The Gospel
of John – Portrait of Christ
Class 3
CHAPTER 4
Departure from
The rapid growth of Jesus’ popularity caused the Pharisees
to begin their hatred and opposition to him on account of their jealous. Jesus undoubtedly knew how his ministry would
end, so he planed his time carefully and strategically. To avoid a confrontation, Jesus traveled
north returning to
Interestingly, verse 4 indicates that Jesus “had to pass”
through
There was profound contempt between the Jews and the Samaritans.
(Bible Knowledge Commentary) - This was the
shortest route from
Jesus’ Second
Personal Interview (4:5-42)
Sychar was between
Tenny - persistence of Jesus was demonstrated in His
appeals to her. He began on the ground of her kindness. “Give me to drink” is a
request that would be granted to almost anybody.
One would scarcely deny a cup of cold water to his worst enemy. She gave Him what He asked, but could not
resist the opportunity to have a little fun with it. “How is it that thou,
being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman?” (9) In other words,
“We Samaritans are to you the scum of the earth, but we will serve well enough
when you are thirsty!” There was a sting hidden in her jest.
If thou knewest . . . “The mere hint that He knew something that she did not
know was sufficient to change her attitude from badinage to serious inquiry.
Curiosity appeared in her reply. “Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the
well is deep: whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than
our father Jacob, who gave us the well . . . ?“
(11, 12).
Jesus appealed to her
desire. “Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but
the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water
springing up unto eternal life”
(13, 14).
Living Water – Rich imagery based upon the idea of the
supernatural, life-giving, power of God in the Old Testament. "Living
water", as a biblical image, speaks of God, his grace,
New life and the transforming power of the Holy
Spirit. See: Jer 2:13-14; Isa 55:1-2; Zechariah 14:18)
Verse 11 - Like the Jews and Nicodemus before her, the Samaritan woman misunderstands the key terms Jesus uses [1]
John
Tenny - Her reaction
was that of sullen withdrawal. The curt answer, “I have no husband,”
containing four words in English and three in Greek, was spoken probably with a
tone of keen resentment. The reply was true, but was intended as a screen for
her own falsity. She did not wish to be investigated, least of all by a Jew.
John 4:17-18 Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I
have no husband'; [18] for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband;
this you have said truly." Jesus’
use of his prophetic knowledge shocked her, unveiled her dysfunctional life and
need, and at the same time proved that he was no ordinary man.
Shocked and shamed she seeks to divert him to an age
long theological debate between the Jews and Samaritans regarding the place of
worship. John
Tenny -. In effect, He
said, “If you really want to know the truth about worship, you will find it not
in the formula of our fathers, but in the relation of your own heart with God.
You must deal with Him through His Spirit, and on the basis of truth, which
precludes the kind of a life that you are living now.”
New
§ 4:24 must worship in spirit and truth. “True”
worship is contrasted with the worship regulated by the temporary provisions of
the law, especially the separation of Jews and Gentiles and the requirement of
temple worship at
Tenny - “L know that Messiah cometh . . . when he is come, he will declare unto us all things” (25). The words were a confession both of ignorance and of hope.
Verse 26 – (B.K.C.) 4:26. This
self-declaration by Jesus Himself—I… am He (the Messiah)—is unusual.
Normally in His ministry in
Verses 27-30 - With the arrival of the disciples she
leaves (leaving the water pot, she intends on returning) and goes and tells her
neighbors. Saying…A Man who told me
everything I ever did, this would
be sure to excite interest…Also she says…Could this be the Christ? She
asked them. More literally, her question was, “This couldn’t be the Messiah,
could it?” The question expected a tentative negative answer.
My food… is to do the will of Him who sent Me. This does not mean Jesus had no need of physical food, but rather that His great passion and desire was to do God’s will
Verse 35 - Four months more and then the harvest was probably a local proverb. But in the spiritual realm there is no long wait. Jesus has come so now it is the day of opportunity. All that is needed is spiritual vision and perception. If the disciples would look around, they would see people with spiritual hunger. The Samaritans in their white garments coming from the village (v. 30) may have visually suggested a wheat field ripe for harvest.
The Nobleman
of
Tenny - The third interview of Jesus which closed
the series of His public presentations took place in
The nobleman was possibly a courtier of Herod the Tetrarch. His interest in Jesus was prompted by the sickness of his son, Jesus was weary of being solicited for an exhibition of His powers, and His brusque reply was a protest against the popular feeling concerning Him. “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will in no wise believe” (48). He did not want to be regarded only as a worker of miracles or marvels while the message of His person was rejected.
The rejoinder of the nobleman revealed that he was no trifler. The language is heartfelt and emphatic: “Sir, come down ere my child die” (49). The ability of Jesus to perform supernatural deeds was no academic question to the nobleman; it meant the difference between life and death for his son.
The brief answer of Jesus, “Go thy way; thy son liveth” (50), put the man in a dilemma. If he took Jesus at His word, he did so with no assurance beyond that word that Jesus would do anything for him. If he refused to take Jesus at His word, he would insult the very man upon whom all his hopes depended, and so forfeit whatever benefits He might confer. With short and simple command Jesus put the nobleman in the position where he would be compelled to show real faith if he had any to show.
The encounter with the servants on the road showed that the nobleman’s faith was justified. Overjoyed that the boy had recovered, the father believed and his whole house (53).
CHAPTER 5
Chapter 5 begins a new chapter in the ministry of
Jesus, now there is increasing controversy.
From debate and conflict to deadly clash the hostility of the religious
leaders of
The Man at
the Pool 5:1-18
Verse 1 – There are differences of opinion about which feast is taking place since it is not named in the text but it is suggested that it could have been it could have been the Feast of Tabernacles or even Passover. It seems to have been one of the feasts which required pilgrimage.
Verse 2 - Near
the sheep gate there was a pool. There has been much debate over the
location of this pool. In 1880 a painting depicting an angel troubling
the water was discovered on the wall of the
The length of time that this man was sick must be considered significant – 38 years hopeless situation humanly speaking.
Verse 6- Sudden and startling question “Would you be made whole?” Designed to focus his hope on Jesus and to raise his hopes…Could blame the circumstances but does he have the will to be healed if he could be…
Verses 7-8 (BKC) Jesus then said… Get up!
Pick up your mat and walk. His command carried with it the required
enablement. As with dead Lazarus (
(BKC) Muscles long atrophied were completely
restored. Isaiah prophesied that in the days of the Messiah the lame would
“leap like a deer” (See Isa. 35:1-7).
Here in
Verse 10-14 - The man replied that anyone who could
heal him instantaneously and completely also had the authority to tell him to
carry his bed. The Jews did not ask, “Who healed you?” but rather, “Who told
you to do this on the Sabbath?” The man did not know who healed him, and meanwhile,
Christ had disappeared. The man goes to the
16. Persecute Jesus. This verb (Gr diōkō) refers to continued hostile activity even to the point of death (sought to slay him).[7]
17–18. Christ answers by establishing His authority to work on the Sabbath. He was coequal with God the Father. The Jews were angered even more by this statement and sought the more to kill him.[8]
The Claims of Jesus 5:19-29
(Tenny) - The reply of Jesus to the accusations of the Jews
contained not only a new ethical concept
of the Sabbath, but also a new theology.
My Father worketh even until now, and I work,” indicated
that He made the Father His pattern, and that He felt that the Father’s work
constituted sufficient precedent and reason for His. His enemies understood
what He meant, for they sought to kill Him because he had assumed the
prerogatives of deity in calling God ‘his own Father.”
The Father is the source of all life and power, and has bestowed Himself upon the Son in unstinted measure. To the Son He has revealed His purpose and has committed into His hands power in salvation and authority in judgment. The Son, on the other hand, follows carefully the model set by the Father, shares equal honor with Him, and asserts Himself as Lord of the dead and of the living.
The Witnesses 5:30-47
Five witnesses are called forth to substantiate Jesus claim:
Jesus – Verses 30-31
The Father – Verses 30-31 and 37-38 (Audible Voice? SEE At
baptism (Matt
John the Baptist – Verses 32-35
His Works – Verse 36
Moses – Verse 39-47
The Feeding of the
Five Thousand 6:1-15
6:1–9. Christ went across the
10–11.
Christ now takes command of the situation and has everyone sit down. The Lord
gave thanks. Note the prayer of thanksgiving occurs before the miracle.
The miracle provided as much as they would, whereas Philip’s faith was
so little.
12–14. The sufficiency of the miracle did
not mean waste. All the leftovers were to be collected that nothing be lost.
One should never waste God’s blessings. The people saw the miracle (Gr sēmeion,
sign) and were impressed: They proclaimed Him as that prophet (Deut
Tenny’s Summary – A great miracle which is the only one recorded by all four Gospels.
1.) Designed to test the personal reactions of the disciples
2.) It was at the peak of his popularity
3.) A spectacular miracle
Walking on
the Water 6:16-24
To make Him king. The kingship of the
Messiah was to be spiritual, not political. While accepting the title “King of
Israel” (
Tenny - The “not
yet” in verse 17 implied that the disciples were expecting Him to join them.
Their anxiety was increasing as time passed because He had not come, and the wind
was rising. The
They had rowed three or three and a half miles,
so they were in the middle of the lake.
This occurred in the “fourth watch” of the night, that is, between 3 and
Tenny - The appearance
of Jesus must have been startling. Since they were pulling against the wind,
they probably had their backs to it, and were looking back toward the shore
which they had left several hours before. To see a figure approaching them,
moving against the wind faster than the boat could travel, and rapidly
overtaking them would be disconcerting if not unnerving. The greeting of Jesus
was intended to assuage their fears and His entry into the boat insured their
safe arrival.
See Psalm
107:25-31
The Bread of
Life Discourse 6:22-71
Jesus interprets the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. THIS IS DIVIDED INTO THREE SECTIONS
First Section Verses 22-40 Dealing with the Crowd who would make him a food king.
Second Section Verses 41-59 deals with the Jews
spoken in the synagogue at
Third Section Verses 60-71 Deals with the effect of his words and works on his disciples
Verses 22-66
Dealing with the Crowd who would make him a food king.
A new harshness appears in Jesus approach. The design is to rattle these materialistic curiosity seekers who were infatuated with being self satisfied into reality. Jesus draws the distinction between the material bread with its temporal satisfaction with spiritual nourishment which has permanent and eternal satisfaction.
They did not understand the method…they thought that they could do the work of God by their own efforts (Verse 28), Jesus said that the method was trust in him.
They did not understand the significance of the miracle and demand another “sign” as if they had not already seen one. Moses gave manna why not Jesus? Jesus said that he was the bread that nourished people for eternity not just in the here and now.
They did not understand the source
and object of true faith
Those whom the Father gave Him shall come to Him (37a).
Those who come to Him would be certain of welcome (37b).
His reason for appearing among men was to do the Father’s will (38).
The Father’s will was the preservation of those whom He had given to the Son (39).
This preservation is the guarantee of eternal life to the believer, sealed by the resurrection at the last day (39b).
Hendriksen writes: A person cannot be
saved unless he comes to Jesus; he cannot come unless he is given (cf.
especially
Verses 41-60
The murmuring and complaining of the Jews parallels the journey of
The metaphor of eating and drinking is the best possible figure that can be employed to express the assimilation of one body by another, the method whereby life is transferred from the eaten to the eater. The literal eating of Jesus’ flesh and the drinking of His blood were not demanded. Jesus carefully explained that the process was analogous to His living by the Father and certainly eating and drinking could not be literally applied there.
Why wasn’t he clearer here, why did he speak in a metaphor rather than in direct and clear forms? Tenny writes,” It might be expected that His enemies would be mystified by His veiled statements, but it might also be expected that His disciples at least would be sufficiently stimulated by loyalty and curiosity to inquire further what He meant before abandoning Him altogether. John made clear that the defection was no surprise to Jesus. The unbelief of the disciples had been evident to Him from the very first, and His difficult utterances had been spoken for the avowed purpose of disclosing their true position. Their inability to persist in faith apart from the “gift” of the Father (65) was His explanation of unbelief. Unbelief is natural to the sinning heart; saving faith is the gift of God.
John 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, this is a hard saying; who can hear it?
John 6:66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore.
To the
(BKC) You do not want to leave too, do you? He framed this question to encourage their weak faith. The Twelve were affected by the apostasy of the many, and Jesus used that occasion to refine their faith.
6:68-69. Peter, as a spokesman, gave his confession of faith. The
path may be difficult, but he was convinced that Jesus’ words lead to
life. No one else has the gift of eternal life. “We have believed and
have known” is a better translation of the Greek perfect tenses (niv: We believe and know). Peter
was confident of the apostles’ commitment to Jesus as the Holy One of God.
6:70-71. Jesus then asked, have I not chosen you, the Twelve?
John’s Gospel does not record Jesus’ choice of the Twelve. He assumed his
readers knew the Synoptics or common church tradition (cf. Mark