Living Stones – Friday, December 1, 2017

Eat Rabbi, eat

John 4:31

In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

This well in Sychar, Samaria where Jesus had the conversation with the Samaritan woman who came to draw water in the middle of the day was the scene of drama before.

Hundreds of years before, Jacob, who was living in exile after he had deceived his father into giving him the blessing that was rightfully his brother’s, was coming back to Canaan. He was afraid of meeting his brother Esau, but once that meeting went surprisingly well he moved further into Canaan.

Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel. Genesis 33:18-20. Jacob, on his deathbed, bequeathed that land to Joseph (Genesis 48:22). Then, when Joseph died in Egypt, his body was taken back to Canaan and buried there (Joshua 24:32).

Now, Jesus and His disciples got to the well on this same plot of ground that has so much rich history for both the Jews and the Samaritans, He was tired so they left Him there to rest while they went to buy food. They came back and found Him talking to a Samaritan woman, they were not sure what to make of this event but they dared not ask. While they looked on at this unexpected event the woman ran off and left her waterpot. So, they took the opportunity to present the local meals they just bought. Seems like He didn’t quite dig into the meal, so they urged Him to eat, Rabbi, eat.

Jesus now answered them, in what has become His typical way, not by addressing the question directly but by using this as an opportunity to make a much larger statement, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

This is all very confusing to the disciples. But, this is not the first time since Jesus arrived at the well that things got confusing. He was thirsty, asked the woman for a drink when she offered He told her that she was the one who is thirsty. Now, they left Him hungry, and when they return with food He indicates that He has food, secret food.

Pressed on these matters it turns out that His water was different because it is living water that quenches thirst once and for all, and now His food is different because it is work that is the will of God.

Here at Jacob’s well in Sychar, Samaria, Jesus redefined water that quenches thirst and food that satisfies hunger. Jesus elevated thirst and hunger from the realm of the mere physical to the realm of the spiritual. This is an important transition because Jesus took two of the most palpable bodily needs of man and turns them into metaphors for the spiritual decisions and tasks before us.

At our church, Living Stones GY, we have a fasting and praying weekend each quarter. We are on water only from Friday morning until we break the fast together on Sunday after church. What we have found to be the challenge for first-time participants is that their biggest struggles come because they keep their minds focused on the food that they are missing rather than on the reasons why we’re fasting and praying. The result is that their constant focus on food makes the fast difficult.

Our physical appetites demand attention and satisfaction. Jesus was here demonstrating that we must be able to manage, and when necessary forego, our physical appetites for the spiritual benefits available to us.

In the case of the woman, the living water quenched her spiritual thirst, and, in an instant, she became a worker for the kingdom of God. So satisfied she was spiritually that, for a time at least, she left her waterpot with the natural water and went back to the village sharing the spiritual water instead.

Now Jesus says to His disciples, never mind the food that you just bought and brought, here is food that is spiritual, get to work on it. Then, starting with Samaria, He showed them what work was available for them to do, the real food.

Think on these things:

1. Are you able to manage your physical appetites to give priority to spiritual things.?
2. Does your church support these developments through times of corporate prayer, fasting, or other types of activity or ministry?
3. Do you practice fasting?

Prayer focus:

Let us pray today that we would work to effectively manage our physical appetites to give priority to our spiritual appetites.

In His Grace

Pastor Alex