Tag Archive | The Gospel of John

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/16) John 2:1-12

Jun16

Read and believe in Jesus

“This, the first of His signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him. “ John 2:11

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – Jesus’ first disciples believe and begin to follow Him: John and Andrew, Simon (Peter), Philip, and Nathaniel. John and Andrew are directed by John the Baptist to Jesus. Andrew brings his brother Simon, and Jesus gives him a new name. After Jesus invites Philip to follow Him, the disciple finds his friend Nathaniel and simply says, “Come and see.” Nathaniel believes when he hears that Jesus “saw” him earlier, and Jesus promises him more supernatural revelations.

John 2:1-5

Three days after Jesus called Philip and Nathaniel, there was a wedding in the nearby town of Cana. Jesus’ mother was there. (It was possibly a family member’s wedding, and she had some responsibilities.) If that was the case, it was natural that Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. The newest disciple, Nathaniel, was from Cana. (John 21:2)

The celebration was going along nicely (it could be up to a week!) when Mary noticed they were out of wine. This would be a big embarrassment to the host (the groom & family), and Mary told Jesus about the problem.

Did she expect Him to do something about it? (Run to the nearest BEV MO?) Verse 11 says that this was the FIRST of Jesus’ miracles, so she couldn’t have expected a miracle of Him. Perhaps she was simply used to going to Jesus as her oldest and first-born son with any problems that arose after the death of Joseph.

What follows is hard for us to understand. It seems like Jesus is rude to His mother, telling her that since He had begun His ministry (acclaimed by John the Baptist and calling His first disciples), He could no longer be involved in her household problems. From that time onward, His eye (concern) would be on the cross and His death on it for the sins of man. (His “hour”)

What Mary understood of that, we don’t know. It seems she might have said, “Whatever!” and then turned to the servants with, “You do what He says.” After that, she walked away, leaving everything in His hands.

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John 2:6-11

In this house where the wedding was being held (it must have been grand), there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rite of purification (ritual baths). Each held 20-30 gallons. GALLONS!! Jesus told the servants to fill each of them up with fresh water (from a well or nearby spring). It must have taken some time. When they were full (you could see the inside bottom of the jars through the clear liquid), Jesus told the servants to draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.

Were they scared to do so? Water to the head master? But they were servants; they obeyed. A pitcher was carried to the man at the head table. And sometime between drawing the water out and pouring it into a wine glass … the water had become wine. The freshest and best wine from the highest-quality grapes.

The head of the feast was flabbergasted. He turned to the groom with high praise. The groom must have been wide-eyed in wonder himself. Where had it come from? (Only the servants knew.) Whatever, the wedding feast went on in splendid form.

“This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.“

John emphasized that miracles were not merely displays of power, but had spiritual significance. They were “signs” that pointed to deeper realities through the eyes of faith.

(What do YOU believe this sign of turning water to wine at a wedding feast pointed to in Jesus’ life and ministry?)

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John 2:12.

After the wedding feast, Jesus and His disciples (and His mother and brothers) went down to Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus would soon establish this town as His northern headquarters. For now, they stayed only a few days before heading to Jerusalem for Passover (next reading).

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/15) John 1:35-51

Jun15

Read and believe in Jesus

“He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah.” John 1:41

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – John the Baptist points people to Jesus, saying He is the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ He is questioned by the religious leaders from Jerusalem, but humbly claims only to be the one pointing others to the promised Messiah.

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John 1:35-42.

The next day, two of John the Baptist’s own followers were standing near him when Jesus walked by. John pointed to Him and said, “Behold (or look!), the Lamb of God.” The two disciples (who happened to be John and Andrew) began following after Jesus.

“What are you seeking?” Jesus turned and asked them.

“Rabbi, where are You staying?

Jesus, I think, with a grin on his face, answered, “Come, and you will see.”

They followed Him and stayed with Him that day.

(NOTE: If John was using the Jewish way of reckoning time, it would have been 4:00 pm, but John often uses the Roman method, and so it would have been 10:00 in the morning, and the two stayed with Jesus, learning from him all that day.)

It seems that John and Andrew were convinced of who Jesus was. Andrew went off to find his brother, Simon, and exclaimed, “We have found the Messiah!”

He brought Simon to Jesus, and after a simple look, Jesus said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas (which in Greek is Peter)?“

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John 1:43-46.

The next day, Jesus went north to Galilee, to the city of Bethsaida (the northern tip of the Sea). Peter and Andrew were originally from that city. Jesus found Philip there and said, “Follow Me.”

Almost immediately, Philip found Nathaniel (sometimes called Bartholomew) and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

(Philip got two things wrong, but they were later corrected. While Jesus WAS raised in Nazareth, He was born in Bethlehem, and while Joseph was His adopted father, Jesus was the Son of God. In reality, He had no earthly father.)

Nathaniel scoffed, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? (Nazareth was an insignificant, poor village without prophetic significance. Nathaniel, a scholar, knew that.)

Philip’s answer? “Come and see.”

(This is a great way to introduce Jesus, even today. “Come and see.” You can invite friends or family to study the Gospels with you, or invite them to your church’s Sunday School or Bible study. There, as they read the Bible, they can “see” Jesus for themselves.)

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John 1:47-51.

Nathaniel agreed and went with Philip. Jesus saw him coming and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (Wow, what a thing for Jesus to say of him!)

“How do You know me?” Nathaniel asked, astonished.

“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Amazed, and recognizing Jesus as the Messiah that Philip called Him, Nathaniel said, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israle!” (Wow! Nathaniel claimed Jesus as “the Son of God” way before Peter made that announcement!)

Jesus said, “Because I said I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

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(What did Jesus mean by that? If you remember way back in Genesis 28:12, Jacob (who became Israel) had a dream as he left the ‘promised land’ to seek a wife: a ladder stretched from earth to heaven. Angels were ascending and descending on it. That was when the LORD promised Jacob that He would be his God, as He had been to Abraham and Isaac, and that the promised land would be HIS and his offspring’s forever. —– Jesus’ point to Nathaniel was that just as Jacob/Israel experienced a supernatural, heaven-sent revelation, so Nathaniel and the other disciples would experience supernatural confirmation about WHO Jesus was. And “the Son of Man” replaced the “ladder” in Jacob’s dream, showing that Jesus was the means of access to God.)

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (6/11) John 1:1-18

Jun11

Read and believe in Jesus

“And the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – We’ve read the gospels of Mark and Luke, both of which draw on eyewitness accounts. John (and next, Matthew) were actual disciples of Jesus. Daily they were with Him for most of three years. Matthew was probably written first. John, written last, was written many years later, when the “beloved disciple” was an old man.

John doesn’t write his account in specific chronological order. Instead, he gives seven signs (miracles) that prove Jesus was the Messiah and Savior. He also uses seven “! AM” statements that identify Jesus as God. He had a purpose for writing his book that you will find at the end of his Gospel: “that YOU may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you might have life in His name.” John 20:31.

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John 1:1-5

“In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD WAS God.

“He was in the beginning with God. ALL things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”

According to Greek philosophy, the “Lagos” (or WORD) is the “initiator” of all that exists. THIS is Jesus. John uses this word not only to reach Jews, but also Greeks with the Gospel.

“In Him was LIFE, and the life was the LIGHT of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

LIFE and LIGHT are spiritual and eternal qualities shared in the Godhead, and also in those who respond to the gospel message about Jesus.

LIGHT refers to Biblical truth, as well as to holiness and purity, while darkness points to Satan, rebellion, and death. Darkness will never conquer the LIGHT of Christ, just as a single candle can overcome a room filled with darkness, but not vice versa. (PRAISE GOD!)

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John 1:6-8.

John mentions John the Baptist, a man sent by God as a “witness” to tell about the light of Jesus, so all might believe in Him. John wasn’t the light, but he came to point to the light. And indeed he did, to all who came to him to be baptized … and even to King Herod who had him beheaded for it.

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John 1:9-13.

Jesus, the true light, came into the world (the world that He created), and they (for the most part) DID NOT KNOW HIM.

He came to His own people, the Jews, who since Abraham had been expecting their Messiah, and they (for the most part) DID NOT RECEIVE HIM.

BUT …. to all WHO DID RECEIVE HIM, who did believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. Spiritual children of God, not of flesh and blood or the will of man … but by THE WILL OF GOD.

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John 1:14-18

Here, John the disciple can’t help but testify on his own behalf.

“The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, AND WE HAVE SEEN HIS GLORY, GLORY AS THE ONLY SON OF THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH!”

In John’s first letter, verse 1, you see that amazement again.

“That which was from the beginning, WHICH WE HAVE HEARD, WHICH WE HAVE SEEN WITH OUR EYES, WHICH WE LOOKED UPON AND HAVE TOUCHED WITH OUR HANDS…. the life was made manifest, and WE HAVE SEEN IT…”

(This is the one who is writing this Gospel we are about to read. A man who knew Jesus, who walked with Him, hugged, linked arms with. The Word of Life, John knew personally. And he’s going to tell us about Him.)

Then John the disciple tells the testimony of John the Baptist.

“John bore witness about him and cried out, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because He WAS before me.”

And John’s final words of introduction before going into more of what John the Baptist said and did:

“And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father’s side, HE has made Him known.”

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Yes, this is a tough section of John’s Gospel. Jesus is presented not as a babe in a manger or even a man being baptized, but as the Eternal God, author of life and all that exists. Let’s try to keep this image of Him in our minds as we read.