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3:1-36- We say, ‘I’ll turn over a new leaf’. Christ says, ‘You must be born again’(3,7). Our way of thinking begins with ‘I’. Christ’s way of salvation begins with ‘God’: ‘God so loved the world...’(16). Begin with ‘I’and you have sin, guilt and condemnation (Romans 3:10-11). Begin with God and you have Good News for sinners: ‘God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us’(Romans 5:8). Through faith in Christ, we are ‘born of the Spirit’(6-8; 1:12). The Spirit of God is the Spirit of holiness, love and truth. Those who are ‘born of the Spirit’are to live a life of holiness, love and truth (1 John 4:2-3,6-7,12-13; 5:2-3). ‘Come to the light’. ‘Do what is true’. ‘Obey the Son’. Let Christ increase. This is the work of the Spirit in us (20-21,36,29,34).
4:1-42- Here, we see Jesus’ministry of love. He brings the Samaritan woman out of her bondage to sin and into the joy of His salvation. Jesus comes to the woman in love. His love overcomes cultural divisions. His love breaks down cultural barriers (9). This is not simply the story of one woman. It is the story of ‘many Samaritans’coming to faith in Christ (39). There are two ‘stages’in their coming to faith. First, they ’believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony’(39). Second, ‘they believed because of His Word’(41). The Samaritans came to trust Jesus as ‘the Saviour of the world’(42). The woman said that ‘salvation is of the Jews’(22). It is also ‘to the Greek’(Romans 1:16). The Gospel is for all. Pray that the human word will be empowered by the divine Word (1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2:13).
4:43-5:29- In Jesus’healings, we see the love of God. He ‘went about doing good’. In His healings, we see the Source of His spiritual strength: ‘God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power’(Acts 10:38). We look beyond Jesus to God the Father: ‘mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through Him’(Acts 2:22). Jesus speaks of His unique relationship with the Father (19,26). Jesus is no mere servant. He is ‘the Son’. We are to ‘honour the Son’as well as the Father (23). Through Christ, we receive ‘eternal life’(24). The gift of eternal life is the gift of God’s love. In love, God ‘gave His only Son’. ‘In His Son’, there is eternal life. ‘This life’is given to everyone who ‘believes in the Son of God’(3:16; 1 John 5:10-12). Listen to ‘the voice of the Son of God’, believe and ‘live’(25).