John 2:13-25

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a market!" 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."

18 The Jews then responded to him, "What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"

19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

20 They replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need human testimony about them, for he knew what was in them.



Dig Deeper

I remember one day when I was still in college, I had simply had enough. I stormed into the office of the President and began to knock over the chairs in the waiting area. I quickly strode past the general secretary's desk and knocked the computer off and then went down through the entire office turning over tables and knocking down filing cabinets. The whole time I was doing that I cried out that the school was overcharging us students at an obscene profit and making a mockery of the entire education process. Because of their unfair and unjust actions, I was going to put an end to this kind of predatory behavior if only for a few brief moments by demonstrating that I had the true moral high ground which thus gave me the right and the authority to do all of this. After just a few brief seconds, I had decimated most of the office and created quite a general ruckus. This was a pretty good day considering that it was only my first week in college.

Of course, none of that is true, although admittedly, it would have been just a little bit enjoyable to do at some point, preferably after I had graduated and received all of my grades. As shocking as that example may have been, though, it still falls far short of helping us to understand the shock of Jesus' actions in the Temple. The closest thing that we have in the United States of America to something like the Temple would be the White House. Yet, the Temple was the center of all religious, political, and social activity in the nation of Israel, so even the White House doesn't match up to the importance of the Temple in the Jewish nation. It is into just such a place, a place that stood for all that Israel was as the people of God, that Jesus marched into the middle and declared by his actions, judgment and authority.

Before we even begin to look at this passage, let's first consider a significant difficulty. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all describe a similar event to the one that John has described but with significant differences. In fact, other than the fact that John has described Jesus clearing the Temple, there are almost no other similarities. For starters, John has this event taking place at the beginning of Jesus' ministry while, not only do the other Gospels describe Jesus' clearing of the Temple at the end of his ministry, that is the first time that they describe Jesus as even being in Jerusalem. Without having time to go into all of the details in this format, it would appear that we have two primary options. Either John (or the synoptic Gospels) have moved the timing of this event for theological purposes or there were two Temple clearings. The second option seems like the better choice.

In John's event Jesus uses a a whip and clears out the animals, he quotes no Scriptures, but his actions do remind the disciples of a Scripture. In the synoptic version, Jesus charges those present with turning the Temple into a hide-out cave for rebels (usually translated "den of robbers" which is somewhat misleading), while here in John the charge has to do with turning the Temple into a marketplace. It seems that John has described an event that took place early in Jesus' ministry before he was very well known. It was likely even a smaller event that took place in the Gentile court of the Temple. This event to start his ministry, then, was not described by Matthew, Mark, or Luke, but John added it knowing that it was absent from the other Gospels. The other Gospels, however, describe the action Jesus took at the end of his ministry, one that was a parable of judgment on the nation of Israel and a sign of the destruction that would soon come upon them. If we put these events together, then we have a complete picture of Jesus beginning and ending his ministry with decisive actions in the Temple.

As John begins his description of this event, he is clear to draw our attention to the fact that it was Passover time. Passover was the time when the nation of Israel remembered the actions that God had taken in delivering them from the freedom of slavery in Egypt. An unblemished lamb was slain and the blood was spread on the doorposts in a cross pattern of the households of Israel in order to spare them. John will repeatedly stress the connections between Jesus' activities and the Passover that will finally culminate with Jesus being put to death at the same time that the Passover lambs were being killed in the Temple. Jesus was the true Passover Lamb. John wants his readers to understand Jesus and his actions as the true Passover Lamb that the earlier historical events merely pointed to.

Jesus went up to Jerusalem, John tells us, which makes more sense of certain aspects of Jesus' career than if we only went by the synoptic Gospels which seem to imply that Jesus did not go to Jerusalem until his final week. John has Jesus in Jerusalem several times. Jesus' earlier occasional presence in Jerusalem would explain things such as why people came from Jerusalem to Galilee to observe Jesus' ministry there (Mark 3:22; 7:1) and why the high priest already felt like he had a strong case against Jesus and knew of him well (John 11:47-53).

Jesus' primary problem with the money changers (who exchanged money so that people could pay the Temple tax) was probably more of an issue of location than of action. It appears that they had set up these exchange tables in the court of the Gentiles, the only place open to the Gentiles, rather than going somewhere outside of the Temple complex that was less convenient. The Temple was supposed to be a house of prayer for all nations (Isa. 56:7) not a place where Gentiles were excluded and made to feel inferior. Yet, in the only place that they could worship, the space had been turned into a marketplace.

In response, Jesus takes Messianic action by clearing out the animals and turning over the tables. His actions brings up thoughts of Zechariah's prophecy that "on that day there will no longer be merchants in the house of the Lord Almighty," (Zech. 14:21) and it certainly reminded his disciples that "zeal for your house will consume me," according to Psalm 69:19. Jesus' zeal for his Father's house took precedence over the blind nationalism that had consumed most first century Jews. It would not only consume his attention and passion during his life but would literally consume his life and result in his death.

The response of the Jewish leaders is a bit curious. They don't seem to take issue with his actions so much as his authority to do them. Jews wouldn't have been so surprised by prophetic and Messianic actions like that, but they were much more concerned with the person doing them. Did he have the authority to take that action or not? They want a sign to demonstrate his authority, but in demanding a sign they have shown that they have completely missed the point. They wanted a sign of legitimacy and Jesus had just offered one. They wanted to know if Jesus could perform the signs of a Messiah, and had missed the truth that that was exactly what he had just done.

Jesus then offers them up the ultimate sign of his Messianic ministry. They will destroy the true Temple, but he will raise it in three days. Not only is Jesus the true Passover, he is the true Temple. The Jewish leaders do not understand Jesus' point that he is referring to himself and so respond to the ridiculous notion that a building that had taken 46 years to build to that point could be destroyed and rebuilt in three days.

John wants us to understand that this Temple clearing is another place where heaven and earth have been brought together, Jacob's ladder is opened and the angels are continuing to ascend and descend. God's reality doesn't just bring shocking miracles like turning water into wine, but it also brings authority and justice into the world. This is what would serve as testimony to Jesus' authority. Jesus didn't trust in or need large crowds or the legitimacy that their presence might bring in the eyes of men. He knew that crowds and individuals could be fickle. He did not need human testimony at all. His actions were all that was needed to verify who he was and the authority that he had in himself. If you want to understand Jesus truly, don't look at the crowds following him around, look at him. He is the true Temple and his coming destruction in death and resurrection will be the realities to which the Passover had pointed.



Devotional Thought

Jesus knew that there were times when large crowds were going to follow him, but he didn't trust that or see that as a sign vindicating his ministry. It was his own actions and willingness to do the will of the Father that Jesus trusted in. Is that enough for you? If you're doing the will of God but no one is listening, following, or even respecting you, is that enough?

John 2:1-12

Jesus Changes Water into Wine

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

4 "Woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My hour has not yet come."

5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples put their faith in him.

12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.



Dig Deeper

Just yesterday I was able to spend the school day at my youngest son's school volunteering. Being two days before Halloween, but the last school day before the 31st, the kids knew that they were gong to have some sort of party. Right away when they got to school they were told that they were going to have some snacks that were a mixture of treats. They were also told that the secret ingredient to make the snack complete had been taken by a mysterious figure named "Frankie." An hour or so into the day, just as promised they were told that, not only had Frankie taken their treats and hid them, but he had left clues in order for the class to find them. The first clue was "left" right on their teacher's desk and was a pretty easy clue leading them to the second clue. After that, though, the clues got harder for the kids to find and they weren't left out in the open and so obvious. The clues were there as had been promised, but they had to look closely to find them. After finding and following all of the clues they finally found the mysterious missing ingredient, a bag of M & M's.

Nathanael and the other disciples had been looking for the missing ingredient. They weren't quite sure where it was or how to find but they were on the lookout. In the last chapter, Jesus told Nathanael that he was going to see things that were beyond his wildest imagination. He was going to see what it looks like when the line between heaven and earth are blurred. He would, in fact, see what can happens when heaven breaks into the physical realm of earth. That was not just an empty promise and John certainly will not leave that as an empty statement. He is about to send us on our own hunt for clues to the missing ingredient. He helps us out with this first sign, and will make the second one obvious as well. After that, though, we're on our own. We will have to keep our eyes open and look for the signs and see where they lead us. As we go along on our search, take special notice as to how many signs John leaves for us, the number might surprise you.

Weddings were huge affairs in first century Israel. The wedding feast itself could last up to a week and would include everyone from the village in which the betrothed lived. This wedding may even have been of a family member of some time of Jesus, or he might just have been invited as a nearby neighbor. It would appear that his mother, Mary, may have had some official role of helping to plan the wedding based on her concern for what was going on and her ability to give orders to the servants.

John says that this was the third day since Jesus' encounter with Nathanael, and if we count that day with Nathanael as the first day (which is how Jews in the first century would have counted), then the second day was not explicitly mentioned (it may have been the Sabbath), then this third day is the seventh day of John's opening week. Both of these numbers would have had high symbolic importance for John. Seven days, of course, were symbolic of the opening of the new creation. Any idea as to what significance John might have seen in categorizing the day of Jesus' first miracle as the third day?

With weddings going on up to seven days, it is likely that by the time Jesus arrived with his disciples (presumably Andrew, Peter, John, Philip, and Nathanael) the wedding had been going on for some time. It would be unlikely that the hosts would run out of wine on the first day, so we can infer that Jesus had been invited to the wedding, but is just now arriving several days into the wedding. Running out of wine was no small thing in this culture. It would have been a disastrous situation that would have brought shame on the entire family; it would likely have caused the couple getting married to view this as a bad sign for their marriage; it even could have led to the family having legal action taken against them for not properly providing what was expected at a wedding.

Whether she was a family member or one of the attendants in charge of the wedding celebration itself, Mary takes specific concern over the situation, and immediately brings the issue to Jesus. There is nothing in her statement, "they have no more wine," that implies that Mary was expecting a miracle of any kind, though there does seem to be some sort of special expectation on her part. Jesus' response in calling her "woman" is a bit terse, but not at all a harsh response. His statement that his hour has not yet come, seems significant in John's mind. It points ahead to other moments in John's Gospel where he will record that Jesus recognized that his time had come (12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1). The hour, for Jesus, seemed to be the moment when the full glory of God would be revealed through him. (That, we should note, is the time when Jesus is going to the Cross. The miracles are important and hold great significance but if we really want to understand and behold the full glory of God, we must look to the Cross.) Mary, then, may have been gently prodding Jesus to reveal himself as the Messiah. Whether that was her intent or not, Jesus is determined to not be forced into a public manifestation of his full identity before it is time (see also 7:6, 8).

Despite Jesus' tepid response, Mary seems to be convinced that her son will still resolve the situation. Jesus does resolve the situation by revealing his glory through this miraculous moment, but doing so in private. Only a small number of people have any clue what Jesus has done. The master of the banquet and most everyone else at the wedding have no idea what they are taking part in.

With John's affinity for numerical symbolic significance, it is quite possible that he denotes that there were six stone water jars with a specific purpose in mind. In fact, there seems to be much symbolic significance with this scene. Although there may certainly be some debate over specific symbols, it seems that the following explanation is something of what John sees in this account. Seven was the perfect number in biblical thought, and six was usually seen as the number symbolizing falling short of perfection. It was the number of man (which John uses with great importance in the book of Revelation). The stone jars held water and were used for all of the ceremonial aspects of the Law. Water was connected frequently in the Old Testament with the Holy Spirit or the action of God while wine was symbolic in the Jewish culture for God's age to come and that joy that would be abundant in that age. The wedding feast itself was another symbol of the age to come. It seems then, that in this first miracle, John wants us to see a moment in which the emptiness of the Jewish rituals is being filled up with the work of the Spirit and turned into something entirely new, a moment from the new creation.

Whether we agree with all of that symbolism or not, and it does seem rather likely that John intends for us to see at least some symbolism in this event. We do know this for sure; Jesus had promised Nathanael that he would see greater things than he could imagine. This is what it would look like when heaven was opened up and Jesus became the ladder between heaven and earth. His ultimate hour had not yet come, but this was certainly the first step up the mountain. Nathanael, Jesus told him, was going to get far more than he expected. The wine that Jesus was making available was far superior to anything that had been revealed before (as was Jesus' ministry).

We should note that some have criticized this miracle, asking the question if Jesus was contributing to the drunkenness of people by creating so much wine. That criticism simply doesn't hold water though (no pun intended). Jesus did make 120 to 180 gallons of wine, but we must remember a few important details. There would possibly have been several hundred people present at the wedding and it would still have been their responsibility to drink wisely. Plus, there is nothing that even implies that all of the wine was consumed at the wedding. There may have been a great deal of wine left over which would have served as a generous resource and a wonderful gift for the newly married couple. We must be careful, ultimately, not to read our cultural negativity towards wine into this account.

It was through this first sign that the journey has truly begun and God's glory was revealed through the Word that had become flesh. The Old Testament had boldly declared that the true glory of God would be revealed through the Messiah (Ps. 97:6; 102:16; Isa. 60:1-2) and John makes it clear to us that that time had come. This is what it would look like when the Son of God entered into the world, bringing the new creation with him. The exciting thing for us is that the new creation that came through the water turning into wine is not something that happened one time two thousand years ago. The new creation is available to us now (2 Cor. 5:15-21). Jesus can have the same sort of transformational power in our lives as he had on the water. All we need do is to heed Mary's words to do whatever he tells you.



Devotional Thought

How do you compare with the servants in this account? Mary told them to do whatever Jesus told them to do, and certainly John intends for his readers to contemplate what that concept means in our lives. Do you do whatever Jesus says in the Word of God or do you have a tendency to look for only the parts you like? What aspects of the life of Christ have you been selective with in your life?

John 1:43-51

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.

"Come and see," said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit."

48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."

49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel."

50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that." 51 He then added, "Very truly I tell you, you will see 'heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."



Dig Deeper

A few years ago (actually it was almost twenty, but it'll help my ego to say "a few") a group of my friends decided that we were going to play in a major summer basketball tournament for college-aged basketball players. We saw the tournament as an opportunity to have a little fun together, but it really was a pretty serious thing for most teams. Our first game in the tournament we wound up playing a team comprised of players from the University of Marquette. They had a very good team that year, including a center that was 6'10 (2.1 m) and about 280 pounds (127 kilos). We had, of course, heard of this young man but none of us had played against him before. We didn't have anyone nearly that big and we knew that he was strong, so I felt that we needed to send a message to him early that we came to play hard and physical. The first time he caught the ball, I was going to act as an enforcer, of sorts, and foul him hard. As he caught the ball, I came down across his his forearms with everything I had with a karate-style chop. I knew he was big and strong, but I had no clue as to just how strong this guy was. I hit him with a force that might literally have broken some people's arm, but I barely even knocked his arms down more than an inch or two. He looked at me, chuckled, and said, "nice try, son." That was his way of telling me that we had no idea of just how strong and good he was. We went on to lose that game by twelve points, due in large part to the inside power of this one tree trunk of a man.

As John's disciples and others begin to encounter Jesus for the first time, they know that he is a force to be reckoned with. They understood that he was someone special and was someone to be listened to and followed, but they really had no clue what they were in for. Watch John's Gospel as we see individual after individual approaching Jesus, thinking they have a pretty good idea of who he is and what is he about, only to find out that they may be right in a sense, but in full reality, they have no clue just exactly who he is, what he is doing, and what they are in for.

On the fifth day of John's seven-day description of the beginning of Jesus' ministry, Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. What is translated "finding" can also be understood as "found by" which seems to make a little more sense, as in these opening scenes of John's Gospel, everyone else he describes, sought Jesus out. Either way Jesus gives Philip a clear call as he tells Philip to "follow me." Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida, a town that would later be denounced by Jesus as having a great deal of miracles done in it but where evidently not many people repented (Matt. 11:20-24; Luke 10:13-14).

Philip is so impressed with Jesus that, like Andrew, he goes and calls another to come to Jesus. We are not told explicitly whether Philip and the man he went to fetch, Nathanael, were disciples of John, but that is a safe assumption at this point. Philip, like Andrew and John, had been waiting and looking for the one that was to come. This would make sense if he was another of John's disciples that had been taught by the man in the wilderness to be ready for the coming of the Messiah. Philip rushes towards Nathanael, and we can almost hear him breathlessly proclaim that we (he seems to already be including himself in a new community that is forming around Jesus) have found the one written about in the Old Testament Scriptures (commonly referred to as Moses and the prophets, or something similar).

Nathanael, as so many of us were at one time or another, seems to be rather skeptical about this whole situation. Nazareth wasn't much of a town and people wouldn't have really expected that a Messiah would come from there. In addition, there are some historians who assert that there was a bit of small town rivalry between Cana (Philip's hometown) and Nazareth. Whether his skepticism was serious or more good-natured, it is clear that Philip didn't have much of a response. Instead, he offers us a brilliant example of what to do when someone presents a question that is beyond our ability to answer. He bids Nathanael to simply come and see for himself.

As Jesus sees Philip approaching him, he declares that Nathanael is a true Israelite. There is a bit of a play on history here, as the father of the nation of Israel, Jacob's name meant the deceiver. Just as Jacob left his deceit in order to become Israel, there is no deceit in Nathanael, a true Israelite. Basically, Jesus mean's that Nathanael is a straightforward individual who is sincerely seeking God. He is a true son of Israel. The identity of this son of Israel is a bit mysterious as he is not mentioned in any of the other Gospels. It was fairly common in the first century, though, for people to have or go by several different names or nicknames, and that seems to be the key to determining who Nathanael is. It seems that Nathanael and Philip are good friends here and in the synoptic Gospels, and we see the Apostle Bartholomew paired with Philip (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14). Likewise, Bartholomew is mentioned immediately after Thomas in Acts 1:13, while Nathanael occupies that same position in John 21:2. To add to that is the fact that Bartholomew is not a name, it is a term that means "son of Tholomaios." It appears then, that Bartholomew and Nathanael are one in the same, with John using his given name.

Nathanael doesn't just take the compliment from Jesus but continues his skepticism. How can Jesus make a judgment concerning what kind of an individual he is? What Nathanael doesn't know, of course, John expects us as his readers to know already. We know how Jesus knows this, but Nathanael is still in the dark.

As with so many things with Jesus, there seems to be more to his response about the fig tree than would at first meet the eye. The fig tree was a regular symbol of home in the Jewish culture (cf. Isa. 36:16; Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10). The shade of a fig tree was typically thought of as a place for prayer and meditation and study (it became a symbol for a place of special encounter with God). Biblical scholar, Leon Morris, writes, "It seems probable that Nathanael had had some outstanding experience of communion with God in the privacy of his own home, and that it is this to which Jesus refers." It is possible, then, that Nathanael had had a recent experience with God that probably only he and God knew about.

Whatever it was, when Jesus references it, it is enough for Nathanael. He is convinced. He calls Jesus the Son of God and the king of Israel. Nathanael certainly meant "Messiah" by using these terms. He doesn't yet understand the full implications of these statements, as John expects his readers to at this point. Yet, in calling Jesus the Messiah and the king of Israel, Nathanael is giving Jesus the highest level of respect that he possibly can. Philip, based on his limited understanding can do no better or use any terms of higher respect. Yet even with that, he is not yet close to understanding the full magnitude of the one with whom he is dealing.

Jesus is not condescending at all but, in effect, says "nice try son." Nathanael has tried to grasp who Jesus is but he has no idea. He will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Jesus uses language here that hearkens us back to Jacob's vision of the stairway or ladder that stretched between heaven and earth (Gen. 28:12). The point of Jacob's vision at Bethel (the house of God) was that God was present. He was spanning the divide between His space (heaven) and Jacob's space (earth) and making Himself known. Jesus himself, he was telling Nathanael, was the new Bethel. He was the new Jacob's ladder. He was the place and the manner through which God was spanning the divide between heaven and earth. Nathanael thought that he had found the Messiah but he never imagined that he had found what it looked like when heaven and earth were opened up to one another. Jesus probably wasn't implying that he would literally see heaven or angels, but he was certainly going to see things happening that would show beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were real and were there. Nathanael had thought he had found God's sent one, but had not the slightest clue that he had found the living, breathing house of God.




Devotional Thought

Do you tend to approach Jesus as a mere source of doctrinal truth or have you approached him as the conduit between heaven and earth? Jesus is more than doctrinal truth, just as he was more than Nathanael's understanding of the Messiah. He is the place between heaven and earth where we can ascend into heaven on a daily basis. Spend some special time with him today and you just might find more than you bargained for.

John 1:35-42

John's Disciples Follow Jesus

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"

They said, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?"

39 "Come," he replied, "and you will see."

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).



Dig Deeper

Nicknames are a funny thing. They can be very intimate; they can tell us a lot about a person; they can endear us to those who call us a nickname. When I was in college, there was an upperclassmen on our basketball team who was not only the captain, he was the best player. I quickly discovered after just a day or two as a new player on the team that it was his team, no buts about it. One of the memorable things that he went about each year was to give a nickname to every person on the team. There was a catch, though. We younger players could not figure out when he decided to give someone a nickname. It seemed haphazard, with no rhyme or reason. Mind you, these weren't always the most creative nicknames, but that didn't matter. Getting a nickname from this guy meant a great deal to the younger players. During one game, I got a pass from a teammate and went up and dunked the ball over a defender. A few minutes later, we ran off the court for a timeout and our captain walked over, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "nice play Big Mike." This was huge because until you got a nickname, he only called people by their last name. There it was, he had given me my own nickname. It turned out that you earned a nickname by making a big play, which usually involved dunking on someone. The whole process of his giving nicknames, though, cemented his position of authority on the team, encouraged the younger players, and really made us feel closer to and appreciated by our leader.

There are many quick little scenes throughout the four Gospels where we get to see the wonderfully human side of Jesus. If we slow down and read these scenes and then think about the human reality of the Gospel accounts, we can begin to see why those around Jesus loved him so much and were so loyal to him. As John describes the beginning seeds of Jesus' ministry, this is one of those scenes. Jesus doesn't just woodenly walk around teaching and calling people to follow him intellectually. He creates bonds, build friendships, and shows people how to love one another. This is what is behind his deeply human and endearing act of giving Peter a nickname. In doing so, he establishes his authority and no doubt encouraged Peter. But in the end, what he really did, is create a lifelong friend, and show Peter exactly what the impact their friendship was going to have on Peter's life. Following this teacher was going to make Peter a whole lot more than just a disciple, it was going to make him a rock.

John tells us in 20:31 that the reason that he wrote this Gospel is so that people might read it and believe that Jesus is the son of God. One of the ways that John will demonstrate this is through the recurring theme of new creation. From the opening verse of this Gospel, John made it clear that this was going to be a creation event. The life of Christ was the means through which God would restore His original creation marred by sin. As John moved from the prologue, rich with creation language (terms like "beginning," "life," "light," and "darkness,") he will carefully open his narrative with seven days; the days of the new creation. The first day was John's testimony regarding Jesus (1:19-28), the second was John's encounter with Jesus (1:29-54), and this is the third day.

On this third day of the dawning of the new creation account, John sees Jesus coming once again. Once again he announces that Jesus is the Lamb of God. The true measure of a godly man is his genuine humility, and John is clearly infused with that. This great man doesn't hesitate to point his own followers to a greater man. He is not trying to build his own little castle, but point to the coming of the kingdom of God. We should note that not only was John a great prophet, full of humility, but was apparently a great teacher as well. He had taught his disciples that the true purpose of his ministry was to point to the one that would come. The two disciples (we are told in verse 40 that one is Andrew while presumably the other is John, the beloved disciple) listening to John the Immerser that day had learned well. As soon as John pointed out that the Lamb of God was with them, they knew what to do and immediately began to follow him. This should be instructive to Christians today who usually, at one time or another, have to leave behind our old traditions and religious associations to truly follow the Messiah, just as surely as the Immerser's two disciples did that day.

As they begin to follow Jesus, he turns and asks what they want (it's hard to imagine that as Jesus says to them, "what do you want?" John doesn't mean for his readers to consider that question for ourselves). He hasn't really called them yet so much as they have followed him. He asks them what they want to which they don't really have a a good answer, so they ask him where he is staying, addressing him with the term "Rabbi" (which John has kindly translated for his non-Jewish readers informing us that Rabbi means teacher), a term of respect in that time that had not yet fully become the technical and formal term that it would a century later. They have been waiting and looking for him and, perhaps a little to their surprise, they find that Jesus has been looking for them. If they want to know where he is staying then all they need to do is to follow him, just like their teacher John had prepared them to do.

As they arrive where Jesus was staying, it was already about four in the afternoon. In the first century, people generally did not move around too often after sundown, so when the author tells us that they spent the day with him, the implication is that that went where Jesus was staying and then spent the night there with him.

Whatever they talked about must have been quite enlightening for Andrew and the anonymous disciple (probably John, as mentioned above) because as soon as he got up in the morning, the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him. Everything that they had been waiting for was not in vain, the Messiah was here (again, John puts the Aramaic "Messiah" into the Greek "Christ" for his readers).

Andrew wastes no time in bringing his brother Simon to see the newly found Messiah. It is noteworthy that Andrew is mentioned three times in the Gospel of John and every single time he is shown to be bringing someone to meet Jesus (cf. 6:8; 12:22). When Jesus meets the young, brash fisherman that everyone knew as Simon, brother of Andrew, son of John, he gives him a new name. Jesus looked square at Peter in the eye and told him that he would be called Cephas (John once again translates for his readers telling us that in Greek the name is "Petros," or as we have it in English, "Peter"). In that nickname, Jesus has not described who Peter is. Surely a quick glance at the other Gospels shows us that as well-meaning as Peter was, he wasn't yet the most reliable of sorts, certainly not the kind of guy you would choose as a leader in a new religious movement. No, Jesus is not describing Peter as he is, but as he would be under the transforming power of walking with Jesus. He would become "the rock," which is what "Cephas" means. In the Old Testament, God usually changed someone's name to specify a new calling (Abram to Abraham; Jacob to Israel) and also to demonstrate authority over an individual (2 Ki. 23:34; 24:17). Jesus accomplishes both of those things as well as telling everyone around exactly who Peter was going to be in Christ.

As we quickly consider this calling of Andrew, John, and Peter we immediately note that there appear to be some differences with the accounts of Jesus calling his disciples in the other Gospels (cf. 4:18-22; 9:9; mark 1:16-20; 2:13-14; Luke 5:1-11, 27-28). It seems that the disciples go with Jesus immediately, and from the start understand that he is the Messiah in John's version, but follow Jesus at a later point and consistently fail to understand his true identity. Are we dealing with divergent accounts that contradict? Not at all. The difference lies in that John seems to be describing the call to general discipleship that took place first while the other Gospels are describing Jesus' climactic call to special discipleship, apostleship if you will. In fact, the encounters that John has given here help to paint the background to the dramatic decision by the disciple stop, drop everything, and follow Jesus. John's account helps us to understand the account of the other Gospels and, quite frankly, makes their accounts more understandable and more plausible. As for the fact that John describes that they believed Jesus was the Messiah right away while the other Gospels consistently describe the failure of the disciples to understand who Jesus was, again we have no contradiction. They may have known or believed from the beginning that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, but, as the other Gospels make clear, they had no idea what that really meant. They were in for a three-year journey of transforming their thinking about who the Messiah was and what God was doing. As we approach the remainder of the Gospel of John, let's try to approach it with the same open mind, willingness to learn, and realization that we have



Devotional Thought

Have you let Jesus rename and redefine you? You have a birth name, but have you ever embraced the new name that he has given each one of us?: Christian. Let the name Christian truly define who you are and see what Jesus has in mind for you to become.

John 1:29-34

John's Testimony About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."

32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God's Chosen One."



Dig Deeper

Have you ever seen someone intentionally lose a race? I have. And it was at an important track meet no less. Most athletes train and compete in order to win, so why would someone intentionally lose a race? As crazy as it sounds, it happens all of the time. Usually in a middle distance or longer distance race, you will see someone break out into the lead and run at a pretty good clip for a few laps. Then, suddenly, they will pull up and go to the back, and oftentimes will even stop altogether and step off of the track, quitting the race. Why would they do such a thing? The fact is that many runners will enter a race with every intention of losing. Their purpose is not to win. Their purpose is to set a pace for the race that is comfortable for another runner on their team so that that person can win the race. Once they have set the pace for the appropriate time they will pull out of the race. Their sole purpose is to assist and set things up for the other runner, it is not about themselves.

John the Immerser certainly wasn't a pace-setter but he does share some things in common with them. John came with a distinct purpose that had nothing to do with winning anything, being anything of any lasting importance, or being about himself at all. He had a distinct job, a specific vocation. In fact, he was so consistently willing to point away from himself that it, at times, confused even his own followers and disciples. But John never wavered. He was not the Messiah, Elijah, or the Prophet. He was a voice, just a simple voice, whose job it was to prepare people for the one to come. Once he had completed that job he would pull up and exit the race. After all, once a pace-setter has done his job, he doesn't need to stay in the race anymore, it's time for the primary runner to take over. For John, that time hasn't quite come yet, but he certainly understands that it is coming and that even now, at the height of his career, it isn't about him, it's about the one that is about to take over.

The day after being grilled about just exactly who he was and what he was up to, John looks up and sees Jesus coming. The beloved disciple who has authored this book, doesn't take the time time to describe the baptism of Jesus by John the Immerser. Like many other scenes in Jesus life that are described in the other Gospels, he seems to assume that his readers will already be quite familiar with those stories, so he merely alludes to them. We can probably, then, conclude that John knew of the other Gospels and meant this account to complement them and explain other aspects of Jesus' ministry. John knows that his role is to point to another, but he didn't always know who. Imagine having the faith that John did to begin his ministry, calling Israel to repent and get ready for the coming of the Messiah, when he didn't even know who that Messiah was. As he sees him approaching on this day, however, he now knows that Jesus is the one and he is more than happy to begin the process in which he will step aside, having completed his vocation of making things ready for God's Messiah.

As Jesus approaches, John boldly declares that he is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is a statement pregnant with imagery, allusions, and meaning. There were many common allusions to lamb imagery at the time of Jesus and John probably intends all of them in his statement. The Lamb refers, no doubt (and as we go on we will see that the Gospel writer clearly has this meaning in mind throughout his book but will come to a head in 19:36) to the Passover Lamb. Through the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, the people were saved, and this is no doubt what the ultimate Passover Lamb will do. John also likely intends for his hearers to hear echoes of the lamb that was led to slaughter in Isaiah 53:7. Certainly John's reference would have brought to mind the lamb of the daily sacrifices. This lamb was offered every morning and evening in the Temple. Finally, it probably reminded hearers of the lamb of Genesis 22:8.

Each of the previously mentioned lambs had a different function or symbolism attached to it but this Lamb would embody all of those things. He would take away the sin of the world. Whatever the different aspects of lambs were in ancient Jewish thought, they were primarily thought of as the animal who was sacrificed in place of sins. This is God's Lamb, though, the one that He has provided to bear the consequences and deal with the problem of sin for the whole world, not just Israel.

This is the one that John has been talking about all along. The purpose of his ministry was not to draw followers to himself but to point to God's Lamb. John acknowledges that he did not know immediately who this man was. He had been searching and waiting but he did not know him. We should not take this to mean that John and Jesus had never meant. The Gospel of Luke makes clear that John and Jesus were cousins and that their mothers knew each other well. That doesn't guarantee that they knew one another but it does make it likely. Have you ever spent significant time looking for your keys, only to find that they were in your pocket the whole time? Sometimes the very thing we're looking for is right under our nose. John was waiting and looking for the Messiah, the Lamb of God and it turns out to be his cousin. Even before he knew for sure who the Messiah was, though, John was busy with his vocation. This should be instructive to those of us who want to know exactly what God has in store for us before we go about doing His business or acting on faith. John did not even know to whom he was pointing, but began pointing anyway.

John is clear, as the other Gospels bear witness, that his baptism pointed people towards repentance and forgiveness of sins (Mk. 1:4; Lk. 3:3). Here though, John informs us that although that was the result of his baptizing, it was not the reason. He began his ministry of calling the people of Israel to return to God so that the Messiah could be revealed. Part of God's plan was that there would be a forerunner to the Messiah and John knew his job well.

John didn't know that Jesus was the promised one because someone had told him that or because he just figured it out, but he can bear testimony to his identity because he saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. The Jews, of course, understood that heaven was the realm of God's presence, while earth was the dimension of human existence. Thus, he is saying that the Spirit broke into the realm of the physical universe in the form of a dove (we are not told whether it was a literal dove or simply looked like one). The dove was not a common Old Testament symbol for the Spirit, but it was an occasional symbol for Israel. It is possible then, and quite in keeping with one of the themes that will become common in John's Gospel, that Jesus is being set out as the true Israel as he receives the Spirit. In the Old Testament it was not unheard of for people to have the Spirit come upon them to complete a specific task but in Jesus' case, the Spirit came upon him and remained on him. Although this was perhaps not an expected thing to happen to the Messiah it would not have been completely shocking as it was often prophesied that the messianic age would involve the renewal of God's people through the activity of the Spirit (Isa. 32:15; Ezek. 36:26-27; 37:14). The sign of the Spirit coming down and remaining on someone was the very sign that John had been given by God to be able to recognize the one that was to come. John doesn't give us the details of how God told him and what precisely He did tell him when God gave John the clues as to how he could recognize the Messiah, but the fact is that John's knowledge of Jesus as the Lamb of God came from God, not man.

John administered a baptism which would reveal the true Messiah, a baptism which would foreshadow and point to the true baptism of the Messiah. The Messiah would also baptize, but not just symbolically. He would baptize people into his own life and dispense the Holy Spirit, keeping the Old Testament prediction that God would renew His people by pouring out His Spirit (Isa. 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 36:25-27; Joel 2:28-32).

John saw and boldly bears witness to the fact that this is God's Chosen One. In using this language, John connects his testimony concerning to Jesus to Isaiah 42:1 which says, "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him." Jesus is the Chosen One and now that he is on the scene, John is about to step off the track and let him take center stage.



Devotional Thought

John had a vocation from God to go into the wilderness and preach about and point to the coming of the Messiah, yet he did not even knew who the Messiah was. Do you have that kind of faith? Are you willing to begin to serve God and do His will in your workplace, neighborhood, etc., when you're not even sure of exactly what He has in mind for you to do? Many of us want to know precisely what God's will for our lives is, but oftentimes God won't reveal the full extent of that will until we begin to walk boldly down the path that He has laid out for us.

John 1:19-28

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Messiah."

21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?"

He said, "I am not."

"Are you the Prophet?"

He answered, "No."

22 Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "

24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

26 "I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.



Dig Deeper

When I was still in high school, I wanted to become more active in my community, so my parents allowed me to begin to volunteer at a local political campaign office. Most of the things I did there were to assist the campaigns of local politicians who were running for small offices like clerk of courts. The campaign office was also responsible for the national presidential election at the time but I didn't do much for that except for delivering a few yard signs for people. One day, though, we were informed that the son of the man running for president of the United States was coming into our town to give a speech for his father. I was assigned the job of going down to where he was arriving and escort him back to the campaign office so he could be taken on to where he was speaking. The problem was, I had no idea at the time who this son was. All I knew back in 1988, was that his name was the same as his father's who was running for president. Because I was expecting him but didn't know who he was, I was preparing to have to ask some questions when I got down there to determine who he was. As it turned out, some older ladies who were connected with the campaign office came and relieved me before he got there because they wanted the prestige of escorting him, but I realized then that when you're expecting someone and don't know who they are, the only way to get around that is to ask questions.

Early first century Israel was full of Messianic expectations. Nearly all of the different groups and factions in Israel at the time were waiting for God's Messiah to come rescue His people. They didn't all agree on what exactly the Messiah would be or what he would accomplish, there was no one common expectation, but virtually everyone believed that they were living in the time when the Messiah would indeed come. When news reached the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, then, that there was someone creating quite a ruckus out in the wilderness around the Jordan river, their ears no doubt perked up. They needed to know who this guy was, what he was doing, and did he think of himself as the Messiah. Of course the best way to determine if he was the one they were waiting for would be to go ask questions.

There were some disturbing things for the Jewish leadership about this man known as John the Immerser (the word translated "baptist" or "baptize" actually means "to immerse," so when people spoke of John the Baptist in the first century, they would have heard "John the Immerser"). Perhaps the most troubling aspect of his ministry was why he was out in the wilderness baptizing Jews. Up to that point, ceremonial washings were used in Judaism for non-Jewish converts to demonstrate the cleansing that they were undergoing in becoming Jewish. This why it would have been puzzling, even troubling that John was baptizing Jews. They were already God's chosen people, set apart to be holy. Why, then, would he be calling them to undergo a baptism? Of course, that was the whole point for John. They weren't God's holy people. They had abandoned God's way long ago, but now the Messiah was coming and they needed to get ready for that. They needed to repent and turn to God's ways and His will so that they would be prepared for what the Messiah was going to do.

The Jewish leaders didn't understand all of that when they went out to question John, though. The major question on their mind was whether John was the Messiah. He was certainly attracting a great deal of attention from people all over Israel. This in itself was dangerous because Messianic movements that caught the attention of the people might become dangerous if rebelling against Rome became one of their ideals. The Jewish leadership didn't want to risk anything like that, so they needed to know quickly, exactly who John thought he was and what he was doing.

John the evangelist, the author of this gospel, gives us something akin to a court scene, with the priests and Levites, as well as some Pharisees who went along with them (as verse 24 would make it seem), questioning John, who seems somewhat uncomfortable with the whole process. They get right to the point with their first question. Is John the Messiah? They probably didn't ask that question actually thinking that he was, but were more interested in knowing if he thought he was. John leaves no wiggle room for misunderstanding as he replied, "I am not the Messiah." He was not, after all, doing any sort of Messianic things.

This leads to the next question, then, which is somewhat of a natural progression. If he's not the Messiah, then who he is. He's still doing some rather unusual and remarkable things. He's doing things that seem more like a prophet, and we should not underestimate the power and impact of his ministry which Jesus said was not surpassed by any other prophet (Matt. 11:11). There was a common expectation that Elijah would come before the Messiah based on passages like Malachi 4:5. Because Elijah had never died (2 Ki. 2:11), many Jews expected for Elijah himself to return and introduce the Messiah. To add to those expectations, John seemed to have the demeanor of prophet like Elijah with his rugged and harsh lifestyle (cf. Matt. 3:4; 2 Ki. 1:8). The leaders want to know if John is Elijah. His answer leaves us with a bit of a mystery. John says clearly that he is not Elijah, but Jesus said that he was Elijah (Matt. 11:14; 17:12; Mark 9:13). How can we harmonize these two statements without seeing a contradiction? It's actually rather simple. In one sense he was Elijah and in another sense he was not. John denied literally being the incarnation of Elijah. He doesn't want anyone thinking anything like that. He is nothing special and he wants everyone to know it. Jesus' point though, was that John's ministry was the typological and prophetical fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy and so could rightly call him an Elijah. It seems, actually, that Jesus understood who John was and his situation even a little better than John did.

The questioning continues down the same path. If John is not Elijah, then is he the prophet? That there would be a prophet raised up by God that was like Moses but even greater than Moses, was predicted by Moses himself in Deuteronomy 18:15, 18. With each question, John's answers get shorter and more terse, and we can almost imagine him becoming quite tired with this entire line of questioning because it is focusing on him and that is not what his vocation is all about. He is to be a witness to another not be the focal point. Is he the prophet? A simple "no" is all they get this time.

Growing frustrated from his repeated denials, and no doubt, being driven by a realization that they needed to take some answers back to Jerusalem, the questioners ask John to tell them who he is then. John's answer is classic and in keeping with his vocation in that he takes all of the focus off of himself and puts it back on the coming Messiah. He is not the Word, but is simply a voice. In fact, he is, he believes, the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3. He is the one telling everyone that they need to prepare for the coming of the Lord. In Isaiah 40:8, it goes on to declare that people, like grass, wither and fade but the word of God endures forever. John, the Apostle, wants his readers to make the connection between Isaiah 40 and what he has said about the Messiah in the prologue. The enduring Word of the Lord has come and John's role is to announce that and tell people to clear the paths of their heart to prepare themselves for what he is going to say and do.

The Pharisees seem to miss the thrust of John's answer and are more concerned with why he is out here baptizing Jews then if he is not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet. John again throws the focus back to the Messiah. The real question is not who he is or what he's doing, but with who he is pointing to. That one, John says, is one of whom he is not even worthy to untie his sandals. Disciples of rabbis in the first century were expected to perform "all manner of service that a slave must render to his master . . . except that of taking off his shoe" (Rabbi Joshua b. Levi, c. 250 AD reflecting a long-standing tradition). John's point is that the coming Messiah is so beyond anything anyone has ever known, it's not that John wouldn't demean himself to take off his shoes. Quite the opposite. He's not worthy to perform the most menial of tasks. John isn't the light, he's simply giving testimony to the light (1:8). To put it in modern terms, these leaders of Israel came to see if John was the ambulance that they had all been waiting for, or at least though he was, but what John tells them is shocking. He's not the vehicle, he's simply the sound of the siren that one can hear long before they can see the ambulance himself. God's anointed one is coming and they had better be prepared.



Devotional Thought

John's humility is amazing. He was constantly willing and adamant about pushing himself to the back so that the proper spotlight could be focused on Jesus. This is a constant reminder for those of us who teach, preach, or lead in any capacity in the Christian community. Our role, like John's is to exalt Christ not ourselves, our own egos, or our own agendas. This can be quite a challenge sometimes, but it is our vocation. Do you constantly seek to exalt the cause of Christ and push your importance into the background like John did?

John 1:10-18

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

14 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.

15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, "This is he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' ") 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only [Son], who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.



Dig Deeper

The annals of war are filled with leaders and generals who have led their men from a distance. They issue orders from the back and stay in comfortable lodging while their men fight the battles and stay in tents or other uncomfortable temporary housing. Generals like these can definitely be effective but they are rarely loved. It is the generals who go beyond those expectations and norms that are loved by their men. In 2 Samuel 11, we are given a sketch of just such a leader, Uriah the Hittite. David was back in his palace seeking after his own lusts and tries to entice Uriah back into town so that David's sin of adultery might not be noticed. He couldn't get Uriah to agree to it, however. When offered, for instance, to come home and be with his beautiful wife, Uriah replied that he could not do such a thing while his men were out in the field. This was truly a leader that was present in spirit with his men at all times. The generals that are loved are those who wait to eat until every single soldier under him has eaten; the general who waits to go sleep until all of his men are asleep; the general who spurns the comforts that would normally be given to a man of his stature and opts to stay in the same type of tent that his men are in.

That is precisely what made YHWH, the God of the Israelites so different from all of the other supposed gods. He wasn't distant; He wasn't unknown. He tabernacled in the presence of His own people. He went where they went and was with them through every circumstance, providing and caring for them. They knew His presence and could count on it. As they continued to reject Him, however, that presence lessened until it became virtually gone by the time of the minor prophets.

It is into this reality that John drops an incredible revelation. God did not stay distant like so many human leaders. He came as close to His people as He possibly could by becoming flesh. God was not a remote God, He tabernacled among His people in the most humble and intimate way possible. He came among them and became one of them.

He was in the world, the very world that was made through him. It's difficult for us to understand the humility that it would take to enter into a world that you had created as a normal human being with no special privileges. The closest thing I can think of is if a parent could suddenly become young again and enter into their own household as a child the same age as their own children. How would they be treated, especially if their kids didn't know that this new child was really their parent? That's exactly what John says took place when the Word entered into the creation that had been made through him. The world did not recognize him. There is, of course, a bit of clear irony that the very world that was created though the Word did not recognize him when he came to them in the flesh. The fact that they did not recognize him, though, was a sad bit of evidence of their estrangement from him and the will of God. It's a simple fact of human existence, we don't recognize what we don't know.

If the fact that the very world that the Word brought about rejected him is ironic, then the fact that he came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him, is bitterly ironic. Israel's very purpose was to be the people through whom the Messiah would come. It was the way that God would use them to put the world to rights. And now he was here, but they were rejecting the very purpose for their existence because they had other ideas of how God should have been working. It would be like the 2008 U.S. Men's Olympic basketball team that was put together to win a gold medal, refusing to get their gold medals because they had something else in mind for the winners. This should serve as instructive for us, though, because it is dangerously easy for us to do similar things. We can pray for God to do something in our lives, for instance, and then reject or fail to recognize His answer to that very prayer because it's not quite what we had in mind.

Yet, John offers a bit of hope and demonstrates that the ultimate purpose of his gospel is missional. All is not lost. He makes clear in 20:31 that he has written this gospel so "that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." In verse 12, John offers perhaps the climax of this entire prologue, as well as the thesis statement for the entire gospel. There are some who will receive him. The concept of someone's name in the ancient world went far beyond just being a title or something to call someone by. When the Jews of John's day spoke of someone's "name," they spoke of their authority, their character, in short, their life. So, when John says to all who believed in his name, he is referring to those who recognized that this was the one, true human being through whom God would restore His creation. Those who trusted in the life of Christ rather than their own are given the right to become children of God. These children are not born through normal human procreation, or through human decision (literally, "will of the flesh," meaning sexual desire or activity), nor of the husband's choice (who represented the family as the traditional leader of the family). In other words, birth into this family does not come about by any normal human means at all. John is not removing human choice from the equation of salvation, but is saying that this is a completely spiritual endeavor, one that could not be accomplished by humans through normal means.

It could only have come about by the Word becoming flesh. The Word, who was no less than God, became flesh and made his dwelling among us. In using the term "flesh" rather than "man" or "body," John counteracts groups at the time like the Docetists who were willing to concede that Jesus may have been the Christ but denied that there was any reality to his being human; it only seemed that way. John gives no such wiggle room. He is just as clear on the humanity of the Word as he is his deity. God did become flesh and lived among us. John literally uses a term that means that the Word "tabernacled" among us. This brings to mind God's presence in the tabernacle in the wilderness. Just as God came close His people then, the Word has come even closer. He has become flesh for the sake of his people.

The Word is certainly divine, John makes no mistake about that, but he again confirms his distinction from the Father as he denotes the distinguishing difference between the Father and Son. The Word is the glory of the one and only Son, but he is not indistinguishable from the Father. The somewhat controversial nature of The Word being referred to as the one and only Son of God should not be missed. In the Old Testament, either Israel or David (as Israel's representative) were the firstborn of God (Exod. 4:22; Ps. 89:27). By calling the Word the only Son, John is making another claim that serves as one of themes of his gospel; Jesus Christ came to replace Israel as the true representative of God, His only son (nowhere will this be more obvious than in 15:1 when Jesus takes one . He came from the Father, full of grace and truth, two primary characteristics of the Father. Grace is the unmerited favor that causes joy, a favorite word of the early church, and truth was a concept so closely connected with God, that Jesus could actually say in 14:6 that "I am . . . the truth."

Having connected the Word to the activities of God in the Old Testament as He tabernacled among His people, John will accomplish two important things in the concluding four verses of his prologue. He will show that the revelation of the Word is superior to the revelation of the Old Covenant under Moses, and he will, for the first time, clearly state that the man Jesus Christ is the Word of whom he has been so eloquently speaking.

John, generally considered the last of the prophets in the line of Moses, testified concerning the Son. He was the one who all of history had been pointing. He came after John, which in their culture would have indicated subservience to the older man, but in this case he surpassed John because he was before John, existing eternally. Because of his fullness we have all received new grace that has come on top of the grace given through Moses and the law. The law merely pointed to the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ.

In verse 18, John brings the prologue to a close, connecting it closely with his statements in verse 1. There the Word was God and was with God. Here the one and only Son is surely himself God and is with God in the closest relationship possible. The Son has made the Father known. In other words, if you want to know the Father and see the Father, then all you have to do is to stare at the Son.



Devotional Thought

God became flesh and tabernacled among the world that had rejected Him. He could not get any closer or get anymore involved in His creation in a more humble way than He did in Jesus Christ. Are you willing to get involved in difficult situations personally and help others out? Are you willing to spend the time, effort, and exercise the humility necessary to get truly involved in places that have rejected or failed to recognize God? God was willing to do that and He calls His sons and daughters in Christ to no less.

John 1:1-9

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.


6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.



Dig Deeper

It seems like everywhere we turn these days, we see the idea of "karma" being put forth. Karma certainly has it's roots in Eastern religions, but it has moved well beyond that these days, with everyone seemingly giving their own spin to what the concept of karma is or what it means. If we were to boil it down to it's most simplistic and most universal roots, karma means something along the lines of a state of equilibrium that is present in the universe ensuring that justice will be done in the long run (kind of a what comes around goes around mentality). This concept has so deeply infiltrated our culture that there is even a television show named "My Name is Earl" (admittedly I have never seen the show but I have seen commercials and have read about it), whose entire premise has to do with a previously shady character going about trying to set things right from his past so that he can achieve good karma.

Most of us have a basic understanding of what karma is, and those who are truly familiar with the concept know that it is decidedly not Christian or biblical in it's popular understanding. What if I took the idea of karma, however, to preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ? What if I took the underlying idea that there must be something or someone that ensures that divine justice take place in the universe eventually, and applied that to Jesus? What if I made a statement that Jesus Christ was the true karma, and that only within him, in his life, can true karma ever take place? What if I boldly declared that real karma can be found in the living, breathing, person of Jesus Christ alone?

This may sound shocking but this is something of what John has done in the opening passage of his gospel. What is translated as "the Word" throughout his book is actually the Greek word logos. Logos was a well-known and much-discussed topic of religion and philosophy in the Greco-Roman world. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus used the word logos, which can simply mean "word" or "explanation," as a specific term that referred to the ordering principle of the universe. Later, the Stoics taught that logos permeated the universe and gave rationality and an order to all things. Greek philosophers argued that the logos within humans enabled them to move in harmony with the logos of the universe. Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, wrote that "The Logos is designed to distinguish the beneficial from the harmful, and thus also the right and the wrong. . . Man. . . alone has the ability to perceive good and bad and right and wrong [because only man can possess the Logos]." It is into this philosophical discussion that John steps and blows it all up with the controversial assertion that the logos, in a sense was a correct philosophy, but only in as much as people understood that Jesus Christ was the embodiment and the existence of the logos. The logos is not just some abstract principle, but a living breathing human (although he's more than that as well), and John is going to show us exactly who he is. He is the ordering principle of the entire universe and everything in it.

John opens his Gospel with an incredibly, almost poetic introduction that goes beyond Matthew and Luke's birth narratives. John's intention is to show us the place of the Messiah, the true logos, in the eternity of the universe. The whole of John's gospel is every bit as unique as his opening section. If the other three Gospels, known as the synoptics have walked us through the life and times of Jesus' birth, ministry, and death, then John has taken us to the top of the mountain, to a place where you can look down and see everything. In John we can look out at the whole landscape of Christ against the backdrop of eternity and let it take our breath away.

John doesn't give us a birth narrative put describes the living word in eternal terms. This section not only gives the eternal perspective of the word, but it serves as an introduction for many of the theological themes that John will develop throughout his gospel.

Even a casual reader of the Bible will see that as John begins with the phrase, In the beginning, that he intends for us to hear an echo of the opening verse of the book of Genesis. In John's mind what he is about to write is an act of new creation, one that hearkens back to initial formation of the universe. This new creation, however, has everything to do with the Word, whom John will reveal in the next section, is none other than Jesus Christ. The Word, John says, was both with God and was God. How can both of those statements be true? They only can be if we expand our understanding of the world and realize that we can apprehend God without ever fully comprehending Him. The Word is God in His essence, yet He is not synonymous with God; He is distinct because the Word can also be said to be with God. This also makes the point that the Word is eternal and is not created, but fully God in His essence. Right here in the first verse, then, we have two primary themes of John's gospel. The new creation is here in the Word, and the Word became flesh, he became human, but he is God. If, in other words, you want to see God, take a good, long, hard look at the Word.

In verse 3, having already declared the divine essence of the Word, John demonstrates his divinity through his mighty works. Through him all things were made. Again John stresses the eternity of the Word, as without him nothing was made that has been made, while at the same distinguishing the Word from the Father. John doesn't claim that the Word created, that was the role of the Father, only that everything was created through him. Thus, the Father and the Word are intimately connected, but not synonymous. They share the same essence but are not identical.

John continues the creation theme in verses 4-5, while introducing a double meaning, something that John does frequently throughout his Gospel. The Word was the light and life of the original creation, but also of the new creation. In him was life, says John, introducing yet another theme of the Gospel. Those who desire the life and light of the new creation must find that life in the Word. John will go on throughout his gospel of new creation to demonstrate how the Word is the only life. He is the only light of creation and the darkness has not overcome it. The Word challenged and defeated the darkness of the initial creation and now will do the same for the darkness and evil that is found within the fallen creation.

Some people in the generation following Christ still exalted John the Immerser and thought that perhaps he was the Messiah. Maybe they thought, he was the light of the new creation. John, the evangelist, wants to make quite clear that that was not the case. John's role was vital, but he was not the light that overcomes the darkness of chaos. He came as a witness to that light. As he writes his gospel, John desires to make it clear to anyone who might be confused that John the Baptist clearly and consistently pointed away from himself and to the Word as the true light. John the Baptist was important but subordinate. Throughout his gospel John will stress the importance of the Baptist as a witness (1:7, 8, 15, 19, 32, 34; 3:26; 5:33). In the ancient world, the concept of a witness was importance as it established the veracity of an individual. John will show that there are seven (a thematic number that will pop up frequently throughout the gospel) witnesses to the Word: The Father (5:31-32, 34, 37; 8:18; Jesus himself (8:14, 18; cf. 3:11, 32; 8:37), the Spirit (15:26; cf 16:14); the works of Christ (5:36; 10:25; cf. 14:11; 15:24); Scripture (5:39, 45-46); John the Baptist; and various other human witnesses (4:39; 12:17; 15:27; 19:35; 21:24). Testimony substantiated the truth of the matter and John the evangelist is careful to show that Jesus had plenty of it. After all, the matter of the true light that gives light to every man coming into the world, is no small matter. It is an act of new creation that can be appropriately testified to.



Devotional Thought

Could it be said of your life that you serve as a witness to the light of the Word? If people were to examine your life for evidence of the new creation and the light of life that comes from entering into the life of the Word, would they find any? Determine today to live in such a way that you clearly demonstrate the new creation and life that has been made available to the world caught in darkness through the Word.

Jude 1:17-25

A Call to Persevere

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God's love and mercy of Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Doxology

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence wihtout fault and with great joy—25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.



Dig Deeper

One night while I was in college, it was well past midnight, and for some reason a bunch of us thought that it would be a great idea to go cliff diving at a place about twenty minutes from our campus. Once we got there, I realized, as it was my first time, that the cliff was about forty feet up from the water. Oh, and did I mention it was pitch black because it was well after midnight. At that point, I wasn't really planning on actually jumping, until I realized that a bunch of young ladies had also come to the cliff to watch the group of guys jump in. With that pressure, of course I had to jump. So I went in without being able to see the water at all. Once I got into the water, we were trying to swim out when one of the other guys yelled that there was a water moccasin, a type of poisonous snake common in Oklahoma, in the water. I quickly found my way to the shore and got out but one of my friends couldn't get himself out of the water. He had found a piece of shore that was a couple of feet above the water, and in the dark he couldn't find his way up the bank and out. He called for help, and although I wanted to get far away from the water and that snake, I went over to help him. I was in such a rush that I simply reached down to help him out without stabilizing myself first. As soon as he grabbed my hand and pulled, we both went right back into the water where the dangerous snake was lurking somewhere.

Many people read the book of Jude once or twice and then don't really go back to it very often, assuming that it is simply a tirade against false teachers that doesn't hold much value or interest for a church or individual that is not directly battling false teachers. That's not really true, though. Jude does spend a great deal of the letter dealing with characterizing and describing the false teachers but he also, in this last section, offers timeless advice for those dealing with false teachers; advice that is so wise and timeless that it offers great guidelines to anyone helping another Christian out of sin or struggles. Jude's basic advice in this section can be boiled down to this: Help others out of their struggles but because Satan is always lurking in the form of false teachers, temptations, etc., make sure that when you reach down to help someone else that you are firmly braced and ready for the task at hand. If you're not, you both might wind up in the water.

Jude makes it clear that he is turning his attention from the false teachers and fully onto his readers as he addresses them as dear friends, literally beloved ones (a word that finds its roots in the word agape). Jude specifically has three things that he urges believers to do. First, he wants them to remember that the apostles had predicted the kind of false teaching that they are now encountering. Second, they need to commit themselves to their own spiritual growth and security. Third, they need to be willing to reach out and help those who have been affected by the false teachings and have found themselves swayed by them.

When Jude tells them to remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold, we should remember that in the biblical thinking, to remember something was not just an act of the memory but also of the will and actions. If you remembered something, you lived in accordance with its ideals. Specifically he wants them to not be rocked by the appearance of false teachers who are denying the return of Christ and who are far more interested in exalting their own ungodly desires. They need to remember and order the life of their community as ones who know that false teachers will come and need to be dealt with. Jude appears to take his wording loosely from 2 Peter 3:3, but it is possible that this is something that other apostles who had helped establish or visited these churches also taught when they were there. The apostles taught that the days following Pentecost until Christ returned would be the last days and that they should be prepared for scoffers and false teachers. The men that are now threatening them fall into those warnings. They are the ones who divide the body and mock God. These men, says Jude, follow mere natural instincts, which is a single word that literally means "soulish." Paul uses this same word in a negative sense to contrast someone who is animated by their own soul and desires rather than someone whose will is animated by the Spirit. What Jude implies with the first part of verse 19, he states explicitly in the latter half. They do not have the Spirit. Based on Jude's earlier mention of their visions and dreams (v. 8), this may be a direct counter-claim to their assertions that they were more spiritual than others. Not only are they not spiritually advanced, they do not have the surefire mark of a Christian at all, the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:8-10).

The first thing that one must do when facing false teachers as these believers were, is to secure their own spiritual footing. If you are going to help others that have been affected by false teaching, as Jude calls them to, then you had better know what you believe firmly or you too might be drawn in. As a biblical teacher I have had to examine and confront many false teachings and have experienced this in reality. False teachers usually have well thought out arguments for their little niches, and quite often these are areas that Christians haven't thought through in detail. I have had to help several people who thought they were going to help someone out of a false teaching but who were not firmly established in their own biblical understanding and were sucked in by the very false teaching that they were hoping to counter. False teachings are so effective precisely because they are clever, usually very thorough, quite convincing, and they appeal to things that people like to hear or make sense to us. We must be rooted firmly in biblical truth in order to stand up to the assault of false teaching. 5th century theologian, Gregory Nanzianzus argued that for this reason only trained theologians and teachers should confront other teachings. Although it's probably not necessary to go that far in guarding against false teachings, each believer must be prepared in the truth before trying to help someone entangled in heresies.

Jude gives four separate commands to those preparing to help others. First, they are to build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Jude addresses this to the entire body, not just individuals, as the new Temple of God. The body must build itself up in the faith as those set apart from the world. Second, believers should pray in the Holy Spirit as opposed to those who don't pray at all or pray prayers that are directed by their own soul and desires rather than the Spirit. Third, he says to keep yourselves in God's love, meaning be careful to remain in the life of Jesus Christ, the full revelation of God's love, and not wander back to our old way of life (cf. Jn. 15:9; Eph. 4:22-24). Fourth, he urges them to remain in the life of Christ so that they will be brought to eternal life, the life of the age to come that believers are to partake in now, but look forward to full consummation of the age to come when Christ returns.

Jude urges the believers to specifically reach out to three separate groups. He says to be merciful to those who have heard the false teachings and have been thrown into confusion and doubt. Usually these are well meaning people who simply want to follow the truth but are not yet firmly established and have trouble discerning the truth for themselves. He also urges them to reach out and snatch up from the fire (Jude uses imagery here from Zech. 3:1-4) those who have gone past doubt and begun to embrace the teachings as their own. Because they have begun to embrace these heresies, they are literally standing on the brink of hell as they prepare to walk out of the genuine life of Christ. Finally, he says to show mercy mixed with fear for the influence of the false teachers that might influence others or even themselves. By showing mercy to this final group, Jude likely means to keep praying for them and show kindness where they can. What is this final group, though? Again using language from Zechariah 3, Jude describes those who have been corrupted by their own fleshly desires and are wearing clothes that have been soiled like a diaper. Christians, Jude is saying, must hate the false teachings and be uncompromising in their opposition to it, while at the same time, showing love and mercy to those entangled in the false teaching.

Jude brings his short letter to a close with one of the most beautiful doxologies in the entire Bible. He balances the earlier exhortation for believers to stay in Christ with the truth that God is able to keep us from falling and to present us in Christ without fault. God has given us all that we need if we will only remain in Christ. It is to God alone, accessible through the life of Christ, that we ascribe glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all ages, now and forevermore! What a God we serve!




Devotional Thought

Jude calls Christian to the incredible challenge of hating teachings that oppose the true gospel, while still showing mercy to those who hold to those teachings. Think about other religions or even other political views. Have you found the balance of biblically opposing those philosophies or teachings while still showing mercy and kindness to the people who espouse those beliefs?

Jude 1:11-16

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion. 12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.



Dig Deeper
"I can't believe you would do that to us." There was an annual competition between classes at the school at which I taught. The goal of the competition was to collect coins and raise money for charity. Each class competed against one another and it always created a bit of fun as the classes not only competed but strategized to try to outdo the other teams. They did this to the point of engaging in a bit of espionage against one another, and would even entice students from other classes to collude with their class in order to help them win in exchange for a share in the pizza party that the winning class received at the end of the week. The students from my class had, all on their own, convinced a young man from another class to tell them his class' strategy in order to counteract it and defeat them. He had agreed it and provided valuable information. His class was bluffing, trying to convince the other classes that they had a big stash of coins that they were going to drop into their jars on the final day of competition. The reality was, they didn't have much at all. This allowed my class to not worry about that class which we otherwise would have done, and concentrate on putting pennies, which counted as negative to a team's total points, into the jars of classes that were real threats. When the winners were announced and they began to celebrate their win with the pizza party, this young spy was welcomed into the party. A young lady from his class was somewhat miffed, however. She couldn't believe that he would have done that to his own class. He said that he knew his class wasn't going to win and so he wanted some pizza. She went on to call him names, somewhat with a good-nature, but names that made her point (some were more appropriate to the particular situation than others, but she wasn't exactly a history buff). She declared that he was a "Benedict Arnold," a "Hitler," a "snake." Everyone knew what she meant by these titles, because they carry a certain meaning in our culture to the point that they can be used as adjectives and almost everyone will understand the point. Certainly Benedict Arnold, the American traitor during the War for Independence, and snake made the point that he was a traitor. Hitler wasn't really appropriate technically, but even his name has become somewhat synonymous with wronging someone, so it fit somewhat.

As Jude continues to describe the character and natures of the false teachers, he does something very similar to that young lady at my old high school. He uses cultural examples that had become so familiar to everyone in his world that they had virtually become adjectives. Their names now carried much more of the symbolic meaning that had become associated with their previous actions. Thus, just as Hitler and Benedict Arnold have come to mean things that go far beyond the men themselves, such as evil and traitorous, Jude uses three examples from his day to show just what kind of men these false teachers are.

Woe, says Jude, to the false teachers. This was a word usually reserved for the judgment announced on a rebellious people or individuals by the prophet of God. Jude thus invokes the wrath of God on those who would teach the gospel falsely. Jude uses three cultural examples (a pattern of threes which should be quite familiar to us) to demonstrate in clear terms for the people exactly what kind of men these teachers are. They are nothing to be exalted or followed. Rather, they have taken the way of Cain. Cain had become a common cultural symbol for one who murdered his brother, one who corrupted others (Jewish historian Josephus claimed that Cain "inited to luxury and pillage all whom he met, and became their instructor in wicked practices."), as well as a selfish cynic and skeptic (The ancient document, the Jewish Targum presented Cain as believing that "There is no judgment, no judge, no future life; no reward will be given to the righteous, and no judgment will be imposed on the wicked"). Jude, then, makes the point that like Cain, who murdered his brother, the false teachers are murdering the souls of the believers that follow them, as well as corrupting others in the process, and denying the judgment of God. His other two examples continue the assault. They are like Balaam, who had become a notorious example of greed and inciting Israel into pagan practices (compare Num. 25:1-2 and Num. 31:16). They are also like those that were destroyed in Korah's rebellion. Jude makes two points with linking these teachers to Korah's rebellion. Just like those involved, they are engaged in heresy and rebellion against God-appointed leadership, and, he says, they have been destroyed in that rebellion. They will suffer the same fate, but in a sense, because they have gone the way of Korah, they have already been punished with those men. In other words, they are as good as punished; it's a done deal.

Rather than being a part of the body of Christ, loving one another (John 13:34-35), and proclaiming the message of the gospel in the death of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 11:26), these false teachers have become quite the opposite. They denigrate the very purpose of the love feast and the observance of the Lord's Supper that took place as a part of those feasts in the first century. The words that the TNIV renders "blemishes" also means "hidden reef" and is probably the better understanding. If it is "blemish" then Jude's point is that they are a stain on the fellowship rather than the spotless and blameless individuals that Christians are to be. If it is hidden reef, which seems to be more in line with Jude's context, then he is suggesting that they are like hidden reefs that rip open the bottom of a boat; they lie in wait, with designs of sinking the faithful.

Jude continues on with five more descriptions of these false teachers just so that there can be no misunderstanding what kind of people they were dealing with. They are shepherds who feed only themselves, meaning that rather than being godly leaders and caring for God's people, they were only concerned with their own interests. They are clouds without rain, promising something on things which they do not deliver (cf. Prov. 25:14). They are autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They had been dead in their sins, but made alive in Christ. Sadly, by rebelling against God's truth, they have returned to their state of spiritual death (cf. Heb. 6:4-8; 2 Pet. 2:18-22). They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame, by which Jude uses concepts from Isaiah 57:20, meaning that they continue to pile up their shameful ways with no end. Finally, Jude says they are wandering stars, for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Ancient people believed that anything in the sky should display order, so a wandering planet (which they had difficulty in explaining) came to be viewed as something for which there was no pattern, no accounting and was symbolically caused by evil angels (although some believed that literally). Jude may be connecting them again to evil angels, but his primary point is that they are unstable and unreliable. This instability will result in their own judgment.

Jude chooses to strengthen his overall point by turning once again to the ancient book of Enoch. The quote he takes from that writing makes sense for it backs up two things that Jude has claimed about these hucksters. They are ungodly and will suffer the condemnation of the Lord. Further stressing Enoch's righteousness and reliability as a prophet is that he was the seventh, or the complete number, from Adam (Jews often counted inclusively, meaning that Enoch is the seventh if Adam is included in the counting). Enoch clearly, according to Jude, prophesied about the certain destruction of ungodly men, and he makes the connection that these false teachers number among that group, but does not necessarily imply that they are the only ones. They are like the Israelites in the wilderness; they are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. They complain against God's leadership and the way that God has chosen to work, following their own fleshly lusts rather than the life of Christ. In fact, rather than following the genuine life of Christ which has everything to do with sacrificing one's own life for the benefit of others (cf. 1 Pet. 2-4), they do everything for their own desires, their own pleasure, and their own advantage. When set up against the genuine life of Christ to which believers are truly called, there simply is no comparison.




Devotional Thought

One of Jude's criticisms of the false teachers was that they made promises and claims on which they did not deliver. Christians, by virtue of our name, claim that we will be followers of Christ that love one another deeply. Do you and your Christians community truly do that in a biblical fashion, or is it closer to a rain cloud without rain?