The Living Water and Bread of Life - Part 5

When studying a passage, the study cannot and must not end with a look at the themes, images, structure, and meaning behind the passage. These stories and teachings are not dead; they did not only apply to the people to which they were written almost two thousand years ago. There are still life lessons embedded in them that can apply to Christians today. In general, these passages point Christians throughout the ages to Christ, showing that He is the source of eternal life.

Starting with the Samaritan woman, there are many lessons that can be learned from her encounter with Christ. First, Jesus did not “let traditions stand in [His] way… crossing gender and ethnic divides” to present this woman with the truth.[1] In the same way, we must be intentional in sharing the Gospel, not letting stereotypes stand in our way. Remember that no one is too far from Christ’s love, and that the people we witness to are no worse off than we were. For this reason, we must share the Gospel with any and all who will listen. As Christians, we must also remember that the water Jesus mentions to the woman is an everlasting spring within us. When we need to be reminded of Christ’s love or need to be reenergized spiritually, we must find our “spiritual sustenance… by encountering God’s living presence within.”[2] We cannot find it within ourselves, for we are completely dependent on God. Finally, we must never fear to ask the hard questions. This applies to both the woman at the well and the crowd. They express their confusion to Christ, letting Him know that they do not understand. We may find that we are wrong in our thinking, but that is how we learn. Christ will give us the answers if we will turn to Him and seek Him daily in our lives.

Many of these same lessons apply to the crowd in John 6 as well. But there is one other lesson that is very important in the Christian life. It can be beneficial to ask questions and express our confusion to Christ. But we must be careful within that confusion. For the crowd misquotes Scripture while expressing their confusion. We need to be careful in quoting Scripture, not being like the Jews who do not have “an exact quotation.”[3] If we do not understand a certain passage, it is best to study God’s Word, ask God for clarification, and meditate on that passage, rather than misquoting Scripture in a critical situation of someone’s life. By looking to Jesus, the source of true wisdom, He can lead us to understanding as we continue to grow in Him, the Living Water and Bread of Life, the source of eternal life.

This ends our look at 2 key passages from the Gospel of John. Sorry that it took so long to get all of this on the blog, but this series is now complete. Keep a check for more updates. My current plans are to take another look back at the summer, looking at the verses we memorized at Christian Wee Learn this past summer.

[1] Walter J. Burghardt and Kathryn L. Waldron, “Living Water: A Gospel Insight,” The Living Pulpit 14, no. 1 (January-March 2005) http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?v id=7&hid=12&sid=ea7de7e7-af56-4283-9fff6-d3a1b9c32695%40sessionmgr8 (accessed February 17, 2009).
[2] Robert B. Setzer Jr., Encounters with the Living Christ: Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John, (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Judson Press, 1999) 49.
[3] Craig R. Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel: Meaning, Mystery, Community (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 1995) 95.

Matt