Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Spirit and Truth: John 4:1-45

Published December 24, 2025 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 4:1-45 (HCSB)

¹When Jesus knew that the Pharisees heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John ²(though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), ³He left Judea and went again to Galilee. ⁴He had to travel through Samaria, ⁵so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening.

⁷A woman of Samaria came to draw water.

“Give Me a drink,” Jesus said to her, ⁸for His disciples had gone into town to buy food.

⁹“How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

¹⁰Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”

¹¹“Sir,” said the woman, “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this ‘living water’? ¹²You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”

¹³Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. ¹⁴But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.”

¹⁵“Sir,” the woman said to Him, “give me this water so I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

¹⁶“Go call your husband,” He told her, “and come back here.”

¹⁷“I don’t have a husband,” she answered.

“You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said. ¹⁸“For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

¹⁹“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that You are a prophet. ²⁰Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. ²³But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

²⁵The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”

²⁶“I am He,” Jesus told her, “the One speaking to you.”

²⁷Just then His disciples arrived, and they were amazed that He was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do You want?” or “Why are You talking with her?”

²⁸Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the men, ²⁹“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?” ³⁰They left the town and made their way to Him.

³¹In the meantime the disciples kept urging Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³²But He said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

³³The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought Him something to eat?”

³⁴“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” Jesus told them. ³⁵“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest. ³⁶The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so the sower and reaper can rejoice together. ³⁷For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

³⁹Now many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰Therefore, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. ⁴¹Many more believed because of what He said. ⁴²And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

⁴³After two days He left there for Galilee. ⁴⁴Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him because they had seen everything He did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival.

Read John 4:1-45 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

One of the most profound conversations in Jesus’ life and ministry is shared in John’s gospel, and it is a conversation Jesus has with a Samaritan woman. While Jews and Samaritans disliked each other, Jesus chose to cross the national and gender divide by first traveling through Samaria, then by striking up a conversation with this woman.

It is in this conversation that I find something both profound and perplexing. During the conversation, the woman shifts the topic away from herself and onto something that she had wondered about: “‘Sir,’ the woman replied, ‘I see that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.’” (v. 19-20)

Basically, this woman is asking if the place where we choose to worship is important. She is asking if the “where” is as important as the “who”.

Jesus response is fascinating. He tells her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (v. 21-24)

In Jesus’ response we see something interesting. Jesus minimizes the “where” in her question, but He elevates the “how”. This makes the “who” and the “how” of worship the most important factors in Jesus’ eyes.

The “who” is God. God wants us to worship Him. While the context is Jesus talking about worship directed towards the Father, I believe that worship that elevates any member of the Godhead is appropriate.

The “how” is where things get trickier. The description Jesus gives is “spirit and truth” and He gives this description twice for emphasis. Jesus compares the spirit side of worship to God being spirit, so there must be not only a spiritual side to our worship, but something that draws our attention away from our “physical” selves. Not only this, the only way we truly can bring spirit into our worship is with the Holy Spirit living and moving within us. This one side to worship that God wants from His followers elevates “true” worship past what most worship services supply on a given weekend.

However, the “truth” side of this challenge is where things get really challenging. It seems that everyone has their own flavor of what “truth” is. In this postmodern society, truth – in a spiritual sense – is becoming viewed at a more relative and less absolute. But one thing that most people can agree on is that worship should be aimed at pleasing the one we are worshiping. If we are choosing to worship God, then our worship should conform to what He views as truth.

God wants worshipers who have the Holy Spirit and His truth in their hearts – and when this is the case, it doesn’t matter where they are when they turn to Him!

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Leading People to Jesus: John 6:1-15

Published December 23, 2025 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: John 6:1-15 (NASB)

¹ After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). ² A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. ³ Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. ⁴ Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵ Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *This word is present tense in the Greek, but it has been translated as past tense to conform to modern usage.said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” ⁶ This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. ⁷ Philip answered Him, “Two hundred *The denarius was equivalent to a day’s wagesdenarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” ⁸ One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *This word is present tense in the Greek, but it has been translated as past tense to conform to modern usage.said to Him, ⁹ “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. ¹² When they were filled, He *This word is present tense in the Greek, but it has been translated as past tense to conform to modern usage.said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵ So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.

Read John 6:1-15 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

In one of the most famous events in all four gospels, Jesus turns what is a hopelessly small meal for a small boy into a lunch that was able to feed over five thousand people. However, while all four gospels include this event, only the gospel of John gives details about where the food came from – and how the food ultimately reached Jesus.

After Jesus has challenged the disciples to get food, we read about an unlikely turn of events. “One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?’” (v. 8-9)

What stands out to me in this event is the appearance of Andrew. This lesser known disciple was the brother of the famous disciple Simon Peter, the one who was looked to as a leader of the group of disciples, and the one who always seemed to either say something that was out of line or something that was incredibly profound.

Aside from Peter, James, and John, who were Jesus’ closest disciples, most of the other disciples don’t show up much by name in the gospels. There are Thomas, Matthew, Philip, and Andrew who occasionally appear, and there is Judas Iscariot who was the one to betray Jesus.

However, John tells us in his gospel that this was Andrew who brought the boy with his lunch to offer it to Jesus. This event in some ways echoes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, where Andrew chooses to follow Jesus, and then he goes to get his brother and share with him the news that Jesus is the Messiah.

Andrew is the model disciple who is always seen bringing people to Jesus. While he wasn’t one of the most famous in the group of twelve, he may have been the most persuasive.

In our own lives, we might not be the most famous followers of Jesus, but we still can share what we know with others and we can still help others by simply bringing them to Jesus.

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Flashback Episode — Year in Luke – Finale: Part 1

Published December 22, 2025 in Audio Journal Entries

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As we begin our special two-part finale for our year podcasting through Luke’s gospel, let me first wish you a very merry Christmas to you and your family and friends. I hope that you are able to spend time with people you love and I hope that you are healthy over this entire winter season as well. I know I definitely don’t like being sick, and often, when the temperatures turn cold, I start catching a cold, which is aggravating.

However, as we moved through this year looking at Luke’s gospel, one big theme we saw was that sick people who came to Jesus did not stay sick people. Luke is one gospel which loved to draw our attention onto Jesus healing peoples’ physical and spiritual illnesses.

Luke also includes the most detail about the events of Jesus’ birth, as well as John the Baptist’s birth too. With that said, let’s begin our review of our podcast episodes from this past year and focus in on some of the biggest and most profound insights that we uncovered. For time considerations, I might have to skip over some insights because it is always difficult to pull these lists down to a manageable length.

Starting off our year review, let’s look at what we learned in episode 2, which focused in on Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah to promise this elderly couple a child. In our discussion, we discovered that while Zechariah’s silence likely lasted less than a full year, it served as an amazing symbol for God being silent, before stepping into history in a big way through John the Baptist and through Jesus. Zechariah’s silence also served as a sign for everyone present that God was doing something in their midst. Lastly, this sign of muteness served as a reminder to Zechariah himself that God’s promise to him was real!

Jumping ahead to episode 4, we looked at Jesus’ dedication in the temple as a baby, and were awed by the realization that before Jesus had fully stepped into history, and actually barely after He had even entered this world, Simeon, led by the Holy Spirit, forewarns Mary that Jesus’ life as a Messiah would end in death. Jesus would die before she would.

Moving forward to the next episode, episode number 5, we looked at Jesus staying in Jerusalem when He had turned twelve. In this event, we concluded the truth that it is easier to lose Jesus than it is to find Him! One day without Jesus may ultimately result in three days of searching and worry to find Him again!

Skipping over some great episodes we don’t have time to touch on, we move forward to episode 10, where four friends bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus to heal him. In this episode, we learned that sometimes God will validate a message He sends with a miracle. However, don’t expect this to be God’s default method. In the gospels, this might be the only time Jesus uses a miracle to prove a spiritual point. It’s also worth remembering that if God was specifically punishing this man for a sin in his past, there would have been no way for Jesus to heal him against God’s will!

Moving ahead to episode 12, Jesus warns His followers about judging others and He shared a parable about two homes with different foundations. In this event and episode, we ultimately learned that the only thing that matters from eternity’s perspective is what God thinks and how God judges. Jesus has promised us that we can change the measure God uses to judge through the way we interact with others.

Jumping forward to episode 14, Luke includes an event early in his gospel about Jesus’ feet being anointed at Simon’s home. In this episode and event, and within Jesus’ response to Simon and his guests who looked down on what took place, we discovered that the reason we know context matters is God associates with sinners. Jesus came into this world because God loves sinners. While God doesn’t love the sin, that isn’t going to stop Him from seeking out the sinner.

When God forgives our sin, it is like He erases our debt and all that is left is the essence of who we are that He loves. What we do, what we look like, or what is in our genes is not relevant when discussing God’s love.

Jesus assured this woman that her sins were forgiven, because He wanted her to move forward in a new life with God without the cloud of her past weighing her down. Jesus wants us to know that God has forgiven us because He wants us to begin or continue our lives with Him without the sins of our past weighing us down. God wants to redeem us out of sin and into new, eternal lives, with Him!

Continuing our pattern of looking at even numbered episodes, which is something I just noticed but didn’t plan, we arrive at episode 16, where we looked at Jesus casting out a legion of demons and sending them into a herd of pigs. In this episode, when we looked closely at the details, we discovered that God allowed the demons to kill the pigs, but these demons did not, or maybe even could not, kill this man. I wonder if Satan had dispatched a whole legion of demons to kill this man and the closest they could get was driving him from society.

However, nothing could stop Jesus from reaching this man. Nothing Satan could do could stop this from happening. While the demons weren’t restricted from killing the pigs, they were powerless to kill this man under God’s protection. It didn’t matter how many demons were present in this man, God’s protection of this man’s life was clearly stronger.

When Jesus wants to heal a life, free a life, or change a heart, the best Satan can muster is no match for a single command from Jesus’ mouth. And from what Jesus did for us on the cross, nothing Satan can muster can steal eternal life away from those God has chosen and called!

We finally break from this pattern as we move forward by jumping ahead and stopping at episode 19. In this episode, we focused on Jesus sending out the 72 disciples to the surrounding towns and villages and we learned that Jesus challenges us to not become proud about the words we speak, because we are simply a messenger for Jesus. In the same way, we should not take rejection personally, because those who reject us aren’t rejecting us as much as they are rejecting Jesus and God.

The mission of God’s people at every point in history has been pointing people back to what God and Jesus have done for us, and pointing us to His arrival and return. While it may be exciting to have the Holy Spirit with us, we should be even more excited that when we follow God, our names are written in the Book of Life in heaven. In the big picture, it won’t matter what we have done for God. What will matter is whether our names are among those who God is planning on redeeming from sin and bringing with Him into eternity!

Jumping forward to episode 23, we looked at Jesus teaching us about our eyes being lamps for our bodies while He challenges some religious leaders. In this episode, we learned that God wants a personal relationship with us. Any leader, teacher, guide, or mentor who wants to get in the way of you growing closer to God has more in common with these religious leaders that Jesus speaks out against than people God actually sends into our lives.

In the very next episode, number 24, Jesus continued His teaching turning His attention onto greed and worry. Included in the passage we covered in this episode is the parable about the man who was blessed and chose to build bigger barns. This episode taught us a number of very powerful truths that we can use to wrap up the first part of our year-end finale. In episode 24, we learned that when we give up our possessions and give money to help others, we rob greed of its power. Greed has power in our lives when our focus is placed on what we own. When we shift our focus onto selling, giving, and focusing on helping others, greed is robbed of its power in our lives.

The biggest benefit of living a generous life of service to others is that our hearts will be stored with where our treasure is, and when our treasure is stored in heaven, our hearts will be there as well!

God desires your heart and mine. When we live lives focused on serving God, helping others, and storing our treasure in heaven, God gets our hearts as well – and God is the only one who is able to restore a sin-stained heart. God solved the sin problem through Jesus, and He is willing to solve our personal sin problem when we give our hearts to Him!

Flashback Episode: Year in Luke – Finale: In the first part of our annual two-part finale, discover some of the biggest insights we discovered during the first half of this past year moving through the gospel of Luke.

Choosing Between Two Masters: Matthew 6:19-24

Published December 19, 2025 in Written Journal Entries

Focus Passage: Matthew 6:19-24 (CEV)

¹⁹Don’t store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. ²⁰Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. ²¹Your heart will always be where your treasure is.

²²Your eyes are like a window for your body. When they are good, you have all the light you need. ²³But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. If the light inside you is dark, you surely are in the dark.

²⁴You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Read Matthew 6:19-24 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

If Jesus made any obvious, challenging statements during His ministry, a statement in the passage we are focusing on is likely to show up on the list.

One of the relevant things Jesus liked to talk about was money, but this was not because He was fixated on gaining wealth, but because He knew those in His audience living in the first century did have a tendency to focus on what they had in their bank accounts and on growing that number. This characteristic of human nature is probably the one that is the most universal throughout human history.

Into this discussion, Jesus gives a very obvious statement – one that most everyone can agree on: “You cannot be the slave of two masters!” (v. 24a)

In case there was any doubtful thoughts in the minds of those present listening, Jesus explains further, “You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other.” (v. 24a)

With this emphasis in place, Jesus has the whole crowd in agreement. Even in situations where one has two bosses, an individual will not be equally loyal to both. If the two bosses agree on something, then everything is great, but if they disagree, then the individual may be forced to choose who gets the greater loyalty.

While this is a very practical, but obvious statement, Jesus then hits His key point for this illustration: “You cannot serve both God and money.” (v. 24b)

“Wait Jesus,” I can hear many in the crowd saying. “You mean we cannot be rich and servants of God?”

This conclusion is what many people who have read this verse have concluded, but I don’t think it is as straightforward as that. Otherwise, one’s estate would be a great measure of their Godliness.

Instead, I believe Jesus’ hinge statement in the middle of this verse is the key that we must pay attention to: “You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other.”

This relates to the money discussion because while following God’s principles can lead to very wise money management, there may be times when God calls you to give. It is in the times when we are called to give freely that serving money clashes with serving God. It is in these moments when we must choose whether serving God is the higher priority, or serving the growth of our bank account.

When following God increases our bank accounts, we feel this is a win-win. But when God calls us to give, we learn where our loyalty and focus really is.

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