Commentary on John 4 (2)

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Commentary on John 4 (2)

In Chapter 4 of the Gospel of John, the woman at the well of Sychar in Samaria meets Jesus Christ and while she listens to his words, ‘I am the Christ you speak of’ (John 4:26), she realized that this is the Messiah who gives eternal living water.

This is the mysterious mechanism that takes place among Christ, the Word, the foundation of creation, and those who have been called by him and are determined to be saved.

When the Lord speaks, those who listen will confess their salvation while listening.

In this case, we say that we met Jesus Christ through the Word.

After this woman realizes that the Lord is Christ, she throws away her water jar and begins to testify that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

It is a definite turning point in life.

Throwing away the water jar means giving up the desires of the flesh.

At that moment, through this woman's testimony, people who came to Jesus heard Jesus' words directly and believed on him. (John 4:42)

And he says that the fulfillment of God's will in this way becomes the Lord's food (John 4:34).

When we eat the Lord as the meat of life, we also become the Lord's meat, so we will eat together. (Revelation 3:20)

Nevertheless, many people who only know Jesus but do not know Christ do not eat the meat of life because the Bible is only knowledge, and ultimately they cannot worship.

Next, in John 4:43 and below, we see an incident in which Jesus heals the son of a king's official in Capernaum.

Here we clearly see how the words of Jesus Christ work.

As Jesus said, ‘Go, your son lives’ (John 4:50), the child came back to life immediately.

The words that I and all readers of the Gospel of John should always keep in mind is John 1:1.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This Word is Jesus Christ.

He came in human being, died for our sins, rose again three days later, ascended to heaven, and sent the Spirit of truth in his name to live in you and me.

Christ, the Word who created all things, the Creator, is our Savior.

I once heard a man named Dool say on a broadcast that the Word exists before God.

Even though 20 years have passed since this person spoke those words, he still does not know the Word.

This person does not know that the Word, Logos itself is God.

Even now, if you watch him speak, he only criticizes Jesus and the current church.

It looks really bad and I feel pity.

Just as you can see the 144,000 standing on Mount Zion, you can be confident that they are standing with the Lamb by faith, but he looks just as pitiful as the old man who is said to be creating or founding the 12 tribes.

I don't know if this person is smart about the worldly things, but he is a person who needs to come back to God.

Even if the world changes a thousand times, this Word is Jesus Christ, and Christ is all, and in all (Colossians 3:11) and Lord of all things (Jude 1:4).

This Christ is within us, and we are a microcosm that have the Lord of the universe.

Christ, the Word, speaks, and it is so.

We must pursue this fact until we believe it.

So we sing, “Jesus spoke, and the water changed into wine.” Jesus spoke, and Bartimaeus opened his eyes. “Jesus spoke, and the angry waves became calm.”.

We say that it happened as Jesus said, but in reality, Jesus is the Word of Creation itself, so he speaks and it happens as he says.

The incident of the king's servant's son coming back to life shows that the words of Christ are the words of creation that always come true.

The most painful thing for humans is not receiving the Word of God.

However, if the word of God is heard, it is life and that is a blessing.

In the Bible, has there ever been a failure when God spoke to humans first?

Even if you search both the Old and New Testaments, human words do not have a clear guarantee of results.

No matter how much you shout or decide, your problem of death and darkness cannot be dealt with.

And if the word of God does not come, regret will occur, but reform will not occur.

Only when you understand the words of the cross of Christ can you can repent that returns to its own place through the cross.

So repentance is always accompanied by baptism.

That is why it is said that the signs of Christianity are the Word and Sacrament, that is, the Word, Baptism, and the Holy Communion.

Look at Jacob, the forefathers of faith, and look at Joseph.

And look at David.

Despite all the hardships, the word of  God was heard.

So, David sang in Psalm 23, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.”

He had the courage to believe that he had nothing to worry about because the word of God comforted David like a staff or a stick.

We should too.

When Job was suffering, the words spoken by Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar were reasonable and true, but they all approached Job with human words, but Elihu's words approached Job with the words of God.

Elihu asked Job, “Are you stronger than God? Is your life in your hands? Can you take responsibility for yourself?” When he attacks Job like this, he relents.

No matter how well a person's words are conveyed, they cannot persuade the other person.

Psalm 16:7, “even at night my heart instructs me,” also means that God’s word both rebukes and corrects.

Therefore, rather than collapsing to sleep because you are tired, it is a blessing to look back on the day's events with your heart pounding and return to your original state with regret and reform, repentance.

In fact, only when the atmosphere is such that the Lord wants to go to that house and preach the word can the house receive the Lord's salvation and blessings.

But the Lord said, Don’t go to that house. Even if I go, no. if you go, it will be in vain. If he do this, it will be a big problem.

When God speaks to us, it means that He is trying to persuade us.

God spoke to Jonah, who ran away from God, and to Job, who firmly believed that he was righteous.

The evidence of the chosen people is that the word of God comes to them (Romans 10).

To Esau, God did not say a single word throughout his life, but to Jacob, God followed him around and continued to speak.

Later, God even sent an angel to wrestle with him.

This is a blessing.

Among Christians, there are people who want to talk to them and correct them and comfort them.

However, there are people who are at the level of saying, have you eaten? let’s have a cup of coffee.

Whether God's word comes or not is a barometer of blessings and curses.

Because this Word is the One who said, In the beginning was the Word. (John 1:1)

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Chung

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