October 5, 2012 … Confrontation With The Truth

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 279

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: John 2-4 To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: John 2: 13-17 : [NLT] … {And John begins to record some of the prominent and often controversial miracles Jesus performed in His walk on earth, along with his confrontations with the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious elite of His day. His first miracle, turning the water into wine at a wedding – in John 2: 1-12 - was a glorious and sensitive exhibit of Jesus’ compassion as well as His honoring of God’s institution of marriage. Then there was the Lord’s display of righteous anger in the first of two recorded episodes of Him clearing the Temple of merchants during the annual Passover worship (see below). He also did this three years later just before the time of His passion, death, and resurrection – see Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19.} … 13 It was time for the annual Passover celebration, and Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; and he saw money changers behind their counters. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and oxen, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Don’t turn my Father’s house into a marketplace!” 17 Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house burns within me.” [see Psalm 69: 9]
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Highlight Passage: John 3: 16-18 : [NLT] … {Here, in John 3, we’re introduced to Nicodemus, the undercover seeker, who met with Jesus quietly, in a dark place, early in Jesus’ ministry; and Jesus explained that to be “born again” Nicodemus would have give his ALL, in faith, to the Messiah, which there is evidence he later did – see John 19: 39-40 - when Nicodemus joined Joseph of Aramathea, as two prominent Jews to honor Jesus by burying the Lord’s body prominently. Yes, Nicodemus hid his faith early; but later he finished his days with his faith on display as a member of the Sanhedrin. And in probably the most remembered and quoted passage in John 3: 16, we read of what the Gospel message is all about. } …
 16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. 18 “There is no judgment awaiting those who trust Him. But those who do not trust Him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God." 

{Jesus’ confrontation with Nicodemus is the essence of His confrontation with all of mankind; and it forcefully asks if we can believe in Him to be born anew eternally. I leave it to you to be able to be a Nicodemus and answer Jesus’ confrontation with your soul.}
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Highlight Passage: John 4: 4-8; 25-26 : [NLT] … {And then John relates the story of Jesus, traveling through Samaria, which no Jew would usually choose to do in those days because of the Jewish hatred of the Samaritans; and in those travels with His disciples, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. And in this confrontation we see Jesus’ uncommon caring and compassion for women and for those who would have been considered as less that human – the Samaritans. And it was this caring and compassionate demeanor, as well as Jesus’ way of knowing the insides of people, which led the woman a the well to a saving relationship with the Messiah. } … 4 He [Jesus] had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  6  Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. …  
And at the end of this encounter with the woman, Jesus openly tells her Who He is, The Messiah, and the woman becomes an immediate believer and open declarer of this truth to others, just as we who believe Him should be in our lives today.} … 25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah will come—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!” 
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Cross Reference Passage: Ephesians 4: 25-26 : [NLT] …{In taking on the new life as a Christian, we must be able to be meek, like Jesus, taking on the new, Spirit-filled, life and not letting the old nature dominate us.} … 25 So put away all falsehood and “tell your neighbor the truth” because we belong to each other. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you.” [see also Psalm 4: 4] 

My Journal for Today: Today my chronological Bible study takes me through John, Chapters 2-4, taking me into stories, related by the Apostle John, about Jesus and his early ministry where He began to reveal Who He really was … through His communications with the people along His way, like Nicodemus and the woman at the well, as well as by some of His obvious miracles, like His first one in turning the water into wine at a wedding in Cana , related in John 2.

{BTW - Personal Note:   In 2009, in a small wedding chapel in Cana, I renewed my sacred vows to my dear wife, Elly, and we declared openly our love for Christ in the place He had performed His first miracle.}

Also in this same chapter we read of his first missionary confrontations with the world of the day, especially in that first time when Jesus cleansed the Temple, during Passover, showing His righteous – yet sinless – anger. Jesus never got mad at others when they came against his own person. No, just like He was with Nicodemus in John 3, when he was confronted by people challenging Him or even deriding Him, as was often the case with the Pharisees, Jesus would quietly be THE TRUTH IN LOVE on display. I

n John 4 we read of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman – a double-whammy social no-no in those days – and we note how He so quietly revealed Himself to her; and bringing out her faults in a way that showed her that this man was – in truth – the Messiah, which He declared openly to her as the first time He would declare that He, Jesus, was the Son of God.

In these three chapters, we see Jesus on display for Whom He was – and still is. Later, to His disciples (in John 14: 6, Jesus would declare that He was (and is) “the way, the truth, and the life.” Well, in these three chapters of John’s gospel, we see that truth on display for all to see; and we also see what we must do to be born-again in Him … to believe in Him just as did Nicodemus and the woman at the well.

We must openly believe that this man … IS … the Messiah; and then we must be willing to declare to others that truth as well. Have you done that, my dear one? If not, … NOW is the time to declare that this Jesus is all Whom He declared Himself to be. And if anyone reading this needs to do that, I’m available to hear your declaration by emailing me @ willieb13@rocketmail.com . Oh, … what a joy it would be to read of you declaration of faith in Christ as your Savior.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, to be born-again in You is the joy of my life – here, now, and for all eternity. HALLELUJAH! Amen