Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 1
June 4, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: Jesus Is Capable Of Producing The Joy Of Life.
Introduction: In our last study we considered Nathanael's response as a confession of faith, but Jesus made sure that Nathanael knew that he had only just begun his life-long trip into the knowledge and the Life that Jesus has planned for him. One thing we did not consider: Author-John's last identification of Jesus in chapter one. The chapter consists of multiple "identities" of Jesus, beginning with His identity as The Word of God as God. It is crucial that we understand that "The Word Of God" is indivisible from "The Word As God" so that we cease to make the mistake of considering the words of men as having any authority at all (
Isaiah 2:22).
But, it is interesting that, at the end of the chapter regarding the identities of Jesus Christ, Author-John recorded the "words of Jesus" to Nathanael as, at the last, identifying Him as "The Son Of The Man". This identity deserves a study of its own, but it comes up in this record of Author-John at least twelve times, so it is an identity that we shall return to at a later time if the Lord is willing.
However, as we move into chapter two, we need to keep the fact in mind that Jesus' self-identification as "The Son Of The Man" is the "context" of the account of the wedding feast. This identity goes back to 1:14 where "The Word became flesh" so that He took on the identity as "The Son Of The Man" as He went to Galilee and performed the first of His "signs" which resulted, as 2:11 says, in His disciples being able to "see His glory" and "believing into Him", a result that included being given the privilege of becoming "children of God" (1:12).
This morning we are going to begin to consider what Author-John considered to be the proper beginning point for his purpose (20:31).
- I. The Overall "Point": Jesus Is Capable Of Producing The Joy Of Life.
- A. According to 20:31, this entire record was designed to convince Author-John's readers "...that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name".
- 1. Author-John refers to this "Life" in 32 places in this Gospel.
- 2. A primary metaphor for "Life" is "Joy" -- because "Joy" is the key distinctive of "Life" (1 John 1:4) just as "grief" is the key distinctive of "Death" (Mark 14:34).
- 3. "Wine" is presented in the Bible as an instrument of various pursuits, some being seen as good, but most as being seen as evil.
- a. A crucial text of the New Testament regarding "wine" as a "good" is Matthew 9:17 where it is used as a metaphor for His "new teaching" that requires "new wineskins" to keep from shattering the old wineskins and losing the "new wine".
- b. Also, in Matthew 11:16-19, Jesus contrasts the behavior of "Witness-John" with His own, making "wine" a central focus: Witness-John did not imbibe by reason of his identity as a Nazarite (Luke 1:15), and Jesus did imbibe by reason of His identity as "The Savior of the World" Who was going to provide an alternative to the human ways of seeking the release "wine" provides from the cares of this life (Proverbs 31:6-7); the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
- c. "Wine" at a wedding feast is specifically for the purpose of raising the level of "joy" on this occasion, and it was expected that the guests would feel free to "enjoy" (2:10 of our text).
- d. Jesus' providing six waterpots each of "20 to 30 gallons", filled to the brim, of wine is a declaration of Jesus' ability to produce "Life" as a "joyful" experience.
- 1) There is no consensus about how much wine this was because of two ambiguities (the pots were of two sizes, and the "size" is rooted in speculation): the minimum amount of "wine" would be somewhere around 50 gallons and the maximum would be somewhere around 180 gallons.
- 2) In any case, the amount was "deliberate overkill"; a deliberate demonstration of Jesus' "capacity" to provide.
- 4. There are two issues: 1) Wine, in the mind of men, as an instrument of "joy"; and 2) Jesus' capacity to produce. it
- a. It is John's contention that "faith in Jesus" leads to "Life". But, "Life" is relative to the presence of a certain amount of "grief" and a certain compensating amount of "joy".
- b. Both can be fully dominant ("joy inexpressible": 1 Peter 1:8; and "grief unto death": Mark 14:34), or there can be a mixture of both with relative dominance in the mix.
- 5. It is John's argument that it is the degree of "faith" in "Truth" that determines what one actually ends up with in his/her experience, just as Paul's "joy by believing" phrase found in Romans 15:13.
- B. According to 4:14, "Life" is characterized as the outcome of "a well of water springing up to eternal life".
- C. According to 5:24, "Life" is the outcome of: 1) being made exempt from "judgment"; and 2) "having passed out of death into Life".
- D. According to 5:29, there is a "resurrection of Life" which signifies that the fullest experience of "Life" will only come after the resurrection.
- E. According to 5:40, "coming to Jesus" is the way to possess "Life".
- F. According to 6:33, eating "the bread of heaven" (6:48) allows one to experience "Life".
- G. According to 6:63, "the words that I have spoken to you are...Life" (6:68; 12:50).
- H. According to 10:10, Jesus came to impart an "abundance of Life".
- I. According to 17:3, the experience of "Life" is rooted in "knowing Father and Son".
- J. Apart from John's record is the interaction of the thief who was promised acceptance in Paradise whose testimony has echoed down the halls of time for 2,000 years; a testament to how much Jesus can do with how little is actually invested.
- II. The Details.
