John 4:27-54

If you have experienced a time in your life where you were so caught up in the joy of what you were doing that you had no sense of time, or hunger, you are most blessed. Handel wrote The Messiah, perhaps one of the most loved pieces of music of all time, in just a few short weeks. He seldom stopped to sleep or eat and after he completed his work he described it as a heavenly vision. That is how Jesus was feeling after the Samaritan woman shared her experience with her neighbors. What had been planned as a brief stop to purchase food turned into an extended stay where many more people received the Good News that Jesus was the Messiah. Most often, in our hindsight, we can see over a long period of time where God has been shaping and molding people to conform them to His will. Occasionally, if we are blessed by God, we get to be a part of a great flood of God’s grace, saving, healing and redeeming His people. And, typically people around us are clueless as to what is happening, as were Jesus’ disciples that afternoon in Samaria.

That Samaritan revival began so innocently. The woman simply told her neighbors and friends how she had experienced Jesus. She had no great theological insights or understanding. She had an encounter with Jesus and told others about her wonderful experience. Can starting revivals be so simple?

When Jesus was back in Cana John says Jesus performed the second miraculous sign. Jesus’ own commentary was that many people were more interested in his signs than they were in going where the signs were pointing them. When we were boarding our tour bus in Caesarea to continue our journey to Jerusalem I noticed some in our group taking photos of the road sign to Jerusalem. If they would have been satisfied with their photo and never journeyed on to Jerusalem, they would have been like the people in Galilee responding to Jesus’ signs.

Jesus’ signs are given so that “you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.” John 20:31.

Got life?

What word or phrase in these verses

attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

9-Mar-12      John 5:1-18