Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Unlikely Christians | New Testament | John 4

Episode Date: December 6, 2023

Who is someone in your life that you think are unlikely to become a Christian? Is there a certain group of people? Spoiler alert: Jesus came to redeem all of his creation. Learn more from Jensen as she studies John 4. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: John 4

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. Are there certain types of people that you think aren't likely to be Christians? Maybe you think people of a certain political group would never be a Christian, or a certain ethnicity or race. I'd be willing to bet that there's probably a good chance that you can think of someone in your life that would make you think they would never become a Christian. And you wouldn't be alone. Many of us probably have a particular vision of who we think Christians are, and that person probably looks a lot like us. See, Jews in the time of Jesus would have most certainly believed that God's coming Messiah was coming to redeem Israel, that he would save God's chosen people, the Israelites. John is on a mission to let his audience know that Jesus came not to redeem just Israel, but to redeem all of creation.

You see, in the previous chapter, we saw Jesus sharing the truth of his kingdom with a Jewish leader, Nicodemus. And from that, we learned that Jesus did indeed come to save those from Judea, the Jewish people. But in chapter four, John opens letting us know that Jesus will now be traveling through Samaria to get to Galilee. In verse four, we read that Jesus had to pass through Samaria. And it is true that the shortest, most direct route would have been through Samaria, although this didn't stop Jews from oftentimes taking a longer route to avoid going through Samaria. The Jewish people saw the Samaritans as unclean.

They were descendants of Jews who had married foreigners, and they did not follow the laws strictly. So there was strife between these people groups. They hated each other. They did everything they could not to interact with one another. But John tells us that Jesus had to go through Samaria. The translation of this phrase from the Greek always indicates a divine necessity or requirement in the book of John. Rather than a having to geographically, we should also read that Jesus had a divine call to pass through Samaria.

And as he passes, he stops at a well where he meets a woman. Maybe you've heard the story of the Samaritan woman before? See, Jesus asks her for a drink of water, and she hints at the hatred between Jews and Samaritans when she replies, how is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? And Jesus replies, 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. Then she rightfully points out that he has nothing to draw water from the well.

So why would she ask him for water? But he goes on to tell her that this water that he offers is living water, that will quench all thirst and will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life within the drinker. See, he offers her a different kind of water, but she still doesn't quite get it. Thinking he's referring to real water, she asks for it so she can drink it and not have to come to the well anymore. So Jesus redirects the conversation, asking her to go call her husband. When she replies that she has no husband, he says this. You are right when you say you have no husband.

The fact is you've had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. Sir, the woman said, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. So not liking that Jesus knows the condemning truth about her past, we can see her attempting to shift the conversation. But Jesus is trying to teach her something, trying to share the truth with her, so he redirects back to the heart of the matter.

Verse 21, woman, Jesus replied, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet, a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. For they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit and His worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. The woman said, I know that Messiah called Christ is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Then Jesus declared, I, the one, spirit. speaking to you, I am he.

So she asks a question about where people should worship, and Jesus responds by telling her that a time is coming when the need to worship in the temple or in a specific place will be no more. Instead, God's people will worship in the spirit and in truth, and then He reveals himself to her as the Messiah. The first instance in John where Jesus plainly says that He is the Messiah is to a Samaritan woman. When the disciples return, they wonder why Jesus is even talking to a woman, let alone a Samaritan woman, as she herself wondered. And yet, Jesus reveals who he is to this woman. He bestows

her this honor, this dignity, despite her past, despite her ethnicity, despite her gender, he sees her. He speaks to her. He shares truth with her. Jesus didn't come just for one group of people, he came for everyone. The woman believes the truth that Jesus is the Messiah and she returns to her town to share this good news. Because of her actions, we read a few verses down that many Samaritans believed and came out to hear from Jesus. They say in verse 42 that they now know that Jesus is the savior of the world. These Samaritans in this town saw the truth of Jesus' ministry. He came for the whole world. He came for everyone. Now the final story in this chapter is of Jesus miraculously healing the son of a Gentile officer. And that officer and his entire family

come to believe in and follow Jesus. So in the scope of two chapters, Jesus ministers to a Jew, a Samaritan, and a Gentile. See, John is giving us a clear picture of what Jesus' ministry and and mission is. He came to redeem and restore all of creation. He came for everyone. The kingdom he is building is for all people of every nation, every tribe, every political party, every gender, every race, every socioeconomic status, every age. The truth of the gospel is for the people you expect, the people you hate, and the people you think are too far gone. The outsiders, the outcasts, the unclean, the sinful, the broken, the destitute, the powerful, the weak, the rich, the poor, Jesus' kingdom is for everyone.

See, in the middle of these stories, while they're still in Samaria, Jesus tells his disciples this, when they ask him to eat some food. My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me to finish his work. Don't you have a saying, it's still four months until harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields. ripe for harvest, even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying, one sows and another reaps is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work,

and you have reaped the benefits of their labor. The harvest is ripe. Look around you. Jesus has come to redeem all of creation and to offer hope to all of humanity. The disciples needed this reminder. They needed to be reminded of the work that they have been sent to do. The message of the gospel had come. Jesus was establishing his kingdom and he needed his followers to begin the work of reaping the harvest, of sharing the gospel and rejoicing when anyone, no matter who they are, comes to see the truth. Jesus came for everyone.

His church is for all people and you and I as faithful followers of King Jesus are called to share the truth with the people around us, to hope and pray and believe that the power of the Holy Spirit can transform any heart. To see each and every person, no matter who they are, the way that Jesus saw them, someone worthy of the grace and truth of the gospel. Don't discount the power of the gospel. Don't let your own reservations or judgments get in the way of the harvest that the Holy Spirit is preparing.

Jesus came to be the savior of the world. Every single bit of it. Let's be people who partner with him, who are willing to step across social barriers to share the love, justice, and mercy of the kingdom of God to all people. our friends, our enemies, those we believe are too far gone because no one is outside of the grace of God. By the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, may you and I begin to believe and live out the truth that Jesus' kingdom is for everyone.