Believe in the Savior

Our theme for 2022 is “Begin Again”

It time to begin again to do the things that we stopped doing.

I’m calling this series “Believe Again”

John calls us back to a living and vital relationship to God first, and then through God to others.

Faith is something that we grow in.

You may have already believed the gospel, but it is time to believe again.

We began with “Believe in Jesus”

Jesus came to be like us, so that we could become like Him.

Last week we talked about believing in spiritual reality.

There is a spiritual realm all around us that sometimes and in some ways intersects with our own lives.

Jesus came to restore our human capacity to relate to God.

We are seated with Christ in heavenly places which means that we live in both realities.

But what did Jesus come to do? And what difference does He make?

John 3:16–17 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus is the Savior.

He is the one who rescues us from our sin and separation from God.

Without Jesus, this world is destined to perish, just as it did in the flood.

Left to our own way of thinking, humanity will eventually destroy itself.

Or God would have to destroy the world again to save us from ourselves. - but He promised never to do that.

Instead he came to us, became one of us and died to save us.

It is one thing to ask the question, “Who is Jesus?” - It is another thing to ask, “Who is Jesus to you?”

Yes, He is the Savior of the world, but is He your Savior?

Yes, Jesus is God, but is He your God - or are you still trying to be god?

The declaration of the church is that Jesus is Lord - and if Jesus is Lord, then our lives are not our own and we are following Him.

In the next two chapters of John’s Gospel, we will see Jesus interacting with people.

As these people encounter Jesus the Savior, they make the choice to receive Him, to believe him and to respond to Him.

There is a progression toward action.

Believing must lead to transformation.

It is time to believe again!

Receiving the Savior

John 4:1–14 ESV

1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus goes out of His way to reach us.

The first thing that we see in this passage is that Jesus and His disciples are taking the road through Samaria to go to Galilee.

In the Greek there is an unexpected adverb edei - which indicates that there was some urgency about this decision.

Jews usually avoided this area either by taking the Mediterranean coastal plain or even crossing the Jordan and back again.

This added 1-3 days to what would otherwise be a four-day journey -but it was considered to be safer to go around Samaria.

Samaria was once the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They were the first to go into exile in 733 BC having been captured by the Assyrians.

But the land was resettled with people from other conquered nations.

2 Kings 17:24–28 (ESV)

24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. ... 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

There are many things we could say about this passage and this encounter, but the one thing that I want to highlight is that Jesus went out of His way to meet this woman.

Why is that so important? - because it shows God’s heart.

Jesus went out of His way to come to earth.

Jesus goes out of His way to meet each of us.

Sometimes we think that God is “up there somewhere”

Either He doesn’t notice what we are going through or He doesn’t care.

God can’t be bothered with our problems and concerns.

Maybe a prayer wasn’t answered - or if it was - we didn’t make the connection.

Jesus is the connection between our reality and God’s reality.

He goes out of His way to make the connection to us.

Jesus promises “living water”

That’s another metaphor.

Water is necessary for life.

“Living water” is life the comes to us.

John 7:38 ESV

38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

That is the first thing that we must know in coming to Christ, is that in reality, it is Christ coming to us.

He takes the initiative, and we respond.

He has already taken the initiative, so what are we waiting for...

We must get over our obstacles to receive Him.

Second observation I would like to make about this passage is that Just as Jesus did not take the most convenient route, he did not choose the most convenient person.

This woman had issues - and Jesus knew it.

But that didn’t stop Jesus from coming to her, but it almost stopped her from coming to Him.

1. She had a moral dilemma.

John 4:16–18 ESV

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

Jesus asked to speak to this woman’s husband.

That was a God-thing, because it opened the way for Jesus to give a word of knowledge about her situation.

But it was also just being culturally appropriate.

If Jesus was going to interact with this woman, He should be doing it through her husband.

But that was also her dilemma, she didn’t have a legitimate husband - and her history did not make her very “marriageable”.

Jesus already knew her problem, and yet he chose to speak with her.

Obviously, that obstacle is not insurmountable to Him - next!

2. She had unanswered questions.

John 4:19–20 ESV

19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

Jesus is in the town of Sychar which is another name for Shechem, a very historically significant place.

It is between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim where the Israelites affirmed the covenant after entering the promised land.

Samaritans had no legitimate place of worship.

During the intertestamental period the Samaritans had built a temple on Mount Gerizim where they worshipped.

It was considered a rival to the temple in Jerusalem and is believed to have been destroyed about a hundred years earlier.

The Samaritans, of course were not really welcome at the temple in Jerusalem because they were considered foreigners because of the mixed races.

John 4:21–24 ESV

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus tells her that worship will no longer be limited to a place or a structure.

Worship is spirit - it is connection with the unseen reality.

And it is truth - it is knowing that reality as your own reality.

Jesus is the temple - we are the temple - and she is about to become the temple.

3. She had given up hope.

John 4:25–26 ESV

25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

This woman new about the promise of Messiah, but the way she speaks about it is dismissive.

“ Oh well, when Jesus comes again - He’ll sort it all out.”

That is true and is should give us hope, except that we are tired of waiting!

Jesus is here! - His Body is His temple.

Hope is not relegated to the future - God’s Kingdom is happening here and now!

The only thing that prevents God’s Kingdom from operating is when we fail to see it and to be it.

Receiving is simply a matter of not resisting.

John 5:39–44 CSB

39 You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me. 40 But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. 41 “I do not accept glory from people, 42 but I know you—that you have no love for God within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and yet you don’t accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?

We fail to receive the Savior because we don’t recognize what God is doing.

We like things that are rooted in this reality - but when they start to reflect another spiritual reality - people get scared!

The Word of God itself is a powerful spiritual reality - but we like to just keep it about “head knowledge.”

Church is great if its just about relationships - you know- like a social club.

But these relationships are a conduit for supernatural power!

When we worship, pray and read scripture - we expect God to show up!

Receiving what God wants to do among us is simply a matter of expecting God to move and not resisting it.

Believing the Savior

How do we believe and not resist?

Jesus’ next encounter should illustrate the point.

John 4:46–53 ESV

46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.

If you need to be convinced, you are not ready to believe.

We often see in the gospels, exclamations like verse 48.

John 4:48 The Message

48 Jesus put him off: “Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe.”

My friend from India, Pastor Mark, says that 95% of converts to Christianity are because they have witnessed a miracle.

And some people witness a miracle, or even get healed themselves and still don’t believe.

In America, people need to be convinced.

They want to hear you debate the skeptics and leave them speechless.

We’re always looking for the meme or that “one liner” that will shut people up.

Some people are not going to believe because they don’t want to be convinced!

As a counselor, one of the first things that I learned is that when people don’t receive your advice, its usually because the issue is not the real issue.

You could say that, “they don’t want to change,” but its really more complex than that.

Changing one part of their life is going to change another part of their life and so on … they are not ready for the implications of change.

That’s why therapy takes so long - beliefs and behaviors are interconnected and it can be a lot to sort out.

What prevents some people from committing their life to Jesus Christ?

If I become a Christian I will...

have to stop some habit or behavior and I don’t believe I can do that.

have to be serious and not have any fun.

have to be perfect or live up to some unrealistic expectation.

People resist the gospel because they are considering all the possible changes and they know they don’t have what it takes.

The truth is that if you could make those changes on your own you wouldn’t need Jesus.

You simply accept what Jesus has done for you as true and receive the power to to change from Him.

It’s not all going to happen at once- just take the first steps and leave the rest up to Him.

If you believe, you do not need to be convinced.

Notice how the miracle occurs.

Jesus didn’t do what he wanted or what he expected.

He simply said, “It’s done.”

And the man accepted that and received the healing of his son.

Believing is like that - there is no convincing - you either believe it or you don’t.

And if you can believe it, it’s done.

It’s so simple, you can only complicate it by explaining it.

But what about the time when...

I had a friend in High School whose father had cancer. He came before the church and asked for prayer. He believed that God would heal him. This was not a Charismatic church, but we prayed for divine healing.

Some months later he died. My friend went off the deep end into drugs and our friendship fell apart. Some people in the church reasoned that, “it must not have been God’s will” But I could never buy it, I felt like God let us down.

I had to wrestle with that question before i could accept the call to ministry. It turned into this nagging doubt that if I trusted Jesus and put my life in his hands by following Him, He would probably let me down.

What I eventually came to realize is that I wanted a God that I could control. I wanted to know that if I prayed, God would answer in a predictable way. I wasn’t even sure if God was good. I just wanted Him to be tame.

But God is God and I am not going to understand much. of what He asks me to do. I am not in a position to question His decisions and I am beyond questioning His character, although He has tolerated my questions for far longer than I would have. What I have learned is that faith only works when I am willing to trust Him.

The evidence is there, if you are willing to see it.

The truth is already plain to those who will see it.

The Law states that every matter should be established by tow or three witnesses.

Deuteronomy 19:15 ESV

15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.

Through out John’s Gospel, he will call a number of witnesses, but he begins with John the Baptist as his first witness.

John 5:31–36 ESV

31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

The people believed John the Baptist, but they did not believe what He said about Jesus.

And they did not accept Jesus doing the very same things that John the Baptist did.

Why? Because John didn’t claim to be God.

Accepting that Jesus is, messes with their whole structure of authority.

It simply comes down to the question of who is going to be in control?

If God is God then he should be in control.

if I am in control, then I am in the position of God.

I can’t be God, therefore He must be.

Responding to the Savior

Speaking about control - Jesus’ next demonstration is to heal a man who is paralyzed.

This man wants to be healed, but feels like he has no control.

Jesus has to help him to find a way to respond.

You are capable of responding.

John 5:2–9 ESV

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

This man waited thirty eight years for his healing.

He thought he had it figured out. This pool was said to have healing power, but you had to be the first one in for the magic to work.

He was playing the lottery - one of these times I’m going to get lucky and be the first one in.

But he was admitting that he really didn’t have much hope anymore.

Then Jesus gave him the winning ticket.

Jesus asked him to do something and he did it.

Your obedience is your response.

Obedience demonstrates faith.

The way to know that you believe is to do what God tells you to do.

We know that faith works miracles, but how do you have faith?

It’s not that complicated, just do something - take a step.

He thinks he has to get up and get down the steps at just the right moment.

Jesus says, “if you can get up, you are healed!”

So he does it!

Jesus later runs in to him and says, “See, you did it!”

Do not delay your response.

Jesus tells the man, “You were blinded by unbelief, and unbelief is sin - don’t fall for that trap anymore.”

Don’t wallow in self pity - thinking that God hates you.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can control your own life either.

And don’t think that God doesn’t know about your problems or that your issues are too much for God to handle.

Don’t delay responding to what you already know.

John 5:37–40 ESV

37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

John loves irony; he is writing this to believers who know the end of the story.

They know who the Father is and about a relationship with God.

They know about the Holy Spirit and the abiding Word.

They know the scriptures, that they prophecy Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

We know all that too!

So what are you waiting for?

God has already done His part, all that is left is your response.

Questions for Reflection:

Do you have any obstacles that get in the way of faith? Moral dilemmas? Unanswered Questions? Maybe you have just given up hope? Tell God about your obstacle and watch Him move.

What keeps you from simple faith? Is there some wound or disappointment? Are you worried about what God may ask you to do? What needs to be settled for you to move forward?

Who is going to be in control of your life? No, really!? If it’s God, then is God waiting on you to respond to what He has asked you to do?