John 2:1-11
This passage talks about the first of Jesus’ miracles. This was the miracle at the wedding in Cana where Jesus turned water into wine. John has chosen to portray the period from Jesus’ baptism to this point as a seven day period. The first week of Jesus’ ministry. As I reread this passage I asked myself why it was included. It seemed so insignificant. Then I thought about why miracles have to be big production numbers. Miracles occur everywhere in places where only one person may be aware they happen, so why should a miracle not occur at a wedding?
John has revealed this as the first of the miracles that pointed to Jesus as the Son of God and revealed his Glory. Jesus disciples also saw evidence in this miracle of Jesus’ true identity which suggests they saw this as something special, not just a turning of water into wine at a provincial wedding.
I have always wondered at verse 4. Mary is worried at the embarrassment of the bridal couple in having their wine run out. Jesus is more concerned with the bigger picture of his ministry. Mary seems to have an understanding that Jesus can perform a miracle, yet she doesn’t appear to respect his authority as the Son of God. It is as if she knows her son is special but has not quite believed what she was told by the angel when she conceived. It leads me to think about times when I believe something, but when tested, realised I have not actually believed. This is so true about our relationship with God. We all say we believe things such as “God is in control”, yet when trouble strikes we try to solve it ourselves.
In my studies, I have come across the following points about this verse:
The first is that Jesus takes orders from God alone. His mother tells him the wine has run out with the expectation that He will fix it. He speaks quite harshly to her.
The second is that the reader gains an immediate understanding that Jesus is on a mission and time is short enough that he is not to be diverted from his task.
I have always wondered at what happens next. Mary appears to ignore Jesus and go ahead anyway! She asks the servants to do whatever Jesus instructs them. I have read one commentary that likened this to asking God in prayer for something, then obediently preparing the way for the answer to that prayer, should God choose to answer it. Another suggestion I read is that Mary, in telling the servant to wait for Jesus to issue orders had heeded his rebuke and understand she could not control him, but must wait for him.
Without fanfare, Jesus turns the water into wine. The way it is described, it is unclear whether all the water turned into wine, or whether it became wine when it was drawn for use. Was there any left over, or was there just enough for the needs of the wedding? Did the confused servants go to draw wine out of the jars the next day and find only water?
The master of ceremonies tests the wine and is amazed at how good it is. In fact he judges the wine to be the best and comments how unusual it is that the best should be saved until last. I have always wondered at that. Is it just a reference to the fact that anything Jesus does will be the best or is there another meaning? My research has been unable to find an answer to this question. Perhaps its aim is just to stress how mighty Jesus’ miracles are.
The section ends with John describing this as the first of Jesus’ miraculous signs. Signs suggest some deeper meaning that is being indicated by signs. His gospel is set out in a way that sets to identify and prove Jesus’ identity then draw us to the final fulfilment of prophesy and God’s promise of salvation.

Continuing on from the last blog. I continue to look at John 1:43-51
I ended the last blog with the story of Philip calling Nathanael to come meet Jesus of Nazareth. Matthew Henry makes the comment that Philip was in error calling Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. He should have called him Jesus of Bethlehem. He comments that preachers often make errors and should consider what their errors do to those who hear them. When we misquote God do give others the wrong information? What impact does that have on them? This is a warning to consider what we say. If I have to talk to people about God, I send up an arrow prayer asking God to give me the words and attitude because I do not want to teach people the wrong thing.
As Jesus saw Nathanael approaching he commented “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false”. What does this mean? First, Jesus knew what Nathanael had said about Him, yet He did not hold it against him. He commended Nathanael as being a sincere follower with the spirit of an honest Jacob and a true believer, not just an Israelite by culture and nation but an Israelite by faith.  Jesus also commended him for being trustworthy. Here was a man who worshipped, not secular laws that bind, but the true God. He was a worthy man to be one of the first twelve Christians.
Nathanael was perplexed. “How do you know me?” Jesus answered that He saw him under the fig tree before Philip called him. Isn't that amazing! This is a truth for all of us. Jesus. knows us, long before we know Him. Isaiah 45:4 is worth a read. It expresses exactly this truth.
These words made such an impression on Nathanael that he declared that Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Israel. Jesus response was to ask Nathanael if he made that statement because Jesus saw him under the fig tree. He tells him he will see more. He will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

If you look at Genesis 28:10-15, you will find the story of Jacob dreaming at Bethel. In his dream, he saw a stairway resting on earth and reaching to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on that stairway. God spoke to him and told him we would give the land to him and his descendants and that all people on earth would be blessed through him. This was the glory of God and Jesus told Nathanael that he would see more glory and more fulfilment of that promise. After all, because of Jesus, Gentiles were included in God’s Kingdom.

If you read Daniel 7:13-14, you will see a reference to “one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven” who has authority over all people and whose kingdom is everlasting. What a powerful statement! The fulfilment of the covenant with Jacob and a prophesy from Daniel. What more proof do you need that Jesus is the Son of God?

In this blog I am looking at John 1:43-51
Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Once there He found Philip and told him to follow him. Why does he do this? Jesus called Philip directly, Andrew came because John directed him to Jesus and Peter came because Andrew told him to come. Matthew Henry suggests this shows how Jesus does not call people in the same way always. Even though the others were directed to Jesus, he still reached out to them. Sometimes we question and start to approach Him, other times he comes to us in our disbelief and challenges us. Either way, He meets us at our place of need. Another interesting point is that Philip lived in Bethsaida (as did Peter and Andrew), on the shores of the Lake of Galilee. So Jesus went to Galilee to find Philip. This suggests God had already chosen the disciples and Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, set out to find them quickly. After all, he only had three years to give his message. That is true for all of us. God knows what we are to do and will arrange the connections we need to achieve that in His time. Shame so many of us do not trust God enough to just Follow Him.
Follow me. Such powerful words. This is a demonstration of the nature of being a Christian. We are called to follow Jesus, devote ourselves to his teaching and conduct and follow in his footsteps. That is what being a disciple is all about and we are all disciples of Jesus.
So Philip met the son of God. That encounter was so moving, so exciting, that he sought out Nathanael to tell him. Can you picture this man excitedly proclaiming “I have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and of whom the prophets also wrote. This man is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph”. He could not wait to share this exciting news. Where you ever that excited about your faith, or are you that excited now? Can you relate to this excitement? If not what can you do to experience that excitement? Do you think God would show you that excitement if you asked Him?
Nathanael responded “can anything good come from Nazareth?”. I have wondered what he meant and studied various commentaries for their opinions. Matthew Henry suggests that Nathanael was being cautious, which is a good thing. Instead of throwing caution to the winds and believing anything he was told, he stopped and thought about it. In 1 John 4:1 we are admonished to not believe every spirit but test them to see whether they are from God, because there are many false prophets in the world. The test is that they will acknowledge Jesus Christ come into the world and Lord of all. In 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Paul instructs us to test everything. So Nathanael in being cautious was right. He reserved judgement until he had met this Jesus.
I will be finishing the discussion on these verses in the next blog entry.

Before I continue with the study of John, I want to talk about differences you may already have noticed between John’s gospel and the other gospels. You may well know these differences and not need an explanation. Conversely, you may not know why. So I thought I would concentrate today on talking about the gospels.
I brought this in at this point because last week showed a dramatic departure from the traditional story of Jesus being baptised and immediately going into the wilderness for 40 days. The fact that it is missing from John doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It is more likely that John did not feel it was important to mention. Each gospel was written by a different person, with a different relationship with God and with a different purpose and intended audience.
Let’s look at these gospels.
The first one I will look at is Mark. Mark is one of the gospels termed ‘synoptic gospels’. These three gospels are very similar in content and bible scholars consider Mark was the first of these gospels written. It was then used as a framework by Matthew and Luke. This does not mean they didn’t know the story of Jesus – Matthew was a disciple of Jesus – it is more likely that Mark was so immediately popular that Matthew and Luke used it as the framework for their own writing, adding information and meaning that was lacking in Mark.
Mark was a close associate of Peter. He accompanied Peter on his journeys and appears to have written this gospel to the church in Rome. Therefore, he wrote to a Gentile audience. Hence he explains, rather than assumes understanding of, Jewish customs. He translates Aramaic words and emphasises persecution and martyrdom, presumably to encourage the beleaguered and persecuted Roman church. This gospel was readily accepted and spread because of its location in Rome, the centre of the ‘civilised’ world.
Luke was a scholar, probably a physician, and a companion of Paul. He was writing to a Gentile. Hence, there is a lot of history so that the Gentile can understand how Jesus fitted into Jewish history and prophecy. He sought to show how a Gentile Christian would fit into God’s kingdom based on the teaching of Jesus. He was very keen for the gospel to be preached to the whole world. After the book of Luke, he wrote the Acts of the Apostles.
Matthew was a disciple of Jesus. He wrote to Jews but in Greek. He wanted to prove to these Greek Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. Therefore he had a concern for proving OT prophesy fulfilled in Jesus. His theme was that Jesus is the fulfilment of the OT predictions of the Messiah. He is the one who emphasises Jesus descent from David. He was an eyewitness to what he wrote. He appeared to have taken seriously the need for the good news to be preached to all humankind. The Great Commission, where Jesus instructs his disciples to spread the good news to the ends of the earth is found at the end of Matthew’s gospel.
The Gospel of John is different. He writes with the authority of an eyewitness. He did not refer to the synoptic gospels when writing his own gospel, so there are differences and similarities between John and the synoptic gospels. Although John was a Jew, it is considered he was writing more to Gentile listeners. The tone of the gospel is very evangelistic, which is why people are often advised to start with John if they want to know more about Christianity. He appears to have been keen to help people to believe and help others continue to believe. It is interesting that the two gospels written by disciples emphasise the evangelistic aspect of our faith.
Each gospel is a true record of Jesus’ life. The differences stem from the differences in personality of the writers and the different aims of what they wrote. If we were to see a blow by blow description of Jesus’ life, we would see all that these four men wrote and a lot more that was not considered important to the story so was omitted. It is amazing isn’t it!

In this blog I am looking at John 1:35-42.
It is the day after Jesus’ baptism and John sees him passing by. He says to his two disciples standing with him “Look, the Lamb of God!” The disciples immediately follow Jesus.
Jesus asks them what they want and they ask him where he is staying. Note, they call him Rabbi (teacher). They follow and stay with Jesus.
Why did they follow Jesus? Presumably they followed him because John told them this man was the Lamb of God. If they had been there when he was baptised and had heard John make the statement that this man was the Lamb of God who had come to take away the sin of the world. Matthew Henry has an interesting comment in his commentary. He likens the way the men followed Jesus to us seeking God. Do you notice Jesus turns and asks the men what they want? That is so symbolic of Jesus generosity in meeting us when we seek Him. These men were seeking Him. They called him teacher, indicating their willingness to learn from Him. They asked Him where He lived, indicating their willingness to continue contact with Him. And that is what they did. Jesus’s first disciples.
Those disciples were keen, one of them, Andrew even brought his brother Simon Peter to Jesus. He has told him “We have found the Messiah”. So Simon Peter comes to see Jesus. When Jesus sees Simon Peter he tells him who he is and then tells him he will be called Cephas (Peter) which means ‘rock’.
Those who know the gospels know Simon Peter was no rock. So why did Jesus call him this? Several commentaries suggest that Jesus was announcing what Simon Peter was to become as a disciple of Jesus. In the same way, Jesus gives us ‘names’. When we come to Him, He knows what we will become in Him. We stop being the lost, wounded person that we are and we are transformed into his likeness (2 Corinthians 1:18). Have you ever wondered what name Jesus has given you?

This brings to mind the beautiful song ”I will change your name” by D. J. Butler.

I will change your name
You shall no longer be called
Wounded, outcast
Lonely or afraid

I will change your name
Your new name shall be
Confidence, joyfulness
Overcoming one
Faithfulness, friend of God
One who seeks my face.

Below is a link to a version of the song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct1goc_-t8w&feature=related