Gospel of John: Woman at the Well

Woman at the Well

text: John chapter 4

Outline:

A. 4:1-6, Geography remark on the reasons to go through Samaria to Galilee

  B. 4:7-26, Conversation with Samaritan woman at the well about Christ

    C. 4:27-38, Food discussion with the disciples

  B'. 4:39-45, Samaritans believe “for themselves”

A'. 4:46-54, Jesus comes to Galilee, healing of a boy.

Comments: This is one of the most complicated chapters in the Gospel of John. There are few pairs of tensions: Jews vs. Samaritans; man vs woman; wells vs mountains; faith of Samaritans vs Ministry in Cana. Let us walk through the chapter to see the beauty of the Gospel.

Woman at the well. There is a symbolic level of this story. We have at least three stories in the Books of Genesis and Exodus when a man meets with a bride at a well. Abraham sent a servant to find a wife for Isaac, and he meets Rebekah by the well (Genesis 24:11-15). Jacob meets Rachel by the well (Genesis 29:9-10). Moses meets his wife by the well (Exodus 2:17-17).

Add to this – Jesus became the seventh man in the life of the woman. She was married five times, now there is another (sixth) man, then comes Jesus – the man of Sabbath. He gives her rest. To understand it we should note that she comes to fetch the water at noon – she preferred the heat of the sun vs. heat of the remarks of the local women. But at the end of the story she runs to the city and – what is very important – people believe her and take words respectfully.

Wells turned into mountains. What began at the well under the blazing sun turned into a conversation about the mountains. From one of the lowest places they shift the attention of their dialog to the highest. And Jesus leads her to the ultimate understanding – the point is not for US to climb a mountain, the point is to meet with the Father, who is actively seeking the worshipers in the Spirit and the truth through Jesus the Messiah (John 4:23-26, cp. John 14:6).

Evangelism “questions” of Jesus. To bring her to this realization Jesus leads the woman through the maze of question. He starts with a simple proposition – asking for the water. John explains it in the most obvious way – disciples are gone and He wanted her to help Him. She could've simple give Him a drink – and that would be the end of the story. Yet, she is a smart and a curious woman. She engages in a conversation. Every request, question, or statement Jesus makes has an open-ended character. She could stop Him at any given point – being upset, or offended, or... fill the blank... But she doesn't end until Jesus reveals Himself as the Messiah. This news frees her to rush to her hometown, sharing this Good News or the Gospel (John 4:29-30).

After two days the people of Samaria, Jesus leaves (on the third day). Two things worthy to be noted here: first, their personal encounter of Jesus (John 4:42); second, the faith of Samaritans vs the rejection of the Pharisees (cp. John 4:1).

Food as doing God's will. While she is gone and the people of Samaria didn't come yet, the disciples got an important lesson, a lesson on the food from God. When we think about the food – it is something that we eat. We eat to get “fuel,” for pleasure, for the joy of fellowship. All of this three aspects of food are given in Jesus' statement about doing the will of the Father (John 4:34). Then the Father prescribes the actions to do – they feed us, as the sacrament of the Altar.

Son of Capernaum official is healed at Cana. The distance between Cana and Capernaum is about 20 miles – a day of travel. The official came to Cana to meet Jesus, as the healer. There is a short conversation between them, where Jesus tries to point him toward faith, believing in the Son of God (John 4:48). But it doesn't look like the man is interested in Jesus as the savior – he simply wants his son to be healed. And what is interesting, is Jesus grants him his request. Son will be healed, but nothing else.

This shows Jesus as a compassionate Savior of the world – He responds to people's requests (not always grants all of them), but He never forces people to relate to Him. He man was looking for son's wellness, and nothing else. Jesus grants his request, which leads to man's realization that Jesus didn't requires anything in return, healing his son immediately by His mighty Word. This resulted in faith of the man and his [whole] household (John 4:53).

This sign-faith connection is going to be expanded when Jesus will address Thomas – blessed are those who didn't see but believed (John 20:29), speaking about us. We believe because of the Word reviled in the Bible and the Sacraments (AC V:2). This faith gives us the reason to ask and pray to the LORD for the health, help, and support of our loved ones and ourselves.

Gospel of MARK: Two banquets

Two “banquets”

Text: Mark 6

Outline:

A. 6:1-6, Jesus is rejected at Nazareth

  B. 6:7-13, Jesus sends out His disciples

    C. 6:14-29, Banquet of Herod

    C’. 6:30-44, Banquet of 5000

  B’. 6:45-52, Jesus comes to His disciples by water

A’. 6:53-56, Jesus is accepted at Gennesaret

Comments: Let’s begin with the structure. A and A’ talk about Jesus reaching out to people in two different places (no other stories name the places), mentioning also “villages” (v. 6b, 56). B and B’ talks about Jesus sending out and coming to His disciples. C and C’ have stories of two banquets – one is Herod’s birthday, the second one where Jesus feeds 5000.

COUNCIL in JERUSALEM

Council in Jerusalem

The Passage: Acts 15:1 – 16:5

Structure:

a. 15:1-2, Circumcision

 b. 15:3, Visit of towns

  c. 15:4-6, report at Jerusalem

   d. 15:7-11, yoke

    e. 15:12, Paul and Barnabas

     f. 15:13-21, Words of Jacob/James

    e’. 15:22, Paul and Barnabas

   d’. 15:23-29, burden

  c’. 15:30-35, Report at Antioch

 b’. 15:36-41, Visit of towns

a’. 16:1-5, Circumcision

Historical and geographical context: Chapter 8 tells us that everyone left Jerusalem during great persecution but apostles. Two things to note here: first, during these years Jerusalem church re-gained more people (due to evangelism and return). Two: one of the strongest parties within the church became the Pharisaic party – Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah but pushed the necessity to obey “the customs of Moses” to be saved. Their “mission” to Antioch resulted in Jerusalem council.

Paul and Barnabas are the main proponents of Una Sancta – One and Holy church. Their mission experience impacted their theological presuppositions.

On their way to Jerusalem Barnabas and Paul go through Phoenicia and Samaria. Two Gentile territories whose representatives accepted Jesus – Syrophoenician woman (Mk. 7:24-29) and the woman at Samaritan well (John 4). 

Theology:

Development of the authority structure in Jerusalem church. It used to be apostles with St. Peter as a spokesman (see ch. 6 – decision about diaconal office). Now, it is apostles and elders. Knowing what duties St. Paul assigns to bishops/overseers (1 Tim.3) and elders (Tit. 2), we need to differentiate elders in the Bible from the elders in the LCMS (unfortunately). Yet, the point remains – by the time of Jerusalem council, the church was governed not only by the apostles who “saw Jesus” but also by the godly men who came to faith later on. 

To understand the point of the story, we need to ask ourselves: what was the question? The answer: the way people come into the com-unity, not their sanctification. It was a challenge for “admission office” of the church – who and how can be counted as a full-right church member. This chapter should not be used as a background for antinominalism (cp. FC, 6 [both Epitome and SD]). At the same time, we should not forget the immediate example of Timothy. Comparing it with Ex. 4, we can see his circumcision as a dedication to a particular mission.

What does the restoration of the Tent of David point to? When Jacob refers to theology of Zion (vv. 16-17) he addresses two questions: first closeness of relationship with God, as the Tent of David allowed. Second, the other nations will be attracted to this closeness and will join Israel (cp. Is. 2:2-3).  

The very end of chapter 15 presents a sad story of a major disagreement between St. Paul and Barnabas. Two strong and godly men had a completely different attitude toward fitness of John Mark for the outreach ministry. So, this mission split – did it ruin or multiply the possibilities. The answer is “yes”. On one hand, the ruined unity was somewhat impactful – right after the unity of the church in decision over the acceptance of Gentiles into the full membership of the people of God, we see a story of breaking up the bond of togetherness. On the other hand, we know that Barnabas and [John] Mark were very active in their ministry. Therefore, God was able to use even this split for the spreading of the Gospel. To conclude, it is possible that apostle Paul and [John] Mark got re-united (2 Tim. 4:11; Philemon 23).   

Other themes:

Ecumenical Councils and Jerusalem council. There is an opinion that 7 Ecumenical councils are as authoritative as the Council in Jerusalem. This position leads to [at least] two opposing wrong conclusions: (1) the decisions of the Ecumenical councils are Divinely inspired. No, they are not. (2) the decision of Jerusalem council has only “suggestive” character. Again, being a part of the Bible, the description and the decision is fully inspired.

FOOD and FAITH

Food and Faith - June 2024 Newsletter

20 years ago, a very small production company released a movie that changed the food industry. Written, produced, and directed by Morgan Spurlock, “Super-Size Me” featured him as the main character. Morgan undertook an attempt to stick to a 30-days McDonald’s diet. If you’ve seen the movie – you are familiar with the story. If you have NOT seen the movie – I would recommend reading Wikipedia page, takes less time with the same result.

I watched the movie about 15 years ago back in Russia. A friend of mine brought a DVD with him from his trip to the US. My point is not to fight with fast food industry. I can enjoy a fast-food meal from time to time. I would not bring it up, but something happened recently – Morgan Spurlock died being 53 years old. I am not sure that his death is related to his dietary experiments during the filming (it should be noted that on day 21 his doctor advised him to stop the experiment due to possible unreversible health/body changes). The news about Morgan’s death recovered some memories about the movie and got me thinking about the food.

One particular story that we find in the Bible in relationship of food and faith is found in the Book of Daniel in chapter 5. That’s where “king” Belshazzar has a great feast (literally – Bread, it is important). The reason for the gathering was an attempt to perform some kind of religious ceremony to appeal to any deity that would listen to be rescued from the Persians. Since there is only one God who listens, speaks, and acts this Babylonian gathering would’ve been a failure, but Belshazzar ordered to bring furniture from the Temple of Jerusalem that his grandfather – Nebuchadnezzar – brought together with the exiled Israelites. Now think about it: they had the furniture from the Temple, they had a special dedicated bread, they appeal to God. To their surprise, He answered… We know the answer: you are weighted and found light (without glory), and your kingdom will be given to the Persians. So, was Belshazzar doomed?

As a ruler – yes (the Persians took over the very same night), as a human on the brink of death whose eternal fate will be decided soon – I am not sure… for the very subtle reason – at the end of the story godly prophet Daniel (who did not authorize that “feast”) decided to receive the gifts of the ruler. This might indicate that God at the last moment saw he contrite heart, similar to the thief of the cross who died next to Jesus the Savior of all people, including Belshazzar, criminals, and us.

As we enter the second part of the Church year, we will more and more talk about God’s work in our hearts – this work will continue till the very last day on earth from all of us (everyone who has at least a little garden knows that the weeds should be pulled regularly, never ending process). As we come to the Lord’s table to partake consecrated bread and wine, let us think of a great sacrifice of the Lord for our freedom, which gives us ability to be consecrated too. Partaking this blessed feast leaves us with Christ living in us (Gal. 2:20). God who listens, speaks, and acts now works through us. May the food of Christ transform and empower us for listening to the troubled heart, sharing the wisdom of the Word with a lost one, and helping the trapped to overcome the obstacles in their life.