Day 279 – John 2-4

Talking Points

• The best is yet to come. Mary makes a request knowing her Son, but not yet able to imagine the implications. As Jesus reveals His glory, a ball starts rolling that will head straight to Calvary. Hidden in the laughter and rejoicing of this party are the cries that will come from the cross. But, here’s the beautiful part — Jesus, knowing every implication, proves what will always be true: what He gives is always the very best.
• At the start of His earthly ministry and again at the end (Matthew 21:12-17), Jesus is found in great disgust, cleaning out the temple. He makes it clear He has no use for false religion, false pretenses, or religion-for-profit.

Thoughts

As we read Scripture, we can find God has marvelously woven threads of truth throughout, and one of those threads can be discovered in these chapters of John. The hopeful call of each interaction with Jesus is belief. For would-be citizens of His kingdom, everything will be settled, not in religious practice, not by pious works, not with reputation, but with faith.

The thread weaves through the wedding miracle in Cana: “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11).

His dealings in Jerusalem and the cleansing of the temple produced the same resulting faith: “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing” (2:23).

Reading of Jesus’ nighttime meeting with the esteemed Pharisee Nicodemus, we see this same fiber of truth: “so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (3:15-16).

As we witness Jesus’ kind afternoon meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well, we see, again, that God’s grace is showcased in a gospel that is grabbed in simple faith. Salvation is received not just by the newly transformed water-hauler turned evangelist, but also by many in the city who heard her message. “From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified” (4:39).

And, then, the thread is visible as we find the frantic nobleman faced with a dilemma his wealth couldn’t fix. His son lay dying and all other hopes had dimmed. But, he hadn’t forgotten the One whose miracle he’d seen in Cana. In faith, the remedy is found, his son is healed, and an entire household is saved. “So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and his whole household” (4:53).

We exist in a world that is looking for salvation in every empty place — prestige, achievement, excess, religious works, relationships, even apathy. Yet, to find true and lasting salvation, we can only look to Jesus the Christ and believe for ourselves. Today, may we be counted among those citizens of His kingdom who can say, “We now believe… we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world” (4:42).