Bible Study Notes - Ruth 2:5-12 and 3:9-11

Bible Study Notes

Acceptance in Community 

Ruth 2:5-12 & 3:9-11

The Fear of Possible Rejection

Our previous lesson concludes with Ruth’s eternal “Vow of Commitment” to Naomi.  Ruth will travel back to Judah with Naomi and live as an Israelite woman instead of the Moabite whom she is.  Ruth pledges only death would separate her from Naomi.  What about Naomi’s family and friends?  Will Naomi’s recitation of Ruth’s vow and loyalty suffice to convince Naomi’s family Ruth should become a bona fide member of the family?

Often we hear the saying, “Blood is thicker than water.”  This adage exhorts people to remember the importance of their relationships with family members.  In fact, they should value these ties more greatly than other relationships with friends and fellow church members.  If confronted with a choice between family and friends, this maxim clearly gives preference to relatives at all costs.  Loyalty belongs to them above all others.  If Naomi’s family takes this attitude with Ruth, they would ignore her.  The combination of the religious, cultural and tribal differences would suffice to justify their actions.  In addition, acquiring another person to feed during a protracted famine would be justification enough for some members of Naomi’s family.  With “benign neglect” toward Ruth, they would rejoice over Naomi’s return but insist Ruth leave as she is not a member of the family.

Remembering We Were Once Strangers

However, the exceedingly gracious, kind, merciful and respectful actions of Boaz demonstrates the power of God’s love to transcend human customs and limitations.  Moved by Ruth’s humility as a stranger in a foreign land, Boaz accepts her willingness to become a part of his family and people.  As a leader in the community, Boaz’s belief in Ruth’s genuineness enables the others to accept her as one of their very own.  Spiritually speaking, Boaz personifies the love of God who freely and faithfully accepts anyone who humbly and sincerely responds to God’s love with genuine repentance. 

As members of the Church, the family of God on the earth, we equally receive persons who desire to become genuine disciples of our Lord.  We do not subject them to any pedigree or litmus tests to determine whether they are worthy of admission.  In gratitude for God’s unconditional acceptance of us, we receive our brothers and sisters with the same redemptive and unbiased love with which we were welcomed in the household of faith.

Bible Study Notes - Ruth 2:5-12 and 3:9-11

Bible Study Notes

Acceptance in Community 

Ruth 2:5-12 & 3:9-11Part II

Ruth 2:5-12

Amazingly, Ruth fulfills her vow of commitment to Naomi in this strange land.  In today’s passage, we find Ruth faithfully caring for the needs of her mother-in-law.  Ruth sets out, with Naomi’s permission, to glean the leftover grain in the fields.  You recall the Law instructs harvesters to leave some grain and produce for the poor who would be hungry and in need.  They were not to gather every single bit.  Israel was told to remember the days when they wandered hungry, thirsty and in need in the wilderness.  God gave some of the people whom they encountered a favorable heart toward Israel.  Accordingly, they demonstrate their gratitude by helping other hungry and thirsty strangers by leaving grain, produce and water in the wells.  Nevertheless, Ruth sets out to find food and water for Naomi and herself.

Subjecting herself to potential danger, she goes to the field where the men are working.  Providentially, she finds a field owned by Boaz, a man of standing in the community.  Upon his return from Bethlehem and arrival at the field, he notices Ruth and asks about her identity.  His foreman shares the story of Ruth’s pleadings to gather grain and her hard work.  Boaz then removes Ruth from the possible danger of her commendable efforts.  He tells her to say with his servant girls and follow along with them after the harvesters.  Moreover, he instructs the men to stay away from her.  Interestingly, this simple conversation symbolizes the ways in which our loving Heavenly Father removes the deadly sin that threatens us when we encounter Him.

Boaz’s generosity, in offering water from the jars that the male workers have filled, represents living water of the Word of God.  New believers who hunger and thirst for righteousness have the privilege of consulting the Bible at any time.  It is the textbook of life.  It contains the most enduring and successful answers to life’s most pressing questions.  In it, parched soul finds living water to persevere.  Boaz’s willingness and graciousness in meeting Ruth’s physical needs in the midst of a longstanding famine resembles God’s limitless love and unmerited favor.  He meets their spiritual, emotional and psychological needs in the famine of human existence.

Ruth inquires about any motives belying Boaz’s kindnesses.  By bowing down to the ground, Ruth demonstrates her depth of gratitude and reverence.  She marvels at his sincere acceptance of a stranger.  Understandably, she wants to know whether any strings are attached to Boaz’s superlative generosity.  Her question provides Boaz with an opportunity to share God’s unconditional love.  He recalls he heard about Ruth’s incredible love and kindnesses to Naomi, a relative of Boaz’s through marriage.  Boaz learns Ruth’s love and dedication toward Naomi as Ruth leaves her parents, family and native land to travel with her mother-in-law as a widow to a strange land.  He greatly blesses her with this prayer.  “May the Lord repay you for what you have done.  May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose  wings you have come to take refuge.”  Boaz’s prayer and words reveal Ruth, a Moabite woman who now dwells in Israel, has actually found favor in the eyes of the Lord.  Faithful to the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12, God blesses Ruth because she is a blessing to God’s people.

Most probably unaware of the Abrahamic covenant, Ruth acts kindly toward Naomi out of Ruth’s inner beliefs, culture and character.  Yet, her generosity is consistent with the covenant.  As a consequence, God mercifully moves the heart of Boaz to be kind to Ruth.  This gracious repayment is just recompense for a nice, giving and kind person.

Ruth 3:1-9

The third chapter of this short yet significant book demonstrates divine rewards for faithfulness.  The late Larry Burkett, Co-founder of Christian Financial Concepts which became Crown Financial Ministries, often said on his call-in radio program, “God is looking for talent.  There are so few people both within and outside of the Church who are willing to do things God’s way that He will use any humble, committed and faithful person.”  Though she is not an Israelite, Ruth becomes God’s servant in His eternal plan of salvation because of her loyal and faithful character.  She embodies the essence of hesed, the Hebrew word for God’s unfailing love for Israel.  Parenthetically, David appeals to the reliability of God’s hesed in Psalm 51 after his adultery with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of Uriah.  David pleads for God’s forgiveness and mercy on the basis of His unfailing love toward His covenant people.  Nevertheless, Ruth behaves as a covenant person, although she lacks Israelite lineage and legacy.  God rewards Ruth’s adherence to her pledge to assist Naomi.  You will recall the covenant of Genesis 12 in which God promises to bless anyone and any nation that blesses Israel. Ruth’s faithfulness yields the favor of Almighty God in response to His promises to Abraham. 

Majestically, God uses Naomi to bless Ruth.  The older woman asks of the younger, “My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for?”  Interestingly, the very person whom Ruth pledges to love and support becomes the conduit through whom Ruth receives an eternal blessing!  Yes, Ruth marries Boaz and benefits materially and financially from his wealth.  More significantly, God majestically engrafts Ruth into the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Ruth receives a place of distinction for eternity.  Her reward for her faithfulness greatly exceeds any earthly monetary value.  Countless generations of disciples have and shall celebrate her immeasurable act of love. 

Note the very practical advice and wise counsel that Naomi gives to Ruth (3:3-6).  This exchange reminds us of the necessity of developing mentor relationships with the Church.  Younger disciples should choose, older believers as role models to emulate carefully and patiently under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Moreover, their experience, strength and hope equip them to educate and empower younger believers with godly wisdom.  Naomi does not over spiritualize her recommendations to Ruth; pragmatically and practically Naomi instructs Ruth about means and methods of attaining divine blessing.

Further consider the moral and righteous dimensions of Naomi’s suggestions and Ruth’s actions.  Sexual seduction of an older man who is lonely and high in spirits does not occur.  Instead, Ruth extends a genuine overture of consideration and affection.  Startled in the midst of deep slumber leavened with wine, Boaz awakes to find Ruth at his feet.  Finding Ruth at his feet, Boaz immediately recognizes her intentions, respect and loving consideration.  It warms his heart.  He applauds her choice of him over the younger men of whom there were probably many.  Her affection in turn yields a pledge of fidelity to do whatever she asks.  He reaffirms Ruth as a “woman of noble character.”  Her adherence to Naomi’s godly counsel honors the holy character of God. 

Bible Study Notes - Ruth 2:5-11 and 3:9-11

Bible Study Notes

Acceptance in Community 

Ruth 2:5-12 & 3:9-11Part III

The “Kinsman Redeemer” – Ruth 3:10-11

A “kinsman redeemer” is a person with power, money and influence to buy someone back from an unfortunate situation.  Usually, this relative pays the price of redemption on the basis of familial affiliation.  Contemporarily, we have “go to” persons in our families who rectify onerous financial, vocational, relational and business situations. In many instances, these persons have “the juice” to make a difference and resolve any adversity.  Ruth appeals to Boaz on the basis of relationship with Naomi.  A near kin, Boaz is able to redeem Ruth’s loneliness, isolation, poverty, and hard challenges as a foreigner in a strange land.  He literally covers her with a blanket for warmth but he equally covers her relationally with security. Ultimately, Boaz covers Ruth with comfort and fidelity in the covenant of holy matrimony.  He redeems her hardships and suffering in the midst of bereavement, famine and separation from her family with the loyal love of a faithful husband, reminiscent of God’s enduring covenantal commitment to Israel. 

Finally, Boaz tells Ruth “there is a kinsman redeemer nearer than I.”  One connotation of this phrase means there is one greater than I.  Here, Boaz refers to the God of Israel whose perfect will and righteous plan actually redeems Ruth.  His humble assertion of the divine prerogative and intention acknowledges Boaz’s human limitations.  While his heart leaps with joy that Ruth selects him rather than a younger man, Boaz recognizes the mystery and magnificence of Almighty God.  His words are an appeal to Ruth to personally realize the hand of God in her journey.  Ultimately, God orchestrates the details producing such an incredible blessing in Ruth’s life.

Current believers understand Ruth’s critical role in this divine comedy enables us to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our kinsman redeemer.  Through faith as our elder brother, the Lord buys us back from ourselves.  He redeems our lives from destitution, famine and isolation of sin, self-righteousness and aimlessness in life.  His pure blood and sinless life exchanges the fallen nature of humankind (1 Corinthians 15:22). 

Concluding Reflections

In a school year when I served as a middle school History teacher, I established three “Guiding Principles for our Learning Community” during the academic year: (1) Be Respectful of the classroom and everyone in it; (2) Be Responsible for yourself, your belongings and the property of others; and (3) Be Prepared to learn everyday and from everyone.  We agree anyone can learn from everyone regardless of differences and disagreements.  These middle school classroom principles translate into all facets of life.  On the job, in the neighborhood and within organizations, we respect all people and their property.  We strive to see commonalities rather than differences.  The commanding character and presence of Boaz in this enduring story of fidelity, loyalty, generosity and love teaches us to appreciate the necessity of respecting others and their possessions.

More significantly, Boaz’s example teaches us the importance of learning to create communities of hospitality.  The fundamental example is the Church which is a community “called out” from the values, manners and behavior of the wider secular world.  Disciples liberally share the love of Christ with new believers, foreigners to a new way of life.  Each disciple endeavors to emulate the actions of Boaz as we allow the Lord to transform our thinking and hearts.  Most practically, Boaz’s example reveals one of the most effective means to serve our Lord.  We actually serve Him by serving people.  Their embodied needs are the most direct methods of fulfilling “The Great Commandment” and “The Great Commission.” 

Three Personal Objectives

• Consider Boaz’s powerful example of leading a community to accept unconditionally a stranger by sharing God’s love.
• Learn to appreciate the need to respect others and their property in our communities.
• Learn to serve God by serving others and sharing with them.

Prayer

For the beauty of this day, we thank Thee O Lord.  For Your lovingkindness toward us, we thank Thee O Lord.  For the gift of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whom we have abundant and eternal life, we thank Thee.  We are so grateful our God for life, health, strength.  Help us to appreciate more greatly the gifts of food, clothing, shelter and other material resources.  Make us ever mindful of so many of Your children who lack these daily necessities.  Move our hearts to action.  Teach us to serve You by meeting the needs of Your children throughout the world.  Amen.

Bible Study Notes - Ruth 1:1-16 Part III

Bible Study Notes  

Family as Community  - Ruth 1:1-16 Part III

Ruth 1:13-16 – The Vow of Commitment

Ruth’s reply to Naomi’s urgings surpasses her selfless love.  For the rest of human history, these two women will teach generations what community and family really are.  Immediately, we assume communities develop around people who share common interests.  Usually, we associate communities with people from similar backgrounds, education, values, economic status and aspirations.  We define families with strict biological, genealogical and genetic connections.  In disagreement, Ruth and Naomi establish familial and communal bonds that emerge from faith, commitment and willingness to share another person’s burdens and blessings.  Observing Naomi’s character and genuine faith in God motivates Ruth to offer her immortal words of commitment.  Plausibly, Ruth admires Naomi’ s steadfast faith in God despite the famine that led to her stay in Moab, the death of her husband and sons and her words “the Lord’s hand has gone out against me.”  In addition, Naomi decides to leave in response to learning of the Lord’s provision.  I imagine Ruth, considering these variables, determines she prefers to live with a woman  of such formidable faith.  Is the god whom the Moabites worship able to match the power of Naomi’s God?  Will Ruth’s extended family extend to her the same selfless love and compassion Naomi freely gives?  Will Ruth necessarily find a Moabite husband who offers her a life better than what she may enjoy in Judah?  Potentially, Naomi’s selfless love becomes the catalyst for Ruth’s faith which she formalizes in her vow of commitment.

Let’s examine exactly what Ruth pledges.  First, she appeals to Naomi to cease from urging her to leave or return to Moab.  Second, Ruth promises to go wherever Naomi goes.  This component of the vow is reminiscent of God’s directive to Abram; go to the place where I send you.  Ruth agrees to follow God’s instructions as He reveals them to Naomi.  Third, Ruth pledges to assume Naomi’s family as her very own.  That pledge is a critical commitment considering the racial, cultural and national tensions between the Israelites and Moabites.  Plus, Ruth has no assurance Naomi’s family will receive her as favorably as her mother-in-law has.  Yet, Ruth agrees to overcome all necessary human, relational and social barriers to ensure continual fidelity and growth in her relationship with Naomi.  Furthermore, Ruth swears to change her religion; she will begin serving the God of Israel instead of the deities of Moab whom she worshiped previously.  Essentially, Ruth vows to become a Jewish convert; she will begin to follow the Law of Moses with its many dictates revealing the holy character and Name of Almighty God.  Ruth seals her vow of commitment with the final plank of requesting severe divine judgment should she fail to keep her commitment.

Ruth and Naomi’s dedication to each other exemplifies the commitment that disciples of our Lord are to have toward Him and each other.  More specifically, their relationship and vow illustrate the undying covenant that a husband and a wife share in marriage.  God perfectly intends only death separates a man and woman who share Ruth’s vow of commitment.  Undergirded by God’s love in Christ, this unparalleled vow distinguishes Christian men and women in marriage and ministry within the body of Christ.  The Lord says the love we show toward each other will demonstrate uniquely to the world that we are His disciples (John 13:34-35 and John 15:9-17).

Concluding Reflections

Families are the primary communities to which we belong.  In the nuclear family unit, we receive our first lessons of life relating to faith, education, commitment, values, work, and ambition.  We learn to love God and neighbor because our parents or primary caretakers teach us the importance of genuine spirituality.  In fact, we learn to love ourselves because our mothers and fathers teach us about our uniqueness as children of God.  Additionally, as members of families, we learn how to care about others and share our resources of time, talent, treasure and temperament with them.  The lessons in the family community extend to the Church and larger society.  Interestingly, the Lord Jesus Christ redefines the family and in so doing He revises the traditional notions of the purpose and composition of a community.  Once when told that His mothers and brothers were waiting to see Him, Jesus responds, “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”  Assembled for this individual and collective purpose, members of the Church expand upon the love, care, grace and support of a nuclear family.

Three Personal Objectives

• Reconsider our traditional understanding that biology, genealogy and legacy determine a family.
• Evaluate the ways in which our nuclear family constitutes our primary learning community.
• Discuss the Lord’s definition of family as recorded in Matthew 3:31-35.

Prayer

Our dear, gracious Heavenly Father, enable us to see each other as You see us.  We are all Your children.  By the power and gift of the Holy Spirit, open the eyes of our hearts and reveal to us the spiritual truth that we are related through Your blood.  Teach us to be a loving and caring community in obedience to Your Word.  We are the family and community of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Bible Study Notes - Ruth 1:1-16 Part II

Bible Study Notes  

Family as Community  - Ruth 1:1-16 Part II

Ruth 1:1-6 - Provision in the Midst of Famine

Our ever gracious Heavenly Father faithfully provides for His children.  Naomi receives word in Moab that the Lord had come to aid of His people by providing food.  The severity of the famine lifts in Israel allowing Naomi and her daughters-in-law to return home.  This journey would be bittersweet at best.  It would occur after the deaths of their three husbands who died in the land of their temporary abode.  It is amazing the capacity that death has to bring people closer to each other.  We do not know the nature of the relationship of these three women prior to their collective experience with bereavement and widowhood.  We surmise  they joined together in a previously unparalleled bond.  Whereas God supplies food in Israel, He also gives Naomi, Ruth and Oprah food for the soul in fellowship, love and community with each other.

The bond of these women represents a greater union in the family of God.  The marriage of Ruth to Naomi’s son forever joins Moab and Judah.  Matthew’s gospel contains one of the genealogies of our Lord.  Not surprisingly, it includes Ruth, a Moabite woman who traditionally would have been despised by the Israelites.  Mystically and majestically, Almighty God uses the famine to create a connection between nations of people who had previously fought each other.  By incorporating a Gentile woman into Christ’s lineage, the Lord demonstrates His unconditional love for all people.  Naomi’s, Ruth’s and Oprah’s human response to natural disaster by forging a sincere friendship foreshadows the fulfillment of God’s plan in the Church of Jesus Christ.  As a community, the Church is primarily a family which shares the fundamental bond of the blood of our Lord.

Ruth 1:7-12 – An Act of Selfless Love

In response to the favorable word about the end of the famine, Naomi begins the journey back to Judah with her daughters-in-law.  After a period of reflection, she practices one of the most touching and illustrative acts of selfless love that the Bible records.  Naomi tells Ruth and Oprah to return to their mothers and families.  Thereby, Naomi releases them from their commitment to live with her regardless of the hard circumstances and personal costs.  Further, Oprah and Ruth plead with Naomi to continue the journey to Judah.  But, this gracious, wise and senior woman details the stubborn facts for them.  Should they return with her, they would be consigning themselves to living as widows for the rest of their lives.  In fairness to these young women who had many years before them, Naomi lovingly and forcefully encourages them to go back to their native land to find whatever life offers.  Naomi’s act foreshadows the sacrificial and selfless love of God in Jesus Christ.  The community that forms between the three of them transforms into a family in which members’ love for each other enables them to consider what is best for others.  Because Naomi unconditionally surrenders her will and her care into the hands of Almighty God, she affectionately sends her caring daughter-in-laws back to their mothers.

Bible Study Notes - Ruth 1:1-16

Bible Study Notes  

Family as Community  - Ruth 1:1-16

The Power of Commitment

As a Pastor officiating at the exchange of vows as a man and a woman enter into the covenant of holy matrimony, I always encourage couples to include the “Vow of Commitment” found in today’s  background scripture.  Contrary to the direct benefits that she stood to gain by returning to her family in the midst of a famine, Ruth makes an everlasting commitment with her mother-in-law, Naomi, a widow who recently lost both of her sons.  In biblical times, the death of a woman’s husband and sons meant destitution for the rest of her life; such a woman would be dependent upon relatives, friends and the extended community for subsistence.  Receiving the news in Moab that the famine in Israel has decreased in its intensity and the Lord graciously and continuously provides food for His people, Naomi decides to return home.  Initially, her daughter-in-laws, Oprah and Ruth, depart with her enroute to Judah.  Naomi thanks them for their kindness to her deceased sons and to her.  But, she greatly desires they stay in Moab and find new husbands; in this way they will enjoy fulfilling lives that their husbands’ untimely deaths temporarily stole from them.  After much prodding, Oprah accepts Naomi’s directive to remain in Moab.  In opposite reaction, Ruth absolutely refuses to heed Naomi’s pleas.  From a different nationality, religion, culture, creed, language, and ethnicity, Ruth pledges never to leave Naomi.  Ruth adopts Naomi’s people as family, worship their God and abide with her until death separates them.

On what basis does Ruth make this astonishing “Vow of Commitment” to a mother-in-law with whom she no longer shares any legal, moral, ethical, or spiritual obligation?  It is often said, “Blood is thicker than  water.”  That saying elevates familial relationships over all others whether business, school, friends, or church.  However, the compelling story of today’s text counteracts this age-old wisdom about the values and hierarchy of relationships.  Ruth and Naomi’s shared principles teach us there are relationships in which people do not share genealogy, legacy or genetics but possess love for each other that supersedes traditional notions of family bonds.  A person’s understanding God’s unconditional love enables him or her to make a lifelong commitment to another person notwithstanding communal expectations and traditional family structures.  More specifically, in the Church, the shared brotherhood and sisterhood of the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, often exceeds any significance of biology and lineage.  Actually, you can become closer to your Christian family than your natural one; this fact  demonstrates the power of commitment to Christ and its ability to extend to other relationships.

Biblical Background

Easily, we dwell primarily upon the favorable ending of this story.  Our haste overshadows the tremendous loss and dire circumstances in which Ruth and Naomi live.  Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, and their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, originally traveled and temporarily settled in Moab to escape the brutal famine in Judah.  The Old Testament records approximately twelve different occurrences of famine.  Because the land, in any given year produced just enough food to feed the population of the Ancient Near East, a famine inevitably meant the threat of starvation for weak, widowed, and otherwise powerless people.  Suffice it to state any mention of a famine was not an illustrative  literary technique; countless lives of children and women hung in the balance.  Again, Naomi, in a greater set of dire circumstances, becomes husbandless and sonless in a foreign land.  Her daughter-in-laws and their natural families were under no obligations to care for Naomi.  Practically speaking, she had to fend for herself.  Hearing the famine in Judah is lessening, Naomi prepares to return to her native land.  Remarkably, Oprah and Ruth leave with her.  In a most gracious act, Naomi looks beyond her personal situation and encourages her daughters-in-laws to pursue a life in Moab that will yield marriage, love, family, and fulfillment.  She selflessly releases them from any obligation they felt toward her and the memory of her dead sons, their former husbands.  Essentially, three widows are left to journey forward in life with meager resources in the midst of a famine.  Notwithstanding those desperate conditions, they forge a bond that surpasses law, religion and social custom.

It is significant to consider the reasons for which Oprah actually accepts Naomi’s blessing and returns to her family and home.  As a young widow at the time, marriage to a gainfully employed husband would be her most obvious means of provision and survival.  Plus, there was the factor of children and continuing a lineage.  Women without children were considered barren and thus cursed by God.  A young man wanting a family would not knowingly choose such a woman for a wife.  Most undoubtedly, his parents and extended family would discourage him from such a choice.  Moreover, in a setting of arranged marriages, the groom’s mother would have disagreed forcefully.  However, a maiden who was a widow had a chance to marry again and start a family.  In going with Naomi, Oprah conceivably would have surrendered her opportunity and desire to be married and have a family.  As a consequence, Naomi understands Oprah’s decision and does not judge her because of it.

Bible Study Notes - Jonah 3:10 to 4:11 Part III

Bible Study Notes

A Community to Redeem 

Jonah 3:10 to 4:11 Part III

Jonah 4:5-11 – A Definitive Dialogue on Love

In the latter portion of this passage, God uses a vine to demonstrate His love to Jonah.  After uttering his self-aggrandizing prayer about his death, Jonah goes to the eastern part of Nineveh, builds a shelter for himself, sits in the shade and waits to see what develops.  Providentially, a vine grows up over Jonah’s shelter and expands the shade and comfort it supplies.  Jonah, again in total indifference to the Ninevites, excitedly welcomes the vine as it eases his discomfort.  Pause and evaluate just how extensive Jonah’s self-seeking ways are. 

The next morning, the Lord afflicts Jonah’s by sending a worm which chews upon the vine, thereby causing it to wither.  The rising sun and scorching east wind eliminate any comfort Jonah previously had.  The blazing sun makes the prophet faint.  In fact, it coerces him to repeat his prayer for death.  Ignoring God as he persists within his oblivious attitude toward the Ninevites, Jonah once more thinks only of his needs.  Jonah cannot see God’s will within His mission to the Ninevites.  For that reason, God once more reproves Jonah by asking whether the prophet has the right to be angry about the vine that disappears as quickly as it grew.  Not surprisingly, Jonah steadfastly defends his right to be angry about the vine.  It stands to reasons his enraged emotions continually include his disdain for the Ninevites and the mercy God extends to them.  Jonah’s stubbornness exposes the spiritual bankruptcy in which he operates as a prophet.  His displeasure about the dead vine culminates in a suicidal rage because of the loss of shade in the blazing sun.  Yet, he never finds concerns about the potential loss of one hundred and twenty thousand (120,000) lives.

The Lord finishes this exchange about love with Jonah with sharing clues about the basis of His forbearance toward the Ninevites.  He describes them as a people incapable of distinguishing their left and right hands.  How could God justly condemn them given their extensive moral, ethical and spiritual ignorance?  Incredulously, Jonah maintains the loss of the vine which comforts him means more than the collectivity of the citizens of Nineveh.  God’s final question to Jonah reveals the Ninevites as “A Community to Redeem.”  If they are spiritually blind and practically hopeless, then are they not in need of wholesale transformation?  Those hard facts compel a loving, merciful and kind deity to show His compassion rather uncritical and unrestrained judgment.

This dialogue about sacrificial, selfless and redemptive love instructs us as we consider people whom we wrongfully judge and negatively describe; they really comprise communities in need of redemption.  The U. S. Census Bureau and the U. S. Department of Justice publishes annual statistics about the quality of life and different types of crime in local municipalities.  We often associate these pathological stats with certain races, cultures and socio-economic classes.  The two million people who are incarcerated in the United States, the largest raw number and percentage of citizens than in any other Western developed country, are a community to redeem.  The millions of children, who are wards of the State, as they pray for permanent adoptive homes while waiting in temporary foster care placements, are a community to redeem.  The millions of students in the public education system who dream of upward social mobility if they graduate from high school and college are a community to redeem.  Like the Ninevites, these hapless people probably have never been taught the love of God.  Instead of “throwing the book at them” with scriptural sanction, the community of believers known as the Church could resist the prevalence of retributive judgment in the dominant culture.  We could esteem their worth as equal to ours.  More importantly, in gratitude for the gift of God’s redeeming love, we could share freely what we receive.

Concluding Reflections

The Church, ecclesia, is the “called out” community of God’s people who uniquely and particularly dedicate their lives for God’s especial purpose.  One connecting link between each member of the Church is the experience of God’s redemptive love.  Although we came from very different walks of life, each of us stood in need of redemption before we came to Christ.  Together, we were a community to redeem.  As we walk progressively with the Lord and fellowship with each other, in order to fulfill “The Great Commission – Matthew 28:16-20,” we reach back and live the love.  We are called to look for communities to redeem just as we were.  Rather than pegging people as pathological statistics, we look at them with the eyes of the heart and spirit. 

Three Personal Objectives

• Evaluate Jonah’s anger (righteous indignation) toward God for His mercy toward the Ninevites.
• Learn to estimate the values of all human beings as equal to your own.
• Practice sharing God’s unlimited and unconditional love with everyone and seeing hurting people as communities to redeem.

Prayer

For the gift of your redeeming love in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee.  Teach us always to recall that we were in need of Your gracious and loving redemption.  Daily remind us we stand perpetually in need of Your sustaining grace, unfailing love and enduring mercy.  Help us, by the power and might of Your Holy Spirit to live our gratitude as channels of Your peace, messengers of Your grace and instruments of Your love.  May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength and Redeemer.  Amen.

Bible Study Notes - Jonah 3:10 to 4:11 Part II

Bible Study Notes

A Community to Redeem 

Jonah 3:10 to 4:11 Part II

Jonah 3:10 to 4:4 – Jonah Seethes in Anger

This passage centers upon two central themes, dividing evenly between Jonah’s fury over the Lord’s forgiveness of the Ninevites and our Heavenly Father’s enduing desire to teach humankind to love each other as He does.  The final verse of the third chapter details the success of Jonah’s preaching and the subsequent repentance and revival.  The Ninevites’ religious reforms successfully engender the mercy of Almighty God.  Surprisingly, Jonah is not pleased with the results of his preaching or God’s responses to the Ninevites.  Rather than relishing in this monumental and unparalleled spiritual success, Jonah ignites and nourishes his anger which represents his maniacal thirst for the annihilation of the city of Nineveh.  Nonetheless, God steadfastly teaches Jonah the radical, scandalous and incredulous nature of His love.  Moreover, although Jonah relegates the Ninevites to being worthless in terms of his time, talent, treasure and temperament, God perpetually sees them as a community to redeem.

Why does Jonah waste so much emotion fretting over his unfulfilled expectations of doom in Nineveh?  Initially, you assume Jonah does not wish to go on this missionary journey because he thinks he will fail.  Now that he succeeds, we understand his negative assumptions about the odds of success actually cloak his prejudice toward the people.  He thinks they are beneath him and people like him.  Jonah reveals his heart felt thoughts when he frankly discloses to God in prayer his contempt for the Ninevites.  “O lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home?  That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish.”  More significantly, Jonah did not want to travel to Nineveh to announce gloom and doom because he correctly suspects in the final analysis the Lord’s heart would yield to the repentance and humility of the people.  If God were going to destroy the Ninevites, He did not need Jonah to travel to the city and preach a very bleak sermon.  Also, if their repentance could constrain the mighty and avenging hand of God, then the trip was equally unnecessary.  Essentially, Jonah reasons this missionary expedition is appropriate if the Ninevites received their due punishment and the Lord air lifts Jonah out of the city before the onslaught of any hellfire and brimstone.

Startlingly, Jonah castigates God for being “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”  In seeking to denigrate God’s attributes of love, mercy and kindness, Jonah ironically describes a wonderful and majestic Heavenly Father whose infinite grace and compassion extends to a thousand generations forevermore.  Additionally, Jonah’s tirade discloses God’s patience toward humankind.  God is longsuffering in His willingness and capacity to wait for us to choose to live in right relationship with Him.  Having created us in His image and with the express desire of enjoying holy fellowship with us, God does not desire to punish us unnecessarily.  Like earthly parents who thoroughly enjoy friendship and communication with respectful, obedient, likeable and loving children, Almighty God greatly wants us “to get it right” with Him.  Accordingly, He quickly forgives when we are sincere about repentance and reestablishing our relationship with Him.

After defining those magnificent divine characteristics, Jonah prays for His death. Jonah determines he would be better off dead than alive.  The Ninevite revival disgusts the prophet to the degree of actually pleading with the Lord to take his own life.  Notice Jonah’s pathology grows to the insanity that he persuades himself that his one life holds greater worth than the collective lives of 120,000 citizens of Nineveh.  Examine how deeply twisted racial and religious discrimination can poison the minds and hearts of otherwise well-meaning believers!

The Lord asks Jonah about the prophet’s righteous indignation.  “Have you any right to be angry?”  It stands to reason that Jonah previously experienced immeasurable grace, mercy and love from God.  In the preceding chapter, he receives a blessed second chance after his stint in the belly of whale.  Should not Jonah’s thankfulness have motivated him to appreciate the revival in Nineveh?  Does he believe only Israel comprises the singular people to whom God bestows His compassion?  Jonah cloaks his cultural and religious chauvinism under the socially and theologically respectable designer garments of holy anger.  He posits God is wasting the divine self upon people who cannot appreciate such an incalculable gift.  However, God’s question reminds and exhorts Jonah the same God who had sympathy upon Jonah also loves the Ninevites with similar kindness.  What right does Jonah have to be angry?

Bible Study Notes - Jonah 3:10 to 4:11

Bible Study Notes

A Community to Redeem – Jonah 3:10 to 4:11

The Infinite Love of God for Humankind

What an awesome, amazing and incredible God whom we serve!  God’s infinite character extends to His unconditional and limitless love to humankind.  His heart is big enough to love each and every single one of the seven billion (7,000,000,000) people on earth.  His love extends freely to every person regardless of race, creed, color, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, politics or national origin.  Unfortunately, many well-meaning believers confuse God’s love with their personal preferences.  They fallaciously and misguidedly assume God only loves the people whom they love.  Equally falsely, they presume God’s judgment extends more greatly to people who are not like them.  Other uninformed believers choose to love people whose values and mannerisms are most similar to their own.  They mistakenly suspect God mimics their behavior as it relates to loving others.  In contrast, multiple biblical writers reveal an ever-present, all-kind, all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving God whose affections for humankind does not adjust to the limited and often erroneous ways in which we relate to each other.

Biblical Background

Biblical authors in the Old and New Testaments depict a loving Heavenly Father who liberally supports humankind with an unfailing love.  People who genuinely apprehend and comprehend God’s unqualified love possess its ability to share with others without condition.  The book of Ruth tells the story of a Moabite woman who learns of God’s love from her marriage to a Jewish man whose mother in turn extends to her widowed daughter-in-law the grace, compassion and love of Almighty God.  Rahab, a prostitute, helps the Israelite spies as they conquer the Promised Land.  They, in gratitude, show her and her family God’s love.  Actually, she ends up in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The story of “The Good Samaritan” in the gospel of Luke demonstrates that God’s love transcends religion, race and culture as two priests (contemporarily Christian pastors) pass by a man in distress; the interracial Samaritan (descendant of both the Assyrians and the Israelites) whom the Jews despised had compassion on the victim on the Jericho road.  The great apostle of love in John’s gospel says God’s love in Jesus Christ is available to whosoever believes.  The apostle Paul prays the Ephesians will know the height and depth as well as the length and width of the love of Christ.  Paul’s description equates with infinity of the universe.  This image perfectly symbolizes God’s love has no limits.

In this passage, we observe the prophet, Jonah, who insists God should reserve His love for people who are most deserving of it.  Jonah actually becomes very angry toward God for squandering His compassion upon the Ninevites.  Although he eventually relents and obeys God’s call, Jonah harbors a twisted and gleeful expectation in his heart that God will destroy the city of Nineveh.  Imagine Jonah’s disdain and disregard for a city of one hundred and twenty thousand people (120,000) plus livestock!  Consider further the fact that Jonah is an anointed and commissioned prophet of God.  How do we balance his divine office with the utter indifference Jonah’s holds in his heart for the Ninevites? 

Jonah’s hard hearted attitude provides a mirror with which we examine our understanding of God’s love.  As committed disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, do we esteem all people throughout the world as equal recipients of God’s love regardless of their personal and national histories?  Spiritual maturity equips us with desire and willingness to show God’s love, pardon and compassion to all people.  Nevertheless, Jonah pitifully determines a withering vine which provides him shade possesses greater worth than the entire population of a small city.  Perhaps, we like Jonah only assign value to people who directly enhance our lives.  Usually, they are people who look, act, speak, dress and live just like us.  But, people whose lifestyles differ from ours are children of God, too.  Our second lesson of this disgruntled prophet provides another chance to consider the many ways, intentionally and unintentionally, we regrettably imitate Jonah’s loveless behavior.

Bible Study Notes - Jonah 1:1-3 and 3:1-9 Part III

Bible Study Notes

Community with a Mission: Jonah 1:1-3 & 3:1-9 – Part III

Jonah 3:5-9 – Community with a Mission of Repentance and Revival

The king’s humility starkly represents the seriousness with which the Ninevites heed the word of the Lord.  He rises from the Assyrian throne; discards his royal robes; covers himself with sackcloth like his subjects; and sits down in the dust.  The king’s action reminds us of the lowly origins of humankind in contrast with the infinite and holy attributes of Almighty God.  We are dust!  God can blow upon our lives like a candle’s flame in the wind.  Who are we to think we can trespass the holiness and righteousness of God?  What an incredible depiction of the utter limitations of human beings.

Then, the king utilizes his royal power to compel legally the nation to adhere strictly to his proclamation demanding the continuance of the fast in sackcloth until God responds mercifully.  Furthermore, Ninevites were to cease and desist from “their evil ways and their violence.”  Prayer for divine relief is the basis of the proclamation.  The king evidently hopes that national unity in this effort will cause Almighty God “to relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

Anthropologists and archeologists can tell us very little about the character of the Ninevites.  The biblical record remains one of the most reliable sources.  Accordingly, we can extract a few informative and instructive attributes about their collective personality.  First, notwithstanding their excessive evil and violence, they possessed humility to repent upon hearing the terrible word of the Lord.  Second, they had capacity to obey higher authority; they followed the king’s proclamation.  Third, although they greatly indulged their self-seeking desires and myriad lusts, they steadfastly maintained a belief in God.  Jonah’s preaching reminds them of spiritual disciplines of fasting, confession, repentance and fervent prayer.  Fourth, they practiced egalitarianism in which they valued each person regardless of his or her wealth, education, religiosity and social position.  From the king to the keeper of the cows, the entire nation appeals to God for relief and mercy.

This collective personality of the Ninevites offers instruction to churches as it relates to building and sustaining community.  If confronted with a similar spiritual challenge, would a church, congregationally and individually, attain humility, faith, and commitment to seek the Lord’s for wisdom?  What if nuclear families mimicked the actions of the Ninevites when turmoil afflicts one of their members?  Could a solution to drug infested neighborhoods and crime ridden municipalities be found in these spiritual responses to overwhelming dilemmas?  Although they were Assyrian and not Israelites, the Ninevites demonstrate the power of a community with a mission.  They turn from wholesale self-indulgence to living humbly under the guidance and protection of Almighty God.

Concluding Reflections

Jonah’s stubborn refusal to follow the will of God rightly lands him in the belly of the whale.  Our daily resistance to the urging of the Holy Spirit enables us to empathize with Jonah.  Our cumulative negative responses equate with a spiritual space equal to the darkness of three days and three nights in the abyss.  Yet, Jonah’s example encourages us to look beyond our human frailties, failures and incapacities to see of our “God of the second chance.”  He continually gives us the chance to “get it right” by finally heeding His “good, pleasing and perfect” will.  When we do so, we find immediate success and even excellence as Jonah did when he eventually preaches in Nineveh.  Surprisingly and favorably, Jonah discovers a community, with a mission of serving the Lord, as the Ninevites repent and exchange their self-centered lives for lives devoted to the Lord. 

  

Three Personal Objectives

• The road of self-reliance terminates in a spiritual Bermuda Triangle.
• God graciously bestows a second chance to follow His will when we finally obey.
• The humility and sincerity of the Ninevites teaches us the power of a community with a mission to serve the Lord.  Churches, families and neighborhoods can grow greatly by following their example.

 Prayer

For the beauty of this day, we thank Thee, O Lord.  For Your lovingkindness towards us, we thank Thee.  For the gift of Your revealed Word, we thank Thee.  Graciously, sanctify Thy Word within our minds and hearts so that we might not sin against Thee.  Teach us how to be a community with the mission of living to Thy honor, glory and praise.  In Your holy Name and for Your righteous cause, we pray.  Amen.

Bible Study Notes - Jonah 1:1-3 and 3:1-9 Part II

Bible Study Notes

Community with a Mission: Jonah 1:1-3 & 3:1-9 – Part II

Jonah 1:1-3 – Balancing Self-Determination and Passive Aggression

Jonah demonstrates a mystery in which opposite characteristics can exist in the same personality.  He possesses defiance and willfulness as he proactively disregards the divine order to go to Nineveh and proclaim the word of the Lord.  On the contrary, the prophet displays weakness in his method of avoidance by going on vacation.  Nevertheless, God sets apart this “reluctant missionary” for His distinct purpose of saving the Ninevites.  Battling these warring characteristics of self-determination and passive aggression, Jonah evades the situation initially.  Soon he falls into the hands of an angry and jealous God who will not tolerate humankind’s insult of His character and will.

Jonah 3:1-4 – “The God of a Second Chance”

The second portion of this passage reveals the obedience of the Ninevites who did not know Almighty God as Jonah does.  Prior to their remarkable feat of repentance and humility, the disgruntled and prideful prophet finally finds internal willingness to obey.  Conceivably, Jonah accedes to God’s commands in gratitude for the Lord’s mercy and grace in releasing him from the depths of darkness.  The text states plainly “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.”  I imagine Jonah’s imprisonment in the belly of the whale affords time to reconsider his stubbornness.  He probably does not change his outlook upon the worth of the Ninevites.  Yet, in appreciation for God’s gracious offer of a second chance, Jonah ends his internal strife and balances his self-centered motives with the necessity of following a loving God who is kind enough to free him from perpetual darkness to see a new day again.

Jonah’s experience models the power of redemption for us.  It is never too late to begin serving God with our heart, mind, soul and strength.  We can begin today to reverse the course of our lives.  We can change our focus and priorities.  We can start each day with the intent of making Almighty God our “Ultimate Concern.”  Everything else pales in comparison to the majesty and magnificence of living peacefully and joyously in the perfect will of God.

Look at Jonah’s instantaneous success!  On the first day of adhering to God’s call, he achieves a national revival.  Interestingly, Jonah preaches one of the shortest sermons in the Bible and perhaps in the history of preaching.  In response to the warning of annihilation within the next forty days, “the Ninevites believe God.”  “From the greatest to the least,” the whole nation adorns sackcloth and participates in a fast.  They grieve over their sins and deny their natural appetites.  Essentially, the spiritual practice of self-denial enables us to more clearly receive divine revelation.  When you are chomping on a double cheeseburger, fries and an apple pie while drinking a soda rarely are you thinking about your spiritual condition.  Remarkably, Jonah’s message awakens the entire country despite their socio-economic status; the rich as well as the poor demonstrate faith in God by mourning, contrition, repentance and self-restraint.  Imagine a revival in contemporary America that the wealthiest one percent of citizens would join in solidarity with the underclass.

Bible Study Notes - Jonah 1:1-3 and 3:1-9

Bible Study Notes

Community with a Mission: Jonah 1:1-3 & 3:1-9

The Centrality of Community

We focus upon the development of communities in biblical times.  How did they begin and grow?  What were the primary values?  What structures of government, family, economy and religion did they implement?  What role did allegiance to God play in their lives, individually and collectively?  How do those societies and their understandings of communities differ from ours?  Further, let’s examine what the distinguishing factors of biblical communities can teach us about building stronger church communities today.

Today, we evaluate the community of Nineveh where the resistant prophet, Jonah, goes to declare the fierce word of the Lord.  Surpassing the actions of the Israelites, the Ninevites actually repent upon hearing the straightforward message of potential doom because of their wickedness.  The wholesale humility to adorn sackcloth and appeal to Almighty God for His grace and mercy singularly characterizes the people of Nineveh.  No other tribe or nation in scripture responds to God’s word as they do.  In fact, the Lord Jesus commends them for their repentance (Matthew 12:41).  What enabled the people who live in this Assyrian capital city to reverse the way in which they were living?  How were they able as a nation to understand they could no longer trample recklessly upon God’s holiness and squander His grace?

Biblical Background

We have another opportunity to consider the quirkiness of Jonah who does not care to become a member of the Ninevite community.  Actually, he relegates God’s first instruction to being an absolute waste of time.  “The captain of his own soul and the master of his fate,” Jonah proudly ignores God’s direction and purchases a ticket for a cruise to Tarshish.  Immediately, our minds fill with our childhood images of Jonah’s voyage and imprisonment in the belly of the whale.  Perhaps, we now think Jonah rightly deserves the three days and nights in the darkness of confusion, inertia and failure to reach his destination because of his categorical refusal to obey God’s instructions.  Yet, concentrating upon the frightening consequences of Jonah’s defiance eclipses God’s persistent kindness and mercy.  After the whale vomits Jonah out of his mouth and Jonah lands upon dry land, the Lord condescends and gives the prophet a second chance “to get it right.”  Often, God affords us the gracious opportunity to correct our mistakes after we have made wrong decisions.  Many believers popularly refer to our Heavenly Farther as “the God of a second chance.”  Out of His infinite knowledge, wisdom and patience, He kindly grants us another possibility to complete a divine mission.  Jonah receives another chance to preach to the people of Nineveh; thereby assisting them in establishing a genuinely spiritual, loving, honest and caring community that worships Almighty God.

Quite possibly, Jonah’s actions mirror our own resistance to following the Lord’s guidance.  Is there any divine directive you are presently postponing?  Has God put a call upon your life and you selectively choose to disobey Him with an excuse that you are busy doing other worthwhile things?  Have you purchased a ticket to Tarshish by conveniently making yourself unavailable to God?  Perhaps, devoting the lion’s share of your time, abilities and talents to your spouse, children and job prevents you from answering the Lord’s call.  Nonetheless, Jonah’s example encourages us to define clearly our resistance to God’s divine call upon our lives. 

Incidentally, the Bible teaches the priesthood of all believers; practically speaking, that means all disciples, whether clergypersons or laity, are ministers with a calling upon their lives.  God expects each of us to seek His guidance and discern the exact nature of our mission and purpose.  Then, He expects us to devote the bulk of our lives to serving Him as we serve other people thereby accomplishing our purpose and mission.  The biblical writer records the vivid illustration of Jonah to portray the considerable waste of time and talent when we brush aside the will of Almighty God.  Moreover and most fortunately, the prophet’s life illustrates the possibility of redemption when we finally accede to the voice of God.

Bible Study Notes - Gospel of John 4:27-42

Bible Study Notes – 

Gospel of John 4:27-42

In this week’s passage, we observe a conversation between Jesus and His disciples as they return from town, having gone to purchase food and other refreshments.  Their trip equates with a contemporary visit to a convenience store for cold cuts, chips, sweet snacks and beverages.  You recall they are in Samaria enroute to Galilee.  Temporarily, they stop at Jacob’s well in the heat of the day.  Whereas the water is refreshing, they still need food.  While they are away, Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman who eventually believes in Him.  Upon her conversion, she leaves Jesus and returns home to share the good news of having encountered the Messiah with her family, friends and neighbors.  Subsequently, the disciples reappear as Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman concludes. 

Their exchange between Jesus and His disciples opens a window into the consistent seminar sessions between Him and them during the three and a half years of His public ministry.  Repeatedly, He utilizes everyday life examples, particularly agricultural parables, to instruct His disciples about His kingdom.  They presume Jesus is waiting for a proper time to overthrow the Roman Empire and restore Israel to her former glory as in the days of David and Solomon (Acts 1:6).  Stealthily, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approach Jesus and ask for the two highest positions in His forthcoming kingdom.  One brother wishes to sit at His left and the other wants to sit at His right.  Were they participating in a modern American presidential campaign, they lend their support in anticipation of victory and the spoils of a major cabinet position such as Secretary of State, Defense or Treasury.  As they focus wholeheartedly upon their self-seeking, ulterior motives, they fail to appreciate the mission and purpose of the kingdom which Christ came to inaugurate.

With the benefit of two thousand years distance, we quickly and facilely condemn the disciples for their denseness and selfishness.  However, many contemporary believers profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for very personal and selfish reasons also.  It does not stand to reason we would have more correctly comprehended the authentic message of Christ prior to the resurrection had we been in the disciples’ places.  Acknowledging this temptation yields necessary humility with which to read this passage. 

Consider the following ideas and questions as you read the passage.

• To the disciples’ great surprise and chagrin, they return from an adjacent Samaritan town with various sundries to find Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman.  Although none of them voices their questions, not surprisingly they still desire to know what the woman wants from Jesus and what led to this conversation.  This conversation is rather unorthodox as a Rabbi would not singly converse with a woman yet alone a Samaritan woman.  Possibly, the disciples question the Lord’s motives.  Extending due reverence to Him, they ask their questions silently as they remain curious for an explanation about this bizarre occurrence during their brief absence.
• In the next two verses, the Samaritan woman begins an evangelistic  crusade as she abruptly leaves her water jar, symbolizing the ineffective and non-satisfying water of religion, tradition and rituals, and returns to town to share her encounter with Jesus.  The evangelist utilizes this story to remind his readers of the transformative results in the lives of any persons who genuinely encounter Jesus Christ. 
• John supplies a very succinct synopsis of the Samaritan woman’s evangelistic appeal to the townspeople.  She emphasizes Jesus’ prophetic abilities and omniscience as He tells her “everything I ever did.”  Readers of the Gospel of John for centuries have expanded mentally her account of Jesus’ unconditional love which heals and redeems her brokenness.  She undoubtedly tells them about His refusal to judge or demean her.  He wins their theological argument by emphasizing God’s nature of love, Spirit and truth.  He helps her to see with the eyes of her heart what love really is.   He leads her out of her serial monogamy of unrequited love, fives divorces and hopeless.  He empowers her to see her intrinsic worth as a child of Almighty God regardless of her religious beliefs which actually contributed to her brokenness.  Conceivably, she says much more as she details her born again experience which emerges from her definitive conversation with Jesus. 
• The Samaritan appeals directly to the religious and prophetic sensitivities of her audience by asking poignantly “Could this be the Christ?”  Like the Jews, the Samaritans had been conditioned for centuries to expect a Messiah who would deliver them from their oppression, subjugation and exploitation.  Her question motivates them to leave town and seek a personal encounter with Jesus.
• As they travel to Him, the disciples encourage Jesus to have some of the food they purchased.  Their suggestion allows Him to instruct them about “food” in the kingdom of God.  This exchange details the parallel between faithful and focused ministry and spiritual food which sustains disciples as we obey “The Great Commandment” (Matthew 22:34-40) and fulfill “The Great Commission” (Matthew 28:16-20).
• Exhibiting their typical cluelessness and obtuseness, they disciples erroneously wonder whether someone else had brought food to Jesus.  They fail to comprehend his reply “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 
• Jesus defines “my food” as doing the will of Almighty God who sent Him and to complete His will.  Spiritual food for disciples equate with discernment, acceptance and implementation of God’s revealed will.  Feasibly, they listen bewilderingly as they contemplate their heartfelt and longstanding desire for Israel’s political and economic restoration.  Their literal perspective demonstrates their inability or refusal to comprehend His enduring teachings about the gospel and kingdom of God which seek spiritual wholeness for all of God’s children regardless of the social, economic or political context in which they live.
• The thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth verses in this passage parallel Matthew 9:35-38 in which Jesus encourages His disciples and hearers to pray to Almighty God for workers to enter the harvest field of souls as the kingdom of God centers upon the right of each person to actualize his or her divine abilities and natural endowments without systemic obstructions.  History proves the disciples’ myopia as we understand the limitations of politics, government, academe, science or technology to afford this right to individuals.  Jesus invites His disciples to further their commitment to Him by devoting their lives to an eternal cause that extends beyond their personal politics and physical lives.
• These verses are evangelistic in nature.  For modern disciples, these verses exhort us to prioritize “The Great Commission.”  The Church faces its perpetual reason for being which is to make disciples, conduct baptisms and teach new believers everything the Lord teaches us.
• In the thirty-eighth verse, Jesus emphasizes the necessity of disciples devoting themselves to fulfilling “The Great Commission.” 
• This passage concludes with the belief of many Samaritans.  The testimony of the Samaritan woman causes many of her hometown people to believe in Jesus.  Perhaps, the radical change in her character and genuineness of her testimony amazes her family and friends.  Chances are most people know someone, if he or she announces a wholesale change in his or her life, whose new lifestyle and worldview would command our undivided attention and coerce some type of personal change.  Given this woman’s reputation which undoubtedly had to have been known by her family and neighbors, her change would shake these people out of their daily complacency.  Further, her transformation reflects the fallacy of religion when it is devoid of genuine spirituality, moral standards and ethical principles.  Moreover, her conversion reflects Christ’s power to encourage and empower any individual toward inner healing and wholeness.
• They proactively choose to believe in Christ because of their direct encounter with Christ.  They state collectively “We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
• Interestingly, this passage ends with a fundamental reversal of the racial, ethnic and religious hatred with which it began.  As the Samaritan woman and Jesus together remove the foregoing barriers and relate forthrightly to each other, they discover legitimate divine love and consideration.  As they do so, He instructs the disciples on the importance of expanding their understanding of the kingdom of God and she tells her townspeople about the Christ whom she met and happens to be Jewish. 
• John’s use of this story coheres with Paul’s consistent admonition to the Asia Minor New Testament churches that life in Christ essentially and practically eliminates historical human barriers to genuine relationship.