Day 5: John Chapter 4 (part 2)

In the first half of this chapter Jesus speaks to the woman at the well about living water and its connection to eternal life in the spirit of God. True worshipers worshiping in spirit and truth not on a mountain or in Jerusalem but in life and as life. This vision of the kingdom is both "coming and is now here (v.23)." In the second half of the chapter he completes the spiritual sustenance with the food that is the work of the Father. The analogy of sowing and reaping is used with the disciples. The food comes after the water. The food is the work of the Lord in revealing the kingdom of God on earth. This food is the sustenance of the true worshipers and believers in the savior. Christ has sown the seeds of life in all and that life can be harvested by those who have eyes to see: "look around and see that the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life (v.35-36)." We are new beings in Christ! Born again to new food and water with new eyes to see the kingdom that is among us and in us and with us and above us!
The chapter is concluded with the second sign the messiah performs for the people, the healing of the official's son. Again, with reluctance Jesus reveals his glory in a practical and tangible way. When the father returns to find his son healed he does the math and realizes the moment Jesus said "your son will live" the boy begins to recover. So it is recorded that "he himself believed, along with his whole household (v.54)." I want to use this to begin to introduce a continuum of conversion that ranges between personal experience and ontological shift. The former is that of the official: he believed because something he was very emotionally invested in was affected by the work of the Savior. It was a specific moment in time with a specific meaning that cannot truly be understood by outside parties. The latter is an entire overhaul of one's concept of reality. A project that often takes many encounters and circumstances to be fully understood and accepted. This is in part the story on Nicodemus. Nicodemus is thoroughly confused by Jesus' cryptic message of a new life in the kingdom. This may be the beginning of the road for him to understand truly what was meant there that night. One that begins to rework the framework around which he organizes and processes reality. Belief, specifically Christian belief, is a journey that contains both "signs," specific moments of personal revelation, and conceptual shifts that develop over time and within community. Some may be more heavy to one side or the other but neither fully encompasses the breadth of God's relationality with humanity. It is not one thing, it is many, to many and for many, many times over. This is where the community as a source and foundation for dialogue is so important, because your experience is not mine and mine is not yours. I cannot assume to know you or your journey. So I must sit and look and listen as God reveals himself to me through your story and your life.