"John, The Gospel of Belief" by Edwin Jones Part 4 - a podcast by lehmanavechurchofchrist

Sept 30 2020 - Wednesday PM Bible Class
JOHN, THE GOSPEL OF BELIEF
The Woman at the Well
John 4:1-26
 
(The Woman at the Well)
Samaritans, though not the primary emphasis of Jesus’ ministry, were nevertheless very important to His broader agenda of universal salvation.
Racial thinking and religious hatred have no place in the thinking of God.
Jesus suited the methods and approaches of His message to the particular people and places He encountered.
 
The disciples of Christ, as was common, got lost in the concerns of the day, the shallowest of things, and failed to see the concerns of the Christ.
A woman that the good citizens of Sychar had no use for, listened to her when she returned from the well—she had been with Jesus!
 
While certain “righteous” Jews in going to Galilee felt the need to cross over to the other side of the Jordan and thus avoid Samaria; Jesus was not such a little or uncaring man as to be guided by such pious prejudices (see Attachment J)
Samaria was composed of a mixed race of people, part Jew and part Gentile. This mixture occurred in the days following the captivity of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The name ”Samaritan” came from the name of the capital city of the Northern Kingdom. During the days of Nehemiah a rival temple was built on Mt. Gerizim. During the time of the Maccabaen Revolt, John Hyrcanus destroyed it, but worship continued on the mountain even to Jesus’ day (I Kg. 16:21-24; II Kg. 18:9; 17:24-33; Neh. 4:7-8; 6:1-9; 13:23-28; Ezra 4:1-16).
Women did not normally go to the well alone, but this woman’s past had caused her to be avoided –but Jesus spoke to her anyway.
Jews and Samaritans did not “use the same things,” i.e. they did not drink out of the same bucket. Rabbi Shebi had said, “To eat Samaritan bread was to eat swine flesh” Jesus was unimpressed with such foolishness.
John, in characteristic fashion, uses a word, zwn ??zon, though literally meaning “life,” was also used colloquially to mean running water as opposed to stagnant. Both meanings have a contribution to make to an understanding of the exchange.
Jesus overcame the cynicism of the woman by showing that He truly cared. He was able to get into her heart by simply letting her know that He had time for her. He could comment on the deepest embarrassments of her personal life and take issue with her on the most emotionally charged religious question of the day, because He cared.
While an hour of change was coming regarding certain external aspects of worship, the essential principles of “spirit and truth” were and are always necessary. The place of worship today is “in Christ” (cf. Eph. 1:1-14).
Jesus gave the most direct and clear declaration of His Messianic identity to someone tradition said He should not have spoken to—a woman, a sinner, and a Samaritan. Jesus is letting us see something here about principles at the heart of true religion—we would do well to learn the lesson.
 
 
 
John 4:27-42
(The “Harvest” of Samaritans)
John 4:46-54
(Beginning of Jesus Galilean Ministry with the Healing of a Child)
 
 
     
 
John 4:27-42
The “Harvest” of Samaritans
 
 
 
John 4:46-54
Beginning of Jesus Galilean Ministry with the Jesus message of “repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” has, at times, been misunderstood. “At hand,” from hggiken means “has drawn near.” In Greek it is a perfect tense idea, an event from the past that is influencing the present. Jesus having come into the world, the kingdom (basileia the rule and reign of God), had come near. This is not, therefore, speaking of the Messianic Kingdom of the Church Age, but of the closeness of God to the people of Jesus’ day
The people responded well to Jesus until He preached His expectations for them.
Religion will never be popular with the majority if it is true to the will of God.
Even early in Jesus’ ministry, the miracles necessary to establish His true identity were problematic. Consequently, the miracles of Jesus virtually ended after Peter’s good confession. Similarly, they lasted only for a short time at the beginning of the Church Age (Matt. 16:13-17; I Cor. 13:8b-13; Eph. 4:11-16).
Jesus’ rebuke of the royal official indicates Jesus knew the man initially saw Jesus in a selfish light.
However, the man comes to believe in Jesus after Jesus talks with him.
Then the miracle takes place in a more constructive setting.

 
The Samaritans
 
Q: When did the Samaritans come into existence and what was their relationship to the Jews?
A: The formation of the Samaritan race is an important part of Jewish history. The nation of Israel was united under the rule of three kings, Saul, David and Solomon. With the death of Solomon, it has been observed that the tears shed over his grace were insincere. Indeed, Solomon fulfilled the prophetic warnings in 1 Samuel 8:10-18.
When Solomon's son Rehoboam attempted to become king, he was rejected by the northern 10 tribes because he pledged a harsh and tyrannical rule, even worse than his father. In his place, the people of the northern 10 tribes, known as Israel, made Jeroboam king. The remaining southern tribes, known as Judah, allowed Rehoboam to rule over them.
In this division, the northern tribes gained a major portion of the fertile land and springs. The boundary of separation between the north and south ran directly across the central highland, through the valleys of Michmash to the east and Ajalon to the west, giving the northern tribes three times the square miles that Judah retained. The northern tribes continued as a separate nation for just over 200 years. During this time, some nineteen kings reigned over Israel representing nine families. Eight of these northern kings were either assassinated or committed suicide. None of these kings were faithful to the Lord. Each of them promoted idolatry.
Because of disobedience (cf. 1 Kings 11:13, 17), the Lord allowed the Assyrian monarch Shalmaneser V to march against the northern kingdom. The siege against Samaria lasted from 724 to 722 B.C. when the capital city fell, bringing the rule of the ten tribes of Israel to a close.
An Assyrian governor was placed over the territory. Many of the Jews were taken as captives by Assyria and in their place a foreign upper class of people were imported from Babylon, Cuthah, Acca, Harnath and Sepharvaim (2 Kings 12:24). Mixing ethnic populations of captured nations had been instituted by an earlier Assyrian king to diminish chances of rebellion among conquered people. This resulted in the formation of a hybrid race, who came to be the Samaritans.
Historically, there was never a feeling of kinship between the Samaritans and the remnant of the southern kingdom of Judah. In fact, the Jews, who resettled Jerusalem after the captivity, considered the Samaritans as mongrels or half-breeds who were not regarded as Jewish.
However, before the alienation, there was considerable intermarrying. As religious and social exclusiveness grew stronger in Judea, intermarriage became a serious issue. This situation continued until Manasseh, brother of the Jewish high priest, married the daughter of a Samaritan. The controlling religious party in Jerusalem demanded that he divorce her at once. Rather than comply, Manasseh withdrew from Jerusalem at the invitation of his father-in-law, taking many priests from the Jerusalem temple with him.
The father-in-law of Manasseh, a man of considerable wealth, soon built and established a rival Jewish temple on Mount Gerizim where the Samaritans set up a form of Jehovah worship complete with animal sacrifices. They used a copy of the Law of Moses in their worship which they had brought with them from the temple in Jerusalem. They also dedicated a set time to observe the various ritual feasts and offerings, although with some minor differences than those observed in Jerusalem.
These two religious groups, the Jews and Samaritans developed side by side, each one charging the other was debased and corrupt. In Jesus' day it was well understood that "Jews have no dealing with Samaritans (John 4:9). Jesus' parable about the good Samaritan (Luke 10:2-37) and, the Samaritan leper (Luke 17:15-16) attacked the prejudice of traditional Judaism as they taught the virtue of mercy and thankfulness.
Today, a small number of Samaritans maintain a temple on Mount Gerizim.
 
Duration 37:53

Further episodes of Lehman Ave Church of Christ

Further podcasts by lehmanavechurchofchrist

Website of lehmanavechurchofchrist