Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving into John’s gospel, looking at the events John included, our attention is turned onto the first miracle Jesus did. Many things about this event are fascinating, especially the faith involved in this event, but faith isn’t the only big factor that amazes me. In this miracle are several layers of foreshadowing that I suspect many people miss when they read it.

So with that said, let’s read what happened, and discover some amazing things hidden within Jesus’ first miracle. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 2, and we will read from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Three days later a wedding took place in the city of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. ² Jesus and his disciples had been invited too.

³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They’re out of wine.”

⁴ Jesus said to her, “Why did you come to me? My time has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Six stone water jars were there. They were used for Jewish purification rituals. Each jar held 18 to 27 gallons.

⁷ Jesus told the servers, “Fill the jars with water.” The servers filled the jars to the brim. ⁸ Jesus said to them, “Pour some, and take it to the person in charge.” The servers did as they were told.

⁹ The person in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it had come from, although the servers who had poured the water knew. The person in charge called the groom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the best wine first. When people are drunk, the host serves cheap wine. But you have saved the best wine for now.”

¹¹ Cana in Galilee was the place where Jesus began to perform miracles. He made his glory public there, and his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this, Jesus, his mother, brothers, and disciples went to the city of Capernaum and stayed there for a few days.

Every time I read this event, I am amazed that the disciples and the servants were the only ones who knew a miracle took place. In other words, Jesus’ mother, who made the request didn’t know what happened, and the host and groom both didn’t know what happened. To the majority of the guests, this event appeared to temporarily run out of wine, but then more wine showed up. There was a problem, and the problem was resolved.

This miracle is prompted because the servants had enough faith to obey Jesus’ ridiculous sounding request to serve the host water. The servants’ faith in Jesus, not knowing who Jesus even was, opened the door for this miracle!

We could also look at the disciples and the servants and picture them as the least important people at this event. Since this was a wedding Jesus’ mother was involved in, it was likely that it was a wedding of one of Jesus’ family members. In this event, we have no idea who the bride or groom was, but they were connected in some way with Jesus’ family. This would make the only people present who were not family members Jesus’ disciples and the servants. Those outside of the family saw the miracle, while those within the family remained somewhat oblivious.

This is interesting to note, because often times we don’t see God working in our hearts or our lives, but other people do. Other people are likely to see a greater change in our lives when we come to God or begin moving towards Him than we do. This isn’t bad, it is just something we should be aware of.

Another thing that stood out to me while reading this event is that the water pots were used for purification rituals. Since John chose to include this detail, I suspect he believed it to be significant for us to know. Part of me wonders if this detail helps draw our attention onto Jesus’ gift purifying us as believers and followers of Him. When Jesus gave Himself for us, His life purifies ours and we are able to stand before God because of what Jesus accomplished for us.

This detail leads us into two amazing layers of foreshadowing I believe this miracle and event includes.

The first layer of foreshadowing is looking forward to what would happen at another significant meal Jesus and His disciples ate together. On the night Jesus was arrested leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus ate what Christians around the world call the Last Supper on Passover weekend. During this Passover meal, Jesus takes bread and wine and connects these things symbolically with His body and His blood.

Jesus’ blood, represented by the wine, represents Jesus’ life. Drawing this connection back to our event for this episode, we see that Jesus supplies His life to solve a problem we are unable to solve. The wine in this event had run out, which symbolically represents that we had done everything we knew to do without being able to solve our big problem (in this context, our biggest problem is sin). To step in with a solution, Jesus provides wine, which represents His life, and it is a wine that is better than either the host or groom had experienced before. Jesus’ life defeated sin, solving the biggest problem we face, and when we accept Jesus’ life in exchange for ours, we get to experience eternal life when we deserved eternal death because of our sin.

The second layer of foreshadowing looks towards the great “wedding” feast we will experience following Jesus’ return. After Jesus returns, we will get to enjoy the wedding supper between Jesus and His bride, which represents His church.

Whenever I see a wedding event in the Bible, I look to see if there is any connection with the wedding feast that all God’s people will experience when Jesus returns to bring us home. In this miracle, I see a profound connection. The only way this future wedding will happen is because of Jesus supplying the wine, which represents His life, for His bride. Without Jesus’ life, there would be no future wedding. The amazing, subtle foreshadowing in this first miracle is that Jesus supplies His life in order for His people to be able to experience the wedding God has been looking forward to since the beginning of time.

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection solved the sin problem. Jesus supplied His life in exchange for ours. It is now up to us to accept Jesus’ gift and His invitation to substitute His life for ours.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue seeking God first in your life and choose to accept the gift He offers to you through Jesus’ life and sacrifice. Jesus supplied what we need to solve the sin problem in our own lives, and it is up to us to lean on Jesus’ life for strength to overcome sin in this life. We do this best by focusing on Jesus and intentionally growing towards Him.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and mature towards God. Through prayer and Bible study, discover just how much God loves us through what Jesus did for all of us. Discover how sin is something we never asked for personally, but it is something God was willing to solve for us because He loves us more than we might realize!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As Jesus neared the end of His famous sermon on the mount, we find another parable-illustration that Jesus uses to help us understand a key point He wanted to emphasize for the crowd. While the crowd was used to following their religious leaders, at the big high point of Jesus’ sermon, we discover a warning that is just as important for us to remember as it was for those living in the first century.

Let’s read Jesus’ words as recorded in Matthew’s gospel. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, and we will read from the God’s Word Translation. Starting in verse 15, Matthew quotes Jesus saying:

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets. They come to you disguised as sheep, but in their hearts they are vicious wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by what they produce.

“People don’t pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they? ¹⁷ In the same way every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into a fire. ²⁰ So you will know them by what they produce.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who does what my Father in heaven wants. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we force out demons and do many miracles by the power and authority of your name?’ ²³ Then I will tell them publicly, ‘I’ve never known you. Get away from me, you evil people.’

²⁴ “Therefore, everyone who hears what I say and obeys it will be like a wise person who built a house on rock. ²⁵ Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not collapse, because its foundation was on rock.

²⁶ “Everyone who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it will be like a foolish person who built a house on sand. ²⁷ Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and struck that house. It collapsed, and the result was a total disaster.”

²⁸ When Jesus finished this speech, the crowds were amazed at his teachings. ²⁹ Unlike their experts in Moses’ Teachings, he taught them with authority.

Every time I read this passage and this event, I am amazed at the strong words Jesus used in the conclusion of this message. The illustrations Jesus uses in this passage all center around a very unpopular idea: obedience. We are warned on the front end by Jesus to pay attention to how obedient someone is and to judge their words based on their level of obedience to God’s Word.

Throughout the Bible, the idea of a prophet is simply someone who receives a message from God and then shares it with others. The Bible includes prophets who were both men and women. There is no distinction in God’s eyes when it comes to giving messages to males or females. God looks at other characteristics when deciding whether to give someone a message.

However, the Bible also warns of false prophets. These people claim to speak messages from God, but God never gave them a message to share. These people speak from their own assumptions, and they taint God’s reputation because they misrepresent Him. Obedience in one’s own life is a huge factor in whether we are accurately reflecting God.

After getting all of us agreeing on the truth that we should not expect bad trees to produce good fruit or good trees to produce bad fruit, Jesus then shifts the focus onto the fruit that we produce. If you want to know someone’s heart, look at their actions, look at where they spend their money, and look at how they treat other people. Our hearts reveal our nature through our actions.

In emphasizing His point, Jesus stresses that a lack of obedience will get people kicked out of the kingdom of heaven. The sobering truth in the center of Jesus’ conclusion is that no quantity of good deeds in the world will outweigh disobedience. Jesus calls those who are disobedient, “evil doers”. A disobedient heart is what led to Lucifer’s rebellion in heaven, and it would be crazy for God to bring disobedience into His new heaven and new earth.

However, the big parable in Jesus’ conclusion focuses in on two builders. Note the only distinction Jesus shares that separates these two people. Verse 24 quotes Jesus saying that “everyone who hears what I say and obeys it will be like a wise person”. Verse 26 contrasts this by quoting Jesus saying that “everyone who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it will be like a foolish person”.

Both the wise and the foolish individuals hear Jesus. What makes one wise is whether they obey Jesus or not. Not only is Jesus teaching and warning us about paying attention to others, Jesus is warning us about being intentional about the choices we make in our own lives.

Nowhere in this teaching do we find obedience hinted at as being the source of our salvation. Our salvation is found through faith in Jesus and trusting in His life covering our sins. The only thing obedience gains us is wisdom in this life.

However, the real teaching Jesus emphasizes in our passage is that disobedience in this life has the power to forfeit our salvation. Nothing Satan can do can steal us away from Jesus, but if we choose a life of disobedience, we are effectively choosing sin over Jesus, which not only cheapens the sacrifice He made on our behalf, we choose Satan over Christ.

Instead, Jesus challenges those in the first century, as well as us living today, to be intentional about obeying, not because we believe we can obey our way into being saved. Instead, we are challenged to obey as a way of saying thank You to God for sending Jesus, and thank You to Jesus for coming to pay the price for our sins.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open these challenges by saying, continue to intentionally seek God first and place Him first in your life. Intentionally obey God as a way of saying thank You to Him for what Jesus has done for us.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God each and every day. While a pastor, author, speaker, blogger, or podcaster can give you ideas to think about, never base your spiritual foundation on the ideas of others. Instead, always build your spiritual foundation on the truth found in the Bible which you learn and validate through personal Bible study.

And, as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or let Satan trick you into walking away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through John’s gospel, we come to the place where John begins to shift his focus away from John the Baptist and onto Jesus. John does this by following the first two people who chose to follow Jesus, one who was known as Andrew, and the other who is not named but who could easily have been the disciple John, the author of this gospel.

Let’s read about what happened and discover what we can learn from these first followers of Jesus. Our passage is found in the gospel of John, chapter 1, and we will read from the Contemporary English Version. Starting in verse 35, John’s gospel tells us:

³⁵ The next day, John was there again, and two of his followers were with him. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Here is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ John’s two followers heard him, and they went with Jesus.

³⁸ When Jesus turned and saw them, he asked, “What do you want?”

They answered, “Rabbi, where do you live?” The Hebrew word “Rabbi” means “Teacher.”

³⁹ Jesus replied, “Come and see!” It was already about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him and saw where he lived. So they stayed on for the rest of the day.

⁴⁰ One of the two men who had heard John and had gone with Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, “We have found the Messiah!” The Hebrew word “Messiah” means the same as the Greek word “Christ.”

⁴² Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, “Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas.” This name can be translated as “Peter.”

^43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, “Come with me.”

⁴⁵ Philip then found Nathanael and said, “We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

⁴⁶ Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Philip answered, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is a true descendant of our ancestor Israel. And he isn’t deceitful.”

⁴⁸ “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

⁴⁹ Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰ Jesus answered, “Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. ⁵¹ I tell you for certain that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

In this passage, I am amazed at how this early group of followers grew. In these few verses that conclude chapter 1 of John’s gospel, we see Jesus’ first followers going and telling those they know about Jesus and inviting them to come and see Jesus for themselves.

This is incredibly significant in my mind because Jesus has done no miracle, Jesus hasn’t really said anything wise, and Jesus is from a less-than-reputable location. This group of early followers has three things in common: They heard about Jesus from someone else, they believe the testimony they heard, and they accept the invitation to come and see Jesus for themselves.

About the only amazing thing Jesus says is the statement to Nathanael about seeing him under the fig tree, which doesn’t mean that much to us today, and the greater declaration that the disciples would see even greater things than this.

It is also amazing, but to a lesser extent, that when Jesus meets Simon for the first time, Jesus gives him the name Peter. While this could be an official new name, Jesus could also have given him what we might call in today’s culture a nickname. However, far from being a nickname that is based on what Peter had done in the past, this name signaled what Peter would do in the future and how instrumental he would be when standing up for God.

The way this passage shares about Jesus’ first followers I suspect is a model that we are called to apply. When Jesus has done something for us, or when we have found Jesus, the best thing for us to do is share Jesus with those around us. Specifically, when we have been invited to experience Jesus, we should intentionally invite someone else to come and see too.

In our own lives, sometimes we might be afraid of what other people will think of an invitation to church or to a Bible study. Sometimes these fears are valid concerns. There are definitely times and places where sharing Jesus would not be welcomed or wise.

However, if Jesus is the answer we know would solve the pain, anxiety, or stress in a friend, family member, neighbor, or coworker’s life, it would be cruel to keep Jesus from them. These first followers intentionally shared Jesus with those in their lives, and their invitations early on, before Jesus had entered the public spotlight, speak volumes to how their faith in Jesus was not based on miracles or on fame, but on the understanding that Jesus had a solution their lives needed. While each of Jesus’ early followers may have had different reasons for accepting the invitation and sharing it with others, they all knew early on that following Jesus was important.

While we might feel fear about following Jesus or inviting others, intentionally push past the fear because what Jesus did for us is more significant than the worst response we could receive when inviting someone to come to Jesus. The worst response we could receive is anger, hostility, and/or rejection. The response we receive when inviting someone to Jesus doesn’t say anything about ourselves; the response we receive when inviting others to Jesus reveals their hearts and their state of mind.

It is normal to feel a little nervous at times about sharing Jesus with others, but we should push past this fear because we might be surprised how God steps in and shifts the conversation in ways you might be surprised to discover. Jesus’ early followers didn’t try to impress their friends with what Jesus had done, they simply invited them to come and see Jesus for themselves. When we share Jesus with others, the focus is not on us and the conversation isn’t about us. When we share Jesus with others, focus on sharing Jesus. We share what Jesus has done for us, we invite others to come and see, and when the focus stays on Jesus, God moves in amazing ways.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue seeking God first in your life. If you are unsure or fearful about inviting someone to church or to a Bible study, pray for strength, an opportunity, and the opening to share. Trust that God will bring an opening into your life to share. However, also know that God may be waiting for you to make an opening for Him to step into. When inviting people, keep the focus on Jesus and on what Jesus has done for all of us!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and discover what God has done for us. The Bible is God’s story of history, and it is our story of redemption through what Jesus accomplished for us. While critics and skeptics can try to discount the Bible based on passages or events they dislike, look past the critics and onto the cross. Look past the skeptics and into the face of Jesus, who came to give His life for you and me. In the pages of the Bible, discover how much God loves humanity, and lean on God’s love for humanity when looking for the strength to invite others to Jesus.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or let fear paralyze you out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue into the gospels looking at the parables and illustrations Jesus shared, we come to a pair of illustrations Jesus uses during His famous Sermon on the Mount. While these illustrations aren’t classified as parables in one sense, these are illustrations that teach us something about God and about His plan for us.

Let’s read these two illustrations and discover what Jesus teaches us about God’s plan and ideal for us as His people. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 13, Matthew quotes Jesus teaching the crowd, saying:

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

In these four short verses, Jesus challenges all of us with the truth that we affect others. While those in the crowd composed of Jesus’ disciples, Jesus’ followers, and those curious about Jesus, the truth Jesus shares, specifically that we have an effect on others, is true whether we are followers of God or not. Jesus challenges everyone present, and us as well, that we are to live in a way that benefits others.

The first illustration, which focuses on salt, illustrates this idea in a significant way. In that culture, salt was used to preserve food, and to a lesser extent, it was used for flavoring. Nowadays, we use salt more as a seasoning. Regardless of how salt is used, it’s only as good as it’s characteristics. If salt loses the properties that make it useful for preservation or for enhancing flavor, then it is ultimately worthless.

However, while it might look this way on the surface, even if salt loses its saltiness, it still has a use. Salt has a deadening effect on the ground, and because of this, it is useful for roads and other surfaces where one doesn’t want plants to grow. Even though we have pavement and more modern methods of composing roads to travel on, many northern climates have used salt for years as a way of melting ice and keeping roads safe for travel. Salt has many uses, but when it ceases to be salty, then its usefulness becomes limited. In a similar way, we are to be intentional about how we affect others, and we should intentionally affect others in a positive way.

Jesus’ second illustration illustrates how God chooses to use us when we let Him. Jesus tells the crowd in verses 14 through 16, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

When we let God lead us and when we let Him transform our lives into the people He created us to be, with Jesus’ character and love shining through us, we become the “light of the world”. Jesus doesn’t say that He is the light of the world, even if He was the brightest light the world has ever known spiritually; Jesus says that we are the light of the world. When we let God use us and transform us, Jesus lets us know that we shouldn’t be surprised when God lifts us up for others to see, and we become lights in the world.

If we are interested in hiding God’s blessings, and keeping what He does in our lives secret, then we shouldn’t be surprised if we aren’t blessed in a significant way. If God gives us an amazing gift, or if God transforms us in an amazing way, when we hide what He has done for us, we are placing the light He has given to us under a bowl. We are hiding Jesus when God desires us to glorify Him.

In contrast, when we celebrate what God has done for us, we should give God the glory and credit for everything that has happened. The only credit we should take is for messing up and giving God an opportunity to bless us when we don’t deserve His blessing.

The last verse gives us the practical application of this truth, even if many people living today might try to dismiss it. In verse 16, Jesus tells us to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

In this challenge, Jesus calls us to show God’s light in us through our good deeds. We may be accused of doing works, or trying to work our way towards salvation, but this is simply an unconverted lie Satan tries to use to derail us. We obey God because we love Him and because we are thankful for what He has done for us. Thanks is best lived through a life of obedience and gratitude.

When people thank us for our good works, this is an opportunity to continually give God the credit, the glory, and the praise for what He has done for us! We can never come close to out-blessing others when compared with how much God has blessed us. While it sounds like a cliché, we should live our lives filled with an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness! Let’s simply remember that the best way we can thank God is by being a blessing to others.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always begin every set of challenges by saying, continue intentionally seeking God first in your life. If you haven’t thanked Him lately for all He has done for you, do so today. If you are facing a huge challenge or struggle, or if you feel God hasn’t been kind to you, then know that while I don’t understand your situation, God is more than willing to walk with you through the pain and challenges in your life. God may be blessing you with a testimony you can use to help others facing a similar situation. Too often, we believe that struggles and pain are God’s punishments, when God may simply be giving us a gift we can use to help others in a more meaningful way.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. A personal relationship with God is essential for knowing God’s will for your life, and we should grow our relationship with God on the foundation of prayer and Bible study. Never let someone else’s ideas or opinions get between you and your relationship with God.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!