Prayer: Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit â join us as we study Your Word. We are thankful for Your Word, the fellowship of believers, and Your presence among us when two or more are gathered together to read and meditate on Your Word. It is Your Word that has the power to save us and transform us more and more into your image.
What we do not know, teach us. We seek You and ask You for this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Jesus Changes Water Into Wine
2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesusâ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesusâ mother said to him, âThey have no more wine.â
4 âWoman, why do you involve me?â Jesus replied. âMy hour has not yet come.â
5 His mother said to the servants, âDo whatever he tells you.â
Points to ponder: We have a beautiful model of prayer here. It is Jesusâ mother who approaches Him with the needs of others. Jesus responds by calling her âwomanâ not âmotherâ showing that it is not her identity that compels Him to act, but her faith. She demonstrates her faith by telling the servants to do what Jesus tells them to do.
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, âFill the jars with waterâ; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, âNow draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.â
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, âEveryone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.â
Points to ponder: It is Jesusâ Word and the obedience of the servants that brings blessings to the bridegroom! The bridegroom had no part in this story, yet it is the bridegroom that receives the recognition from the banquet master.
Turning 120 to 180 gallons of water into the finest wine is quite the display for Jesusâ 1st miraculous sign.
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
Points to ponder: Almost everyone knows that âJesus turned water into wineâ, many donât take notice that this took place at a wedding, many donât take notice that it is the obedience of the servants that brought this first sign into fulfillment. Why a wedding? See Matthew 19:3-6 to see how a wedding reaches back into the Creation story to celebrate Godâs creating of man and woman. Read the prophet Hosea to see how God asks us to reflect on unfaithfulness to Him through our own experiences of unfaithfulness in the world. Read Revelation 21:1-2 and Revelation 21:9: both refer to the New Jerusalem and the Bride of the Lamb, the Church, emphasizing the unity of Christ and His believers, the Children of God.
Again, this gospel drops breadcrumbs for us to follow. Notice that this âsignâ has two purposes: (1) to reveal Jesusâ glory and (2) to foster belief in Him from His disciples.
Jesus Clears the Temple Courts
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, âGet these out of here! Stop turning my Fatherâs house into a market!â 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: âZeal for your house will consume me.â
Points to ponder: The time is Passover and the place is the temple. Here John reaches back again to Exodus, the story of Israelâs freedom from the slavery of Egypt along with the instructions for a Tabernacle â the place where God could meet with His people⌠the presence of God⌠where Heaven and Earth meet. Again, the unity of God and His people are brought to mind.
âZeal for your houseâŚâ comes from Psalm 69:7-12 Jesus condemns the cultural practices of temple worship here⌠Leviticus taught the people how to be Holy so they could enter the presence of God. They could not do so on their own. Our sinful natures prevent us from being in the presence of a Holy God. They learned the system of substitutional sacrifices and free-will offerings, obedience to Godâs laws, priestly intercession etc. (See how Exodus ends in Ex. 40:34-35, where Moses could not enter IN the tent of meeting… then after Leviticus, God speaks to Moses from WITHIN the tent of meeting, when Numbers 1:1 begins.)
At this time, Godâs law had been corrupted into an economic marketplace that only benefitted the religious rulers. The Jewish people that were seeking God would not find Him in that temple.
18 The Jews then responded to him, âWhat sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?â
19 Jesus answered them, âDestroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.â
20 They replied, âIt has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?â 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Points to ponder: Jesus doesnât need any testimony about us, He already knows. We again see how people respond to Jesus here. The Jewish leaders want proof of His authority â demonstrating that although they professed to know the scriptures, they were blind to what the scriptures were pointing to.
The Jewish leaders were responsible to God for the people of Israel and the guidance of other nations. Instead, their temple was âworldlyâ⌠marketing and selling the necessary worship items according to their rules and resulting in their own personal profit. Here we see the temple and its leadership corrupting spiritual worship. The people, seeing the signs, âbelieve in his nameâ⌠but what do they believe?
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, âRabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.â
3 Jesus replied, âVery truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
Points to ponder: Here we see Nicodemus, a Pharisee⌠a Jewish ruler implying some authority⌠yet he sneaks in to speak to Jesus, at night, when there would be no witnesses to his meeting. He addresses Jesus as âRabbiâ, as if they are both learned men of similar status. Jesus shatters his assumptions by reaching back to Genesis and creation when He says, No one sees the Kingdom unless they are born again.
4 âHow can someone be born when they are old?â Nicodemus asked. âSurely they cannot enter a second time into their motherâs womb to be born!â
5 Jesus answered, âVery truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, âYou must be born again.â 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.â
Points to ponder: Nicodemus goes biological, Jesus goes spiritual. Itâs as if Nicodemus wants to dismiss Jesusâ statement about the necessity of being born-again. This is a typical response from someone when discussing âspiritualâ things â mankind wants to disregard concepts that canât be proven by our 5 senses or the scientific methodâŚ
Jesusâ use of âvery trulyâ is a flag for us to pay attention. Clearly, there is a difference between our natural birth (flesh) and our rebirth (spirit). Friends and family that have known you before and after your rebirth could easily testify to the difference⌠if they would. I love the wind analogy. During a recent hurricane in Florida, several tornadoes spun off nearby. I could give a testimony to which areas were affected â the changes were obvious.
9 âHow can this be?â Nicodemus asked.
10 âYou are Israelâs teacher,â said Jesus, âand do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heavenâthe Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.â
Points to ponder: Jesus speaks a message of truth and does not make his message easier to accept just because Israelâs teacher doesnât understand it! He calls Nicodemus out for not believing in witnessâ testimony.
Jesus is planting seeds of Gospel truth for Nicodemus. He includes terms from the Old Testament⌠Israelâs teachers had a responsibility⌠testimony is given…  Jesus claims the identity of the Son of Man as well as His heavenly origination, then He brings the Bronze Snake story from the Torah as an illustration of what faith in Jesus will mean.  Talk about opening the scriptures! See Numbers 21:4-8 and 2 Kings 18:4 for bronze snake references and Ezekiel 37:1-6 for one of the rebirth prophecies by Godâs Spirit.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of Godâs one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Points to ponder: Jesus gives His purpose in V16 and we go back to Genesis and the two trees. Jesus is showing that through belief in Him, we are saved from death and given eternal life. Without believing in Jesus, our sin condemns us to perish⌠this is the human condition and it has been demonstrated for all of human history. V19- 21 further summarizes our guilty verdict without the finished work of Jesus to redeem us.
We often refer to Genesis 3:15 where we first see the promise of the âoffspring of the womanâ crushing the âoffspring of the snake.â We see uncomfortable references to certain people being called a âbrood of vipersâ⌠i.e., snakelets! Well get ready to humble yourself because Jesus is telling Nicodemus here that we are all little snakes unless we are reborn of âthe Spiritâ â with a capital S â the Spirit that will start new life, following Jesus in the company of other âoffspring of the womanâ.
John Testifies Again About Jesus
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of Johnâs disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, âRabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordanâthe one you testified aboutâlook, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.â
Points to ponder: There is an interesting detail here about an argument between John the Baptistâs disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. We are not told what the argument was, but seeing that the result of the argument is for this disciple to complain to his leader about how people were now also going to Jesus to be baptized, I think we can guess. (That group does âfull immersionâ⌠that group only âsprinklesâ⌠that group⌠the same divisive nonsense we see in Christian denominations regarding baptism today.)
27 To this John replied, âA person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, âI am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.â 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroomâs voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.â
Points to ponder: John the Baptist is again bearing testimony to Jesusâ identity⌠exalting Him and humbling himself. Reintroducing that unbelievably, intimate relational identity from the Old Testament of God as âbridegroomâ and applying it to Jesus. [Psalms 19:5, Isaiah 61:10; 62:5, Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:11; Joel 2:16]
31 The one who comes from above is above all; 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. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for Godâs wrath remains on them.
Points to ponder: John is still speaking to his disillusioned disciple. He shows more understanding than the Pharisees as his words restate the key components of what Jesus was telling Nicodemus. He is again bearing testimony to Jesusâ identity.
The paragraph above is worth rereading a few times, working out the pronouns⌠[Jesus] who comes from above⌠[John the Baptist] who is from the earth⌠sit with each sentence, but the conclusion in the last verse is unmistakable.
Summary:Â These two chapters begin and end with grand concepts of marriage, of wedding ceremonies, and faithfulness. Remember in Genesis 2:24, where âmarriageâ is first ordained, we read of man leaving one way of life to begin another.
We are invited to consider life⌠life in the flesh and life in the Spirit. While there is some overlap, they are different â life in the flesh ends, life in the Spirit is eternal.
Without being born-again, you cannot have life in the Spirit. Rejecting Jesus, rejects His Spirit and eternal life, for Godâs wrath remains on them. In these chapters we also see Jesus clearing the temple â we get a sense that the author is preparing us to have an âout-with-the-old⌠in-with-the-newâ mindset.
đ Lord, thank You for opening our hearts and minds as You invite us into Your Kingdom through Your Word. Your Word is the compelling story of Your faithful love for us and we are grateful to be called Your children. We humbly receive You and ask for Your guidance each day in the name of Jesus. Amen.