What Jesus Did

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people — blind, lame, or paralyzed — lay on the porches.

—John 5:1-3 NLT

Key Thought


One of John's recurring themes is that Jesus comes to Jerusalem during important feasts to make God's love and grace available to the people. Like he so often does, Jesus puts himself in a place that makes him...

 

While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, "Yesterday afternoon at one o'clock his fever suddenly disappeared!" Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, "Your son will live." And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.

—John 4:51-54...

 

The official pleaded, "Lord, please come now before my little boy dies." Then Jesus told him, "Go back home. Your son will live!" And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.

—John 4:49-50 NLT

Key Thought


Sometimes the circumstances with our children drive us to Jesus for help. Deep inside our souls, we already know that we should daily seek Jesus with all of our heart. Unfortunately, everyday "busy-ness" and routine distractions choke out our apparent hunger...

 

Jesus asked [the official with the sick son], "Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?"

—John 4:48 NLT

Key Thought


I have often heard Christians today remark that if they could just have seen Jesus do one of his amazing miracles they would find it easier to trust him fully. There are two problems with this point of view: The first is that Jesus is often doing miracles in our lives and in the lives of those around us every day; we...

 

Yet the Galileans welcomed [Jesus], for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there. As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.

—John 4:45-47 NLT

Key Thought...

 

Then [the Samaritan villagers] said to the woman, "Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world." At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee. He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown.

—John 4:42-44 NLT

Key Thought


One of the hardest heartbreaks occurs when those we know and love most don't share our faith even though we can...

 

When [the Samaritans] came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe.

—John 4:40-41 NLT

Key Thought


In other instances, some people who saw the powerful work of Jesus in the lives of those they knew asked him to leave. Others tried to take that power and use it selfishly for themselves. Some, like the people in this village, asked him to stay longer so they could...

 

Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, "He told me everything I ever did!"

—John 4:39 NLT

Key Thought


What has the Lord Jesus taught you? How has the Savior shown you God's grace? When did you realize that Jesus could look inside your heart and know you completely ... and still love you with an everlasting love? You see, when Jesus comes into our lives, we have every bit as much to share with others as this Samaritan woman did...

 

[Jesus said,] "The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, 'One plants and another harvests.' And it's true. I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest."

—John 4:36-38 NLT

Key Thought


When people come to Christ, when they repent and turn their lives from...

 

[Jesus said,] "You know the saying, 'Four months between planting and harvest.' But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest."

—John 4:35 NLT

Key Thought


For the discerning heart and the listening ear, God reveals that we don't have to wait for a specific harvest time. He has already called some of us to sow, others to be used by him to nourish the seed, and some of us to be his instruments of harvest. So let's pray for hands willing...