25. Living in Capernaum

After two days he went out from there and into Galilee. Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast. Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine.

Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
    toward the sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sat in darkness saw a great light,
    to those who sat in the region and shadow of death,
    to them light has dawned.”

From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the good news.”  News about him went throughout the whole country; he taught in their synagogues and was glorified by all. 

Reflections

Biblical prophecy is rarely a simple matter of prediction and fulfillment. There are partial fulfillments and multiple fulfillments; there are also surprising fulfillments understood only in retrospect because what happened looked quite different than what had been expected.  Have you ever seen God’s presence clearly in a situation when looking back on it, but not at all while it was happening?

Prayer: Open the eyes of my heart and mind, Lord, to recognize your presence when it looks different than expected.

24. Everything Needed

 Many went out of the city, and were coming to him. In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

The disciples said to each other, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ I tell you, lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already. Those who reap receive wages, and gather fruit to eternal life; that both those who sow and those who reap may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” When the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Reflections

 The physical needs Jesus had were real, but not dominant. He was tired and stopped to rest. He was thirsty and asked for water. He was hungry, but found his nourishment in doing God’s will. Do you control your appetites or do your appetites control you? Are you honest about the addictions or obsessions you have?

Prayer: Give me strength, Lord, to gain control over the desires that seek to control me.

23. The Woman at the Well

When Jesus learned the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself didn’t baptize, but his disciples), he left Judea, passing through Samaria on his way to Galilee. He came to Sychar, a city of Samaria near the land Jacob had given to his son, Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down by it. In the middle of the day, a woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus, whose disciples had gone into the city to buy food, said to her, “Give me a drink.” 

The woman replied, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who said, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

The woman said, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his children, and his livestock?”

Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water I give will never thirst again; but the water that I give will become a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, and have to keep coming all the way here.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband to come here.”

The woman answered, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands; and the one you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truly.”

The woman said to him, “I see you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say Jerusalem is the place for people to worship.”

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. You worship what you don’t know. We worship what we know; for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and already here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes, he who is called Christ. When he has come, he will declare to us all things.”

Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.” At this, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?” So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

Reflections

The disastrous marital history of the woman was probably not much of a secret: only a social outcast would go to the well for water in the hottest part of the day. Nevertheless, the woman was amazed that Jesus knew much more than she imagined. How much of your life is secret? Is it scary to think that God knows all, or amazing to think that God still loves you?

Prayer: Let me never forget, Lord, there are no secrets I can hide from you.