God’s Favorite

John 4:4-27-35; 43-54; Matthew 9:37-38; Romans 12:2

Jesus-isms

CIT: Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at a well

CIS: Every encounter leads people to God

SO: The hearer will see the loss as an opportunity to share the Gospel

Follow along at d1.church/notes. 

Intro: This series is designed to show you through the eyes of John, the Person of Jesus, the Jesus of the Godhead, and the key moments of his life. John is not a chronological book. Some things happen out of order compared to the other gospels. The gospel of John is not about exactness; it is about a relationship between Jesus and “the one Jesus loved.”

Has anyone ever said something that resonated with you so much that it changed future interactions for the rest of your life? I once had a conversation with a successful businessman about a logjam process on a board we were on. He was super concerned with one of the members who expressed concerns. I was debating with him on how to push the initiative along, and he said this. “Have you heard the African Proverb, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” In that meeting, in that second, he changed the way I approached issues in my family, business, and church. When log jams arise, or things are not going as fast as I think they should, I remind myself of his words. This is just one of the things I teach and say to anyone and everyone under me in leadership. They call them Duffy-isms. They are just great sayings or lessons that I have taken from greater men than me and use to help govern my life. 

In the book of John, Chapter 4, I realized that Jesus says some great Jesus-isms that magnify not just in the Gospels but in the teachings of Paul and in every Christian church around the globe. They are indisputable truths that help renew and transform our minds to the mind of Christ. Then our actions change. Our attitudes change. 

I want to back up to the story we told last week and get to the John/Jesus part, the Disciples/Jesus relationship part that we skipped when we concentrated on the Samaritans and God’s heart for the lost. Jesus always has a heart to teach and grow his followers as well. Let’s read John 4:27-34.

1. Intermission (woman at the well)(John 4:27-34)

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile, his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 

EXP: Last week, we went through the great conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. We skipped this part to complete the story presented. As I read through John 4, I didn’t want us to miss the discipleship that Jesus shares with his followers in this moment. The disciples are mission-oriented and concerned with their mission to get Jesus some food. That is what they went to town for after all. Jesus says he has been fed in other ways. They then think that someone has taken their job and fed them. Now they feel like a failure. Jesus helps them understand that he is satisfied through spiritual means.

ILL: Let’s pull out the key things Jesus says (Jesus-isms) in this interaction that the Gospels use to frame the Fully-God, Fully-Man Jesus, whom John is trying to give us insight into.

“I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”- Humans are concerned with the physical more than God is. God does not need anything to sustain his existence. Whether he eats or sleeps has no bearing on his divine and purposeful nature. His love toward the earth and us is not rooted in anything other than himself. 

If you have ever fasted for God, which I have, you will learn that hunger is really not that much of a driver for you. Normally, if we skip a meal, we get hangry. When we fast and focus on the Lord’s will for our lives, the flesh comes in line rather quickly.

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish the work.”- Jesus reiterates and expands on this self-depraving thought by saying his purpose is what he is here to do. His greatest concern is to be in line with what God has for his life, and his will and desires will consistently be pushed aside. 

ILL: The church I grew up in had an annual 3-day fast that we did together. One year, I was intentional with God about wanting a breakthrough in my life during the fast. It was really a 2.5-day fast that we broke together with a meal. This year, I had pledged to God that I would not eat, but complete a fast from all consumables except water for the duration of the fast. For me, that meant adding Dr.Pepper and Cigarettes to the fast. I truly did not want any vice to keep me from his will for my life. Fasting was easy and hard. I remember on night two, we drove to Tyler, which was an hour from our home, and I had not eaten or smoked so far at all. We were all silent in the car, probably because talking wouldn’t have been good.

I was praying and talking with God because I was struggling. I remember telling God, something has to give. I will not make it to the remaining 12 hours. I am either going to eat, smoke, or do something. My flesh was in full revolt. I remember God said to me, “Oh, you will do anything for a cigarette now.” In that, he made sure I understood that I was allowing things to control my actions, my emotions, and my witness, and that these things had to die in my life. I stopped and bought a cheeseburger and never smoked again. I resolved with God that his will would be my priority in life. He would sustain me, and I would run headfirst into his purpose for my life. 

APP: Jesus was letting his disciples know that they would have to make a similar commitment. They would have to change their minds from the physical to the spiritual. If they did not, then opportunities would pass them by to witness. 

T.S.: You must die to self, to live for Christ.  This will be a constant refrain in our Bible and should ring in the head of each of us. As he redirects them to their purpose, he says this. 

2. Reaping and Sowing (John 4:35-38)

Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now, the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus, the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

EXP: Jesus points the Disciples not to let the moment pass for souls to be saved. He reminds them how harvest works by saying, if you plant, does it not need to be harvested in four months? He implies this is a saying that can be counted on. He then says look now. One seed has been planted for the Samaritans, and it is already ready to be harvested. The work of the Lord is to gather the Harvest for the Kingdom of God. Go and reap the benefits of the Labor of others. (Himself and the Samaritan woman)

ILL: The Jesus-isms we need to take from this interaction are:

“They are ripe for the Harvest” - The agrarian reference can be found in all the Gospels, Jesus emplores the disciples in Matthew 9:37-38: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Jesus constant refrain is that we fulfill our purpose. In the world today, people will tell you that others don’t want to hear about Jesus or that it is a hard place. Jesus walked into enemy territory and, with a little insight into a woman’s life, flipped a town onto its head. The harvest was in full view, and Jesus had to ask them, "Can you not see this?”

“One sows and another reaps”-I love that he says “the sower and the reaper can be glad together. Paul reminds us of the Lord’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. 

Jesus words are plain to Paul in this practical example of the debate on who is better. We are all working together for the cause of Christ. 

APP: As we adopt Christ’s words as guiding thought, the approach to purpose is clear. Our job is to do the work we see plainly with our eyes. Always sowing, always watering, always harvesting new people into the Kingdom. 

T. S.: Let me wrap up Chapter 4 with this story.

3. Evangelism (John 4:43-54)

 After the two days, he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there. Once more, he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

EXP: Jesus returns to Galilee (his hometown area) for the first time since the miracle at Cana. As he enters, he is met by an official who wants him to come and heal his sick son. Jesus mentions that he probably would not have been greeted this way except that their hearts were for him to be magical in some way. The official urges Jesus, and Jesus speaks the word, and his son is healed. John remarks that this is only the 2nd sign Jesus performed in Galilee. 

ILL: Jesus-isms to take from this passage:

“A prophet has no honor in his own country”- This is more of a warning than a rebuke of the people of Nazareth and Galilee. Jesus means you think it is hard for you to understand that a person is changed. Imagine your family and friends with whom you grew up. At one point, the Bible tells us that Jesus mother and brothers tried to get him to stop ministering for fear of his life. Our renewed mind must understand that some in our lives will require sowing and planting by others rather than ourselves. 

“Unless you see signs and wonders, you will never believe”- Jesus says this often as a rebuke to the Pharisees, a rebuke to the Jewish nation, etc. Jesus needs you and me to understand that many will follow for the signs, but true faith is in believing when you do not see. Being set in your mind and heart that Jesus is the only way. That is the true unlock of miracles in our life.

ILL: Ken Blanchard said this on a podcast I was listening to. He said, “Servant leadership is the only kind of leadership.” Jesus brought a new way to lead on the earth. Leadership in this format did not exist before Jesus. There was management and stewardship (some good and some bad), But True leadership for your family, workplace, etc., can only be by using the leadership taught by Jesus. It was earth-shaking to John, as he heard it; it is still earth-shaking to each of us now. 

APP: These statements we covered are ones that John wants us to understand he learned directly from Jesus. They are the ones he has repeated to himself, preached to the masses, and shared in personal conversations all his life. These sayings of Jesus changed John from who he was to being a purposeful minister of the Gospel of Christ. 

TS: Paul sums it up best in Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Being a disciple of Christ will require a new voice in your head. God’s voice. 

I want to pray for three groups today:

1. There are some who are focused more on the physical needs than on Jesus' purpose in your life. 
2. I want to pray that God will break that hold on your life and free you to walk in your divine purpose. 
3. Some need to see the harvest in front of you. You may need to stop trying to be planter, waterer, and harvester.
4. I want to pray that you will be bold in reaching out to those who need Christ whenever they present.
5. Some of your faith is at the point where if you do not see signs and wonders, you cannot believe. Today, Jesus made it clear that true faith is believing what you have not seen. Today, if you can, he will open up the heavens in your life. 
6. I pray today for salvation.