
of Exodus.
Jesus was certainly no less than those two great men. He was
in fact greater than them. So it should be no surprise for us
that Matthew and Luke both mention, " And Jesus, full of the Holy
Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for
forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And He ate
nothing in those days; and when they were ended, He was very
hungry" (Luke 4:1-2).
Jesus needed to prepare Himself for the job ahead of Him. He
needed to draw very close to the Father, and Satan the Devil knew
he had one last big chance to do battle with Jesus and to try and
defeat Him before He even got started.
At the end of the forty days Jesus was very hungry indeed.
Oh, the Devil may have tried tempting Him all along during all
those forty days, as His body began to weaken. Mark implies that
was the case, as he records that angels came to serve Him,
probably giving Him protection from evil demons trying to hurt
Him in some way. But at the end of those forty days, when Jesus
was really physically weak and so very hungry, Satan himself,
personally, came to Jesus to tempt Him to do wrong, to sin, and
to sign up for his team against the God in heaven.
The Devil with sarcasm in his voice, said to Jesus, "Now IF
you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread."
Actually, the Devil knew very well that Jesus was the Son of
God, so it was with a sarcastic voice he said those words, trying
to needle Jesus into getting upset at his seeming doubt that He
really was God's Son.
Satan hoped Jesus would slip up and angrily abuse His power
and authority, and do exactly as the Devil wanted Him to do -
make bread to eat, from stones. If He had, it would have all been
from the wrong motive under this seductive temptation from the
Devil.
Jesus did not fall for this trick from Satan. He knew His
Bible, and replied to the Devil by quoting it. He said, " It is
written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
Jesus left the desert and went to Jerusalem and ascended up
to the top of the pinnacle of the Temple. As He looked out over
the land before Him, Satan came along once more and said to Him,
" IF you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is
written, 'He will give His angels charge over you' and 'On their
hands they will bear you up, less you strike your foot against a
stone.' "
Not only was the Devil still being sarcastic and acting by
trying to put doubt into the mind of Jesus by saying, "If you be
the Son of God" but he was now even quoting Scripture to tempt
Jesus to abuse and play with His power and also the Father's will
that there should be no harm or death to His Son before the time
appointed.
Jesus knew that no Scripture stood as an island unto itself,
but must always be understood in the light of all other
Scriptures written through the inspiration of God. So, Jesus,
knowing all the other Scriptures, was able to answer the Devil
by saying, "Again, it is written, 'You shall not tempt the Lord
your God.' "
It is very true that God can protect us from harm such as
falling from a high place, or if in a car accident, but because
we know that God can send angels to protect us from physical
harm, does not mean we deliberately jump from a ten story
building, or stand in front of an on coming train, to say to God
that we want Him to prove He will protect us.
Jesus came down from the pinnacle of the Temple and went to
the top of one of the high mountains around Jerusalem. He could
see far off into the distance. His mind knew many kingdoms of
different nations and empires were out there in the world,
including the great Roman Empire, that ruled much of the main hub
of the central world at that time.
"Ah, see all these mighty kingdoms, " said the Devil to
Jesus, "Do you see in your mind all the glory they have. Well, if
you will come on my side, worship me, and do my will, I will give
you control of all the world. You can in this physical life be
the greatest world ruler this earth has ever seen."
Now, at this temptation, Jesus got righteously angry with
Satan. " Get out of here, be gone, Satan," was Jesus' reply to
him. "For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God,
and Him only shall you serve.' " (Mat.4: 3-11).
With those final words from Jesus, the Devil left Him. For
the time being he left Him, for Luke recorded in his Gospel
account that Satan departed from Him until an opportune time came
once more (Luke 4:13).
We are not told in any of the Gospels that the Devil ever
had another opportunity like that, to tempt Jesus to sin, as when
He fasted for forty days.
SOME OF THE RECORDINGS OF THE APOSTLE JOHN
There are sections of the Gospel of John that are very hard,
if not impossible, to put into chronological order in the life
and ministry of Jesus Christ. There is no specific indication as
to when exactly they may have taken place during His ministry and
years of teaching and preaching, leading up to His death.
Some, who have tried to compile a "harmony" of the Gospels,
trying to put it all in chronological order, have placed these
sections of John at the very beginning and very early on in the
public ministry of Jesus.
We also will do the same. Some from their very nature of
events are indeed at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, but some
others are not so clear that they were.
JESUS' FIRST DISCIPLES
It was the next day after John the baptist had baptized
Jesus in the river Jordan. The sun had risen over the desert
hills of Judea, the air was clean, the birds were singing
their merry songs. John was getting ready to once more proclaim
the salvation and the Kingdom of God to the people coming out to
hear him speak the words of God. He was reflecting on the
preceding day, how he had known somewhat of this one called
Jesus, that through the years he had borne witness to how perfect
and sinless this man was. He had known there was something
special about Him, but yet, not having any direct revelation from
God during those years, he was not sure if this Jesus was the
Messiah Christ to come.
Then the Lord God had spoken to him and told him that the
one whom he would baptize and the one whom he would see the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and remaining upon Him, that
someone would be the very Son of God, the very promised Messiah.
Oh, John surely knew now who the Anointed One was. And as he
was standing and talking to and teaching a few of his disciples,
who should walk by but Jesus once again. John noticed Jesus the
Christ and said to those within ear distance of him, "Behold, the
Lamb of God!"
Two of John's disciples heard what he had said, and
immediately started to follow Jesus. John had taught them that
one greater than he was to come, who would be the promised
Messiah. The two disciples knew this was the man for John had now
clearly pointed Him out to them.
Jesus knew two men were following Him. He turned and said to
them, "What do you seek?"
They answering said, "Rabbi (which means Teacher), where are
you staying?" To which Jesus replied, "Well, why don't you come
with me and see."
They needed no more invitation than that, and so went with
Jesus and stayed with Him, as it was about 4 p.m. by the time
they arrived where He was lodging for the evening and the night.
One of the two men was called Andrew, the brother of Simon
Peter, and this Peter is well known by those who have read the
four Gospels, being an outspoken and forceful man, who became one
of the inner twelve disciples chosen by the Lord Jesus, a little
later in His ministry.
Andrew was very excited at finding this Christ (which word
meant Messiah to them). So excited was he that he just had to run
off and find his brother Simon Peter, and not only tell him the
good news of their find, but to bring Peter back with him to meet
Jesus.
When Jesus sees Simon He knows his basic human character and
personality, and says to him, "So you are Simon the son of Jona.
You we shall call Cephas (in English we say Peter, and which
means, a stone or boulder)."
I'm sure they had lots to talk about with each other that
evening. The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He wanted
to find a man called Philip and He did find him. And Jesus told
him to follow along and be one of His disciples. Philip happened
to also be from the same town as Andrew and Peter, the town of
Bethsaida (which word means, house or place of fishing), and is
situated on the north-east coast of the sea of Galilee. You may
want to look it up on a map which some Bibles contain.
Well, Philip ran off to find a friend called Nathaniel, and
said to him in an exited joyous voice, "Oh friend, we have found
the man whom Moses and the prophets have written about, He is
called Jesus, comes from the town of nazareth, and is the son of
the man called Joseph."
Nathaniel, with a slight grin, more like a smirk on his
face, answered by saying, "Oh, tell me another one. Can anything
good possibly come out of a pip-squeak town like Nazareth?"
Well, you come and see for yourself then, if you think you
have the answers to this whole expectation we are looking for,"
Philip answered back to him.
Nathaniel was up to that challenge, and so off he went with
Philip to see for himself this man called Jesus the Christ.
Jesus sees him coming from a little way down the road. He
looks intensely at him as he got closer and closer. When within
ear shot, Jesus raised His voice and said to Nathaniel, " Behold,
an Israelite indeed, and one in whom there is no deceit, an
honest man."
"How do you know about me," Nathaniel asked Jesus.
"Oh, I could see you under the fig tree, before Philip came
to you," replied Jesus, just astounding Nathaniel even more, for
he was very sure that neither of them had ever met or seen each
other before this moment.
With wonder and joy in his voice, Nathaniel exclaimed,
"Teacher, you are the Son of God - the King of Israel!"
At this faithful statement, Jesus said, "Do you believe all
this, believe that I am the Son of God, because I told you I saw
you under the fig tree? This is really nothing as to the things
you will see. For you will see heaven open and the angels of God
going up and down upon the Son of Man."
Jesus was pleasantly surprised that Nathaniel could so
quickly come to recognize that He was the Messiah, the Son of the
Most High, and related to him the greater wonders he would yet
see one day. He would see the angels serving the Son of Man.
That is all that is ever said about what Nathaniel would one
day see. When it took place, if it was for Nathaniel's life time
in the flesh, and not when he shall be in the Kingdom of God, we
are not told (John 1:35-51).
JESUS ATTENDS A WEDDING AND PERFORMS A MIRACLE
A few days later (according to the continued reading in the
Gospel by the apostle John), there was a marriage at Cana in
Galilee. Jesus, His mother and His disciples were all invited.
And they all went.
A Jewish marriage back in those days could be a very large,
festive occasion, often celebrated for a number of days, even up
to a week in length. Good wine for all the guests was the common
drink, as people came and went, offering their congratulations
and best wishes for the bridegroom and his bride.
So many people came to this wedding that all the wine was
used up, or as we would say today, "they ran out of wine."
Jesus' mother, knowing of course that He was from God, and
had special powers, came quietly to Him and said, "They have no
wine." The way she looked at Him and the way she said those
words, Jesus knew instantly what His mother was requesting Him to
do. Miraculously make more wine.
Jesus Himself was not intending to do a public miracle, or
make some kind of a big show, at this wedding. He answered His
mother by saying, "O woman, this does not concern you and me. My
time has not yet come." Meaning He did not yet want to go public
with His miracle working power.
But, His mother (as mothers often have an inner sense for
things) knew He would supply the needed wine. And so she told the
servants to do whatever Jesus instructed them to do.
There were six stone water-pots in the area, used for the
Jewish ceremonial purposes, and held about twenty to thirty
gallons each. Jesus told the servants, "Fill those jars with
water." And when they had been filled to the brim, He told them
to dip some out and take it to the master of the wedding feast.
And the servants did exactly as Jesus told them to do.
When the master of the wedding feast tasted the water (which
had been made into wine), not knowing where it had come from
(though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom
over saying to him, "Usually a host serves the best wine first,
then when everyone is full and has enjoyed the best wine, he
brings out the less expensive wines. But you have kept the best
until now!"
Jesus not only did an instant water into wine miracle, but
"aged" it, as it is called in the wine making trade. The very
best wine must age for a long period of time. Some wines that
have been bottled for a hundred or so years, are classified as
the best, and are expensive to buy.
This, John says, was Jesus' first open display of His
miraculous power. The servants knew who did this miracle and
would have soon whispered it to others, until everyone there
would have known it was Jesus who had turned water into the best
of wine.
With this miracle, the knowledge that He was the Messiah,
the Son of God, was deeper imbedded into the minds of Jesus'
disciples.
After the wedding the apostle John tells us that Jesus went
to Capernaum for a few days, with His mother, His brothers, and
His disciples.
It is more than just interesting, that John puts Jesus'
"brothers" and His "disciples" into two distinct and separate
groups.
We have evidence from the other Gospel writers also, that
Joseph and Mary had biological children, as most married couples
hope for when they marry. Jesus had brothers, well they would
have been what we term as "half brothers" - all having the same
mother (Mary) but not the same father. Joseph was not the father
of Jesus, as we have seen, God was His father (John 2: 1-12).
...............................
Written January 2001
Chapter 8:
Jesus Clears Out the Merchants from the Temple
The apostle John early records a Passover that Jesus
attended in Jerusalem during His ministry. The Temple in
Jerusalem did not only consist of the sanctuary of the
"holy place" and "most holy place" (the Temple, as the original
Tabernacle in the time of Moses, was divided into two sections),
but also had different court-yards around it. It was a very
elaborate building indeed. You may want to take time to read
about it all in a good Bible Dictionary or Encyclopedia.
It was in one of those court-yards of the Temple that Jesus
found those who were selling oxen, sheep, pigeons, and such
animals and birds, as well as money-changers (for people offering
money to the Temple priests for the service and upkeep of the
Temple, and who came from different parts of the Roman Empire, so
needing to exchange Roman money into Jewish money) used by the
people to fulfil the sacrifices that were prescribed by the laws
of Moses (see the first chapters of the book of Leviticus) under
the Old Covenant.
The mindset and character of those selling and exchanging
money Jesus knew was far from pure and honorable. They were out
to line their own pockets, to rob the people, to cheat them, to
simply do a business and take advantage of the pure hearts of
the people coming to worship God at the Temple and fulfil the
laws of God as given to Israel through Moses.
This is a good illustration that shows God accepted the
enlarged Temple structure, because the people as a whole accepted
it in their minds, as being and belonging to God and as an
extension of the holy Sanctuary proper. This shows that there is
a "spirit" of the law that goes beyond the "letter" of the law,
which God honors, sometimes even under the Old Covenant. The
original Sanctuary and Temple under Moses and Solomon, only
needed to be a tent or building of one structure divided into two
parts, a "holy place" and a "most holy place" inside just one
fenced area or court-yard. By the time of Christ, the Jews had
extended this building to include a number of court-yards. The
outer court-yard was where the merchants had set up their market
place. To them, and so to God, this was part of the overall
Temple of the Lord.
Jesus could see that those merchants were making the very
House of God into something it was never intended to become - a
merchant market place for profit.
His anger grew more and more as He saw what was going on.
The Bible says, "Be angry, but sin not." There is a time to
become righteously angry. Many passages show that God can and
does get righteously angry at times. Yet, it is always righteous
anger, without any sin. There are times we must get very upset at
sin and wrong doing. This was one of those times for Jesus.
He made a long whip from string cords that came from boxes
and packages that were sent to those merchants or that were used
to tie up the animals they were selling. Jesus whirling the whip
around His head, much like an American cowboy whirls his lariat
over his head when roping a steer, drove the animals out of the
temple, and threw over the tables of the money-exchangers, the
coins rolling all over the place.
As He was doing all this, He raised His voice and exclaimed
to those thieving and wrong minded merchants, "Take these things
away! You shall not make my Father's house into a house of
merchandise and business trade."
The disciples of Jesus, many of them knowing much of what
was written in the word of God, remembered the verse where it was
written, "Zeal for Your house will consume me" (Ps.69:9).
But, most of the Jews and merchants there, were not so
perceptive and so spiritually in tune with who the Messiah was or
what were the true ways of the Lord. They just looked at Jesus
and declared, " Who gave you this authority to do this thing,
drive out the merchants from the Temple? What sign will you give
us to demonstrate and prove what you have done has the authority
of God Himself behind it?"
Jesus answered them by saying, "Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up."
Once more the Jews had no idea what He was really speaking
about, and thought He was talking about the physical stone
building of the Temple they were all standing within. They,
laughing at Jesus said, "It has taken forty-six years to build
this Temple, and you say that if it was destroyed you could build
it back again in only three days. You must be out of your head,
vain and mad, by saying such words."
Jesus was not speaking about the physical Temple in
Jerusalem, but was speaking about the temple of His body. The
Holy Spirit dwelling in Jesus made His body as like a temple of
holiness to God the Father. So it is with anyone who had God
dwelling within them (see 2 Cor. 6:16-18).
Jesus was indeed giving them a sign of His power and
authority from God. He was foretelling them that one day though
the Jews would kill Him, He would rise from the dead after three
days. He was foretelling them of His resurrection to life and
glory.
His disciples at the time, did not understand fully what
Jesus was referring to either. It was only after His resurrection
that they remembered those words of His, and clearly understood
then what He had told the Jews. All of this of course, after
Jesus' resurrection, helped the disciples to believe in no
uncertain way, all the Scriptures and all the words that Jesus
had spoken during His ministry.
Because of the miraculous signs He did in Jerusalem at this
Passover celebration, many people were convinced that He was
indeed the Messiah. Well, in an outward kind of manner they were
convinced. But Jesus didn't trust them. He could see their deep
inner heart and He knew what people were really like, who were
not truly connected with God through humble repentance (John
2:13-25).
No one for sure, needed to tell Him about human nature, what
it could do and think on the outside surface, but not be that way
in the depth of heart, especially when people would get offended
by what He would say and teach, and the way He would live. And
that is exactly what happened to many, even some of His
disciples, later on. They got offended in Him, upset, bewildered,
and confused, by things He said, and they walked away from Him.
Though many believed on Him at that Passover, they did not
continue to believe on and in Him later on, as we shall see.
NICODEMUS COMES TO JESUS IN THE NIGHT
There was a man by the name of Nicodemus, one of the leaders
in the Jewish Sanhedrin (a court of the Jews that decided certain
civil and religious matters, made up of leaders from the Pharisee
and Sadducee denominations, and respected Elders among the Jewish
people), and of the Pharisee religious party. He came to Jesus
secretly, by night, and confessed, " Rabbi, we know that you are
a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you
do, unless God is with him. "
You will notice, Nicodemus did not say that they, leaders of
the Jews and leaders from his religious party, knew and admitted
that Jesus was the very Son of God. What he said was that they
knew He was a true teacher of the word of the Lord, that God was
with Him.
Yes, secretly, many of the Jewish leaders admitted this
among themselves, but would not openly declare it, for they
feared loosing their followers, who would then follow Jesus, who
like John the baptist, made it clear to them that He would not
become a member of one of their sects. They knew He was very
independent, hence a threat and to them a competition for the
support of the people.
Nicodemus at this point in his life, would not come openly,
in the day time, to admit this to Jesus, no doubt fearing what
the other leaders of the Jews would try to do to him, certainly
in a spiritual position way, and maybe even in a physical way. So
he came at night, but did admit to Jesus that they knew God was
with Him.
Jesus got right down to the foundation and goal of why
mankind was put on this earth, and what it would involve for
Nicodemus to attain it.
" I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see
the Kingdom of God."
Nicodemus was taken a back by what Jesus said, " What do you
mean? How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be
born again? "
You will notice that Nicodemus clearly understood that Jesus
was talking about a "birth" - thinking Jesus was meaning that to
enter and see the Kingdom of God, a grown person somehow had to
re-enter the womb of his mother and be literally born once more.
Jesus was not talking about that kind of physical birth, but
it was a birth that He was talking about.
He went on to explain with a physical comparison, exactly
what you must become like in order to see and be in the Kingdom
of God.
" The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without
being born of water and the Spirit. Humans give birth to that
which is physical but the Spirit gives birth to that which is
spirit. Do not get all wide eyed and amazed and try to make what
I'm telling you into some theological doctrine of the heart. For
being born again is like this: The wind blows and does things,
you can see the effect if may have, even hear it at times as it
works among physical objects, but you cannot see the wind, it is
invisible to the human eye. So then likewise is everyone who is
born of the Spirit. "
The words of Jesus are pretty plain and quite simple. Jesus
was telling Nicodemus that to enter the Kingdom of God, you do
have to be born in this physical world as a physical flesh and
blood person. You have to be conceived and grow in a sack of
water in your mother's womb, and after being nourished and
growing to a certain physical stage, then the water in the sack
brakes and you are born into the world of air breathing flesh and
blood creatures. That which is flesh is flesh. Everyone must
first be flesh before they can be later born of the Spirit and
become like the wind, invisible to the human eye.
Jesus said that which is born of the Spirit IS spirit, and
He likened this Spirit to the wind - invisible but having
evidence that humans can relate to as indeed having effects
on the physical world around us.
In John 4:24 Jesus said that God IS Spirit. Many passages
in the Bible show that God does have form and shape, that He does
have a "body." The last chapters of the book of Revelation tell
us that one day God's children will actually see His "face." His
body is made of Spirit, not physical flesh, blood, and bone. God
lives in a different world, a world of a different dimension. He
lives in a "spirit" world that is, unless He chooses to reveal it
to the human eye, an invisible world to our vision of our
physical eyes.
We know the Bible teaches there are good spirit creatures
called "angels" and there are bad and evil spirit creatures
called "demons." A few of the chief angels are mentioned by name
in the pages of God's word, such as Gabriel, whom we have seen
came to Mary to tell her she had been chosen to bear God's Son.
Then the chief fallen and sinful spirit creature is mentioned by
name also. We know him as being mainly called Satan, or the
Devil. We cannot see these spirit creatures unless they either
manifest themselves to us as if looking like humans, or if God
works a miracle with our eye sight, enabling us to see them,
which was granted to a few in the Old Testament (read 2 Kings
6 to see this truth).
The book of Daniel is an interesting book in places. It
tells us a little about this basically unseen spirit world that
lies all around us. It mentions a few specifics as to what
is happening among the "good" spirit creatures and the "bad"
spirit creatures that oppose each other.
God is composed of Spirit in His invisible glory form. And
those who are to be His literal children, born of Him, who will
enter the Kingdom of God, will also be spirit, for as the apostle
Paul was inspired to write, "...Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the Kingdom of God..." (1 Cor.15: 50). A large part of Paul's
fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, is devoted to explaining the
"change" that is to come, that must come, to those in whom God
dwells (His sons and daughters, see 2 Cor.6:16) in order to
IN-herit, see and enter the Kingdom of God, at the resurrection
when the last trumpet sounds (see Matthew 24: 30-31).
Jesus was saying the same thing to Nicodemus but in a
shorter, nut-shell way. Of course being born of God, born of THE
Spirit, means He must come and beget you first, making you in
this life time His child through the indwelling of His nature, or
Holy Spirit as the New Testament often calls it. All this means
you are converted to His mind and way of thinking and wanting to
live by His every word, as Jesus said we should (Mat.4:4).
It means you remain His child to the end of your life. It
means no matter what the trials, tests, hardships, problems, no
matter what difficulties physically, mentally, or emotionally,
that life may bring, you endure and remain His child, loving Him
and doing His will to the end, until death.
Then just as a child in its mother's womb has endured, been
nourished, grown, and is finally born, so it will be for the
child of God. He/she will one day be born of God, born of THE God
Spirit, and enter His Kingdom.
Jesus was telling Nicodemus that that was the very purpose
as to why mankind was created upon this earth, to be born of the
Spirit, to become part of the invisible Spirit world. This is far
greater than anything that science-fiction movies have ever
thought up.
But old Nicodemus was befuddled by what Christ was telling
him. He just could not comprehend it and exclaimed in
bewilderment, "How can these things be at all possible?"
" Are you a teacher in Israel " Jesus answered him, " Is it
not your job to read the Scriptures of the Lord, and to come to
understand what it says, and you know not these things that I
speak about? "
Jesus was telling him that by reading and understanding and
believing the Scriptures, he should have already known what He
was expounding. Furthermore, Jesus told him, " But if you don't
even believe me when I tell you about earthly things such as
the wind and what I represented by it, then how can you possibly
believe the things going on in heaven? For I know what heaven is
truly like, as only I, the Son of Man, have come from heaven to
earth, and will return to heaven again. "
This last part of Jesus' statement here is very revealing if
we will but believe it for what it says. The King James
translation of the Bible in 1611 put it this way: "No man has
ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even
the Son of man."
Jesus, of all human beings to ever live and walk this earth,
is the only one to have been in heaven. The reality that death is
a sleep, and that we do not continue to think and act after
death, either in a heaven or a hell, is vividly brought out in a
later chapter of the Gospel of John, when we see how Jesus raised
a man called Lazarus back to life after being dead for four days.
Jesus continued to tell Nicodemus, " And as Moses lifted up
the bronze snake (Num.21:9) on a pole in the wilderness, so I,
the Son of Man, must be lifted up on a pole, so that everyone who
believes in me can have eternal life in the Kingdom of God. "
Here Jesus is telling Nicodemus and all who read this, that
He, the Son of Man, was the Messiah, the Anointed One from God,
the one who would come from God, live a perfect live, never do
any wrong, take all sins of mankind upon Himself, die on a cross,
thus forgiving the sins of all those who would believe and accept
Him as the Saving Messiah. And in so doing they could have
eternal life.
Jesus added yet more, to show and to amplify, the one main
purpose that God the Father had when He decided to create the
physical human kind:
" For God so loved the world (the people in it) that He gave
His only Son, so that all who believe in Him do not have to
perish but can have eternal life. God did not send His Son into
the world to condemn it, but to save it, to give people a chance
for eternal life. There is no condemning those who trust and have
faith in Him. But those who do not have trust in Him are
condemning themselves for not believing in the only Son of God.
Their condemnation is based on this fact: That light from heaven
came into the world, but they loved the darkness of sin and
wrong-doing more than the light of righteousness, for their
actions were evil. They do not like the light because they desire
to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light because
they fear that the light will expose their sins, and then they
would have to make a choice to either live in the light or to
live in darkness. But, those who want to do what is right come
to the light gladly, so all people can see that they are doing
the will of God " (John 3:1-21).
Nicodemus, a religious leader of the Jews, came to Jesus by
night, secretly, and to be unseen . He admitted to Jesus that he
and others like him, knew He was from God, that God was with Him,
but stopped short of saying He was the Son of God, and the
saving Messiah to come.
Jesus, got right down to business, hit the nail on the head,
pulled no punches, and not only told Nicodemus that He was the
Son of God, sent to save and give eternal life to those who would
believe on Him, but told him that the main purpose of God,
because He had so much love, was to save people to eternal life,
not to condemn them to death.
Jesus said it was the purpose of God to have people born of
Him, born of the Spirit, and so be like Himself, to live in a
dimension that was mighty and powerful like the wind was at
times, and also invisible to the human eye, as also was the wind.
Jesus told Nicodemus that to be born of the Spirit, would
mean you were willing to come to the light of truth and
righteousness, to be willing to have your wrongs and sins clearly
revealed to you by the light, and to walk in the ways of the Lord
God. Such people would then acknowledge that He Jesus, the
Christ, was the very Son of God, and would gladly come to the
light, so the light could lead and guide them into doing the will
of God.
Jesus was teaching Nicodemus the purpose for human
existence, and the true and only way to salvation or eternal
life.
This was also a kind but corrective rebuke to Nicodemus as
he had at this point in his life not yet come to acknowledge that
Jesus was the very Son of God, and so was still not yet in the
mindset of loving all the light.
It is a lesson everyone of us need to take to our heart and
mind. To walk in the light as He (God) is light. Then one day we
can be born of the Spirit, and see the Kingdom of God.
..................................
Written February 2001
Chapter Nine:
John Exalts Jesus
Jesus and His disciples were once more in the land of Judea,
and John was near Salim, also baptizing many people who came to
him. He had not yet been put in prison, as later he was (John
3:22-24).
John's followers got into a discussion with a Jew about the
rites of some of the purification laws. It must have triggered
something in their minds, because they came to John saying,
" Teacher, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you
gave witness, He is not far away, also baptizing, and many are
going to Him. We are confused about where you stand with God and
what ministry is left for you to do. "
John looked at them in patient understanding at the
puzzlement showing on their faces, and explained to them:
" No one can do anything that is truly of God unless it
comes from and is given to him to do from God. You yourselves
heard me say openly to all that I am not the Christ, but that I
was sent by God to make and prepare a way before Him. The one who
has the bride is the bridegroom, and his friend, who stands
besides him to hear him, rejoices greatly to hear him. So it is
that I joy in hearing the voice of the Christ. I am full of joy,
so I want you also to be. The Christ must increase in popularity
and ministry, while I must decrease.
He who comes from above, who once lived in heaven with God,
is above all, much greater than I. For he who is of the earth
and not from heaven, as I am, belongs to the earth, speaks as an
earthling. He who comes from heaven is then above all earthly
persons. He truly bears witness to that which He has both seen
and heard, as He once lived in heaven. Yet few will receive His
testimony. But for those who do, they will have set the seal to
attest to everyone that God is indeed true to His word and
promises.
The very special one that God has sent utters the pure words
of that God. For to Him the Spirit is given not my measure, in
bits and pieces, but in its entire fullness. The Father God loves
the Son, and all things are committed into His hands. So he who
believes in the Son will have eternal life; he who does not obey
the Son shall not see eternal life, but will face the wrath and
punishment of God " (John 3:25-36).
JESUS TEACHES THE SAMARITAN WOMAN AT THE WELL
Jesus heard via the grape-vine, that the Pharisee religious
party had heard that Jesus was baptizing and getting more popular
among the people than John. Jesus Himself did not do the literal
baptizing, but He had His disciples doing that for Him, yet
it was all under His authority. All this was going to cause much
problems for Jesus, way sooner than He wanted or wished. So He
decided to leave the area of Judea and go back up north to
Galilee. Now, to go from Judea to Galilee you had to pass through
an area of land called Samaria.
This was only a relatively small area of Palestine, and it
was not the famous land area of the Old Testament called Samaria.
You may want to look at the maps in the back of many Bible to
compare the Samaria of Jesus' day with that of the time of the
kings of Israel and Judah under what we call the Old Testament of
the Bible. There is a huge difference.
For Jesus to go north and get back to Galilee He had to walk
through this small land area called Samaria (John 4:1-4).
Within this little Samaria land was a people known as
Samaritans. They were a very religious people as a whole. The
Jewish Encyclopedia (that most large public Libraries posses) has
a long in-depth article on these people, who are still in
existence today in Palestine, though there is only about 1,000 of
them or less.
Those Samaritans claim descent from Jacob, one of the great
fathers of ancient Israel, and more specifically from Joseph, one
of the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the time of
Christ, they had their own Temple, Priesthood and sacrificial
system. They only accepted the books of Moses, the first five
books of the OT, as their Bible. They also looked for a coming
Messiah from God, but some of their basic religious teachings
(such as having their own Temple and priesthood) was so far from
what the Jews in Judea and Jerusalem taught, that the religious
Jews of Judea and the rest of Palestine, hated them with a
passion, and would have nothing to do with them.
When you also understand how most Jewish women were treated
and looked upon by many of the Jewish religious teachers of the
day, as kind of second class citizens, undeserving of much if any
attention when it came to religious matters, then what the
apostle John relates to us about Jesus meeting with and talking
"religion" to this Samaritan woman at a well, is all that more
amazing. What He did was certainly amazing to His disciples, as
they had grow up in a Jewish religious world that was many times
far removed from that which was really of God.
Jesus came to a city of Samaria called Sychar. It was near
the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph many centuries
earlier. There was a water well there called "Jacob's well."
Jesus was getting very tired from walking and sat down to
rest beside this well. It was nearing the hottest part of the
day, about noon. With the sun blazing down from above, the
coolness of the well, with the thought of a nice cold drink, was
very appealing to Jesus.
At the same time up walks a woman from Samaria to collect
water from the well in her container. Jesus' disciples had all
gone to the city to buy food. He had no container to drop down
into the well and retrieve any water.
" I would like you to give me a drink please " said Jesus to
the woman. With utter astonishment the woman replied, " How on
earth is it that you being a Jew, talk and ask me for a drink,
when you know I'm a Samaritan woman? "
John informs his readers that the Jews had no dealings
whatsoever with Samaritans (John 4:5-9).
Jesus now started on what would be a religious conversation
that would lead to great results over the next two days.
" If you knew the very gift of God that sits before you, and
who it actually is that is talking to you and asking you for a
drink of physical water, it would be you who would be asking Him
for the living water that He could give you. "
The woman again looked at Jesus in amazement and said, "
Sir, you speak strangely, for you have no container to draw water
from the well which is very deep, so how could you possibly get
any what you call living water from it? Are you greater than
our father Jacob who gave us the well, and drank from it himself,
as did also his sons and his cattle? "
" Oh, everyone who drinks of this water, " said Jesus, "
shall thirst once more, but whoever drinks of the water that I
shall give them will never thirst. The water that I give will
become like a spring of water welling up and flowing constantly
to eternal life. "
The woman still not getting that Jesus was speaking about
spiritual matters, living spirit, Holy Spirit water remaining and
flowing within the believer, was eager to have some kind of
physical miracle, and so replied, " Sir, please give me this
water, that will make me never thirst again, and never have to
come to this deep well to draw out water. It is hard on my back
and arms to have to do this daily physical chore. "
Jesus knew she was not getting the insight of the true
message He was conveying to her. So He tried another approach.
" Go, call your husband, and come back here " Jesus
requested. " But I have no husband, " replied the woman.
" That is very true, " responded Jesus, " for you have had
five husbands, and the one you are now with is not your husband,
so in saying you have no husband you have answered correctly
indeed. "
" I surely perceive you are a prophet, " said the woman, and
then continued with, " Our fathers worshipped on this mountain;
and you Jews say that the main city to worship God at is
Jerusalem. "
" Well lady, " Jesus replied, " I can tell you this. The
hour is coming when you will not worship the Father either on
this mountain nor in Jerusalem. The hour is coming and even now
is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, for that is the kind of people the Father is
looking for to worship Him. God is spirit not flesh and blood,
and so those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and
truth. "
Jesus was here referring to the time that was to come when
the armies of Rome under Titus would invade Palestine in 70 A.D.,
destroy Jerusalem and other places and scatter the Jews, so no
organized worship of God in some central location would take
place anywhere in that land. Then also Jesus was making a lesson
that certain physical things in the worship of God really meant
nothing to the Father unless the heart was right with Him.
Outward ceremony even in a place that God could approve of was
useless if the inner heart was not acceptable to Him.
" I know the Messiah is coming, he who is called the Christ.
When he comes, he will be able to tell us all things, as you seem
to be able to do, " the Samaritan woman said confidently, but
with a questioning mind as she looked at this man she had called
a prophet.
" I who speak to you am this Messiah, " Jesus said kindly
but firmly to her.
It was at this point, before she could answer or say
anything about what Jesus had just told her, that the disciples
returned from the city and stood there in shock to see Jesus
talking to a woman in private, and a Samaritan woman at that.
They were shocked but none was willing to question Jesus as to
the reason why. The woman knew what was going through the minds
of these other men and so quickly ran off back to the town,
leaving her water jar behind. She was too excited and amazed by
the whole event to worry about a water pot.
The only thing on her mind was to get back to town so she
could tell as many people as would listen, about a man who told
her all that she had ever done. She asked them if it was
possible that this was the Messiah to come. She told them to go
and see for themselves, and many of them did head out of the city
to see the man she was telling them about (John 4: 10-30).
Meanwhile, as all this was happening in the city, Jesus'
disciples were asking Him to eat of the food they had brought to
Him. " I have food to eat of which you know nothing of, " was
Jesus' reply to them.
" Who has brought Him food while we were gone? " said some
disciples to others.
Jesus then told them exactly what He was meaning. " My
nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and
from finishing the work He sent me to do. Do you think harvesting
will not start until the summer is over, four months from now?
Take a look around you! There are vast fields ripening before
your eyes, and are ready for harvesting at this present time. The
harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is
people brought to eternal life. I'm not talking about fruits from
trees and vines. There is great joy for both the planter and the
harvester. You know what they say, 'One persons plants and
another person harvests.' That saying is very true, for I'm
sending you to harvest where you did not plant; others had
already done that work, and you will gather the harvest. "
For centuries God had sent His servants to teach and preach
His word to the people of Israel. Before Jesus came to do the
work of God, there was John the baptist and his disciples
preparing the hearts of the people for Jesus' disciples to reap
what had already been planted in their hearts. It was a spiritual
harvest of food that Jesus talking about, as the main and most
important food to eat and to get busy harvesting.
THE SPIRITUAL HARVEST IN SAMARIA
The apostle John in his Gospel tells us that many Samaritans
from the city the woman came from, believed her testimony that
the man she had encountered at the well did tell her things in
her life that were very true. Many went out to Jesus and asked
Him to stay in that town with them and expound more things to
them about God and His word. Jesus indeed did do so and stayed
with them for two days.
Because their hearts and minds were receptive to be
instructed and taught the truths of God, many more believed the
words of Jesus.
They privately told the woman who first talked to Jesus at
the water well, this: " It is no longer because of your words
that we believe, for we have heard from Him ourselves, and we
know that this man is indeed the Savior of the world, the
promised Messiah, that God in His word said would one day come to
this earth. "
After the second day of being with the Samaritans Jesus
departed and headed for Galilee. He did not go to His own town or
neighborhood for He had said that a true prophet of God is seldom
accepted and given honor by those who knew him running around,
going to school, and growing up in their community.
When it comes to the true religion of God and someone boldly
teaching and preaching it, this is so very true. Many communities
will praise and honor a local person who gets fame, makes it big
time, in say, the movie industry, or singing or music arts, or
professional sports. But teaching the truths of God, that call
for personal repentance and a change of life to conform to the
will of God, that is a whole new ball game, and most who have
known this person from a child, in the local community, will not
give much honor to them.
Especially was this true of Jesus' community, for Jesus was
also preaching that He was the Messiah, the Son of man, and even
the Son of God. Those who had seen Mary and Joseph bring this
Jesus child home with them from Jerusalem, and had lived around
them for years, just could not accept Him as the Son of God, the
promised Messiah.
Jesus was able to harvest a spiritual people into the
Kingdom of God from many parts of Palestine, and the area of
Samaria, but not so from His own area and town where He grew up
as a boy and young man.
AN OFFICIAL'S SON IS HEALED
Arriving once more in Cana of Galilee, where He had made the
water into wine at the wedding feast, an official of some sort
from Capernaum came and begged Jesus to come and heal his son,
who was at the point of death (John 4:46-47).
Jesus a little disconcerted because the man wanted Him to
literally go to Capernaum and do a miracle over the sick body of
his son, said to him, " Unless you see some physical signs and
wonders from my hands, you just will not have faith to simply
believe my words. "
The man's mind just did not really hear Jesus' words, but he
said once again to Him, " Sir, come to my city before my child
dies. "
Jesus answered him by saying, " Go back home, your son will
live. " These words did get through to the official, and he
believed them. So he started on the journey back to his town.
Before he arrived, his servants came out to me him, and told him
that his son was alive and well. He inquired of them as to the
time when his son recovered from near death.
" Well it was at the seventh hour yesterday when the fever
left him, " said his servants. With that information the father
knew that that was the exact hour when Jesus had said to him,
" Your son will live. " The official and all his household
believed that this man called Jesus was from God and very
special.
John tells us that this miracle was the second sign that
Jesus did when He had come from Judea to Galilee (John 4: 48-54).
...........................
Written March 2001
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