2. Week Two: The Savior of the World

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

Jesus in John 3:16-17

In this week’s stories we meet some people who might be called seekers because they are open to finding out the truth about Jesus. But we also see that God is the one seeking us—that we may worship him in spirit and truth.

Truth is the bedrock of our faith in Christ. As believers, we must seek truth even when it leads us to a new place or causes us to change our thinking. Truth matters to God, and it should to his people.

If you want to know the truth about Jesus, ask him for eyes to see and ears to hear as we go through this study of John.

Part One

In this reading we meet Nicodemus, a “ruler of the Jews,” meaning a member of the first century Jewish Sanhedrin, or governing body. As he and Jesus converse, you will note another important theme—birth, mentioned previously in 1:12-13 and, of course, birth connects with the even more prominent theme of life.

Read John 3:1-21.

*** Journal about how 1 John 2:5-7 relates to this passage.

Respond to the story by journaling:

• What does this story reveal about Jesus? What do you find most significant about those revelations?
• What do you learn about people through Jesus’s teaching, and how do you relate to it?
• What is God saying to you through this story?

Part Two

The apostle John introduced us to John the Baptist in chapter 1, and John the Baptist comes back into the story at this point. He is simply called John by the apostle.

Read John 3:22-36 And Review John 1:6-9, 19-34.

*** Read Malachi 3:1 and connect it to John the Baptist’s comments about himself and Jesus. Malachi records God’s last words to Israel before a 400-year silence, which was broken when an angel appeared to the priest Zechariah foretelling the birth of his son, later known as John the Baptist (Luke 5:5-25).

Respond to the story by journaling:

• Journal your thoughts about the ways that John describes himself and Jesus.
• What do you learn about John for your own faith?
• What is God saying to you through John the Baptist’s story?

Part Three

Understanding this reading requires more information about Samaria which stood between Judea in the south and Galilee in the north. The Samaritans were a mixed people, part Jew and part Gentile (a term used for all who were not Jewish). The Jews felt superior to Samaritans both spiritually and ethnically and thus avoided or even shunned them. The Samaritans had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim and used their own version of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible written by Moses.

Amazingly, Jesus stepped out of the cultural norm by taking the initiative to speak to this woman, and both she and his disciples were surprised by his actions.

Read John 4:1-45.

*** Look at a Bible atlas or a map online or in the back of your Bible. Note the area of Judea where Jesus and his disciples begin and trace their trip to Galilee through Samaria.

Although the Samaritan woman has been long described as a sinful adulteress by Christian pastors and teachers, recent reassessment of the historical and cultural evidence³ suggests that she may have been the innocent party in her situation. It was common and acceptable for Jewish men at that time to divorce barren wives and replace them. She could easily have lost more than one husband to death. She may not have been married at the time because she was a concubine. A woman had no way of supporting herself, being dependent on a husband or son to take care of her. And despite much teaching to the contrary, there is no historical evidence that women didn’t commonly draw water at noon. Keep all of this in mind as you journal.

Respond to the story by journaling:

• Journal your insights into the ways that Jesus interacted with this woman—or if the information you just read above is a new understanding of her story, journal your thoughts about it.
• What does this story suggest about who Jesus is and what he is like?
• Journal about genuine worship or Jesus’s words about the harvest—or both!
• What is God saying to you from this story?

PRAYER: Write a prayer for yourself based on John the Baptist’s words, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Watch Who Is This Jesus? Week 2 That Accompanies This Lesson At https://Vimeo.Com/Album/4507580