Author: Jeff Englund

John 4: 10

“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’”

The subjunctive mood is a way of speaking that is characterized by being very indirect. My dictionary describes the word as meaning, “…what is imagined, or wished, or possible.” In this English translation of John’s writing, Jesus does not even refer to himself directly. He does not say, “I can give you living water!” or “I could give you living water!” Instead, he refers to himself in the third person: “He would have given you living water.”  Continue reading “Subjunctive Mood”

John 4: 9

“The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)”

Of all the ways that Jesus could have started a conversation with the woman at the well, it is hard to imagine one that would have had the same effect as asking for a drink of water. John’s parenthetical statement, “For Jews do not associate with Samaritans” speaks to a kind of cultural prejudice that was every bit as prevalent and strong as any we know today. Yet here is God, in the form of Jesus, asking one of his least worthy creations for a drink of water.  Continue reading “Cause and Effect”

John 4: 8

“(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)”

If you have ever been in a play or worked in theater, you know the meaning of the phrase, “stage right.” It refers to the stage area to the right of the stage as seen from the audience’s point of view. To “exit stage right” is to leave the stage from that side.

In this scene the disciples “exit stage right” as it were, and allow Jesus a rare moment to be alone. Continue reading “Stage Right”

John 4: 7

“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’”

One of the advantages of being God is that you know everything. Jesus, of course, is one with God. As John writes in Chapter 1 verse 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Knowing everything means that Jesus … well …. knows everything. Continue reading “Fishing”

John 4: 5-6

“So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.”

In this passage we are following Jesus and his disciples as they travel north into Galilee from Judea. In a sense, Jesus is leaving the “Big City” area around Jerusalem and heading north into the small towns of the country.  To get where he is going he travels back through distant memories of the land as it was when Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, lived there. Continue reading “Deep Waters”

John 4: 4

“Now he had to go through Samaria.”

Since the days following the reign of Solomon, the people of Judah looked upon the Northern Tribes of Israel as sinful because they had replaced the worship of God in the temple at Jerusalem with the worship of two golden calf idols.

In the time of Jesus Samaritans probably looked upon the Jews as stuffed shirts. Continue reading “Perspective II”

John 4: 1-3

“Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—  although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.”

In this passage, Jesus is told that the Pharisees were aware that he was gaining a following. Jesus then leaves Judea and goes back to Galilee. This passage raises a number of questions about what Jesus was doing and why.

Continue reading “Timing”

John 3:32

“He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.”

Speaking about the “one who comes from above” John continues his explanation of why what Jesus says is so unique. Having pre-existed his birth on earth, Jesus comes to earth with a knowledge and an awareness of what it is like to be heaven. Imagine what it must have been like for the Son of God, an eternal, all-powerful being, to become part of his creation. Continue reading “Simplification”

John 3:31

“The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.”

John the Baptist is unique in the history of God’s prophets because he is the herald of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. John’s relationship with God is revealed in John 1:33 where John says, “And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ” Continue reading “Viewpoint”

John 3: 30

“He must become greater; I must become less.”

Knowing our place in life and being able to accept our role make life livable. In my experience with the world, it seems its message is very different: “you can be anything you want to be” coupled with “you can do it” and “just do it” and “get all you can” all lead to frustration and stress.

Continue reading “Contentment”