Believe in the Bread of Life
John 6:22-34
Believe in the Bread of Life
John 6:22-34
Main Idea: We can only find true satisfaction by believing in Jesus and submitting our whole lives to Him in faith.
I. Seeking Satisfaction in the Bread of Life (6:22-24)
John 6:22-24: On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
"The Lord Jesus, we should never forget, is still the same.... He reads the secret motives of all who profess and call themselves Christians. He knows exactly why they do all they do in their religion. The reasons why they go to church ... are all naked and opened to the eyes of the great Head of the Church."
~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (Volume 1)
II. Finding Fullness in the Bread of Life (6:25-27)
John 6:25-27: When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
Isaiah 55:2-3: Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
“Are you trying to live without Christ? You might satisfy your ego with success. You might satisfy your material needs with money or your desires with pleasure. But you will never satisfy the inescapable needs of your soul without Jesus Christ.”
~ Richard Phillips, John: Reformed Expository Commentary
III. Believe and Live by the Bread of Life (6:28-34)
John 6:28-34: Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
“The human mind is always flattered when it is conscious of doing something for God. What is more, for his doings man considers himself entitled to a reward. How pleased we should all be if we could only earn salvation! In that case we would have succeeded in bringing God into the humbling position of being in debt to us, and we would love it. But this is not the way of salvation.”
~ James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John
“The works of God” touch every area of life (1 Corinthians 10:31; 15:58) and therefore our submission to God’s word and willingness to “hold fast” to what he commands has eternal significance and impact (Revelation 2:26).
“But we may think it strange that God approves of nothing but faith alone; for the love of our neighbour ought not to be despised, and the other exercises of religion do not lose their place and honour. So then, though faith may hold the highest rank, still other works are not superfluous. The reply is easy; for faith does not exclude either the love of our neighbour or any other good work, because it contains them all within itself. Faith is called the only work of God, because by means of it we possess Christ, and thus become the sons of God, so that he governs us by his Spirit. So then, because Christ does not separate faith from its fruits, we need not wonder if he make it to be the first and the last.”
~ John Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel according to John. Vol. 1
John 6:34: “Sir, give us this bread always.”
The King We Need
John 6:1-21
The King We Need
John 6:1-21
Main Idea: Jesus provides for our truest needs and his presence calms our greatest fears.
I. A Great Miracle (6:1-13)
Jesus and his disciples are followed by a “large crowd… because of the signs that he was doing on the sick” (cf. 2:23-25). The fact that the Passover was “at hand” is significant for this scene and throughout John’s gospel.
Jesus “tests” Philip and his disciples, seeing where they would turn with the obvious problem at hand, already knowing “what he himself would do.” In this moment, the disciples can only think in terms of earthly resources (cf. 2:19-20; 3:3-4; 4:10-11; 5:6-7), knowing they are short on money and the only food available is a young boy’s lunch. They feel the futility of their own resources and power to solve the hunger of the people.
“[Jesus] did not scorn the loaves because they were few in number, nor the fish because they were ‘small.’ How this tells us that God is pleased to use small and weak things!… Dear [Christian], perhaps He is ready to use you—weak, insignificant, and ignorant though you be.… But mark it carefully, it was only as these loaves and fishes were placed in the hands of Christ that they were made efficient and sufficient.”
~ A.W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John
As the miracle unfolds:
Christ has everyone sit down in the grass (cf. Ps. 23:1-2)
He gives thanks and distributes the loaves and the fish (1 Cor. 11:24)
The people had “as much as they wanted” and they had “eaten their fill” (cf. 1:3)
The disciples gather up leftover fragments in twelve baskets
II. A Great Misunderstanding (6:14-15)
Upon seeing this sign, the people rightly proclaim: “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (cf. Deut. 18:15-18). In this miracle, Jesus is reenacting the history of Israel and revealing himself to be a greater Moses (cf. 5:45-46).
However, the crowd tries to “come and take Jesus by force to make him king” (6:15). There was a gap from the king that they wanted vs. the king that they actually needed. The crowd was more interested in the bread that Jesus gives rather than the Bread of Life that Jesus is (cf. 6:26, 35, 41).
Deuteronomy 8:3: And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
“This is not faith but unbelief. They have not understood who Jesus is. Jesus will not be the instrument of any human enthusiasm or the symbol for any human program. To say ‘Jesus is king’ is true if the word ‘king’ is wholly defined by the person of Jesus; it is false and blasphemous if Jesus is made instrumental to a definition of kingship derived from elsewhere. Jesus has come to ‘proclaim liberty to the captives,’ but he will not become the mascot for a people’s movement of liberation. At the very moment when the cry ‘Make Jesus king’ is rending the air Jesus abruptly disappears, leaving both the crowds and the disciples with no visible goal for their enthusiasm … the crowds and the disciples are – in every sense – in the dark.”
~ Lesslie Newbigin, The Light Has Come
III. A Great Misunderstanding (6:14-15)
The disciples found themselves in a storm on the Sea of Galilee, in the dark, and without Jesus. Just as Jesus was “testing” them with the bread (6:6), he is also testing them in the midst of this storm as he looks down on them from the mountain (6:15).
As the disciples make it to the middle of the sea, Jesus walks on water to the boat; this is a clear sign of his divinity as the Son of God in the flesh (cf. Job 9:8; Ps. 65:5-7; 89:9) as well as a greater reenactment of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea (cf. Ps. 77:16-20).
Jesus meets his disciples in the midst of the storm and reassures them: “It is I” (lit. “I am”; cf. Ex. 34:6); therefore: “do not be afraid.” Jesus gives them the miracle of his presence in a place that seemed impossible for him to reach. After they receive Jesus into the boat, they “immediately” arrive at their destination, safe with their Savior.
Psalm 107:25-30: For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits' end.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
These two signs invite us to see that there is a world of difference between coming to Jesus for the things you need vs. coming to Jesus as the thing that you need. “You don’t realize Christ is all you need until Jesus is all you have.” ~ Tim Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering
“Consider the situation when Jesus fed the five thousand: the needs surpassed the resources. What the disciples had in the moneybag was insufficient for their need. In the presence of Jesus, money is not the answer. Human innovation is not the answer. Leadership and initiative from the disciples were not what was needed. The situation called for Jesus. We are inadequate, and that is the point. He can make five barley loaves and two fish enough for five thousand, and he can make our stumbling inadequacy enough to meet the need.”
~ Jim Hamilton, John: ESV Expository Commentary
Isaiah 43:2-3: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
See the Son, Believe the Word
John 5:19-47
See the Son, Believe the Word
John 5:19-47
Main Idea: See the Son. Believe the Word. Come and Live.
I. The Son’s Authority (5:19–30)
Perfect Union (5:19–20)
John 5:19: Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
The Authority to Give Life (5:21, 24–25)
John 5:21: For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
In the Old Testament, the raising of the dead and the giving of life is a prerogative that belongs to God alone.
Deuteronomy 32:39: See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
1 Samuel 2:6: The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Authority to Judge (5:22–23, 27–30)
John 5:22-23: The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Equal Honor (5:23)
John 5:23: ...that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.
To honor the Son is to honor God. To reject the Son is to reject God. There is no middle ground.
II. The Son’s Witnesses (5:31-37)
Jesus calls forward witnesses like a prosecutor in a courtroom. This is covenant lawsuit language, echoing Deuteronomy and the prophets. In Deuteronomy 30, Moses sets before Israel life and death and calls heaven and earth as witnesses. In Isaiah, God summons the nations and presents His case. And now Jesus stands in the dock fulfilling the Law and the Prophets - but as more than a prophet. He is the One to whom all the witnesses testify.
The Testimony of John the Baptist (5:31–35)
John 5:33–35: You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.”
The Testimony of the Signs (5:36)
John 5:36: ...the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
The Testimony of the Father (5:37)
John 5:37: And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen.
The Testimony of the Scriptures (5:39–40)
John 5:39-47: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
The Testimony of Moses (5:45–47)
John 5:45-47: Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?
The Tragedy of Missing the Point (5:41–44)
John 5:41-44: I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you... How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
See the Son. Believe the Word. Come and live.
The Resurrected King
Revelation 1:12-18
The Resurrected King
Revelation 1:12-18
Main Idea: The resurrection of Christ shows his glory and authority and gives us hope in place of fear.
I. The Revelation of Christ (1:12-16)
The Apostle John is given a vision of the resurrected and glorified Lord Jesus, ruling and reigning from heaven as the “Son of Man” (cf. Dan. 7:13-14). He is presented as the one fulfilling the role of:
Prophet (“the voice speaking to me”)
Priest (“clothed with a long robe”)
King (“golden sash around his chest”)
“Jesus was not standing off at a distance while his followers suffered for him. He was right there with them, walking in the midst of them, keeping their fire for the gospel burning, correcting them, watching over them, strengthening them. Some people in this world today are so suspect of the church. They’ve seen too much of what they’ve labeled as hypocrisy, and even though they might be interested in Jesus, the last place they want to be found is in the church. But Jesus is not ashamed to be found in the midst of his imperfect church. It is his preferred place to be. He chooses to be in and among his imperfect people who follow him and serve him in imperfect ways.”
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
John describes (in figurative language) seven things he sees about Jesus’ glorified appearance:
White hair: eternal divine wisdom (cf. Dan. 7:9)
Eyes like a flame of fire: penetrating discernment (cf. Dan. 10:6)
Feet like burnished bronze: strength and stability (cf. Dan. 10:6)
Voice like the roar of many waters: power and majesty (cf. Psalm 29:3; 93:4)
Right hand holding seven stars: sovereign care for his people (cf. Dan. 12:3)
Mouth: a sharp two-edged sword: cutting words of judgment or salvation (cf. Isa. 49:2, Heb. 4:12)
Face radiant and shining like the sun: divine glory (cf. Ex. 34:29ff, Num. 6:25, Mt. 17:2)
II. The Resurrection of Christ (1:17-18)
Though John responds appropriately to this majestic, glorious, and overwhelming revelation of Christ (cf. Isa. 6:5; Jn. 17:6), Jesus touches him and meets him with his grace.
John is told to “fear not” because:
“I am the first and the last” (cf. Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12)
“I am the living one… I died and behold I am alive forevermore”
Acts 2:23–24: … this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
“I have the keys of Death and Hades”
The revelation and the resurrection of Christ means…
He is worthy of our worship
We have hope beyond the grave
We can fear not
“There is no possible cause for fear to any soul that believes in Christ. You shall ransack the corruptions of your heart within; you shall count your trials without; you shall imagine all the tribulations that shall come tomorrow; you shall reflect on all the sins that were with you yesterday and in the past; you shall peer into the shades of death and horrors of hell, but I declare solemnly to you that there is nothing in any of these which you, believing in Christ, have any cause to fear… Carry this fearlessness in your life. Be of good courage. Jesus is King of Hades. Fear not.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, “Christ with the Keys of Death and Hell”
The Suffering King
Hebrews 2:9-17
The Suffering King
Hebrews 2:9-17
Main Idea: In his crucifixion, Jesus defeats the devil, destroys death, and delivers us from fear.
I. Defeats the Devil
Though Satan does not have ultimate power over life and death, he does have influence over the things that cause death. In the Scriptures, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 Jn. 5:19); he is the “ruler of this world” (Jn. 12:31), the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), and the “accuser” of God’s people (Rev. 12:10), whose deception led to death’s entrance into the world (Gen. 3:4).
Genesis 3:15: I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.
Though Satan surely thought he had defeated Christ in his crucifixion, Jesus’ death is actually his victory as he crushes the head of the serpent. Christ has defanged the ancient dragon and his weapons of accusation and the judgment of death, and he now rages on as a defeated foe, “knowing that his time is short” (Rev. 12:3, 12).
Colossians 2:13b–15: … God made [us] alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
II. Destroys Death
Death is an unwelcome intruder into this world because of sin, and it is the “last enemy to be destroyed” (1 Cor. 15: 26). Because of the close connection between sin and death, the only way to destroy death is to defeat sin.
Jesus’ crucifixion is:
1. Substitutionary: “Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself partook of the very same things… he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so he might become a merciful and faithful high priest…” (2:14, 17a)
“The concept of substitution lies at the heart of both sin & salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.”
~ John Stott, The Cross of Christ
2. Sacrificial: “... to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (2:17)
“[The witch’s] knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. The witch would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack, and Death itself would start working backwards.”
~ C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe
III. Delivers us from Fear
Facing death without the hope of Christ inevitably brings about a “lifelong slavery” of the fear of death (2:15). The thought of death confronts us with feelings of finality, uncertainty, and guilt. But for all who are in Christ, we no longer have to fear death because Jesus is the “founder” (‘champion’ or ‘pioneer’) of our salvation (2:10), who has “tasted death for everyone” (2:9).
“All religions talk about death and the afterlife, but in general they proclaim that you must lead a good life in order to be ready for eternity. Yet as death approaches, we all know we have not even come close to doing our best; we have not lived as we ought. So we stay, with warrant, enslaved by the fear of death until the end. But Christianity is different. It doesn’t leave you to face death on your own, by holding up your life record & hoping it will suffice. Instead, it gives you a champion who has defeated death, who pardons you and covers you with his life. You face death “in him” and with his perfect record. To the degree we believe, know, and embrace that, we are released from the power of death”
~ Tim Keller, On Death
The Lowly King
Matthew 11:28-30
The Lowly King
Matthew 11:28-30
Main Idea: Jesus’ heart is gentle and his yoke is light for all who come to him.
I. His Heart
This passage is the unique self-disclosure of Jesus’ heart and his innermost being. His heart is:
Gentle: cf. Matt. 5:5; 21:5; 1 Pet. 3:4; can also communicate ‘meekness’ or ‘humility’
Zechariah 9:9: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Lowly: the idea of being ‘low to the ground’ in humility (cf. Jas. 4:6); Christ’s very heart is accessible and approachable.
Isaiah 57:15: For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Gentleness, meekness, and lowliness often had negative cultural connotations in this time period, which is why many people overlooked and missed Jesus as the long-promised Messiah and the incarnate Son of God (cf. Isa. 42:1-4; Phil. 2:5-7).
“Meek. Humble. Gentle. Jesus is not trigger-happy. Not harsh, reactionary, easily exasperated. He is the most understanding person in the universe. The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms… This, according to his own testimony, is Christ’s very heart. This is who he is. Lowly gentleness is not one way Jesus occasionally acts toward others. Gentleness is who he is. It is his heart. He can’t un-gentle himself toward his own any more than you or I can change the color of our eyes.”
~ Dane Ortlund, Gentle & Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
Christ’s gentle and lowly heart does not make him a “pushover” or timid in the face of injustice and wrongdoing (cf. 11:20-24); rather, his “heart” tells us that his righteous anger is an expression of his love, not in competition or contradiction with his mercy (cf. Ex. 34:6ff; Isa. 55:6-9).
“The OT speaks of God being ‘provoked to anger’ by his people dozens of times. But not once are we told that God is ‘provoked to love’ or ‘provoked to mercy.’ His anger requires provocation; his mercy is pent up, ready to gush forth. We tend to think his divine anger is pent up, spring-loaded and that divine mercy is slow to build. It’s just the opposite. Divine mercy is ready to burst forth at the slightest prick.”
~ Dane Ortlund, Gentle & Lowly
II. His Yoke
“A “yoke” was a wooden crossbeam placed on animals to harness their strength in agriculture and farming. The Bible often talks about a “yoke” metaphorically to represent bondage (Jer. 27:2-7; Isa. 14:25) or submission to a master (Gal. 5:1; 1 Tim. 6:1)
The scribes and Pharisees spoke positively of the Law as a “yoke,” but Jesus indicts them for creating a “burdensome” and heavy yoke around the neck of the people (cf. Matt. 23:4; Acts 15:10). In contrast, Jesus offers a yoke that is “easy” and a burden that is “light.” Rather than throwing off restraints altogether, Jesus invites us to exchange yokes.
Matthew 5:17: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
This yoke of Jesus is an invitation to “learn from him” as his disciple, and to embrace his loving constraints that free us for faithful living (cf. Rom. 6:15-18). 1 John 5:3: For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
III. His Rest
Jesus is offering here what every single person longs for: “you will find rest for your souls.” However, Jesus extends this invitation not to the “wise and understanding" (11:25) but to “little children” who “labor and are heavy laden.”
Labor: those who are weary from their own work, toil, and struggle
Heavy laden: those who are burdened by things outside of their control
The invitation of Jesus is this: whatever has us weary and burdened, let them drive you to the heart of Christ, not away from him. Holy Week reminds us Christ bore the burdens and weight of our sin, shame, and guilt upon himself (cf. Isa. 53:4; 1 Pet. 2:24), so we might have eternal “rest for our souls.”
“Up this way, therefore, did burdened Christian run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load on his back. He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending; and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulcher [tomb]. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulcher, where it fell in, and I saw it no more. Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a merry heart, “He has given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death.”
~ John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress
The Great Physician
John 4:46-5:18
The Great Physician
John 4:46-5:18
Main Idea: Jesus is our Great Physician, and His words have the power to heal.
I. Healing that Leads to Hope (4:43-54)
“It was dependent on the wonder arising from their sight of the signs, not on a realization that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. Their very acceptance of him was thus in its way a rejection. They gave him honor of a sort, but it was not honor that was due to him.”
~ Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (TNICT)
“Jesus detects in the royal official a welcome and a faith that desires a cure, but that does not truly trust him. Indeed, the royal official, in Jesus’ view, exemplifies what is wrong with the Galileans as a whole.”
~ D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (PNTC)
II. Healing that Leads to Hostility (5:1-18)
“The rules of the rabbis were a misunderstanding of God’s design for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was not the means to God’s approval, as the rabbis seem to have suggested. The Sabbath was not merely a rule for humans, but a gift to humans. It was to be used to honor God and to benefit his people. More importantly, Jesus was the Lord of the Sabbath.”
~ John MacArthur, New Testamentary Commentary
“Let us leave the passage with grateful hearts, and bless God that we have such a Gospel and such a Savior as the Bible reveals. Are we ever sick and ill? Let us remember that Christ sees, and knows, and can heal as He thinks fit. Are we ever in trouble? Let us hear in our trouble the voice of God and learn to hate sin more.”
~ J. C. Ryle, Thoughts on John
The Divine Healer
John 4:46-5:18
The Divine Healer
John 4:46-5:18
Main Idea: The healings and words of Jesus reveal His compassion and divinity.
I. Seeking Jesus (4:46-54)
Parallels Between The Signs in Cana
A need is communicated (4:47 cf 2:3)
but he initially rebuffs the petitioner (4:48 cf 2:4)
When the petitioner responds in faith (4:49 cf 2:5)
Jesus gives a command that is obeyed (4:50 cf 2:7-8)
at which point the need is met (4:51-52 cf 2:9-10)
These are then identified as the first and second signs, in response to which people believe in Jesus (4:53-54, cf 2:11)
"If he leaves to return home without Jesus, there is probably not enough time to seek help from anyone else. If he does not believe Jesus can speak the word and the healing comes to pass, he will be inclined to stay and plead with Jesus to come to his son. He can depart in peace only if he believes Jesus can say the word and make his son well."
~ James Hamilton, ESV Expository Commentary
II. Sought by Jesus (5:1-9a)
“If John intends any symbolism, it may be along the following lines: just as the water from the purification pots of the orthodox could neither produce nor be mistaken for the new wine of the kingdom (2:1–11), and just as the water from Jacob’s well could not satiate the ultimate thirst of religious people who may have looked to genuine revelation but whose views were widely viewed as aberrant (4:1–42), so the promises of merely superstitious religion have no power to transform the truly needy”
~ D.A Carson The Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)
III. Stalking Jesus (5:9b-18)
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [that is, Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
~ C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Taste and See
John 4:27-42
Taste and See
John 4:27-42
Main Idea: Those who taste and see will go and tell.
I. Satisfied Soul (4:27-30)
We see here the nature of those who have begun to taste truth, how they do not remain idle with the love of truth conceived in them, but they are zealous for others to know the truth. And they do not separate themselves from others, but they desire them to be joined to them in knowing the truth.
~ Wolfgang Musculus Reformation Commentary on Scripture
II. Submissive Servant (4:31-38)
Deuteronomy 8:3: And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Psalm 147:11: …but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
Psalm 149: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
Isaiah 62:5: For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
Zephaniah 3:17: The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Luke 15:10: Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
"At one level, Jesus is unique as the one sent by the Father, and his work can be accomplished by no one else. At another level, those who know Jesus, those who trust him, must follow his example. Those who follow Jesus and obey the Father can expect to experience this kind of nourishment. They will experience strength and joy multiplying when they do the will of God. They will be happy when obeying."
~ ESV Commentary
Matthew 28:18-20: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
III. Shared Satisfaction (4:39-42)
First by report, then by His presence. So it is to-day with them that are without, and are not yet Christians. Christ is made known to them by Christian friends; and just upon the report of that woman, that is, the Church, they come to Christ, they believe through this report. He stays with them … and many more believe, and more firmly believe, on Him, because He is in truth the Saviour of the world.
~ Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 1.7: St. Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Romans 10:13-15: For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
From Thirst to Testimony
John 4:27-45
From Thirst to Testimony
John 4:27-45
“There has been a long tradition which sees the mission of the Church primarily as obedience to a command. It has been customary to speak of ‘the missionary mandate.’ This way of putting the matter is certainly not without justification, and yet it seems to me that it misses the point. It tends to make mission a burden rather than a joy, to make it part of the law rather than part of the gospel. If one looks at the New Testament evidence, one gets another impression. Mission begins with a kind of explosion of joy. The news that the rejected and crucified Jesus is alive is something that cannot possibly be suppressed. It must be told. Who could be silent about such a fact? The mission of the Church in the pages of the New Testament is more like the fallout from a vast explosion, a radioactive fallout which is not lethal but life-giving.”
~ Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society
Main Idea: When Christ truly satisfies your deepest thirst, your life cannot remain silent.
I. A Soul Satisfied by Christ (4:27–30)
When the disciples return to the well, they are shocked. John tells us, “Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman” (v.27). Everything about the scene defies their expectations.
John gives us a small but profoundly meaningful detail: “So the woman left her water jar and went away into town” (v.28). She came for water, and she leaves with living water.
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
~ Augustine, Confessions
“If we truly drink of the living water, we shall turn away from the broken cisterns of the world.”
~ Charles Spurgeon
John 4:28–30: So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.
II. A Missions Lunch with Christ (4:31–38)
“Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat’” (v.31). They are thinking about bread, about their immediate physical needs. Jesus, however, is thinking about something far greater: salvation.
He answers them with a statement that at first confuses them: “I have food to eat that you do not know about” (v.32). The disciples misunderstand completely, whispering among themselves, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” (v.33). They are still operating on the level of the physical, but Jesus is lifting their eyes to a spiritual reality far deeper.
“The immanent frame is a constructed social space that frames our lives entirely within a natural order.”
~ Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
John 4:34: My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
Our world constantly trains us to focus on what is immediate: productivity, comfort, consumption, and entertainment. We live surrounded by bread, yet starving for meaning.
Jesus invites us into the joy of participating in the work of God.
Jesus points toward the fields surrounding the town. “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest” (v.35). The disciples see farmland, rows of wheat ready for the sickle, the mundane details of rural life. Jesus sees souls. The harvest is ready.
Matthew 9:36–38: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Christ satisfies our deepest thirst, and then He gives us something better than the empty pursuits of the world: a life that matters forever.
III. A Satisfied Soul Shares Christ (4:39–45)
While Jesus teaches the disciples about the harvest, something remarkable is happening in the town. John writes, “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony” (4:39). Her simple testimony becomes the spark of revival. “He told me all that I ever did.”
Her deepest source of shame becomes an undeniable proof of grace.
John carefully traces the progression of belief.
Her Word: Many believe because of her testimony.
His Word: Then, as they hear Jesus for themselves, many more believe because of His word (4:39–41).
Their Confession: “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves” (4:42). Her witness started the journey, but Jesus Himself completed it.
This is the goal of evangelism: not to make people followers of us, but to bring them to Christ.
And then comes one of the most astonishing confessions in all of John’s Gospel: the Samaritans declare, “This is indeed the Savior of the world” (4:42). Not the Pharisees, not the religious elite of Jerusalem, but outsiders, former enemies, those marginalized by culture.
And there is a quiet, cutting irony at the close of the story. John writes, “A prophet has no honor in his hometown” (4:44). In Samaria, outsiders recognize and receive the Savior. In Galilee, familiarity breeds indifference. Being impressed by Jesus is not the same as being satisfied by Him.
When you are satisfied in Christ, you share Christ.
“One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:34). From the cross flows salvation itself. Isaiah had anticipated it: “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). Every thirsty soul must come to Christ crucified—every thirsty soul must come and see the Savior who died that we might live.
Witness is not taught; it is caught from the overflowing joy of having tasted the Savior.