John 4:3-6

He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
John 4:3-6 (NKJV)

One thing that appears different about the Gospel of John is the "traveling" between Judea (Jerusalem in particular) and Galilee. In Matthew (ch. 20-27), Mark (ch. 11-15), and Luke (ch. 19-23), Jesus in Jerusalem is pretty much just at the end of their accounts of the Life and Work of Jesus.

Go ahead and run a search of the Gospel of John and the keyword "Jerusalem" and you will find that there are several episodes in Jerusalem prior to the final week leading up to the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

The simplest explanation is that Matthew, Mark, and Luke simply omitted these other visits to Jerusalem. As for the Temple cleansing episode of John 2, there are two possible explanations: Jesus cleansed the Temple twice or John is telling that story out of sequence.

But enough about traveling. In John 4, Jesus is in between Galilee and Judea in Samaria (or as the old preacher's joke goes, "some area) and he takes a break. Here below is a nice map. Jesus stops at Sychar.

image source: http://www.bible-history.com/maps/Map-Samaria-Central-Palestine.gif

Jesus sat by Jacob's Well. We can read about the location at this tourism web page. 

But what is remarkable to me is the simple description, Jesus wearied from His journey, sat by the well at the sixth hour (noon). 

On one hand, we (followers of Jesus) often talk about his miracles and his power and his divine nature. And the Gospel of John has a lot of material along those lines. But John also has these little vignettes that show Jesus' humanity. It is a great mystery how Jesus is truly God and truly human. However, that is what we can conclude from the Bible.

A video I recently saw from Fred Sanders (Biola theology professor) discussed this mystery of the two natures of Christ. In his summary, Sanders said, only God can save us - hence Jesus is divine (Council of Nicaea). Yet, "what is not assumed is not healed" said St. Gregory of Nazianzus at the Council of Constantinople; thus, Jesus is also truly human.

Lord, thank you for the humanity of Jesus. You know weariness. You know thirst. You know the heat of the mid-day sun. In my moments of despair for trivial and legitimate reasons and I feel the experience of human weakness; thank you that you are familiar with these feelings. You have walked that path. And now, I do not have to walk it alone because of what you have done. Amen.

John 4:1-2

After a long hiatus, am back to blogging through the Bible. I am amazed that some folks can write every day or nearly everyday for years on end. Will see how much I can do with this New Year's Resolution to return to blog writing. The tentative goal will be around once a week!

And so back to where we left off many years ago ... the Gospel of John!

1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were) ... 
John 4:1-2 (NASB)

Sitting here in the 21st Century, when we think of baptism, we think of Christian Church baptism. It could be sprinkling of infants or adults. It could be immersion in a baptistry in a church. It could be immersion at the beach or other natural body of water. The mode of baptism is a whole separate conversation.

But what about baptism before the church even existed? Was it practiced in Old Testament Times? What of the baptism performed by John the Baptist?

The folks over at GotQuestions offer this answer. Here are excerpts:

The origins of baptism might be found in the book of Leviticus where the Levite priests were commanded to perform a symbolic cleansing in water before and after performing their priestly duties. [.....] John’s “baptism of repentance” (Luke 3:3; Acts 19:4) followed this paradigm of cleansing, although the final cleansing from sin is only available through Christ, and John’s baptism was the foreshadowing of that. The significance of baptism as a New Testament ceremony is that, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are baptized into His death (Romans 6:3) and raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4 KJV).

At Ligonier Ministry, they offer these thoughts on the meaning of John's baptism:

John the Baptist’s ministry was Isaiah’s straight, flat highway in the desert preparing the people to be ready for the kingdom of God to come in power and end their spiritual exile. His baptism was preparatory, revealing Israel must turn from the same uncleanness marking her Gentile persecutors. John is seen as the new Elijah, for he is a prophet of the coming Messiah (Mal. 4:5–6; Matt. 11:1–14). His baptism is not the same as the one Jesus commands (Matt. 28:18–20), but it does share points of contact. The most important of these is our need to repent of our sin so that we can enter Christ’s kingdom (Mark 1:14–15).

John's baptism was about repentance, for another instance, see Mark 1:4. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia ..... "a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done."

And so when we repent, we turn away from something we have done (behavior change) or turn away from a prior commitment of purpose (value or attitude change).

In John 4, the preaching of John the Baptist and Jesus was having this impact on people. The act of baptism was a public declaration that a 180 degree change had taken place. Christian baptism symbolizes our identification with Jesus death and raising into the newness of life. It too is a public declaration that a 180 degree change had taken place.

Heavenly Father, thank you that your drew me to yourself. Thank you that when I first began walking with you, you placed me in a good church that encouraged me to seek you and to follow the teachings found in the Bible. Thank you that you led me to the waters of baptism to declare to others I belonged to you. Help me to repent amidst the ongoing challenge in living for you. I constantly need to re-examine and renounce what is grabbing my attention and affections. Help me to to repent of my latest selfish deeds. Amen.

John 3:22-36

After this Jesus and his disciples went into Judea, where he spent some time with them and was baptizing. John was baptizing at Aenon near Salem because there was a lot of water there, and people were coming to him and being baptized. (John hadn’t yet been thrown into prison.)

A debate started between John’s disciples and a certain Jew about cleansing rituals. They came to John and said, "Rabbi, look! The man who was with you across the Jordan, the one about whom you testified, is baptizing and everyone is flocking to him."

John replied,"No one can receive anything unless it is given from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said that I'm not the Christ but that I’m the one sent before him. The groom is the one who is getting married. The friend of the groom stands close by and, when he hears him, is overjoyed at the groom’s voice. Therefore, my joy is now complete. He must increase and I must decrease. The one who comes from above is above all things. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all things. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever accepts his testimony confirms that God is true. The one whom God sent speaks God’s words because God gives the Spirit generously. The Father loves the Son and gives everything into his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever doesn’t believe in the Son won’t see life, but the angry judgment of God remains on them."
(CEB)

One of the challenges of translating certain passages is that it isn't always clear where the quotation marks belong because in the original Greek text that John's Gospel was written in didn't include quotation marks.  In most cases, a plain reading in context points to where the quotes should go.  But sometimes it isn't so easy.

Take a look again at this passage and see how John the Baptist starts speaking "No one can receive anything unless ... "  In this translation, the quote goes all the way out to " ... the angry judgment of God remains on them."

Is it possible that the quote ends earlier and the latter part is "commentary" by John the Apostle?

For example, check out the ESV, TNIV and NRSV translations of the text where John the Baptist quote is ended with his statement  He must increase and I must decrease. 

Indeed, that does sound like a logical place for John the Baptist to have stopped speaking?

What was John the Baptist's message?

John the Baptist points toward Christ by explicitly saying he is NOT the Christ but the one sent before Him.  John the Baptist then uses the analogy of the difference between the Groom and the friend of the Groom.  He wraps up by declaring:  Therefore, my joy is now complete. He must increase and I must decrease. 

At this point, it is possible that John the Baptist elaborated further.  But equally possible is that John the Apostle picks up the ideas but uses themes already introduced in the earlier parts of the Gospel to extend the conversation beyond John the Baptist's remarks. 

The one who comes from above is above all things. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all things. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever accepts his testimony confirms that God is true.

The "above" type language is straight from the mouth of Jesus in the earlier parts of John 3.  The "heaven" image has been used previously by Jesus John 3:13 and John the Baptist in John 3:31.  The "testify" motif shows up in John 1:7-8, 2:25, 3:11.  Almost all of these reference back to something connected to the divine nature of Jesus.

John the Apostle round out the commentary by drawing upon the majesty and the mystery of the Trinity in how God speaks through the sending of His Son and the giving of the Holy Spirit and the need to believe/trust in the Son. This kind of language makes a whole lot more sense post Pentacost - when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Church after the Resurrection and Ascension that would not have been available to John the Baptist.

The one whom God sent speaks God’s words because God gives the Spirit generously. The Father loves the Son and gives everything into his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever doesn’t believe in the Son won’t see life, but the angry judgment of God remains on them.

How is this rather "theological" section applicable to daily life?

I think we can definitely take John the Baptist's example of not taking the spotlight but instead point to Jesus the Christ. We really need a God is God and I am not attitude in life.  And after we have by our life and deeds and words, pointed to Christ, we leave it to God since He is the one who gives the Spirit that works mysteriously, invisibly and sometimes/sometimes not subtly like the wind to change people's lives.

Lord, help me to trust in your Son and step into eternal living each day.  Help me to decrease so that you may increase.  Help me to point people to you.  Amen

John 3:1-21

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:  the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

It is interesting that Nicodemus came at night.  He could be nervous about being seen with the controversial Jesus.  On the other hand, a night time visit without the crowds could permit greater conversation without the distractions.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

I wonder what else was in the mind of Nicodemus at this point.  He either didn't understand Jesus or he understood but didn't accept Jesus' ideas.

I would guess that Nicodemus as an upstanding Pharisee and ruler of the Jews (probably part of the Sanhedrin, the leadership body of the Jews of the time) thought he would be able to see and enter the kingdom of God.  In particular, he might think, "I'm born Jewish in a long line of Jewish ancestors and we are the chosen people.  What do you mean I have to be born of some other way to enter the kingdom?!"

Aside from believing he was born of the right people to see the kingdom, he had very specific views on how God works in the world.   The Pharisees were big on obedience to the law.  The Sadducees were the keepers of the Temple.  The Zealots wanted to restore Israel by getting rid of the Romans.  The Essenes wanted to restore Israel by separating themselves from everybody who wasn't one of them.  Put in "contemporary" terms, you might say the Pharisees were the populists while the Sadducees were the elites; the Zealots the revolutionaries while the Essenes were the isolationists.

And so, Nicodemus probably had a point-of-view on how God wanted things done.  Thus, Jesus talking about "born again" and "born of water and Spirit" would fly in the face of his expectations of what was needed.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Jesus perked up Nicodemus ears with "born again," "water," "spirit" and "wind."  But now, he shifted back to something he would definitely recognize:  the story of the healing of the people when Moses raised up a serpent on a standard.  The healing was from God but the requirement was for the people believe and follow the instructions to look at the serpent on the pole.  To see the story go to Numbers 21:4-9.

John then steps into the narrator role and launches into an explanation and summary of what has just taken place.  He starts this mini sermon with perhaps the most famous verse in the Christian Scriptures, John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.  
(KJV)

Belief isn't a blind leap into the dark.  It is more like trust.  In the dramatic moment in an adventure film, one character says to the other that is about to fall to their death, give me your hand and the hearer of that offer must decide, do I trust?  Is the outreached hand accompanied with a snarling face? Or is the outreached hand extended with love in the eyes?

God has reached out to humanity, to you and to me, through Jesus the Christ.

Lord, thank you for your mercy in reaching out to us, to me.  Out of your love, you were not content to let us die in sin and darkness.  Instead, you sent Jesus to bring light, life and a way back to a right relationship with You, with others and with ourselves.  Thank you.  Amen.

John 2:12-25

After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.  Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

He found in the temple courts those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at tables.  So he made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple courts, with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  To those who sold the doves he said, "Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father's house a marketplace!"  His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will devour me." 

So then the Jewish leaders responded, "What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?"  Jesus replied, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again."  Then the Jewish leaders said to him, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?"  But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body.  So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken.

Now while Jesus was in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing.  But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.  He did not need anyone to testify about man, for he knew what was in man. 
(NET)

John's Gospel has a certain directness that appeals to many readers.  Of course, readers who want something more "subtle" sometimes feel John is too simple.

But, on the other hand, amidst the "simplicity" of John's telling of the Jesus story, delving deeper and looking more closely shows it isn't so simply at all.

One theme in John is the question of belief/unbelief.

Often times the people who believed Jesus were the ones we least expected to belief!  And, likewise, the ones who didn't believe were the ones we think should know better!

The other big theme in John is pointing to who Jesus really is and to the Cross.

In this passage, there is a whole lot of pointing going on!

Jesus called the Temple, "My Father's House."

If you or I were really upset about commerce occurring in the worship space of a church and had the guts (I don't think I have that kind of boldness) to overturn the tables and chase them out, we might say, "Get out of here, you are using God's/Lord's house as a market place."  I suppose some might say, "The Heavenly Father's House."  But "My Father's House?"  Dunno.  Don't think so.

But for Jesus, entirely proper.

The pointing toward the Cross however is a bit more subtle.  Jesus said destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up again.  If one heard that proclamation with no context of resurrection, it would sound like crazy talk.  But John's post-resurrection editorial comment makes it clear to the listeners and readers of the Gospel:  But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body.  So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken.

Another feature of the Gospel of John I hadn't fully appreciated was the "Jewishness" of it.  Of course, much of the growth in the early church was in reaching the Gentiles. But the message of Jesus is rooted in God's work among the Jews.  I do wonder what it was like for the Gentile believers who had no idea of any of the Jewish stories.  I suppose as part of their church life, the teaching elders would have explained how God worked among the Jews and cited examples from the Hebrew Scriptures and the punch line would be: God is still working today and now includes everybody!

In John's writing of this Gospel, there are periodic mentions of Passover.  Jesus is often at Jerusalem for the Passover in the various episodes in John.  To this day, Jews celebrate Passover to remember how God delivered them out of the slavery of Egypt.  And indeed, we now celebrate the ultimate Passover in that Jesus has delivered us from sin and death.

One controversy about this passage of driving out the money changers is about its location within the Gospel of John (very early) while in the other Gospels, it occurs very late.

Some speculate that Jesus drove out the money changers twice in his life time.

Another possibility is that the Gospel of John is not always chronological and that he juxtaposed this event with the water into wine event to suit his teaching aims.  Perhaps, John wanted to pair the first sign (water into wine) with Jesus pointing to the final sign (death and resurrection).

We need to remember that the Bible writers should not be constrained by our 21st Century expectations of what a biography looks like.  Today, we get 500+ page tomes with tons of footnotes and usually a chronological narrative.  In the early church, the text was hand written on precious and hard to come by materials.  Thus, the text tends to be terse compared to modern writing styles.

Also, these texts were read aloud for meetings as part of teaching components in worship.  And so they are not mere reportage of the events of Jesus life but sermons.  Thus, there are times when John steps in the text with explanation and amplification of the episode he recounted.

As we approach Christmas of 2012, let's remember the miracle of this story:  God coming into the world to dwell among us.  God could have used a megaphone and said, "God loves everyone."  But no, he sent Jesus to dwell among us.  And indeed, to suffer and die on a Cross.  And rose again the third day!  Death is no longer the last chapter for those who would trust in Jesus.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. 

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. 

 Amen!

John 2:1-11

Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there,  and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.  When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no wine left."  Jesus replied, "Woman, why are you saying this to me? My time has not yet come."  His mother told the servants, "Whatever he tells you, do it." 

Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  Jesus told the servants, "Fill the water jars with water." So they filled them up to the very top.  Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the head steward," and they did.  When the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called the bridegroom  and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper wine when the guests are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!"  Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.  (NET)

What to make of this episode?

This passage sometimes comes up in wedding celebrations with the officiant saying some variation of, "And so we know the high value of marriage for Jesus attended the wedding at Cana."

But compared to some of the other miracles, this does seem a bit "mundane" as miracles go as it is meant to keep the party going!

But perhaps that is part of the point of this "sign."

Remember, the idea of signs is to point to who Jesus is or point to the Cross or both!

And so, indeed, through Jesus, through his mission on the earth, He brings us to the knowledge of God and we are drawn into a celebration.

So perhaps this sign points to celebration and its a big one with 120-180 gallons of wine and to top it off wine of good quality.

At another level, one wonders if the water to wine miracle points to the Cross in a symbolic way?

Jesus told us to remember whenever as a church family we break bread (Jesus body broken for us) and drink wine (Jesus blood shed for us) in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper (or eucharist or communion; name depending on the type of church one attends).

And so interestingly, the wine was made from water placed into pots used for "ceremonial washing."

If the ritual of the time was ceremonial washing of hands with water, how much greater a washing of our whole being from our sins through the blood of Christ on the Cross?

And so as a result of this sign, his disciples believed in Jesus.

Perhaps, at a superficial level, Jesus must be special as he performed a transmutation of water into wine.  But perhaps, they began to glimpse something more about the King who was ushering in the Kingdom of God?  Certainly, after the institution of the Lord's Supper at the Last Supper, the symbolism of this miracle could be more striking.

Lord, thank you that you have brought us into your family to be Children of God and into a grand celebration.  Thank you for the Cross which we remember with simple symbols of bread and wine.  You have cleansed me from sin with your blood.  May you continue to cleanse me by renewing my mind, strengthening my conscience and empowering my will to follow your ways.  Amen.

John 1:29-51

In addition to the role of signs pointing to Jesus and the Cross and the significance of that, John's Gospel offers portraits of the journey towards belief mixed with stories of unbelief.

Belief, in our modern language, has taken on the meaning, believing in something you know isn't true. In our day and age, belief is wishful thinking about something that isn't real. However, in the strictest sense of the meaning, in the Bible, belief is trust and a trust placed in someone worthy of trust. Thus, belief, trust, faith, in the Biblical sense, has some foundation.

And so in this portion of John, we get three examples of belief.

First, John the Baptist.

On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one about whom I said, 'After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.' I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel." Then John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining - this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God." 

What was John the Baptist's journey to faith?

His mother Elizabeth knew Mary, the mother of Jesus.  One wonders if John the Baptist grew up hearing stories about Mary and the miraculous/mysterious Jesus?  Did he spend time as a youth with Jesus?

Interestingly, twice in this passage, John the Baptist said, I did not recognize him!

Is his failure to recognize him a feature of perhaps knowing Jesus while growing up and thinking Jesus as rather unremarkable?

In any case, in this episode, John the Baptist was moved to call him "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  And John the Baptist saw the Spirit descending upon Jesus.  Apparently, God broke through!

The second episode tells about Andrew and Simon Peter's journey to belief.
 
Again the next day John was standing there with two of his disciples. Gazing at Jesus as he walked by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" When John's two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, "What do you want?" So they said to him, "Rabbi" (which is translated Teacher), "where are you staying?" Jesus answered, "Come and you will see." So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. Now it was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two disciples who heard what John said and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is translated Christ). Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon, the son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

Andrew was already following John the Baptist.  John the Baptist starting calling Jesus, "the Lamb of God!"  And so Andrew decided to follow Jesus.  Was it curiosity?

Andrew wound up staying with Jesus for the day.  Oh, what it would have been like to be a fly on the wall during that time!  Something amazing must have happened because Andrew told his brother Simon Peter, we found the Messiah!

John the Baptist saw the Spirit descending on Jesus. Andrew spent an afternoon with Jesus. As a result both believed.

The third story is Philip and Nathanael.

On the next day Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.) Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael replied, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip replied, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, "Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael asked him, "How do you know me?" Jesus replied, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel!" Jesus said to him, "Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these." He continued, "I tell all of you the solemn truth - you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Why did Philip start to follow Jesus? We don't know for sure but look at what he told Nathanael: "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

Somehow in spending time with Jesus, Philip who apparently knew his Scriptures very well, concluded Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures.

Meanwhile, Nathanael was skeptical. Yet, when Jesus said he saw Nathanael was under the fig tree, Nathanael's skepticism melted away. Should we assume that Nathanael was under the fig tree figuring no one else was around and yet Jesus knew he was there? But why was that so significant? Perhaps, Nathanael was engaged in serious meditation and prayer? Perhaps, he was deeply troubled by something? Perhaps, he was contemplating the news that John the Baptist was calling this Jesus of Nazareth the Lamb of God and wondering, is it actually possibly true?

The journey to belief is different for everyone. Perhaps, one has had parents and family members who were believers like John the Baptist may have known about Jesus since childhood. Perhaps, one gets to spend time with people who embody what it means to be a Christian like Philip getting to spend time with Jesus. Perhaps, one searched the Scriptures and find faith like Phililp. Perhaps, God meets us in some unusual way knowing us in a way only God could know us like Nathanael.

Lord, please work through me to reveal you to people I meet. Lord, please work in my church so that people see YOU when they come to church and when we go out about our lives. Lord, please work through the church around the world, especially in the hard places, revealing your love and your truth. Amen.

John 1:19-28

Now this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed - he did not deny but confessed - "I am not the Christ!" So they asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not!" "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No!" Then they said to him, "Who are you? Tell us so that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" John said, "I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said." (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ) So they asked John, "Why then are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not recognize, who is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal!" These things happened in Bethany across the Jordan River where John was baptizing.
(NET)

One of the challenges of reading the Bible is to factor in the cultural and temporal distance between us and the people who first received a portion of Scripture. The early church would have read the text aloud in their meetings because the painstakingly hand written copies would be exceedingly rare and precious.

Today, we can read the text for ourselves from bound copies of the Bible or electronic versions on various devices. As such, we may miss the dynamics of how the text sounded.  And so read this text aloud and right off the bat one can probably feel how it was written for the ear.

Note the triplet of negative confessions by John the Baptist: "I am not the Christ!" "I am not!" (Elijah) "No!" (I'm not the Prophet).

There was no question that John the Baptist was a compelling figure. His potent message had attracted considerable attention resulting in followers and opponents. It would have been very easy to let all of that acclaim go to his head. But he knew his mission and his role and so the triplet of negatives.

He then went positive to explain his role: I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, "Make straight the way for the Lord."

He followed up by pointing to someone greater than himself: I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not recognize, who is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal!

A couple of months back, I heard a podcast by Prof. Fred Sanders. He was making a point about the challenge of "pointing." As Christians, our role is to point people to Jesus. That isn't always so easy because of our own weakness but also the weakness of the one watching us pointing. He explained by way of illustraion, when we point at something, a dog may look at what we are pointing at or at the end of our finger. The more we point, the more the dog is intrigued by our finger. Thus, as human beings, in regards to pointing at spiritual truths, we may often get stuck looking at the fingertip and not what is being pointed at.

The people saw the dramatic preaching of John the Baptist and the positive responses of many of the listeners and thus, they wonder, Is He the Christ?

John the Baptist immediately, says, no, no, no. I'm pointing to someone else who is far greater. I'm pointing to someone else who is going to do something else far greater than I.

This notion of "pointing" or "signs" will turn out to be a useful template to view much of the Gospel of John. In future passages, Jesus would do miracles and these acted as signs pointing to something greater. But many in the audience would focus on the miracle itself and miss the point!

And so what is the point? The Prologue in John 1:1-18 and the purpose statement of John 20:30-31.

Sprinkled throughout the Gospel of John will be little "sermons" of what the point is interspersed with episodes of people missing the point or struggling to get the point. In some cases the people involved eventually come to recognize that Jesus is "God who became flesh to give us light and life."

Lord, have mercy. Help me NOT to miss the point. Help me to be someone willing to be like John the Baptist and speak for and point to Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

John 1:1-18

When I started this blog, I opted not to try to blog straight through from Genesis to Revelation. I figured I'd sample different parts of the Scriptures. In some cases, I wanted to examine portions that don't come up very often in typical sermons or small group Bible studies. For example, the just concluded series of blog posts was on Nahum. Send me an email if you have heard a sermon from Nahum! Or even a quote of a verse from Nahum in a sermon!  I'd be curious to hear how it was discussed.

For the next series, I thought I'd go with something familiar, the Gospel of John. When I first started to follow Jesus, I was advised to read the Gospel of John to learn more about Jesus. And indeed, over the decades, I have heard many sermons from John. And I'm sure in the re-reading I'll be doing for these blog posts it will be refreshing to go over familiar things and am looking forward to new insights.  

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it. 

The start of John's gospel has the echo of Genesis and the Creation. A grand sweeping cosmic description. Jesus the Christ was the Word, is the Word and was there at the start and continues to be the source of light and life.

A man came, sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.

We are introduced to John, as in John the Baptist. From what I have read and have heard about the Gospel of John, John, the Apostle doesn't explicitly refer to himself in this Gospel. Thus, when you see the name John, it is almost certainly John the Baptist. It has been hypothesized that when John referred to himself in this Gospel, he used the phrase, the disciple whom Jesus loved. Indeed, in the Gospel of John the word love appears quite a few times, more than in Matthew, Mark and Luke combined. Also, he used love frequently in his letter I John.

The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him. But to all who have received him - those who believe in his name - he has given the right to become God’s children - children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God. Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory - the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. John testified about him and shouted out, "This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’” For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.
(NET) 

This is the part that I think is most profound: God "became flesh and took up residence among us."

The "deist" god is one that created the universe and hasn't been heard from since. The god of "non-theist" religions is an impersonal god.

What do we have here?

The idea was asked pointedly by the big hit song a decade or so ago by Jewel, "What if God was one of us?"

What if God was one of us?
Just a slave like one of us?
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' 2 make His way home

We started in John with a cosmic big picture canvas.  We also have before us in John, a God who inhabited a particular place and time.  We have a God who was not content for humanity to remain in the darkness we have chosen for ourselves.  Grace and truth was revealed through Jesus.  God took up residence among us:  his fingernails got dirt in them, his feet got blisters, he got soaked in the sweat of daily toil, he experienced the aches and pains of this life, he was accepted and received by some and rejected and not recognized by others. 

Lord, thank you for the grace of Jesus in taking up residence among us, of taking up human skin and experiencing the full sorrows of a fallen world.  Thank you that this truth has been proclaimed and preserved through the generations.  May your followers continue to proclaim this mysterious, amazing good news to all the world!  Amen.