Jesus' Second Sign: Life, Is Life (John 4:43-54) Series

Let's start today by talking about Jesus, and the life that Jesus offers.

The gospel of John began like this, John 1:1-5:

(1) In the beginning, the Word was,

and the Word was turned toward God,

and God, the Word was.

(2) This one was in the beginning turned toward God.

(3) Everything through him [happened/came/was created],

and apart from him not one thing [happened/was created] that has [happened/been created].

(4) In him was life,

and the life was the light of people,

(5) and the light in the darkness shines,

and the darkness didn't overcome/understand it.

Jesus has life inside of himself. And everything that was created, has life through him.

Now let's turn to Jesus' last words to Nicodemus, starting in 3:10:

(10) Jesus answered,

and he said to him,

"You are the teacher of Israel,

and these things you don't know?

(11) Truly, truly, I say to you, that what we know,

and what we have seen, we testify,

and our testimony y'all don't receive.

If the earthly things I told y'all, and y'all don't believe, how, if I tell y'all heavenly things, will y'all believe?,

(13) and no one has ascended into heaven,

except only the one from heaven having descended-- the son of man,

(14) and just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, in this way the son of man must be lifted up,

in order that each one giving allegiance to him will have eternal life.

(16) For in this way God loved the world,

so that He gave his unique son,

in order that each one giving allegiance to him shall not perish

but shall have eternal life.

(17) For God didn't send his son into the world,

in order that he would condemn the world,

but in order that the world would be saved through him.

(18) The one giving allegiance to him isn't condemned.

Now, the one not giving allegiance already has been condemned,

because he has not given allegiance to the name of the unique son of God.

Now, let's read Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman, in John 4:13:

(13) Jesus answered,

and he said to her,

"Everyone drinking from this water will thirst again.

Now, whoever drinks from the water that I will give to him,

will absolutely never be thirsty [again] for eternity,

but the water that I will give to him will become in him a well of water springing up to/for eternal life.

So what do we know about Jesus, and life, so far in the gospel of John? What Jesus claims, and AJ claims, is that Jesus has life inside of himself. And Jesus can take from that life, and give life to anyone he wants.

What is this life?

At its most basic level, "life" is breath. It's the thing that makes you alive, instead of dead. John 1:1-5 told us that everyone lives through Jesus. Jesus, as God's word, is the means through which God created everything. Every breath we draw, we breathe because Jesus gives it to us.

But the life that Jesus offers, must go way beyond this, right? When Jesus offers life to Nicodemus, and to the Samaritan woman, he is offering life to people who are already breathing.

What this means, is that there is a deeper life, or a higher life, that is available to people. There is something more, that Jesus offers. At least, that's what AJ and Jesus are claiming.

This life is connected to the Holy Spirit. And this life is one that satisfies every human longing.

How can we gain access to this life?

Well, that question has already been answered a couple different ways. And I think John expects us to be good enough readers, to hold these different answers together-- and not pick and choose the ones we like.

When Jesus talked to Nicodemus, he focused on "giving allegiance" to Jesus and baptism (John 3:14-17). Nicodemus found himself drawn to Jesus, knowing that Jesus must be in some sense from God, but there was this gap between Nicodemus and Jesus that couldn't be filled. And at the heart of that gap, I think, was his unwillingness to be an open disciple of Jesus. The type of commitment, and loyalty, that Jesus demands, is an open one. Everyone needs to know that you follow Jesus-- that you've given your allegiance to him. And the main way you do that, is by getting baptized. There are no secret Christians.

Now, when Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman, all of this came out a little different. Jesus told her that she would receive this life if she "asks." If she knew who Jesus was, and God's gift that he offered, she would ask, and he would give her life that becomes springs of water inside of her, welling up to eternal life.