Tag: Jesus

15.e. ““Sir, give me this water”

John 4:7  Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

The woman was impressed by the friendliness of Jesus. It was unusual for her to hear a kind greeting from a Jewish man, for, generally speaking, Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. For many reasons, this woman would have been despised by most of the religious leaders in the days of Jesus. She was a woman, a Samaritan, and a woman of questionable reputation. Yet, in the interview with Nicodemus John showed us, Jesus has something to say to the religious establishment. In the meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well John showed us, Jesus has something to say to those despised by the religious establishment.  Jesus says a couple of things that invite curiosity in this woman; “If you knew the gift of God”, “If you knew who it is who says to you”, “He would give you living water”.

These same questions are asked over and over again to the heart, mind, and soul of individuals every day; “Do you know Jesus Christ, the gift from God”, Do you know who it is and why He was sent”, and “Do you know that all who believe in the living water, Jesus Christ will have eternal life”?

The answers to these questions get answered many different ways; I don’t know who Jesus Christ is but I want to hear more about the Gift of God and eternal life, I have heard of this Jesus Christ and think He must have been a special man but what does that have to do with me, I am a good person and have no need of the Gift or the living water, I have heard of Jesus Christ and think He is a fictional character made up by man.  I am so much wiser than those weak-minded people who are swayed by fairy tails. I think it is foolish to believe in fairy tails like Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, or Jesus Christ.

We never know when the Holy Spirit of God will reveal to our hearts the Gift, Need, and Eternal Live.  Does this revelation hit deaf ears and stone-hard heart, or does it land on waiting ears and softened heart.  This is a mystery I do not understand.  Some of those with the deafest ears and hardened hearts somehow get softened and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Some of those with what appears to be receptive ears and pliable hearts respond with rejection.  Every person will have a chance to accept or reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Eternal life or eternity in Hell is based on the choice to believe in, cling too, rely on, and trust in Jesus Christ.

15.d. “He left Judea and departed again for Galilee.”

John 4:1  Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

Although the road through Samaria was the shortest route from Jerusalem to Galilee, pious Jews often avoided it. They did so because there was a deep distrust and dislike between many of the Jewish people and the Samaritans. When the Babylonians conquered the southern kingdom of Judah, they took almost all the population captive, exiling them to the Babylonian Empire. All they left behind were the lowest classes of society, because they didn’t want these lowly regarded people in Babylonia. These ones left behind intermarried with other non-Jewish peoples who slowly came into the region, and the Samaritans emerged as an ethnic and religious group. Because the Samaritans had a historical connection to the people of Israel, their faith was a combination of commands and rituals from the Law of Moses, put together with various superstitions. Most of the Jews in Jesus’ time despised the Samaritans, disliking them even more than Gentiles – because they were, religiously speaking, “half-breeds” who had an eclectic, mongrel faith. The Samaritans built their own temple to Yahweh on Mount Gerizim, but the Jews burned it around 128 B.C. This obviously made relations between the Jews and the Samaritans even worse. “Their route from Jerusalem to Galilee lay through the region beyond the Jordan. This was considerably longer, but it avoided contact with the Samaritans. Those who were not so strict went through Samaria.” (Morris) It says that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. The need wasn’t because of travel arrangements or practical necessities, but because there were people there who needed to hear Him.  (enduring Word)

The road to our heart, mind, and soul is the road that Jesus traveled. The road to our salvation and redemption is one that Jesus traveled.  He chose this road and chose to come and meet us.  He actually chooses to follow this road right up to the door of our heart.  Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone should hear My voice and open the door, then I will come into him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”  Jesus was not lost when He came to the door of your heart.  He purposefully came there seeking you.  Not anyone else.  Do you ever wonder how long he will stand there waiting?  At some point will He absolutely know the door is locked and will not open for Him?  It is not as though we say “Go Away”, but rather we just don’t answer the knock at the door.  If the knock is loud we may even run deeper into ourselves to get away from being able to hear it.  Imagine the sight of Jesus, the Son of God, standing at your door and calling out for you to open it and you saying nothing or maybe you say go away.  Hebrews 3:15 “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts”.  Jesus chose to come to the door of your heart and asked you to open it to Him.  Do not reject this offer of eternal life through Him.

15.c. “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

John 3:31  He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Philippians 2:9-11     Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Ephesians 1:20-21   that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

John 3:12    If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

 John wanted everyone to know where Jesus came from. Jesus was different from everyone else because He came from heaven. He wasn’t an exceptionally spiritual or wise or good man; He was and is God, from heaven. Jesus is not only different from everyone else; Jesus is also greater than everyone else. If we want information about a family, we will get it at first hand only from a member of that family. If we want information about a town we will get it at first hand only from someone who comes from that town. So, then, if we want information about God, we will get it only from the Son of God; and if we want information about heaven and heaven’s life, we will get it only from him who comes from heaven. (Enduring Word)

There is a heavy price to pay for rejecting the Son of God.  When Jesus is rejected, so is God. Why does a man think they can reject the Son of God and somehow still receive eternal life? This is not possible and is a delusion, lie, and a fool-paradise.  The wrath of God awaits every soul that rejects the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The wrath of God is not fading away.  It is being held in check by His grace, mercy, and love until the fulfillment of His purpose and plan and timing.  Those that die while still rejecting Jesus Christ will enter eternity, but not in heaven.  Hell is their eternal reward for this rejection of salvation, redemption, and forgiveness.  Torment, darkness, pain, and anguish for eternity.  It is an intentional choice to receive or reject the gift of life through Jesus Christ.   Eternal consequences are the direct result of this choice.

15.b. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 3:22  After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison). Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Jeremiah 1:5    “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

1 Corinthians 4:7    For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Matthew 25:15     To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

1 Corinthians 12:11    All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Romans 12:6   Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us

1 Corinthians 15:10    But by the grace of God I am what I am,

James 1:17    Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

1 Peter 4:10-11  As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:  whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 John’s disciples seemed alarmed, but it didn’t bother John one bit. John would not allow envy or the fickle crowds make him forget his mission: to announce that the Messiah had come, and then to step back and let the attention be focused upon the Messiah. John first answered his worried disciples that everything he had – including those who responded to his ministry – were a gift from God. If they are God’s gift, then they should be received gratefully. John then reminded his disciples that he knew who he was, and he also knew who Jesus was. Understanding that, he could keep his proper place; not too high (thinking he was the Christ) and not too low (thinking he had no call or place in God’s plan). John explained to his followers that he was like the best man at a wedding; he isn’t the bridegroom. He isn’t to be the focus of attention, but to supervise the bringing of two people together.  “John had no sense of envy or rivalry. It is not easy to see another’s influence growing at the expense of one’s own; it is even less easy to rejoice at the sight. But John found his joy completed by the news which his disciples brought.”  John the Baptist understood it was good for him to become less visible and known, for Jesus to become more visible and known. In even larger aspects, this should be the motto of every Christian, especially leaders among God’s people. Jesus should become greater and more visible, and the servant should become less and less visible. John that Baptist also did not quit his work just because Jesus was doing a similar work and doing it for more people. He labored on, content to do what God called him to do even though Jesus gained more and more attention and John less and less.

14.z. “So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

John 3:13  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Proverbs 30:4     Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know!

Ephesians 4:9     (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?

Numbers 21:7-9    And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.  And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”  So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

2 Kings 18:4   He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).

John 8:28     So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

John 12:32-34    And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus “makes it clear that He can speak authoritatively about things in heaven, though no one else can.” Jesus made a remarkable statement, explaining that the serpent of Numbers 21:4-9 was a picture of the Messiah and His work. The people were saved not by doing anything, but by simply looking to the bronze serpent. They had to trust that something as seemingly foolish as looking at such a thing would be sufficient to save them, and surely, some perished because they thought it too foolish to do such a thing. As it says in Isaiah 45:22: Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. We might be willing to do a hundred things to earn our salvation, but God commands us to only trust in Him – to look to Him. “Nicodemus had failed to grasp the teaching about the new birth when it was presented to him in terms drawn from Ezekiel’s prophecy; now it is presented to him by means of an object-lesson, from a story with which he had been familiar since childhood.” Belief consists of accepting something, not doing something.  When the disciples asked Jesus what work of God they must do, He replied; “Believe in the one He has sent”.  When  Paul was asked by the jailer “What must I do to be saved?”, Paul replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ”.   

To those who know they are perishing, they seek help and redemption from that which is causing it.  Like a breath of air to the drowning.  Like a physician’s healing to the sick. Like water to those on fire.  Like food to the starving. Like the Israelites bitten by fiery serpents.  Like Jesus Christ to the sinner.  Unless the person realizes they are in need or realizes there is a need, they will not be seeking help and redemption from that which is causing it.  The drowning man can’t breathe, the sick person is feeling bad, the person on fire feels the pain of burning, the starving are hungry, and the Israelites were dying from snake bites, these all felt the physical pain and realized the need for help and redemption.  The pain of sin, when realized, is more than physical pain, it is soul-deep and affects the entire body, heart, mind, and soul.  When is sin pain realized?  When the heart, mind, and soul are exposed to the Word of God and His Holiness. Many are walking around with their soul drowning in their sin but do not seek the breath of air found in Jesus Christ.  Many are walking around with their soul-sick in the sin but do not seek the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.  Many are walking around with their soul burning from sin but do not seek the living water of Jesus Christ.  Many are walking around with their soul starving in sin but do no seek the bread of life found in Jesus Christ.  The need for Jesus Christ is more urgent than anything in this world.  Just because others do not believe you are drawing, on fire, sick, and starving does not make it true.  Seek God’s Word and allow it to lead and guide your heart and mind and soul.

4.y. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:1   Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “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.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.

1 Peter 1:3    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Peter 1:23-25     since you have been born again, not of perishable seed

1 John 2:29    If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

1 John 3:9    No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

1 John 5:1    Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

1 John 5:18  We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

To be born from above is to be born again.  “If we were asked to read to a dying man who did not know the gospel, we should probably select this chapter as the most suitable one for such an occasion; and what is good for dying men is good for us all, for that is what we are; and how soon we may be actually at the gates of death, none of us can tell.” (Spurgeon)  “To belong to the heavenly kingdom, one must be born into it.” (Tenney) Jesus’ reply to Nicodemus shattered the Jewish assumption that their racial identity – their old birth – assured them a place in God’s Kingdom. Jesus made it plain that a man’s first birth does not assure him of the kingdom; only being born again gives this assurance. (Guzik)  Jesus clearly said that without this – that unless one is born again – he cannot enter or be part of (see) the kingdom of God. Moral or religious reform isn’t enough. One must be born again.  This isn’t something that we can do to ourselves. If Jesus had said, “Unless you are washed, you cannot see the kingdom of God” then we might think, “I can wash myself.” A man might wash himself; but he could never birth himself.  All over the New Testament this idea of rebirth, re-creation occurs. Being born anew by God’s great mercy, being born anew from an imperishable seed, the washing of regeneration, dying with Jesus and rising anew, new-born babes, being a new creation in Jesus,  the new man is created after God in righteousness, are all New Testament references to being “Born Again”.

 Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: If a nation passed a law that said no one could live there except those who were born in that nation, and someone wanted to live there who was not born there. It wouldn’t matter if he took a name that was common in that nation. It wouldn’t matter if he spoke the language.  It wouldn’t matter if he observed some of the customs.  It wouldn’t matter if he dressed like those in that nation.  It wouldn’t matter if he practiced some of the religious traditions of that nation.  It wouldn’t matter if his parents were born in that nation.  It wouldn’t matter if his children were born there.  It wouldn’t matter if he had many friends in that nation. All that would matter was if he was actually born there.  “A man may cast away many vices, forsake many lusts in which he indulged, and conquer evil habits, but no man in the world can make himself to be born of God; though he should struggle never so much, he could never accomplish what is beyond his power. And, mark you, if he could make himself to be born again, still he would not enter heaven, because there is another point in the condition which he would have violated — ‘unless a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” (Spurgeon)  Without the new birth of the Spirit, the flesh taints all works of righteousness.

14.w. “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times”

John 2:18   So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

John 6:30   So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?

Matthew 21:23   And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Acts 4:7    And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

Mark 8:11   The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.

Matthew 12:38-42    Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”  But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

Matthew 16:1-4    And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.  He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’  And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.  An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

“But you cannot interpret the signs of the times”.  Wars, rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes, ungodliness, lawlessness, rioting, hate, fear, delusion, false teachings, unable to separate false from the truth, falling away from God, and denying God, in more and more increasing numbers and occurrences are all signs of the times and the return of Jesus Christ.  These are signs but where is the voice crying out in the wilderness proclaiming them?  We understand the “World” not seeing and believing but why is it the Christian church silent on these signs?  Have we diluted our walk with Jesus Christ to the point where we are unable to see them ourselves?  Have we bought into a lukewarm comfortable life so close in resemblance to the unbelievers that our eyes are closed to the signs?  Have we strayed far enough away from Jesus Christ that our pastors and teachers, wanting to be culturally correct, do not preach and teach the signs of the times?  Is our heart turning to stone and we are not allowing the Holy Spirit into it to teach, lead, and instruct us?

Some may say we have had wars, famine, disease, riots, wars, earthquakes, etc…. and Jesus has not returned.  It was not true before and is not true now.  The frequency surely has increased and yet it is denied.  The number of countries across the globe experiencing these signs is overwhelming and yet it is denied.  When there should be repentance and a turning to Jesus Christ there is denial and defiance.  Where there should be preparing and looking for the return of Jesus Christ there is denial and defiance.  When there should be a proclaiming of the signs of the times there is silence.

In the last days, God will send a strong delusion and people will grab hold of this like finding a lost treasure.  They will believe they have found truth and they are fighting for the right cause and belief.  They believe lies because they have denied the truth.  These too are signs of the soon return of Jesus Christ.  All of the warnings and signs have been given so that through them people will repent and turn to Jesus Christ.  When Jesus Christ returns will He find you watching and waiting or unprepared?  I imagine there are many right now that are waiting for signs before they get serious about their faith in Jesus Christ.  It is both “not too late” and “too late”.  It is never too late to repent and trust Jesus Christ but the signs would indicate the return of Jesus is closer than ever before.  A heart that rejects the need for redemption and salvation through Jesus Christ will certainly reject the signs of His soon return.   Rejection is an intentional choice.  You are just one breath away from eternity and your choice of belief or rejection will determine Heaven or Hell, blessings or torment, peace or anguish, Eternal light or complete darkness.

Jesus has called us to believe and trust in Him alone.  He has demonstrated His love for us in that He died for our sin.  He has promised blessings now and for eternity. He has told us He will return to gather us onto Himself.  He has told us what the signs will be to indicate His pending return and that we are to watch and be ready.  And He has given warnings of what awaits those who reject Him. If you choose to reject His love how much more will you receive His wrath?  Watch and be Ready!  The signs are there if you are seeking and desiring the return of Jesus Christ.

14.v. “They have hearts trained in greed.  Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray.”

John 2:13  The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Jeremiah 7:11     Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.

Isaiah 56:10-11   All you beasts of the field, come to devour— all you beasts in the forest.  His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.  The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

1 Timothy 6:5    and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

2 Peter 2:3    And in their greed they will exploit you with false words

2 Peter 2:14-15    They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!  Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing,

Jews came to the Temple from all over Israel, indeed from all over the known world. Most of the time, they couldn’t bring animals with them to sacrifice.

Moreover, Passover was the time that people paid the annual temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27; Exodus 30:13, 26). In Jesus’ day, many kinds of coinage were circulating. The  Romans, of course, had their own coins, but so did many kings and city-states across the empire. The various Herodian kings issued coins, as did the Phoenicians, Aegeans, Corinthians, and Persians. If these were voluntary offerings, perhaps, coins from these various countries and kingdoms might have been accepted. But this was a tax, not an offering. So, probably because of its exact weight and good alloy, Tyrian coinage (from Tyre) is specified in the Mishnah as the only coinage acceptable for the temple tax. Of course, there was a fee to exchange one’s coins for the Tyrian coins. The chief priest controlled the entire enterprise of money-changing and sale of sacrificial animals — and got his percentage of the gross. The sacrificial animals and money-changing tables were located in the Court of the Gentiles within the temple grounds. So the place designated for believing Gentiles to pray and worship was cluttered with the clink of coins, the braying of animals, and the sounds of commerce — hardly a place of peace wherein to seek the Lord. Jesus was offended, not that pilgrims needed to purchase sacrificial animals — cattle, sheep, goats, doves/pigeons, etc. — but that God’s house had become perverted from its main function as a house of prayer, and turned into something resembling a market, at which everyone brought their products, set up stalls, and crowds came to do their shopping.

Psalm 69: “I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother’s sons; for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.”

I recently asked my Pastor about something that had been on my mind for a while and I could not wrap it up to understand it.  I love to listen to godly expositional preaching on the radio when I am driving.  There are some who seem to bring the Word of God alive.  The problem I had was at the end of their message there were 3-5 minutes of requesting money, need for money, and promise of blessing for sending in money.  To add to this problem I routinely would visit their web sites and read their sermon.  During visits to their web-site, I would be required to give my email address.  During my visit to their web site, there were pop-up ads for donations.  After they had my email address I would at least once or more per day get offers of deeper meaning to enhance my walk, through books, tapes, pod-casts., and other teachings for either a minimum donation or a flat fee.  This was the problem for me, there were more promotions and marketing for selling and making money than there was for proclaiming God’s Word.  The second concern I had was for what I was hearing on certain Christian radio stations.  They were offering a chance to win something.  If you call in and donate today we will enter you into a “chance to win” this once in a life time experience.  They all seem to be exchanging the humble sacrificial giving of a servant of Jesus Christ for a personal book that will bring you closer to God or a game of chance.  In either case, they are robbing that person of giving the honor and glory to Jesus alone.  I have no problem with being made aware of a need for a ministry.  It is when a ministry converts to using worldly marketing and cultural enticements to obtain donations or sell merchandise that I think it is wrong.  My Pastor said this “God’s will, God’s bill”.  God will provide, empower, and supply for those who do and follow His will.  When we go about commercializing His Word  He is not being honored or glorified or worshiped.  God’s Word is given to us by our loving heavenly Father and its application in our lives is through the Holy Spirit’s leading, and the blessings that come from and through His Word are rewards directly from and through Jesus Christ. God’s Word and its application into our lives is not something that can be bought and sold.

Some scripture is difficult for me to understand and I go searching for help.  I came across “The Enduring Word” website by David Guzik and his commentaries on the bible.  I have used it often and especially when studying the Old Testament.  I notice early this week that other than personal use permission must be given.  I had been using this commentary for over a year.  I sent David an email confessing my use and how I used it.  This was his response “Please, don’t worry at all about citing or using my online commentary in the preparation of your devotional writings. I make my material freely available; my main concern is that they would not be sold in some form without my permission. I’m happy to hear the online resources have been of some use to you.”   

To me, this is a humble heart wanting to honor and glorify and proclaim Jesus Christ.  We do well to seek God’s discernment in applying His Word without contaminating the honor and glory Jesus Christ deserves.

14.u. “Do whatever he tells you.”

John 2:1   On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

Shortly after Jesus told Nathanael that he would see greater things they are at a wedding in the small town Cana.  Cana was the home town of Nathanael.  This first sign of Jesus was in an insignificant place.  He did not go to a big flashy wedding but to a small village.  We should note Jesus comes to the lowly not arrogant.  His birth was proclaimed too lowly shepherds.  His disciples were from lowly occupations.  His mother was a virgin engaged to be married to Joseph a carpenter. Jesus was rejected by the teachers, rabbis, and rollers but was worshipped by the lowly.

It is hard to imagine what Mary was thinking when she told Him “They have no wine”.  Did she expect Jesus and His disciples to go buy some from somewhere?  Did she think He would do a miracle?  Even after Jesus says “Woman, what does this have to do with me?  My hour has not yet come.”, Mary tells the servants to do whatever He says.  Whatever Mary was thinking one thing is for sure, she trusted Jesus and did not lay any expectation out on what Jesus should do other than leaving it into His hands to accomplish.  There must have been some worry in Mary for the family of the bride and groom.  I have read where running out of wine at the wedding feast would have been demeaning to the family.  Mary could have been helping the bride’s family at this wedding and this could have been the reason for Jesus and His disciples being invited.  This is nothing more than speculation and adds nothing to Mary’s trust and faith and Jesus’s power over creation.  I am not sure why John laid out in detail the volume of the jars or to the fact they were filled to the brim with water.  Possibly to point out there was no way to add anything to the jars.  Mary’s trust and faith should be an example to us.  When we have a problem give it to Jesus without trying to tell Jesus how to handle it.  This reminds me of; “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  They trusted in God without laying out the expectations of what God should do.  They had faith God could save them if He chose to and they were content if He chose not to.

We do well to grow our faith and trust in Jesus to the level of being willing to allow what He deems best in our lives.  He alone is able to do more than we think and much more than we can imagine.  Why do we presume we know what is best and for that matter, how to do it?