St. John's Gospel

Jesus and the pagan court official 4:43-54

Posted on September 5th 2010 in St. John's Gospel

Jesus now departs from Samaria, and travels to Galilee. His denunciation of Galilee turns on His self-understanding of a prophet who is one who engages in good works and preaches the coming of God, but who does this because He was sent by God. The Galileans had heard about the miracles but had not drawn the essential conclusion as to the true identity of Jesus, and only knew of his family circumstances in Nazareth.

The meeting between Jesus and the pagan court official is the third of three encounters that take place after the Cleansing of the Temple and the Marriage Feast of Cana. The previous two, with Nicodemus, the leading Jew, and with the Samaritan woman symbolise the reception given by Jews and those on the fringes of Judaism.

The dialogue between Jesus and the official starts with a gentle rebuke as to the nature of his faith, but which ends with the official believing the words of Jesus, ‘Go home, your son will live’. The faith of the official led to ‘knowledge’ because he connects the words of Jesus to the healing of his son. The precise use of language in St John is the key to the spiritual dynamics of the text. The title used for Jesus’ interlocutor changes from court official, to man, and lastly to father while simultaneously the dynamics of belief change, from partial faith based on signs, to faith with knowledge, to passing the faith on to others, in this case his family. A similar structure of the new convert leading others to faith may be seen in Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman, who encourages her townsfolk to listen to Jesus.

The final sentence of this section looks back to the first miracle performed in Cana in Galilee, the changing of the water into wine which initiated the public life of Jesus. Now the Gospel will relate a number of visits that Jesus will make to Jerusalem to celebrate various jewish festivals. At each He will replace that worship with that of Himself,.

Jesus and the Samaritan woman (C4: 1-42) Part 3 vv31-42

Posted on August 15th 2010 in St. John's Gospel

The disciples return from the town, and are both shocked and concerned about Jesus, and implore Him to eat. This obvious concern and puzzlement about his source of food is the opportunity for Jesus to explain the real food that nourishes His journey. Jesus has been sent by the Father, and the spiritual energy required for His mission is to be faithful to His vocation, that of following the Father’s will. This is the worship ‘in spirit and truth’ that Jesus mentioned to the Samaritan woman. The completion of His work will take place on the Cross. The Gospel reader knows that Jesus will rise from the dead, and the future completion of His task sets the context for the historic mission of the disciples. There is a harvest ready to reap, as made clear by the occasions of faith so far encountered; Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman.

The meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman demonstrates that Jesus initiates faith.  As the one sent by the Father He comes in search for us. Jesus sows the seed of faith which the disciples are to harvest, and so they in turn become involved with His destiny. They may both rejoice in the same outcome, the great harvest already begun. The kingdom of God has already been inaugurated and the disciples must now reap what has already been sown in terms of faith. They began by copying the Baptism of Jesus, now they must look and reap like Him. The encounter with the Samaritan woman demonstrates that there are many just waiting to hear the Good News, but require someone to open up the necessary spiritual conversation that leads to conversion.

The testimony of the Samaritan woman to her compatriots leads them to Jesus, and to a major statement about the identity of Jesus, that He is Saviour of the world. The recognition comes of Jesus’ universal significance comes outside the confines of orthodox Judaism but one that does not deny the centrality of Judaism and the role of God’s chosen people. The true worship of God will now be universal, ‘in spirit and in truth’, but never dissociated from the historic figure of Jesus Christ, the one sent by the Father.

Jesus and the Samaritan woman (C4: 1-42) Part 2 vv11-30

Posted on August 8th 2010 in St. John's Gospel

The conversation about the gifts that God offers attracts the attention of the Samaritan woman, who in a very practical way tells Jesus that he has no bucket, but who also asks about His identity. Could he be greater than Jacob? Jesus takes her confusion to begin to reveal that He is the living water Himself, both to the woman of history but also to the believer and reader of the Gospel. All the conversations in St John have more than one audience. This water will be a once and for all future gift that will touch the soul, and in turn become the source of the life of faith, and the access to eternal life.

The Samaritan woman now wants this water, and unconsciously Jesus Himself as the source of the water. Then Jesus begins to reveal Himself, first through a dialogue over the woman’s marital status, who by the end of the conversation perceives that He must be at least a prophet. Yet she still has not overcome her inherited prejudices about the true place to worship God. The new worship, as Jesus explains, will not focus on any place in particular, even if Jerusalem was the correct place to worship. This will be a universal worship because it is both initiated by the Father through sending His Son and directed towards Him. The true worship will be undertaken in the power of the Holy Spirit, the living water mentioned earlier. The combination of Spirit and truth has been mentioned in the Prologue, and in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. The truth is embodied in the person of Jesus who, with the Father, sends the Holy Spirit to believers. Jesus reveals Himself both as the destination of all true worship as well as providing the means for making such worship a possibility. At the time of the conversation with the Samaritan woman, this worship is something in the future, and will not be possible till His exaltation on the Cross and Resurrection (vv22-4). Their conversation concludes with both an act of hope by the woman which becomes an act of faith when Jesus reveals that He is the Christ; ‘I am He’ (v26).

The conduct of Jesus was a constant surprise to friend and foe alike. Here the disciples are shocked at His speaking to a Samaritan woman. She has now departed to bring the villagers to Jesus on the power of her testimony.