The Gospel According to St. John

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ORIGINAL: HansC

48.) Choose You This Day

3:35
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

Notice here, how closely John’s last testimony echoes Christ’s testimony earlier in the chapter. Their message is the same.

3:36
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John tells us that he that believeth on the Son HATH everlasting life.

Eternal life is a present possession that a believer has now, not something that the believer will only obtain later. By faith we possess the life of God, eternal life NOW.

I’ve come across people, who believe that they will obtain eternal life only after they pass away and now they are merely hoping for salvation. Yet the Scripture does not say that by hope are ye saved, but rather by faith we have eternal life now.

If a person merely has hope and not faith in Christ, then they are not yet saved by their own accord. If a person passes away merely hoping for salvation, they pass away unsaved. It takes faith to receive salvation, here and now. If a man does not have Christ in this world he will never see life.

There are two groups of people here, one group believes on Christ and has eternal life, the other group believes not and the wrath of God abides on them.

This is a very striking contrast, one group already has eternal life, a life that will endure forever, even beyond the grave, while the other not only does not have it now, they will never see it, but wrath will abide on them forever.

John’s last call here is a call for a decision. He sets before us the eternal choice, life or death.

Joshua 21:15
….choose you this day whom ye will serve;….

In the end, all that matters is how people react to Christ. If they react with love and longing, they will receive Him and His gift of eternal life. If they react with indifference or hostility and reject Him, they will know death, eternal death.

Hans

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God understands me. why don't you?!

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ORIGINAL: HansC

49.) The Revelation Of God

I wanted to share a few closing thoughts on John three. Jesus came that we may know God, not just know some things about Him, but to have a vital living relationship with Him.

This new, living, vital relationship with God requires a new birth which God provides, by placing us into Christ when we receive Him by faith.

However, for most people God seems to be the end result of a sequence of reasoning, a chain of intellectual checks and balances, rather than a living vital relationship, and yet Christ came just for such a living relationship.

Many people who believe in God, actually come to their belief by reasoning their way to God. They may cite the beauty and order of nature, the immensity of space, the intricacies of the material world and so on. They reason that because these things are, that He must therefore be. God to them is a logical conclusion to an intellectual exercise.

But this is not a living relationship, this is merely thinking about God from a distance.

Others, will come to the conclusion of the existence of God, because of their belief in abstract values, such as truth, goodness, the beautiful, justice and so on. This is also reasoning from a distance.

Such reasonings, while perhaps making true statements, have at their core, the commonality that they do not know God in personal experience.

While acknowledging the existence of God, they do not really think of Him as knowable in the sense that we know a personal acquaintance. The possibility of a personal relationship with Him has not entered into their thinking.

While the full truth of this applies primarily to the unsaved, there is a sense where this also in a measure taints many believers. Many Christians, although they believe in Christ, and are born again, and have received His Spirit, yet still, God for them is unreal.

They will often live their lives attempting to love an ideal, or to prove or be loyal to a doctrine, a set of principles, or a theology. Their adherence is to this or that theology, or doctrine, or denomination.

I believe that much of the rebellion in America against her traditional Christian faith, came about as many people during the 60’s wanted more in the line of experience, rather than merely adherence to a line of doctrine or theology. People wanted a real, alive and vital experience, and yet so many of the churches were pretty dead and void of the life of God, substituting intellectual machinations for a relationship with the living God.

Consequentially, many people left the church, which they perceived as unreal, in search of the real. Unfortunately, many of the seekers of such a spirituality ended up entrapped by the lures and lies of the enemy.

And yet, Jesus died, and rose from the dead, not so much that we can endlessly speculate about God from a distance, but rather that we can come into a living personal vital relationship with God.

Let us learn how to take advantage of what God has provided to us in Christ.

Hans

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JOHN,4
Incident at Sychar

50.) On the Road Again.

4:1-3
Now as soon as the Master was aware that the Pharisees had heard it said, "Jesus is gaining and baptizing more disciples than John"--
though Jesus Himself did not baptize them, but His disciples did--
He left Judaea and returned to Galilee.

Jesus knew that it was not yet His hour to get into a controversy with the Pharisees. He was moving on His own schedule as set by the Father.

At this point, Jesus did not want to get into a baptism discussion with the religious leaders of the day. It seems, that that is one of the favorite topics of religious debate even today.

Is there regeneration power in water or not? Must a person undergo the water ritual or not? Is there only one correct formula, or not. Can a person go to heaven without water or not.

I’ve seen all sides of this debate taken in endless debates on various Christian venues. Yet, Christ did not even baptize people Himself, but left that to His disciples.

Christ, when faced with a baptism debate and controversy, turns around, leaves town and heads back to His center of operation at Cana, where He turned the water into wine.

4:4
And he must needs go through Samaria.

The geography of the land of Israel at that time was around 120 miles from north to south. In the north lay Galilee, in the south Judaea and in between lay Samaria.

While it is the most direct route, normally, a strict Jew would not go through Samaria because of the animosity between the Jews and Samarians. The strict and stern legalists of the day would cross over Jordan and go to Galilee along the east side of the river, thereby by passing Samaria.

Jesus’ need to go through Samaria was not dictated by geography, His concern was not physical mileage, but rather because there was a certain women there that the Father was leading Him to seek out.

Jesus was concerned about ministering to those that the Father was leading Him to, and not which was the best road to take. Jesus would take the worst road if it meant that one of His lost sheep was on it. It was Jesus compelling passion for the lost that put Him on the road to Sychar that day.

Jesus came to save the lost, even if it meant taking the road that others avoided. Long before the world was created, in the halls of eternity, it was determined that this would be Christ’s path while on earth. The counsel of God knew that one day a divine appointment would be keep between a lost sinner and the Lord of Glory at a well that other religious and proper people avoided.

Hans

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51.) A Women of Samaria

4:5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Sychar is a small village at a fork in the road near Shechem, Jacob purchased some land near here and gave it to Joseph on his death bed. Joseph when the Hebrews left Egypt was carried here and his tomb is in this area.

4:6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

Jesus reached this location at high noon in the heat of the day. By Jewish reckoning the sixth hour is twelve noon. Jesus was hot, exhausted, thirsty and weary from the walk. The eternal Word became flesh and had to suffer all the weaknesses of flesh. We’ve talked about the deity of Christ, yet here we see the other side, here we see His humanity. He was thirsty and tired. Here we see both His humanity and His deity.

What a wondrous, gracious God we have that he should so identify with us that he would subject Himself to our infirmities of flesh. That He would take on the burden of pain, heat, exhaustion and turmoil to be linked with us in our humanity is beyond our current complete comprehension.

The well at Sychar is about 100 ft deep, the water pools at the bottom by percolating through the porous rock and a person would have to have some kind of way of reaching down that deep.

4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

Why did this women come to the well? Sychar was half a mile away and there was water in the town. Normally, people also did not do their water drawing in the heat of the day. Yet she did. Many believe, that she was shunned by the other women of the town, a moral outcast, the woman that the other people talked about. In short, she was a woman of bad reputation and perhaps was not that welcome at the downtown well.

Sometimes when a women gets a bad reputation, she becomes tainted and is not always that welcome in polite society.

This tainted women is the second person that Jesus is recorded to have talked to in a detailed way about salvation. The first was Nicodemus, the second was a woman of Samaria. What a contrast.

Notice how differently Jesus deals with each of them. To Nicodemus, a devout religious leader of the Jews, Jesus was blunt, to the point, and chided him a bit. To this women He is very gentle.

Nicodemus was a man, she was a woman. He was a Jew, she was a Samaritan. By the Law, He was a moral person, she was an immoral person. Nicodemus is named, she is unnamed. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, she didn’t seem to belong to any prestigious group. He was a leader, she was an outcast. He was well educated, she was uneducated.

Nicodemus came at night to guard his reputation, she came at high noon with nothing but a bad reputation. Nicodemus came seeking Christ, the woman was sought out by Christ.

There is a total contrast between the first and second person Christ spoke to about salvation. Yet, Jesus provided salvation for both.

Nicodemus shows that nobody can rise so high that they don’t need Christ, the woman shows that nobody can sink so low that Jesus is not willing to lift them up and out.

Hans

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52.) Shattered Traditions

4:8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

Not only is Christ going against tradition here by traveling through Samaria, he even goes one step further and has his men go buy meat from the Samaritans. To the traditional Jew of that day, this would have been unclean meat.

The religious Jews of that time would not eat ANY meat from the Samaritans. This would have been a violation of their interpretation of their dietary laws and traditions.

4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

The women would have recognized Jesus as Jewish because of the blue ribbon around the border of His robe and by His speech. She was astonished that a Jew would speak to her, the Samaritans and Jews had a long simmering history of religious strife.

When she said, “the Jews have no dealings with “, the Greek comes across as “do not use the same dishes as the Samaritans”. A Jew would become unclean, if he used the same drinking or eating vessel as a Samaritan.

Another tradition was also shattered here. Rabbis where forbidden to address women in public. If a Rabbi were to be seen speaking to a woman in public, his reputation was ruined. Yet, here is Jesus violating these rules to speak to a woman in public, however not any woman, she is a Samaritan and of a tainted moral character.

No decent law abiding man would have been caught dead speaking with her. Yet, here is Jesus, the most pure and holiest man on earth and not only was He speaking to her, but asking her for a drink of water.

The typical religious Jew would not have spoken to her, and would not even dream of touching a vessel that she had touched. To her, Jesus request to give Him a drink of water must have been an incredibly shocking request.

It would be similar if today an orthodox Rabbi went into a street corner diner, and when the waitress asked him what he wanted, he says that he wants the "Nut butter glazed Pork Chop and Gravy" blue light special. Shocking to say the least.

What Jesus did violated every precedent that she knew of concerning Jews and Samaritans. Jesus violated a huge number of social taboos, in order to save a sinner.

Jesus shattered tradition, that the lost may be saved.

Hans

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53.) Living Water

4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

The gift of God here is the Holy Spirit and the eternal life that he brings with Him. Notice also that Christ, says “who” it is that saith. The emphasis is upon knowing Christ and who he really. She at first sees only a man sitting at the roadside well and does not realize that he is the Son of God.

Today many people see Jesus as just another historical figure, just another great man, just another moral teacher or religious philosopher. Few realize that He is God incarnate in the flesh.

Few today realize that Jesus is deity. There are many different branches of Christianity and there are different views on certain aspects of doctrine, yet, one central truth is held by all those that teach salvation by faith and that is the deity of Christ.

There are those religious groups today that use the Bible as their text, but deny the deity of Christ. I haven’t found any group that denies the deity of Christ to actually have salvation. They do not know who Christ really is, and instead have a religion void of a real relationship.

Notice Christ did not try and astound and dazzle her that He was God. Instead He appeals to her curiosity, and her attitude starts to change. His purpose was to reveal to her who He was, but that would come out as His dialogue unfolded.

In the expressions of the time, living water was a reference to moving water, as in a stream. Water in a pond, or well was not moving and was not referred to as living, while water from a stream was moving or said to be living. People much more gladly liked to drink water from a clear cold running stream than from a stagnant pool. Living water was regarded as much better than stagnant water.

Notice in the conversation how Christ turns around the focus from what the woman was to give to Him, a drink, to what He could give to her, and to making her wonder who he was?

Hans

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54.) Can’t Get No Satisfaction

4:11
The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

In far Eastern lands, travelers would carry a foldable leather water skin. When they needed to they could unfold the skin and lower it by a cord down a well or into a stream. Jesus disciples most likely had one with them as they traveled, but had probably taken it with them to town to purchase provisions. Jesus had appealed to her curiosity and now her attitude is changing.

4:12
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

In order to do what He claims the women realizes that Jesus would have to be greater than Jacob, her clans acclaimed patriarch. In a sense, respect for the past was blinding her to the opportunities of the present.

Many Christians are like that today, they have great respect and faith for what God has done in the past, and even great faith in what God will do in the future kingdom, but when it comes down to believing for a supernatural miracle for today, at that point, faith often takes a real steep nose dive.

Her thinking is still along the lines of the physical, she has not yet been able to get her mind on spiritual things. Just as Nicodemus, her mind wanted to dwell on the things of the natural, while Christ was calling both of them to the supernatural.

Just as Nicodemus, at first she could think only of matters of the flesh, but Christ gradually will lead her to consider matters of the spirit.

At first when He spoke to her she was surprised, now she seems to be more curious, but still in somewhat of a state of disbelief. Her attitude is still along the lines of “ Oh right, you’re greater than Jacob. There is a sense of incredulity to her questions.

4:13
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

In the world today, the masses run back and forth from the various watering holes of the world looking for satisfaction, but nothing ever really lasts. Nothing really seems to fill the inner thirst. Satisfaction is only for a moment and then the hunger and thirst start all over again. This essentially is the root of the various addictions that people often fall prey to.

People are constantly looking to the natural for satisfaction, rather than to the spiritual. A person may try to fill that inner hunger with everything the world has to offer, but all is vain and the deep hunger and thirst remain.
No one has yet found real inner satisfaction with the things that this world can offer. God created man for eternity and a heart created for things eternal can not be satisfied with things temporal.

The inability to find satisfaction with things temporal shows that humanity was created for eternity.

4:14
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

that I shall….

The focus is not only on spiritual things, but on the giver, namely Christ. Many people today try and fill that deep inner need with spiritual things, but not from Christ. Many turn to Islam, Buddhism, New Age practices, such as meditation and various other endeavors to find meaning, purpose and satisfaction. However, ONLY in Christ can the real soul satisfying water of eternal life be found.

People for the most part led empty lives, chasing after elusive dreams of meaning and purpose. Henry David Thoreau, wrote in “Walden’, that “the mass of men led quiet lives of desperation.”

So often they think that the new car, new house, more money, or new partner will led to fulfillment, but often as soon as the current desire is satisfied, it leaves an empty hollow feeling and more pursuits are then engaged to fill up the emptiness inside.

B.B. King said it well in his hit, “The Thrill is Gone”. Pursuing the pleasures of this world merely leaves a person unsatisfied and empty.

While it may be true that the children of this world can’t get no satisfaction and that at best temporary fulfillment is temporary.

In God, a person can find true satisfaction. Only God can fill up the deep empty inside a person. God in Christ is humanities only true source of satisfaction. Only in Christ can the soul find true lasting inner rest and satisfaction.

Hans

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55.) Reality Bites

4:15
The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Still thinking only of the physical, the women, curious asks Christ for the special water. People seem to be mostly looking for physical satisfaction, rather than spiritual fulfillment.

4:16
Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

Suddenly Jesus bursts the bubble, and with a quick short sentence jars her to reality. She has so far failed to grasp the Christ is talking about spiritual needs and not physical needs. Jesus wakes her sleeping conscience and calls her to examine her life.

Before anyone can be saved they must see a need for salvation, that is they must be convicted of sin and their need of a Savior from sin. The women had to be brought to a place where she recognized her true spiritual condition.

It is only when a person has seen the true gravity of sin that they will come to the One who is the remedy for sin. In this, no person can for themselves see their true condition, that takes a revelation from God. No person has ever really seen their true spiritual condition, except as the Spirit of God reveals it to their heart.

4:17
The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

Suddenly, water is no longer on her mind. Suddenly she has been called to reflect on her life. She has in a moment of reality caught sight of herself. When people awake to their real spiritual condition, they awaken to their need of a Savior.

4:18
For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

Here our Lord shows that living together is not recognized as a legitimate union by God. He tells her that the man she is shacking up with is NOT. Biblical marriage is always contingent upon an official recognized covenant.

We can not side step the issue of personal sin. Sin and a person’s true condition must be dealt with. Jesus insists that when we came to Him, sin must be dealt with.

There are two basic revelations in Christianity, the revelation of who we are, a lost sinner and the revelation of God. People do not really see in a clear light who they really are until they see themselves in the presence of Christ.

Christ gives a person a revelation of who they are and who He is. As the women at the well was, so must people today also be brought to the reality of their true condition.

Hans

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56.) A Prophet

4:19
The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

The revelation of her life by Christ reveals that He has supernatural insight, and yet she is still not aware who He is. By declaring Him to be a prophet, however, she does acknowledge the truth of His statements, and accepts that she is a sinner in need of God.

Today many people regard Christ as a prophet, or great moral teacher, or even unique messenger of God, but the truth is that Christ is the Lord God, in the flesh. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, yes, he did fulfill the role of a prophet, but He is much more.

4:20
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

She acknowledges she needs God, and in essence asks where proper worship should take place. Should she worship on Mount. Gerizim, the mountain over looking her town, or was Jerusalem as the Jews say the only true place to assembly before God.

The Samaritans had a long feud with the Jews, dating back to the fall of Israel to the Assyrians. The Samaritans stem from a mixing of the survivors of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the people that had been brought in by the Assyrians when the northern Kingdom fell before them and the ten tribes were lead away into captivity.

The Samaritans accepted only the five books of Moses, but rejected the rest of the Tenakh. The accepted some of the Bible, but missed out on a lot, because they rejected a big chunk of the Scriptures. They rejected Scriptural knowledge that was available and open to them, but because of their traditions they closed themselves off from a large portion of Scripture and therefore a lot of what God was doing.

The Samaritans had a selective worship, they chose to believe what they wanted and rejected the rest.

Today, many churches have the truth, but at the same time many groups reject much of what the Spirit of God is doing and miss what God is doing in this hour. That does not mean that they are not Christians, nor that they are not committed, just that they are missing the fullness of what God is doing in this hour.

Yet this women, she wants to know, where is the real place to worship God. She wanted to know the truth. God’s Spirit is moving in this closing hour of history, are we honest? Do we really want to know what God expects from us in this hour? Or are we content to adhere to what our particular tradition tells us? Let us search the Scriptures to make sure of the truth of what we are hearing.

4:21
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

Jesus basically told her the answer was, “none of the above”. He points her to the essential spiritual nature of true worship, a worship in the spirit which He was going to inaugurate when His sacrifice caused the veil in the Temple to rend in half.

Christ ushered in a new era of worship and location is not relevant to the real worshipers of God. Christ paved the way for people to worship anywhere and at any time. Not only, is there no spiritually better location to worship God, there is no spiritually better day, every day is a great day to worship God.

There is no special benefit to worship in Jerusalem. There also is no special benefit to worship on Saturday, or Friday or even Sunday, any day is an approved day to call on God.

4:22
Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

At this time, the only real worship of God was with the Jews. None of the other religions knew God. The Buddhist and Hindu religions were well established at this time , yet Christ let us know that only with the Jews was there an authorized revelation of God to man. Even the Samaritans who at least accepted the five books of Moses were according to Christ worshipping in the dark.

The Samaritans had a man-made religion, and Jesus would not let the women continue in her false belief that a man-made belief system was acceptable to God. Today not only are the Buddhist and Hindu religions still going strong, but there are many other false man-made beliefs. Some believe that if they are basically a good person, that things will be OK when they pass from this world. Some think that God would not let a good person pass into eternity lost forever, they are wrong. There are no sin free people.

Others believe that all people will end up on the other side together. This often happens when a famous person dies and there is talk about them being in that Rock band in the sky, or looking down from the golf links above. Many people assume that when a person passes that they go to a better place. Well if they accepted Christ as their Lord, yes they do go to a better place, but if they rejected Christ here in this world, then they do not pass into a better place.

The Jews play a unique role in the plan of God for mankind. The Jews were the guardians of the written Word. Jesus was a Jew, and salvation is of the Jews. The Word and revelation of God had been given to only one people, the Jews, and that is one reason why many in this world hate them. The spiritual powers behind the kingdoms of this world hate the Jews because of their connection to God, and that’s the plain honest truth.

Hans

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57.) Spirit and Truth

4:23
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

worship the Father in spirit …..

The spirit in question here is not the Holy Spirit, but rather the human spirit. It is not so important where or when we worship God, but rather how we worship God. Jesus’ point is that a person must not expect that the keeping of external religious rites, rituals and other external acts are to be considered worship in and of themselves, but that there must be an innermost communion with God when it comes to real worship.

Many people think that they have worshipped God simply because they went to church, sang a song, took communion, listened to the message, and so on, and while these matters may be good, let’s not confuse external things with real worship which is internal.

True worship is when the spirit, the internal, invisible, part of man communes with God.

There are many people that attend church that are not actually born again. They are not new creatures in Christ. A person can not really worship God in spirit unless they become born again. Real worship takes place on the inside of a person, in their spirit, not on the outside.

The truth is that much of what passes for worship in our churches today is not worship at all. To a large part of the church, worship is almost lost. In its place we have the worship “program”, which strikes me as more akin to a Hollywood stage entertainment production. It seems that the age of entertainment has taken hold of the churches approach to worship.

and in truth…..

Jesus had just told the woman, that her people the Samaritans, did not know what they were worshipping. They were not worshipping in truth. The Samaritans accepted only the first five books of the Tenakh, and rejected the rest. Worshipping God in truth, means to worship God along the lines of the truth of God’s revealed Word. If a person wants to worship God in truth, then they need to worship God along the lines of Scripture. The worship in truth, is a worship that is along the lines of Biblical revelation.

For example, many churches will clap and applaud as a form of worship, and while that may be appropriate in a Broadway stage show as a sign of good entertainment, clapping is never mentioned in the New Testament. To be real honest, clapping and applause is a form of judgment. People clap and applaud to signify that they approve of the performance. That’s not worship.

Is it wrong to worship man? Of course it is. Is it wrong to applaud or clap after a man, no it’s not, if he puts in a good performance. Clapping and applauding are not worship and yet many good Christians think it is. Clapping is not worshipping God in truth, in that nowhere in the New Testament can we find any exhortation from God to do so. Clapping as worship is from the Hollywood world of entertainment not from the Scriptures.

I realize that there will be an element of clapping to various forms of church music, and I think that’s fine, yet that is different from clapping as worship. I even think it’s fine to clap and applaud a person in church if they sing or dance real good. Yet clapping in itself does not constitute worship.

Overlooking Scripture, rejecting portions of Scripture, pulling certain passages out of context, or relegating passages to another age is not worshipping God in truth.

the Father seeketh such……

God is actively searching and seeking for people to worship Him in the spirit along the lines of revealed Biblical truth.

Hans

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58.) God is a Spirit

4:24
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

This is the basic classical statement on the nature of God. God is spirit and therefore invisible. Since God is invisible and therefore incomprehensible to man, man can not know God unless God chooses to reveal Himself to man through Scripture or the incarnation. Any other supposed knowledge of God apart from God’s revealing is not in truth. True knowledge of God comes only by revelation.

Since God is a spirit, he is not confined to things, or places. Since God is a spirit, we can worship God anywhere. Real worship is when the eternal, invisible part of man meets with God who is Himself eternal and invisible.

Spiritual things are actually more real than things of a material nature. Material things get old, rust, wear out and fade away. Spiritual things do not fade away, they are more real, they are more permanent. God who is spirit created all material things and therefore spirit must be more real than matter.

Since God is spirit, we can not know, or touch or commune with God physically. Since God is spirit, we can not know, or touch or commune with God mentally.

Since God is spirit, however, we can reach Him with our spirits. We can know Him in our spirits. We can commune with Him in the spirit. We can communicate with God in our spirits. We can worship God in the spirit.

Philippians 3:3
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

God is a spirit and can only be worshipped in the spirit. Thank God that Jesus by His sacrifice on the cross paved the way for us to have access to God. As a born again child of God we full access to God, and have been made able to worship and commune with God in the spirit.

Hans

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59.) I am He

4:25
The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

The woman has come face to face with the Lord, yet she is still not aware of it. It is almost as if the woman again tries to put off the issue by delegating it to the coming of Messiah. It’s as if the women is saying, “Yes, but you and I can not work that out today, let’s wait until Messiah shows up.” Yet, Jesus wants to settle the issue here, and now. People have a tendency to put things of a spiritual nature off into the future, but Jesus wanted to settle it right then.

People had been waiting a long time for Messiah. He was first mentioned in Eden when Adam and Eve sinned. Then again Moses referred to Messiah when he said that a prophet like unto him, would tell the people all things, which is the passage that the woman was referring to.

After waiting for thousands of years, it can be hard to comprehend at first that today is the day that generations have for thousands of years been waiting for. I think that the incredulity that struck many during Christ’s first appearing while also strike many just prior to His second coming. It will be hard for many to believe that the second coming of Christ is actually upon us, until it is eternally too late for many.

4:26
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

This is the only time before the trail that Jesus specifically declares Himself to be the Messiah. At first, the woman saw just a thirsty Jewish traveler, then she saw a prophet, but now as the revelation continues she finally starts to really see Him.

Many people have heard of Jesus, some consider Him to be a wise teacher, or a religious sage, or maybe just a man who had a great impact upon history, or perhaps even a prophet. They don’t yet have the revelation of who He really is.

Yet, here by His words, the truth finally broke through to the woman’s understanding. The words of Christ to her was the turning point in the woman’s life. To untold millions of people the words of Christ marked the turning point in their life.

The word, “He” does not appear in the Greek. What Jesus basically said to the woman was, I AM, which in Aramaic is a title of God. Jesus was in the most basic way declaring Himself to be the great I AM. He spoke of Himself with the title of God. No wonder the woman dropped the water bucket and took off running shouting glory, glory, glory.

There is no doubt that the woman finally knew to some extent who Jesus was by His claims.

In all, Jesus claims seven times in John to be the great “I AM”, this is always used in connection with His declaration of deity.

On top of this there are seven additional uses of I AM linking Christ with His function in regards to humanity, such as, I AM the bread of life, the light of the world, the gate, the good Sheppard, the resurrection and life, the way the truth and the life, and the true vine.

Christ declared Himself to be God Almighty, have you came face to face with Him, and have you allowed His words to you to be the turning point in your life?

Hans

_________________
God understands me. why don't you?!

Quote:

ORIGINAL: HansC

60.) Come see a man

4:27
And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

Notice the exact timing going on here. If the disciples would have returned a little earlier they would have interrupted Jesus’ time alone talking with the woman. If they would have come a little later, they would just have seen a woman run off, or maybe even missed her.

God works exact timings in our life, even when we are not aware of it at the moment. Often upon later reflection, we suddenly see how God’s plan unfolded around us.

The disciples were very shocked, in fact they were shocked speechless. Rabbis did not talk to women in public, much less a Samaritan women with a bad reputation. Christ’s actions that day violated all the cultural norms and mores that they had learned throughout their lifetime.

Even as the disciples were shocked that Christ would deal directly with a women and thereby commission her to speak and proclaim Him, so many Christians today are also still perplexed that God would commission a women to proclaim and preach the Gospel to men.

Yet, here that is exactly what Jesus does. He commissions a women to go preach to men. No wonder the disciples were shocked!!! even as many are shocked today, yet Jesus is the same today as yesterday. That is to say, He's still shocking disciples

4:28
The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

The woman dropped her waterpot of women’s work and took off running with a shout of joy. Her focus on her physical need for water was completely forgotten by the sudden breakthrough of the spiritual.

If she would have taken the waterpots with her back to town they would merely at that point been a weight that would have slowed her down as she raced tell others about Christ. What waterpots are we still carrying?

Hebrews 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Christ’s words had performed a refocus of the values in her life. The words of Christ had transformed her, they became the turning point of her life. Suddenly her mind was on heavenly things and earthly matters were dropped. She dropped those things which would have weighed her down and she ran the race set before her. We need to do the same. We also need to lay aside our weights and run our race.

Matthew 13:46
Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

She had found her pearl of great price, and dropped everything and went off running with the good news. She had received from Christ a whole new life. She now had a new message.

4:29
Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

In a nutshell, this is what we are to proclaim, "Come see a man". We don't win souls to Christ by winning theological arguments. We don't win souls by cleaver reasonings. We win souls by getting people to "Come see a man". That is to say, we challenge people to came investigate Christ themselves and he Himself proves Himself to be all that He claims to be. This women minister shows us the essential essence of Gospel preaching, "Come see a man".

Hans

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God understands me. why don't you?!

HansC wrote:

61.) Come out from amongst

4:30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

The woman ran into the town and proclaimed Christ as Messiah, her testimony is evidence of her faith. Notice how they had to leave the habitation of man to go to Christ. There is nothing wrong with living in a city, but there is a spiritual principle in operation here.

Saint Augustine declared in his work the “City of God” that there were two habitations here on earth, the City of Man and the City of God. A person is either in the city of God or the city of man. A person is either born again or not born again. A person either knows Jesus or does not know Him.

When God calls people unto Himself, he calls them to come out from amongst the city of man. God wants a people separated unto Himself. Some people are reluctant to leave behind the city of man, and even as Lot’s wife cast longing eyes back to what she left behind, many others also suffer the consequences of divided desires.

4:31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

4:32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

4:33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?

This is a common situation in John. Jesus makes a comment that refers to something spiritual and the people who hear it think he is referring to something physical. The conversation with Nicodemus started out that way, the conversation with the Samaritan woman started out that way and now the disciples think that something physical is meant when Jesus is really talking about spiritual matters.

Today we pride ourselves thinking that we have the inside story now that it is so nicely spelled out in the Bible. Yet even still, it never ceases to amaze me that even today people will confuse Christ’s spiritual message with physical external matters. As a case in point, we can look to the debate over the efficacy of water baptism.

4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

This is Christ’s essential mission statement. Obedience to God’s will and purpose summoned up Christ’s life. Christ lived to do God’s will. Doing God’s will was the basic inner essence of Christ’s life. Doing God’s will gave Christ a deep satisfaction beyond any other thing. Doing God’s will was more important to Jesus than food, even though he was thirsty and hungry.

Notice, He said that His food was to DO, the will of God. We are called to be doers of the Word. Then we will also be blessed in our deed. Simply knowing the Word is not good enough for a blessing, we need to get in action and DO the Word. Often even when people know the will of God, they at times fail to actually DO it.

The blessings of God only come to us as we get in action and DO the Word.

Notice that Jesus also says, “and to FINISH”. There are many that have stated in the work that God has called them to do, but somewhere along the road they gave up. God has called us to finish what He has given each of us to do. We are to work on our assignments from God until our work here is done and that which God has given to each of us is complete.

Then when our particular assignment is done, we can say that we have run our race, and fought our fight and then we will be ready to lay down our heads and have God send His angels and carry us home.

Hans

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God understands me. why don't you?!

HansC wrote:

62.) Behold the fields are ripe

4:35
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

Christ’s point here is the urgency of the harvest. Some say that they will get to Kingdom work sometime later, but Jesus says that the harvest is now. We don’t always see the opportunities around us, but if we look up, God will show us the harvest opportunities around us.

There are few things in this life that are so tragic and give a person such great regret as having missed a great opportunity.

The disciples had just come from the town where the women came from. They might even have passed her on the way into town. What’s interesting here is that all twelve disciples were in town, a great message that the Messiah was here was preached and many people came to Jesus. Yet, it was not any of the disciples who gave forth the good news, rather it was preached by a woman with a bad reputation.

The fallen woman gave forth the good news, while all twelve of the disciples stood around, scratched their heads and wondered what was going on. Jesus told them to lift up their heads and to see the harvest, which they did not see when they first went into town. They missed their opportunity and the woman had to show them the way.

The disciples were at that moment more concerned about lunch. They were at that moment more concerned about their physical needs. The woman dropped her physical need for water and took of running with the good news about Jesus. She at that moment had her priorities straight.

Jesus used this incident to show His disciples that there were great opportunities to share the good news, but our heads must be lifted up and attuned to Him to catch them. If we do not lift up our heads and stay in tuned with Jesus, then we will also miss many of our heavenly opportunities.

4:36-38
And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labors.

Our job is to sow the seed. Our job is to hold forth the Word of life. There will be many times when we will sow and never see the result, do not let that discourage you, just continue to do your job of sowing the Word. Make it a point to get the Word out.

Many have to work and never see the result of their labors. There will come a time when you pass from this world and will not see the result of the seed you have shown. Do not let this bother you. The labor is not in vain, the seed is not wasted.

We are called to bring the seed of the Word unto a lost world and thereby allow the Spirit of God to quicken that Word and to bring forth a harvest. Sow the seed in faith, even if you do not see the result right away.

John 12:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Jesus in effect, sowed the seed of His life and after His death and resurrection reaped a bountiful harvest.

4:39
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

It was the preaching of the woman that sowed the seed. The disciples were a little slow on the uptake. Do we see and seize upon the opportunities that each day gives us to sow the seed? Do we seize the day as Christ did, or do we keep our heads down to the ground and miss our God given daily opportunities? Are we attuned to Christ? Are we aware of the harvest that is all around us.

These daily God given opportunities to sow the Word are not due to any lark, or coincidence or by any ability on our part to create them, but let us recognize them for what they are, divine appointments.

Let us lift up our heads, and take advantage of our opportunities to sow the Word.

Hans

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God understands me. why don't you?!

HansC wrote:

63.) The Savior of the World

4:40
So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

When the Samaritans had been told about Christ by the woman, they went to find out more about Him and asked Him to stay. Many of His own, the Jews, had rejected Him. Here the Samaritans who were not Jews, yet sought out by Christ gladly received Him into their village.

Jesus gave them two precious days of His time. This incident is a very special event, in that it is one of those rare occasions where Christ’s ministry awakens and starts a revival on a large scale.

Christ is also laying here the foundation of the future church in Samaria that would spring up under the preaching of the Apostles.

4:41
And many more believed because of his own word;

The woman pointed people to Christ, but their final conviction was due to their personal experience with Him. We can point people to Jesus, but in the end, it is their personal experience with Christ that will be the determining factor. Some will choose to ignore His Word and go their careless way, while others will sit with Him a while and with a sincere heart consider if what he says.

It is not our eloquent arguments that win people to Christ, but we merely point people to Him, and they either respond to His Spirit and Word or not.

Notice, that final belief is always based upon the Word. A person either believes the Word or not. Jesus did not do any miracles here. Miracle working is not a real basis for faith. Many who did see Christ’s miracles turned against Him. Real faith is Word based and not miracle based. We are to believe God because of what He says, not because of any supernatural experiences we may have had. We are to follow the Word. We are not called to follow after signs and wonders.

4:42
And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

While final belief came to the Samaritans from the words of Christ Himself, it still was the testimony of the woman that got the people to go and consider Jesus. Once she found out who Jesus was, she took it upon herself to bring others to a face to face encounter with Christ.

Never underestimate the impact of your life upon others. In most cases it is the impact of one life upon another that brings people to Christ.

Our job is to point people to Jesus, and thereby get them to spend some sincere time considering what the Word has to say. Notice, that faith is always hearing based. The Samaritans believed because of the Word that they heard, not because of miracles that they saw. Faith is always based upon hearing the Word. Let them that have ears hear.

the Savior of the world….

This title only occurs in the writings of John, and concludes the story of the woman at the well and the spiritual awakening in Samarian village of Sychar. It starts out with an unsuspecting woman of questionable moral background forced to having to get water outside of the village. Little did she suspect that she had a date with divine destiny, and that she was going to encounter God at the well, and that her life would never be the same after that.

It probably started like many other days, yet before it was over, the man she meet at the well would be hailed by the people of the village as the Savior of the World.

At the time people were not really looking for a Savior of the world. Sure some were looking for a Savior of Israel, or a Saviour of Jerusalem. And maybe even the Samaritans were looking for a Savior of Samaria, and the Greeks a Savior of Greece and the Egyptians a Savior of Egypt, but Jesus came to save the World.

Gods plans are bigger than man’s plans.

1John 4:14
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Rejoice for unto us is born a Savior, He is Christ the Lord.

Hans

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Quote:

ORIGINAL: HansC

64.) Back on the Road Again

4:43
Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.

Jesus could stay any longer in Sychar, he had to go to Galilee. The prophecies had declared that the greater part of His ministry time would be spent there, and He came that those prophecies might be fulfilled. Jesus had experienced His first mass and unqualified success in Sychar, yet He came to do God’s will and that meant going back to His people, who were much more reluctant to receive Him. Jesus was determined to do God’s will regardless of the consequences and cost.

4:44
For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

People at times will say that “familiarity breeds contempt”. It seems that the better we know people the less we find them remarkable. The more time we spend with people the more common we take them to be. Often a person will have to go out among strangers to be recognized for what they are. This is what Jesus experienced among His own people.

The Samaritans at Sychar recognized Jesus as the Messiah, yet the Jews of Jesus own country did not. Strangers were quicker to recognize Him than His own people.

When Jesus walked among those people that he had grown up with they were unable to recognize Him. They had grown too familiar with Him, so much so that few were able to recognize Him. They took the approach that, “Is this not the carpenter?’, “Don’t we know His mother, and brothers and sister’s?” Jesus was too common for them to recognize who He really was.

To many people today, the Gospel has become too common for them to recognize it for what it is, the power of God.

Luke 4:16
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,

as his custom was…..

Jesus growing up in Nazareth set an example of regular public worship attendance. I am sure that there was a lot about the service that he could have found to be at fault. Yet, he still went as was required of a young Jewish man and set an example of public worship.

He may have had issues with some of the elder’s interpretation of certain portions of Scripture, but He still made it a point to attend on a regular basis the place where God was praised, acknowledged, worshipped and prayed to, in spite of some of the elders misunderstandings.

I often run into those who claim to have a better understanding of the Bible than any church around and therefore do not go to church, because the churches have so much wrong. They think that because they are so much more spiritual they can just stay at home. These misguided people are at best still carnal and it would do them a lot of good if they took Jesus as an example and went to regular public worship.

There are those who believe that because the local churches do not present their version of the “truth” that they are not expected to gather with a local group of believers. The “truth” is that if a person who professes the name of Christ can not get together with other believers to worship even those who may have a little different take on some peripheral matters then at best they are still carnal.

Hebrews 10:25
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Simply having what we believe to be a greater understanding of God’s will, plan and purposes as laid out in the Scriptures, does not absolve us of the divine imperative to assemble together with other Christens for the purpose of worshipping God, even if we believe that those other believers are not as “enlightened” as ourselves.

God would rather have us attend church with others that may have a little different take on some minor issues than to avoid going to church because the others “don’t understand”.

The bottom line is that it is always better to go to church, rather than not to go

Hans

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Quote:

ORIGINAL: HansC

65.) A Father’s Mission

4:45
Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.

Jesus, back from Jerusalem is received by the Galilaeans, however there seems to be a bit of irony in the reception. The reception seems to be along the lines of curiosity seekers looking for wonders to amaze them, rather than as a people receiving their Messiah.

It was more like they wanted to be entertained by a wonder worker, rather than to worship Him.

I’ve had people ask me to pray for them and at times it strikes me that some of them seem to want the healing more than the Healer.

What is funny about this is that Cana was the scene of Christ’s first miracle, yet it is the actions of Christ at Jerusalem that creates the “buzz” around Cana and the region around it.

4:46
So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

The term for “nobleman” here means “royal official”. This was mostly likely someone from the court of King Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee. The “buzz” of Jesus had reached all the way into the royal courts.

Capernaum is nearly twenty miles away, yet when the man heard that Jesus was back in Galilee, he took off. It was somewhat of an improbable scene, a nobleman, a royal official from the court of Herod, walking nearly twenty miles to beg a favor from a village carpenter. Not too many rich men, or court officials came to receive a miracle from Christ, but here is one of the few.

Matthew 19:24
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

It can be difficult for the rich and famous to come to Christ, often it will involve humbling oneself and not caring what others may think. For the rich, the proud, and the well known that can be a real stumbling block.

When we think about the rich and famous, let us remember there is just as much sickness, tragedy, heartache and trouble among them and they need Jesus just as much as everybody else.

This royal official would eventually have to go back to King Herod’s court and express faith in Christ. That could have been not so easy, yet this man overcome those stumbling blocks and took off seeking Jesus on behalf of his son. He at this point did not really understand the true nature of the Lord, but still he believed that if he could get to Jesus that He would help him.

No matter what a person’s position is, rich or poor, famous or unknown, powerful or powerless, man or woman, tragedy will at some point in life touch them. How will you react when the inevitable lot of man in this life strikes?

This nobleman could well have had to endure a bit of mockery, laughter, and some may even have thought that he had gone crazy to fall for Jesus. This man was willing to lose his reputation to seek out Jesus.

How do people react where you work when they hear that you have decided to follow Jesus? Do some of them think you are crazy?

Hans

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God understands me. why don't you?!

Quote:

ORIGINAL: HansC

66.) The Second Wonder

4:47
When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

The type of language that is used here, would imply that the royal official repeatedly begged Jesus to come heal his son. The official at this point was not aware of the true identity of Christ, but was relating to Him more as a wonder worker that he had heard about, rather than the foretold Messiah.

4:48
Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

The world says, unless I see it I will not believe it. Yet spiritual things are reversed, we must believe first and then we will see spiritual things. Faith is the evidence of things NOT seen. Many times I have run into people who want to witness some miracle and then they say they will believe. They believe that if they can see some demonstration of spiritual power that then they will believe in Jesus. Yet, it never seems to work that way.

On several occasions, unsaved people around me have experienced God doing amazing things for me. A couple of times unsaved people have even witnessed God heal me in a very dramatic miraculous way and yet they remain unsaved. I know a Muslim man who has seen God work some tremendous miracles of healing on me and yet he is still unsaved. The point is that people will often tell you that they will believe if they saw a supernatural miracle, yet I have not yet seen them react that way. Faith that is based on seeing is not real faith.

4:49
The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

While this man did have the beginnings of faith, still he believed that Jesus had to go and actually touch the boy. The man was still carnal in his understanding of spiritual matters. Jesus was concerned about the boy, but he also wanted to bring the father’s faith up a notch to a higher level. The story of the Centurion’s servant getting healed is very similar, both men even lived in Capernaum. Yet the Centurion had a higher level of faith, in that he only asked for the word to be given, while the nobleman wanted a physical touch.

4:50
Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

Jesus called upon the man to believe without seeing. Faith is not based upon seeing or feeling or hearing. Faith is based upon believing WORDS, without any sensual confirming evidence. What Jesus was asking the man to do would require the man to take his faith to the next level. Jesus required the man to simply believe the Word he spoke, apart from any physical evidence. The man was expected to believe the miracle of healing had occurred without anything to go on except the words of Jesus.

Going home must have been a difficult walk for the man. He had walked nearly twenty miles, and when he finds Jesus, he is told to turn around go back home. When is the last time you walked thirty-five miles? Yet, this man had enough faith to turn around and walk back home. Where did he get this new level of faith? Notice that it said, “Jesus saith”. Faith comes by hearing, Jesus spoke to him and with that Word came the faith, of course the man had to mix the faith, faith does come by hearing but it does not come pre-mixed.

4:51
And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

No doubt, as the man walked the long road back, he had the struggle of faith going on inside him, but he held fast. The very inner essence of faith is simply to believe what God has said to be true. Faith calls for a person to believe a WORD and to take ACTION upon that Word, without any physical evidence, and then after that the experience of the miraculous will happen.

4:52
Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

Notice, that the healing was not instantaneous, but rather the boy BEGAN to amend at the seventh hour. Not all of Jesus healings were instantaneous, some of them manifested over a period of time. I have noticed that many times if a healing take a little time that people are very quick to throw in the towel. Many times faith takes a bit of steadfast patience in order to have its completing work.

4:53
So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

While faith does come from hearing, it is experience that builds and strengthens it. The father started off that day with a small amount of faith at a low level, yet after Jesus spoke to him and he acted and believed that word, his faith was built up and was lifted up to a whole new