Bible 101 Notes for February 12—John 2-4

Review: Because John’s gospel has a different style and focus than the synoptic gospels, we have to switch gears in our expectations of it. John tells us about Jesus’ life as the other three do; we’ll see him healing people, confronting the religious leaders, teaching the disciples as we did in Matthew, Mark and Luke. But we’ll find many more pauses for John to reflect. And we’ll see that John gives us time to reflect, too. We have to slow down when reading this gospel because John wants us to consider what it means—we’re not after just what Jesus did, but why and how and for whom and what its significance was then and is now. In the first chapter, we met John the Baptist, two disciples who left John and followed Jesus, two others who are called, and we see that Jesus is heading for Galilee where much of his ministry takes place.

John 2: Here is the first “sign” John records. Remember that in John 20:31, John tells us that these miraculous signs are included in the gospel so that we “might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing, have life in Jesus’ name.” The signs are given as evidence of who Jesus is. Curiously, the first miraculous act John witnessed was at a wedding. The wine at the feast, a celebration going for several days, runs out; Mary, Jesus’ mother is also at the wedding. She goes to him and tells him about the lack of wine, and he appears dismissive: “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” he asks, adding “My time has not yet come.” But Mary tells the servants “Do whatever he tells you,” and when Jesus tells them to fill the six big water jars (each held 20-30 gallons of water), the servants did so and filled them “to the brim.” They took some of the content to the MC to taste and he said “this is great stuff; why did you save it for last?” The bridegroom’s reply is not recorded, but he, too, must have been amazed and wondered about its source. There are a couple of things to notice here: first, Jesus was at a wedding, and he’s there to enjoy the festivities. He is in small towns and big cities; he encounters the small and the great, the powerful and the weak. And he does a lot of eating; he’s invited to dinner at Matthew’s house (Matt. 9), he invites himself home for lunch with Zacchaeus (Lk. 19). And here he’s at a wedding. It’s significant not just because human beings celebrate such milestones, but because in the heavenly scheme, we as the church are the bride of Christ. And in Revelation, we’re shown the wedding banquet of the Lamb (Rev. 19); Jesus uses the wedding as the subject of at least two parables. Secondly, his mother knows he’s not just another man; she knew he had authority; the servants understood that, too. “Whatever he tells you to do, do it,” she tells the servants. He tells them to fill the jars with water, they do, and then dip out wine. Third, what would have happened if the servants had refused, or had filled the jars only halfway? They filled them “to the brim,” and the feast had another 150 gallons of wine—far more than they’d started with. The principle is seen again when Jesus feeds the 5,000 with five loaves and a few fish. When we give what we have to Jesus, he multiplies it. David Guzik says this first miracle is one of conversion: water is converted into wine. It’s also creation (and recall John 1:1-3; Jesus is God; he created all things). In addition, it’s a sign pointing to the newness of Jesus’ ministry; it won’t be the same old thing the people are accustomed to.

John 2:12: Now Jesus leaves Cana and goes to Capernaum where he stays with his mother, brothers and disciples for a few days. In other gospels, we’re shown that Capernaum is his headquarters in the Galilee area, and in all likelihood, he stayed at Peter’s house when there. After this interlude in early spring, it’s time for Passover, and Jesus goes to Jerusalem to celebrate; his disciples go, too. Jesus finds the money changers in the Temple courts, makes a whip and goes after them, overturning tables and cages and demanding that the “businessmen” leave. “You’ve turned my father’s house into a market,” he shouts. We read about this during Passion week in the other three gospels. Whether Jesus threw the money changers out twice, or John puts it here to show another side of Jesus early in his ministry, is unclear; Guzik says this is an act of cleansing. But it’s quite a contrast. Jesus is not the same person when driving the unscrupulous out of the Temple as he was as a guest at a wedding. Note, too, that John inserts an insight the disciples had: “Zeal for your house will consume me,” they say, quoting Ps. 69. They must have stood open-mouthed as Jesus got rid of the merchants; the Temple leaders, however, were ready to take Jesus on “show us why you have authority to do this” they demand, wanting a “sign.” Jesus tells them “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.” They’re flabbergasted; it’s taken 46 years to build the Temple and it’s not done yet. And John adds that they don’t understand; Jesus is speaking of his body; they’re speaking of the temple made of stone. John inserts another insight: After Jesus rose from the dead his disciples remembered this incident and they must have smacked their heads: “oh, that’s what he meant!” While at the Passover Jesus healed many who were sick, and there were those who believed in his name. Their belief, their faith, was necessary for their healing. But John says “Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.” His knowledge of the human mind and soul prevented his allowing them to make him known as Messiah. They want a human king, a political and military leaders; Jesus is far from that. He is “the Word made flesh” with a mission: to die for all mankind.

John 3: A remarkable chapter with a verse that many have memorized shows us Jesus up-close and personal with a member of the Sanhedrin. John 3:16 is part of the “comfortable words” that follow absolution: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” This idea is at the heart of this chapter and of God’s plan of salvation. But let’s start at the beginning. It’s still Passover—a week-long festival. During that time, Nicodemus, a Pharisee who was a member of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling council of 70) came to Jesus during the night. Some say he came at night because of his position; others say he came because during the day Jesus was surrounded by crowds and Nicodemus wanted time alone for a conversation on life-and-death issues. I like the latter explanation.

John 3:2: Nicodemus begins by saying “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” From the start, we hear Nicodemus say that he knows Jesus is special and he’s considering whether he’s the Messiah. He believes Jesus is doing God’s work; Nicodemus is thoughtful and respectful. Jesus tells him: “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Talk about non sequiturs! However, Jesus’ reply only appears to be illogical; recall the last verse of John 2: “He [Jesus] did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man” tells us that Jesus knew what Nicodemus really wanted to ask him and that’s what he answered. Nicodemus wants to know how to get to heaven; Jesus tells him he can’t go as he is; he must be transformed. Nicodemus asks “how can this be?” He is thinking in biological, literal terms about birth. Jesus is speaking in spiritual terms. And Jesus explains that to Nicodemus: “Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” In other words, “You can’t do this of your own effort, Nicodemus,” Jesus says; “you’ll need the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit to be born into the righteousness that God accepts.”

John 3:8: Jesus continues by comparing natural phenomena like the wind that human beings can’t explain: the wind comes and goes; we can’t direct it. And yet we feel it, we’ve named it, we understand its effects on us. That’s the same way the Spirit works—the Holy Wind of God. We can’t explain it, and we can’t direct it, but we can feel and know its effects. Nicodemus still doesn’t get it. Jesus says “I’m talking about what I know and have seen.” Indeed, Jesus has healed people both inside and out. Remember the paralyzed man brought to Jesus by four friends? The friends went up on the roof, dug through the tiles and made a hole through which they could lower the man to Jesus. What did Jesus say to him? “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus knew mankind; he knew what the man needed most was a rebirth spiritually. Then Jesus spoke to the unspoken criticism of the Pharisees who were thinking “this is blasphemy; only God can forgive sins.” Jesus said: “which is harder? To say ‘your sins are forgiven or stand up and walk?’” And then to show that he had power over both sin and the body, he healed the man (Mk. 2). Jesus is all about spiritual transformation; the physical healings are evidence of his power over creation. But his power over sin is what we most need: when we believe in his name, we are reborn, given a new, spiritual self that God recognizes as ready for the kingdom of heaven.

John 3:14: Jesus then tells Nicodemus that the Son of Man (referring to himself) must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. And we recall this incident when the people rebelled once again and God sent snakes to bite them; many died. But Moses interceded for them, and God said if Moses made a bronze snake and people looked on it—in faith—they’d be healed (Num. 21). Jesus will be “lifted up” on a cross for all of us to look at him, to see the Lamb of God, sacrificed for us. And then the Isaiah 53 description “by his stripes we are healed” is made clear to us. Our disease is sin; when we look to Jesus for forgiveness and accept his sacrifice for us, we are made whole: “we are healed.” Jesus says that all who believe in him will have eternal life.

John 3:16: And then this famous statement of the Gospel: “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.” Why did God send his son as the Word made flesh? Because he loves us. His love meant he could sacrifice himself, put himself in our place, and die so that we who believe will have eternity with God. The cross bridges the cavernous gap between a holy God and sinful man. Many old hymns celebrate the cross and the blood shed there for our sins. Think of “The Old Rugged Cross,” and “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” or “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” among others. Now who said this (John 3:16ff)? In a red-letter Bible, that is one in which Jesus’ words are in red type, these words are attributed to Jesus. But scholars like Bill Creasy are beginning to believe that Jesus didn’t say this of himself; these are John’s words. He knows what Jesus did; it’s 60 years later when John is writing his gospel. And so he ponders what Jesus’ death meant, and John 3:16-21, is his answer. If we believe in Jesus, we are reborn; if we do not, we remain condemned. Genuine light came into the world when Jesus came, and when we recognize that this light gives life, we are redeemed, saved. But if we reject it “because our deeds are evil,” we remain in darkness. John uses the light/darkness theme not only in his gospel but also in his three epistles. And here in John 3, he’s adding to his original statements in John 1 that Jesus is the light.

John 3:22: John is baptizing; people are still flocking to him and he continues to baptize them as a means of demonstrating their repentance—turning from sin to God. But John, like Jesus, gets questions of theology and doctrine: “are there two baptisms?” people ask, telling John that Jesus is also baptizing people. Actually, Jesus wasn’t baptizing—his disciples were (John 4:2). John says each of God’s servants ministers to the extent of what he knows: “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.” He goes on to remind them that he told those who questioned who he was that he was NOT the Messiah, but he is the Messiah’s forerunner. And he tells them “He must become greater and I must become less,” or as the KJV has it: He must increase and I must decrease.” John knows who Jesus is; he knows Jesus’ ministry will eclipse his and that’s OK with John. He’s doing his job and Jesus is doing his, and they are not in competition.

John 3:34: John’s purpose in going ahead of Jesus was to announce that the Messiah was coming, to prepare hearts for him by preaching repentance, and then, when the Messiah began his ministry, to point men to him. John does. He says “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son, and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” Once again, the Gospel in a nutshell: John the Baptist has a message of preparation; Jesus is speaking a message of salvation.

John 4: Just as Jesus spoke with Nicodemus at night, the two of them discussing things of God, eternal matters, so Jesus speaks with a Samaritan woman, but in an entirely different setting. To go through Samaria was something Jews did only out of dire necessity and hardly ever by choice. The Samaritan area in the middle of Israel was home to an inter-married group, those who, after the defeat of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C., had married with the pagans who’d been forcibly transplanted there by the Assyrians. So not only were the Samaritans “impure” as far as the Jews were concerned, but their religious practices were “impure,” too. While the Samaritans based their faith and lives on the Torah, they accepted no more of Hebrew Scriptures than these first five books. And they claimed that Mt. Gerazim was the holy mountain, the center of worship, rather than Jerusalem.

John 4:3: Why did Jesus go through Samaria? He chose to. But he’s heading from Judea back to Galilee because of religious leaders’ opposition. Perhaps a this time, Jesus feels freer to preach, teach and heal away from Jerusalem. On his way north, he stops in Sychar; his disciples go into town to buy food while Jesus stays at the well, a well said to have been dug by Jacob. It’s the 6^th hour, or noon, when he arrives. And if we ever needed evidence that Jesus was human, this incident has it: “he was tired.” Jesus was a human being who became weary after a long walk; he grew thirsty, hungry. A Samaritan woman comes to draw water and Jesus asks her for a drink. She comments on how unusual it is that he would speak to her—they’re alone, she’s a woman and she’s a Samaritan. He might have commented on how unusual it was for a woman to be alone drawing water at noon. The time to get water was early morning or late afternoon, and then the women all came together. But she’s alone. And we understand why as Jesus speaks with her.

John 4:10: Jesus once again answers the unspoken question. The woman said “why do you ask me for a drink? And John adds parenthetically that Jews and Samaritans did not mix. This was socially unacceptable. But Jesus says “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” What is Jesus telling her? He’s saying “this is the day your soul has longed for; you’re going to hear God speak and you’re never going to be the same.” We know from the ensuing conversation that this woman has sought meaning in her life with men; she’s been married five times and is now living with a man she’s not married to. And this explains why she’s at the well when she is. But Jesus tells her in a way that’s so compelling, “everything in your life is going to change today.” For one thing, he says, “ask me for living water.” Now that would be appealing to this woman. If she had an endless supply of water at home, she wouldn’t have to come to the well and face the taunts of the other women. But of course, just as Nicodemus thought Jesus was speaking of a physical birth when he said “you must be born again,” the woman is hearing one thing while Jesus is saying another. He’s speaking of spiritual water, life-giving, never-ending, soul-nourishing water that comes from believing in God’s son. Jesus tells her “Whoever drinks of the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (v. 14), and of course, she says “Sir, give me this water.”

“This water”: Jesus speaks of spiritual thirst that can only be quenched by a soaking in God’s word and God’s grace. Recall the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus says “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt. 5:6). This woman, while searching in all the wrong places for fulfillment, has found only disappointment and, at best, fleeting joy. Jesus promises her that believing in him and in the salvation he offers, will change her life. It’s through the Holy Spirit’s work in her that the “spring of water” will keep welling up and giving her real life, fulfillment and peace. Paul explains it this way: “Do not be drunk on wine which leads to debauchery Instead be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:18-20). The Holy Spirit is given to each person who says “yes” to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. “Yes, thank you, Lord, I accept this gift.” But to be “filled with the Spirit” is a baptism of power. Remember Pentecost? When the Holy Spirit came and filled the disciples they preached boldly, they healed, they cast out demons, they witnessed openly about what Jesus had done. So in Ephesians, when Paul says “be filled with the Spirit,” he’s saying we need to be open to this filling—this well of spiritual life and enthusiasm, this power to be all God wants us to be. One way to be ready for filling is to “sing and make music” and Paul suggests.

John 4:19: After Jesus tells the woman about her five husbands and current POSSLQ (Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters; remember the 1980 census?), she says “Sir, you are a prophet.” They discuss the details of the differences between Jews and Samaritans: where to worship and who has the plan of salvation. Jesus tells her that a time is coming when true worship won’t depend on a place, but on an attitude: “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,” Jesus explains. “God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” There’s one truth: it’s Jesus; it’s his sacrifice on the cross, his resurrection and his defeat of sin and death. That’s what brings us together in “spirit and in truth.” They discuss the Messiah and Jesus tells her: “I who speak to you am he.” This excites the woman, and she goes to spread the word. Notice this is at least the third time we’ve read that someone met Jesus and went to tell others (Andrew, Philip in John 1). She’s got a spring “welling up” inside her that demands expression and so she runs into town, to the people who’ve no doubt condemned her and looked askance at her and she tells them, “Come meet a man who told me everything I ever did.”

John 4:22: As the woman is leaving to gather a congregation for Jesus, the disciples come back and see that he’s been talking with her. John interjects that none of them spoke to her or asked Jesus what he’d been talking to her about. Is this because they look down on her as a Samaritan and as a woman? Or is it that they’re more concerned with bringing Jesus his lunch? John apparently thinks it is significant, and so should we. After all, the disciples are not yet aware of what Jesus’ teaching is all about, nor what his purpose is. John’s already told us that after his resurrection they understood the meaning of his saying to the Pharisees: “destroy this Temple and in three days I’ll raise it up again.” At the time of this Samaritan incident, they’re worried more about feeding Jesus than about a woman with a spiritual hunger. They offer Jesus food; he says “I have food to eat that you know not of.” And he explains that his food, what sustains him, is to do the work God has given him to do. Anyone who’s completed a project that took creativity and effort knows that exhilarating feeling of having done it. And even when tired, there’s a kind of enthusiasm that enables working through hunger. Jesus uses a seasonal metaphor: you see the fields now still maturing, and in four months, the reapers will be in them. But Jesus said, “I say the fields are ripe now for harvest,” speaking of souls. The disciples ignored the woman; she was hungry for truth, for teaching. She is the harvest Jesus refers to. The Samaritans came to Jesus and as he spoke to them, they believed. He spent two days with them, because the harvest was ripe.

John 4:43: The chapter concludes with a demonstration of faith that’s remarkable. Jesus and the disciples journey on to Galilee where a “royal official” who lived in Capernaum sought Jesus’ help. He caught up with him in Cana, telling him that his son was very sick. He asked Jesus to come to Capernaum to touch and heal his son. Jesus appears impatient: “you all need signs to believe!” But the official presses Jesus: “He’s going to die unless you heal him,” he cries. Jesus tells him: “Go; your son will live,” and the man goes! Amazing faith is shown here. The official had begged Jesus to “come, heal my son” and yet at Jesus’ word in Cana that his son in Capernaum would live, the man returns home. Faith is acting on what we believe. The official believed Jesus; he acted on it. And his faith is rewarded; servants come from the house to meet him and tell him his son is alive. They compare notes and discover that when Jesus said “your son will live” is the time when he began to recover. John adds “this was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed having come from Judea to Galilee.” It won’t be the last.

Next week: We’ll see another healing in Jerusalem, and hear more of Jesus’ teaching.

Homework for those who want to go deeper:

1. Reread Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (John 3) and compare it with his conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4. How are these two people the same? How different?

2. Memorize John 3:16 and 17.

3. Study the end of John 4. How can we demonstrate the kind of faith this desperate father did?