Sign #2

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John 4:46-54

46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

 
 

There is something about desperation that opens up a person’s heart to Jesus. The desperate father’s plaintive request to Jesus—“Sir, come down before my child [literally “my little child”] dies”—is heartbreaking even after 2,000 years.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Why does desperation seem to open a person’s heart to Jesus? 

 

Like A Rolling Stone

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John 4:43-45

43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

 
 

Jesus has had tremendous success in Samaria, which, you know, is filled with Samaritans!

But it’s time to move on. A rolling stone gathers no moss and “a prophet has no honor in his own hometown”—in other words, Jesus doesn’t want to overstay His welcome to the point that the people start to resent Him. So, He moves along.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Often those closest to us or who have known us the longest are the hardest to reach with the gospel. Why do you think that is?

 

This Mess Of A Woman Is Now An Evangelist!

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Our Bible Study has been moved to Wednesday, February 26, due to inclement weather expected in Tulsa.

 

John 4:39-42

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

 
 

Talk about an unlikely evangelist! This poor, lost Samaritan woman becomes an evangelist. John specifically uses one of his key words when describing her work—“testimony.”

Beautifully, the townspeople tell her that they investigated for themselves, and they too now believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
This is a perfect picture of what evangelism ought to look like: the Samaritan woman telling other people what Jesus has done for her, inviting them to come and see Jesus for themselves, and then they themselves experiencing the life He offers. It is, in other words, a “harvest” (see John 4:35–38).

 

When You Reap What You *Didn't* Sow

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Our Bible Study has been moved to Wednesday, February 26, due to inclement weather expected in Tulsa.

 

John 4:27-38

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

 
 

The disciples encounter Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman and they are so shocked that they don’t say anything! She leaves and invites the townspeople to come and see Jesus. In the meantime, the disciples start talking to Jesus about food; He replies by talking about obedience, which He implies is satisfying:

34 My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work [John 4:34].

Then Jesus pivots and makes the point that there is a lot of spiritual work to be done, work that has been prepared for in the past:

38b Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor [John 4:38b].

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
That’s just a true statement, isn’t it? We are all beneficiaries of the work of those who have come before us. 

 

He's Not Talking About "Water," Is He?

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Our Bible Study has been moved to Wednesday, February 26, due to inclement weather expected in Tulsa.

 

John 4:7-26

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

 
 

This woman—a Samaritan, seen by the Jews as unclean—is out by herself in the middle of the day. She is ostracized from her community—who goes to the well in the heat of the day?—and is therefore totally shocked when Jesus approaches her. Women couldn’t initiate divorce in that culture, so she has been used (abused?) by a series of different men. She’s a mess. Jesus reaches out to her. (Love goes first.)

As the conversation begins, she thinks they are talking about water, but Jesus is talking about life in the Spirit. (In Greek, fresh, running water is called “living water.”) He says that the life that He brings will be like having a spring of water flowing up out of a person. He’ll say something similar in 7:37–38:

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’ [John 7:37–38].

The Samaritan woman is intrigued by what Jesus is telling her, and she tentatively begins to talk to Him about theological issues. Jesus explains to her that God’s plan to save the world begins with the Jews, but that once the Spirit comes, the literal place where worship happens will not matter. The temple was the place where God’s presence “dwelt,” but Jesus is now the place where heaven and earth meet (see 1:14), and after His death and resurrection the Holy Spirit will be with all who believe in Him.

All this discussion prompts this poor woman to turn in faith toward Jesus, and He reveals Himself to her. It’s a powerful moment.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Why do you think Jesus uses the metaphor of water to describe life lived in the Spirit?

 

Jesus Leaves Israel

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John 4:1-6

4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

 
 

Later in this passage John will tell us “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” [John 4:9]. But, one of the things the Old Testament prophets said would happen when the Messiah came is that He would draw all peoples to Himself. So, Jesus is here doing something unexpected for a Jewish man—deliberately placing Himself somewhere where He will have interactions with non-Jews. Why? So, He can fulfill his mission. This is what He says later in the Gospel:

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself [John 12:32].

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Looking ahead, we will see that the Samaritan woman Jesus talks to is much more open to His message than was Nicodemus, a “teacher of Israel” (see chapter 3). Why do you think that outsiders are sometimes more open to Jesus than insiders?

 

Why It's Good To Know Your Place

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John 3:22-36

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison).

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

 
 

John the Baptist knows his place. He is “of the earth…and speaks in an earthly way” whereas Jesus “comes from heaven.” Consequently, John has no problem with Jesus getting more attention and more credit. But this is not a bad thing, because John’s role is to prepare the way for Jesus, but Jesus’s role is to offer eternal life.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
It is a good thing to know your place. We cannot save ourselves; we cannot gain eternal life on our own, nor can we offer it to anyone else, nor can we raise the dead. So, when I know my place—to point people to Jesus—it is a freeing place to be, because I don’t have the pressure of having to save the world: Jesus is the Savior of the world, and all I need to do is trust Him and point other people to Him. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

 

Do You Know John 3:17?

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John 3:16-21

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

 
 

John 3:16 is rightly understood as a beautiful summary of the entire biblical story. Unfortunately, 3:17 is much less well-known, which is a shame because it helps fill out and explain v.16.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him [John 3:17].

The entire reason for the Incarnation was to save people! This raises the question, though, as to why people killed Jesus. The answer: because they preferred to stay in the dark rather than come into the light.

Light and dark are important themes in the Gospel of John, and here we see that there is a battle going on between light and dark. But John has already told us in the Prologue that light wins:

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it [John 1:5].

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
How might John 3:17 help our unbelieving world better understand the gospel?

 

Jesus The Snake

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John 3:9-15

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

 
 

In v. 14, Jesus is referring to a story in the Old Testament book of Numbers. There is a plague of snakes attacking the Israelites in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4–9), and the Lord tells Moses to make a bronze image of a snake and put it on a pole—anyone who then looks at the pole is saved. It’s a very strange story that only makes sense after the crucifixion and resurrection; after Jesus is raised, we can see that the thing that was meant for death—the cross—is the thing that makes life possible. The Old Testament story about the bronze snake was meant to teach the Israelites to be prepared for what God would ultimately do on the cross.

As with the snake, Jesus tells Nicodemus that the same thing is going to happen to Him: He will be “lifted up,” i.e., crucified, but his lifting up will make life possible for all who “look,”—i.e., believe—in Him.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
In the Roman world, the cross was a symbol of hideous cruelty, and yet it was exactly that image that the early church adopted as a sign of the gospel.

 

Above? Again?

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John 3:1-8

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 
 

In chapters 2–4, Jesus keeps interacting with an important Jewish institution or theme, and through each interaction, Jesus further reveals who He is and that what He is able to do far exceeds what the Old Covenant could offer. He then offers His hearers a choice to either turn toward Him in faith and believe, or turn away from Him in unbelief. Here, Jesus interacts with a “teacher of Israel” (3:10), that is, the Jewish leadership and authority structure. Once again, the interaction will show that Jesus is superior to what has come before.

You will not understand this interchange between Nicodemus and Jesus if you don’t understand that in Greek the same word means “again” and “from above.”

Jesus tells Nicodemus that the only way to take part in what God is doing and live in the eternal life of God (“see the kingdom of God”) is to totally reorient one’s life to live it according to God’s perspective and God’s values, that is, to be “born from above” through the Holy Spirit. In other words, Jesus is saying that for a person to live in God’s life it will require a radical reorientation of a person’s life, a reorientation—as He will explain to Nicodemus later on—that is only possible through the Holy Spirit. This is how it works:

  • The Old Testament Law offered life to those who obeyed it but death to those who disobeyed it;

  • The Father Himself fulfilled the Law’s demands by sending His own Son.

  • Jesus, as the faithful Israelite, perfectly followed the Law, thereby bringing life and blessing to all who trust Him;

  • While at the same time God condemned sin once and for all by nailing it to the cross and thereby defeating it;

  • The Son of God died in place of unfaithful Israel, and He brought sin down with Him;

  • Sin and death stayed dead, but Jesus was raised to new life in the power of the Spirit;

  • And now those who trust Jesus live by the Spirit, who enables them to actually fulfill the Law and live righteous lives;

  • Living in the Spirit is eternal life, which the Son came to bring.

And how does one receive this Spirit-life? Through a radical reordering of one’s life that begins with repentance or turning back from destruction, asking for mercy, and trusting that Jesus offers life. Jesus’s shorthand way of explaining all of this to Nicodemus is summed up this way: “You have to be born from above.” And the beautiful thing is that this life is available to anyone, anywhere—“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So, it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (v.8).

Nicodemus is a member of the Jewish religious establishment, but he totally missed the point; rather, he thick-headedly thinks Jesus is talking about literally being born through childbirth a second time!

Jesus is talking about how the Holy Spirit changes a person, but Nicodemus totally misses it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
The same blindness is constantly present around us. If people decide to turn aside from God, they are more and more lost, more and more blind. But, if people turn toward God in faith, then they see more and more clearly through the power of the Holy Spirit. This explains how something can be so obvious to us in the church and yet the world can totally miss it.

 

Jesus Knows What Is In A Man

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John 2:23-25

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

 
 

Belief in Jesus is normally a good thing, but here Jesus mistrusts the belief of many of the people because He knows their hearts. In other words, Jesus knows that the folks at the Passover feast were only superficially interested in Him because of what He was able to do. And He’s right: these same people will eventually call for Him to be crucified (see 19:15).

Later in the Gospel, John tells us that the reason why some people who believed in Jesus didn’t follow through on that belief is because they were afraid of the religious leaders:

42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God [John 12:42–43].

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Today, are your actions being driven by fear of God or fear of man?

 

Sign #7

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John 2:18-22

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

 
 

Throughout his Gospel, John is concerned with showing us the “signs” that Jesus did. The first of the signs was the water-into-wine at the wedding (2:11). The second sign will be specifically identified in 4:54. Here—and out of order—John tells us about the seventh sign, though he doesn’t specifically enumerate it in that way. Rather, when pressed for a sign, Jesus cryptically predicts His resurrection. (The implication being that when the resurrection happens, that will be the seventh sign.)

Yet again, we have here a statement from Jesus that His disciples only understood in retrospect, in light of His resurrection:

22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken [John 2:22].

The whole Gospel is like that—it only makes sense in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

P.S. In the Prologue, John told us that, in Jesus, the glory of God came to dwell among people (1:14). The temple is the place where the glory of God made His dwelling—Jesus is here telling the people that He is the true Temple.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
By giving us the remarks of the disciples, John is actually teaching us how to make sense of reality itself, as well as how to see our own lives; our lives are filled with trials and tragedies that only make sense in light of the resurrection, whereby God takes something bad and turns it into something good.

 

Jesus Makes A Whip

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John 2:13-17

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

 
 

In chapters 2–4, Jesus keeps interacting with an important Jewish institution or theme, and through each interaction, Jesus further reveals who He is and that what He can do far exceeds what the Old Covenant could offer. He then offers His hearers a choice to either turn toward Him in faith and believe or turn away from Him in unbelief. Here, the interaction involves the temple in Jerusalem during the Passover festival. 

This is the first of three Passover visits Jesus makes to Jerusalem before His death and resurrection. (This is where we get the idea that Jesus had a three-year ministry, by the way.) The reason for the animals and the money-changers is because Passover brought pilgrims from all over the Mediterranean region to Jerusalem to worship at the temple; pilgrims would need to change their foreign money into local currency before they could buy the animals they needed for the sacrifices. Jesus seems to be saying that all the commerce going on had unfortunately distracted the people from the purpose of the temple—to encounter God.

Later on, the disciples remembered a line from Psalm 69 that seemed to sum up Jesus’s attitude that day, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” Jesus’s opposition to the Jewish leaders would end up getting Him killed—you might say that the zeal He had for the Father ended up literally consuming Him. Jesus is committed to honoring the Father and obediently carrying out His will, regardless of the consequences.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Have you lost sight of the purpose of Sunday worship by allowing yourself to focus on other things that don’t really matter?

 

Sign #1

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John 2:6-12

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

 
 

Details matter. John has provided us with specific detail about the amount of water present in the stone jars—between 120–180 gallons. That is a HUGE amount of wine! Obviously, the amount of wine far exceeds what the wedding guests could possibly drink. In addition, it is wine of the highest possible quality.

Why does John want us to know these details? Because the water-into-wine is a sign. There are seven signs in John’s Gospel, and each sign reveals Jesus’s glory (see 1:14) and thereby enables belief in Him. This is the first sign.

What does the sign at the wedding teach us? The Old Testament prophets foretold a time when a person called the Messiah would come and everything would be renewed and made right. In the Old Testament prophecies, wine is an important sign of the messianic kingdom. For example, here is the Old Testament prophet Joel:

18a “And in that day
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water” [Joel 3:18a].

As the Messiah, what Jesus has to offer far exceeds anything the world can offer—He offers life and offers it in abundance (see 10:10).

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Of all the things Jesus could have done, why do you think His first sign was at a wedding?

 

"Do Whatever He Tells You"

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John is upfront about the reason why he wrote his Gospel:

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name [John 20:30–31].

Now through the end of February we will cover chapters 2–5 of John’s Gospel, and what we will see as we read is that Jesus is slowly but surely revealing Himself more clearly to the people He encounters.

The reason why I write and put together these Scripture reading guides is the same reason John wrote his Gospel, and my prayer is that, over the next month, you’ll come to know Jesus better and thereby receive more of the life that only He can offer.

Let’s go. 

 

John 2:1-5

2 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 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.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

 
 

For the next several chapters, Jesus will interact with important Jewish institutions or themes (a wedding, the temple, the Jewish leadership, a sacred well). In each interaction, He will say something cryptic that requires the listener to lean in and wonder what Jesus means. Then, He will do or say something that shows that His ministry is new (compared to the Old Covenant of Israel) and what He offers far exceeds what the Old Covenant can offer. People either then turn toward Jesus in faith and believe or turn away from Jesus in unbelief.

Here, the Jewish institution is a wedding. I think the interaction between Jesus and Mary is meant to be funny, as her response indicates. I can imagine her rolling her eyes and half-smiling as she says to the servants:

“Do whatever he tells you.”

P.S. “The hour” Jesus refers to is His death (see 13:1), but of course no one in the story could yet know that. This is one of the many cryptic statements Jesus makes that only becomes clear in retrospect.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
“Do whatever He tells you.” What is the next obedient action Jesus is asking you to take today? 

 

The Word Became Flesh

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Our new John reading guides will be available this weekend at Asbury, and we begin Part 2 Monday morning with the first sign Jesus does to show the disciples who he really is—the water-into-wine event at the wedding. Can’t wait.

 
 

John 1:1-51

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 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.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD

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! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

JESUS CALLS THE FIRST DISCIPLES

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

JESUS CALLS PHILIP AND NATHANAEL

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 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, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

 
 

For the past month, we have been slowly walking our way through the first chapter of John’s Gospel—the pace is about to pick up in the months to follow!

What John has done is introduce us to the key themes that he wants us to pay attention to as we work through the rest of his account of Jesus. Here, in this final story, we see Jesus describing Himself as a ladder between heaven and earth. He is referencing the story of the Old Testament patriarch Jacob in Genesis 28:

10 Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” [Genesis 28:10–22]

Later on in the Gospel, Jesus will specifically call Himself “the way” (John 14:6). What he is telling Nathanael is that Jesus is the connection between heaven and earth.

In the rest of the Gospel, we will learn what that means.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

What do you think it means that Jesus describes Himself as the ladder or staircase connecting heaven and earth?

 

Come And See

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John 1:43-51

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 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, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

 
 

Nathanael is skeptical of Jesus, but Phillip doesn’t try and argue with him—rather, he just simply invites him to “come and see.” I think there is a lot of wisdom in those three little words.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Who can you invite to church this weekend? Your hairdresser? Uber driver? UPS deliveryman? Neighbor across the street?

 

Jesus Calls The First Disciples

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John 1:35-42

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

 
 

Every word John the author has written is deliberately chosen and deliberately placed. John wants us to see that the thing that first got the attention of Andrew and the unknown disciple (whom we will later conclude is John the author himself) is John the Baptist’s remark that Jesus is the Lamb of God.

(That little detail “it was about the tenth hour” is a great example of eyewitness detail dropped into the story.)

Simon was a traditional Jewish name, and we know from archeological evidence that it was one of the most popular Jewish male names at the time of Jesus. Jesus gives Simon, Andrew’s brother, the nickname “Rocky.” (Cephas means “rock” in Aramaic, and Peter means “rock” in Greek, and because most of the early Christians spoke Greek, Peter became the name by which Simon Peter was known in the early church.)

What I love about this little story is how Andrew brings his brother to Jesus, who then speaks to Peter in a way that is personal to him.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

This is how it always is with Jesus—it is our privilege to bring other people to Him, but then He takes over and speaks to them in a way that is personal and meaningful to them.

 

Why Does John Call Jesus A "Lamb"?

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John 1:29-34

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! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

 
 

Each Israelite family sacrificed a lamb during the Passover holiday, as a way of formally remembering the way the Lord rescued the Hebrews from Egypt. During the Exodus, the Lord commanded each family to take the blood from the sacrifice and mark the doorway into their houses so the terrible tenth plague—the death of the firstborn—would “pass over” each house that was marked with the blood of the lamb.

By calling Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” John the Baptist is saying that Jesus is the true sacrifice who will once and for all take away sin.

We’ll have to wait nineteen chapters in John’s Gospel to see this idea finally pay off in the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY

How was the death of Jesus on the cross like that of a Passover lamb?

P.S. Note the language of “witness” in today’s passage. John the author wants us to understand that John the Baptist was a trustworthy witness to Jesus.

 

Why Did John Baptize?

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John 1:19-28

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 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.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 
 

John is out baptizing people in the River Jordan, and a delegation of religious officials comes to question him. In Judaism at the time, converts to Judaism were baptized as a way of showing their spiritual cleansing as they became part of Israel. So, by baptizing people who were already Jews, John is implying that all of Israel needs to be cleansed to get ready for the new thing that is going to happen.

The Israelites had to cross the Jordan River when they first entered the Promised Land, so the location John chose for his baptisms is significant—he is implying that God is about to do something new for His people.

But, to make it clear, John says that he is just someone God is using to prepare the way.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY

John is preparing the people for Jesus. How can you smooth out the path in front of someone today to make it easier for them to come to the Lord?