John Chapter 5

Home Group Meeting – February 22, 2006
Healing the Lame Man, and Sabbath Controversies

A. Review of last week’s meeting

Jesus came to save the world. This was significant to the Samaritans, because up to now they considered themselves to be outside of God’s salvation.
Jesus’ heals the official’s son. But what He is more interested is that we believe in Him.
Faith in God. Involves surrendering ourselves to God and letting Him take charge of our lives. Trusting that God knows best for us – whatever it may be.

B. Healing the Lame Man

Read John 5:1-18

1. Describe what you would see, hear, smell and feel at the pool in Jerusalem if you were physically there?

Many disabled people came to this place. It would be quite smelly, the atmosphere rather sad. There may be lots of shouting and begging. It would be a rather busy area because most beggars congregate where lots of people pass by so they can get more money from begging.

Real life experiences in India, most beggars are in public places like train stations.

2. Have 2 members read aloud the conversations in verses 6-17 between Jesus, the man and the Jews.

3. After Jesus heals that man, does appear to be grateful?

It doesn’t appear to be the case that the beggar is grateful for being healed. In contrast to other times when Jesus performs a miracle, John doesn’t describe that the man was joyful or that he believed as a result of being healed.

4. Compare this to the reaction of the official and his family when Jesus healed his son in the previous chapter.

Verse 53. The official and his household “believed”.

5. In verse 6 Jesus asks the man “Do you want to get well?” This is a penetrating question. Usually the sick are usually begging Jesus to help them, yet in this case, this man does not. In fact, as noted in question 3 above, later after he is healed he doesn’t seem too joyful about being saved. Why?

Believe it or not, a beggar can lose a good living my being cured.

C. Sabbath Controversies

6. Why did the Jews believe that carrying one’s mat on the Sabbath was a sin?

Based on Exodus 20:8-11, it was forbidden to work on a Sunday. However, it is arguable that this man’s act really wasn’t a breach of the law because it originally meant to prohibit the performance of one’s ordinary occupation/work on the Sabbath. Therefore, if the man were a furniture remover would he be guilty? Probably yes, because that is his ordinary work.

Moses gave the law but the Jews amplified this into an elaborate system of regulations to the extreme. This is an example of how the Jews emphasised so much on rules and regulations. This practise of the law came to dominate its spirit. Outward conformity replaced heart commitment. They lost sight of the ultimate purpose of the law.

7. Is there anything unusual about the meeting between the man and the Jews in verse 10 and what they tell him? [Hint: this is related to the previous question]

Yes, the Jews show no interest in the wonder of his recovery or the miracle working powers of Jesus! All they’re interested in is that Jesus broke the law!

D. Question to Consider

8. Being cured has its implications. Could Jesus be asking the question, “Do you want to get well?” to us? Are we responding in the same way this lame man is?

Yes he is asking this question – to all of mankind – he is giving us the choice to be healed, to be saved. We may not be physically crippled but spiritually, we need healing.

But are we ready to be for the implications of salvation, including having to repent of sin and expressing a new loyalty to Christ?

Some people don’t want to be healed. Why, because they are happy exactly where they are. If they rich, powerful, and have everything, or quite simply, they are living in sin and they enjoy it, why would they want to give it up?

The Truth is, God is our creator and without Him in our lives, our lives have no meaning, no purpose. This is so, even if we have the wealth of Bill Gates, the fame of Brad Pitt, the IQ of Albert Einstein, or the power of George Bush!

John Chapter 4

Home Group Meeting – February 15, 2006
Healing of an Official’s son – A question of FAITH

A. Review of last week’s meeting
Jesus can give us Living Water: [This water is Eternal Life]
Jesus’ meets with a Samaritan woman: [and teaches that we must worship the Father in Spirit and Truth. Worshipping in Spirit means location is not important and Worshipping in truth means that we must be true to God and ourselves]

B. The Living Water ( … continued)

Read John 4:27-42

1. How do the disciples react to the situation when they return (v27)?

They are surprised because in that era, it was unacceptable for a man to talk to a woman in public.

2. Why did the woman leave her water jar when she went back to the town (v28)?

She was in such a rush to announce to everybody that she has met the Messiah she didn’t care for the water jar.

3. In her rush back to the town, how did the people react to her testimony? Why (v28-30)?

They are moved to investigate the situation. Probably because she had a questionable lifestyle and wasn’t trusted, they townsfolk didn’t believe her immediately and wanted to see for themselves.

4. What happened to the other Samaritans as a result of the woman’s testimony? What two reasons do they give for their belief in Jesus (v39-42)?

Many became believers.
They became believers because of (1) the woman’s testimony and (2) because they heard for themselves.

5. [Question to consider]. The rest of the Samaritans later say, “we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world”. Why is it so special to the Samaritans to learn this? Why is it so special for us?

For centuries they were shut out of God’s grace, they were considered second-class citizens in the eyes of the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem. The excluded are now included. They discovered that Jesus’ love is so wide and undiscriminating to include them (as well as the whole world). John 3: 16 states, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shlal not perish but have eternal life”. That is, God’s love is for all of us, including Jews, Samaritans.

Even today, we shouldn’t think that the church is exclusive. Nor is it for perfect people. And, there are no perfect people. Jesus loves all of us and came to save all of us, even prostitutes and deceiving tax collectors. We are all sinners but Jesus came for us. We repent for wrongdoings, follow him, worshipping Him in Spirit and Truth.

The Fighting Temptations. Starring Cuba Gooding Junior, Beyonce. Cuba loses his high-flying job as an advertising executive. But his Aunt leaves him an inheritance of $150,000 on the condition that he make a choir for the local church (in rural America) and take it to the singing contest and win it. He does this, but lack good singers. There are some in the prison, the church doesn’t like to have these murderers and cheats. But the reality is, the church is for sinners, and at the end of the day, we are all sinners, and God loves all of us despite this shortcoming.

C. Healing an Official’s son – a question of FAITH

During his two days in Samaria, Jesus’ words convinced not only the woman at the well but many of the town that he is the Saviour of the world. Back in Galilee the crowd clamours for signs and wonders. Jesus seems reluctant to satisfy them until a distressed parent brings his urgent request.

Read John 4:43-54

6. Galilee is where Jesus grew up. It is his hometown but Jesus said, “a prophet has no honour in his own country” (v44). Then, why did the Galileans welcome Jesus?

They were interested in seeing more miracles. They were welcoming not the Messiah, but only a miracle worker who would amaze them.

If you recall, Jesus’ first miracle was at the wedding banquet at Cana where he turned water into wine. This story must have spread in the region, so people were expecting Jesus to perform more miracles which was why many of them probably came out to see him.

7. Why did the royal official travel from Capernaum to find Jesus? Locate Cana and Capernaum on the map.

His son was gravely sick.

8. Ask two people to read aloud the brief conversation between Jesus and the father. Start with v47 reworded as a direct quotation from the official. What is Jesus hoping to see in this man’s faith?

From Jesus’ perspective, he healed the boy, but to Jesus, He was more concerned about something else. What was that? Healing the boy was easy, but through the miracle of healing the boy, the official and his whole house believed in Jesus (v53).

Our lives on in this world are only temporary. What is more important is our spiritual salvation because the soul is eternal. This is what Jesus wants to heal.

9. [Question to consider]. What is “faith” to you?

The Cambridge Dictionary meaning of faith is: “great trust or confidence in something” eg, “I have faith in this doctor to heal me”. It can also mean “loyalty”, eg “He is faithful to his wife!”

In the context of Christian faith, it is closer to the first definition above. That is, faith is, believing that Jesus is the Saviour of the world and that He will give us eternal life (3:16).

There are other usages of the word, “faith” in the Christian Context. For me, I see “faith” as surrendering yourself to God and completely trusting that God will lead, guide you in the right way always, even when things are difficult, eg the story of Noah. When Noah was building His boat, it was in the middle of the desert, no one had even seen the rain. Everyone ridiculed Noah because of the impossibility of rain in the middle of the desert. But he did this for 120 years. He trusted the God. Noah built a boat in the middle of the desert when he had never even seen the sea.

When we trust in God like this we are worshipping Him. This pleases God. C.S. Lewis said, “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become – because he made us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be…. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own”.

John Chapter 3-4

Home Group Meeting – February 1, 2006
The Living Water and Worshipping in Spirit and Truth

A. Review of last week’s meeting

Jesus is the Temple: [Now, salvation is through Him, not in a building built by men]
Jesus’ meets with Nicodemus and teaches: [“no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born again”]
John the Baptist’s meaningful statement: [“He must become greater; I must become less”]

B. The Living Water

Remember how thirsty you feel on a hot, dry day with no breeze stirring? How eagerly you drink a tall, cold glass of water! But how do you recognise your spiritual thirst and what will satisfy it?

Jesus offers the answer in a remarkable conversation that broke the social customs. In Jesus’ day, a Jew did not speak kindly to a Samaritan nor should a man speak to a woman publicly. Yet in this passage, Jesus does both.

Jews despised the Samaritans, as “half-breeds”, Jews who remained in Israel and intermarried with new settlers when most of the Jews were exiled to Babylon 500 years earlier. The Samaritans insisted that theirs was a pure religion derived from the Law of Moses.

Read John 4:1-26

1. To avoid Samaria, Jews travelling from Judea to Galilee often made a detour through the province of Perea. However, Jesus went straight through. Trace on a map the route Jesus follows on his journey.

2. Why does Jesus leave Judea at this time?

He was becoming too successful. Jesus wanted to stay away from the limelight, because if the Jews knew that he was the Messiah they would make him their earthly king. See also, last week, John 2:23 “many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men”.

At the end of the day, Jesus’ purpose on earth was to die for the sins of mankind so that we may have eternal life (John 3:16).

3. Why is it so surprising that Jesus would talk to this woman?

First, she is Samaritan. John in verse 9 says, “For Jews do not associate with Samaritans”. The reason for this is historical. After the death of King Solomon the Israel was divided and Samaria was taken over by the Assyrians in 722 – 721 BC. They resettled the area with foreigners (2 Kings 12:1-24) that meant loss of racial and religious purity.

The divide was deepened when the Samaritans built their own Temple at Mount Gerizim around 400 BC. And the Jews destroyed this 128 BC. Both actions increased hostility between the two.

Second, she is a woman. There was rule at the time that Jewish men must not talk to a woman on the street, not even to his own wife, let alone someone else’s wife.

4. When Jesus talks of the “Living Water” what does he mean?

Hint: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Starring Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.

The living water refers to the Eternal Life. Jesus here is evangelising to this woman.

5. When Nicodemus was talking to Jesus about being reborn, he misunderstood what Jesus was talking about. Similarly, how does this woman misunderstand Jesus when he talks about the “living water”?

They both couldn’t understand that Jesus was using figurative speech, symbols. They thought He was talking literally. 3:4, Nicodemus thought that one had to physically re-enter the mother’s womb to be born again. Here the woman thought Jesus was talking about real water.

C. Worship in Spirit and Truth

6. What does “God’s worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) mean to you?

Worship in spirit
To fully understand Jesus’ words here we must look to the context. When Jesus said we must worship in spirit this could mean several things. First, the location of where one worships is not important. Jesus said (in verse 23), “… a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem”. Therefore what this means for us is that you don’t need to be at church to worship nor is it done only on Sunday. You could be doing it at home on the weekend, or even on the way to work.

This teaching is also consistent with what Paul said in Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, … to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship”. As you may remember we covered this a few weeks ago. The important point about worship (or, being a “living sacrifice”) is that it is a continual thing. That is, to be done anywhere and everyday, not just at church on Sunday.

Second, when we become Christians, God fills us with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit first came to new Christians on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) just as Jesus promised. Now that we are with God in Spirit (unlike the Old Testament times), we should also worship in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we bear the fruits of the Spirit as we worship in spirit.

Worship in truth
This statement also has several layers of meaning.

First, we must again look at the context in which Jesus made this statement. When Jesus told the Samaritan woman to “Go, call your husband and come back” (verse 16), the Samaritan woman replied that she did not have a husband. She was telling the truth to Jesus that she replied that does not have a husband at that that moment, but the fact was that she was living in sin. The Jews believed that a woman should only marry at most three times. Furthermore, living together but not being married was not acceptable during that time. In this context, when Jesus says that we should worship in truth, it could mean that we should face God truthfully. That is, if we are presently living in sin (eg there is somebody we hate), or if we have not fully surrendered our lives to God (eg we can’t let go of materialism), this is not being true to God (or to ourselves). And accordingly, we are not worshipping in truth. Until we put our lives right and address our failures we cannot worship God in Truth. But this doesn’t mean that worship is for perfect people because of course, none of us is perfect. Rather what is important is that we worship with a genuine and humble spirit while addressing the sin.

Second, worshipping in truth also means that we should know what we worship. We shouldn’t worship who we imagine who God is! The God as revealed in the Bible is the true God. The God whom we imagine in our minds (without learning from the Bible) is a god created by our imagination. Again, looking at the context, Jesus said, “you Samaritans worship what you do not know …” (verse 22). Historically, the Samaritans were originally of Jewish descent but became mixed in ethnicity as a result of years of conquest by neighbouring nations. In addition, their faith also became distorted through the influence of foreign religions and idols. As a result, although they believed in God, their knowledge of God was distorted, that is, their faith presented an “untrue” God. Therefore, when Jesus commands us to worship in truth, we must learn who God is from the Bible and not from who we “imagine” God is.