Gospel of John, Chapter 2 (ESV)

Joh 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
Joh 2:2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.
Joh 2:3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
Joh 2:4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Joh 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Joh 2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
Joh 2:7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
Joh 2:8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.
Joh 2:9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom
Joh 2:10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
Joh 2:11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
Joh 2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
Joh 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Joh 2:14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.
Joh 2:15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
Joh 2:16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
Joh 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Joh 2:18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”
Joh 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Joh 2:20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
Joh 2:21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Joh 2:22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Joh 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.
Joh 2:24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
Joh 2:25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Notes on John, Chapter 2

1-11) Here we read the famous recounting of Jesus turning water into wine. This is the first miracle we see in the book of John. It is rather strange that Jesus would make wine, since some of churches teach that allowing your lips to touch wine puts you in greater danger of the hell-fire than even those who pass judgement on others ; ) (Of course this discussion leads to all kinds of adding to the word and erroneous translations of Greek, so we’ll save that for the comment section… flame away : )

(Oh, and for business leaders - there is a special message just for us from God regarding consumption of alcohol in Proverbs 31:4-7)

Interesting how Jesus’ power is only revealed to those who can not increase his standing or wealth - his disciples and the servants. Jesus keeps the miracle from the master of the feast, letting the bridegroom take the credit. My first thought was how we should live the same way - helping others in anonymity. Easier said than done, though when our flesh is crying out “But what about all my hard work?”

This story also brings up a great point about how God reaches us. He sometimes uses less obvious ways. When I came to Christ, it was not physically spectacular; God supplied me with the idea of listening to sermons via the Internet that kept me from falling asleep at the desk of my first office job. I didn’t listen to any sermons at the time, and only begrudingly went to church to appease my girlfriend (now my wife - thanks, God!). From there I came to a deeper understanding of God that I did not receive in my youth and developed a thirst for a relationship with Him.

Most of us miss out on the miracles of God because we are always looking for the spectacular in the physical world (as if a sunrise or sunset is not enough in itself). This has affected all generations, not just the current one. This same line of thinking is why the Jews did not accept Jesus as the savior. They expected God riding in on a cloud, in great glory and power. Jesus arrived a bit differently though, didn’t he - riding a donkey and in relative poverty.

Once we have come to Christ, we see that there is nothing more spectacular than a person to be reborn and instilled with the very spirit of the same God that created this universe. Let us all be ready to share our spectacularly “unspectacular” story with others, when the time is right. God will take care of the rest.

14-17) “Jesus wrecks the joint” by driving out all those who have set up shop in the temple area. I used to think about the “evil televangelists”, but now I think of my own actions.

Have I set up shop in God’s house? What am I thinking of during the message at church? Work? Family? What I am going to eat when I get out of church? Just yesterday I was reading some great stuff about the Holy Spirit and totally broke my concentration to get up and clip my fingernails. Not that I am trying to be rigid, but couldn’t that have waited? I just want to be .0001% as committed to God as he is to us. Fortunately, God remains faithful to us even when we do not hold up our end of the deal. (I’m looking for that verse - just read it last night somewhere)

Jesus goes on to perform more wonderous signs but does not accept testimony from man. That was because Jesus knows what is in us, and that man’s approval usually comes with a cost. Since we have the spirit of God, we should strive to live the same way; seeking approval from only the Lord.

Proverbs 2 (ESV)

The Value of Wisdom

1My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
9Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
12delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
13who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
14who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.

16So you will be delivered from the forbidden[a] woman,
from the adulteress[b] with her smooth words,
17who forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God;
18for her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the departed;[c]
19none who go to her come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.
20So you will walk in the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21For the upright will inhabit the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it,
22but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Footnotes:

a. Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew strange
b. Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman
c. Proverbs 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim

Notes on Proverbs 2

As an Internet marketing wonk, and a man, I love my equations (A+B+C= faith, or A+B = love). Most of the Bible isn’t quite that simple, but this proverb does exactly that for us - God tells us exactly how we receive wisdom. We could quit the series after this reading (just kidding!)

1) “If we receive his words” means that we apply them to our lives with complete honesty. We make no excuses, but believe that God will forgive us for our sins and help us to change.

“Storing up commandments” means that we spend time in his word. I remember commercial jingles from when I was a kid, but when the chips are down and I need a Bible verse, I sound like, “Well, let’s see - there was something about “Yay, though I walk through the valley of the … or was it the shadow of the…” We don’t read the Bible to score “bonus points” with God - he already knows everything in there. We read the Bible because its words bring life. We learn more about our creator and grow in our relationship with him. In the process, we obtain wisdom and understanding from the same one who created every facet of this amazing world we live in - pretty cool!

3-5) If we seek God with even a fraction of the passion he has for us, God will surely honor our request to obtain his wisdom. God does not hint at this; God says that he will give this to us.

6) God is the source of all wisdom and understanding - I wish I came to him years ago! Examine people’s email signatures, and desk calendars. Everyone is searching for bits of wisdom. If you look closer, most of the quality secular quotes are really Biblical principles rewritten over time so that they do not contain references to God. When I really started reading deeply into the Bible, I would see it every few chapters, “Oh, that’s where that saying came from…”

People go for secular wisdom instead of reading the Bible for two main reasons - fear or selfishness. In my case it was a combination of the two. Have no fear! God just wants to add to our lives. We find that while the secular quotes are God’s wisdom, they will not work for long without God.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;

9-11) God speaks of some of the benefits of wisdom:

• knowledge becomes pleasant to our soul - I always hated school. Seriously! After I had followed the Lord for only a short time, I became excited about learning. I’m talking about more than just the Word of God. I started studying other fields of interest, renewed my love of books, and was able to understand highly technical topics that I had immense trouble with before. That could only be the power of God!
• wisdom comes into our heart So long as I am acting in love, God gives me greater understanding of people and situations. The “acting in love” part is the biggest challenge, especially to my flesh
• discretion watches over us, and understanding guards us - I now have a small voice that tells me “Hey, keep your mouth shut,” or “Hey, be careful here.” If I am living according to my flesh I sometimes miss it, but it seems much more obvious than before.

The challenge now is to give all the glory to God for this. I can not take credit for gifts given to me by God - he gave them to me not because of my own righteousness, but because of his grat love for me. It is tough sometimes, because the words of praise sometimes come from trusted sources, like my wife. In those quiet, familiar moments we have to be constantly on our toes.

I find public complements a bit easier to handle…. sometimes. If complements come from Christians it is easier to say, “I just give God all the praise”. When the people are not Christians, it is much more challenging. People will literally start squirming if I say in a board meeting, “I just give God all the credit for that great marketing plan…”

12-19) Two common enemies of God are listed here. The gender of the offender does not matter. It is what they are doing, and how we should NOT be involved. Fortunately, God says if we seek his wisdom we will be delivered from them.

The evil doers are sometimes hard to pick out in this day and age, since we do not routinely plot to kill others (at least where I work and live). I remember though that God looks at all sins equally. If we are plotting to lie about another, cheat another person, or steal from them, God looks at it in the same manner.

We’ll see much about the adulterer in the Proverbs. Adultery goes far beyond us making a vow before him during the ceremony. That should be enough, but what about those who go through secular ceremonies?

People did not get married in elaborate ceremonies back in the day. When a man took the woman into his bed to have relations with her, they became “one flesh” in the eyes of God. That is marriage. Going by God’s definition of marriage, every time I had sex with a woman I was committing adultery. Thank you God for forgiveness and restoration.

We need to be constantly on watch for the tempation of adultery. Did you that God views fantasizing about another person as adultery? Yup - because he views our intentions just like our actions. Now, it is not wrong to be tempted - Satan will provide us with opportunities all the time until Satan knows he is wasting his time. Just look away.

Flirting is another pitfall in the workplace. I worked in a restaurant in a when I was in my college years. The staff was comprised mostly of students, but there were some married people as well. What a challenge that must have been for them! There was so much “grab-ass” going on I would have to quit if I started working there as a married man. It is always a temptation to flirt for just a second, so we know “I’ve still got it”. That is a lie of the devil though, and we must not dance with that thought for even an instant.

21-22) We close with a warning to the wicked, and rewards to the wise. If we follow God’s ways, we will inhabit the land. In the Jewish culture, the land represented God’s promise to them. God has a slightly different promise to us, but he will richly bless us.

Another great set of readings. Thanks for joining us. Be sure to come back for the next installment, and be sure to add any comments below. If you have not joined our feed, please do so on the right of the web page. You may choose RSS reader or email for delivery - of course it is 100% free, and I will not email you with any junk.

Have a blessed evening!

Categories: Wisdom
Tags: