Wow! I hope you caught that! Jesus chooses to tell an uneducated, racially disgraced, rejected, broken, “trashy” prostitute who He truly is! And in that moment, the woman no one loved realized a depth of love and acceptance she thought was not possible. Standing by a hole in the ground, she met her Savior! Her life was changed in an instant!

Please do not miss this. God does not hate the world; He loves it! (3:16) But the world stands condemned, poisoned and on the verge of death. (3:18) Jesus has come to rescue us all! All of us, like Nicodemus, are lost and broken in our unbelief. So, Jesus became flesh so that He would be lifted up on the cross and save all who look to Him!

These two stories go together so well. They begin to help us understand who Jesus is and what His purpose was and continues to be - the Purifier! He has authority to clean the temple from its impure practices. This, like water to wine, is another symbol of Jesus’ death. The temple is where God’s presence met His people. Jesus kicks out the buyers and sellers because the payment to enter into God’s presence was about to be paid. The true temple is Jesus’ body! It is going to be destroyed for us.

Jesus had to walk among us in order to truly save us. That is because Light cannot be sacrificed. Words alone cannot take away the painful consequences of our sins. The only way our sins can be removed is if the Word can bleed, if the Light can be cut, and if the Life can die. God saw His creation under threat of darkness and death, so He sent Jesus, to die as the ultimate Passover Lamb for us. To secure light and life for all p

I am fascinated by stories.  Thinking back to my early childhood; I loved being told a good story.  An expert storyteller has the ability to carry the listener to other worlds.  It is an amazing art to me.  One of the things I like so much about the Bible is the people in the story.  It is a giant story filled with smaller stories.  Think about that for a moment.  One story.  Told through 100’s of voices; with 1000’s of characters involved.  For the audience of humankind.  But it impacts each person in a unique way. 

I know I have probably said this before and I will most likely say it again, but God wants all of us. He wants all of you! The desire of God is to walk intimately with each one of us. To share in our busy lives and be right beside us in all the ups and downs of daily life. It is why we were created.

walking with Jesus is far more than an insurance policy. Walking with Jesus is a continual process of becoming the person God created us to be! “It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.“ (Ephesians 1:11 MSG) I wonder how often we (you and I) stand stagnant looking for the spectacular, all the while Jesus longs to do the spectacular in us!

When you witness a life thrown away by society come to life in Jesus, words can hardly express the miraculous work of God you have seen. “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him.” (Psalms 66:5-6 ESV)

Pursuing love is chasing after Jesus. This pursuit or chase is a continuous choice; an action that must be made every day and throughout the day.

Again, we are back to action. Our lives as disciples, following after Jesus, are lives full of action. We are told by Jesus, to love the same way He loved us! (John 13:34) Jesus is calling us (you and me) to love so deeply that it hurts. We should be sore from loving so much. As we love like Jesus, the depth of our love for each other will grow, much like an athletes muscles grow stronger through exercise.