John 4

Reading today is John 4:1-54. Lots in this chapter. Several different scenes, much to chew on.

Some brief thoughts on John 4:

• (v.4). Jesus was tired. Seems like a minor detail, but it is huge. Jesus is fully God, but He is also fully human. Hebrews 2:14-18 tells us how important this truth is. He had to be made like us in every way so that he could be a satisfactory substitute for us. It’s a concept we are all familiar with. If I buy a brand new car and you take it for a test drive and total it, I would want a brand new car as repayment for your wrecking mine. Likewise, we wrecked the perfect car of our humanity, and Jesus pays for the damages by offering the perfect car of his life in our place.

• (v.9). Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman. This would have been scandalous for a Jew to do because of the racial tension between Jews and Samaritans. There’s a tremendous lesson here for us. Racial division and animosity has no place for the Christian.

• (v.14). I think of all the things I thirst for that only satisfy temporarily. Satisfaction in Jesus is not temporary.

• (v.16). Jesus is God. The chapter begins with an emphasis on Jesus’ humanity in is tiredness and just a few verses later we see the attribute of his divinity in his omniscience. He knew this woman’s life, inside and out, just like he knows mine and yours.

• (v.20-24). This is a popular verse that gets kicked around a lot in worship circles and by younger Christians who rail against traditional church. But, honestly, I’ve got a long way to go on understanding what Jesus is saying here. What does it mean for me to worship in spirit and truth? What does that look like daily, hourly, second by second?

• (v.29-30). I’m struck by how freely, simply and passionately this woman immediately shared about her encounter with Jesus. She didn’t need a class on how to evangelize.

• (v.34-38). Don’t wait. Get to work. Now is the time.