Podcast
Most Christians believe that Jesus "died to take away our sins". Many believe that sickness was also defeated at the Cross. Yet in addition, we frequently sing words like "You took all my guilt AND SHAME, When you died and rose again". Do we really believe it? If we did, it might revolutionise the way we view our place in Christ, and in the world.
What does this passage tell us about the coming of Jesus, and what does this mean for us in response?
Jesus, moved by compassion, heals on the sabbath.
The second half of John 4 is all about sharing our faith and coming to faith. It speaks of our witness to others in terms of Reality, Rewards, Results and Repercussions: our part in the power-encounter between a human being and Christ.
The woman at the well is a story of encounter, about the gift of eternal life offered to the woman by Jesus that immediately transforms her life and the life of her community.
So far we have seen how various different groups reacted to the light of Jesus; but chapter 3 brings us to the reaction of someone we might have expected to reject him. Nicodemus offers us a template for approaching Jesus, and for the kind of questions we should ask him.
In the two events of this passage we see two different reactions to Jesus, and where each one leads: Invitation or Indignation.
First century Jews were desperate for God to send a saviour. God did just that... but not everyone recognised him. John did, and testified to the imminent arrival ... of God himself.
Jesus is the light that illuminates who God really is, who we really are, and what the world really looks like. It is sometimes difficult and hard to accept, but those who choose light and reject darkness will find life.
