It's an interesting parenthetical comment the apostle John leaves us at the beginning of chapter four. He says that Jesus did not baptize people, only his disciples did. Which may be true on this one occasion, but it isn't true always. John 3.22 states "Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing." At this time many came to follow Jesus. In chapter four, there are already a great number who are following Jesus which caught the attention of more than Nicodemus, but the other Pharisees too. So Jesus decided to move on.
From Cana Jesus, Mary, James and other brother's of Jesus as well as the disciples all traveled to Capernum (16 miles) for a few days before continuing on to Jerusalem (85) miles for the Passover. There has been much debate over verse 12 since Catholics adhere to the eternal virginity of Mary. What did John "really mean" by Jesus's "brothers"? Epiphanius (an early church father) argued they were children of Joseph by a previous marriage; Jerome argued they were cousins; Heldivian argued the obvious, that they were the children of Mary and Joseph born after Jesus. Sometimes a brother is just a brother.
Yesterday we examined the first 18 verses of John, his prologue to the story of the Messiah. Starting in verse 19 of chapter one we enter the first of four stories about the Messiah. This first cycle is The Peaceful First Coming of the Messiah (1.19-4.54). At the start we are dropped into a day in the life of John the Baptist who is being challenged by the Pharisees in a way that bears resemblance to how Jesus will be questioned by this same band of religious leaders. Unlike Jesus, John answers them without riddles or questions of his own.
Previously we've reported information from Pew Research that Millennials are less religious than the generations before them. According to Pew, a third of the millennial generation doesn’t pray and only a little over a quarter of them attend at least one religious service per week. The majority of those surveyed also claimed that religion isn’t very important to them, identifying with the statement that it is “not too” or “not at all” important in their lives. We stated then that we had no reason to question the survey, and that Pew is normally a reliable polling service. That was then.
Yesterday we discovered John's intention in telling us the story about Jesus and Nicodemus, today we'll have a look at this short but powerful discussion. To set the stage, Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night in order to avoid being seen and to satisfy his curiosity about the true identity of this new Rabbi. He has been witness to several of Jesus' miracles and heard of still more. Could this be the long awaited Messiah? Or is he simply a more convincing con man? He had to know, but feared the ridicule he would suffer from his fellow councilmen should they find out.
This is the fifth day of 20 that John tells us about the life of Jesus and is a continuation of John's initial theme of "The Peaceful First Coming of the Messiah". In verse 43 of the first chapter we learn of Jesus' desire to set out for Galilee. No explanation is given as to why Jesus wanted to head there, but we can surmise it was on the way to Cana, where we find Jesus three days later at the start of chapter two. Jesus' mother and the disciples were all invited to the wedding where the action starts in 2.3.
The most famous opening lines of any piece of literature of any age are those of Genesis, "In the beginning..." It's fame is attributed not to its ancient origins or to its religious importance, but to its addressing an issue that all people wonder about. How did all this begin? Greek philosophy started because they wanted to know what was the first substance, the thing from which everything came from. To this day the question remains. Those who reject God believe in a primordial soup from which everything came from, with no idea of what its ingredients are. Origins is the ultimate investigation.
So much happens in life. Sometimes we receive bad news like the death of a loved one, news about having a terrible disease, or loosing a job and sometimes we get great news like the birth of a new family member, finding out you don't have a terrible disease or finding a job. We never know what is around the next corner, the good or the bad, but there is one constant in both cases: God is present. Pursuing God's presence may sound like the title of a new book by some mega-church pastor, but nay, it is the topic of today's study.
John chapter three begins with a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. John tells us that Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish ruling council, and Jesus refers to him as "the teacher of Israel." We know that he was a leading Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. There are a few things we can learn about Nicodemus immediately. First, he is not trying to trap Jesus as other Pharisees tried to do, for he came to Jesus at night, alone, for a one-on-one conversation. Second, he didn't have the courage to let his fellow councilmen know he thought Jesus might be the Messiah.
Yesterday we left off on day three from the perspective of John the Baptist. In verse 43 we come to day four and we leave the Baptizer behind. Jesus has three disciples already, Andrew, Peter and another. On this day Jesus calls a few more. Phillip was from the same town as Andrew and Peter, and Jesus called him with two simple words: "Follow me." From Phillip Jesus gained Nathaniel, and how he convinces Nathanael (also probably known as Bartholomew) to come along is with an argument that aligns with the author's purpose. He testifies that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah.
It's nearly summer, and readers of this site know that means its time for a series on a book of the Bible. This summer we'll be working our way through the Gospel of John, of which our previous post "A Geek Like Me" may be considered as an introduction. In all my years of teaching the Bible I've never taught through this book, so I am approaching it with careful observation. As always, I appreciate reader feedback through our Facebook Group. Please let me know if you disagree with my conclusions or reasoning or have any knowledge that should be added.
Every once in a while there comes along an organization or a coalition that deems to do something amazing. Few have the resources to pull it off. If we've learned anything from those who do evil, it is that the Internet can be a pwerful tool to bring like-minded people together to do what they could not do alone. A Christian organization — several, actually — are working to do something wonderful for the kingdom and are inviting others to be a part. It is called the EveryChurch, and it was started as a joint operation by Cru and Intervarsity.
