Week 4 - John 2:1-13 - Sign 1 Wedding at Cana

Weddings take a long time to plan.  When planned, only Jesus was invited.  When it occurred, he had five disciples in tow.  They were welcomed, but when they ran out of wine, Mary comes to Jesus internally understanding that her family was part of the cause.

John 2:2-3

Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

Mary's instruction to the servants carried the authority of being a close family friend.  It was not anticipatory of a miracle, for she had never seen Jesus do a miracle.  This was the first sign.  

The miracle itself was quiet, yes it involved the servants but it was not for the master of ceremonies, or the bride and groom, or the parents throwing the party.  None of them knew it happened.  It was also not for Jesus' siblings who were present (See John 2:12) who remained in opposition to Him (John 7:1-7, Especially vs 5).

This miracle was for His disciples.  

John 2:11

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

One very large jar of water for each of them (Five disciples plus one for Jesus himself) was turned from water to wine, very fine wine. 

We have experienced the very fine wine of the blessings of God in our life.  These blessings have bolstered our faith.  With them we have a great responsibility:

Psalm 78:4
We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.

Psalm 145:4
One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Joel 1:3
Tell your children of it,
    and let your children tell their children,
    and their children to another generation.

Isaiah 38:19
The living, the living, he thanks you,
    as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
    your faithfulness.

 

 

 

 

Week 3 - John 1:35-51 - The First Disciples

John the Baptist continued to point away from himself and to Jesus as the Messiah.  Two of his own disciples who were nearby heard him.

John 1:29

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

But oddly only one of them was named.

John 1:40

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

The second disciple is not named but it is generally understood (by both the early church fathers and current scholarship) that it was John, this Gospel’s author, for he never mentions himself (John 18:15; John 20:2–8).

If true, the prior section comes into sharper focus as the recording of the testimony of John the Baptist, by his disciple at the time, John.  In the narration, he did not assert his own witness out of respect for his Rabbi (Matthew 10:24; Luke 6:40).

Again, John's purpose in his gospel is to prove the divinity of Jesus.  He then records the miraculous exchange between Jesus and Nathanael.  When Jesus identifies as "an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!", Nathanael recoils and asks "How do you know me?".  Jesus' response demonstrates his omnipresence.

John 1:48b

“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Jesus spoke of Nathanael’s private moment, possibly studying scripture before Phillip arrived.  Speculation points to the use of “deceit” in Psalms 32:1-5 so he may have been shocked to hear the passage recited back to him!

In a you-think-that-was-great moment, Jesus tells them not of the miracles to come that of healing or raising the dead, but rather the blessing they will all receive if they follow Him.  

John 1:50-51

Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,[a] you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

That is the blessing that Jacob received (Genesis 28; Genesis 32) as he was transformed from the trickster (yaʿăqōḇ) in Genesis 25:26 to the tenacious Israel (yiśrā'ēl) in Genesis 32:28.

So, this was not an event they would see, but rather a blessing they would receive, the Emanuel, God-with-us (Matthew 1:23, John 1:14), if they too prevailed.

Week 2 - John 1:19-34 - The Testimony

This passage was not simply a conversation.  These were representatives of the Jewish legal system.  He used the word “confessed” (homologeō), which would be used in court to plead guilty.  The word was repeated for emphasis and clarity. 

John 1:19-21
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Le-vites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”  

But he is the one fulfilling the prophecy (Isaiah 40:1-5; Luke 1:17) and was validated by Jesus (Matthew 11:11-15). 

John 1:23

He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

And it was with that voice that he gave this prophetic testimony:

John 1:29
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  

Normally two witnesses are required (Deuteronomy 19:15) to bring any testimony.  John, the Baptist, however, was singularly “a voice” (Isaiah 40:3) in the wilderness.  But, no other testimony was given or was necessary for the word of a prophet must always be tested (Deuteronomy 18:21–22, 1 John 4:1–2).  

So, the Book of John is that test.  John, the Disciple, relates seven signs (sēmeion) in his Gospel as evidence.  Then after giving this evidence, John spends the remainder of his gospel giving a detailed account of the Passion of Christ and concludes with the ultimate evidence, the Resurrection.

Week 1 - John 1:1-18 - The Word

Here John introduces to us to the Second Person of the Trinity, the ever existent Son of God, and His role in creation.  But we need to stop for a moment and grasp the simple thought He is called "the Word" because God created by speaking.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

While Einstein famously discovered that all matter is made of light, we knew that already from scripture.

Genesis 1:3
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

But a second thing was necessary, life itself.  This He gave universally.

John 1:4

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

And for anyone and everyone with received that light, a third thing was necessary, that being faith.  

Anyone with faith has the legal "right" to become a child of God.  Anyone who walks down the aisle; Anyone who raises the hand; Anyone who prays the prayer.  Anyone who looked on the Bronze Serpent in the wilderness was healed (Numbers 21:4-9).  For a moment, let go of the doctrine of election and let that sink in, for that is the core of evangelism.

John 1:12-13

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

But, yes God is sovereign and faith is only for the elect, so a fourth thing is necessary and this brings us back to the Word.  During creation our name was spoken and written down in the book of life.

Revelation 13:7-9

Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

When we visited my Aunt Marie and Uncle Loyal, there was some times a visit to Lollypop Farm.  

It had an extensive petting zoo, where my bearded Father, then sporting a goatee, was once famously photographed with a goat.  That life-sized and award-winning (Uncle Loyal was a great photographer) hung in our house for years!

One of the last times that we visited the farm, long after Uncle Loyal had passed away, and after the divorce had split our family, we ventured into the Humane Society portion of the farm to see the dogs that were up for adoption.

One little black and white ball of fluff caught our eye and my sister and I began the chant of “Can we?  Can we?”.

All it took was one little word from our mother, and Meisje (“little girl” in Dutch) became part of our family and she heard her name for the first time.

Praise be to the LORD God, that the Word, our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, spoke our name before the foundation of the world!