NEW TESTAMENT 2023 - WEEK 06 [JOHN 2-4] - Creative Come Follow Me with Maria Eckersley

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Welcome back you guys. This is week six of Creative. Come follow me for the New Testament and this week we are back in the Gospel of John. And you know how much I love the gospel of John. It's, it's harder, it's a deeper level of learning, but it's told in such a beautiful way that you're just going to eat it up.

In fact, most of the stories you read in this week's sections are not found anywhere else. Because remember when we talked about John one, John's gospel is for me, I read it and see it as John's way of saying, I have seen things. And I understand things that I can't let go. That's why I stay in the gospel of Jesus Christ the way.

What I love about the way John teaches, or the way at least he captures Jesus' teaching, is he shows not just Jesus' words and how powerful they are to convert hearts. He also shows the actions of the Savior and how his actions are reflective of those gospel teachings. When he interacts with people like Nicodemus and the woman at the well, he is demonstrating his gospel for us, and it's so powerful to watch it play out.

It inspires me to be a better teacher. It motivates me to be a better disciple. There is so much goodness in these chapters. You're also gonna see the beginning of the miracles play out. Cause remember, we're not going chronologically necessarily. You can't do a perfect harmony of things. So when you get into these chapters, you'll see things like the first miracle of the water turning to wine that we haven't read about anywhere else, even though we've studied some other miracles.

So just kind of keep in mind that. Time is fluid in the gospels and you have to sort of have a flexible approach, but you're gonna see all of those things. But for me, the overarching message was one of how do you apply your heart to understanding, I read this great talk this week. It was a, I think it was a c e s devotional or something kind of like that.

It's from Kim b Clarke, and he talked about how we, we get to this point where if we want to have powerful teaching mo moments, we have to help people apply their hearts to understanding. Same thing that we read about in Mosiah. It's this idea of, well, he, I put it in my margin. He said, gospel understanding is the critical link between gospel knowledge and effective, righteous action.

We all have a certain understanding. In our scholarly mind of the gospel. But what we need to do is be able to translate that into action. We need to become something he says. The critical link between those is understanding a depth of understanding that sinks into your heart and what the Savior will teach Nicodemus and the woman at the well and his disciples and almost anyone else he encounters this week, is that there is a, that the Holy Ghost is an active player in that process.

If we wanna take our students or our kids from this understanding, this knowledge and deepen it to something that will last, we need to use the Holy Ghost. The great thing is the Savior's gonna teach you how to do it. You'll see him demonstrate it with all these different people that he encounters, and it's so rich.

You guys, there's so much we can pull from it, not just from our own lives, but from the people we are trying to teach. So grab your scriptures, grab your notes. You guys are so much goodness, you, you gotta get started.

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Most scholars agree. In fact, it's written out in the verses that the first public miracle of the savior happens in this wedding feast in Cana. And we don't know exactly know why the Savior is there and why his disciples are invited to attend. We don't exactly know why Mary seems to be concerned about the wine.

Usually that's whoever the host is would be concerned about the wine. But for whatever reason, whether these are siblings of the savior or just relations of some kind, I don't know why they're there. But what I think is really powerful is what happens in the moments before the miracle, although I love the miracle, and we'll learn some powerful things from it.

I just thought there was a lovely interchange between the Savior and Mary in these first few verses. So it starts off telling you about the wedding and that there is this wedding feast that's happening and then there's a problem and you see it in three. And the mother of Jesus say it unto him, they have no wine.

She's not asking a question. She's not really demanding anything of him. She's just putting it out there. There is no wine. And I started to wonder why she says it this way and I don't have all the answers or even maybe any of the answers, but here's what kind of came to my mind, I think. I think there must have been a lot of conversations in the life of the savior leading up to this point between he and Mary about when his ministry would begin, how it would begin.

Sometimes I wonder if it was just the two of them to some degree, because most scholars think that Joseph has passed away by this point cuz he's not mentioned in any of these miracles. I imagine that Zach Rice and Elizabeth have passed away since they were so much older than Mary was when she had Jesus.

And you know, the only one that maybe might understand is John the Baptist and he's out preaching. I just wonder if there's this isolation between the two of them where they talked about how this needed to begin. And I wonder if it was really hard for Mary to choose to let it begin , just from my mom heart.

I, you know, the, once he steps onto this road of performing public miracles, it ends in Calvary. That's the end of this road. Um, and I just think it must have been so hard for her. And I wonder if they had a lot of conversations where, you know, maybe she was like, I'm not ready, , I'm not ready. You know, and he being the caretaker that he is, especially if his, if Joseph had passed away, if he wanted to wait until she was ready again, this is not, this is just me and my thoughts, but I, I love it the way it plays out.

Cuz she puts it out there almost, I think as an invitation to say, okay, I think I'm ready. Um, there's no wine, but she doesn't ask him and she doesn't force it. She just, almost opens a gateway to say, if you think it's the right time, Jesus, I'm okay. I'm gonna be okay. And that's how I read it. When you go into four, Jesus say, it's under a woman, what am I to do with the, my hour is not yet come.

And of course this sounds a little harsher in this context. When you read the j s t, it's softer and kinder. What will that have me do? It's and woman, that phrase is not offensive. It's one he's gonna use even when he's on the cross and trying to take care of Mary. But I think there is a bit of a, um, gosh, a formality to it.

And I think it's because he recognizes what she's saying. I think he can feel where her heart is and he's saying, are you sure? Are you ready? And she in her beautiful Mary like way opens up the gateway and she. Um, his mother say unto the servants whatsoever, he say it unto you, do it. She knows his capabilities.

She knows he's the son of God. She knows his powers, maybe even seen it in small ways on her own, in the intimacy of their home over the years. And now I feel like she's saying, okay, if he chooses this to be the day, it will be the day. And so he does. And this is when the miracle plays out. I just think you have to honor and respect their relationship and the, the hard of her calling to be the mother of the son of God.

There must have been a lot of these tiny decision making moments that, that we don't have the context for, we don't have the words for, but my mom heart feels for her and I'm so grateful that she chose to say, okay, it's okay. It can, we can begin. Um, so the miracle plays out, and you probably know the story.

He, there's these pots that were for cleansing, for ritual cleansing. They're these big stone. Vss basically, and they hold a ton of water. Like all in all, there's probably about a hundred to 150 gallons of water that he is changing over. And he asks 'em to do something interesting. He says, fill the water pots to the brim.

That's in verse seven. To me, this is kinda like, if you've ever seen a magician kinda magic show and they like roll up their sleeves all the way up and they step back from the table and they like move their fingers, you know, it's, it's his way of saying like, no trickery is happening here. There is no magic here.

This is power. And it, so to me that's what Phil, to the brim is like the, I want you to see very clearly what happens. And so then he invites the servants to draw out from those vessels and take it to the governor of the feast. Who would usually, I guess it was a relative of sorts, at least that's one of the scholars I read, said that it was somebody who was kind of like the master of ceremonies of type person and he of course consumes the wine and proclaims it to be the very best wine.

That they've had for the whole feast, cuz feast lasted days, sometimes even a full week. So they've had a lot of chances to taste it and see things and he's saying this is the very best that it is. There's a few things that I love about this. First I have no idea when the water changed to wine. It doesn't say in the verses, I don't know if as soon as they filled up the pots, it changed when they drew it out, when these servants drew it out and put it in the cup, did they see wine or did they see water?

Did they have to carry the shallot over to the governor, still thinking it was water. Like we just don't know. The same way when we studied the story of Naiman, we don't know if he was healed to his leprosy on the first dip, on the fifth dip on the seventh dip. I don't know. But I love that in this story it's, it's the change that is powerful because what Jesus is teaching us is that he has power over time that he can change things that need to age and that would normally immortal limits take.

Vast amounts of time and he can do it like that. That is a remarkable power that I actually feel like we get to see all the time. You know, have you ever seen a missionary go out and they seem so young and scrawny and you know, wide-eyed when they leave and then they come back to your ward and you're like, didn't you just leave?

And then they talk and you're just like amazed. Their countenance is different. The way they speak is different. The way they interact with you is different. They have dramatically changed in a very short window of time. That's something that should have taken decades for some someone to accomplish, but because of the intensity of the work, they pull it off in two years or 18 months.

God has power over time and I just think the miracle of the water to wine is evidence of that, but it also opens. Understanding for me so that when I worry about repenting of my sins and I think this is gonna take too long, or I'm too far gone, there's too much time that's needed to repair all the damage and all the relationships.

I have to remember, Jesus has power over time and he can condense miracles when they're needed. I, I love that piece of this miracle now that the, uh, miracle floodgates are open, Jesus' public ministry kicks off. In fact, it kicks off at Passover in Jerusalem, which is exactly where it will end. At least his mortal ministry will end at Passover in Jerusalem.

And I think there's this. Really lovely symmetry to that. That's powerful. But he begins at a really critical place. So in John, at least it teaches that one of the first things he does is he go and he, he goes to the temple and he cleanses it. And we see this again in the last week of his ministry. And there's debate among scholars whether this is, it just happened once or happened twice, but most of the prophets I read talked about it happening twice.

So that's where I'm leaning . But I kind of love that part of the bookend that a critical piece of his beginning of his ministry is setting the temple straight and a critical piece of before he will leave this earth is setting the temple straight. And it's just, anyway, there's power in both. But when you go in the versus you're gonna see that the problem is with the money changers.

Here's what's interesting. If you go to Temple Mount, you can see that what happened when Herod built this temple complex is he actually created a temple square of sorts. So if you go there, it used to be just Mount Mariah. It used to be a mountaintop where the temple was. And when he went to rebuild the temple, he built this wide square.

And then in the center ish of that square is the temple complex, where only the Jews would be allowed to go. So on the outer square, like what we would call Temple Square is called the Court of the Gentiles, and that's where anybody could go and anybody could. be close to the temple. And then you go in one section, you go up some stairs and in, and you get to the court of the women, and this is where only Jews could go.

The women and the men could pass through this area, but this is where the women stayed. And then you can go up a few more steps and go in and you're gonna get further into where only the priests and the men could go. And then beyond that is the temple entrance, like the actual, what looks like the tabernacle of sorts.

What's really interesting to me is Jesus is of the tribe of Judah. He's not aite. So even though he is the great hype priest, he cannot go into that inner court , that inner area where only the priests could go. And I, I just kind of caught me off guard as I studied that this week that, that there were limits.

His connection there. What I love is that instead of fixating on that, he fixates on the experience of everyone else. So the court of the Gentiles is as close as a gentile could get to coming to the temple. And he said, this is sacred ground because he is someone will, who will be continually trying to bring in the Gentiles to usher in this new phase where we don't create walls and barriers.

We welcome in. And so I think that's part of the reason this area of money changing is so offensive to him. Cause that's actually needed to happen. Like people would travel and pilgrims would come from all over and they, they wouldn't be able to carry sacrifices with them or wouldn't have access to sacrifices that were kosher.

And so they would need to change. So they would change over with these money changers, their money for an actual sacrifice and then take that in to be offered up at the temple. So it's a critical profession I guess you could say, but it's where it's happening that he's offended. He is. A fierce defender of his father's ground.

In fact, I love that. That's the way he says it. He says in 16, and he said unto them, that sold doves, take these things, hence make not mine. Father's house, a house of merchandise. It's that it's his father's house, that he's defensive. The savior takes a lot of flack himself from a lot of different people over the course of his ministry, but he's a fierce defender of his father and his father's house, and he won't stand for it to be desecrated.

So he says to them, it's not that the doves are evil. It's not even that you are evil, it's that you're doing something on holy ground. And I read a talk, I think I put it in the nose this week, where I, one of the prophets, I can't remember if it was Benson, he said basically that that reverence is one of the first things to go when people are on the downward slope.

They, they lose a respect and an a reverence and an awe for the divine. And so we have to fiercely guard reverence. And I just think it's really interesting to see how he guards this so fiercely for the court of the Gentiles. Because remember Christ's whole mission is that all can come into Christ.

Everyone should feel like they can come close and have a sacred experience. I think it's the same reason we're so careful about creating areas around our temple. Even if you can't come inside, cuz you haven't done the things you need to do just yet, you can park in the parking lot, you can walk around, you can see, um, you can participate in the holiness that is there without any price and without any trouble.

And I think that's what he's trying to defend for these people here. He also has a run in with sounds like some Pharisees, if you go on the footnotes, you can learn a little bit more about this. But he basically, they're accusing him of. , you know, they're wondering what authority he has. You know, they talk about a sign, but basically what they're saying is, what authority do you have to push out these money changers?

That's something that the levies should have done. They're the ones that are supposed to defend the temple and keep it, you know, ritually. Correct. And his response is an interesting one. He basically says to them, if, well, you can read the verse, so if you go back it says, in 19, Jesus answered and said unto them, destroyed this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

And then in 20 then said, the Jews, 40 and six years was this temple in building and will without rear it up in three days. They don't, when he says this, he's referring to his death and his resurrection. When the Pharisees hear it, or the Jews who are around, or the money changers, whoever it is that's listening, they don't.

I think it's the same reason we have to have ears to hear. In fact, what John teaches us is that he had ears to hear. I just don't know how long it took for John to like make that connection or the other disciples, cuz this was says in in 21. But he speak of the temple of his body when therefore he was risen from the dead.

So three years from now when he is resurrected, his disciples remembered that he had said this on to them and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. The reason I like that so much is I think this is one of the meanings of the spirit can bring all things to our remembrance. . Even if you missed something in the moment, if spiritually you, you just missed it.

What the savior promises I am, I have power to bring back memories. I have power to help you connect. Remember, it's that same idea of he has power over time. I've found this sometimes, like there are times when I'm trying to think back on the ceiling that Jason and I experienced in Salt Lake Temple and I can't remember the words very well, but this week as I was studying, I'm like, I should pray to have that memory come back to me.

I should pray to know that for myself. I think he has power to bring things back to our remembrance when we intended to do something good with it. So take heart in that if you didn't catch things the first go around, the disciples are right there with you. He can bring it back and he can help you understand why he taught you the way he.

I think it's the same way that many of us can look back on our trials after they're done or after they're, we're in a lull of them and say, oh, I get it. This is why. Because the spirit brings all things to your remembrance. He helps you understand the why that you may have missed when the Savior was trying to teach you in your day-to-day life troubles.

And I just think there's power in that. At the end of that chapter, you're gonna see that there are some who will follow. He starts performing miracles at Passover. Remember, Jerusalem is crowded at Passover. There's a lot of people to see things, so a lot of people follow, but they're not, their hearts aren't in it.

They're following the miracles, but not necessarily the man behind the miracles. And that's gonna lead us to where we go next. As we talk about Nicodemus.

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John three introduces us to a new character on the scene named Nicodemus. He is a member of the Sanhedrin, so that great high up in the Pharisee world is the Sanhedrin. It's this ruling body and he's a member of that. But he is curious about Jesus. Remember, Jesus has been performing miracles in Jerusalem, and he may have even heard of the miracle in Cana, and he's curious.

In fact, I see him as intent. You know, he is. There's a lot of bad rap that goes with Nicodemus, but I actually think he is his heart's in the right place. He just has. Limited sight because of who he is. So remember, the Pharisees are those who take the gospel of the La Moses very literally. Everything is very literal.

In fact, they built what you would call fences around the law so that you can't even get close to breaking the law with the intent to be obedient, right? Their goal was to be obedient, so they created all. Extras. Here's what I, okay, you're just gonna have to roll with me on this, but you guys, when I read Nicodemus a story or a story about any Pharisees, I actually think Pharisees have a kind of spiritual autism.

So you guys know that I have a son who's autistic, so this is where this comes from. As I was studying Nick Dimus, I'm like, I think he's kind of like Jack. You know, my son Jack is awesome. He's 21 now. He's still on his service mission. He just sees the world differently than I do because it's very literal

Like some of our, like most funny family moments happen around Jack's inability to see figurative things, you know? So for example, one time I said to Jack, can you get me the book that I need? It's, it's in the middle of the. And Jack comes back and he's like, I can't find it. I'm like, no, it's in the middle of the couches.

Can you look? And I go over to where he's looking, thinking I can help him. And you guys, he's like pulling apart, I mean, not like tearing apart, but like opening up all the couch cushions. You know, he's taking all of them off because in his brain, middle of the couch means the middle of the couch. You know, for me, I would, I meant between the two couches, like on the coffee table for Jack, middle of the couches means like the middle.

The same kind of thing happened. Jason asked him, he wasn't feeling great. He was upstairs. And so he sent, uh, Jack to go get him a piece of bread. He's like, I just need a piece of bread to settle my stomach. Jack came back up and he had taken a piece of bread, like what I would call a piece of bread, and he tore it into pieces, kind of like you do with the sacrament bread and gave it to Jason on a plate,

And in his mind, that was perfectly obedient. That's what a piece of bread is, you know? And so I think when I read Nicodemus, I think that's who he is. I think he is someone who has been trained and rewarded for thinking very literally, and he doesn't see things the way Jesus does. And what I love is Jesus understands that about Nicodemus.

He gets that he has those blinders and he's constantly trying to help him see. He's trying to help him get more out of this gospel that he loves. I believe Nicodemus loves God. I know he loves Jehovah. He is a devout Jew. He of course loves God, but he doesn't see God the way Jesus wants him to. So he's trying to open his vision a little bit.

So you'll see the teaching play out. Nicodemus comes at night. A lot of people think that's cuz he was ashamed of the savior. I don't think we know that. I mean, Nicodemus is someone who, he will stand up for the savior when he's on trial. He's someone who will help Joseph Verma to get the spices and things they need to take care of the body of Jesus.

I don't think he ever became a disciple of Jesus. He certainly didn't become an apostle. He is someone who I think was an engaged listener. I think his heart wanted to know more and he just struggled to cross that literal barrier. And so Jesus is gonna try and help him break that down. So it's very possible he came to him in the night because it's Jerusalem at Passover and it's crazy.

And every time Jesus steps outside, people want miracles. So maybe he just came at night so he could have some quiet and some chance to talk. And he, what is interesting to me about how the Savior interacts with him is Nicodemus doesn't even really say what he came to ask. , but the savior who can perceive his heart knows.

And so he immediately starts teaching him about why there is a need for baptism. So it makes me think that maybe Nicodemus struggle is he wants to be a disciple or a follower of Christ. He just doesn't want to be baptized, you know, cuz maybe he feels like he's lived his whole life. I mean, you can't get to his station without living decades of time studying scripture and honoring it.

And you know, like he spent a lot of time honoring and revering scripture and maybe he doesn't get why he should need to be baptized. Or maybe he struggles with the idea that he even should be baptized cuz that would be on display for all of his fellow Pharisees to see. And maybe he just wants another route.

Maybe he's saying, hoping that Jesus will open up another way to be his disciple. I don't know, this is just my theory as I'm reading through it, but Jesus teaches him about being born again. So he says in three, accept a man be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God. , and this is when nicotine mis responds with his literal, I don't understand , like, how can you go back in the womb that doesn't make, you know, it just sounds like Jack to me.

So then he, the savior comes back at him and he softens and he says it has to be of water and the spirit, meaning it's what we study in the Book of Mormon over and over again. This spiritual rebirth, this becoming something new. You know, a new creature. That's what the Savior's trying to teach him. He's saying it's so much bigger and better than what you, than that hemmed in gospel that you've been studying.

Dig deeper, see bigger. And so he is trying to get him to see it. It just reminds me of when I was trying to teach, I taught Jack Temple Prep a couple times and it is so hard to teach big, abstract concepts like you study in the temple about spiritual things to someone who is so physical. Everything is mathematical almost.

And so you can see the savior, you're trying to work around those same obstacles. . So he softens and he says, don't marvel that I said this to you, meaning don't overthink this. Don't, don't, don't try and add this up in your head and get to the sum. Feel something. That's what I think he means when he gets to verse eight.

So he says, the wind blow with where it listed and thou here is the sound thereof, but can't not tell once it come with. And whether it go with, so is everyone that is born of the spirit. There's a great talk from, I put it in my, I put it in the notes this week. It's from Gordon, me Hi. And he talked about this verse and how what the savior was talking about is testimony.

The testimony is something that is hard to explain. In fact, you should go in the notes and get the full quote. But basically, I love the way he described it. He said, this thing we call testimony is the great strength of the church. It is the wellspring of faith and activity. It's difficult to explain.

It's difficult to quantify. It's an elusive and mysterious thing, and yet it is as real and as powerful as any force on earth. That's what I think he's trying to help Nicodemus see. He's saying, stop trying to focus on my words. What do you feel that spirit that you feel in this moment that means something.

I know you can't define it. I know you don't know where it came from. I know you don't know where it's going because we can. We can't put mortal limits on an immortal Holy Ghost, you know, like you can't, you're not gonna be able to define it perfectly. Even the prophet of God said it's a mysterious force.

So he's saying like, don't worry about what you don't understand. What do you feel? It's like the wind, in fact, the, the, the word translates both ways. That same word that was used here can translate to spirit. You'll see that in the footnotes. So I think he's just saying like, shed shed that literal mindset and think deeper.

And Nicodemus tries, he just doesn't quite get it. And so you look and he says like, how can these things be? That's Nicodemus response in nine. He's like, he's so used to thinking literally that even though I think he can feel the spirit working on him in this moment, he doesn't understand how it's possible.

I also think, I wonder sometimes if Nemus is afraid. I only know that from my own personal experience. So sometimes when you encounter something holy or an invitation to step up and do, Better. You're a little afraid to be seen because as soon as Nicodemus believes, like really believes and applies his heart to understanding all his whole lifetime is in shambles, you know, like everything he's taught and understood will have to be rewritten in his head.

Everything he, you know, there may have been times when he's, you know, he doesn't in the San Hadron, so he may have had times where he judged people based on the laws of Moses and all those extra laws that were unfair. And right now, if he believes, might even seem cruel. And I wonder if all of that is like, piling up on him if he just feels the weight of it.

The reason I wonder that is because of where the savior goes next. So if, if Nicodemus is afraid and paralyzed in this moment of, if I pull out this Jenga block, uh, everything will topple. And so the savior tries to help him understand. And so he says like, oh, you know, you're a teacher in Israel. You should know this.

You can understand. So he talks to him. He's like, if you can't understand earthly things, you're gonna struggle with heavenly things go bigger. That's in 12. And then in 13, he talks about himself in order to help Nicodemus in this moment, not panic, under the weight of what might need to change, he cushions him with the prophets.

In fact, I see this like this Oreo of because I think this is what you like. I, I remember in a marketing class they were talking about when you hear a song on the radio, if they're gonna play a new song on the radio, they often will cushion it with a song that's super familiar on this end, and one that's super familiar, like you'll sing along.

Right after it so that you won't flip the radio station just cuz something new is on. And you almost see that happening with Jesus where he talks about Moses, Ty, miss loves Moses. All Pharisees love Moses. They understand Moses, they get Moses. And so he's like, I'm like Moses, let me help you understand.

Remember when Moses held up that serpent? What happened? What did the people have to do? They had to look up to be saved. That's the same thing. I am going to be held up so that you can look to me and live. So he, he cushions him with Moses. He'll do the same thing in a few more verses on the other end, but in the middle is the creamy goodness of the new gospel.

This is that sweet Oreo center that is new but so good. And the savior wants him to understand it. So he goes slow. This is. that who's, whoever believe it him in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16, for God's soul loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who's ever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting light.

That's a whole plan of salvation. In one verse, you guys, that's what Elder McConkey said. It's he's teaching him something bigger. It's the fulfillment of everything that Nicodemus has studied all his life, but it's bigger and richer and fuller, and the spirit is working on his heart. And then it goes one step further in 17, for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world threw him might be saved.

I think if Nicodemus is in that point of paralyzed fear of, if I pull out this block, everything falls. What the world's, what the savior's trying to say to him is, I know how you're. . That's exactly why I came. I know in your mind you think everything will crumble, but if you lean on me, that tower will get rebuilt and it'll be better and stronger than it's ever been.

That's his promise. He's like, don't focus on the tumbling. That will have to happen. That's the natural man. Part of you. Just let that go and trust that with my help, we can rebuild the tower with those same fundamental blocks and it will be bigger and bolder and real. And he's just like right in the brink, you know, like you can just feel it.

And so he teaches him about his mindset as his savior, that he didn't come to condemn, and that you have to believe in the light that is right in front of you. Those are the next few verses. I love what it says in 20, for everyone that do with evil, hated the light, neither come to the light, lest his deed should be approved.

Remember, if you, if you pull away from God, it's because you're afraid of what you've built, crumbling, at least in Nicodemus world, I imagine he's afraid of his whole life and his whole purpose to his life. Crumbling, but this is where you see the power 21. But he, that doth truth come to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are rot in God to to be rot.

You don't think of like rot, iron rot means to be twisted and molded and shaped. So he's saying, let that whole Jenga tower fall , like let it go. I know that's a terrifying thing. I will never condemn you for all of those blocks I see in that pile. In fact, I'm gonna help you build something new. But it's critical that you do.

That's what I love about 21. He says, but he, that he that do with truth come to the light that his deeds may manifest. Meaning you have to, when you come boldly to the throne of grace, what you're saying is, I know I'm a mess. I know I, I need. Please help me. And the promise is, if you come with humility and a willingness to do truth, he will help you.

He'll show you how to rebuild your life one block at a time, and it will be a magnificent structure that you never could have achieved otherwise. But he is not gonna force Nicodemus to do it. He simply invites. In fact, I think it's really interesting that there is no verse after this. Like, I don't know how Nicodemus takes this.

I don't know what happens with the savior. My experience, even just with the Ysa, tells me that there must be a moment of heartbreak in this because it doesn't seem like Nicodemus follows, at least not here. And I've helped, I've felt that where you feel the spirit so strong in class and somebody new came to class and you're like, they're getting it and they're gonna, they're gonna be back next week and they're gonna be so excited to learn more.

And then you never see them again and you're just like, what happened? . But I just think you feel that with your kids too. You know, like you bear such fervent testimony to your kids and then sometimes they just don't respond or they don't come back, or they don't ask more questions and you just. Inside. I think there has to be those moments for the savior.

But he knows he accomplished what he needed to accomplish. He taught Nicodemus, he taught 'em in his way. He taught 'em with the sandwich of, I'm gonna talk to you about the prophets here and I'm gonna talk to you about the prophets here. He says further in the verses that he's like, you've been learning this from the prophets all along.

And he taught them the goodness in the middle. And now Nick Demus has to choose if he's gonna act, he's gonna lean into the light if he's gonna take this opportunity to, to let the understanding sink into his heart or not. And so the Savior doing what he needed to do now moves forward when lehigh's kids in his dream of the tree of life, don't come rushing to the tree.

In fact, layman and Lem, you stay. Far off. He doesn't run to them. He stays by the tree and he continues to demonstrate its goodness, hoping that they will come continually looking out for them and hoping that they will come. I think that's probably what happens with Nicodemus. I don't think the savior ever took his eyes off Nicodemus.

I think he always taught and hoped, um, but I, I don't know how that played out. What I do love is that the savior continues to show us the goodness of the fruit. So when you go a little in the next few verses of this chapter in John, you see that he's baptizing, he doesn't. He doesn't crumble under the sadness of this opportunity for Nicodemus to turn.

He teaches somebody else. He's, he continues in his work to give every person an opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ. So he goes and he baptizes. And this runs into a little dilemma because the followers of John see Jesus baptizing and worry for John. And it's really interesting cuz this is where you get to hear John's testimony.

You're not gonna hear much more from John. He's gonna get thrown in prison and then we get very little from John. But in this pivotal moment he teaches his disciples what he has already taught them before, but maybe they didn't understand. So in the way John, the author of the book writes it is a powerful witness of John the Baptist testimony.

So he says to them, don't worry so much. You know, his disciples are worried that he's getting eclipsed by Jesus Christ. And John basically, That's my whole job, . My, my whole job was to be a forerunner. So in 28, you yourself spare be witnessed that I said I am not the Christ, but I am that sent before him.

His job was to prepare the weight and he did his job. Here's what I love. In 29, he doesn't talk about how sad it is for him to decrease and the savior to increase. So if you look 30, he says he must increase, but I must decrease. And that can sound almost heartbreaking a little bit. You know, like you get it, you understand where his testimony is and he, of course, this has to happen where people have to begin to follow the savior, but he's not heartbroken.

In fact, what he says in 29 is his joy is fulfilled. I love it. He compares it to a bride groom. So the bride groom's job. Kinda like the best man. Their job was to help facilitate between the bride's family and the groom's family. Since they couldn't, you know, the bride and groom couldn't be close together very often.

So the bride groom, or the best man's job was to help facilitate and then to rejoice when all that preparatory work is fulfilled on the wedding day. And he's basically saying to his disciples, This is the wedding day. This is the day where all that work that I did to help this union happen of Jesus Christ and his followers can now occur.

And because it is occurring and people are following Jesus, his joy is fulfilled. I, I love the phrase, it's at the very end of 29. This, my joy, therefore is fulfilled. He is not sad to decrease cuz he knows how he stands with God. He knows that he fulfilled the work God gave him to do and he did it to the best of his ability.

It's the same way I felt. Um, I used to, in that calling that I had as a church service missionary for family search. We taught at Roots Tech and we taught a class called Light Keepers. The goal of Light Keepers was just to teach beginning family history to women so that they felt it was approachable and doable.

And what was hard about light keepers, I couldn't control anything about what happened after they left. You know, they would stay and listen to the four missionaries for a few hours and we would help and train and teach, and then we just sent them on their way, you know, to different states all over the country.

And I didn't get to know how it, how it went from there. But what I loved is all four of us, both individually and I think collectively as a, as a partnership of the four of us, we felt fulfilled. Like we had done everything we were supposed to do. We can't control the outcome. We don't, we don't, we don't take the ball from this point forward.

Our job was just to do this piece, and if we'd done it well, we could feel fulfilled. We felt literal joy because of those moments of, yes, we had done, not perfectly, but we'd done everything we were asked to do. And there's joy in that. And I think that's what John is testifying of. He has a fullness of joy because he fulfilled the work God gave him to do.

And so he testifies about that and he testifies, testifies about the savior. Um, and then he teaches us something important about the savior. In 34, especially if you go into the j s t, you learn that the spirit that Jesus carries at this point is a fullness of God. So at this point in his ministry, even though it's the very beginning of his ministry, he, he has all he needs spiritually from God the Father.

He has not in a step-by-step manner in anymore, this is, he has a fullness of the spirit and he's gonna use it for the rest of his ministry. And so he testifies the same plan of salvation verse that you heard from the Savior to Nicodemus happens in 36. He that believe it on the sun have everlasting life.

And he, that believeth not on the sun, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abide it on him. Wrath of God just means. , a abhorrent, a separation that has to occur because God can't be around wickedness. And so he's basically saying to him like, there, this only ends one way. Either you choose to follow Jesus Christ or you are turning against God.

So don't worry about where I stand in the middle. Follow Christ, and isn't that what we're all supposed to do in our callings, in our roles as parents and teachers? My job is to nurture and cultivate and shield these little plants that the Lord has given me until they're old enough to take that shield off and have their own exposure to the sun and to the elements and to the trials and the universities of the world.

I'm supposed to help them get rich roots. I'm not supposed to take them to be a full plant and they're not supposed to be a giant oak tree under my watch. That will happen, but it will mostly be because of what they experience on their own. My job is to get them to Christ and help them understand that he's the one to follow.

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If you've ever taught, I hate to pinpoint teenagers, but this seems to happen with teenagers. If you ever taught your own teenager or someone else's teenager and had them bristle back at you, um, even with repeated attempts to like love them and care for them and teach them, and they just, it's almost like, uh, you know, a spike comes out of them.

That's sort of what I see when I read the woman at the, well, not because she. Bad. I, I, I don't think it's the same way. I don't think that teenager is bad. I think it means she's wounded. Um, I think it's the same reason you see animals like shoot out spikes at people they think are predators. They, there is a, there is a, a vulnerability that they feel and their initial reaction when they've been wounded in the past is to bristle and to put out a very firm shell to try and guard their heart against getting wounded again.

And that's kinda how I see this sweet woman. I also see her as a very interesting foil to Nicodemus. So their stories are placed side by side by John on purpose. I think, you know, Nicodemus happens at night. The woman in Samaria happens in the middle of the day. He is someone who is seen as very powerful and strong in his world, and she is seen as someone who is probably even considered wicked or unclean at the least in her world.

There's a whole bunch of comparisons. If you go in the notes, you can see some more, some pivotal ones that we don't aha talk about is Nicodemus had seen or at least heard of miracles of the Savior. As far as I know, the woman at the well has not, she has no experience with this man who asks her for a drink.

Um, she, when Nicodemus comes, he asks questions of the Lord and seems to almost struggle. The more answers he gets with the woman at the well. She doesn't ask questions. He actually almost approaches her saying like, I wanna teach you, and she resists. She's that prickly teenager. And it's just this interesting comparison.

But one of the things I really loved about her story is, , you see her put up so many barriers. In fact, I kind of numbered them in my margins. I don't, maybe I didn't catch 'em all. You guys might find some, but I, I see her putting up barriers almost like she is anticipating getting her heart hurt and she doesn't want it.

And so she puts up these barriers to say, we're not the same. You don't actually love me. You know, it's this. You'll see it as you go in the verses. So at first, I think he teaches us something about how to deal with those who are prickly . In three, he had a choice not to go through Samaria at all. In fact, most Jews didn't.

Samaria is wedged between, remember he's up here. If you look at your map that we printed out, Galilee is up here, up north on the Sea of Galilee. And then if you look in the middle between Galilee and where Jerusalem is in Judah, you have this big area called Samaria . So most Jews would travel along the coastline to avoid going into the heart of Samaria because there is some bitter feelings between these two groups of people.

In fact, I was reading in my book a Mormon study this morning about, where was I? It's like Mosiah 10, I think. And it talks about the hatred that the Leites had for the Nephites based on all these false assumptions, right? Based on all these false traditions of that Nephi was tricky that he kept the valuable things from Lehigh for himself, that he forced people across the waters.

Like all these basically lies that they had passed down from generation to generation became this vehement hatred. That's sort of what happens with Samaritans and the Jews. So they descend from the same basic place, but they, there is, they basically see them as a mix of breeds cuz they are kind of, the Jews that were left behind ended up getting mixed in with the Babylonians and even the Assyrians at times.

And so they see him, they see them as like these mixed, not pure line people. And the Jews saw themselves as pure descendants of Abraham. And so that's what caused content. Also because the Jews demolished their temple. So about a hundred years before this, the Samaritans built a temple of sorts on their area, and the Jews came and destroyed it in a hope of getting the Samaritans to come and worship the true temple.

And it caused a lot of contention. So all that history is there. So she has a lot of reason to be prickly. Um, and she, it's just interesting to see how Jesus deals with it. I think it's really instructive. So first he chooses to go where she is. He didn't have to, he chose to go through Samaria. and they're at this very interesting place, so they're near Jacob as well.

What's cool about this, you guys is Jacob's well is, do you remember that part in the Old Testament where we were studying about Jacob and Esau and how Jacob was trying to come to reconcile with Esau? This is when they're much older and they go, he comes to that land in the hopes with all these gifts.

You remember like it was an amazing amount of gifts and he's so afraid that ESA is gonna be so angry that he will slaughter his family, or that there will be this bloodshed that happens. And what happens instead is this incredible moment of reconciliation where these brothers who have spent their whole lifetimes apart, assuming that they hated each other, come together.

They soften in that moment esa, where he could have treated Jacob with hostility and even violence embraces him. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole Old Testament, you guys, that's what you're, that's where they are. This is the land where they're standing. This is a place of reconciliation. Just, I think exactly why the savior came through Samaria, because he's trying to say to this woman of Samaria, you are of me.

I am of you. We belong together. Our people need to reconcile and there has to be healing. That happens. So he, he comes to her at this very specific well, and she, he asked, give me to drink. I actually think there's really helpful instruction there too, because I think what the savior is saying is one way to start warmth in a friendship that has been cold for a long time is to ask for help.

Often we come trying to offer help or trying to offer gifts of peace or whatever, and sometimes the best way to. close gaps is to say, I actually need something from you. Could you help me? And that, that plead for help softens and her response is prickly. So at nine she says, how is it without being a Jew?

Ask us of me. Which of a woman of Samaria ha have no dealing with this? Samaritans? You guys don't normally deal with me. She's, she's putting up barriers. She's saying, I think she instantly feels something when the savior is around her, but she by default throws up barriers because she doesn't wanna feel something.

You know, the same way if you've been wounded in the past, your natural reaction to a new relationship is to like put on the breaks. In fact, you almost put up stumbling blocks to prevent it from happening. And that's kinda what's happening here. She's saying, here's a few reasons we don't get along. I'm a woman.

You shouldn't be talking to me. I'm a Samaritan, you're a Jew. And the savior. Well, he just almost brushes right past it. He says, if you knew who I was, I could give you living water. Now he comes asking her for water, and she says, you don't have anything to draw with. You know, normally they would have this leather pouch that they would lower into this super deep, well, like a hundred, 150 feet.

Well, and they'd have to draw it up in the leather pouch and then pour that into whatever they use to carry back home. and she's saying like, you don't have anything. And he says, I have living water. And remember we learned in the Old Testament that living water means it's not stagnant. So it's not sitting in a well, it's springing up.

It's constantly flowing and being clean and you know, it's different. And he, that's why he's promising her. And she basically throws up another barrier, . So in 12, you see your art now greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this. Well, I think what she's trying to say there is like, remember we don't get along.

Like remember, we have hostility between our peoples. We can't be friends no matter how loving your voice sounds and what I feel right now, I can't, you know, like there's a, there's an immediate distance. So she tries to remind him of that. He just doesn't take the bait. So what he says to her is, but who's, whoever drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

He doesn't. . He doesn't take her response. He doesn't internalize it. He simply just testifies of what is true that the water he's offering is living water. It will, it will bubble to the surface for her always, if she will partake of it. He's not discounting what Jacob did. Jacob dug a well that saved the lives of all of his posterity by giving them this source of water.

He's saying, I am that plus eternity. I am what Jacob did for you plus eternity because I'm giving you water that will never run dry this well. Even if you drink it, you'll, you'll, you're thirsty again. I'm giving you something that lasts and sh you can see the spirit working on her, but her woundedness and her history is causing her to like continue to throw.

Resistance, even though I think she wants to come. So she says in 15 give me this water that I may thirst not neither come hither to draw. So she's kind of getting to that point where in the conversation she's like, okay, prove it. Prove that you can do this thing. I think she feels his love for her and she's, she doesn't understand it and he does this really interesting thing, you guys.

So his next couple verses are about her husband. So I think he knows that she's got this side of her, um, this problem that she has where she's had five husbands and is living with someone right now who's not her husband. She probably is constantly thinking about how unworthy she is to be, even if this man is a prophet or is a Christ, she shouldn't be, he shouldn't be talking to her cuz she's got more story and more sin than he understands.

But because God perceives things Jesus can perceive her heart, he, he steps in softly and answer these questions. Tell me about your husband. Go get your husband. What I love is her response. She says, I don't have a husband. In fact, I, and he says, you've done well. Like I think in that moment she probably thought he would turn away from her because I bet people in her community or people in her history when they learn about her story, do you know it, it was against the love Moses to have more than three husbands.

So to have five, whether you're a Samaritan or a Jew, I think was pushed away. So she is assuming, I think that he will pull back and instead of pulling back, he compliments her on her honesty. And he tells her, you've said, well, and he then he tells her her story. I know you've had five husbands, and then she sees him as a prophet, but still feels, I think, unworthy to be in his presence, even if he is a man of God.

That's even more reason why she feels like if you really knew me, you wouldn't wanna be right. So she throws out another barrier. So in 20 she says, um, our father's worshiped in this mountain, and ye say in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. So she's basically saying like, we have this history where you told us that we can't even worship in Jerusalem cuz we're not of you.

I can't go to the holy temple. We built a temple, but you crushed it. There is this barrier between us and he softens it by saying, you don't understand. Pretty soon the Jews also won't have a place to worship. The temple's gonna get destroyed and it doesn't matter because it's about where it's about who you worship, not where you worship.

So he is trying to like, you know, he's like, keep throwing. It's almost the same. You know, when we talked about the adversary going against Jesus and he has this samurai sword of to slice through things. I think he can use that same sort of truth to slice through all of the lies we've told ourself about why we don't belong, why we don't fit in the gospel of Jesus Christ, or why we think we have gone too far off.

He slices through those with this beautiful sort of truth. He teaches her doctrine and all of her insecurities and all of her wounds fall away, and she starts to see, and then it just gets more beautiful in 23. But the hour come and now is when the true wor worshiper shall worship the father in spirit and truth for the Father Seeketh such to worship him.

So he's not only is he complimenting on her, on her honesty and telling her that all those reasons you think we don't belong together are wrong. He's saying, God the father wants you. He wants worshipers like you. He doesn't want worshipers like the Pharisees, and he doesn't want worshipers like the Jews who've been cruel to you or your own Samaritan, people who've been cruel to you.

He wants you as you are. Come, come right now as you are and step up to something higher. And so she starts to. He teaches her about the spirit in 24. And then in 25, the woman sayeth unto him, I know that a Messiah come, which is called Christ. And when he has come, he will tell us all things. I think she feels something.

And this is her last barrier. She basically says, I've already heard that there's someone coming. There's probably an easier road than me forgiving you. You know, for him, for her to come to Jesus in this moment means she has to trust. Trust in a Jew. In fact, he even says that in 22. He says, salvation is of the Jews, meaning if you are going to participate in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you have to be able to come to me.

And I'm a Jew. I'm of the Jews. You have to reconcile. And so he's inviting her and she's kind of throwing out this lasted effort of, yeah, but there's a messiah who's gonna come and maybe that's an easier road. Maybe I should wait till he comes. And so then his classic response in 26, Jesus said, under I that speak unto the am.

He's taken away. Every single bear here, she's thrown up, he's stayed with her even though she's prickly and hard, he's taught her with clear doctrine so that he knows, so that she knows how much he loves her, not just for like how much he loves her in this moment. I think when as a parent or a teacher of a teenager who is hard, you can honestly testify that you love them in this moment and you love them too much to leave them how they are in this moment.

There's power there, and that's what happens. She changes. The Holy Ghost is at work on her heart and she changes, and the results of her change are amazing. And you're gonna see those in the next couple of chapters or in the next part of this chapter. In that moment, the disciples, the students of Jesus see him interacting with this woman of Samaria, and I love in 27 it says, but no man said like, why are you talking to her

I think they're learning, right? They're understanding. This is how Jesus. Teach us and they need, they need to learn and I love what you see in 28. And the woman then left her water pot and went her way to the city and say it to the men, come see a man, which told me all things, whatever I did is this. Not the Christ.

There is one I love that she leaves her water pot. I don't know if that's significant, but it, to me, it seems like Peter letting down his nets, it's setting them down and never to come back again. This, this part of her day at least is done and she has something better to do. So she rushes into her town.

What's interesting to me is if she really was someone who was cast aside in her town for her adultery or for her many weddings in the past, many marriages, it's surprising to me that people would believe her so much. You know, I, I don't get it . In fact, I didn't get it until I listened to Sister Porter's talk.

So she gave a. I can't remember is this conference or the last one? It's in the notes, but the woman at the well and she talks about what she learned from the woman at the well, and one of the things I love that Sister Porter taught was that the power is in her. It doesn't matter what her history is, it doesn't matter where her circumstances are or what she looks like it, none of that matters.

When she is converted to Christ and speaks it hearts change. Her countenance must have changed. Something about her fundamentally was so infectious that people couldn't resist wanting to know for themselves. In fact, that's what happens if you look in like 39, you can see that the whole city believes she is someone who lights a fire in her city and everyone turns you guys, I found myself thinking like they didn't see any miracles.

They didn't see a man lowered down through a roof with palsy, stand up and walk. They didn't see a leper get healed. They saw no miracles. And then the spirit taught me very quickly. That I was wrong, that they saw the most incredible miracle happen. They saw accountants change. They saw something that should have taken years and years.

In fact, in her circumstances, she never could have changed in their culture. She was always gonna be cast aside with this history, and in this moment she saw, they saw her change. I think it's the same thing sometimes. You see, when someone fully repents and comes to Christ, it happens so rapidly and the change is so right, radiant even.

You know, you can see a change in someone's heart and countenance and it is infectious and it causes the whole town to come and to want to know for themselves. In the middle of that though, is where you see these verses in the thirties. This is one of my favorite parts of this, um, part of the chapter. It says, the apostles who were out trying to find food, come to the savior, offer him food, and he basically says, I'm full.

And they're like, what? How are you full? You know, they, they also have their own spiritual autism. They're still learning how to see bigger. And he talks about how he's full because he finished this work. So in 34, Jesus says unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

He is so full of the spirit and of this, you know, he got to see that countenance change in her. He got to see her run jubilantly back to her little village. He got to see a whole trajectory of a life change, and he feels full. And I feel like that's what he was trying to teach to Peter when he said, you'll be fishers of men.

What he was saying is, you don't understand, like these moments, even if you bring one soul back to Christ, the rejoicing that will happen. Will fill you more than hundreds upon hundreds of fish. You, this is neat. That lasts. This is living water. So I love that piece. In fact, what he says to his disciples is he says, look up so I'm 35.

There are yet four months left. And then come with the harvest. Behold the ice to lift up your eyes. Almost as if they were saying like, oh, but it's not harvest time yet. We can't harvest anything. And he's like, look up. The harvest is now the field is white where they are white and ready to harvest. He's like, you've been focused on the Jews you've been focused on, even just Galilee.

When I teach you how to be the men I need you to be, you'll be surrounded by fields that are white. It's how I think we're supposed to see every one of our callings and opportunities to serve in the church. Cuz you're gonna have times, I have times where I wonder, , if there's anybody left teach , you know?

Or like, did I fail completely? Cuz nobody showed up. And what he's saying is there's always people to teach. So if my numbers at Y S A start getting really low, my job is to go out into the wards and say, Hey bishops, who, who do you have? Who can I reach? Who can I talk to? You're supposed to look and until you see the white field keep going until you see where he will put you.

Cuz the field is always white you guys. So that's what he teaches his disciples in this moment. I do love what happens with the village. So I'm 42. This I think is a really pivotal verse, says and said unto the woman, now we believe this is the people of her town in Sumaria. Not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world, her testimony.

Lit a fire in them, but it didn't fill them. You know, it's the same thing we learned from Elder Holland, that you should see your students and your kids as not cups to be filled, but fires to be ignited. They are ignited and they have their own witness now because they saw a miracle of the flesh, but because they saw a miracle of countenance change and a whole life pivot for good and it's irresistible it, you just love it.

So that takes the end of their story, but there's a little bit more at the very end of John four that you don't wanna miss. Sometimes. I wonder if those two days in some area looked a little bit like what we see in the Book of Mormon because the people just. ache for him to stay. You know, he, they just are at the beginning of their testimonies and they're starting to see, and they want him to stay.

So he does for two days. He stays and he teaches and they all believe the whole village comes around. And I think it's remarkable that he doesn't continue to stay. You know, sometimes as a parent or the teacher, they're, when you have a, a captive group like that, that they want to be in class, they're eagerly soaking up all the goodness of the doctrine that you're trying to teach them.

And they're getting it. And it's like so, so good is hard to then step away the same way. I think it's hard for missionaries out in the field when they are teaching and they're in an area that's thriving and it's going so well and then they get transferred because the field is white all over you guys.

And so he doesn't want you. Stay even when it's good. He, I think he wanted to get them on the covenant path. He's gonna bless them with teaching and understanding and he's gonna send apostles to keep an eye on them. But he knows his job is to teach everywhere that the father has sent him so he can't stay.

So I just think there's something sweet in that. So if you have trouble letting go of your callings or if you have trouble in any of those ways, understand that the savior gets that. And there's goodness the field is white all over. So trust, in fact, one of the reasons we know the field is white is because of what happens with the noble men's son.

So on route, as he's going back to Galilee, as soon as someone hears and the word spreads, that he's back in Galilee and not in Samaria, a nobleman who needs his help rushes to him. So you can see in the verses there's, uh, his son is sick in 46. In fact, he's to the point of death is what you learn at 47.

And so this nobleman rushes 25 miles to find the savior. And 25 miles is a long way. , you know, you can go on your map and see that's a ways to cross. Uh, and if his son is at the point of death, it makes you wonder why he made the journey at all. Like he must have wondered if it was even gonna be worth it.

I don't know how many hours that is walking or on horseback, but like that's a ways. And so he clearly must have had enough belief to fuel that ride to get to where the savior was. And this is the Savior's response to him. It's in 48, and Jesus said unto him, except GCs signs and wonders, you will not believe.

I used to read this verse and think the Lord was kind of condemning his lack of faith. And I guess maybe he is in some way, but it doesn't seem like the Savior's character. I didn't really understand this until this week when I was thinking about Thomas. So this similar thing happens with Thomas when the savior is resurrected and the other apostles encounter the savior, then they tell Thomas, we saw the savior.

He lives, we touched him, we saw him. And Thomas basically says, , unless I see it for myself, I just can't believe. And I think what's really powerful is that in that moment, the savior does show himself to Thomas. He doesn't get offended at Thomas's lack of faith the same way. He wasn't offended when Peter started to sink in the water.

He reaches out his hand and he says, okay, if this is what you need, I'm gonna give you help. He lifts Peter in the water. He lets Thomas see him. And in this moment, he lets this man have his miracle, because guys, we worship a fleece giving God. You remember when I told you about how Michael Wilcox taught me that about Gideon?

So Gideon in the Old Testament who had to go into battle and he needed some signs, and so he put his fleece out and sometimes it was dry and sometimes it was wet. And it was a way he could know for sure that God had a plan for him and that this was gonna succeed. We worship a fleece, giving God, you guys, when you need a sign, a clear one, and you're intending to do something good, and your whole testimony isn't teetering on this one sign.

I think he helps. It's the same reason I get answers to prayers sometimes because he knows, like, Maria, I don't think you're gonna move forward unless I tell you this. So I'm gonna tell you this. I just think it's, it's his character. He won't do it always cuz we need to build faith. In fact, I found that the older and more mature in my faith, I get the less and less he gives me signs because he trusts that I, no.

Anyway. I think you see that in this answer. The other thing I think you see is that God or that Jesus can heal from a distance. This is really powerful to me because he's 25 miles away from the sun. And what you see play out in the verses is Jesus says to him in the verse that his son is healed. So in 50 he says Jesus, say a unto him, go thy way, thy son liveth.

And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him and he went his way. Jesus proclaims his son healed. And what the nobleman finds out as he gets his way back home and the servants rush out to tell him is in the very hour when Jesus proclaimed it, his son was healed. Here's what I love about that promise.

I think all of us as parents and as teachers are continually praying for our kids at a distance. Uh, I think we're hoping that our kids who are not right under our care all the time will have. encounters with God so that they will know for themselves. I think this promises that that can happen. The Book of Mormon promises that too, when you see Alma, the Elder and, and King Mosiah praying for their sons, and then the angel comes and stops Elma, the younger and the sons of Mosiah.

And you know, like you can see that the prayers of the fathers helped. Well, it's hard about the Book of Mormon. One is they're kind of perfect , you know, like , senior's a prophet. These are really good guys. And what I love about this one is this is an imperfect father with imperfect faith who says, my son needs you.

He's not here, he's way, way over here. Can you reach him? And what the promise is, is, yeah, yeah, he can reach him. He can reach someone 25 miles away. He can reach someone way off the government path, way off. Um, because his power isn't limited by mortal constraints, he can reach anyone we pray for. So I think as my prayers are, As I'm learning about prayer, I'm learning that I should ask for miracles that seem impossibly far away because Jesus has the power to heal time and space and over great distances, and isn't that such a comfort?

Anyway, that's how this chapter ends.

[: 01:04:18

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Welcome back you guys. This is the creative side of week six, so I know John can be a bit intimidating to study, and my hope here is that if you can use these object lessons, you'll be able to teach those principles of John in ways that. Easy to digest for your kids and hopefully just kind of ignite in them a desire to dive a little bit deeper.

So let me show you what I've got in store. I'll do a quick preview of all three object lessons for you here. And then for those of you in the chorus, we'll we'll take things a lot farther coming up next. So the first one is about miracles. The first official miracle of the Saviors ministry happens this week in the book of John.

This is when he converts water to wine. And although we are gonna study that miracle, I wanted to take things a little bit broader and teach about miracles in general, why they're such an important part of his ministry, why they still happen today, what power. Creates them and what they are not. And we're gonna do all of that with a simple printable.

So in the course of this week, you'll find this printable that converts from watercolor to wine color in one quick cut and I'll show you how to pull it off. It's a pretty cool one. The second one, I don't have anything to hold up, but we're talking about cleansing the temple and why that had to happen.

And we're gonna compare it. You know, the, the prophets teach that the home is the only thing that compares in holiness to the temple. So I thought since it's the beginning of spring, at least I hope it's the beginning of spring, that we will have a chance to clean our own homes in a deeper way. That we will take some nook or cranny of our house that is frustrating to us or that impedes us somehow.

And as a family, we will tackle it. Or if you're in a classroom, they might tackle their backpack or their desk or whatever it is that they have in front of them. And talk about how that feeling. Open space creates opportunities for the spirit to be. So it's a spring cleaning challenge here in the chorus, and I'll walk you through how to pull that off in just a minute.

The third one is my favorite . This is, it takes a little, little more time, but I think it packs a punch. Okay. So for this one, I really love the way the savior teaches both Nicodemus and the woman at the well about the spirit. He doesn't necessarily use very clear words. Cause remember this is the book of John, but I do think what he's trying to help him understand.

They are feeling something that they know is good, they just don't know what it is that they're feeling. So he's trying to identify, it's missionary week on the chart this week. So my goal here is to help your kids and my kids become better missionaries before they ever put on a name tag. And I think a big part of that is to help people recognize the spirit when they feel it, and help them understand how to get it more often.

And the way we're gonna do it is to make a wave. So you are gonna create this, I can't even hold it up, you guys. It's that big. It's a gumdrop wave that will help your kids see something, they'll see a pattern and a beauty and not necessarily be able to identify why it happens. They'll just recognize it and we're gonna compare that to the spirit.

So this one, for your supplies, you just need a pack of skewers. I think I. 30 or so skewers. And then you need one box of dots. Jason loves dots. So these were easy for me to come by, but if you've never bought this disgusting candy , you invited almost any gas station or anywhere, just buy one box, maybe two if you happen, if you wanna have a, a little bit longer of a wave, but one box we'll get you through.

The other thing you're gonna need is some kind of tape. Um, I really liked using packing tape because it was clear so you could see what was happening on the skewers a little better. But you could use duct tape or any kind of thick inch or two of tape will do just fine, but okay, that's your supplies list.

Now, for those of you in the chorus, let's go a whole lot deeper.

[: 01:07:47

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thank you so much for being here, you guys, that's the end of week six. I hope you enjoy this week of John. I know he's a little richer, but I promise that's a good thing, especially with all the foundation you've built so far in the New Testament.

n the live. That's Mondays at: 10:00

And you just click accept and you can join in on the conversation so you can listen to some of the insights. I didn't have time to fit in here. Or ask questions or add thoughts, um, about how this doctrine is reaching you. If you have personal questions and you're in the course, you can also leave me a question on the discussion boards.

If you ever have a glitch on a video or a principle's not working, that's a good spot to put your questions. Um, and then also I would remind you about the YouTube videos and the podcast. So the insights portion of this course is freely available to anyone who wants it. You can find it on YouTube, you can find it in the Creative Come Follow Me podcast.

But if you're in the course and you want access to the podcast version of the creative side of the course, then just message me and I'll send you your private link so that way as you're shopping or on your way to work, you can get an idea of what you're gonna teach and how you're gonna teach it. So that way, hopefully by the time you actually go to teach it, you've got a little more background , you have a little more chance to understand it, to prep for it, and to get yourself geared up to teach this beautiful doctrine.

So I hope you enjoy it. All right, you guys enjoy this weekend, John and I will see you on Monday.