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Good job Mackinley.  You have some good reflections and life application here.

Well said about how Jesus does not show favoritism.  Cultural and physical differences are no issue to God.  Spiritually He wants us to all be in agreement about Him and about Jesus.

I liked what you said about food always leaving us hungry or drink thirsty.  Eventually we need more.  Profoundly Jesus is telling He is the spiritual answer everyone is searching for in a world full of people looking for purpose, significance and satisfaction.  Most people look all their lives and never find it but once a person does find Him, they don't want for anything else.

I'm not sure the everything was meant to happen.  I think some of the things happen because of terrible choices.  But God will take even those things and make something good out of bad situations.  He always has.

God always forgives when our repentance is genuine.  People often take God's grace for granted.  They might say they are sorry for their sin but their actions will always speak louder than their words.

You are right about the officials.  Their pride and arrogance is what blinded them.  Also their greed.  The Gospel message is not tricky or hard to understand.  The Bible does teach us that it's hard for people who have a lot and people who are arrogant because they don't see with the right kind of eyes.  Read Matthew 19:24 & Proverbs 26:12

Doubt is not a sin.  You are right.  It's part of the human condition.  But continuing to doubt in the face of overwhelming evidence is just foolish.

Great job Mackinley.

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The paralyzed man who was healed by Jesus picked up his mat and walked, but since that was forbidden on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders questioned him. The man was unaware who it was that healed him until Jesus met him later at the temple.

Analysis: The paralyzed man was confused at first because he didn't know who it was that healed him. I could relate to this on a certain level because a lot of times when good things happen in my life for no reason, I don't necessarily have an explanation for it. Similar to how the paralyzed man later discovered that it was Jesus who preformed the miracle, I learned that everything that happens in my life is because of God's perfect plan for me. Everything that happens, happens for a reason and there is a specific purpose for it all.

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Jesus accuses the people of having little faith. He says that they do not accept him, and will not accept him even knowing that he comes from the one and only God.

Analysis: God knows our hearts and knows that as much as we strive for it, we may never have God's love within us. No matter how hard we try, we still sin. Even the people during Jesus's age who saw his miracles and heard his teachings were still unable to believe! Fortunately, God is so merciful and always willing to forgive us and love us unconditionally.

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Jesus continues to defense against the officials on their accusations that he was breaking the Sabbath law. He further explains that he is the son of God and is compelled to testify His truths.

Analysis: John 5: 30-40 tells us that we don’t need to take a leap of faith because God has provided testimony that Jesus is the truth. The bible tell us repeatedly that God is the absolute truth and we should trust in Him. He is the main witness and he uses His followers to testify the truth. God used Jesus's miracles while he was on earth to reach out to the people so that they may bear witness his testimonies.

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Jesus continues on preaching to the officials and explains that  whoever believes in him shall have eternal life. Then, he states that the Father has given him the authority to judge and those who have done good will rise and those who have done evil will be condemned.

Analysis: I think this passage explains that the way our fate is determined through a simple, black and white concept. If you do good and have faith then you will have eternal life, but if you do evil and don't believe then you will be condemned. I think after hearing Jesus's preaching, the officials are aware of this concept, but are too ignorant and egotistical to change.

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The leaders began to persecute Jesus because he was doing his work on the Sabbath and tried to kill him. They were furious because he was calling God his own Father. Jesus then proclaims that nothing he does is without the help of God.

Analysis: When reading passages where Jesus is persecuted I always wonder why the people didn't always believe Jesus when he said he was the Son of God.  They are seeing his miracles take place and the many people he has saved so why are they still apprehensive to believe?

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Now Jesus was in Jerusalem surrounded by a number of disabled people.  He then saw an invalid who was paralyzed for thirty-eight years and healed him merely by the words of his mouth. The man was cured and was again able to walk.

Analysis: Jesus cared and loved all the people he met. Whether they disabled, diseased, sinful he would still treat them the same love God has for us. He is all-powerful and can preform mind-blowing miracles and even still he makes himself less by treated a simple paralyzed man. This kind of selfless character is something I strive to achieve everyday and hopefully in doing so, people will see God's light through me.

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God testifies to the people, but he is still not fully heard. Jesus speaks the word of God because He has placed everything in his hands and whoever believes in him will have eternal life.

Analysis: Its in our human nature to have doubt. We doubt ourselves, we doubt others, and we unfortunately doubt the word of God. However, this verse reassures us that we should never second guess God, for he speaks truth and acts upon his unconditional love for us. Whoever has faith and believes in everything Jesus testifies has eternal life.

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Jesus left Galilee and went to Judea with his disciples. John was nearby baptizing a plethora of people when an argument arose. A man was arguing that all the people were going to Jesus to be baptized and John responds saying that he was merely "sent ahead of him" and that he will become less.

Analysis: In my opinion, the most valuable part of this passage is when John says he must become less, so that Jesus can become more. It took a lot of thinking for me to completely process this simple, yet profound statement. What John is trying to explain is that in order to glorify Jesus and make his name known, we must serve others as Jesus came to serve us. I feel like this is very applicable in today's world because it's easy to get caught up in materialistic things. We unknowingly set these worldly things at a higher value than God when in reality, glorifying God should be our number one priority. For me personally, I need to learn to "become less" by getting my face out of the consuming world of technology and spend more time serving others.

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This passage says that even though Jesus, the "light", has come into the world, people are still drawn to darkness  merely because they don't want their sins to be exposed. However, those who live by truth live in the light and God shines plainly shines through them.

Analysis: Even though Jesus came to earth, people were still drawn to darkness because it is part of our sinful nature. Sin makes people feel guilty, so it's difficult to enter in to the light of God because people don't want to be exposed. Its easy to commit a sin but it can be extremely hard to repent. However, if one lives in truth and does everything in reflection of God's perfect plan, then they will live in the light and God can plainly work through them.

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In the beginning of this passage, the disciples walk up on Jesus and the Samaritan woman having a conversation. They are obviously surprised to see this and immediately begin questioning Him. Then the woman left to go tell other Samaritans that the Messiah has come and they follow her to toward him.

Analysis: In this passage, the disciples seem apprehensive to join Jesus in conversation with the Samaritan woman merely because it is simply unheard of for a Jew and Samaritan to interact with on another. I find it odd that even though the Messiah, the son of God, who is omniscient found it necessary to talk to the Samaritan women, the disciples are still reluctant. They are even so brave as to question him saying things like, "Why are you talking to her?" and "What do you want?" I think its important to remember never to question Jesus's authority because he knows what is right and what is best for us.

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Jesus has now arrived in Cana where a royal official who had heard of his work begged him to come heal his dying son.  Jesus states that people do not believe by faith but rather by sight of his wonders, but he still gives the man his word that his son will live. When he returned home, his son was healed.

Analysis: Jesus's message in healing the royal official's child is that we shouldn't lose faith. It's in our nature to question the things we cannot tangibly see, but God reassures us within this text that we don't have to see Him to believe. With faith, God is able to work through us and bring us closer to Him. In this passage, he healed the dying boy merely by the words from his mouth, and all of the people within the household believed simply because the royal official had faith.

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Jesus leaves Samaria and heads towards Galilee. They welcome him for they have seen all that he had done in Jerusalem.

Analysis: This short passage shows the impact that Jesus has made. Not only has he shared God's word in the city of Jerusalem, but also in Samaria and Galilee. He set an example for us today that sharing the word of God has no boundaries. Also, we can learn from the people who saw Jesus shared their testimonies so that his work may be recognized all over the world.

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Many of the people who followed the women back to Jesus believed in him and urged him to stay. In the two following days Jesus stayed in Samaria, there were many more who became believers not only because of the woman's testimony but because of what they heard themselves.

Analysis: I enjoyed this passage because it shows the impact this one woman made on all those people who came to Christ. If she wouldn't have gone out and shared her testimony, none of those people would have met Jesus or heard his teachings. I learned from this that no matter how insignificant it seems, sharing one's testimonies or things they have learned could make a huge impact on other people.

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The disciples insist that Jesus eat something assuming that he must be hungry. Jesus again uses an analogy to teach a lesson to the disciples by using the food as symbolism for doing the will of God.

Analysis: I think that Jesus saying "I have food you know nothing about" is him identifying his food as doing the will of God. Similar to the way food sustains us, if Jesus didn't have the will to have complete obedience to do the will of God, then his life would have had no meaning. The food symbolizes the fact that there is a completeness that comes with Christ's ministry and when it his plans are fulfilled, we are able to truly live.

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Jesus tells the Samaritan women that though she does not have a husband she does, in fact, have five. She is shaken by this statement and realizes that he must be divine. Then, Jesus states that "salvation is from the Jews" and foresees the ending of their place of worship in Jerusalem and reveals to her that he is Jesus, the son of God.

Analysis: So far, the Samaritan women hasn't completely understood Jesus's symbolism of the water, so he gets her attention by discussing the fact that she has five husbands. The women is obviously embarrassed by his knowledge of this and quickly comes to the realization that he is a prophet. What I took from this interaction is to always be aware of the omnipresence of God. He knows everything I have done and everything I will eventually do, so I must do my best to act according to his word and follow the plan he has set for my life.

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In this passage, Jesus tries to teach the Samaritan woman the value of salvation. He uses an analogy with the water in the well to help explain his message to the woman. After hearing this, she felt in her heart the need to drink the "living water" of Jesus.

Analysis: Jesus says in John 4: 13-14 that "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst." He doesn't actually mean that he will provide tangible water, but instead the water is symbolism for salvation. If you have faith in Christ, salvation will give you deliverance from sin and eternal life with Him. Materialistic, temporary things of the world will soon make us thirsty again, but when we "drink" the water of Jesus then we may never thirst again.

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The beginning of this passage states that the people were under the impression that Jesus was baptizing more people than John when in reality, it was his disciples. This lead Jesus into pursue the city of Samaria where he sat near a well and asked an approaching woman for a drink of water. This was contradictory of Him since Jesus was a Jew and it was looked down upon to associate oneself with a Samaritan.

Analysis: I believe the message that are within this text could be very applicable to people in today. There are many cultural, physical, and spiritual differences in our present-day society that unfortunately can cause divides between people. Jesus teaches us that we are to love one another like God loves us because we are all made in his image. He portrays his teachings in John 4: 7-9 because despite their differences, he treats the Samaritan woman the same way he would treat a Jew.