There are thousands of quotes about Jesus on Goodreads.
And of course there are a lot of people that hate Jesus but we can’t hate them because stupidity is not a behavioral dysfunction, it’s, in a sense, a disease.
All we can do is try and teach these unfortunate individuals (I was once one of them), but if they choose to stick to their guns then we have to do what Jesus tells us to do:
“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matt 10:14-15).
Since we’re talking about ignorant people, tomorrow we will finish our study of the Great Empires of the Middle Ages, the Byzantium World, the…
John 4
The Woman of Samaria
1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
“Pharisees” – the religious leaders took a closer interest in John the Baptist and a closer one at Jesus, seeing them both as threats.
2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
“Samaria” – here the whole region, not simply the city. Jews often avoided Samaria by crossing the Jordan and traveling on the east side.
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
“Sychar” – a small village near Shechem. Jacob bought some land in the vicinity of Shechem and it was apparently this land that he gave to Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
“To draw water” – people usually drew water at the end of the day, rather than in the heat of mid-day (see Gen 24:11). But the practice is attested by Josephus, who says that the young ladies whom Moses helped came to draw water at noon (Ex 2:15-17).
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
“Have no dealings with” – the Greek implies the meaning “do not use dishes Samaritans have used.” A Jew would become ceremonially unclean if he used a drinking vessel handled handled by a Samaritan, since the Jews held that all Samaritans were “unclean.”
The Jews and the Samaritans were as bad or worse than the Whites and Blacks. But Jesus didn’t have a problem with the color of skin or nationality. Do you?
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
“Deep” – Christian pilgrim sources as early as the 4th century mention a well in this area that was about 100 feet deep. When the well was cleaned out in 1935, it was found to be 138 feet deep.
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
“Springing up” – the expression is a vigorous one, with a meaning like “leaping up.” Jesus was speaking of vigorous, abundant life.
Conflicts between the Pharisees and the Sadducees took place in the context of much broader and longstanding social and religious conflicts among Jews dating back to the Babylonian captivity and exacerbated by the Roman conquest.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
“Five husbands” – the Jews held that a woman might be divorced twice or at the most three times. If the Samaritans had the same standard the woman’s life had certainly been a difficult one. Apparently she had not married her present partner.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
“Worship ye know not what” – the Samaritan Bible contained only the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). They worshiped the true God, but their failure to accept much of His revelation meant that they knew little of Him.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
“God is a Spirit…worship him in spirit and in truth” – the place of worship is irrelevant, because true worship must be in keeping with God’s nature, which is spirit.
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27 And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
“Marveled” – Jewish religious teachers rarely spoke with women in public.
The sect was identified by Josephus with the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society. As a whole, the sect fulfilled various political, social, and religious roles, including maintaining the Temple.
The Sadducees are often compared to other contemporaneous sects, including the Pharisees and the Essenes. Their sect is believed to have become extinct sometime after the destruction of Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, but it has been speculated that the later Karaites may have had some roots or connections with old Sadducee views.
28 The woman then left her water pot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
“There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest” – apparently a proverb that meant something like “Harvest cannot be rushed.”
But, while the crops (i.e., us) must take their time ripening, in the fields that Jesus referred to the harvest is already ripe. The harvest will be Jesus’ Second Coming.
36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
Ruins of a famous Roman period settlement on the north-western shore of the Dead Sea. This was the home of the Essenes, a break-away sect. Scrolls, hidden in jars, were discovered in the caves around the site.
The Essenes (in Modern but not in Ancient Hebrew: אִסִּיִים, Isiyim; Greek: Εσσήνοι, Εσσαίοι, or Οσσαίοι, Essḗnoi, Essaíoi, Ossaíoi) were a sect of Second Temple Judaism that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE which some scholars claim seceded from the Zadokite priests.
Being much fewer in number than the Pharisees and the Sadducees (the other two major sects at the time), the Essenes lived in various cities but congregated in communal life dedicated to asceticism (some groups avoided celibacy), voluntary poverty, and daily immersion. Many separate but related religious groups of that era shared similar mystic, eschatological, messianic, and ascetic beliefs.
These groups are collectively referred to by various scholars as the “Essenes.” Josephus records that Essenes existed in large numbers, and thousands lived throughout Roman Judæa.
40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
41 And many more believed because of his own word;
42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.
44 For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honor in his own country.
“A prophet hath no honor in his own country” – Jesus was a prophet and He was killed for it by his own countrymen – us.
45 Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.
“Received him” – the welcome of the Galileans actually was a kind of rejection, for they were interested only in His miracles. They were not welcoming the Messiah who could save them, but only a miracle worker who could amaze them.
46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.
48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.
50 Jesus saith 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.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.
52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.
54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.
Ten (11-20) More Quotes About Jesus
“Turn around and believe that the good news that we are loved is better than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that good news, to live out of it and toward it, to be in love with that good news, is of all glad things in this world the gladdest thing of all. Amen, and come Lord Jesus.” ― Frederick Buechner.
“I want neither a terrorist spirituality that keeps me in a perpetual state of fright about being in right relationship with my heavenly Father nor a sappy spirituality that portrays God as such a benign teddy bear that there is no aberrant behavior or desire of mine that he will not condone.
I want a relationship with the Abba of Jesus, who is infinitely compassionate with my brokenness and at the same time an awesome, incomprehensible, and unwieldy Mystery.” ― Brennan Manning
“Hungry for love, He looks at you. Thirsty for kindness, He begs of you.
Naked for loyalty, He hopes in you. Homeless for shelter in your heart, He asks of you. Will you be that one to Him?” ― Mother Teresa, In the heart of the World; Thoughts, Stories and Prayers
“I am fallen, flawed and imperfect. Yet drenched in the grace and mercy that is found in Jesus Christ, there is strength” ― Adam Young
“I want an avowed atheist in the White House. When time comes to push that button, I want whoever’s making the decision to understand that once it’s pushed, it’s over. Finito.
They’re not gonna have lunch with Jesus. Won’t be deflowering 72 virgins on the great shag carpet of eternity, or reincarnated as a cow.
I want someone making that decision who believes life on this Earth isn’t just a dress rehearsal for something better — but the only shot we get.” ― Quentin R. Bufogle
“The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation.
Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love.
This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian.” ― Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing of God
“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” ― Kevin Max
“I wasn’t saying whatever they’re saying I was saying. I’m sorry I said it really.
I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologize if that will make you happy. I still don’t know quite what I’ve done.
I’ve tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me to apologize, if that will make you happy, then OK, I’m sorry.” ― John Lennon
“The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch, the world says, “This is love.”
God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, “This is love.” ― Joshua Harris, I Kissed Dating Goodbye: A New Attitude Toward Relationships and Romance
“Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you.
Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.” ― Rich Mullins
…House of Islam.