We live in a
world where it is common place for a company to produce a duplicate, or a
counterfeit, of almost everything. Fake Rolex watches, women’s purses, clothes
of famous designers are forgeries and you never know for sure when you buy it
if is a genuine article or a fake.
When Barry Bonds
was chasing Hank Aaron’s major league home run record each time that Barry
would come up to bat the balls were switched. The umpire would receive a
special set of balls to replace the regular game balls. The special sets were
marked in both obvious as well as some other ways less noticeable so that when
the tying and breaking home run was hit the ball could be authenticated. The
reason was they wanted to prevent any forgery of the ball that was expected to
be worth a half million dollars.
There are many
who claim that Jesus was a fake. Some claim He was just a man who seized on the
opportunity to proclaim He was the Messiah without actually being.
If this is true
then our faith is of no value at all. The apostle Paul said, in relation to one
of the great verifications that Jesus is the Messiah, concerning the
resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:14 “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
vain, and your faith is also vain.”
One of the reason
this is such a critical verification is that Jesus had many time prophesied
that He would rise. One such instance is Luke 9:22
“Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third
day.”
It is precisely
this type of event and miracle that verifies that He is the Messiah. I have
therefore entitled this series in John, Verifying
the Messiah. We will see in John many things that authenticate that He is
who He said He was.
The gospel of John
are wrapped around seven “sign” miracles that Jesus performed. If you count the
resurrection of Jesus then there would be eight but most scholars see seven
signs.
The four gospels
present Jesus from distinct points of view. Matthew went back to Abraham
because he wrote to a Jewish audience and wanted to show His Jewish roots. Mark
did not give any genealogy because he presented Christ as a servant that does
not need a lineage. Luke, the Gentile writer went back to Adam to present Him
as the Son of Man. John however goes back to before creation to the beginning.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary says:
“And John begins with a
theological prologue. It is almost as if John had said, ‘I want you to consider
Jesus in His teaching and deeds. But you will not understand the good news of
Jesus in its fullest sense unless you view Him from this point of view. Jesus
is God manifest in the flesh, and His words and deeds are those of the God-Man.’
” (p 217)
In this study of
John there are several men who gave testimony to the fact that He was the
Messiah. Our first stop today is one of these testimonies.
The Testimony of John the Apostle
1:1-5,
14, 18
The testimony of
John is a very broad subject that will in some ways be woven throughout the
entire study of John. John the Apostle is the writer of the gospel of John as
well as four other books. (1 John, 2 John, 3 John and the Revelation)
I- More Than An Eye Witness:
An eyewitness
account of something is important evidence. But, for instance, you go to a
basketball game and witness someone score 20 points you can tell the story. I
suggest you could not tell the story nearly as well as someone on the team who
was in the huddle, heard the locker room speech and set the critical screen
that allowed the shooter to score. This type of inside information makes them
more than an eye witness. Notice what John said about the relationship he had
with Christ in 1 John 1:1-3 “That which was
from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled,
of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have
seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with
the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and
heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly
our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
So we see the
credential for this first eye witness is indeed one who walked, talked, touched
and lived with the one he is testifying about. John was in what is called the
inner circle of disciples, a very select few men. On the Mount of
Transfiguration we see him. Mar 9:2
“And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John,
and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was
transfigured before them.”
It was John, the beloved,
which stayed with Jesus when Peter deserted Him. He in fact went into the trial
of Jesus while Peter did not enter. John 18:15-16 “And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did
another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in
with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.
16 But Peter stood at the door
without…”
It was this John
that Jesus entrusted the care of His
mother to at the cross. So we can certainly say he is qualified to testify. We
must listen to such a one concerning Christ.
II- Preexistence of The Word:
John,
as have stated, takes us back to before time existed, before creation was
created. Joh 1:1-2 “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.”
The Word here is
referring to the Lord Jesus and we can see right away that He was uncreated and
eternal. He had no beginning because He existed in the beginning. While the
book of Genesis declares what happened at creation, John declares the existence
of Christ before.
We see the
obvious stated next when he states that Christ was with God. This statement
sets forth the eternal relationship of the Son to the Father. This relationship
did not begin with the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem but has been eternal.
Then a strong
declaration of the deity of Christ follows, “and the Word was God.”
III- His Creation Work:
The Scripture emphatically
testifies that Christ was the Creator. This does not decrease the work of the
Father and Holy Spirit in the least. Notice what John testifies in John
1:3-4 “All things were made by him; and
without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In
him was life…”
Lets see some other verses that declare
this as well.
Col 1:16 “For by him were all
things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:
all things were created by him, and for him.”
Heb
1:2 “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”
Rev
4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to
receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
This leaves
nothing outside the scope of the creation. This is all things, all places, from
deepest space to all mysteries.
Please notice
also it said, “In Him was life.” Physical life as well as spiritual life is
sourced in Him and Him alone.
IV- The Light
John tells us in John
1:4b-5 that He is the light. We will see in a later study in this
series that He declare that He is the light of the world. (see John
8:12)
Notice that it is
light that provides men the ability to see where they are going clearly. He was
the Creator of physical light and the giver of spiritual light.
1:6 “That
light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.”
(HCSB)
The darkness is nothing but the evil and
sin of the fallen world. It cannot prevail against the light of the world.
V- God Became
Man:
John tells us next about John the
Baptist’s testimony. We will look at that next session. Then he tells us that
God wrapped Himself in flesh and took on human form. John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” This includes all that we celebrate with the birth of
Christ as well as the untold suffering He took on at Calvary. John tells us
that Christ was full of grace and truth. The purpose of this was for God to
reveal Himself to mankind. John 1:18
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in
the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
We will see the acts of this man Jesus as we go forward
that verify that He was Messiah.
VI- Purpose of God:
John, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, will unfold for us seven sign miracles. The intent was never to
publish an exhaustive compilation of all that Jesus did. In fact John makes it
clear that would be impossible in the last verse of this gospel. John
21:25 “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if
they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could
not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”
Yet the over bearing
purpose of John is that men will take a look and see that Jesus was indeed the
Messiah and that by faith in Him they can have life. John 19:35 “And he that saw it bare record, and his
record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.”
In John
20:30-31 we again see it stated that all of the acts of Jesus are not
recorded. We also have what I feel is the ultimate purpose of this testimony of
John.
“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which
are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might
have life through his name.” Have you believed?
There has never been one that we can be
more sure that was sent from God than the man who will testify and verify the
Messiah in this session.
The man’s name
was John. We know him as John the Baptist because of his baptizing of men,
including Jesus. John is the beginning subject of the gospel of Mark and his
birth is given to us as part of the story of the birth of Messiah. In Luke’s
gospel we have the record of the Birth of John and the events surrounding it.
Matthew also records information about John the Baptist.
I- Came to be a Witness:
John 1:6-8 There was a man sent from God, whose
name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear
witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear
witness of that Light.
John the Apostle had just told us that
Jesus came and was God and sent by God. Although both Jesus and John were sent
by God, Jesus was the only divine one. In contrast he clearly points out that
John, a great man, was only a man not God.
Jesus
said of John in , Matthew 11:11 “Among them that are born of women there
hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist…”
John was the son of Elizabeth, said to be cousin of Mary.
However, the original language is the word for a kinsman, not necessarily a
cousin. Adam Clarke points out, they could only have been cousins on their
mothers side because Elizabeth was from the tribe of Levi (Luke 1:5) and Mary
from the tribe of Judah. Never the less, Mary and Elizabeth were kinsman and
that made John the Baptist a kinsman of Jesus as well.
II- Testimony in
Wilderness Before Jesus Was Baptized:
The testimony of John begins with
John in the wilderness. Notice the account in John 1:19-28 And this is the record of John, when the Jews
sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20 And
he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And
they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art
thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22
Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer
to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23 He
said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way
of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
24 And they which were sent were
of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why
baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that
prophet? 26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with
water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He
it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am
not worthy to unloose. 28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond
Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Notice with me several things I
have emphasized in the text.
The
group sent was probably from the Sanhedrin, thought it is not specified here.
They were on guard for anything that would threaten their religious authority.
They
ask if John was the Messiah, he said no. Next they asked are you Elijah, he
again said no. Then they asked if he was the prophet like Moses that they knew
would come, again he said he was not. This exhausted their list of potentials
that anyone was looking for so they said well, who are you then. He replied, “I am
the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord,
as said the prophet Esaias.” He linked his ministry to the promise and
prophecy made by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 40:3
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of
the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
As part of his answer he also
gives witness to the Messiah that stood among them even now. Jesus had not
manifested Himself in any way to this point that we know of.
John points out the superiority of Christ
and his understanding that he, a great prophet sent from God, still was not
worthy to unbuckle His shoes. John 1:27
“He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's
latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”
III- Testimony at
Baptism:
One of the things
John does well is transition from time periods precisely. The next day’s events
are in the next verse.
John 1:29-34 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto
him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a
man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And
I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I
come baptizing with water. 32 And John bare record, saying,
I saw the
Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And
I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto
me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the
same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record
that this is the Son of God.
I underlined the
words of John the Baptist recorded here as he gave testimony.
He called Jesus
the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He told them this was the
man he spoke of the day before. How did he know? Two things, the Holy Spirit
descending on Jesus and the voice of God that told Him to watch for this and by
this he would know.
He also declares
him to the Son of God. John, the baptism, verified Jesus at His baptism by his
testimony as a first hand witness and participant in the events.
IV- Testimony in Judaea:
During the course of
events we move forward into the ministry of Jesus to after the public
manifestation and miracle of Cana. Jesus had also cleaned out the temple of
money changers and had a conversation with Nicodemus. These are the “these
things” in John 3:22-36. After these
things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he
tarried with them, and baptized. 23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to
Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were
baptized. 24 For John was not yet cast into prison. ….
Now notice
additional testimony of John in John 3:27ff. John answered and said, A man
can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. 28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I
said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29 He
that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which
standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice:
this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease. 31
He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is
earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32 And
what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his
testimony. 33 He that hath received his testimony hath set
to his seal that God is true. 34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words
of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 35 The
Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36 He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Again notice a few emphasized things. He
reiterated his testimony before that he was not Messiah but a forerunner.
He then points out that Christ must
increase and he must decrease and step aside. He points to the Messiah as being
the focus and not himself. A great lesson for all of us to learn, relearn and
continually reestablish in our own lives.
He included the fact that all things are
given into the hands of the Son. I feel the Bible teaches that the judge that
sits at both the Bema judgment seat for believer and the Great White Throne
judgment for nonbeliever will be the Christ.
Life in Christ through faith is also
clearly established with the testimony of John.
III- Verified Jesus Was Messiah Again:
Luke records for us the imprisonment of John by Herod. Luke
3:18-20 And many other things in his
exhortation preached he unto the people.
19 But Herod the tetrarch, being
reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils
which Herod had done, 20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up
John in prison.
While in prison John sent two of his disciples to Jesus. Matt
11:2-6 Now when John had heard in the
prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3 And
said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things
which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame
walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and
the poor have the gospel preached to them.
6 And blessed is he, whosoever
shall not be offended in me. (see Luke 7:18-23
Some
feel it was John wanting to make sure of Jesus in his own heart while others
see it as John wanting to expose his disciples to the truth of Jesus first
hand.
JV McGee says, “John’s question is a
logical one. He has every reason to believe that the King would have assumed
power by this time. He is definitely puzzled that the Lord is moving so slowly
toward the throne.” (Thru the Bible Commentary)
So if in fact
John was having doubts what does that say to us? It says that God is a God who
can answer any doubts with facts. Please notice what Jesus said to these
disciples about verification back to John.”… shew John again those
things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame
walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and
the poor have the gospel preached to them.”
Jesus is
verified by the testimony of John. Do you believe?
BACK TO OUTLINE
As we have
previously set forth those who were eye witness to events as well as
participants in the events are exceptionally qualified to tell us about events.
We have a total of four men we will look at in this section as we hear the
testimony of the early disciples.
The events we
have recorded here take place over a two day period at the beginning of Jesus
ministry. They take place the day following Jesus baptism and then the following
day. There are a total of five characters in these verses. One is unnamed, the
others are Andrew, Simon, Philip and Nathanael.
I- Testimony of Andrew and Simon:
Joh
1:35-42
Again the next day after John stood, and two of his
disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he
saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
37 And the two disciples heard
him speak, and they followed Jesus.
Last session we saw
the testimony of John the Baptist. We see the results of his testimony bearing
fruit the next day. John again affirms Christ as the Lamb of God.
It says then that
“the
two disciples heard him speak” and this brings up an important point in
witnessing to others. The day before John had spoken these words as well but
the next day the Holy Spirit of God brought them alive in the hearts of these
two. We are told one of them was Andrew but the other remains unnamed and any
speculation as to the identity is speculative at best. The point we need not miss
is that we must keep on witnessing to the same people and not be discouraged
because there may be a next day in their lives.
38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following,
and saith unto them, What seek ye?
Jesus sees them
following and asked them what they wanted. Notice their answer.
They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted,
Master,) where dwellest thou?
They address him as
Rabbi or Master. Thayer’s Greek
Dictionary gives the definition of Rabbi as:
1) my great one, my honourable sir
2) Rabbi, a title used by the Jews to
address their teachers (and also honour them when not addressing them)
Next they asked
Him a question about where he was staying. The implication of the question is
they were asking to go spend time with him. 39 He saith unto them, Come
and see.
HCSB says,
"Come and you'll see," He replied. So they went and saw where
He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day. It was about 10 in the
morning.
The KJV says,
“They
came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the
tenth hour.”
Some say that
John used Roman time to tell us of the events. Others say it was Jewish time.
If it was Roman time it was 10am if Jewish it was already 4pm. Never the less
we know they spent time with Jesus. What an envious thing to spend time with
Him. We still can spend time, but not with him in the flesh as they did. So the
testimony is firsthand experience.
40 One of the two which heard John speak, and
followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
We are told in
this verse that one of the two of John disciples that followed Jesus was Andrew
the brother of Simon Peter. How do we know his faith was real? One evidence of
anyone’s faith being real is that they want other to know Jesus as well. Notice
what Andrew did first.
41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and
saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the
Christ. 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
He testifies to
Peter his brother and what is says is really profound. Please do not lose the
fact that he had only seen Jesus one time the day before and now. No witness
training just passion of who He was. We have found the Messiah. Messiah is the
Hebrew word equivalent to the Greek word Christ. They mean “anointed” or the
“anointed one.” This implies the one sent from God for the purpose of
redemption. I love the way Luke referred to Jesus in the story of Simeon.
Luke
2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the
Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the
Lord's
Christ.
I love the explanation given to us in the
Liberty Annotated Bible concerning the anointed offices
of Christ.
“In
the Old Testament, men of God who were called for special service were
initiated into three offices by an act of anointing. Each of these three
offices finds its fulfillment in Christ. The titles
Christ and Messiah literally mean “Anointed
One.” Illustration: As the Prophet, like Moses (Deut 18:15), Jesus
declare the most complete revelation of the Father (v 18). As the faithful Priest (1 Sam 2:35), He offered the
ultimate sacrifec, the sacrifice of Himself (Heb 9:14). As the King of Kings, He is not only in
ultimate control now (Ps 21:1), but will also reign a thousand years in His own
kingdom (Rev 20:1-6).” (p 1607)
The application given then is that as our
Prophet, Priest and King we should heed what he says, come to Him in prayer,
and serve Him as King.
Notice the first thing Andrew did was
bring Simon to Jesus. What a testimony to the Messsiahship of Jesus.
“And when Jesus beheld him,
he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is
by interpretation, A stone.”
Jesus recognized
Peter and instantly rename him from Simon to Cephas or Peter, (Cephas was the
Syriac surname) The Greek translates it Petros or rock.
This brings up an important side
note. He knows what is in all of us. Remember what is said about Jesus in John
2:25 “And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in
man.”
Christ saw the
potential in Peter not who he was at the time. He sees the potential in all of
us not what we are now but what He wants to make us.
Another point
well taken is that no one knows who will be the next Simon Peter, DL Moody,
Billy Graham when we bring them to the Messiah.
II- Testimony of Philip and Nathanael: Joh 1:43-51
43 The day following
Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto
him, Follow me. 44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of
Andrew and Peter.
The next day
after the calling of Andrew and Simon Peter coming by the witness of Andrew we
see others come to Christ.
The urgency of
the event is well noted by Christ getting on with the work. Matthew Henry said:
“He was called the day following.
See how closely Christ applied himself to his business. When work is to be done
for God, we must not lose a day.”
Christ went to find
Philip and that certainly reminds us of His self stated purpose. He said He
came to seek and save those that were lost. This calling of course was not
their calling to be what we know as the apostles but simply to follow him. Barnes Notes states concerning verse 43:
This does not refer to his calling
these disciples to be “apostles,” for that took place at the Sea of Tiberias Mat_4:18,
but it refers to their being. convinced that he was the Christ. This is the
object of this evangelist, to show how and when they were convinced of this.
Matthew states the time and occasion in which they were called to be
“apostles;” John, the time in which they first became acquainted with Jesus,
and were convinced that he was the Messiah.
45 Philip findeth Nathanael,
and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the
prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Notice the
testimony of Philip here as he witnesses to Nathanael. He said that he had
found the one:
Moses wrote about
in the Law: Deuteronomy 18:15;18 The
LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken….18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among
their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he
shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
Remember that they had asked John
the Baptist if he was that Prophet. Philip testifies to Nathanael that he had
found this Prophet.
The prophets
wrote about: Certainly there are a multitude of verses we could use here.
Notice a couple of places.
Isa 9:6-7
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order
it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for
ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I
will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his
days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name
whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Philip tells him
this is the one we have been waiting for, the one that prophecy had predicted.
46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any
good thing come out of Nazareth?
Nathanael asked if
anything good come from a city that has a bad reputation. This was not
questioning Christ character but only the cities. Nathanael had not yet meet
Jesus.
Philip saith unto him, Come
and see.
What a simple but
profound answer. We do not have to convince people to believe only to come and
see for themselves.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith
of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Jesus, remember,
knows what is in everyone of us. He knew the inner character of Nathanael. He
gave a glowing testimony of Nathanael. No disguise, no hypocrisy, no deception,
no wickedness, no guile. This did not mean he did not need a Savior, only that
he was living as good as any man could.
48 Nathanael saith unto him,
Whence knowest thou me?
This got his
attention and he asked “how do you know me?”
Jesus answered and said unto
him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw
thee.
This certainly is a
personal miracle for Nathanael. Jesus told him where he had been. Not only does
he know our thoughts and feelings He sees our paths as well. We cannot go where
God does not know. Listen to how the Psalmist said it.
Psalms 139:7-12 Whither shall I
go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I
ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou
art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead
me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness
shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the
day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
He knew him and
He knows us.
49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him,
Rabbi,
thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
Many say there is a
sense that Christ spoke to Nathanael in such a way that it said things not
recorded. Perhaps he had been praying about Messiah’s coming, or some other
thing that was understood between him and Jesus. We can only speculate. We do
know however the great testimony given by Nathanael. He recognized Jesus as the
Son of God and King of Israel.
50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I
said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see
greater things than these. 51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of man.
So the testimony of these men is clear. They
recognized Jesus as Messiah, as the one spoken of by Moses and the prophets
that was coming. They worshipped Him as God in the flesh.
BACK TO OUTLINE
I- The Background:
As we have seen our story begins in
John in the beginning before creation. John 1:1-3 says, “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2
The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
Jesus as
we know was born in Bethlehem, but we have to get this from another gospel,
John did not tell us about his birth. He does not tell us about the instance of
Jesus staying behind in the temple but goes directly to the ministry of John
the Baptist. John does not record the actual event of the baptism and skips
past the forty days in the wilderness for the temptation. John instead begins
his telling of the events of Christ life with the calling of the first
disciples and in a matter of a few days the first miracle.
This is the period
of introduction of Jesus to the world as Messiah. Merrill Tenney called it,
“The period of consideration.” Jesus is presented for the world to consider who
He is. As you will recall:
John
1:19 The first day we find the Jewish priest sending to John and asking
if he is the Messiah. John says he is not.
John
1:29 The next day as John sees Jesus and testifies that Jesus was the
one who God revealed to him was the Lamb by the descent of the Spirit.
John
1:34 The next day again they looked upon Jesus and two of John’s
disciples hear John’s testimony and follow Jesus. One of these was Andrew,
Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew goes and gets his brother and they both become
followers of Jesus.
John
1:43 Jesus heads toward Galilee and finds Phillip who was from Bethsaida
the same city as Andrew and Peter. Phillip finds Nathanael and they both become
followers of Christ. John 1:45
Now we get to the connection of all
this to the wedding that Jesus is at in our text. Jesus travels north into
Galilee to the north side of the Sea of Galilee to the city of Cana for a
wedding. The reason He was even in the area may have been Nathanael. John
21:2 says, “There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael
of Cana in Galilee…” Nathanael was from Cana.
II- The Wedding:
Joh 2:1-2 And the third day there was a marriage in
Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And
both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
Jesus has an
occasion to be at a wedding some 3 days later.
This is about a week after the testimony of John the Baptist and the
first men who followed Jesus. At this time there were five men, not twelve that
would come later, who were following Jesus. These five were Andrew, Simeon,
Phillip, Nathanael and another unnamed disciple of John the Baptist; probably
John the Apostle.
Jesus mother was
at the wedding. Some think she may have even been one of the hostesses for it
due to the way the servants responded to her request concerning the water pots.
Most think Jesus is probably invited due to Mary and his disciples come because
of Jesus. This may have even had a connection to Nathanael. Some speculate that
it may have even been Nathanael’s wedding.
The ironic thing
is that the bride and groom is not the central character at this wedding. There
is no mention of the bride’s dress or the bridesmaids. The center figure for
eternity is Jesus the Messiah.
John
2:3 “They had no wine.” The host of the wedding had not made
adequate plans for the wedding guest. This might have been due to them not
having the resources. Historians say the people living north of the Sea of
Galilee were the poorest.
It could also
have been due to the fact that Jesus and his five friends showed up; invited
but only after preparations were made. Never the less the reason they were out
of wine. This was a potential major embarrassment to the family.
John
2:4 Jesus addresses his mother as, “Woman.” Before we read into this
that Jesus was being disrespectful we must remember that He addressed her this
same way from the cross where He certainly was looking after His mother with
love. Luke 2:51 tells us
that Jesus was respectful of His parents.
This scene
however is the breaking away from parental control so that He could do the will
of God and not man.
Jesus said mine
hour is not yet come. Does this mean that Jesus should not have performed this
miracle? No, certainly not. Jesus was saying that the hour was not yet come
that He would be subject to the will of men again when He would submit to the
cross.
III- The Miracle:
Joh
2:5-6 His mother saith unto the
servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
6 And there were set there six
waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing
two or three firkins apiece. Mary says to them, “follow His
instruction.” There were some water pots sitting nearby. Water pots of clay.
The combined capacity of these would have been about 150 gallons which would
have yielded 2400 ½ pint servings. This was not only one pitcher of water into
wine.
John
2:7 Jesus commands them to, “fill the waterpots with water.” The
instructions were complied with and all was ready.
John
2:8 He tells them now to draw
and take to the governor of the feast. “And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and
bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.”
Notice Jesus did not
say, “look at me I’m going to do a miracle.” He did not draw attention to what
was happening at all. He simply turned the water into wine and then told them
to take it to the governor of the feast.
John
2:9-10 “When the ruler of the feast had
tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the
servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the
bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the
beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that
which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”
This new wine was
better than anything that they had drunk before. The good was usually served
first and then the poorer quality was served later.
Joh
2:11 “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested
forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”
John records that
this was the first miracle Jesus performed. The purposes of the miracle was for
manifesting “forth his glory” and so that the disciples, “believed
on him.” This miracle verified Him as Messiah. The first of seven signs
in John as we have previously stated.
IV- Application of the Miracle:
There are several application that we
need to draw from this miracle.
1- This does not
teach that social drinking is OK.
2- This teaches
us that marriage is a sacred thing to God. In this live together era, same sex
marriages uproar, isn’t it refreshing to again see that Jesus counted marriage
sacred by His presence.
3- This shows us
that Jesus was creator. John had stated this in John 1:3 “All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
Someone has said that it is not hard to believe this miracle of water being
made into wine, it happens all the time in nature. Jesus simply sped up the
process. He, as Creator could do this.
4- Notice
something else also if you would in the fact that Jesus created the wine
already aged. It was good wine. Wine must age to be good. When God created the
universe He created it with age. This miracle in some ways mirrors creation of
the universe.
5- Notice the
governor says you have kept the best for last. Might I say that this first
miracle also looks ahead to the best that is coming? The best will be last.
The story is told of a time when
Teddy Roosevelt was returning from Africa from a hunting trip by ship. On the
same ship was an old couple who had retired as missionaries and was returning
home. When the ship docked they rolled out the red carpet for the president
while the arrival of the missionaries went unnoticed. No one was there to greet
them, no band to play. They went to a cheap hotel to get a good night’s rest
before starting west to home. This discouraged them and as they prayed to God
they said, “We have given our lives to tell the people of Africa about Jesus
and lead them to you. Yet when we return home there is no one to greet us while
when the president returns home there is a crowd.” The old couple said that God
then gently reminded them, “You are not home yet.”
Beloved I am
reminded that the best is yet to come. The last will be better than the first.
There is coming a wedding feast for the bride of Christ. We will be home
someday.
The Messiah has
been testified as being authentic, and now His miracle has verified Him. Have
you trusted Him as Savior?
BACK TO OUTLINE
Jesus began His
public ministry as with an event that has some important components. There are
some nuggets of gold that are lying in wait for us as we explore His zeal for
the temple of God.
I- To Capernaum:
John 2:12 After this he went
down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and
they continued there not many days.
After the first
recorded miracle of the turning of the water into wine Jesus leave Cana and
goes to Capernaum. Capernaum is called His own city. Mat 9:1And he entered into a
ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.
While this may seem
insignificant in the choice of Jesus to make this His primary city to go from
and to it was not accidental at all. Remember we are seeing the things that
verify the Messiah. The prophet Isaiah spoke many centuries before and said in Isa
9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell
in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Matthew 4:12-15 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast
into prison, he departed into Galilee;
13 And leaving Nazareth, he came
and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon
and Nephthalim: 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of
Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
One of the things
that verify the Messiahship of Jesus is fulfilled prophecy. There are literally
hundreds of such fulfillments.
Some may say yes
but the evidence you use to verify this is the Bible. One internal evidences of
just how accurate the Bible is found in the words “went down to Capernaum.” The city was lower in altitude that Nazareth
and Cana from where He had recently traveled from. The Bible is authenticated
as a reliable source by scrutiny of the statements that it makes and its minute
accuracy with those statements.
II- Passover at Jerusalem:
John 2:13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus
went up to Jerusalem,
God had given the
Law of Moses to be observed as a way to live and worship Him. In order for the
Messiah to be authentic He would therefore have to observe the law given by
God. Not necessarily all the 613 interpretation of the law that the rabbis had
come up with as they interpreted the law.
The observance of
Passover was to be a perpetual covenant with Israel. The Passover remembered
the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage.
Another small but
profound insight is that it says that He went up to Jerusalem. He is moving
from the geography north to the south, and most of the times we say we are
going up when traveling north and down to the south. The Bible says he went up
to Jerusalem while moving south. It is because of the natural features of the
area where you go up in topography to a higher elevation to Jerusalem.
He tarried a
little while in order to arrive at Jerusalem for the Passover. He is going to
fulfill the law of Moses. As He observed Passover here He was not casting out
the Jewish law but those that had perverted it.
There are a total
of four Passovers that are recorded during the 3 ½ years of Jesus public
ministry. This is the first one. The second is in Luk 6:1 And it came to pass on the second sabbath
after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples
plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
The third in
Joh
6:4 And the passover, a feast of the
Jews, was nigh.
Joh 11:55 And the Jews' passover was nigh at hand: and
many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify
themselves. The fourth, the one just prior to being crucified where He
acted as the head of the company.
III- Corruption in the Temple:
John 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen
and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
This is the first
