Miracles
Why was Jesus's first miracle to turn water into wine?
A lot of different interpretations arise:
- some people say that it is because turning water into wine is symbolic of the blood of Christ that will redeem us
- others say it is about the transformative power of Christ, how he can change the old to new, the water to wine, and the ordinary wedding into an event that 2000 years later hasn't been forgotten.
- Some say it is symbolic of how Christ is the bridegroom and how he is prepping the Heavenly wedding in Revelations.
Parable of the Good Shepherd
John 10
The main message is clear, Jesus is going to lay his life down for his sheep, us, but can you detect the subtle message that John has been showing through every other parable and times Jesus speaks?
Notice how the people are always divided against what he says, some are for and some are against it. Rarely, if at all, do the other gospels bring light to this inner debate amongst the Jews, because John is trying to alert the reader, that just as Jesus has been saying, those who know Him and know god will glorify Jesus at all costs and will speak the truth, but those who don't know Jesus will deny Him, those who have no idea who He is will be denied by Him. He, Jesus, is saying He has come to save those that He wants to save, those that are His sheep, and He knows exactly who His sheep are because they will hear and know His call, and to those who are still against Him and do not hear nor heed the call, they are the ones who should be worried.
Why did Nathenial say, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Nazareth was a backwater fishing town, it wasn't a glorious kingdom, nor the country's capital, and it certainly wasn't like Rome or Greece. Many people are confused and believe that there's a specific prophet who foretold that Jesus would decent from Nazareth, but clearly Nathenial's response here shows that even Jews didn't expect something from there, and after all, Jesus wasn't born in Nazareth but Bethlehem. So Nazareth is special, precisely because of its lack of speciality. It is one of the most humble backgrounds to have, giving all the more reason to believe in the validity of the gospel.
"Even if you do not believe in Me, believe in the works." What is the lesson we can learn here?
John 10 35-38
This is further proof that Jesus is who He says He is if we believe there is God, then we have to believe He is Christ, for if a mere man, or worst a blasphemer claimed to be God, it was already a miracle they weren't struck dead, but for them to do the signs and wonders that only people anointed by God could do, must mean they are from God, and if they are from God how can they then lie about being God? So Christ must be the Son of God, as he says he is.
Man born blind
The disciples asked a very logical question, why was this man born blind, is he being punished for what he has done or what his parents have done?
Jesus replies neither, this man is blind because the glory of God needs to be shown. What do you all think about this? Is this fair to the man?
John 9
Jesus, in this moment, illustrates a very difficult-to-swallow pill, that is in our sinful and broken world, there are bad things that have happened, but despite these bad things are we able to look past blaming God and instead rejoice? Can we not see that any opportunity to give unto God glory is a blessing? Can we instead see how we are to unable to fix this broken world and just allow the creator to work his magic through His means at His pace?
Jesus washing the disicple's feet
The obvious lesson is that jesus is trying to teach his disciples humility, that if even he, their teacher washes their feet, then they have no reason to not do as he commands and wash others. But the interesting thing is actually Peter's response, he perfectly jumps from 1 end to other end of pride. At first his denial to allow Jesus's feet seems humble, but in actuality he's trying to appear better in front of Jesus compared to the other disicples, he says he definitely won't allow Jesus to wash his feet, unlike the others, but Jesus says he won't be able to join Him if he doesn't allow Him to wash his feet, which he then asks Jesus to give him a full shower, thinking that he can have more of Jesus's blessing, more than other disicples, but Jesus fences saying the feet is all his followers need.
What is Jesus trying to teach through the story of the Samaritan women?
There are a few lessons:
- the woman is a clear analogy of an outcast, she is 1 a woman, 2 a promiscuous one at that. She could not have been further from the ideal person to use as an instrument of salvation, and yet Jesus talks to her, teaches her, and uses her to spread His name in her hometown. This shows Jesus can use anyone, but He uses the weak to humiliate the strong, and the foolish to humble the wise.
- There is another lesson here, John puts this story next to the one about Niccodemus for a reason, we see 2 great opposites, a respected named Rabbi and an unnamed woman, one is supposed to be righteous and an example to the people, the other is an example of how not to live and should only attract scorn and shame. Yet, God reverses their roles, and it is Nicodemus who we shouldn't learn from. For he came to Jesus at night, when no one could see, to ask a question, he thought it beneath him to not know what Jesus was saying and tried to save his pride, whereas the samaritan women tried to leave from Jesus, for fear he would be offended by her presence.
John 11
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead
There is a clear parallel being drawn here with some interesting foreshadowing being done.
- of course, we now know that Jesus was always going to raise Lazarus so the wonder of the story is lost on us, but there was plenty of intentionality done on Jesus's side, for one he waited until 4 days after Lazarus had passed to return. This is significant as the Jewish superstition at the time was that the soul lingers for 3 days after death so resurrection after 4 is thought to be impossible.
- Lazarus came out with his grave clothes draws parallels with how Jesus left the tomb, but his clothes remained, because Lazarus would one day die again but Jesus would never taste death again.