Wiregrass Church
The first of Jesus' miracles that John documents is when Jesus–with a nudge from his mother—attended a wedding and turned water into wine. It was the first sign of many that gives evidence of who Jesus is.
Perhaps the two most misused words in all of religion are:
FAITH
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BELIEVE
We believe based on evidence.
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We believe based on confidence in the person delivering the information.
Religious faith and belief are often divorced from reason and confused with hope.
Hope and belief or hope or confidence are two different things.
"Well, you just have to believe, brother"
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"You just gotta take it by faith, sister."
"The reason so many people are easily talked out of Christianity is because they were never talked into it in the first place."
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Frank Turek
John Zebedeeson
There is an enormous difference between...
By faith
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Because of faith.
The Apostle John left his father's fishing business to follow Jesus because of what he saw, not because of faith.
The Gospel of John
John was not content to simply tell us what happened.
John tells us why it happened and why he wants us to know it happened.
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
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John 20:30 NIV
But these are written that you may believe...
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John 20:31 NIV
He's not simply telling us what to believe.
He's building a case as to why we should believe it.
But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God...
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John 20:31 NIV
But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God,
and that bybelieving, you might have life in his name.
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John 20:31 NIV
Events
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Signs
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Evidence
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Believe That
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Trust In
Seven Signs
Sign
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Miracle
John does his best in this gospel to help us not become enamored with the miraculous, but to become enamored with the person that the miraculous pointed to.
The First Sign
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Water to Wine
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there...
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John 2:1 NIV
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
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John 2:1-2 NIV
When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
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John 2:3 NIV
“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
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John 2:4 NIV
“Do whatever he tells you.”
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John 2:5 NIV
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
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John 2:6 NIV
These stone or clay jars are icons of the covenant.
Jesus decides to go public by using something that would soon be replaced to point to what would soon be put in place.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
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John 2:7 NIV
"The water, provided for purification as laid down by Jewish law and custom, stands for the whole Ancient order of Jewish ceremony, which Christ was to replace
with something better."
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F.F. Bruce - The Gospel of John
Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
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John 2:8 NIV
”They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water...
that had been turned into wine.
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John 2:8-9 NIV
He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said,
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John 2:9-10 NIV
“Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink;
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John 2:10 NIV
but you have saved the best till now.”
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John 2:10 NIV
This was more than a miracle.
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It was a sign.
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
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John 2:11 NIV
There was a reason to believe.
Never once is anybody asked to believe without there being evidence or without there being confidence in the person who brings the information.
After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
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John 2:12 NIV
John 2:1-12 NIV
Unlike John, our faith in Jesus does not come by...
Seeing
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We come to faith by...
Hearing
We are invited to believe what happened, we're invited to believe what happened based on the testimony of the people who were actually there.
People like John.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
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John 1:14 NIV
John 1:14 NIV
These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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John 20:31 NIV
John 20:31 NIV
You have not been required, you have not even been invited to believe in belief.
You've not been called to follow Jesus because of faith.
It is way, way, way better than that.
