Today Jesus has 2 important salvific conversations with 2 very different types of people…bc we are all equal in God’s economy!
First we meet Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews. Nicodemus sneaks away at night to seek answers from Jesus bc he knows that Jesus is a Teacher from God. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again to see the kingdom of God. This statement confuses Nicodemus so Jesus explains that a person has to become a new creation through the belief in Him as Savior and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says that He came to die but He will rise 3 days later so “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” “For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Jesus has a major impact on Nicodemus. This impact is so great that Nicodemus will show up again soon in the Story; once when he tries to defend Jesus to the Pharisees (John 7:50-51) and again at Jesus’s burial (John 19:39).
Next Jesus meets a Samaritan woman. The Samaritans date back to when Northern Israel was invaded by the Assyrians. The Jews that intermarried with the Assyrians became known as the Samaritans. The Jews despise the Samaritans as half breeds.
Jesus, weary from His journey, is sitting at Jacob’s well in Samaria when a shameful woman comes to the well in the middle of a hot day (unlike the time the other ladies would get water). The woman is surprised that Jesus, being a Jewish male, would speak to a “disgusting” Samaritan woman. She is even more surprised that Jesus knows she had been married 5 times and is currently living with a man out of wedlock.
Jesus tells her about the living water that He offers which is different from the water at the well. The water that Jesus offers will result in everlasting life. The Samaritan woman says she knows the Messiah is coming and Jesus responds, “I who speak to you am He.” So she drops her water pot and runs to town saying, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified.” That’s the power of a testimony of Christ!! 🙌
Well, we end on a sad note today with John the Baptist being thrown into prison bc he rebuked Herod for marrying his brother’s wife.
Tomorrow Jesus’s ministry goes into full swing. Keep reading.
(John 3:1-4:45, Luke 3:19-20)
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Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 