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?

 

The Prologue

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John 1:1-18

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.

 
 

Today we have completed our reading of the prologue of John’s Gospel. I challenged us to memorize these first eighteen verses. How’s it coming? Use the weekend to really cement these words into your memory.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The reason we memorize Scripture is because once we have it in our minds, we have stored there something that God can use to shape us. The more Bible we have in our brains, the more material God has to work with!

 

What Does God Look Like?

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John 1:18

18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

 
 

In Exodus, we read that Moses wants to see God, but the Lord tells him that that is an impossibility:

18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” [Exodus 33:18–23]

But the astounding fact of the Incarnation is that the fullness of God has come in the person of Jesus Christ.

What is God like? What is the mind behind the universe like? Look at Jesus and you’ll know.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY

How does it change what you think about reality when you realize that the God behind it all came in the person of Jesus and healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and died and rose again?

 

Jesus Is The Fulfillment Of The Ten Commandments

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John 1:17

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

 
 

The Lord gave the Israelites the Law on Mount Sinai so that they would know how to live—if you obey the Law, you will be blessed. The Law was a guidebook to life and the way to blessing. But the Law, which was good, was unable to fix what was wrong in peoples’ hearts, and so all along God’s plan to save the world was to send His one and only Son. The Son was perfectly obedient to the Law, thereby releasing blessing into the world, and all who trust in Him receive life and blessing they didn’t earn.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Grace is receiving something good you didn’t deserve. In light of what God has done for you in Jesus, how can you then show grace to someone else today?

 

It's Not Just Theoretical

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John 1:16

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

 
 

John has told us that Jesus was “full of grace and truth” (v. 14).

Now, he goes further and tells us that those who know Him don’t just know about Him theologically and theoretically, but that they have actually received grace from Him.

It’s a beautiful reminder that Jesus doesn’t just show us what God is like, but that, to those who trust Him, he actually brings the steadfast love and covenant faithfulness of God into their lives.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY

Do you have a relationship with Jesus?

 

Jesus Was Before John, But Born After Him

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John 1:15

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.’”)

 
 

John the author wants us to understand that John the Baptist understood the true identity of Jesus; though Jesus was born after him, John understood that He came “before” him, both in the sense of rank and in the sense of existence. The Son of God has always existed, along with the Father and the Spirit.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY

In your next interaction today, how can you be more like John the Baptist and point people toward Jesus?

 

"Tabernacled"

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John 1:14

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.

 
 

The tabernacle was the moveable tent that the Lord had the Israelites construct during their desert wanderings, after the Passover and the parting of the sea but before the Promised Land. At the end of Exodus, the tabernacle is complete, and the glory of God comes and dwells in the tent, right in the midst of the Israelite camp:

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. [Exodus 40:34–38]

The presence of God is manifested in a cloud of glory. In Exodus, in fact, no one is able to see the “face” of God and live—God’s power is too bright (Exodus 33:20).

But with Jesus, something remarkable has happened.

John, a master artist, has chosen a specific Greek word that is here translated as “dwelt”—it’s the verb form of the word for “tabernacle.” So, here is what John literally says:

The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.

In other words, the same glory that was made manifest to Moses and the Israelites in the tent has now come in the person of Jesus!

John says that he has seen the “glory” of the Son.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

How is the glory of God shown in the Crucifixion of the Son? How does that redefine our idea of the glory of God?

P.S. This month, I am memorizing the prologue of the Gospel of John, 1:1-18. Today, we’re up through verse 14. If you are behind, take the weekend and catch up!

P.P.S. Note that Jesus is the Son of the Father. There is no Father without the Son, and vice versa—there has always been Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (though the Spirit has not yet been formally introduced to us in John’s Gospel).

 

There Are Two Kinds Of People

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John 1:12-13

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.

 
 

Remember, one of the purposes of the prologue is for John to introduce the main themes of his Gospel. One of those themes is that there are two kinds of people:

1. Those who receive and believe in Jesus and who as a result become part of God’s people—with all that entails;
2. Those who don’t.

Throughout the rest of the Gospel, we will see this distinction between people play out over and over again.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

This distinction is still playing out in our day. Despite all the ways of dividing people, there is really only one division that matters—those who believe in Jesus, and those who don’t.

 

Even Israel Missed Its Messiah

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John 1:11

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

 
 

One of the themes of John’s Gospel is that the Jews missed their Messiah. Why?

Well, John is concerned with showing us the grievous effects of spiritual blindness—you can be so blinded by pride and sin that you miss what is most obvious right in front of you.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

“Lord, if there is something in my life I’ve been blinded to, please make it clear to me today.”

 

Everyone Needs Jesus (But Not Everyone Knows It)

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John 1:9

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

 
 

What does it mean that a man is the true light?

It means (among other things) that the only way to perceive reality clearly and correctly is through Jesus.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY

Take a problem you are currently worried about. What would it look like for you to “see” it in light of Jesus?

 

John The Baptist Wasn't The Point

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John 1:8

8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

 
 

John the Baptist was an electric figure in 1st century Judea, but as important as he was, John the author wants us to understand that his only job was to testify about the Light of the World.

In some ways, nothing has changed: we all have important work to accomplish, but that work is all in service of pointing people to Jesus, who is the light of the world.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

How could you use the first interaction you have with someone after reading this sentence to point toward Jesus?

 

P.S. Have you been working on memorizing your verses? We should have learned through verse 8 today. If you’re behind, catch up over the weekend. Remember, by January 24 my goal is to have memorized verses 1–18.

Witness

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John 1:6-7

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.

 
 

John the Baptist is the John referred to in today’s verse. Here, we are introduced to another key idea in the Gospel—“witness.”

The testimony of witnesses is an important theme in John’s Gospel. John the author himself is a witness of the crucifixion (see 19:35), and we will learn later that the entire Gospel is in fact true testimony about Jesus (21:24).

QUESTION OF THE DAY

If you were put on the witness stand today, what testimony could you provide about Jesus?