Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In John 8, the Pharisees and teachers of the law caught a woman in the act of adultery. They brought her to Jesus, publicly accusing her. They had no compassion for her shame, no forgiveness for her sin, no accusation against her companion. 

They said to Jesus, “The penalty for adultery is stoning. Do you obey the law?” 

Good question. Did Jesus subscribe to the hard-on-crime punishments of the Old Testament? Or was he a soft-on-crime liberal, squeamish about the death penalty? 

Jesus ignored the questioners. He didn’t answer them. Instead, he wrote in the dust with his finger. But when they persisted, he said, “If any of you is without sin, feel free to start the stoning” (v 7). 

That hit a note with the Pharisees. Now who was soft on crime? The woman wasn’t the only lawbreaker in that crowd. Jesus wasn’t the only observer who was reluctant to start throwing stones.

The accusers drifted away, one by one, until Jesus was alone with the woman. He asked, “Where are they? Doesn’t anyone condemn you?” (v 10). 

“No one, Lord,” she replied.

“Then neither do I. Go, and stop sinning” (v 12). 

Some comments. 

1. This story is a latecomer to John’s gospel. It’s not in the earliest manuscripts. Some scholars speculate that the early church didn’t want a Jesus who was soft on sexual sin. Being soft on crime can lead to all sorts of bad outcomes.

2. The only one who emerges from this story looking good is Jesus.

3. Jesus didn’t take the actual black-and-white Old Testament law about stoning literally. He flexed his application of the law, and he encouraged others to do likewise. Makes me wonder what other parts of the Old Testament Jesus didn’t take literally. 

4. My fourth comment. The Pharisees may have been fans of capital punishment as a solution for sin and lawlessness, but Jesus wasn’t. Perhaps John’s gospel will propose a different solution for sin. Stay tuned.

Let’s pray.

O Jesus, you helped the woman escape the death penalty, but who will help you escape the cross? 

The Pharisees weren’t prepared to stone the woman. But they will soon clamor for your crucifixion.

You freed the woman from the Pharisees’ hate and condemnation. But who will set you free when they come for you? 

O Jesus, we are like the woman . . . guilty of sexual sins, and other sins, in our minds and in public places. Rescue us from shame. Deliver us from guilt. Save us from the accusations of conscience and the condemnation of the evil one. Do not deliver us to punishments prescribed by your law. 

Teach us to stop sinning. 

Amen 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Does Jesus confuse you sometimes? In John 7, he confused many people. 

Let’s start in Galilee, where his brothers said, “Hey, you’re getting famous. Why don’t you go to the feast in Jerusalem and promote yourself?” (v 3).  

Jesus said, “No thanks. It’s not the right time for me to go. But anytime is good for you” (v 6). A confusing answer–what kind of “right time” was Jesus talking about? 

In Jerusalem, some said of Jesus, “He’s a good man”. Others were not so kind: “Don’t believe it. He’s a con artist” (v 12-13). More confusion.

After a while Jesus changed his mind, went to Jerusalem, and taught at the temple. People said, “This man didn’t go to school. Where did he get his learning?” (v 15). 

Jesus said, “My teaching comes from God. But you people ignore Moses’ law and God’s law. That’s why you want to kill me” (v 16-19).

The people said, “You’re insane. No one wants to kill you. Are you demon possessed?” (v 21-22). 

But someone clued into who Jesus was. “Hey! This is that guy the Pharisees want to kill. But they’re not doing it. Maybe they’ve decided he’s the Messiah” (v 25-26). Others said, “Impossible! He’s just a peasant from Galilee. He can’t be the Messiah” (v 27). 

Jesus responded, “Why are you fixated on my history in Galilee? You know I come from God” (v 28-29). And he added, “I’ll soon go where you can’t find me” (v 33-34). 

More confusion. Where did Jesus come from? And where did he plan to go? (v 35-37). 

Later Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me . . . rivers of living water will flow from within them” (v 37-38). 

More confusion. Some said, “He speaks like a prophet, or even the Messiah.” Others said, “No way. The Messiah comes from Bethlehem. This guy’s from Galilee” (v 40-44).

Temple guards sent to arrest Jesus reported back to the priests and Pharisees. Without bringing Jesus. “Why aren’t you doing your job?” the leaders demanded (v 45).

“Nobody ever spoke like this man,” they said (v 46). 

“What?” They replied, “Has this dude deceived you too? Only the ignorant crowds believe him” (v 47). 

Nicodemus, another leader, tried to dilute their contempt. “Chill out! Does our law permit us to condemn a man before we hear his defense?” (v 51). 

They replied, “Don’t talk like a backwater Galilean, Nicodemus. There’s no way a prophet can come from Galilee” (v 52). 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, amid the noise and confusion of Jerusalem, I hear your invitation, “If anyone is thirsty, come to me and drink” (v 37). 

I live in the confusion of late modernity. Evolution and astrophysics point to an older and larger universe than we can imagine. But they do not lead us to you. 

Science has sequenced our DNA and given warmongers bigger and better bombs, but we still do not know the way to peace. 

Psychology has documented the mental health impacts of dysfunction and trauma, but struggles to heal the mind. 

The confusion of this world leaves me thirsty for you, Jesus. The conflicts in my soul make me long for healing. The turmoil of my mind makes me wish for clarity. 

O Jesus, be my way, my truth, my life. Give your living water to my thirsty soul. 

Amen 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Do you ever get a free lunch? In John 6, Jesus fed 5,000 people for free, and there were 12 baskets of leftovers. 

The crowd liked lunching and munching so much they decided to make Jesus king. But he declined, and went into hiding. Meanwhile, his disciples, rowing across the lake, got caught in a storm. Jesus walked on the water in the middle of the night to rescue them (Jn 6:16-20).

The next day, the crowd, who hadn’t seen Jesus walk on water, found him on the other side of the lake. He said to them, “You’re here for a free lunch. What you should do is  work for God’s food that gives eternal life” (v. 26).

“How can we work for that food?” they asked (v. 27). 

Jesus said, “The work of God is to believe in me, the one he sent” (v. 33). 

“Sure,” they said. “Show us a sign. We know God fed the Israelites manna in the wilderness. Bread from heaven is a very good sign” (v 30). 

Isn’t that great? Where did they think yesterday’s free lunch came from? 

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. My flesh is bread, which I give for the life of the world. Eat this bread and live” (v 51). 

The Jews said, “Too weird. Eat you?” (v. 52). 

As usual in John’s gospel, instead of explaining himself, Jesus escalated the misunderstanding. He said, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you” (v 53). 

Many of Jesus’ followers said, “This is just to weird,” and they quit following (v 60). 

Jesus said to his core group of twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” (v 67). 

Peter replied, “Where can we go? You have the words of eternal life” (v 68). 

Three comments. 

1. Jesus used many mystical metaphors in John’s gospel.
    – He said, “Destroy this temple and I will build it in three days.”
    – He said, “Your first birth is inadequate. Try being born again.”
    – He said, “If you drink well water, you’ll soon be thirsty. But if you drink my water, you’ll conquer thirst forever.”
    – And now he says, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” 

No wonder Jesus scared people away. 

2. My second comment. Everything Jesus said tugged at human heartstrings. Nicodemus couldn’t stay away from Jesus. The woman at the well wanted his living water. Peter understood that Jesus’ mystical words could give eternal life. 

3. And my third thought. Along with the strange metaphors, Jesus performed amazing works of love–quality wine at a wedding, healing a nobleman’s son, restoring a paraplegic’s legs, free lunch for 5,000 followers in the wilderness. 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, as I read John’s gospel, your words shock me. “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” At church, I consume a communion wafer and sip from a common cup. I pray these tastes of earth will open the door to your mysteries, to the life of your spirit, a life far beyond my understanding. 

O Jesus, my discipleship is to believe in you.
  – To pray to the father as you taught.
  – To support the church, and missions, and refugees.
  – To buy lunch for street people.

Your metaphors tug at my heart. Help me drink your living water, feed me with your bread of life.  

Amen 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In John 5, Jesus said to a paraplegic, “Do you want to be healed?” (v 5).

The man replied, “I do. I’ve been waiting years by this pool, but when the healing waters are stirred, no one helps me get in first” (v 7).

Jesus said, “Pick up your mat and walk.” He did. Jesus had healed him. 

The Pharisees saw the man walking around with his mat. “Hey!” they said, “Carrying a bedroll is work. You can’t do that on the Sabbath” (v 10). 

The man said, “Chill out. The one who healed me told me to pick it up” (v. 11). 

“Who said that?” they asked. “We need to talk to him!” (v 12). 

The man said, “Search me. I don’t know .” Later he met Jesus, who said, “You’re healed. Stop sinning or something worse might happen” (v 14). So the man told the Pharisees, “I just found out. It was Jesus who healed me” (v 15). 

The Pharisees promptly got Jesus in their sights and told him to quit healing on the Sabbath. 

Jesus replied, “My father, God, is always working. I’m just following his lead” (v 17).  

Think about that! Didn’t God rest on the Sabbath, the seventh day of creation? Well, not completely, the Jews said, because God works every day to sustain creation. They granted God a small exemption to their rule about not working on the Sabbath.

But Jesus? His accusers were pretty sure he wasn’t sustaining the universe. He was walking around, healing like a doctor. And he told the man to carry his bedroll.

Not cool, complained the Pharisees. And it’s even worse that you claim God as your father, and say your work is like his work.    

Jesus didn’t back down or negotiate. Instead, he escalated by making more and bigger claims. Listen to him.
  Whatever God does, I do (v 19).
  God raises the dead. So can I! (v 21).
  God is the judge, but he delegates judgement to me (v 22).
  God has eternal life in himself. So do I (v 26).
  God is in charge of the end of times. But it’s me who will raise people from the dead   

   and give them eternal life or eternal condemnation (v 28-29). 

These are massive claims for a mere man. No wonder the Pharisees were royally ticked. 

Let’s pray.

O Jesus, we are Pharisees. We want clear rules to live by. Rules to prove we’re right.  Rules to prove we’re right with you. Rules to control others. Forgive us for making rules that circumvent compassion. Forgive us for honoring ourselves instead of you on the Sabbath.

O Jesus, we are the paraplegic man. Waiting years for healing. Hoping for healing in health care or church, in natural remedies or science, in meditation, medication, or psychology. Only you can heal our brokenness. Come, Lord Jesus, heal us. 

O Jesus, we are your disciples. We listen to your colossal claims and we believe in you. You are our lifegiver, our judge, God’s son and equal. Look on us with compassion. Make us your disciples.

Amen 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In John 4, while the disciples went into town for food, Jesus stayed at a well and offered a woman what he called living water. When the disciples returned, Jesus gave them a lesson about food.

They said to Jesus, “Have some lunch” (Jn 4:31). 

Jesus said, “I don’t need lunch. I eat different food” (v 32). 

Confused, they said, “Did someone give you something to eat?” (vv 31-33). 

Jesus replied, “My food is to do the will of God” (v 34). That’s strange. Can God’s will fill your stomach?  

Without explaining what Jesus meant, gospel-writing John takes us back to Cana, the place of Christ’s first miracle. But  this time the story is about a royal official who tells Jesus, “My son is dying. Come heal him” (v 47). 

Jesus responded harshly, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe” (Jn 4:48). 

Why the rebuke? Was the official asking for a miracle, a sign? Or did he just want healing for his son? Fortunately, he ignored Jesus’ signs and wonders comment and said, “Please come before my boy dies” (v. 49). 

Jesus said, “Go home. Your son will live” (v. 50). The servants said the boy was healed exactly when Jesus said, “The boy will live” (v 52). 

Two comments. 

This is the second time Jesus expressed reservations about providing a miracle or a sign. Remember when the Jews wanted a sign after Jesus cleansed the temple? That’s when he said, “Destroy this temple and I’ll rebuild it in three days” (Jn 2:23). Not the kind of sign they wanted. And now, to the distraught father, Jesus says, “Unless you see signs you won’t believe.” 

Second, Jesus was compassionate. He didn’t press the official to become a better believer, or to express his faith. He just said, “Your son will live” (v 50). 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, we want signs and wonders to increase our faith. Could you honor the prosperity gospel and make us rich? Could you guide us with words of knowledge in our churches? Could you explain living water and mysterious food?

O Jesus, when you cleansed the temple and when you healed the official’s son, you saw doubt and resistance in human hearts. John says you didn’t entrust yourself to people, because you knew what was in them (Jn 2:24-25). 

O Jesus, entrust yourself to us. Give us wisdom to accept your teaching, to believe in you, to drink living water at your well, to find nourishment in doing your father’s will. And most of all, teach us to live the life you live within us.

Amen 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Who do you think Jesus is?  

John 4 traces one woman’s progress in discovering who he was?  

When Jesus met her at a well and asked her for a drink, she identified him as a strange  Jewish male: “Jews like you don’t ask Samaritans like me for a drink” (Jn 4:9). 

Unlike her, I often forget that Jesus was a Jew. Born in Palestine in a Jewish family, he grew up honoring the law of Moses, wearing sandals and a robe, going to synagogue. But today he’s my savior, and I see him as a man like me, not someone from a vastly different time and place and culture.   

The well where Jesus met this woman was over a thousand years old, dug by Jacob, a father of the Jews. When Jesus offered to give her living water instead of Jacob’s well water, she said, “What are you going on about? You don’t even have a bucket. Are you better at well building than Jacob?” (Jn 4:11). 

How’s that for a put-down comparison! Jacob had been famous for two millenia, but who was this newcomer, offering a new source of water in a dry and desert land? But think: it was an apt comparison because Jesus offered something Jacob couldn’t.

John the Baptist heard and accepted Jesus’ big claims by calling him “Lord” – as in “Prepare the way of the Lord” (John 1:23). The woman at the well used the same word, Lord, for Jesus, but my Bible translates it as “sir”, as in “Sir, where can I get this living water?”, or “Sir, give me this water” (John 4:11, 15). 

Sir, or Lord, is an interesting word, suitable for John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord. And suitable for a carpenter asking his client, “Sir, do you want a table of olive wood or cedar?” 

Store clerks sometimes call me “Sir,” but never “Lord.” I want to tell them, “Sir is a term of respect for people with social status. If you knew my lowly status you wouldn’t call me Sir.” 

I think John uses the word as a double entendre. The woman’s respect for this random Jew was slowly growing. Calling him “sir” moves her a step toward “sir” with a capital S, which for her is the same as “Lord” with a capital L.  

And finally, when Jesus tells her that true worshippers worship in spirit and truth, she replies, “I don’t understand you, but when Messiah, the Christ, comes, he will explain this stuff clearly.” 

And Jesus says, “That’s me.”

What a story. Her estimation of Jesus morphed from random Jew to comparing him to Jacob, to a respectful Sir or Lord, and finally, a glimpse of the Messiah.

In the noonday sun by the well, Jesus led her on a pilgrimage of discovery.   

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, like the woman we struggle to grasp who you are. 

We read your many names—son of God, Messiah, savior, healer—but do we know you? Do we drink living water from your well? Or are we still drinking water from Jacob’s well?  

We worship at Jerusalem, we worship in our church. But how can we worship in spirit and truth?   

O Jesus, come to us and question us as you questioned the woman. Expose the truth of our lives. Quench our thirst with living water. Transform our lives with a vision of Messiah.  

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

John 3 is about Nicodemus, John 4 about a nameless woman Jesus met at a community well. 

Interesting contrasts between the two stories.
  – A man in one, a woman in the other.
  – He is named, she isn’t.
  – The man came to Jesus. Jesus approached the woman.
  – Nicodemus’ meeting was at midnight, the woman’s in the noontime heat. 
  – One was a respectable, well-educated leader, the other an ostracized social outcast.
  – One choked on Jesus’ born-again message, the other drank deeply of his living water.

Let’s look at the woman. 

When Jesus met her at Jacob’s well, he said, “Please give me a drink.” She replied, “You’re weird. Jewish men don’t ask Samaritan women for water!” (vv 7-9).

Jesus said, “You should ask me about God’s living water” (v 10).

She said, “Where’s your bucket? You can’t draw water without a bucket.” (v 11). 

He said, “Put water in your bucket, and you’ll thirst again. Dip your bucket in my living water, and you’ll never thirst again (v 13-14). 

She said, “Sold! Give me your living water” (v 15).

Jesus said, “Excellent. Why don’t you get your husband and come back?” (v 16). 

The woman replied, “No can do. I don’t have a husband” (v 17). 

Jesus said, “Exactly. You’ve had five, and your current partner isn’t your husband” (v 17-18).

The woman said, “Ouch, that hurts. You must be a prophet. Tell me where to worship–on our Samaritan mountain or at the Jerusalem temple?” (v 19-20).

He said, “Neither. Heart always trumps place. True worshipers worship God in spirit and truth” (vv 21-23). 

Confused, the woman exclaimed, “That sounds complicated. But when Messiah comes, he’ll untangle everything for us” (v 25). 

Jesus said, “Indeed he will. Because that’s me” (v 26). 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, like the woman we are bound by time and place and circumstance. We drink city water from the tap. We buy white bread at Superstore. Our lives are socially awkward. 

We try hard to understand your teaching–“be born again” and “drink living water”.

Speak to us as you spoke to the nameless woman. Invite us to your spring of living water. Teach us to worship in spirit and truth. Be the answer to our tangled relationships. Lead us to confess that you are Messiah, our savior. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Have you been born again? What does that mean? 

Jesus shocked Nicodemus when he lobbed a birth metaphor into his religious life. A member of the Jewish parliament, Nicodemus was a scholar who helped make laws and settle disputes. His religious colleagues hated Jesus, but Nicodemus wanted the facts. 

One night he came furtively to Jesus. “Your miracles suggest that God is with you” he said. “But you reject the religion God gave Moses. You confuse me. What’s the truth here?” (John 3:2). 

A great opportunity for Jesus to teach Nicodemus, to show him Old Testament prophecies that point to Christ.A chance for Jesus to start an ecumenical dialogue with the Jews. 

Nope! Jesus says, “You need to be born again” (John 3:3)

Not quite the answer Nicodemus was looking for. He wanted to understand the relationship between God, Jesus, and the Jewish religion. Instead Jesus criticizes Nicodemus’ first birth experience and says he should try again. 

“Really?” Nicodemus replies. “Go back into Momma’s womb and emerge again? Impossible. Ludicrous” (John 3:4).

Reminds me of Jesus’ earlier statement, “Destroy this temple and I’ll rebuild it in three days” (John 2:19). A mysterious saying, impossible to take literally. Jesus confused the Jews with building and birthing metaphors.

“Listen,” said Jesus to Nicodemus, “you must be born of water and the spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:5-6). 

And you? Have you been born of water? Have you been born of the spirit? 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we don’t know born of water means, but we believe we have been born of the spirit Jesus mentions. 

Yet how little our lives seem to be born again. We work at jobs, read novels. Embrace social media, go to church. Activities that follow our physical birth. But where is our wellspring of life in the spirit? 

We are humans. We are physical bodies inhabited by invisible life forces–mind, soul, emotion, and spirit. Dwell in us by your spirit, until your goodness and power animates all our thoughts and actions. 

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube