"If anyone thirsts, let him come
to Me and drink. He who believes
in Me, as the Scripture has said,
'Out of his heart will flow rivers
of living water.'"
John 7:38
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Hello again....let's pray:
"Holy Father, God, I come to You today to praise Your holy name and thank You for that gift of living water that flows out of my heart thanks to You. You sacrificed Your Son, Your very self, on the cross that I might have eternal life. You alone are worthy of our praise.
I seek forgiveness of my sins in hopes that You will wash me clean with Your water and with the Word.
I pray for the ladies reading this study wherever they are that You would go to them and comfort them. Meet their needs and give them Your peace.
In Jesus' name..........amen."
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John 4:31
"In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, 'Rabbi, eat.'"
So many things had been happening while the disciples went for food: a woman's life had been saved and changed, Jesus reveal Himself as the Messiah, and the woman went to bring the people of the city to the Lord!
This was an historic moment for this Samaritan city. The land they lived on was holy and had a special meaning in scripture. Now they would learn not only how to worship God, but who to worship as well.
Yet, the disciples worried more about food and taking care of their personal needs thinking that Jesus needed their help as well.
Please read:
Luke 2: 41-50
The Feast of Passover easily brought almost a million people to Jerusalem for the week long festival.
Deut 16:1, 16
Ex. 23:14-15
Jesus' own parents also forgot who He was at times. His parents may have brought Jesus to the Passover at this time to prepare him for his later bar mitzvah when he would be made a "son of the commandment" or an adult of the Jewish religious community. There is no mention of why Jesus stayed behind at first or how Mary and Joseph left Him behind, but we read here that Jesus had another purpose for His life other than the human purpose. His parents would soon learn this, but not yet (New Geneva Study Bible Commentary, 1995, p. 1607,
"But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them."
The time for their understanding, like the disciples, had not come yet. But it would.........
Luke 8: 19-21
John 19: 25-27
Soon the disciples would have their eyes and their minds open to the things of God:
Acts 1:4-8
Acts 1: 12-14
They met and were in "one accord in prayer and supplication" which means they had the same purpose or mind.
Only the Holy Spirit can do this.
We see the maturation of the Apostles as they begin their ministry:
Acts 2:14-39
Peter's change from the doubting fisherman with a habit of speaking out of turn to the pastor giving a remarkable sermon can only be by the Holy Spirit.
It is remarkable to read John 4:31 and then read Peter's sermon. You can certainly see how Peter now had the food that is is eternal in his mouth rather than the temporal food of this world.
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Life Application
"Rabbi, eat."
So many times we tend to see God in light of ourselves, rather than see ourselves in light of God. We tend to think God needs us or else His work cannot get done.
Yet, it is we who need Him for life.
I was able to teach 4th graders this week about the needs of animals: shelter, climate, food, oxygen, and water. It was neat to go over these needs, but in my head I was praising God that He provides for us daily.
I praise God that He is eternal and, therefore, has no needs. He did not create because He needed to....He created to be known.
Here the disciples brought Jesus food because they assumed He needed it as they did. Because it was early in Christ's ministry, the disciples had not yet seen His most important miracles to come as well as His transfiguration. They had not truly seen Jesus as God.
But you and I have the complete revelation of Jesus Christ. We are told who He is and all that He did and will do:
Please read:
Rev 1:1-8
How is Jesus described here?
Rev 1:12-18
This description of Jesus is far and away more different than the description of Him when He walked the earth!
Is 53:3
You and I know that Jesus conquered death....that He has no need of anything...no food, no water, nothing. So for us to assume that He needs us to do His work goes against who He is.
We can read what the disciples did verses what the Samaritan woman did even as they BOTH were in the presence of Jesus.
Whose example would you like to follow? The Samaritan woman? or the disciples?
Remember, we know what we worship.
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Until next time.........
"Oh that we might worship the terrible wonder of the love of God! It is not sentimental. It is not simple. For our sake God did the impossible: He poured out his wrath on his own Son- the one whose submission made him infinitely unworthy to receive it. Yet the Son's very willingness to receive it was precious in God's sight. The wrath-bearer was infinitely loved."
-John Piper
(The Passion of Jesus Christ, 2004, p. 23)
Blessings,
Ruth
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