Four Encounters

Four Encounters with Jesus (John 3-4)

1. Nicodemus
2. John the Baptist
3. Samaritan Woman
4. Father from Capernaum

These encounters are an opportunity to reflect on our own discipleship – our journey to believing in Jesus. Nicodemus (John 2:23-3:21) Question: Was Nicodemus a disciple? (John 2:23-25; 3:1-21; 7:54-52; 19:38-40)

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night 3:19, This is the verdict…people loved darkness instead of light 9:4, ...night is coming when no one can work. 11:10, If anyone walks in the night, he stumbles… 13:30, …[Judas] went out, and it was night. 19:39, Nicodemus…had come to Jesus by night… Contrast with the Woman at the Well (John 4): Jewish Man, Samaritan Woman Connected in Jerusalem, On the fringe in Samaria Sanhedrin, Abandoned/Divorced Nicodemus came at night, Jesus came at noon Told to be born in water, Offered living water Secretive, Public (Come see)

Reflect: Will you be a person who comes and explores a relationship with Jesus but never comes into a relationship with him as a disciple? Will I leave my discipleship of Jesus ambiguous? Are you content with staying in darkness, or will you come into the light and become a public disciple of Jesus?

John the Baptist (John 3:22-4:3) Wedding (Bridegroom/Best Man) ● John knows and accepts his role in preparing hearts and pointing toward Jesus. ● John 3:30 — “He must become greater; I must become less.” Water was plentiful – this may imply “many waters/springs” and not necessarily deep water – although I do affirm immersion and the normative practice.

Reflect: How do I live out this attitude of John the Baptist – “He must become greater, I must become less”? The Samaritan Woman at the Well (John 4:4-26) Jesus was tired and thirsty ● “The Word became flesh” (Jn 19:28; Mt. 4:2; 8:24; 21:18). ● This does not fit the “docetic” view of Jesus as merely appearing human. Jacob’s Well near Sychar ● Sychar was a village around 30 miles north of Jerusalem. Its precise location is disputed. We likely know the location of Jacob’s well (75-100 ft. deep). However, there is not a direct OT reference to the digging of this well. It may fit into the time Jacob spent here, mentioned in Gen 33:18-20. ● Remember how valuable water was in the ancient world—think about how repetitious a water-run would have been for this woman. Keep track of how often you use water in a given day. Jesus is offering life-giving water that satisfies this constant thirst for more water. Samaritans ● Acknowledged the Pentateuch (Torah) but rejected the Prophets (Nevi’im) and Writings (Ketuvim) [Note: Hebrew Bible = Tanakh]. ● Samaritans had built a temple on Mount Gerizim (c. 400 BC)—the site of blessings (Dt 11:29; 27:12). Notice that there is no reference in the Pentateuch isolating the temple location to Jerusalem. Antiochus IV converted the temple into a temple of Zeus and was later destroyed (c. 108 BC) by John Hyrcanus. The Samaritans then desecrated the Jerusalem temple with human bones. Woman at the well ● The imagery is loaded with OT imagery of finding a husband (Gen 24:11-17; Gen 29:10; Ex 2:16; 1 Sam 9:11). ● As a Samaritan, she is an outsider. ● The norm would have been to go to the well in the cool of the day (and in groups). ● What is her story? – Option #1 -- She has been unfaithful not just to 1 but to 5 husbands, and now is living with a 6th man who is not even her husband. Searching for affection, love, intimacy, pleasure? – Option #2 – She has been abandoned by 5 men. Rejected, divorced, only to be left with a 6th who will not even give her the security of a marital commitment. Can you imagine her insecurities? Her loneliness? Her thirst for affection, to be loved, to be accepted? – Jesus is the 7th man in this woman’s story = “I am he”—Theme in John! Discipleship Paradigm ● Left her water jar ● Come and see ● Testimony (“He told me all that I ever did”)

● Harvest

Reflect: Have I been looking for living water in the wrong places?

Father from Capernaum (John 4:43-54) Desperate Father ● This is a hike any parent would take to find healing for his/her child.

• 18-20 miles
• 1,382’ in elevation (682’ below sea level, 700’ above sea level) ● Official—his position/wealth can’t save his son.

Go, your son will live (4:53) ● We go forth trusting in a healing we can’t yet see. ● He believed (our theme in John)

Reflect: Are you running to Jesus, knowing that he is the only one who can bring life?

Reflect: ● Which of these four encounters becomes a mirror that you see yourself in? ● Which of these do you recognize as being like you in your encounter with Jesus?

Supplemental Material Rebirth & New Creation ● Born again—literally “born from above.” ● Water & Spirit – Water is a key theme in John (cf. 1:29; 6:53; 7:38-39; 19:34; etc.) – Notice that the following context is about Jesus and John baptizing (3:22-26).

Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. ● Allusion to Numbers 21:5-9—The Israelites ended up worshipping this bronze snake on a pole called Nehushtan (sounds like “bronze” and “serpent”)—Hezekiah destroyed it in his reforms (2 Kings 18:4)]. This is interesting in the context of the cleansing of the temple. ● “Lifted up” can mean both “lifted” and “glorified”—in John, the cross brings Jesus glory (8:28; 12:23, 32, 34).

Jeremiah 2:13 — “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Living Water (water occurs 21x in John)

Reflection Questions:

• Will we respond to God in faith and trust, knowing who he is?

• Which of the following encounters is a mirror image of what you see yourself in?

1. Nick
2. John
3. The woman at the well
4. Sick son’s Father