The Woman at the Well (John 4:5-26)
When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, "Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John" He withdrew from Judea in the south and started back to his home in Galilee. Traveling from Jerusalem in the south to Galilee in the north, Jesus and his disciples took the quickest route, through Samaria, the territory north of Judea.
On their way, they came near a Samaritan town called Sychar (mentioned only once in the Bible). They stopped by Jacob's well, about a half mile away and near the plot of ground that held the tomb of Joseph, buried there after the Exodus from Egypt.
The town was near the foot of Mount Gerizim, a holy mountain in the history of Israel, where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed, where the Hebrews first entered into Canaan, where Joshua, old and dying said his final goodbye to his people.
The Samaritans were a mixed race people, who had intermarried with Assyrians centuries before. They were despised by the Jews in the south because of this cultural mixing, and because they had their own version of the Bible and their own temple on Mount Gerizim, while the Jews considered the only place to worship was in Jerusalem.
Jesus, tired out and thirsty from his journey, sat down by the well, while his disciples went to the village of Sychar, about a half mile away, to buy food. It is unlikely the disciples would leave Jesus, a Jew, alone in Samaritan territory. It is probable that Jesus' intimate disciples, Peter, James and John stayed with him, but most likely, at least John, since his gospel is the only one this episode appears in and the narrative reads with the detail of one who was present.
Although the Jews restricted their dealings with Samaritans,...
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...ual thirst the human heart has for goodness and truth.
"Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did." The Samaritan woman never appears again in Scripture.
By reaching out to the Samaritans, Jesus showed that his mission was to the entire earth, not just the Jews. And of those, He included women, prostitutes, tax collectors and other sinners. Ironically, while the High Priest and Sanhedrin council rejected Jesus as the Messiah, the outcast Samaritans recognized Jesus and accepted Him as the Savior of the world.
The apostles never ceased to be shocked by Jesus' willingness to talk with women, women of questionable character, even immoral women. It was very difficult for Jesus to teach his apostles that women, even so-called immoral women, have souls which can choose God as their Father, thereby becoming daughters of God and candidates for life everlasting.
Sarah was a woman who had gone through many hardships in her life. She thought she was doing well, but believed that the devil still had it out to get her. She even believed that it was impossible to be saved at this point in time. No matter what she did, she was going to perish in Hell. It was then that she felt the spirit of the Lord come down and help her banish the devil. This is what drew her to the religious revivals because they validated her testimony of the help from God. Her testimony was as good as any man’s and would not be questioned. This is what drew many women to the religious revivals. Their public testimony of the grace of God was just as good as any man’s. In the eyes of the Lord, a testimony was a testimony. It did not matter the gender of the person testifying. This was different from the old ways of the church because women were seen as quasi-equal to men. Whereas in the old ways, women were always below
Women did not have say on administrative level but on domestic level they had a great influence. Women were treated differently from men and also had different roles. However, Jesus treated men and women the same, and talked to foreign women. Nowadays, women still have great importance in the family domain. Women, now have a say on both level, however there is still a lot to be improved especially when it comes to equality.
dwelled in "the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel" (1
Jericho is perhaps most recognized, especially to youngsters, as the city where Joshua was victorious in battle. This story of marching and shouting and crumbling walls is unbelievable unless you attribute it to God's almighty power. The capture of Jericho is significant because it is the beginning of the war of conquest and the first time a ritual act, "herem," is implemented . "Herem" refers to God's judgment on the condemned and his preservation of those who remain faithful to him. In the story of the Fall of Jericho, Rahab and those in her house were the only residents of Jericho to survive Joshua's conquest. The true victory of the city belongs to the Lord as the city was attained through obedience to His commands (Coogan 2001).
"And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: And see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak,, few or many; And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad" (Numbers, Ch. 13, Lines 17-19)
It is known to most that the gospels often differ from historical facts due to the writer of each gospel putting significant emphasis on particular actions and attributes of Jesus. Also a major part in this difference is the fact that the gospels were written 35-60 years after the death of Jesus and some of these memories have altered over time. Differences in conflicting evidence, writing to different communities, writing during a different time period, and with different intentions are all more reasons as to why these gospels conflict with historical facts. There is said to be six accounts that are subdivided into two separate traditions. These two traditions are those having to do with the appearance of Jesus in Galilee and the others are the appearances of Jesus to the eleven disciples in Jerusalem. These two traditions seem to not have any knowledge of one another and when the two were attempted to be combined into one tradition it was proven that this is not only impossible but it is unbeneficial.
These five men responded immediately to Jesus and this is very surprising as he is a man who they have never met before. It is quite clear that this idea of discipleship for the first disciples is very important and that Jesus is planning on building his faith in them and he wants them to spread the word around to the people. (Mark 3:14)
The “Worthy Woman;” what a title. Everyone who has some knowledge of the Bible has heard this phrase. Almost anyone can name some catchy phrase or saying that is from the Bible whether it is from the Psalms or Proverbs or any other book. We all know those verses that tend to get stuck in our mind. However catchy they may be, unless one actually comes to an understanding of what is being said and applies it to their lives, these catchy phrases can just be surface knowledge. Every Christian can get caught in that trap. When someone is considering a Bible passage they should try to learn everything they can about that passage; any background information, what certain words mean, who the author is. The knowledge one can gain from the Bible is never ending. Another problem when studying the Bible is when people use their “knowledge” of the Bible to make themselves look like better Bible students. The Pharisees were constantly doing this. We need to not be puffed up about the knowledge we gain from the Bible and constantly try to be gaining more and share it with others.
News of the coming of a Messiah spread all over Galilee, including to Jesus' hometown of Nazareth, where the residents had never known Jesus as the Messiah, or as a man who could perform miracles. To the residents of Nazareth, Jesus was merely a simple carpenter. For thirty years, the people of Nazareth had referred to Jesus as "The Perfect Man," but never had witnessed a miracle or anything that would prompt them to think more highly of Jesus (Gledenhuys 167). The residents of Nazareth had heard of Jesus' miracles at Capernaum and were eager to see if this man, whom they had known since birth, was what he claimed to be. Jesus began preaching to the Nazarenes, but as he spoke the residents began to grumble and question each other: "Isn't this Joseph's son?" (New International Version Bible, Luke 4:22). They did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, because they had not seen any physical evidence; they had not witnessed a miracle. Jesus, sensing their lack of faith, says to them, "Ye will surely say unto me this proverb. Physician heal thyself" (New International Version Bible, Luke 4:23).
The disciples omitted many accounts about the personal struggles of Jesus because they were focusing on the resurrection and the promise of an immediate return of Jesus. Jesus did not leave behind any personal writings and discouraged his followers from writing about him because he feared that any works he left behind would be turned to idol worship (this is why Paul’s letters were subsequently written before any of Jesus’ disciples).
Jesus had 12 disciples, disciple means follower or pupil, even long after the death of Jesus these disciples would continue teaching about Jesus. The first four books of the bible were written by the Disciple these books are called apostles they are as follows Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus became famous, because he appealed to the rich and poor alike, he had few or no possessions and he traveled all over what was then considered to be the world. Jesus attracted attention from both Jewish and Roman leaders.
And the elder said: Was it a woman or a man that passed this? way to get the sands? I cannot tell you why. But this I know, a set of bones is travelling upon this road. Although this verse attempts to show the equality of women on the spiritual path, there.
Firstly, the parable of the good samaritan was spoken by Jesus Christ and can ...
Jesus was raised in Nazareth in the home of Joseph, a carpenter, and his wife Mary. Jesus most likely went to school in a room attached to the synagogue. He
Abraham, the founder of Judaism was sent by God to Israel, the country where Jerusalem was located, and a lot of Jewish history such as the binding of Abraham’s son, Isaac on Mt. Moriah; and the dream of Abraham’s grandson, Jacob about the ladder towards heaven took place in Jerusalem. The most compelling evidence is the Temple Mount, the Jews first temple built in the 825 BCE by King Solomon.