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.