Believers Armed and Dangerous

John 2:1-10  (ESV)  On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ² Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. ³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 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 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.”

Notice Jesus as well as His disciples were invited to this wedding.  There was also a “master of the feast” (vs. 9). This indicates this was very probably a large wedding.  Masters of the feast were a common occurrence in Jerusalem but not in a village like Cana.  So, it was a big wedding, maybe as many as a couple of hundred people.

Jewish wedding feasts of the time ran about a week.  During that week, the bridegroom would appear as a surprise to all.  The wedding could begin a day or two, or even longer, before the bridegroom appeared.  The bridegroom is present here, so they did not run out of wine early in the wedding feast.

He and his family were responsible for the cost of the wedding and all that took place.  If the wine were to run out, the error would follow the bridegroom all his life as the guy who couldn’t provide for his wedding guests bringing doubt whether he could provide for a wife and family.  So, the bridegroom in this passage was in trouble.  A guest could even sue the bridegroom’s family for running out of wine.  It was as serious as that.

Mary comes to Jesus to point out the problem and He calls her “Woman.  What does this have to do with me?”  To American ears, this sounds rude or even insulting.  In Greek, it isn’t.  “Woman” is a term of respect like Sir or Ma’am.  Jesus addressed Mary as “Woman” when on the cross:

John 19:26 (ESV) When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

He used the term of Mary Magdalene in the garden:

John 20:15 (ESV)  Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

In this context, it is an indication Jesus is no longer under the authority of His mother and is now an independent man making His own decisions.  He is once again about His father’s business.  His time for the announcing His ministry as Messiah had not yet come, so He performed the miracle in private, away from the party.  Only the disciples present and the wedding servants were aware of it.

He asked the servants to fill the stone jars rather than His disciples, and they filled them to the brim with water as instructed.  Then the wine was presented to the master of the feast.  Why were the jars filled to the brim and why did He have the servants do this?  The servants were neutral parties so no mistake could be made the disciples might have put something into the water if they had filled the jars.  The jars were filled to the brim so if something were added, the jar would overflow. 

Why was the wine taken to the master of the feast? The master was a professional wine expert. He verified the wine was excellent unaware of the miracle that produced it. Though the miracle was a private one, it left no room for misinterpretation. 

It was beyond doubt a miracle and was done to bolster the disciples’ faith.  Remember this was the first miracle they had seen.  Their belief Jesus was the Messiah was now justified.

Taking the smaller estimate of 20 gallons each in the six stone jars, we arrive at 120 gallons of wine.  At a 4 ounce serving and 200 guests, we have about 20 glasses of wine per attendee.

Drunkenness was frowned upon in the Old Testament (Isa 5:11).  Drinking was not.  A few glasses a day was acceptable.  Surely, there would be some of this excellent wine left over.  But this is just how God does things.  He gives us more than we could ever ask for.

Why is this important?

The Bible records true miracles.  These were not tricks but the altering of natural law for God’s purposes.  In this case, the miracle was more for the disciples to understand Who Jesus was than anything.  Most of Jesus’ miracles were fairly public: public healing, feeding of the 5,000, raising the dead, and such.  Those were done as confirmation of Jesus’ message.  Turning water into wine was done as confirmation of Jesus’ position and nature.

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There are a lot of individuals mentioned in the Bible.  A particular group is pretty important, the apostles of Jesus.  One of those is Philip, someone of whom we know very little.  What we do know of him is instructive, however.

The first three gospels mention Philip only once each and then only while listing the twelve.  John, however, mentions him in five different situations.  The first is when Jesus finds Philip:

John 1:43 (ESV) The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

John’s first three chapters all are added information to the other three gospels.  The event recorded by this verse takes place after Jesus has been baptized and after His temptation.  He has recuperated and is about to begin His ministry.  This is not the choosing of the disciples as is recorded in Matthew chapter 10.  It is a sort of first contact with a few prospective disciples.

Philip is considered a bit “slow” by several commentators, but I disagree.  After Jesus called him, Philip found Nathanael and told him they had found Him “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  So, Philip called on Moses and the prophets for authority to identify Jesus as the Messiah, not something a “slow” person was likely to do.  I think Philip was just something of a misfit, a duck that wasn’t swimming in the pond with the other ducks.

We look at the apostles like Paul and Peter and wish we were all like them, bold risk-takers.  Philip was like so many of us, though.  When, in John chapter 6, Jesus asks Philip where they might buy enough food to feed the 5000 (plus women and children), Philip didn’t know.  He said $20,000 in today’s money wouldn’t be enough.  The text says Jesus said this to test Philip and Jesus already knew what He would do. Philip blew it.  It was Andrew who brought a boy with some loaves and fish, and Jesus fed the people with that.  

 Later in the passage we see the disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftovers, one basket for each disciple including Philip to learn of Jesus’ power. 

In chapter 12 of John, Philip is spotlighted once again.  This time some Greeks came to Philip asking to see Jesus.  Philip went to Andrew first, and they went to see Jesus together.  Andrew was always bringing people to Jesus, so Philip probably felt safe.  We do this too.  We, like Philip, feel safer in numbers when trying to introduce someone to Jesus.  Philip was playing it safe.

Lastly, in chapter 14 of John, the disciples are with Jesus at the Last Supper.  Jesus will be crucified the next day.  The majority of the lessons are over, and Peter has identified Jesus as the “Christ, The Son of the living God.”  Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father, and Jesus says “Have I been with you so long, Philip?  If you have seen me you have seen the Father.”  Philip still didn’t have the full picture.

There is a fourth list of the apostles besides those listed in the first three gospels.  It appears in Acts 1:13 after Jesus had ascended to heaven.  Philip’s name is still on the list.

Back at the Last Supper for a moment, this time in Matthew chapter 26, Jesus told the disciples one of them would betray Him.  It wasn’t just Philip, the misfit disciple, who said “Is it I?”  It was every single disciple.  It wasn’t just Philip that was the misfit.  They all knew they were.

Why is this important?

Back in John 1:43, it says Jesus “found” Philip.  Philip is the only disciple where this word “found” is used.  The language there indicates Jesus was looking for Philip when He found him.  Though He knew who and what Philip was, Jesus sought him out to serve.  Then Jesus says “Follow me.”  The word for “follow” means to make a commitment, not to just trail behind.  Jesus truly wanted Philip as part of the Kingdom plan.

Church history says Philip left Jerusalem and ministered in Syria and Ethiopia.  About 54 a.d., Philip had converted the wife of the Roman governor in Hieropolis, Syria, and was crucified upside down for it beside his companion, Nathanael.  Philip’s preaching from that inverted cross was so powerful the bystanders were converted freed Nathanael.  When they approached Philip, he refused and said it was an honor to die like this for His Lord.

Be encouraged if you’re a Philip.  We are all Philips.  It is the Philips of the church who are so often the heroes of the faith.

John 1:43-48 (ESV) The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

I have come to love this passage of Scripture all the way from verse 35 to the end of the chapter, but this portion especially.  In verse 43, we see Philip didn’t come to Jesus; Jesus came to Philip.  The idea that Jesus “found” Philip is awesome.  For some of us, Jesus pursues us and asks us to “Follow Me.”

And, what was Philip’s quick response?  He went and found Nathanael.  Notice what Philip said to Nathanael: “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote,”

I think Nathanael was a learned man, a proud man, proud to be an Israelite.  There are only three individuals identified as Israelites in all of Scripture.  The first is in Lev. Chapter 24 where an Israelite woman is identified as having a son with an Egyptian.  The son is not named but is just called the son of the Israelite woman to imply the boy was not fully Israeli.

The second individual identified as an Israelite is Paul in Romans chapter one after he has explained God’s gift of salvation is for all people, he asks the question “Has God rejected His people?”  Then Paul says “no,” that he is an Israelite, a son of Benjamin citing His Israelite heritage.

So, when Jesus calls Nathaniel an Israelite He also is referring to Nathaniel’s pure and proud Israelite heritage. 

My wife is pure Norwegian, a proud people.  In 1944, the Norwegian underground blew up a Nazi shipment of heavy water needed to make the first atomic bomb.  This gave the Allies more time to overthrow Hitler before he could develop the bomb.  Were it not for the Norwegian underground, World War II would have ended quite differently.

Just like the Norwegians, the Israelis have much to be proud of, and Jesus pointed that out in His addressing of Nathanael.

I think Nathanael was also a rabbi or Old Testament scholar.  Jesus mentioned he was sitting “under the fig tree,” a common saying of the time for rabbis deep in their studies.  Philip approached Nathanael citing evidence from “Moses in the Law and also all the prophets.”  This struck home with Nathanael, but he retorted he’d heard nothing of someone important coming from Nazareth.  Nathanael was right.  Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament.  This was something only scholars might know.  To be fair, Nazareth was a small town, a military outpost with the sorts of illicit businesses supporting the wants of soldiers. That might have been what Nathanael meant.

Why is this important?

I think the way Philip handles his witness to Nathanael is very instructive for us.  Since Nathanael might have been a scholar, Philip approached him with scholarship.  When Nathanael answered with a scholar’s question about Nazareth being unimportant, Philip who was not a scholar, simply said, “Come and see.”

I think too often I have gotten into a discussion with someone who is antagonistic or disbelieving when I might say something as simple as what Philip did, “Come and see.”

Many believe Nathanael is really just another name for Bartholomew who is mentioned in the other three gospels and the book of Acts.  “Bar” is usually saved to mean “son of” as in Jesus-bar-Joseph.  So, the argument goes, Bartholomew might really be a family name “The son of tolomai.”

It seems possible also Philip and Nathanael/Bartholomew might be brothers.  They are paired up often in Scripture, and church tradition/history states Philip and Nathanael were missionaries together and crucified upside down together in Hieropolis, Greece.  Church tradition also says Philip’s preaching convicted his executioners and onlookers such they released Nathanael from his cross though Philip elected to die a martyr there. 

Church history is not science and so has a few stories of how Nathanael died.  He was crucified and/or beheaded in Armenia, he was skinned alive in Armenia, or he was crucified upside down in India.  No one knows. What we do know is they were witnesses for our Lord.

Jesus will bring us to the point of salvation whether He seeks and finds us as He did with Philip, sends others to bring us as with Nathanael, or has others point the way as John the Baptist did.  Ultimately, though, we are only planters and waterers.  It is God Who brings forth the increase. (1 Cor. 3:7)

Theologian Wayne Grudem defines omniscience this way:  “the attribute of God whereby he fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act.”  Knowing everything, then, is a clear attribute of God.

Mark 13:32 (ESV) “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.”

From Mark 13:32, it appears Jesus didn’t know when He would return.  Then He didn’t know everything.   Jesus is God and omniscience is an attribute of God.  Shouldn’t He be omniscient?

Some theologians think that in emptying Himself and becoming obedient to the Father, Jesus turned over control of His attributes to the Father.  In this view, Jesus kept all His godly attributes but was not in full control of them, the Father was.

 (Phil 2:7-9)  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The fact Jesus said He could do nothing on His own, the Father worked through Him seems to support this view.

John 5:19 (ESV)  So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

Some theologians believe the answer to this is that Jesus had a sort of split omniscience, a moral and an amoral.  He knew all things involving moral standards but not all things regarding other issues.  I don’t see that indicated in Scripture nor do I agree with it.

I believe, in light of Phil. 2:7-8, Jesus emptied Himself of His glory in order to take on human form.  I think we see this in Genesis.  In chapters 18 and 19 we see three men who came to visit Abraham and Sarah to tell them they were to have a son.  Remember Sarah laughed at the idea because she was beyond child bearing years?  One of these men was identified as God Himself (Gen. 18:10). 

My point here is that God had taken human form.  Now look at what happens in the next chapter when this Person of the Godhead (I believe it was Jesus) destroys Sodom and Gomorrah:

Gen. 19:24 (ESV)  Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

The Person identified as God standing on the earth calls down sulfur and fire from another Person identified as God of heaven.  My opinion is in order take on human form, God needed to set aside His attributes – to empty Himself of His glory, so it was necessary to call on another Person of the Godhead to bring down punishment on the cities.  Man cannot see God’s glory and live (Ex. 33:18-23).  Perhaps humanity as we now know it and God’s glory cannot coexist.

In the same way, for God the Son to take on human form, He needed to empty Himself (Ex. 33:18-23).

My view, then, is that Jesus set aside His glory placing it in the hands of the father until He asked for it to be restored (John 17:5).  Once Jesus’ body was glorified the use of His attributes returned to Him.

I’ve heard it described as similar to the human eye.  When we close our eyes, the eye’s nature hasn’t changed, it has just been draped in flesh.  It doesn’t really function as an eye, but the nature is still there.  The Son draped in flesh still retained His godly nature but the use of that nature was withheld.

So, is Jesus omniscient now that He has His glory?  Yes.

Rev. 19:12-13 (ESV)  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. ¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

Why is this important?

1 Cor. 15:40 tells us of different bodies: There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.  We will be changed as Jesus was changed after His resurrection and ascension to the Father.

There were times when Jesus knew things beforehand: John 1:47-48, for instance, when Jesus knew who Nathanael was and where he had some from.  I think this is answered by Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1) and a perfect man, the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45).  Being full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus had access to the gifts such as the gift of knowledge and prophecy.

Please understand this is my opinion on Christ’s omniscience while He walked the earth.  I hold it because I believe it to be the best biblical answer to how Jesus could be God and Man and not know when he would return.  Others hold their views just as strongly and for what they believe to be the same reasons.  It is for you to decide through prayer and study.

John 1:35-47  (ESV) The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

I’m on FaceBook quite a bit, and lately I’ve seen ads from Amazon with pictures of young people called “influencers.”  I’m supposed to want to buy some product because this good looking young person likes it.  I do think those are funny.  Why would I want to buy something from a person with no background to understand the product?  They just like it. 

In 2019, Conan O’Brien said “If you’re an instagram influencer who doesn’t have a picture of yourself in a sea of wildflowers, can I even trust your dry shampoo recommendations?”

The use of Influencers is a bad version of a logical fallacy called the appeal to authority.  Example: because someone has a PhD in astrophysics, I’m supposed to believe they can tell me how great their blender is?  Amazon’s example is even worse.  We have no idea what expertise the influencer has except they look nice and other people are drawn to them.

Christians are supposed to be influencers too.  Our lives should be something people want to emulate but not because we look good.  The peace in our lives, the love we show to others, the moral stands we take should all point to an expertise in living a life worth living.  People should be drawn to the Spirit that lives within us.

When I was a young man, it turned out all the girls I wanted to get to know well were Christians.  There was just something about them that drew me to them.  I was looking for a woman of high degree, of high moral standards, and someone who was at peace with herself.  Those turned out all to be Christians.

More people today are looking for peace.  People who display personal peace should be the first place they look.  They should be looking to you and me if we have the peace of God.

Why is this important?

Christianity is a sort of chain letter.  Someone tells us about Christ, and we tell others.  Then they tell others, and the process continues.  At least, that’s supposed to be how it works.  It’s when we break the chain the process fails.

Like John the Baptist, Andrew, and Philip in this passage, we’re supposed to be influencers.  John told his friends.  Andrew went immediately to his brother, Peter, to tell him the good news.  Philip went to Nathanael and did the same.  These guys had it figured out and were not afraid to influence others.  By the time of Constantine (311 a.d.), there were approximately 7 million Christians in the Roman world due to the work begun by Jesus pouring His life into and “influencing” His twelve main followers.  Today, there are 1.5 billion Christians because His work has continued into our time. 

You and I are what are called “life influencers.”  We present an image that attracts others to want the peace and certainty we have in a non-peaceful and uncertain world.  We should use this.  We should be like John the Baptist and the disciples mentioned above.  We should use our relationships with friends and relatives to influence them; to point to, tell them, to introduce them to the Light of the world.

John 1:29-30 (ESV)  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.

Our job as Christians is much like John the Baptist’s job to diminish and to exalt Jesus.  Sometimes we let complexity get in the way; we want to make the gospel more intricate though it’s simple.  Billy Graham used to say it took him hours of study to keep his messages simple.  The message of Dr. Graham and the message of John were the same: “Ignore me and look to Christ.”

We get involved in ourselves at times, and this will stand in the way of God’s message in us.  We learn something new, we hear something interesting, we find some fault in another brother or sister and think about sharing that not because it will edify others but to lift us up in their eyes.  That’s a no no for Christians.

A mentor, friend, and pastor once told me he threw up before every message he preached for the first 18 months he was pastor.  He wasn’t sick because he was nervous how people would see him or if they would like what he had to say.  It was the exact opposite.  He was sick with worry he might not present Jesus well.  He was afraid something said in his own power would stand in the way of the message God had for His people.

I think we all should worry about this if we aren’t already.  Our lifestyle might stand in the way of someone knowing Jesus.  The way we talk or act can draw or drive people away from our Lord.  Ours is to be a life of consistency with the Bible.  When we seek to please God in our own strength, we might impress others but we fail Him.  Paul knew this and sought only God’s favor:

Phil 3:8-11 (ESV)  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Pride is our issue, putting ourselves before Christ.  Paul spoke of this in the chapter before as well:

 Phil 2:1-4)  So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Why is this important?

The Holy Spirit is a Gentleman.  He will not force us to serve Christ.  It is our choice and not just in accepting Him as our personal Savior but also in how we present Him to others. If we ask for God’s help, He’ll bless. If not, we are sure to fail.

When I thought about this at first, I was thinking of teachers and preachers who are held to a higher standard than the average Christian. 

James 3:1-2 (ESV)  Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ² For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

Years ago I was told by the same pastor/mentor/friend I had the gift of teaching but said I should stay as a member of a Bible class for a while before leading a class of my own.  He said I was teaching already from where I sat.

We all take the teaching and preaching role at times.  We need to hold ourselves to that higher standard God holds for teachers and preachers whether on the street, in a Bible study, or in the pulpit.  We are to represent God faithfully at all times and, like John, see to it people are not looking to us but to Christ.

None of us is perfect, but we can work toward perfection by practicing self-control and leaving the teaching and preaching to the power of God within us and not our own strength.

John 1:19-24 (ESV)  And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” ²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)

There are a lot of Israelite groups mentioned in Scripture, so many that I catch myself asking “Who are these guys?” Here’s what I found.

The Pharisees were either included in the delegation from Jerusalem or were responsible for sending them to John.  Verse 24 can be read either way in the Greek.

The name “Pharisee” means “Separated,” separated from the unrighteous whether heathens or Jews the Pharisees defined as unclean.

During the Hasmonean Dynasty (140-37 b.c.) when the Jews had taken back their country from the Greeks, many of the priests began to seek approval of the Hellenistic (Greek influenced) government rather than abiding by the Mosaic Law.  As a result the priests separated into camps or parties.  The first was the Sadducees who agreed with the idea of pleasing the political leadership.  The other was the Pharisees who wanted to stand by the Law, at least the oral law they believed was handed down by Moses.

During this time, Queen Alexandria (Queen of Judea 76-67 b.c.) saw the division taking place and in the interest of peace gave leadership to the Pharisees.  Over the next several decades, the Pharisees became so strong, they could hold kings and priests on trial.

The Sadducees in Jesus’ day sought to please Rome and were the leadership of the Sanhedrin, strangely enough..

The priests mentioned in John 1:19 are descended from Aaron.  They have been the line of priests since Moses and were in charge of all the ceremonial rituals in the temple and of the maintenance of the ceremonial items.  They were also considered advanced theologians of the Law.

The Levites mentioned in the verses above are the aids or assistants to the priests.  They were descendants of Levi just as Aaron and Moses were, but their duties were to serve those descended directly from Aaron.

The only other place Levites and Pharisees are mentioned in the New Testament are in the parable of the Good Samaritan where both pass by the man in need (Luke 10:32).

Next we have Scribes mentioned in the New Testament.  These were professional biblical scholars.  The canon of the Old Testament had become so large, the need for men who would spend their entire lives studying and explaining the Law arose.  So, these men became the Scribes.

Not mentioned in Scripture but also a major sect of Judaism at the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry were the Essenes.  These were similar to the early Christian ascetics.  They took a vow of poverty and excluded themselves pretty much from the world.  Many lived in isolated communities within cities.  Others went whole hog and moved out to the wilderness.  The Essenes of Qumran are a good example of these.  They isolated themselves in an area near the northeast corner of the Dead Sea and spent much of their time copying the Old Testament books (except for Esther).  These, of course, are known today as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Why is this important?

When we read passages like that above, we have a much better understanding by knowing who these people are.  No doubt the delegation was made up of Pharisees to check the theology of John, priests to check out the propriety of what John was doing, and the Levites to help the priests with any appropriate rituals required if any. 

The trip from Jerusalem to where John was baptizing was at least 105 miles, a three or four day journey at least.  They were not there for polite conversation but needed to thoroughly check John out to see if he was a threat with such a large following.

Some believe John was a member of the Essenes since God called him to his ministry out of the wilderness (Luke 3:2). The Essenes practiced daily washing and lived an ascetic life as did John.

I’m always interested when a non-Christian source speaks of the truth of the Bible.  As I mentioned last week, John’s ministry didn’t really last very long; probably less than a year.  Yet, his life made such an impact that not just the Pharisees were interested in John, but he had become important enough and famous enough that a secular historian made note of his death.  Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian and contemporary of the apostle John, was writing about Herod’s loss to his former father in-law in a battle started because of Herod’s casting aside his first wife to marry his brother’s wife, Herodias:

“Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod’s suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God’s displeasure to him.” (Flavius Josephus, Antiquities XVIII 2)

Matt. 14:3-11 (ESV)  ³ For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. ⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, ⁷ so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. ¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, ¹¹ and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

Many have tried to disprove the Bible and the history it provides.  Thus far none have succeeded.  In fact, many were so moved by the evidence of the reliability of the Bible they became believers.  Doctor Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853), an atheist law professor at Harvard and author of a three volume set on legal evidence, was challenged by some Christian students to apply the rules of evidence found in those volumes to disprove the resurrection of Christ.  When he analyzed the evidence, he became a Christian. 

More recently, Lee Strobel, an award winning investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune set out to disprove this Christian faith his wife had accepted.  In the process of researching with a skeptical eye, Lee became a Christian and wrote The Case for Christ.

Other names come to mind as well.  Josh McDowell was an atheist turned Christian who tried to disprove the Christian narrative and published a book on his findings: Evidence that Demands a Verdict.  Frank Morrison was another newspaperman who sought to disprove the bodily resurrection of Christ and became the author of Who Moved the Stone.

There are others who believe the Bible is not of God, but the evidence is so overwhelmingly against them they would be convinced if they would only look.

Luke 7:28 (ESV) I [Jesus] tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

John the Baptist takes up only about 20 paragraphs in the New Testament.  Yet, he was a great man according to Jesus Himself.  In fact Jesus said there were none greater.  I was wondering why so little is written about him that he is mentioned so little. The reason, of course, is the New Testament points to Jesus, and that’s the same purpose as John’s.  If Jesus says he’s so great, it is certainly worth looking into his life.

Jesus and John both had a miraculous birth.  Both were born to women who could not bear children: John’s mother, Elizabeth, because she had passed childbearing age and Mary as a virgin.  Both were announced by the same angel, Gabriel (Luke 1:19 and 1:26).  Jesus and John were related:

Luke 1:36 (ESV)  And behold, your [Mary’s] relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

The word relative here is syngenis which just means same family or relative.  Mary and Elizabeth were probably cousins.

John’s conception and birth were predicted six months prior to Jesus’.  This was, of course, God’s plan.  Jewish men were considered to be men when they reached 12 years of age.  They could not hold any sort of religious office or teach until they reached 30 years of age, though.  Since John’s ministry’s purpose was to announce the coming Messiah, Jesus, and to lead people to repent and be baptized for their sins, he needed to be 30 and his ministry needed to come first.

What did John do before he was called to the ministry?  His father was a priest, and his mother came from a priestly line, some think he may have been an Essene.  The Essene community in Qumran was interested in ceremonial bathing for cleansing.  The Essenes were also the men who penned the Dead Sea Scrolls.  There wasn’t much going on in the wilderness, hence the name wilderness, and the community of Qumran was not far from where John was baptizing so there was a good chance if he was in the wilderness for any length of time, he might have been an essene:

Luke 3:2-3 (ESV)  during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Once John began, he quickly became a very popular guy.  In John 1:19, we see the Sanhedrin sent emissaries from Jerusalem to speak to John about his ministry.  From what we’ve already seen, John was just six months older than Jesus.  I doubt either John or Jesus waited around to start their ministries, so each was probably just 30 in John 1:19. 

John’s ministry of baptism may have only been going on for six months by John 1:19.  Yet, the Sanhedrin sent representatives on a journey of over 100 miles from Jerusalem to the Jordan River where John was baptizing (The Bethany mentioned in John 1:28 is not the one close to Jerusalem but near the Jordan).

So, in about six months John became so popular that his fame had spread all the way to Jerusalem.  People were obviously ready to hear his message and, thereafter, the message of Christ.

Why is this important?

It turns out there are a lot of things we can learn from John and apply them to our lives.  He was busy doing other things until God the Holy Spirit called Him to announce the coming Messiah, Jesus.  Like John, we are called to do the same.  John 1:19 begins, “And this is the testimony of John, . . . .”  John’s testimony was the Messiah was coming and he was telling the world.  Our testimony must be the same.

Next week, we’ll continue to look at John and what both the Bible and at least one non-Christian source says about him.

John 1:14, 18 (ESV)And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

No one has seen God?  But, the Word is God (John 1:1), and John 1:14 says Jesus is the Word.  How can this be?

I get questions like this more often than I would like to think.  The two verses seem to contradict, but do they?

First, we can see from the writings of John he was not irrational or unintelligent.  He would not have written a contradiction within five verses of each other even if he were not inspired.  Secondly, there is a difference between a statement that is contrary (seems contradictory but isn’t) and an actual contradictory statement.  Let’s look at this briefly.

“I have a monitor on my desk.  I have no monitor on my desk.”  So long as these two statements are speaking of the same time, place, and under the same conditions, the two statements are contradictory.

“I was in New York today.  I was in California today.”  These two statements at first seem contradictory, but they can both be true.  Then they are contrary.  How does this apply to “No one has ever seen God?” I’m getting there.

Jesus is God the Son Who has taken on the form of a man:

Phil 2:5-8 (ESV)  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

So, Jesus took on human form, but He was still God.  If He stopped being God and became only a man, we would have a God who had changed His nature.  God would only be two Persons: the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The Son would no longer be God.  God cannot cease to exist, and God doesn’t change (Mal. 3:6).

So, as Jesus walked the earth as a man, He was still fully God.  He claimed this by calling God His Father (John 5:18) which made Him equal with God.

So, okay, Jesus is both God and man.  How does that make any difference?

God is spirit.  Jesus said so Himself:  John 4:24 (ESV)  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

We don’t see spirit individuals unless they manifest themselves as physical beings like the angels at Jesus’ empty tomb (Matt. 28:1-7)

Let me put this together now.  Jesus is both human and divine.  We cannot see the divine because the divine, the God nature, is invisible.  His followers only saw the man, Jesus, not His divine nature.  No one has seen God at any time.

Why is this important?

We face a lot of challenges to our faith from all sides.  We need to be able to answer questions, put up a defense of our faith, whether the questions are easy or, as in this case, more difficult:

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)  but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Better understanding of Scripture is also a powerful weapon against doubt.  The fewer questions we have of our faith, the more certain we understand it to be.