Well did Jesus baptize or didn't he (3:22, 4:2-3)? It seems the latter clarifies that Jesus was there but did not baptize. Jesus goes back to Galilee straight through Samaria. That was not the way most good Jews went, but rather went around Samaria by way of Perea (see the map to the left). Staunch Jewish men would thank God daily they weren't a dog, a Samaritan or a woman. Jesus would meet at a well with one who was a woman and a Samaritan. He talks with her and he drinks water from her utensils (both huge challenges to Jewish custom). Jesus, the teacher, uses the object of water to talk about living water. Much like the conversation with Nicodemus about being born again, they quibble over a play on words. The conversation turns personal as Jesus confronts her about her broken past with men. Because he knows what he should not, she is convinced he is a prophet. Her way of avoiding the painful conversation was to involve Jesus in a debate where God was properly worshipped. I dare say that the response of Jesus is a wonderful pattern for our own contemporary debates over worship music and preaching. What if we lifted our preference oriented discussions of worship to that of worshipping the Lord in Spirit and truth (traditionally, contemporary and everything in between)?
She then talks about the yearning for a Messiah and Jesus tells her that he is the Messiah. The woman believes in Jesus and tells all her friends. Jesus ends up staying over a few days for what ends up to be a revival of sorts. Isn't it interesting that the first great evangelist is a Samaritan woman? It sure did blow the minds of those very Jewish disciples.
The second healing is another one that is unexpected: a son of a royal official in Capernaum (which would become Jesus' main home base). Jesus heals the man's son instantly without having to be there. We have here the side comment that "a prophet is without honor in his home country." I am afraid that is a principle of ministry in general. My most challenging days as a District Superintendent was with the churches I had served as either a Director of Music (we knew you when you were just a kid in his 20s) or as a pastor (we have an angle on you that will allow us to bend the rules if we need to). The same is true when the people you do ministry with can still remember when you were in diapers! There is another aspect to this. It's hard to share a ministry of high ideals with those who have known you really well.
The question in chapter 5 at the pool of Bethesda of the man who had been disabled for 38 years is interesting, "Do you want to get well?" On the face of it, that's a dumb question. "Sure, Jesus, I enjoy having to be carried here and stand in line waiting for a miracle that never comes." But there are times when we don't want to get well. I have counseled with appeal that are so addicted to their anger and disappointment that they don't want to forgive and become whole. The man gives all the reasons he hasn't been able to get well. I've done that one. If I get well or get over something then I have to change. I can't blame those around me "for not getting me into the pool on time." The man is healed and picks up his bed (which exceeded the weight limits of what you could do on the Sabbath) and so rather than rejoice in his healing, the Pharisees accuse him of breaking Sabbath law. Jesus meets the man later. Perhaps some of his sickness was due to his own lifestyle. Ouch!
The rest of chapter 5 is an extended argument with the Pharisees, chiding them for their unbelief and telling them that greater acts are yet to come. John 5:28ff seems to have been fulfilled during the crucifixion. He talks about John the baptist, but it is obvious that John has already been executed. You get the impressioned that Jesus was pretty ticked. It also demonstrates why his critics developed such a hatred of him.
Only John's version of the feeding of the 5,000 in chapter 6, (the only miracle of Jesus recorded in all four gospels)involves the little boy. Always the teacher, Jesus starts asking provocative questions of Phillip, a definite "show me the goods" person. Notice how Jesus organizes the people for the miraculous (gathering them in groups of 20s). Sometimes I think that's what it means to follow Jesus - to provide an environment for God to do the miraculous. There are twelve baskets left over (the biblical number of completeness). What is Jesus trying to teach the disciples?
Another question for teaching purposes is "How do we apply this in a way that people can live out the good news here?" One message is that we learn the sufficiency of Christ, that he not only gives us what we need, but gives us abundantly more than we could ask or think. Another message is that we are not called to share what we don't have, but we are called to share what we do.
After reading John's version of Jesus walking on water, we have an extended discussion on the meaning of the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus chides the crowd for just following him for the food (another ouch for followers everywhere). Like the woman at the well, the bread becomes a chance to talk about "living bread" instead of living water. Jesus says something key to the gospel of John, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." Is it possible that God's main agenda is to make true believers of all of us in all the different arenas of our lives? From verse 41 on, Jesus is once again tangling with "the Jews." To avoid anti-Semitism, it is important to note that these are radical Jewish leaders and not the Jewish people in general. That becomes especially important as we had toward the crucifixion in the beginning of next week. The gross conversation about eating flesh and drinking blood isn't bothersome to us because we understand it in the light of holy communion. Even to this day, detractors of Christians accuse us of canabalism (for eating flesh and drinking blood). Jesus has definitely pushed the envelope here and alienated himself from "the Jews" and some of those who had been fed loaves and fish. What a powerful moment when Jesus turns to his disciples and asks them, "Will you leave me, too?"
The background for the seventh chapter is the Feast of Tabernacles, a celebration of God's provision for the people in the Sinai. Jesus is avoiding Judea because of those who were wanting to kill him. By now the crowd is giving Jesus mixed reviews. The propaganda machine of the Pharisees and Sadducees is working. Jesus teaches at the feast and, of course, has another fight with "the Jews." Notice the ongoing role of Nicodemus.
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