This is part 3 in a 23-part study in the Book of John. Below is a modified transcript of the audio lesson.

Let’s begin with a prayer. Lord, we thank You that You have been good to us in ways we don’t often understand. I pray that we would be a people who are receptive to the person and work of Christ and discover more and more through this book and other resources what it means to be one who approaches You, comes and sees You, follows You, remains with You and to discover the terms of discipleship. We pray in Christ’s’ name. Amen.

We have seen that as we looked at the prelude or prologue to John’s gospel that it gives us an extraordinary portrait that is not to be found in the synoptic gospels. In John 1:1-18 we have a picture of Jesus as the cosmic Christ who preceded the heavens and the earth. In fact it was through Him that all things were made- nothing came into being apart from Him. We saw His preexistence, His work as Creator, His work as the One who illuminates the work of the Father and reveals Him to the world, as the One who is the Word, and the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us.

It’s pretty common in our time for people to confuse the idea of Christ with some kind of cosmic consciousness. It’s a common notion that when we hear Christ these days especially from folks who are involved in the new religious synthesis, He is not just Jesus but is a force or principle or a higher level of consciousness that anyone can ultimately attain. This is simply not the case, from the gospels and epistles Christ is the Messiah, the Anointed One, and a specific Person. He was predicted in the Old Testament- specifically we learn about who He would be, where He would be born, what He would accomplish and so forth. This is something that is related to a person and not just to a force. Jesus is the Christ and there is no other manifestation- there is no other God-Man. There is no other name given among men where by we must be saved- it’s the name of Christ. He makes this message available to all people.

The scriptures, which emphasize this, especially as John was writing later in the 1^st century, have to deal with this problem. People were denying that Jesus had come in the flesh because they were becoming a little more Gnostic as time went by. He has to refute that and say that the Word really did become one of us. He became flesh and dwelt among us. So in this gospel we see the gospel of the divine Christ while we also see His humanness. We see Jesus is the Son of Man but also is the Son of God- this is going to be emphasized throughout- the connection between the two. He is the One who manifests the glory of the Father.

The Law was given through Moses (v.17) but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. We have this contrast. The Law led up to Christ but you see the Law could never save anybody. The Law could only bring us to a point of seeing God’s perfection and righteous requirements but nobody could keep the Law. The Law was never intended to save people. It instead was designed to be a schoolmaster to drive us to dependence upon the One that God would send- the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. He alone fulfilled the perfect and righteous requirements. Now it is possible for us to be righteous before God because Christ offers His very life to those who would follow Him. The perfection of Christ is placed in our account. It is through that then that we become people who through the power of the indwelling Spirit are capable then of fulfilling the righteous demands of the living God.

As we look at the last part of John 1:19-51, I want us to just walk through certain themes. I’ll comment on various components. I want to tell you that this is a gospel that is so rich and so multi-layered that we could spend an enormous amount of time unpacking all the profound implications that are here. If I did that we would have a very lengthy study indeed so instead I’m kind of moving us through more or less a chapter an evening. I’m just going to make a few comments along the way.

In John 1:19 we have a picture of the testimony of John. That’s an important word because I want you to understand that this section relates to testimonies. We will have testimonies of men whose lives were affected by their encounter with Jesus Christ. The testimony of John is followed by the testimony of two of these disciples. We see later in chapter 1:35, the account of Andrew and an unnamed disciple. We also see Philip and Nathaniel. These are all testimonies of their encounters with this One. These testimonials, which are the word martyria, are the word for testimony. Does it have a familiar ring to it? It should – martyr – a martyr was one who bore witness to or testimony of another. These are accounts of people who had some personal encounter with Him so that He is not merely a principle but a Person. They must receive and come to know and welcome Him into their very lives.

If we understand this idea, we’re going to see that this section of John, particularly 1:19-51, gives us a portrait of the nature of conversion and the nature of discipleship. We’ll see men coming even here in slightly different ways to Christ. I want you to observe that there’s an incarnational dimension here where John focuses on these kinds of historical events and uses them to paint a theological tapestry but his primary concern as I see it here, if for us to understand what conversion and discipleship is really about. How does one encounter Him? How does one now grow in relationship to Him?

This is the testimony of John the Baptizer who was introduced in verses 6-8, “There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.” This is a hint- an anticipation- because people will inquire of him. Who are you? Who do you claim to be? He’ll in effect say I’m not the light. I point beyond myself to the One who is the light.

John 1:19-20, “ Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed – he did not deny but confessed – “I am not the Christ!” That word would be the Anointed One and there is a good history that led up to that particular word.

Before I go any further though you’ll see it says the Jews sent to him priests and Levites. Now it is interesting because the word Ioudaios is used 71 times in John’s gospel. Many have said it’s ascribing to the Jews evil behaviors, disbelief, rejection and rebellion. You must understand it actually and especially focuses on the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem and especially those who had authority over the temple. This is not an anti-Semitic gospel. Jews wrote it, about Jews and about One who is in fact the Jewish Messiah. It can’t be anti-Semitic. It’s rather focusing on some Jews, in fact it even says of a Jewish man that the Jews put him out of the temple. You see where I’m going with that? It’s the same sort of misunderstanding that will in fact form the kind of anti-Semitic comments or claims about Mel Gibson’s, The Passion, but it’s really lies and misunderstanding of what that term means.

The Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites, leaders from Jerusalem, because he was causing something of a ruckus. After all, thousands were coming to this guy and he was a rough looking character. We find from the other gospels that he dressed in a rough manner with a leather belt. He ate locusts, which by the way were kosher. It was one of the clean insects you could eat. The fact is John was not your ordinary character. He was very much a prophet in the line of Elijah. We are invited to see obvious parallels between him and Elijah. Elisha would be more a portrait in many ways of Jesus. You might even say Elijah is to Elisha as in some ways as John the Baptizer was to Jesus. There’s an analogy there because Elisha had a double portion and you see a lot of miracles like feeding of a multitude and raising the dead that are similar to some of the miracles we see in the life of Jesus. In any case, John was a rough-hewn character indeed. People were flocking out because you see the concept of a prophet coming back was something radical and fantastic after four centuries of prophetic silence. The last prophet was Malachi in 425 B.C. When the word got out that one who was coming with the authority and power of a prophet everyone flocked out to see him. This spiritual desert, this darkness, this dirth was now suddenly being overcome by on who would point to the light that was dawning. He was not the light but he pointed to the Light that would come.

This was an exciting idea and you could well imagine the more interest it caused the more concerned the Jewish leadership became. Who are you? Who do you claim to be? He answered - I am not the Christ (v.20), if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not the Messiah. I’m not the Anointed One. So then they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not!” (v. 21a) That’s an interesting thing because if you turn to Malachi 4:5, you see the idea though of Elijah and certainly this was something that was being developed. “Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.” In Mark 8:27- 29 speculation was rife about this concept. “Then Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said, “John the Baptist (obviously this would be after John the Baptist’s death and so they say you’ve come back from the dead), others say Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” This is the question all of us must ultimately answer.

There’s this issue here but I’d also like you to turn to Matthew 11:14, “And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come.” So what does that mean? Turn to Luke 1:17, putting it all together, “And he will go as forerunner before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah...” So in one sense he’s Elijah but in another sense he’s actually one who comes in the spirit and power of Elijah. He’s not the fulfillment of all that’s promised yet. There’s this other image of the fullness that will come.

In any case they ask him about that, he’s not the Messiah, he’s not Elijah, then are you a prophet? This is an illusion to Deuteronomy 18:15, which talked about the fact that Moses predicted, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you- from your fellow Israelites; up must listen to him.” So they ask, are you that prophet, the one who would come? And again he answered no. So John, articulating the essence in one regard of the relationship with Christ is one who denies himself and points beyond himself to another. True discipleship is where you point beyond yourself and lead people to another. Rather than lifting up and exalting himself because he could well have been tempted to so, after all the crowds were large and he had a powerful impact, instead he points beyond himself. This was not just an act of personal humility where he’s focusing on himself. There are certain perverse forms of humility that will do that. The person is actually all preoccupied with himself or herself. True humility occurs when you are preoccupied with another- when you are preoccupied with the grace and person of God. Your eye is off of your self and that is exactly what John is in effect doing.

John 1:22, “Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us so that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John then speaks and if you go back to Isaiah 40, a fairly well known text at the time, we hear about a voice crying in the wilderness. Also Isaiah 40:3, “A voice cries out, ‘In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord; construct in the desert a road for our God.” John 1:23, “John said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” In effect John is telling us that, I have come in the wilderness of the world’s need and in doing so the gospel is pointing men and women to the One who alone can satisfy the world’s need- nothing else will do. We seek position, power, possessions, prestige and discover again and again none of those things really satisfy our deepest longing and our deepest needs. Here is the one who can actually prepare the way and in effect it’s also a hint about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. There’s a very real sense in which you have to prepare a way for the Lord in your life- in your own heart. You have to clear a highway for Him to come so He removes all the crooked in conduct and narrow in outlook and He opens up a way to Himself. There’s an anticipation of that idea or dimension in discipleship.

John 1:24, “(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)” This is already a hint of what’s to come. If we know the gospels at all, we know that just to use the word Pharisee was a hint of opposition and rejection. It’s already anticipating the drama that will continue to unfold and reach a climax with the passion narrative.

They are very persistent. They’re still not quite satisfied with the idea of one crying in the wilderness. John 1:25, “Why then are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” What authority do you have? The Jews had these areas where they would baptize Gentiles and so proselytes would go and be baptized, immersed, and they would come out and become Jewish proselytes. They also had ceremonial cleansing. The idea of baptizing a Jew would be something quite different. The only way in which there’d be a basis for baptizing someone who was already Jewish would be that there is a new age, a new dimension, dawning. What is this message that you’re communicating? What is this new thing that is occurring? Some kind of transition is being hinted at here.

John 1:26, “John answered them, ‘I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not recognize.” Again this anticipates the response of the Pharisees- they never really do get it. They never do know Him. Although it does mention in the other gospels that some of the Pharisees did come to believe Him but they were secretive about that but most of them never came to know Him.

John 1:27, “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” You see when you had a disciple of a master; the disciple even then would still not do the work of a slave- to untie the thong of a sandal was something only a slave would do. He says, I’m not even worthy to treat Him as if I were a slave. You see the exaggeration there, the emphasis that he’s making. He’s developing this theme. He is so much higher than I. I can’t even function in the role of a slave before Him- let alone be one who is familiar in a casual way. There’s a sense of authority- One who’s coming in power. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.

John 1:28, “These things happened in Bethany across the Jordan River where John was baptizing.” Frankly we don’t have a clue as to where that was- somewhere in the province of Perea, which is on the other side of the Jordan but nobody knows what that Bethany was. It’s not the Bethany that’s near Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. This is a different one- all this took place in the wilderness.

John then was a prophet. John was Jewish, in fact he was related as a cousin- he was connected with Elizabeth. He was fully Jewish.

His water baptism was negative rather than positive. It cleansed but it bestowed no gift by which you could stay clean- only Jesus could supply the gift that would keep us cleansed.

We have this portrait then of John prior to the actual arrival of Jesus but we’ve already seen Jesus in this marvelous prologue that lifts Him up and gives us a marvelous portrait of who He is.

This all takes place on the first day and then there’s the second day. John 1:29, “On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” In verse 36 he says it again- Behold, the Lamb of God. Other than Stephen’s use of the phrase, the Lamb of God, you don’t find this until the Revelation. We have this image here- a different way of looking at Him. Paul never calls Him the Lamb of God in that way. We see this picture. What does that Lamb of God imagery mean? John is given an insight. John has already baptized Jesus and he’s been led by prophetic insight to recognize Him as the One for whose coming Israel was seeking.

John 1:30, “This is the one about whom I said, “After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because He existed before me.” This goes back to verse 15 and John’s earlier testimony. He’s referring back to his earlier testimony but now he says and at that point, “I did not recognize Him but I came baptizing with water so that He could be revealed to Israel.”(v.31)

John 1:31, “Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on Him.” It was by divine revelation, divine disclosure, as a gift of God that John was able to recognize Him. By the way, that is how all spiritual truth is apprehended at the end of the day- it is something that is a gift of God. God gives us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, the spirit of illumination and the heart who wants to find Him. There’s a divine disclosure in which we can come to grasp that. In this case, it’s when he saw the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven.

John by the way, unlike the synoptics, in this particular account, focuses on the Spirit (mentioned 3 times). The synoptics mention the baptism itself and the testimony of the Father. Part of the reason for this is the idea of that the Spirit- He’s the One who is going to baptize you in the Spirit and with fire- the idea of the Spirit coming upon Him. Now that idea was known in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God. He would come and anoint and empower some kings, prophets, judges and so forth but it was not a permanent affair nor was it really internal. We have something very unique here. This is something for the first time- He remained upon Him. The Spirit is now permanently upon Him and for the rest of His ministry, Jesus will walk in the power of the Spirit. In fact He will be the One who opens the gate so that we can be baptized with the same Holy Spirit so that we can enter into a communion with Him as members of the body of Jesus Christ. We have these anticipatory concepts that are being conveyed in this text.

We have several dimensions here. How would a Jewish observer, hearing John’s testimony, associate, behold, the Lamb of God? One might associate the offering of Isaac. You recall when Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, in Genesis 22:7-8, “Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.” Parenthetically in verse 5, “So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.” Abraham didn’t know how that was going to happen but Hebrews tells us he was convinced God could raise Isaac from the dead if need be. That’s a powerful and radical understanding. The point is one could well associate the Lamb of God with one who takes our place, a substitute; which is what actually happens of course in this imagery. God will provide the Lamb.

I want to stress something parenthetically here. We have something that is utterly unique in the world- only in the biblical vision do we have God sacrificing for us. It’s to be found nowhere else. You will not find God suffering for people anywhere else. This is unique. He suffers in order that through His suffering we might know Him. He suffers not only to pay for our sins but also to put us in a condition where now we can be welcomed into His very presence and become a part of His eternal family. His intention then is to go to that great extreme, that level of descent, in order to raise us up into newness of life. It took something that radical. That’s why Galatians puts it so well. If it were possible to keep the law- if righteousness came (by works) by keeping the law- what about the work of Christ? What is he going to conclude? Christ then, if that were the case, died needlessly. Such a radical thing would not have been necessary. The law condemned us. It did not save us. It is a schoolmaster that would lead us to faith and reveal the perfect character of God and His expectations that could not be met by us. He Himself underwrites the cost of His own creation and in doing so makes it possible for us to be people of whom it is said- the sin of the world has now been taken away and placed on the Lamb of God.

Another way of looking at it would be perhaps some might associate it with Isaiah 53 and the passage of the Suffering Servant. Whenever one does Jewish evangelism this is the passage you’d normally start with because it’s the clearest, most explicit portrait of Messiah in the Hebrew bible. There are obvious reasons why this is the case. Many Jews, especially starting with Maimonides, tried to argue that this was actually talking about Israel- the Suffering Servant. The text makes it very clear that actually it was Israel who was the cause of the One who suffered. Surely our grief’s He Himself bore and our sorrows He carried. We esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted but He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. This is the people of God now speaking- showing that they realize that they in fact misunderstood and at the crucifixion it was because of their sin He was crucified. Verse 7, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open His mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.”

I also think you that you can’t miss the obvious image and that is the Passover. If you turn to Exodus 12 you have the clearest presentation of the details associated with the Passover- look particularly at Exodus 12:13-17 and you will discover a wide variety of aspects that portray in anticipation the work of Christ. The lamb that would be the Passover lamb had to be a year old in the prime of life, had to be sacrificed between the 2 twilights; which would be between 3 and 6 in the afternoon, had to be on the 14^th day of Nisan which was exactly when this took place- the Great Passover; which is associated with the work of Christ Himself, and many other details such as don’t break the bones and so forth. There are many things that anticipate the work of Messiah. If you’ve ever been to a Jewish Passover ceremony, they are intriguing especially when you see Christ in the Passover. The matzoh itself is pierced and striped and unleavened. They take it, break it and put half in the afikomen, cover it up and it is hidden for a period. There is a lot of symbolism that goes on.

Jesus then invites us to see this idea- this cup- speaking about the cup of redemption, which would be the 3rd out of the 4 cups in the Passover ceremony-, this cup is the New Covenant in My blood. There’s a connection here that is going on so certainly we would be justified in suggesting there is a Passover image here as well. But notice what it says about it- He takes away, He removes the guilt of sin and He removes it’s power as well. This is the foundation of the gospel.

John 1:30, “He existed before me.” We know that chronologically John was six months older than Jesus. For him to say He existed before me is a powerful picture of His preincarnate nature- an emphasis then on He was around before me and that’s why I’m not even worthy of serving Him as a slave.

The gospel continues verse 32-34; Then John gave this testimony; “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’(Note-This is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. I can only baptize in water. This One will do something far greater than that.) I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” Although it may well be there are some variant readings and the harder reading is chosen and that that’s what’s involved here where the Son of God is mentioned later on when Nathaniel calls him the Son of God- the king of Israel (v.49). It may well be he’s focusing on the Chosen of God which would be an illusion to Isaiah 42:1, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” There’s even a connection there with the Spirit of God and being His Servant, His Chosen One.

We’ve gone through two days and the next day is the third day of revelation. Verse 35-37, “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God! When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.” I must tell you that many people engaged in discipleship ministry are at least tempted to try to get people dependent on them. In other words it’s natural for you to enjoy people following you, needing to be around you and that sort of thing. The idea of telling them leave me and go to Him is not natural. That’s exactly what he’s telling them to do. I’ve taken you as far as you can go, this is the Anointed One, this is the Lamb of God, and you must follow that One. In John 3 we know he says, He must increase and I must decrease. John understands that.

John 1:38, “Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” Here’s the first question found in all the gospels. What do you seek or what do you want? You can translate it either way. This is a very important question. I think about the questions in the bible that are gripping. The first question for example, where are you? Who told you you were naked? Those kinds of things are very illuminating questions. They are saying something aren’t they? What do you seek as you stand before Him? Whom are you looking for? (John 20:15) Remember then He asked that question, whom do you say that I am? I love this other question later in this gospel; do you want to be made well? It is a very fascinating question. Are you sure you want that because it will change the whole way in which you live your life? At least you had an identity before but now what’s going to happen when you can no longer identify with this sickness, this condition that you’ve had? Then this other question later on in this gospel, do you love Me?

See these questions become very, very specific and very, very pointed as we go. You see they’re looking for something so He speaks to them and asks what, not who, are you looking for? It’s almost like He’s assuming like the rest of humanity, they’re looking for some thing that will satisfy their needs rather than a person. He’s saying the “thing” you’re looking for is in fact a person and that Person is the One you’re talking to. This is a very, very strong and radical claim indeed. These questions are very revealing. You see, Jesus is what John could never actually be, the Savior of men. Romans 4:25 points us to this position where we see- He was delivered for our transgression and He was raised up because of our justification. John couldn’t do that. John could only point to the One who is in fact the Savior of the world.

So they reply with a question when He asks them what do you seek? What would your answer be to that question? That’s not a bad question to ask yourself. As I argue this may be in some ways the most important question you could ask yourself. Whatever you are looking for will determine basically what you will find and if you seek Him, you’re going to find Him. “So they said to Him, Rabbi (which means Teacher) where are you staying?” (v. 38b) Now this might seem to be just a counter question and it seems like a request for information so they could visit Him and get more instruction. Actually there’s something more. There’s an actual word, meno, being used. The word meno means to dwell or to stay or abide or remain. That is a word that is used of discipleship in this gospel. There’s already a hint of this concept. Akoloutheo basically means follow me- “Come and see.” (v.39a) The idea here is He’s inviting them to come, take a step, and coming to Him and seeing Him and remaining with Him and abiding with Him are portraits of discipleship. One comes to Him, which is a choice one makes, one then sees Him or beholds Him and then one moves beyond that to abiding and remaining with Him. There’s a developing concept here. We have to understand this meno, His home, was something He never had in the sense that it was something He could own. He borrowed and used places but He was dwelling continually in heaven. He is the One bidding them to come and gain from Him the mind and purpose of God Himself because really in effect He is the only One who could provide the fundamental needs that we desire to find. We look in all kinds of substitutes and never find it in this world. He is the One who alone can satisfy the things, which we truly seek in our heart of hearts because remember God has planted eternity in your heart. Thus He creates us in such a way that we long for more than what the world can offer.

John 1:39b, “So they went and saw where He was staying, and spent that day with Him. It was about the tenth hour.” We have the picture of two ex-disciples of John staying with Jesus and coming to understand that discipleship means nothing less than abiding with Him. Commentators disagree about the 10^th hour but I think it’s more like 4 p.m. They followed the Roman reckoning but they still followed the Jewish side of it where they would start with 6 o’clock a.m. and that would make it late in the afternoon.

John 1:40, “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said, and who had followed Jesus.” My personal suspicion is that the other one, the one not named, is John himself. It’s just my guess and I can’t demonstrate that but it is significant who the first ones we discover are when Jesus calls them fishers of men. You have Peter, Andrew, James and John. It may be kind of a hint again, as he never refers to himself or discloses his name, but is referred to as the disciple whom Jesus loved. It’s my suspicion and of course that would make him an eyewitness to these accounts as well.

John 1:41-42a, “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.” We go back to that imagery where John claimed not to be the Christ but we found the One who really is the Christ. He brought him to Jesus, which is really what a disciple will do. Once you’ve come to know Him, you’re going to bring others to Jesus as well. You’re going to want to be a way in which people are conveyed to Him.

John 1:42b, “Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas’ (which translated, is Peter).” Peter responds immediately as he always will whether for good or ill. He’s going to be given here a new name and so we see this account. This is really a play on words because cephas in the Aramaic is a word for rock and petros in the Greek is a word for rock. It was not so much a proper name as it was a nickname- like Rocky. You have this idea that names in the Jewish mind really had something to do with character and some thing about their personality. Wouldn’t it seem rather odd to call this one a rock though? After all, isn’t he the one who constantly goes back and forth, he was unstable and later he was going to be the one to deny Him? I think what Jesus is doing here is He sees what he will be. It’s an anticipation of what He will see him to be. You see, Jesus sees things in us that we don’t see in ourselves. He sees potential and He looks at us in a way we might not see. He sees His purposes for a person. It says in Revelation we will be given a new name. This idea of naming is powerful too because for one to give another a name is a picture of authority. It’s not just a random thing for one to name another. It is a very important idea. Remember Jacob is given a new name- he who was known as the supplanter or the heel- now becomes someone different- Israel. We have a picture here of how he is named and it’s in anticipation really of how you and I have a new name and a new identity that follows from that new name.

We see then the next day- this might be the 4^th day. Some commentators disagree over this- some take it that there are 4 days altogether. Day one, 1:19-28, day two, 1:29-34, day three, 1:35-42, and day four 1:43-51. There are different perspectives on this so there’s not uniformity in understanding this. Although if you looked at it in that way then you’d have John the Baptist’s self-denial in day one and John the Baptist’s saying who Jesus is in day two. What you’d have then is one disciple in Perea bearing witness to Jesus, then two disciples in Galilee (v. 43-51) bearing witness to Jesus- Philip and Nathaniel.

John 1:43, “The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.” Galilee is about 100 miles north from Judea. I’d like to know more about that encounter! Jesus is the One in this case who found Philip whereas the others were looking for Jesus. Philip means lover of horses. It’s kind of a Greek name that is associated with that whereas Nathaniel is more of a Jewish name. You can already see in Galilee there is a mix of Roman and Jewish influence and also the Hellenistic culture as well.

John 1:44, “Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.” Bethsaida would be up on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee just east of where the Jordan River had its’ inlet into the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum would be just west of where that inlet is and they eventually move to Capernaum. If you recall, Jesus did many miracles in Bethsaida and Capernaum and He said they would be culpable because of their failure to believe Him and their failure to respond to those miracles that went on. In any case He’s moved up into Galilee.

John 1:45, “Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Some commentators think that Nathaniel may have been Matthew or perhaps Bartholomew but we don’t know. He may have been one of the seventy. Nathanael is mentioned here and we know from John 21 he was actually from Cana of Galilee. It’s an anticipation of the next verse, 46, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.” So here Andrew brought Peter, Philip brings Nathanael and in both cases they’re bringing someone to Jesus. We have a scene here where Nathanael is somewhat more skeptical. Peter came right away and Nathanael wants to hold back. Maybe Cana and Nazareth had a little rivalry but he has a skeptical stance here. Philip said the same thing Jesus said to the two disciples of John- come and see. You need to check it out. That’s an invitation for all of us. In effect John is telling the reader, come and see. You’re never going to know Him for who He is unless you come and see. You will not come unless a choice is involved. There’s an image here of Him being the Messiah. There’s an image also of Him being One to whom one must come and approach. So here comes Nathanael but he’s not a believer by any stretch.

John 1:47, “When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, ‘Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” At least Nathanael was willing to make the move. That’s the key issue here. You may be skeptical but at least you’re moving which means there’s a seeking dimension there. There are other skeptics that won’t get off their duffs! Those skeptics will get hardened in their skepticism because they were unwilling to make the move, consider the evidence, and see for themselves. This is the issue here. There are those who seek and there are those who really do not seek. So at least we see Nathanael coming to Him. There is no guile or falsehood. He’s very different from Jacob- just the opposite- the anti-type. Here is a man who would be really open to the things of God. Psalm 32 would describe such a man where it says, How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. There’s this image of a person of one who seems to have an open heart before God and he desires to know Him. There’s an idea of a man who has a purity of heart enough to want to know the truth.

John 1:48, “How do you know me?’ Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, ‘I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Now we have to read between the lines because evidently there’s no way Jesus was where He physically, in the flesh, could see him under the fig tree. What was he doing under the fig tree? As you know, it provides a nice cool canopy and it’s a place where people would sometimes meditate, read and reflect. I wonder if he wasn’t reading something. Perhaps he was reading for example Geneses 28. I’m only speculating here but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the kind of text he was meditating on under the fig tree- especially verse 12. It’s the dream of Jacob and it’s quite interesting to me because we have another parallel here with Jacob. He had a dream when he was going from Bathsheba to Haran- Behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. We discover later on in verse 16- 17 he was afraid when he had this encounter with God. “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Wouldn’t it be great if he was reading that text as in fact Jesus used this very image. So we hear Jesus speaking to Nathanael who was previously under the fig tree.

I’ve got to say I’m impressed with Nathanael here because he gives Him three great titles. John 1:49, “Nathanael answered Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” These are insights that very few people would grasp. There’s something about this man, his purity, and his guilelessness that allows him to see truth by the grace of God and when he sees it he sees it big time. So all of a sudden you have this triple affirmation- a very, very high Christological section here. This whole text is designed to lift up Christ and for of course to see who this Jesus really is. Many titles are given of Him, as we’ll see in a moment as I wrap up.

John 1:50-51, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.’ And He said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” There’s that Bethel image you see there. Wouldn’t that be great if it was the text he was reading? In any case this is still a great image- a powerful image because Jesus is the House of God. He incarnates the dream of Jacob. He is the Way; the Word made flesh, He Himself the meeting place between heaven and earth. The God Man being the meeting place between heaven and earth. We see in Him the One who can make contact with earth bound men and lift them up to heaven itself.

Note by the way in verse 51, and you won’t see it in English, when He says truly, truly, He’s speaking to Nathanael but then He goes to the plural you. Why does John do that? It’s as if John is saying, Jesus isn’t just speaking to Nathanael, He’s speaking to all of us. You- plural- will see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Again it’s an invitation to come and see, behold who He is, get up and follow Him and then abide with Him. This is where we see amen, amen- truly, truly-it’s an affirmation as in prayer. You’d have this idea- truly I’ve said. The doubling we find so much in John’s gospel is something that is an emphatic picture. The dominant theme of this gospel is how God reaches down and lifts us up and thus becomes the gateway to heaven where you’ll see the angels of God. That’s a fascinating image isn’t it? It’s as if He’s the ladder and the angels are walking up and down Him. There’s this idea of Him being the point of mediation, intimacy, revelation and light.

I’d like to give you some of the names of Jesus that are used in this gospel as we close. I’m going to give you seven particular names. The first one in this first chapter is the Word in 1:13-14, and the Word became flesh.

We also see Him as the Light and as the Light we see Him particularly in 1:4-13 where people were blind to their own Messiah. It’s needful for us to appropriate or receive that Light for us to find our life in Him.

He’s also called the Son of God in 1:15-28 and verse 49. As the Son of God we see Him as eternal, combining grace and truth and that He reveals God to us. He alone can explain Him.

He is called the Lamb of God. As the Lamb of God, He takes away the sins of the world particularly in verses 29 and 36.

Fifth, He’s also called the Messiah as we discover Him here in verse 20 and 35-42.

In addition to being the Messiah, He is King of Israel. As the King of Israel in verses 43-49 we see His Lordship and His authority.

Finally we see Him as the Son of Man in this list in verses 50-51. This is an unusual title for John to use. As the Son of Man, He is the living link between heaven and earth and He identifies with us.

In addition to these seven titles we also see that He is the Prophet in verse 21. He is called Jesus in verse 29. In verse 33 He is the One who baptizes with the Spirit. In verses 38 and 49 He’s called Rabbi and Teacher. He’s called the son of Joseph and the Nazarene in verse 45.

I want to stress something. This is a highly Christological passage of scripture and it invites us to see that both the mind and the heart must weld together. You must understand truth and appropriate it. Just to have piety, love for Jesus, without really knowing about who He is and how that all connects together, what scripture teaches, is not to be embedded properly. But on the other hand to have an orthodox grasp of theology without a warm heart is also to miss out on the life of Christ. Again it’s important for us to grow in our apprehension of who this One is and the more we can name Him and know Him the greater our own capacity will be then to know Him intimately. We want to know Him, to love Him, but it’s also true that that you want to love Him to know Him. You see how they both connect together. The mind leads to the heart and the heart affects the mind. There’s mutuality between the two.

Question: Why is it that John the Baptist and Jesus didn’t just spell it out clearly, everything is kind of mystical and with hindsight?

Answer: There’s a kind of gradual revelation. You have to understand that the whole theme in scripture is a movement of progression. There’s progressive revelation as we go where God gradually reveals Himself. Remember in fact He says even when He would heal people, don’t tell anyone, the time had not yet come. There’s a timing issue as well. It’s not for Him to be fully manifested until His hour would come. John really anticipates a later understanding. There’s a development in that grasp. The issue is always this. There’s always some light to which we must respond. If we come to the light that we’re given, God’s role will be the One to illuminate us. Please keep in mind that He knew Nathanael before Nathaniel knew Him. This is the other side of that coin. We must grasp that God’s grace will be previous to your response. It’s not a game of hide-and-seek but it illumination when the heart is made ready and prepared. God knows in each heart what they need and how they are to respond. Frankly, people come to Him differently. Notice how Peter comes right away and Nathanael hesitates. So we have different personalities, different temperaments and so forth. I think God uses these truths in unique ways that are appropriate to us. There is a theme in scripture of progressive revelation.

Question: (inaudible)

Answer: Fairly early on in Jesus’ ministry when John the Baptist was thrown into prison. I would probably guess within a year or so. Later in His ministry, they were asking- Are you John the Baptist? That seems to be the case where Herod was upset because of John’s nailing him and so that is when he had him beheaded.

Question: (inaudible)

Answer: Are You the One whose going to come or shall we seek someone else? Part of this is are You the One that I recognized upon whom the Spirit came or is this yet someone else? There were a lot of false messiahs running around, pretenders, and so John wants to know if this is the same One that I saw or not? Jesus sends him back the response, go and tell him what you have seen. The dead are raised and so forth. You have all these signs given. John himself had his own uncertainty at that juncture. Is this really the One? Keep in mind he was in prison so he didn’t have an opportunity to be hanging around Him. One wonders more about that though after His baptism, did John the Baptist have any further contact with Jesus at all? My suspicion is he probably did not have any direct contact.

Question: (inaudible)

Answer: I think you have to understand there are a lot of confusing and mixed signals about the nature of the Messiah that were somewhat confusing to the people. It had been politicized. There was not a clear understanding- was He coming in power as the world would see it or was He coming in power as One who is going to be dealing with the real needs of people but not in a political context? The signs that He performed showed that He was not of a political nature of deliverance from physical or Roman bondage or oppression. That always raised a question and to this very day many Jewish people reject Him because He didn’t fit their expectation of Messiah, as they wanted Him to be. They wanted Him to be more of a political, physical deliverer. Jesus offered something more profound than that. Ultimately the physical will not come until after the spiritual is fulfilled. When Jesus returns, He will come decisively. He will come to invade and at that time He will not come in humility and weakness. There won’t be any ambiguity when He comes back. That’s why He says don’t listen to them when they say the Messiah’s come, here He is, there He is-don’t worry about that- you’ll know. Just as the sun goes from the east to the west you’ll know when He comes.

Question: Why did John not identify himself when writing this?

Answer: It might be almost as John the Baptist who never speaks about himself. He says what he’s not. He doesn’t even name himself. There’s a sense in which the spirit of one whose purpose is not to draw attention to himself but always to focus on the other. He doesn’t want to be a central theme or figure. He wants the attention to be off himself. It may well be he doesn’t even feel worthy of putting himself in that scenario. I think we can be sure that part of it was animated by that concern.

Question: (inaudible)

Answer: This is no letter. Peter would identify himself. Paul would identify himself because that’s a correspondence. This is something more universal. It’s compatible with the universality of the gospel and that it not be particularized by the author himself. He does stress the one who has seen these things bears witness that it is true- I am an eyewitness.

Question: (inaudible)

Answer: They knew who John was. He didn’t have to say it. Iraneaus was a disciple of Polycarp and Polycarp was a disciple of John. There was a direct connection. They understood that. There was a living testimony and witness. These early church fathers were not ignorant. There were just some things they didn’t need to develop or say.

Question: (inaudible)

Answer: I think in part being more of a Zealot, Judas desire was more politically motivated because he was such a patriot. He let his patriotism actually come in the way of his grasp of the identity of Jesus. I think Jesus literally disappointed him at a point and he finally decided to have Him brought into custody. I don’t think his intent was to have Him executed, it went beyond what he had expected, but when he discovered what he’d really done it was another matter. His hanging even there was remorse not repentance.

I am launching this series on evangelism because I have been burdened for a long time about how few we see as a church coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ. I often wrestle with the question, “What kind of impact are we having on this godless city?” While we are commendable in our emphasis on world missions, it seems to me that we are weak in outreach to our own “Jerusalem.”

I feel that I am most at fault in this problem. While I try to preach the gospel often from the pulpit, I am not a good example in personal evangelism. For more than 40 years, I have prayed that God would use me to lead others to Christ. I’ve gone to training seminars and read many books on the subject. I pray for my neighbors, that I could see them come to Christ. But I often fail when opportunities to share Christ come up. I usually think of what I could have said about two hours too late!

Also, I’m so busy with the work of the church that I lack contacts with lost people. But even when I have tried in the past, my attempts at evangelism have been colossal failures. But I want to keep trying. So this series is not just for you. It’s especially for me.

I’m going to begin by focusing on our motivation for sharing Christ with others. In subsequent messages, we’ll look at the message, and then at the method. Regarding motivation, if we want to be effective channels for the good news, we need to ask God to give us the heart that Jesus had for lost people. We see His heart in Matthew 9:36, “Seeing the people, He felt compassion on them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus goes on to say that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few; thus (v. 38) the disciples should pray for the Lord to send workers into the harvest.

C. H. Spurgeon said that verse 38 weighed on his heart more than any other text in the Bible! He said that it haunted him perpetually (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit [Pilgrim Publications], 19:466). So I pray that this simple message will haunt us:

We need to see as Jesus saw and feel as Jesus felt so that we will do as Jesus did.

Verse 35 gives us a summary of Jesus’ ministry at that time (almost identical with Matt. 4:23). He was going through all of the villages, teaching, proclaiming the gospel, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. Then, verses 36-38 report a specific incident on one of those occasions, when Jesus saw the crowds, perhaps as they approached Him, felt compassion for them, and then gave this charge to His disciples. The first lesson is…

1. We need to see as Jesus saw.

Presumably, Jesus and the disciples saw the same scene: the approaching crowd of people. But Jesus saw them with different eyes than the disciples did.

A. Jesus saw the great need of lost people (9:36).

Probably there was nothing unusual about the crowd that approached Jesus and the disciples that day. There may have been a few more sick and disabled people than in a normal crowd, but no more than there had been on previous days. But the disciples probably thought, as they did on another occasion when the needs were overwhelming (Matt. 14:15), “Send them away!” But Jesus saw them differently and He felt compassion for them.

Years ago, some researchers decided to find out if seminary students are Good Samaritans. They met individually with 40 ministerial students under the pretense of doing a study of careers in the church. Each student was instructed to walk to a nearby building to deliver an impromptu talk into a tape recorder. Some were told to talk on the Good Samaritan parable, while others were told to talk about their career concerns.

Meanwhile, the researchers planted an actor along the path who, as a seminarian approached, groaned and slumped to the ground. They found that more than half of the students walked right on by! The researchers noted, “Some who were planning their dissertation on the Good Samaritan, literally stepped over the slumped body as they hurried along.” (Cited by William McRae, The Dynamics of Spiritual Gifts [Zondervan], p. 54.)

Probably your first reaction to that story, as mine was, is to think, “How could these students be so hard-hearted as to ignore this hurting man? I would never do that!” But my hunch is that those students represent most of us. They were so preoccupied with themselves and the immediate pressure that they faced (to deliver a talk) that they did not see the obvious need of this man in their path. And so they did not stop to help him. They did not see him as Jesus would have seen him. How did Jesus see people?

Jesus saw lost people as distressed. The word means “troubled” or “vexed.” It points to the load of problems that people apart from Christ bear. Do you ever look carefully into people’s faces when you’re in public? If you do, you’ll see a lot of distressed, troubled people.

Jesus saw lost people as dispirited. The word means, “downcast” or “thrown down.” It points to the utterly helpless and forsaken condition of people who are lost in sin without the Savior. Philip Keller, in A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 [Zondervan], describes how sheep can get turned over on their backs and not be able to get up by themselves again. Such sheep are called “cast” or “cast down” sheep (p. 60). These sheep flail at the air with their legs, but they can’t get back on their feet without the aid of the shepherd. Left in this condition, helpless and vulnerable to their enemies, they will die after a few hours or days.

What a picture of sinners apart from the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ! Outwardly, they may look calm and comfortable. They may be successful in worldly terms. But Jesus sees their hearts before God. They’re “legs up,” unable to extricate themselves from their sin. They are downcast or dispirited. They may look normal outwardly, but inwardly they are, as Paul describes them (Eph. 2:12), without “hope and without God in the world.”

Jesus saw lost people as sheep without a shepherd. The Jewish religious leaders should have been shepherding these people, pointing them to God. But instead they were self-righteous and self-seeking, looking down on the common people as sinners (John 9:24-34). They were fleecing the flock, not shepherding them with compassion (Ezekiel 34; Matthew 23). They viewed the people as a bother. But Jesus viewed them as sheep needing a shepherd.

Years ago there was a heart-rending story in the news (cited by Charles Hembree, Fruits of the Spirit [Baker], pp. 25-26). A young father, James Lee, shot himself in a tavern phone booth. Minutes before he had called a reporter and told him that he had sent the paper an envelope outlining his story. The frantic reporter tried to trace the call, but it was too late. When the police arrived, the young man was slumped over with a bullet through his head.

In his pockets was a child’s crayon drawing, much folded and worn. On it was written, “Please leave in my coat pocket. I want to have it buried with me.” The drawing was signed in childish print by the man’s daughter, Shirley, who had died in a fire five months before. The father had been so grief-stricken that he had asked total strangers to attend his daughter’s funeral so she would have a nice service. He said there was no family to attend since Shirley’s mother had died when the child was two. And so when he called the reporter just before he took his life, Lee said that all he had in life was gone and he felt so alone.

When we hear a heart-breaking story like that, we all would respond, “I would have shown love to that lonely, hurting man!” And we would—if we could have seen his need in time. But, hurting people do not wear neon signs blinking, “Love me! I’m hurting!” We probably have hurting people here every week. Do we step over them on our way to talk with our friends? Or, do we see them as Jesus saw these people, as distressed, dispirited, and as sheep without a shepherd?

B. Jesus saw the great harvest of lost people (9:37).

He said, “The harvest is plentiful.” This was an important concept that Jesus wanted His disciples to grasp. On another occasion, after speaking with the Samaritan woman by the well, He told the disciples (John 4:35), “lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” He repeated it again as He sent out the seventy for ministry (Luke 10:2). And He told the fearful apostle Paul to go on preaching in Corinth, explaining (Acts 18:10), “for I have many people in this city.” There was a harvest waiting to be reaped. The harvest doesn’t depend on our techniques, but on God’s sovereign purpose. He has planned a harvest and He calls us to get involved as reapers.

We practically deny the truth of Jesus’ words whenever we think (I am often guilty of this!), “He wouldn’t want to hear about Christ!” “She would be offended if I talked to her about spiritual things!” How do you know that? Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful. It’s God’s job to open hearts to the gospel (Acts 16:14). It’s our job to go into the harvest field and seek to reap a crop.

So Jesus saw the great need of lost people. He saw the great harvest of lost people. Also,

C. Jesus saw the great need for workers for the harvest (9:37b).

“The workers are few.” Jesus has changed metaphors here. First, He used the metaphor of sheep. But, now, it’s a harvest. These two metaphors show two sides of the matter: The sheep and the shepherd show man’s need met by God. The good shepherd seeks out lost sheep and ministers to them. The harvest and the workers show God’s “need” met by man: God uses saved people to save other people. (This insight is from G. Campbell Morgan, The Analyzed Bible [Baker], pp. 124-125.)

Jesus’ viewpoint is that of a farmer who has a great crop ready for harvest, but he doesn’t have enough reapers. It’s an interesting picture, isn’t it? On the one hand, the Lord will accomplish all of His purpose, which includes the salvation of His elect (Eph. 1:3-11). And yet, at the same time, He has chosen to save lost people through those whom He has already saved. He could have used angels, who probably would have been more competent than we are. But He chose to use us! And so the plentiful harvest means that there is a need for more workers.

Here’s the kicker: If you are one of Jesus’ sheep, He wants you to see yourself as a worker in His harvest. It is not by accident that the very next thing in Matthew’s gospel is for Jesus to summon the twelve and appoint them to ministry. Up to this point, Jesus has done all of the ministry while the disciples have watched. But now He gets the disciples involved.

And if you’re thinking, “But I’m not called into full-time ministry,” you don’t understand. The workers in the Lord’s harvest are not just those in so-called “full-time” ministry. Rather, they are those who have tasted of God’s salvation telling others of what He has done for their soul. Or, has often has been said, it is one beggar telling another beggar where he can find bread. Jesus wants you to open your eyes and see the great harvest around you so that you will be a worker reaping souls who need the Good Shepherd.

So to be like our Savior, we need to see as Jesus saw: the great need of lost people; the great harvest of lost people; and, the great need for more workers in the harvest of lost people. Seeing as Jesus saw will lead us to the second step:

2. We need to feel as Jesus felt.

Note the link in verse 36, “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them….” The Greek verb translated, “felt compassion,” is used frequently of Jesus in the Gospels. It is related to a noun meaning, “inward parts,” or, as we might say in the vernacular, “guts.” Deep down inside, Jesus felt for these people. He didn’t angrily blame them for the mess that they were in, although He could have done so. Rather, He felt compassion for them.

Do we feel compassion for sinners, or do we shrug and think, “It’s their own fault”? I read about a bold pastor who began his sermon, “I’d like to make three points today. First, there are millions of people around the world who are going to go to hell. Second, most of us sitting here today don’t give a damn about that.” After a long pause, he continued, “My third point is that you are more concerned that I, your pastor, said the word ‘damn’ than you are about the millions going to hell.” (Reader’s Digest [May, 1979], p. 127.) That was a tricky way of showing how we get so worked up about the trivial and are indifferent about the significant. We should feel as Jesus felt about lost people.

Years ago, a woman missionary went to Tunis in North Africa, where she tried to reach Muslims for Christ. She met with little success, as often seems to be the case in Muslim countries. But she persisted, above all trying to love those to whom she witnessed.

One Muslim boy came to her home every week for English lessons. As she taught him English, she tried to tell him about Jesus, but he was unmoved. Finally, the summer before he was to go away to the university came, and he dropped his English sessions. One day, just before his departure, he came to say goodbye to the missionary for the final time. They had tea together and she told him again of the love of Jesus. But while he was polite, he was adamant in resisting the gospel.

At last, he bid farewell and headed down to path through the garden, leading to the outside gate. Here he stopped and looked back and he saw his teacher standing in the doorway looking after him with tears streaming down her face. He could resist no longer. Her tears conquered the rebellion in his heart. He returned up the path and into her living room, where he trusted in Christ as His Savior (told by James Boice, The Gospel of John [Zondervan], p. 771).

While I am not one to show tears easily, people can sense whether you care about them or not. If they feel your love, they will be more inclined to listen to your message. We need to see needy people as Jesus saw them. And we need to feel compassion for them as Jesus felt.

3. We need to do as Jesus did.

What did Jesus do? He ministered to people’s needs and He prayed for more workers.

A. Jesus ministered to people’s spiritual and physical needs.

Ministry is not a “stained-glass” word that applies only to those called into “professional” Christian work. “Ministry” means “service.” Every Christian is called to serve Christ. He has given you unique gifts and opportunities. You are to take what He has given you and use it to serve those with whom He has put you in contact.

Matthew summarizes Jesus’ ministry by three things (9:35): He was teaching, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. Not everyone is gifted to teach publicly, but in private conversation you should be able to teach others what God has taught you from His Word. If your friend makes a comment about God or Jesus or eternal life that is contrary to Scripture, you can use the opportunity to say, “Why do you think that? Would you mind if I shared what God’s Word says about that subject?” So you serve by teaching.

Again, not everyone is called to preach the gospel publicly, but every believer should be ready when the opportunity presents itself to tell others how they can have their sins forgiven and go to heaven (1 Pet. 3:15). I’ll share more about the message of the gospel next week. But in briefest form it is: We all have sinned against the holy God and we deserve His punishment. No amount of good works can pay our debt. But in love, God sent His Son Jesus to bear the penalty that we deserved. We must turn from our sins and trust in Jesus as our sin-bearer. God gives eternal life as a free gift to all who trust in Jesus. Learn some verses and some illustrations to go with each of those points and you can minister to everyone’s greatest need, to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus also healed the sick, which authenticated His claim to be the promised Messiah (Matt. 11:2-6). While no one today has a gift of healing on a par with Jesus or the apostles, we can pray for the sick and know that sometimes God will heal them. We can minister to people’s physical needs in practical ways (Matt. 25:34-40). If we do as Jesus did, we will minister to people’s spiritual and physical needs.

B. Jesus prayed for more workers.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Wait a minute! The text does not say that Jesus prayed for more workers. It says that He commanded the disciples to pray for workers.” True! But Jesus didn’t command the disciples to do something which He Himself had not done. Luke (6:12-13) tells us that before Jesus called the twelve apostles, He spent the entire night in prayer. Surely, in part He was asking the Father for workers for the harvest.

But whether He prayed for more workers or not, you cannot dispute that He commands us to pray for more workers. Do you do that? Do you pray that the Lord would raise up and send out workers from this church? Maybe they will serve in the ministries of the church here locally. Maybe God will send them to another culture or country with the gospel. But in some mysterious fashion that I do not understand, God works through our prayers. If we all prayed for more workers, maybe we would have more people wanting to serve than we had openings for service! That would be a unique problem, wouldn’t it!

But let me warn you: Praying for workers for the harvest is dangerous business! Many years ago a well-known pastor named Dr. Legters was walking down the street with $50 in his pocket. He met a missionary home on furlough who said, “Dr. Legters, I think it’s providential that we met. We’re having an urgent prayer meeting at the church and we’d love to have you join us.”

Dr. Legters was a somewhat brusque man and before they went to prayer he said, “Let’s not pray out of ignorance. Let’s pray out of intelligence. What exactly do you need?” The missionary replied, “We have an urgent financial need for $50.” Dr. Legters said, “Fine, let’s pray.”

They prayed all the way around the circle and when they got through one missionary said, “I don’t feel that we’ve really laid hold of the Lord in this. Let’s pray some more.” So, they prayed around the circle the second time. The third time around, Dr. Legters said, God spoke to him. He said, “Legters, what about the $50 in your pocket?” So he stopped a woman in the middle of her prayer and said, “Hold it! God answered your prayer.” He pulled out the $50 and laid it on the table.

When he told about this, Dr. Legters pointed his finger at the congregation and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, it is a dangerous thing to pray!” (Told by Howard Hendricks, Elijah [Moody Press], p. 50.) It still is! If you pray for workers for the harvest, God may tap you on the shoulder and ask, “What about you? Will you be a worker in My harvest?”

Conclusion

What is our motive for getting involved in evangelism? Our motive is the great love of our Savior, who came to this sinful world, who saw the great needs of lost people, who felt compassion for them, and who served them with the good news of salvation. If you have experienced that salvation, then you’re one of His workers in His harvest. He wants you to see as He saw, to feel as He felt, and to do as He did. Love lost people for Jesus’ sake.

Application Questions

1. How can we become more sensitive to the needs of others? What practical things can we do to grow in this way?
2. How do we show compassion to needy people without creating an unhealthy situation where they become dependent on us? What guidelines apply here?
3. Often lost people seem to be fairly “together.” How can we make an opening for the gospel with people who don’t seem to sense their need for it?
4. How can a Christian know whether God is calling him/her into “full time” Christian work?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2010, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

Usually the only time that Marla and I watch TV (other than the news or the Olympics) is when we stay in a motel. It’s always an eye-opening experience for me, to learn where the culture is at.

Several years ago, we saw a feature on an up and coming actress that obviously focused on her sex appeal. Since then, from reading the tabloid headlines while waiting in line at the market, I know that she has gone through a divorce from the man she was engaged to when we saw this program. She is frequently pictured on those tabloids in revealing attire, with stories about her latest sexual escapade. But in the program we watched, the young woman’s father talked about her faith in Jesus Christ, assuring the viewers that she was a good Christian girl!

It’s not at all uncommon to hear about or meet people that make a profession of being born again, but their lives are no different from those in the world. They have never turned from the sin that characterized their lives before they professed to be born again. In their morals, in their marriages, in the way they raise their children, in their materialistic lifestyles, and in the way they spend hours every week watching the filth on TV or in movies, they are no different than the rest of our pagan culture. And yet they claim to be born again Christians!

Are people who have “prayed to receive Christ,” or who claim to be born again, but whose lives are no different than they were before, truly converted? I believe that the Bible answers that question with a loud, “No!” Those who are truly converted to faith in Jesus Christ are marked by what the Bible calls “repentance.” This does not mean that they are sinless, but it does mean that they sin less. They mourn over their sin. They fight against it. When they do sin, they turn from it and turn back to following Christ as Lord. A study of “repentance” in the Bible shows that…

A life of turning to God from sin is the mark of true conversion.

This relates to the message of evangelism. If we do not make it clear to lost people that repentance is necessary for salvation, we will produce false converts, who think that they are saved when the truth is, they are on the broad way to hell.

This is crucial to understand because there is an entire organization, made up in large part of graduates of the seminary that I attended, which promotes the view that repentance (in the sense of turning from sin) has no part in evangelism. They argue that to bring up repentance when you present the gospel is to undermine the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Of course, there are many verses in the Bible that connect repentance with salvation. So these men have to define the word rather narrowly. They say that it only means changing your mind about Jesus Christ, where you acknowledge that He is the Savior or that He is God. But, they argue, it does not mean turning from sin or changing one’s conduct. They argue that submitting to Christ as Lord is desirable for the Christian, but not necessary for salvation (see Thomas Constable, in Walvoord: A Tribute [Moody Press], pp. 207, 209). But, a study of “repentance” in the Bible shows that…

1. Those who are lost must turn from sin to be saved.

Is repentance, as many purport, just a change of mind? No!

A. Repentance is to turn to God from sin.

The main Old Testament word translated “repent” means to turn or return. It is the twelfth most frequently used verb in the OT (1,050 times; some usages refer only to someone physically turning around, but many refer to turning to the Lord). Scholar Victor Hamilton writes of this word (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. by R. Laird Harris, Glean Archer, & Bruce Waltke [Moody Press], 2:909), “… it combines in itself the two requisites of repentance: to turn from evil and to turn to the good.” He concludes (ibid.) that “this conscious decision of turning to God” includes “repudiation of all sin and affirmation of God’s total will for one’s life.”

There are three New Testament words used for repentance and they occur (in noun or verb form) over 60 times, beginning with a summary of both John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17). R. C. Trench (Synonyms of the New Testament [Eerdmans], p. 260) describes repentance as “that mighty change in mind, heart, and life wrought by the Spirit of God.” While the main Greek word is a compound word taken from two words meaning to change one’s mind, this meaning, according to another scholar, “plays very little part in the NT. Rather the decision by the whole man to turn around is stressed. It is clear that we are concerned neither with a purely outward turning nor with a merely intellectual change of ideas.” (J. Goetzmann, in The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. by Colin Brown [Zondervan, 1:358.) Theologian Wayne Grudem (Systematic Theology [Zondervan], p. 713, italics his) offers this definition: “Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.”

Thus repentance involves a change of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Like saving faith, repentance is a gift that God grants by His sovereign grace (Acts 3:16; 5:31; 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25). In that sense, it is not something that sinful man can produce, although sinners are responsible to repent. But when any sinner repents, it is because God graciously granted repentance.

While sorrow for sin is a normal part of repentance, it is possible to feel sorry for your sins and yet not be repentant unto salvation. Judas Iscariot felt remorse for betraying Jesus, yet he was not converted (Matt. 27:3). Esau “found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears” (Heb. 12:17). Paul told the Corinthians that sorrow according to the will of God can lead to repentance, and thus be a valuable thing (2 Cor. 7:8-11). But sorrow for sins alone is not enough. Biblical repentance is a turning of the whole person from sin to God. The repentant person accepts responsibility for his sin, he calls out in faith to God for salvation, and he proves his repentance and faith by his good works.

Let’s look at some biblical examples of repentance. In Jonah 3, the prophet reluctantly went to Ninevah and proclaimed God’s message, that in 40 days, the city would be overthrown for its sin. To Jonah’s displeasure, the people of Ninevah believed in God (Jon. 3:5). Their genuine faith was evident in that they fasted and turned from their sins (Jon. 3:5-8). Then it says (Jon. 3:10), “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.” What was the evidence that their faith was genuine? Their repentance: they turned from their wicked way. Repentance is turning to God from sin.

We see the same connection with faith and repentance in Paul’s ministry to the Thessalonians. He writes (1 Thess. 1:8), “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.” The Thessalonians had believed in the gospel that Paul had preached. But clearly their faith was inseparable from repentance, because verse 9 reads, “For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God.” Paul did not preach, “Just believe and maybe later you ought to turn from your sins.” Rather, he had included repentance in his gospel. The Thessalonians’ whole way of life had changed from idolatry to serving the living and true God.

Paul summarized his message to King Agrippa (Acts 26:18) by saying that the Lord had sent him to the Gentiles “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.” Those are Jesus’ direct words to Paul regarding the message he was to proclaim to lost people. It was a message about repentance: turning from sin (darkness, Satan’s dominion) to God. That message is bound up with, not distinct from, “forgiveness of sins and faith in” the Lord Jesus.

Paul goes on to say that in obedience to Christ, he preached (Acts 26:20), “even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.” Paul’s gospel to pagan people was not just, “change your mind about Jesus and believe in Him, but don’t be concerned about your sins.” Rather, Paul’s gospel—which he got straight from Jesus—included turning to God from sin. Lost people must turn from sin to be saved. This means that…

B. Our presentation of the gospel is incomplete if we do not talk about turning to God from sin.

John the Baptist preached repentance to lost people and made it clear that he wasn’t talking about a change of mind only, apart from a change of behavior. Luke (3:3) summarizes his message as “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” He told his hearers that they needed to bear fruits in keeping with repentance (3:8). Then he gave them specific behavioral changes that they needed to make (3:11-14).

Jesus also preached a message of repentance to lost people (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15). He clearly told the Jews (Luke 13:3, 5): “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” When Jesus sent out His disciples to preach, their message was “that men should repent” (Mark 6:12). They didn’t make up that message. They got it straight from Jesus! As we’ve seen, the apostle Paul got the same message directly from Jesus.

John MacArthur sums up a chapter on repentance (The Gospel According to Jesus [Zondervan], p. 167):

Repentance has always been the foundation of the biblical call to salvation…. No evangelism that omits the message of repentance can properly be called the gospel, for sinners cannot come to Jesus Christ apart from a radical change of heart, mind, and will. That demands a spiritual crisis leading to a complete turnaround and ultimately a wholesale transformation. It is the only kind of conversion Scripture recognizes.

You may be wondering: What is the relationship between repentance and saving faith? Repentance and faith are inextricably bound together, like two sides of the same coin. But the two words have different nuances or emphases (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion [Westminster Press], 3:3:5). True saving faith, which is trusting in Christ alone and His shed blood to deliver us from God’s wrath, includes repentance. You can’t truly lay hold of Christ for salvation with one hand, while at the same time knowingly hold onto your sin with the other hand. To genuinely trust Christ, you must turn from your sin. Some may verbally profess to believe in Christ while holding onto their sin. But such empty profession without repentance is not true saving faith.

For example, if you’re driving to Phoenix and you repent, you don’t just say, “I don’t like going to Phoenix. I wish I weren’t going to Phoenix. I really believe that Flagstaff is the place where I should be.” Those are nice, but meaningless thoughts. True repentance means that you won’t just think or talk about it. You will actually turn around and drive back towards Flagstaff. Your behavior reflects your beliefs. If you truly believe in Christ as your Savior, you’ll turn from your sin. That’s repentance. J. Edwin Orr wrote (in Christianity Today, Jan. 1, 1982, p. 27), “The difference between true faith and what the Scripture calls false faith is simple: it is the lack of repentance.”

This is illustrated in the story of Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:9-24). In verse 13, we read that Simon believed, was baptized, and continued on with Philip. But when Peter and John came to town and people received the Holy Spirit through their prayers, Simon offered to pay them so that he could have the same power. Note Peter’s response (Acts 8:20-23):

“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

Clearly, although Luke says Simon had “believed,” he was not saved, because his faith did not include repentance. We aren’t faithfully presenting the gospel to lost people if we imply that they can get to heaven by faith without turning from their sin.

Becky Pippert, in her book Out of the Salt Shaker & into the World [IVP, pp. 45-47], tells of inviting Lois, a Stanford student who was skeptical about the existence of God, to a Bible study. She agreed to come but said, “The Bible won’t have anything relevant to say to me.”

The next day Becky discovered that Lois was living off campus with her boyfriend, Phil. To Becky’s great surprise, Phil came with Lois to the Bible study. Before she knew Lois’s background, Becky had already decided to study Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in John 4.

She started the study and suddenly realized that the passage dealt with a woman living in sexual sin. Not wanting Lois to feel ambushed, Becky tried to arrange it so that Lois wouldn’t have to read any of the text as they went around the room. But it turned out that Lois had to read the portion where Jesus said to the woman, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’ ... for the man you’re living with now is not your husband.” It was her first time ever to read the Bible. Lois said, “I must say, this is a bit more relevant than I had expected!”

Becky met with her later and talked with her about Christ. “Is there any reason why you couldn’t become a Christian?” Becky asked. “No,” Lois said. “Well, I can think of one,” Becky said. “What will you do about Phil?” Then she talked directly about how becoming a Christian is a relationship that affects every aspect of our lives, including our morals. As they talked, it became clear that God had been pursuing Lois for a long time. There were tears and struggles followed by a sincere prayer asking Christ to be her Savior and Lord.

Immediately she said, “Becky, I’ve got problems. I’ll have to tell Phil and move out; I have no place to go; it’s impossible to get a dorm room this late, and now I’ll have to pay this month’s rent in two places.” So they prayed again, and as Lois left, Becky agonized over how such a young believer could handle so much.

Later Becky was chatting in the hall with some other students when she heard a noise and turned to see Lois, slowly walking down the corridor, carrying several suitcases and smiling with tears streaming down her cheeks. Everyone began asking her why she had left home. “Oh, no. I haven’t left home. I’ve finally found my home,” she said. “You see, today I became a Christian.”

That decision had far-reaching effects. That same night three girls decided to get right with Christ. Another girl who had assumed she was a Christian realized she wanted no part of it if it demanded total commitment. The next day Lois was told she could move into a dorm (unheard of at such a late date), and she discovered her new roommate was a mature Christian.

Three months later her boyfriend Phil became a Christian, and he too grew rapidly. He had been angry over her conversion and for moving out. But after he was converted he told her, “Thanks, Lois, for loving God enough to put him first instead of me. Your obedience affected my eternal destiny.”

Luke reports the risen Lord’s great commission to the disciples was “that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations” (Luke 24:47). How can anyone dodge the fact that repentance is at the heart of the gospel?

But repentance isn’t just something a person does at the moment of salvation and then says, “Whew, I’m glad that’s over!”

2. Those who are saved will be marked by repentance as an ongoing way of life.

True Christians grow increasingly sensitive to sin. To grow in Christ means to walk more closely with Him in the light of His Word. The Word exposes things in our lives that are not pleasing to Him. If we truly know Christ, we will be quick to confess these things as sin and to turn from them. As I said, we will never be sinless, but as we walk with Christ, we will sin less and will turn from that sin when God confronts it. A life of turning to God from sin is the mark of true conversion.

The story is told of a girl who trusted Christ and applied for membership in a church. A deacon asked her, “Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your life?” “Yes, sir,” she replied. “Well, are you still a sinner?” “To tell you the truth, I feel that I’m a greater sinner than ever.” “Then what real change have you experienced?” “I don’t quite know how to explain it,” she said, “except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I’m saved, I’m a sinner running from sin!” They accepted her into the fellowship of that church, and her life there proved her conversion.

The final thing to consider about repentance is:

3. When sinners repent, God welcomes them with great joy.

Some see repentance as negative. But the fact that God grants repentance gives us great hope. It means that when we turn to God from our sin, He will be gracious to us because of Christ’s death on our behalf. Both the Old and New Testaments picture God entreating sinners to turn back to Him:

Isaiah 55:6-7 implores, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”

When Jesus told the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, in the first two He emphasized the joy in heaven when one sinner repents (Luke 15:7, 10). In the third story, He illustrated repentance on the part of the prodigal son, who said, “I will get up and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.’” But he didn’t just think that; he did it!

And did the father say, “You no good excuse for a son! You’re going to pay for your sin”? No! The father saw the son a long way off, ran to him and didn’t even let him get the whole confession out of his mouth before he threw his arms around him, kissed him, and welcomed him with great joy (Luke 15:11-24). That’s God’s response to any sinner who turns to Him from his sin. If you will turn to God from your sin and trust in Christ, He will welcome you with great joy!

Conclusion

Did your profession of faith in Christ include repentance? Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matt. 7:21-23). Frightening words! Don’t be deceived: The mark of true conversion is a life of turning to God from sin. Anything else is a counterfeit.

Application Questions

1. Is repentance different from a pre-salvation effort to clean up one’s life? How so?
2. Some charge that preaching repentance to lost people is adding works to faith alone. How would you answer this?
3. Is a person who makes a profession of faith but then is defeated by some habitual sin (like drinking or drugs) necessarily unrepentant? How can he know whether he’s truly saved?
4. Some say that because faith alone saves, we should never confront an unbeliever’s sin. Is this biblical? Discuss Matt. 14:4; 19:16-22; 23:1-33.

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2010, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

If you want to learn something well, study under a master. Whether it’s one of the arts, a trade, law, business, or a sport, if you have the opportunity to study under someone who knows the subject well, don’t pass it up.

No one was a better master at winning souls for God than Jesus Christ. He came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). If we want to learn how to talk with people about the gospel, we can find no better teacher than Jesus. As you read in the gospels of His encounters with lost people, take note of how He did it. He never used the same approach twice. He always tailored it to the individual.

If I wanted to extend this series for several more weeks, we could study the differences in Jesus’ witness to the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3 with the Samaritan woman in John 4. The contrasts could not be much greater. He was a Jew; she was a Samaritan. He was a man; she was a woman. He was educated; she probably was not. He was a leader among his people; she was probably disrespected by her people. He was morally upright and proud of it; she was immoral and ashamed of it. He recognized Jesus’ merits and sought Him; she at first had no idea who He was. Jesus sought her. Nicodemus shows that no matter how religious you may be, you still need to come to Jesus for salvation. The woman at the well shows that no matter how immoral you may be, the salvation that Jesus offers extends to you.

But I’ll leave you to explore Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus. This week and next, we’ll study Jesus’ witness to the woman at the well. I’m going to draw out 20 principles for witnessing. I know that you won’t be able to remember them all, but my hope is that some of them will stick, so that you’ll be better equipped as a witness for Christ. Because I’m going to give you so many principles, I’ll only be able to skim over them. I hope that you will chew on them in more depth. Also, next time I will draw some lessons from this story about the person of Jesus Christ. He is the One to whom we bear witness, and so to do it well, we must grow to know Him better. To sum it up generally:

Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well teaches us much about witnessing and much about Jesus Christ.

Before we look at the principles, we need to understand some background. The text falls into three sections: First, there is the setting for the story (4:1-6); then, there is the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well (4:7-26); finally, we read the results of this encounter: with the woman (4:27-30); with the disciples (4:31-38); and with the Samaritans (4:39-42).

Jesus left Judea and headed north towards Galilee to avoid conflict at that time with the Pharisees, who were both jealous and nervous about Jesus’ increasing popularity. John says that Jesus “had” to pass through Samaria. Samaria was the region between Judea and Galilee, and so in one sense there was a geographic necessity to pass through that area as He headed north. But many strict Jews hated the Samaritans so intensely that they would take the longer route of crossing the Jordan River and avoiding Samaria altogether. So John may want us to see God’s providential necessity for Jesus to travel through this region. His encounter with this woman, although seemingly coincidental, had been ordained from the foundation of the world. So in that sense, Jesus had a divine appointment in Samaria.

The village of Sychar was located about 30 miles north of Jerusalem, at the base of Mount Gerazim, the “holy mountain” for the Samaritans. Jacob’s well was about one-half mile outside of town. Scholars debate whether the sixth hour was noon (Jewish time) or 6 p.m. (Roman time), although most lean toward the first view. Jesus was weary from the journey and so He sat down by Jacob’s well while the disciples went into the village to buy food.

Samaritan history goes back to the time of the Assyrian victory over the northern kingdom of Israel (722 B.C.). The Assyrian king deported most of the Jews, but left a few in the land. He repopulated the area with foreigners, who intermarried with the Jews. Later, these settlers mixed their own pagan beliefs with the Jewish understanding of God. So they were a mixed race that held to a mixed religion. They only accepted the first five books of Moses as Scripture, and modified those books in many places.

The hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews flared when the Samaritans opposed Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s attempts to reestablish the true worship of God in the land after the return of the southern tribes from Babylon. The break was cemented when the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerazim, rejecting Jerusalem as the place of worship. In 128 B.C., the Jews burned down the Samaritan temple, furthering the hatred between the two groups. The hostilities had not abated by Jesus’ time. As John explains (4:9), “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” With that background, let’s work through the story, learning from Jesus how to do a better job of sharing the good news.

Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well teaches us much about witnessing:

1. Contact others socially (4:7).

Given the cultural hostilities, Jesus easily could have sat quietly while the Samaritan woman came, drew her water from the well, and left. But instead, He initiated the conversation by asking her to give Him a drink. This was not a ploy on Jesus’ part, in that He really was thirsty. But, as Frederick Godet observed (Commentary on the Gospel of John [Zondervan], 1:422), “He is not unaware that the way to gain a soul is often to ask a service of it.”

Contacting others socially sounds obvious, but I confess it is one of the most difficult factors for me to overcome. As a pastor who works around other Christians, I don’t have enough contact with lost people and, frankly, I don’t know what to cut out of my busy schedule to make time for such contact. Maybe that’s not your problem, but the longer you’re a Christian, the more likely it is that you will have less contact with the lost. But we won’t reach the lost if we hang out in the “holy huddle” all of the time!

2. Establish a common interest or link (4:7).

Jesus simply asked a favor as a way of making contact. By the way, this is an example of Jesus witnessing to “person X” that we talked about last week. He had never met this woman before and after this episode, He probably never saw her again. But He used this simple request to open the door for the gospel, not only to this woman, but also to her entire town. Any common interest can be an entry point that eventually leads to the gospel.

3. Buy up the opportunity (4:10).

Jesus was alert to “buy up the opportunity” (as we also saw last week), turning the situation to spiritual things. This woman went to the well that day to perform the same task that she had done hundreds of times. She had no idea when she left home that her life was about to change dramatically. But Jesus saw this open door and grabbed the opportunity to offer this thirsty woman the water of life.

We need to watch for common situations that present us with an opportunity for the gospel. Years ago, I had some car repairs done. I went to the cashier, paid my bill, and went out to my car. As I got in the car, I thought, “That didn’t cost as much as I expected.” So I looked at the bill and realized that the girl had tallied up the parts, but not the labor. The bill should have been twice what she had charged me. I confess that the thought went through my mind, “The Lord just saved me all this money!”

But I knew that I had to go make it right. So I grabbed a gospel tract out of my glove box and went back inside. I actually had to argue with the girl to prove the error. When she finally saw it, she said, “I’m new at this job. I would have been fired when they discovered my mistake. Thank you for being honest!” That’s when I told her, “I’m not by nature an honest person. But Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Would you do me the favor of reading this booklet tonight when you go home?” I had written my phone number on the tract. I never heard from her again, but she did hear the truth about Jesus Christ.

4. Cross cultural barriers, if need be, to reach people (4:9, 27).

Jesus was not afraid of being “contaminated” by drinking out of a Samaritan woman’s cup. Nor was He afraid of talking privately with a woman about spiritual matters, although the Jewish rabbis viewed Samaritan women as ceremonially unclean (D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John [Eerdmans/Apollos], pp. 217-218). Some of the rabbis even believed that to teach your daughters the Torah was as inappropriate as to sell them into prostitution (ibid., p. 227)! But Jesus ignored these cultural prejudices and deliberately engaged this immoral Samaritan woman in spiritual conversation.

I hope that none of us harbor any racial prejudice that would keep us from talking to those of other races about Christ. But we may have to overcome some cultural prejudices. For example, would you talk kindly in public with a transvestite about his need for Christ? Or, maybe you avoid an obnoxious person at work or school, rather than trying to build a bridge that could lead to sharing the gospel. The person may be a social outcast, as this Samaritan woman probably was. But he still needs Christ and to hear about Christ he needs a Christian who is willing to risk public scorn to talk to him.

5. Use a common situation to introduce spiritual matters (4:7-10).

I’ve already touched on this, but it’s worth pondering how Jesus used a natural situation (His thirst and water) to begin a conversation that He quickly turned to spiritual things. Maybe it’s a discussion about the world’s problems—war, natural disasters, the economy, or whatever. Jesus used such things—a report of how Pilate had slaughtered some Galileans and another report of a tower collapsing and killing some people—to talk about eternal issues (Luke 13:1-5). I would urge you, however, to be careful not to turn the discussion towards politics or moral issues, rather than the person’s need for Christ. His main need is not to change political parties or clean up his life, but to be reconciled with God.

6. Arouse interest by your life and words (4:7-10).

Jesus used both His actions and His words to stimulate the woman’s interest. The mere fact that He, a Jewish man, would talk to her, a Samaritan woman, asking her for a drink, grabbed her attention. When she commented on that (v. 9), Jesus further aroused her curiosity by His reply (v. 10), “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” He was using “salt” to whet her thirst (see Col. 4:6). J. C. Ryle (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Baker], 3:210) points out that if Jesus had come on with a systematic statement of doctrinal truth at this point, it would have been lost on her. Instead, He aroused her curiosity, leading to further discussion. He didn’t dump the whole thing on her at the outset, but skillfully led her along.

Bill Fay, who owned a brothel in New Orleans before he came to Christ, offers some helpful questions (on audio cassette) that we can use to arouse interest in the gospel: “Do you have any kind of spiritual belief? To you, who is Jesus? Do you think there is heaven or hell? If you died, where are you going? Why would God let you into heaven?” He advises just listening to their responses without arguing. But then, as a final question to arouse their interest, ask, “If what you believe is not true, would you want me to tell you?” It will be rare for you to get a firm, “no.”

7. Use the natural to explain the supernatural (4:9-15).

Jesus used this principle repeatedly. Here, He spoke first of water and then of living water. With Nicodemus, Jesus used the new birth and the wind (perhaps a breeze blew through the room as they talked). In John 6, Jesus fed the 5,000 and then spoke of Himself as the bread of life. In John 7, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, when the priests poured out water from the Pool of Siloam as a memorial of the thirsty nation in the wilderness, Jesus proclaimed that if anyone was thirsty, they should come to Him and drink. In John 8, Jesus claimed to be the light of the world. In John 10, He portrayed Himself as both the good shepherd and the door of the sheepfold. In John 15, He used the vine and the branches to explain our need to abide in Him.

The woman at the well was probably more concerned about her physical needs than her spiritual need. Some think that she was being somewhat sarcastic when she challenged Jesus with where He could get this “living water” (4:11). She still may have been skeptical when she asked Jesus to give her this living water (4:15). She wasn’t yet focused on her spiritual need, but on the fact that she didn’t want to come all that way to get water from the well.

But Jesus used her interest in natural water to lead her to see her need for the living water. By “living water,” Ryle thinks that Jesus was speaking of everything that He freely gives to our needy souls: “pardon, peace, mercy, grace justification, and sanctification.” He says (3:211), “As water is cleansing, purifying, cooling, refreshing, thirst-satisfying to man’s body, so are Christ’s gifts to the soul. I think everything that a sinful soul needs is purposely included under the general words, ‘living water.’”

8. Don’t expect a completely mature response from a seeking person (4:15).

The woman’s response (4:15) was somewhat mixed: “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” She is still thinking of physical water, but maybe she was beginning to see that He was talking of something much more lasting and substantial. Some think that she was being sarcastic. Others say that she was asking Jesus for eternal life. But I’m inclined to agree with Ryle, who says that she probably was still quite mixed up in her motives. He explains (3:217), “Our great aim must be to persuade sinners to apply to Jesus, and to say to Him, ‘Give me to drink.’ If we forbid them to ask anything until they can prove that they ask in a perfect spirit, we should do no good at all.” He goes on to compare it to trying to analyze an infant’s first cries.

9. Point out the need, but do it graciously (4:16-18).

When the woman asked Jesus for this living water, He rather abruptly said (4:16), “Go, call your husband and come here.” Suddenly, the conversation moved from friendly banter to very personal. She bristled (4:17), “I have no husband.” She was technically correct, but trying to divert Jesus from the truth. Jesus went for the jugular (4:17-18): “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” Suddenly, her sinful past and present were exposed. She realized that she was not talking with an ordinary man!

In order really to desire the living water that Jesus offers, a sinner must be convicted of his or her sin. As Ryle puts it (3:218), “No one values the physician until he feels his disease.” But at the same time that He exposed the woman’s sin, Jesus dealt with her kindly and graciously. He didn’t point His finger at her and say, “You’re a wicked woman! Unless you repent, you will perish!” (Ryle, 3:219). Rather, He gently agreed with her, “You have said truly.” He pointed out her need, but didn’t condemn her. He did the same thing with the woman caught in adultery when He told her (John 8:11), “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

We need the same fine balance that Jesus had here. Use God’s Word to show how we’re all guilty of violating His holy law. But do it graciously, pointing them to the cross.

10. Avoid arguments (4:12-14, 21-24).

In verse 12, the woman insinuates that Jesus could not be greater than Jacob, who gave them the well. In effect, she was saying, “Who do you think you are?” If Jesus had been proud, He easily could have set her straight. He probably would have won the point, but lost the woman. Then, she tries to draw Jesus into a centuries-old debate between the Samaritans and the Jews over the proper place to worship. While Jesus tactfully corrects her misperceptions, He still refuses to argue with her.

Arguments do not lead sinners to the Savior, even if you win. The reason is that in an argument, your pride gets involved. You want to prove that you’re right and the other person is wrong. But you’re missing the real issue. Sure, he’s wrong, but conversion is much more than persuading him that he’s wrong. Conversion requires God granting repentance and new life. Paul gives us the right approach (2 Tim. 2:24-26), “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.” That’s what Jesus did here:

11. Don’t make concessions, but offer gentle correction (4:22).

The woman brings up the debate between the Samaritans and the Jews about the correct place to worship. While Jesus did not argue, neither did He let her errors go by without correction. He pointed out that the Samaritans worshiped in ignorance and that salvation is not from them, but from the Jews. The Messiah was promised through the descendants of Abraham and David.

Unbelievers mistakenly think that their religious ideas are just as good as anyone else’s. In other words, they do not understand that one way to God is objectively true, while others are necessarily false. Rather, they view religion as a matter of subjective preference: “You like chocolate, I like strawberry. But neither one is right or wrong.” But Scripture is clear that unless we worship the one true God as He has revealed Himself through His only Son Jesus, we’re worshiping idols. So we can’t let people get away with the idea that it really doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’re sincere. Don’t make concessions, but offer gentle correction.

12. Stick with the main issue (4:20-26).

The discussion could have veered off into a debate over the merits of Judaism versus Samaritan worship. It may have been an interesting interchange, but it would have left the woman in her sins. So Jesus shows her that it is not outward religion that matters, but rather whether we worship God in spirit and truth. Then, when the woman brings up the promise that Messiah will come, who will resolve this debate, Jesus straightforwardly declares (4:26), “I who speak to you am He.” At that point, she has a choice: Is He or isn’t He? Do I believe Him or not? So Jesus brought the discussion back to the main issue, “Who do you say that I am?” As we’ll see next week, the aim in all spiritual discussions should be to bring it back to the person of Christ.

Conclusion

Next time we’ll look at the other eight principles and also at seven lessons about the person of Christ from this encounter. I conclude by asking (based on 4:13-14), “Are you drinking from the water of this world, which never fully satisfies? Or, have you drunk of the living water that Jesus gives, which has become in you a well of water springing up to eternal life?”

Application Questions

1. What are some ways to contact unbelievers socially and establish common interests without being manipulative?
2. How can we know how quickly to direct a conversation to spiritual things? When should we back off?
3. Do you have any cultural barriers that you need to overcome to be a witness to someone you have contact with?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2010, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation