Redeemed: Saved from Death Unto Life

SECTION I

JESUS CHRIST:

SENT TO SAVE

CHAPTER 1

MY FATHER’S BUSINESS

We begin our journey about two miles southeast of Jerusalem, in the town of Bethany, the home of Martha and her sister, Mary, the same Mary who once anointed Jesus with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.⁶ These women had previously welcomed Jesus into their house,⁷ and their brother, Lazarus, also was a friend. When Lazarus became sick, his sisters sent for Jesus.⁸

5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. (John 11:5-6)

Mary and Martha were facing a critical situation. Their brother was seriously ill. For Jesus to stay put for two days was not the response these sisters wanted, or even expected, from him. They wanted him to be with them, and the sooner the better. But Jesus stayed away.

Lazarus’ condition only continued to worsen. In fact, he became so sick that he died. When his Jewish brethren heard the news, they came to comfort Mary and Martha. But not Jesus. Even then, he appeared to take his time. When he finally did arrive in Bethany, Lazarus had been in the grave four days already. Nonetheless, when Martha heard that Jesus was on his way, she ran to meet him, saying, ‘Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.’ (John 11:21)

Martha was understandably upset. In her most urgent hour of need, the one person on whom her family counted the most was not around. He who had worked miracles for others, some of whom he did not know, seemed unwilling to help the very ones whom he knew and loved.

Martha told Jesus that if he had come promptly, when they first had asked him to come, her brother would not have died. Yet, in spite of her extreme disappointment and anguish, Martha’s pleas seemed to hold out hope for Lazarus’ recovery. "But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." (John 11:22)

Martha loved Lazarus. She did not want him gone. Because she knew some of what Jesus had done for others, she hoped he would go to God on Lazarus’ behalf and heal him. However, when Jesus told her the one thing she should have wanted to hear more than anything, that her ‘brother shall rise again,’ (John 11:23) Martha believed those words were too good to be true for that day, and assumed that Jesus referred only to the future resurrection. Yes, Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. However, it was not just future life for Lazarus about which he spoke that day.

Mary also came out to see Jesus, echoing the same sentiments that he had heard from Martha, that their brother’s life depended on him, sentiments that also were expressed by those brethren present at Lazarus’ grave, some of whom asked, ‘Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind,⁹ have caused that even this man should not have died?’ (John 11:37)

Perhaps you can envision this scene at Lazarus’ grave. These were real people, deeply hurt by the untimely death of a brother and friend, displaying all the raw, heart-wrenching emotion that usually accompanies such pain. But, in spite of Jesus’ timing, he did perform a miracle of healing that day. Right before he raised Lazarus, he prayed out loud. He did not pray to impress Mary, Martha, or any of those brethren gathered at the grave, nor did he pray because he needed their help in raising Lazarus.

41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 11:41-42)

Jesus prayed out loud for one reason: that those with him would believe that God had sent him. Whether or not Jesus had arrived in Bethany according to their timetable, God still had sent him. God had sent Jesus to raise Lazarus, and to do so much more. For those people gathered around Lazarus’ grave, as well as for all of us who have lived since, Jesus Christ is the one direct link to God. "He that receiveth me [Jesus] receiveth him [God] that sent me." (John 13:20b)

Receiving God is contingent upon receiving the one whom He has sent: His Son, Jesus Christ. Whatever God the Father graciously has to offer them, and us, may be received by receiving His Son, a truth that Jesus emphasized right before he was led away to be tortured and crucified.

1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:1-4)

Jesus Christ glorified his Father by finishing the work He gave him to do. That was the sustenance of his life, ‘to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.’ (John 4:34) Because the work is finished, Christ can continue to glorify God by giving life to those who know God and the one He has sent. In all that Jesus Christ did, and continues to do, he knows that He ‘that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.’ (John 8:29).

Jesus Christ knew who he was and why he had come. He traveled to Bethany to awaken Lazarus from death when God told him it was time to go. That is what pleased his Father. Doing the will of God is how he finished God’s work. He could have chosen other work. He had freedom of will. That is what makes his choices all the more significant to us. Jesus Christ chose to say and to do what his Father, God, asked him to say and to do, thereby completing the work that needed to be finished.

We ourselves, as well as other people we know, may change career paths, not just once, but many times. Not so with Jesus Christ. His career had been chosen for him, yet he determined to accept it. He knew from a young age that God had sent him and he knew he had been sent for a purpose. This is illustrated in the Gospel of Luke in one of the few Biblical records concerning Jesus’ childhood.

41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.

42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. (Luke 2:41-43)

One might wonder how Jesus’ parents would not have known that their young son was not returning home with them. It sounds almost irresponsible, to leave a youngster alone in a crowded city. But Joseph and Mary were not negligent parents. They did not leave Jesus. He stayed.

Mary and Joseph returned from Jerusalem in an extended caravan that consisted of many kinsfolk, acquaintances, and animals. During the daytime, youngsters would find safety and camaraderie in the entire caravan, rejoining their families at night. Thus, it would have been at the end of the first day that Mary and Joseph expected to see their son. When they did not, they became concerned and sought him out among the others.

44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. (Luke 2:44-45)

Joseph and Mary would have searched the caravan high and low for Jesus, repeatedly asking others if they had seen him. When they realized he was not there, they then left the safety of the caravan and returned to Jerusalem, very much wanting to locate their son.

46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. (Luke 2:46-47)

When Joseph and Mary found Jesus in the Temple after three days, their son did not appear troubled or distraught, the way a child might be who was lost and wanted his parents. Instead, he was more than holding his own, sitting among and conversing with learned religious scholars, all of whom were astonished at his understanding and answers.

Can you put yourself in Joseph and Mary’s place and understand how they felt? Jesus was their son. At the end of that first day of travel, when they did not see him, they initially may not have been too alarmed, assuming that he would be found before long. However, as their efforts to find Jesus among the company became fruitless, they grew more concerned. Then, when it became clear that he really was not anywhere to be found, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him, determined to find him. Each passing day only heightened their concern.

Then, after three days of perhaps little or no restless sleep, they found him in the Temple, not looking for them, but sitting among the religious leaders. No doubt they were jubilant that their son was alive and well, and quite impressed with how he handled himself with the doctors. At the same time, they also may have been not a little disgruntled at their son’s apparent disregard for the pain his disappearance had caused them, as his mother expressed to him. . . . Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. (Luke 2:48)

Joseph and Mary had raised Jesus and loved him. It would not be out of line for any parent to remind a child of the pain that can come from that love. But Jesus was not just any child, and his answer to them indicated that he understood that. "And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist [know] ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?" (Luke 2:49)

When Jesus declared to his parents that he must be about his Father’s business, he spoke not of the things of his father, Joseph, or of the carpentry trade that he had taught him. Instead, Jesus spoke of his Heavenly Father and His business. It was His spiritual work that Jesus Christ had been sent to finish. And staying behind in the Temple at age twelve was doing the work that pleased his Heavenly Father.

50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. (Luke 2:50-52)

Jesus returned with his parents to Nazareth, remaining in their home, subject unto them, growing in wisdom, stature, and favor. Many years later, when it came time for him to complete the work that God had sent him to finish, he was prepared. What that work was which only Jesus Christ could finish to the glory of God will begin to unfold in the next chapters.

CHAPTER 2

LIVING WATER

Almost two decades after Jesus had been found in the Temple, conversing with the religious scholars, he was baptized by John in the River Jordan. After he spent some time in Jerusalem, he traveled north to Galilee, passing through Samaria, and came to the city of Sychar. Jesus stopped and sat on a well, because he was tired from his journey.¹⁰ Although his disciples had left him there, going into the city to buy some meat, Jesus was not alone for long. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (John 4:7)

In Biblical times, it was permissible culturally for a man to speak to a woman in a thoroughfare, if he asked her for a drink of water.¹¹ Since Jesus did not have a pot to lower into the well, his request on the surface did not seem that unusual. However, it did surprise the woman, because of who she was. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. (John 4:9)

The Judeans and Samaritans had a long and unpleasant history,¹² which can be traced back to the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C., when the make-up of the Samaritan population changed dramatically. At that time, many, but not all of the children of Israel were deported, being replaced by exiles from kingdoms who did not worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.¹³ Because many of the Judeans who lived south of Samaria did not differentiate between these various groups of Samaritans, they grew to hold them all in contempt, believing that the pervasive idolatry and mixed bloodlines eliminated any Samaritan from being of Israel. This woman at the well, knowing that the Judeans would have as little as possible to do with the Samaritans, was taken aback by Jesus’ willingness to speak with her.

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? (John 4:10-11)

In some more modern societies, it is acceptable and commonplace for a man and a woman of different backgrounds who are strangers to engage in conversation about a variety of topics. Not so in Biblical times, not between Judeans and Samaritans, and certainly not about topics other than requests for a drink of water. Jesus, however, went beyond those cultural limits.

Jesus often would teach spiritual truths by drawing analogies to real life situations, ones to which his audience could relate. That is what he did with this Samaritan woman. She was quite familiar with water. She hauled it home from the well, day in and day out. This woman had drinking water to offer Jesus. Jesus also had water to offer. However, the water to which he referred was of a very different kind, a distinction that the woman did not grasp right away.

Not only was this woman intrigued by this Judean stranger who continued to have a conversation with her, she was perplexed as well. First, he asked her, a Samaritan woman, for water. Then, this same man who apparently had no pot with which to draw water, seemed to contradict himself by stating that he actually would have given her water, if only she had asked!

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

John 4:13-14

Jesus drew a clear distinction between the two kinds of water about which he spoke. One kind came from the well on which he sat. It would quench one’s physical thirst, but only temporarily. That supply of water would need to be replenished because, no matter how much of that water one drank today, one would be thirsty again. The other kind of water came from him. It also quenched thirst, not physical thirst, but spiritual. Anyone who drank of that water would never thirst again, because of the life-giving qualities springing from that well of water.

Water with special thirst-quenching properties that need not be replenished sounded terrific to this woman who asked him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.’ (John 4:15) While Jesus was speaking about water that sprang into everlasting life, the woman was thinking about one-stop drinking water, the kind that would free her from the daily labor of drawing water from the well and carrying that burden home. No wonder she was intrigued. As you can imagine, transporting water was very hard physical work.

As their conversation continued, Jesus proceeded to tell this woman some things about her personal life that he could not have known, had he not been at least the prophet she assumed he was. But Jesus was more than a prophet, as she soon would learn.

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

John 4:21-26

What incredible, life-changing words for that Samaritan woman to hear! She may have been an outcast in the eyes of many Judeans, but she reverenced God. She knew that the Messiah would come one day, and when he did come, she would be ready to listen to what he had to say and to believe his words. And now, here he was, sitting right in front of her, having a conversation with her. Unable to contain her excitement, she went into the city to tell others.

28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: