New Series – “Water into Wine”

It was John who said (in chapter 21 of his Gospel) that if all Jesus’ exploits had been recorded, the world would not have been able to contain all the books that would have been written.  This is an important observation coming from the “Disciple that Jesus loved” because John’s Gospel is not a collection of random stories.  Each account has been carefully selected out of a myriad of candidates because it expresses an especially profound and appropriate lesson…all of them reinforcing John’s central theme, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:31)

It’s also important to realize when reading the book of John that there is often more to John’s stories than meets the eye.  John often employes an ancient rabbinic method of teaching called “Remez” (which means “hint”) in which the teacher “hints” at something through a story or allegory but does not state his deeper meaning explicitly.  Instead, the teacher allows the student to connect the dots and have a personal “ah ha” moment.

The book of John is full of “ah ha” moments and when the Holy Spirit illuminates the Word in our hearts, revelation begins to pour off every page.  I have treated many of the other stories in the Gospel of John in other places, but for the next few days we are going to be studying the first of Jesus’ miracles – the turning of the water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee found in John chapter 2.  I’m sure you will be blessed!

“Water into Wine” begins TOMORROW!