A Johaninne Study (John 2:1-5)

1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

“Woman” is not an adulatory address. Even in our contemporary times, we do not speak to our mothers that way. Was Jesus being rude? Not exactly. There are far worse things that can be said in Greek that are more offensive than “woman.” Jesus is not condoning crassness or disrespect to mothers by way of example. The semantic tone is one of gentle rebuke.

Why would Jesus rebuke his mother? Apparently, she thought that Jesus would have a solution to the current problem: the wedding party has no more wine. His response is corrective. Jesus wants his mother to know that there is a greater problem that he is ultimately concerned with. The key is in the word hour.

• Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. John 4:21

• Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice John 5:25-28

• So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. John 7:30

• These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. John 8:20

• Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1

• The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. John 16:25

• When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you John 17:1

Thus, Jesus foreshadows what will happen on the cross when his hour has come. The lack of wine at the wedding at Cana is small potatoes when it comes to the problem of sin. Jesus will eventually deal with both. But the material solution to the problem of absent wine does not take precedence over the cross. The gospel is of paramount importance, even before it happens!

Past, present or future, the cross a watershed moment.

A Johannine Study (John 1:51)

51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

The repetitive use of the word amēn (Gk: ἀμήν), translated as “truly” or “verily,” does not appear in the rest of the New Testament. John is unique in recording Jesus’ words as such. Repetition was used by ancient Israelites for emphasis. In this case, “truly, truly” can mean “very truly” or “truly!” Jesus is making it abundantly clear that what he is about to say is not false. Since Jesus is speaking to Nathanael, it means that Nathanael would do well to heed Jesus’ words. But maybe, perhaps by implication, we should do the same.

When Jesus says, “I say to you, you will see heaven opened,” some may recall Daniel’s prophetic words: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.” (Daniel 7:13). Like Jesus, Daniel identifies the son of man as someone heavenly. The imagery is spectacular! If the clouds parted and someone that looked like a man descended, would there be a person that could honestly say, “That’s not a big deal!”? The Son of Man is a big deal. He is such a big deal that Daniel tells us in verse 14 that “to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” So, clearly this person is important!

Jesus then says, “and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” It is likely that Jesus is drawing on Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28:12: “and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” It is not clear, in Genesis, as to why the heavenly hosts are traveling to and from earth. Heaven must be incomparably superior to the gutter that is earth! Why would any angel even want to leave the utopia that is heaven and visit earth? Jesus answers this emphatically: the angels do it for the Son of Man. No locale is made worthy by its position alone. Not earth. Not heaven. Not our homes or bedrooms. Only the Son of Man makes a place worthy.

The reality is that the Son of Man is Jesus. He is the one who is a big deal. No place is worth being without him. So, let us give praise to the one who reveals himself to us through the Gospel.

A Johannine Study (John 1:43-50)

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael 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.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

Have you ever generalized presumptuously or heard an inaccurate generalization? Newfoundlanders are all fisherman. Torontonians are snobby. Calgarians ride horses. Vancouverites are laid back. Depending on your outlook, these are fairly innocuous prejudices. There are, however, malicious forms of prejudice that are harmful. Racism, for example, has been a cause for disrespect, discrimination, violence and even murder. From this, it is clear that prejudice can be a cause of great evil. But the root problem is not the harm that is caused by the outward effects of prejudice. It isn’t even in the propensity of the prejudger in assuming to know something about somebody based on generalizations alone. The reproach is in the sinner who makes judgements without knowledge shaped by the wisdom of God.

Nathanael was one of those people who fell prey to their own arrogance. He presupposes that nothing good can come out of Nazareth. But God alone has perfect knowledge, and he alone knows every single thing about the people of Nazareth. He knows everything about everyone. He even knows the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30)! Without his guidance and revelation, we are unable to make judgements that are assuredly good and right.

Paul explains that “we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know” (1 Corinthians 8:1-2). What we need is a redeemed mind to think properly. Thank God for the gospel! Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, our minds are transformed to think righteously. Paul says in his letter to the Romans, “be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (12:2).

In contrast to Nathanael is Jesus. Nathanael prejudged Jesus without truly knowing him. Jesus prejudged Nathanael because he already truly knew him. Only God is omniscient. Not man, not Satan, not Nathanael, not us.

Jesus demonstrates, in this passage, God’s perfect knowledge. We can rest in Jesus as the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), to which I would add redeemer of our minds. In God, we are gifted with understanding (2 Timothy 2:7). And if understanding comes from him, then we are surely in good company. Therefore, Christian, think for the glory of God without prejudice.