John 2:5-11 – Jesus’ First Miracle Part II

John 2:5–11 (ESV) — 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

1) JESUS IS DEEP


We have briefly discussed in the last two classes whether we read too much into Jesus words and actions.
• Did Jesus really say all that we believe he did in just a few verses?
• To help us figure this out, we need to back track just a bit.
• Last week we discussed both why Jesus would have “stiff armed” his mother and why then did He proceed to solve the wine problem anyway.

We need to make a couple of more points on each of these issues.
• And in the process we will both cover the remainder of our verses, but also find that Jesus actually validates our observations about the meaning behind His interactions with Mary and our efforts to look for a deeper meaning behind His actions and words.

With respect to the “stiff arm”:
• Last week we saw that Jesus created a distance between He and Mary because, “everything, even family ties, had to be subordinated to his divine mission. She could no longer view him as other mothers viewed their sons; she must no longer be allowed the prerogatives of motherhood…he, like every other person, must come to him as to the promised Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Neither she nor anyone else dare presume to approach him on an ‘inside track’—a lesson even Peter had to learn” – D.A. Carson.

What is the evidence we have that Mary was presuming upon her relationship with Jesus?
• (1) Mary would have clearly had some expectations about Jesus given her miraculous pregnancy and the words the angel Gabriel spoke to her.
    o Luke 1:28–33 (ESV) — 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
• (2) We know that by asking Jesus for help she figured he might do something.
• (3) She also would have certainly noticed, as we said last week, that Jesus showed up with 5 or 6 strangers.
• (4) And finally, her words in verse 5 convey that, even given Jesus’ rebuke of her, she still knew he would do something.
    o John 2:5 (ESV) — 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
• It can be said then, that given her inside knowledge, she was presuming upon her relationship with Jesus.


And so to demonstrate that we are not over reading the text with respect the reason Jesus gave Mary the “stiff arm”, we can look to Jesus’ words in Mark.
• Mark 3:31–35 (ESV) — 31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
    o In this text, Jesus actually confirms that, with the advent of His Messianic ministry, His relationship with His family has in fact changed dramatically!
    o So Jesus own words provide confirmation of our reading of Jesus response to His mother in John.

Now, with respect to why he went ahead and solved the wine problem even after the rebuke, last week we said:
• (1) It seems possible that Mary was asking Jesus to do something divine or to reveal Himself in some way.
• (2) Jesus was aware of a deeper symbolism in play with the wedding and the wine.
• (3) This event was one of many of Jesus that pointed to and “anticipated the glorification of Jesus on the cross” – D.A. Carson.
• (4) Jesus saw it as an opportunity to reveal Himself as the Messianic Bridegroom to His mother and disciples.
• (5) Jesus chose to “act out a parable” for the benefit of His disciples and mother:
    o So according to John Piper, it as if Jesus is saying, “I will take the purification rituals of Israel and replace them with a decisively new way of purification—namely, with my blood…I will give you an acted out parable of my death and what it will mean.”

And, again, to demonstrate that we were not over reading the text, we look to Jesus.
• But first, we need to ask for whose benefit the wine miracle was done?
• (1) Clearly, it was for his mother and to assist her catering responsibilities.
• (2) And obviously the wedding party and their guests benefited.
o John 2:10 (ESV) — 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
• (3) However, as we look at verse 11, we see who benefited on a deeper, spiritual level.
    o John 2:11 (ESV) — 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
• So John’s own words make a distinction between Jesus words and actions physical impact (the wedding party) and their spiritual impact (Mary, the disciples and possibly the servants).

So now we can look at Jesus’ own words.
• We will see that Jesus own words demonstrate that he often would do something that had a deeper spiritual impact and meaning specifically for the benefit of His disciples just as we say He did in our text from John.
• Or to put another way, Jesus would do things to purposely deepen the faith of His disciples.

(1) Jesus cursed the fig tree:
• Mark 11:12–14 (ESV) — 12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
• Mark 11:20–25 (ESV) — 20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

(2) Jesus walked on water:
• Matthew 14:22–33 (ESV) — 22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

(3) Jesus calmed a storm:
• Matthew 8:23–27 (ESV) — 23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

(4) Jesus landed the big catch:
• Luke 5:5–11 (ESV) — 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

So I think we can conclude without hesitation that Jesus orchestrated His actions and words to operate not only on a physical level but on a deeper spiritual level.
• And it is clear that he did this on purpose and for the benefit of His disciples.
• As John said, John 20:30 (ESV) — 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

How can we be sure that His actions and words had a deeper spiritual impact?
• In our text today we see this impact in verse 11.
    o John 2:11 (ESV) — 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
• And in our (4) examples we see it in the following declarations:
    o “Truly you are the Son of God”
    o “What sort of man is this”
    o “Depart from me for I am a sinful man O Lord”

So have we read too much into Jesus’ words and actions?
• It seems to me we absolutely have not.
• And, “Actually, the word that is translated as “miracles” in this verse is the word “signs,” and in John a sign is always something that points to a reality greater than itself. Or, to use another word, we could say that the miracles are also, in addition to being literal events, symbolic” – James Boice.
• So we should be asking ourselves, “Jesus words and actions are symbolic of what?”


Now, one final consideration:
• What does it mean that the disciples believed?
    o Hadn’t they already believed?
• According to the AYBD the use of “believed” in our text (and elsewhere) is “distinctive”.
• The “use of pisteúein with eis…has the new and strong sense of “believing in” and arises in the context of the church’s mission. Another fairly common sense of pisteúein is “to entrust or commit oneself”.
• So in this since, one could have already believed in Jesus as Savior by faith and yet still also believe or commit oneself to Him anew every day.
    o Or, as John MacArthur describes this distinctive form of belief; the disciples experienced a “confirmation of [their prior] faith”.

Lesson for Us:
Jesus did not waste His words or actions.
• When he did something He intended it to have not only the obvious impact, but to bring home a deeper spiritual truth.
• This is made clear by His own words, the words of John, and the words of His disciples.

Encountering the truths and miracles of Scripture should have an impact on our lives.
• This is why John says, John 20:31 (ESV) — 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
    o If you are an unbeliever and have a seeking heart, you gain a capacity and leading to faith.
    o If you are a believer you gain further confirmation of your faith.

Have you ever had any encounter (just for you) with Scripture or witnessed any events that led you to say to yourself, “Yes, I do believe in Jesus or God or the truth of the Bible or the work of the Holy Spirit, etc.?

John 2:1-4 – Jesus’ First Miracle Part I

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


1) JESUS REBUKES HIS MOTHER

John 2:3–5 (ESV) — 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

A wedding crisis:
• Given the presence of Jesus and His mother, it is probable that the wedding was for a relative or family friend.
• It is also reasonable to assume that Mary had some role in the catering of the wedding given her interest in the wine.
• A wedding celebration could last as long as a week, so a great deal of food and drink were necessitated.
• To run out would have been shameful and an embarrassment.
• It was in this context that Mary approached Jesus, her son, and told him, “They have no wine”.
• Now we don’t know if Mary knew what Jesus was capable of, but we do know as her firstborn she would have naturally looked to Him for help (she was probably a widow at this time).
    o Yet because we are told by John that this is the first sign/miracle of Jesus it is likely that Mary was not expecting a miracle.
    o Interestingly, in the uninspired Gospel of Thomas, a weird story is told of the toddler Jesus.
    o We are told that he was playing by the river on the Sabbath and was making clay pigeons.
    o Someone told Joseph of Jesus’ activity and he came to Jesus to find out what was going on.
    o Jesus essentially turned the pigeons into real birds and said what pigeons (Curiously, I have run into this story twice this week).

Jesus’ “stiff-arm” response in verse 4:
• Jesus said to His mother, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?”
    o Or “Why do you involve me”.
    o Or even better, “You have no claims on me”.
• Is His response as harsh as it sounds?
• Woman, “though thoroughly courteous, is not normally an endearing term, nor the form of address preferred by a son addressing a much-loved mother” – D.A. Carson.
• There really is no English equivalent, but what comes closest is Ma’am.
• And when coupled with “what does this have to do with me”, Jesus is definitely giving Mary the “stiff arm” in the words of John Piper.

How can we be sure that this was a “stiff arm”?

Let’s take a look at the only other 5 instances where the phrase “have to do with me/us” shows up in the NT.
• Matthew 8:29 (ESV) — 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
    o This is a demon’s response after Jesus had just calmed the sea and wind.
• Mark 1:24 (ESV) — 24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
    o This is a demon’s response after Jesus demonstrated his authority at Capernaum.
• Mark 5:7 (ESV) — 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
     o This is a demon’s response after seeing Jesus and falling down before Jesus.
• Luke 4:34 (ESV) — 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
    o As before, this is a demon’s response after Jesus had demonstrated His authority in Galilee.
• Luke 8:28 (ESV) — 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”
    o This is a demon’s response after Jesus had commanded it to come out of a man.

As can be seen, every other case the phrase “have to do with me/us” is used in the NT, it is spoken by demons to Jesus when he has or is about evict them from their human host.
• In other words, this phrase is said to Jesus when he “intrudes in their domain and starts to exert power where they were in control” – John Piper.
• And it is in this way that Jesus uses the phrase with His mother Mary.
    o She was attempting to exert an authority over Jesus that, for some reason, Jesus felt was not her place to do at this moment.
• So, whatever else it did, Jesus’ response to Mary, at the very least, created distance between Jesus and His mother.

But why did Jesus see a need to create this distance?
• The wedding feast is, John tells us, where Jesus first reveals His glory through signs and wonders so that “we may know” He is the Messiah; His divine mission.
• And given this, Jesus saw a need to create this distance because, “everything, even family ties, had to be subordinated to his divine mission. She could no longer view him as other mothers viewed their sons; she must no longer be allowed the prerogatives of motherhood…he, like every other person, must come to him as to the promised Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Neither she nor anyone else dare presume to approach him on an ‘inside track’—a lesson even Peter had to learn” – D.A. Carson.
• Another way to put it is, “faith over family” – John Piper.
    o Most interestingly, Carson speculates that this encounter with Jesus could also be seen as part of the fulfillment of Luke 2:35.
    o Luke 2:35 (ESV) — 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

But what about the rest of His response; it seems to make no sense at all?
• He tells Mary, “My hour has not yet come.”
• BTW - This will not be the only time Jesus makes this claim in John’s Gospel:
    o John 7:30 (ESV) — 30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
    o John 8:20 (ESV) — 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
    o And he does eventually affirm His time has come.
    o John 12:23–24 (ESV) — 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
• Mary was simply looking for a way to avoid a shameful event (running out of wine) and yet this phrase of Jesus seems to indicate so much more was going on or at stake.
• He had already rebuffed her and now He in effect tells her, “The time for the purification of sin through my death, resurrection and exaltation to glory is not yet upon us”.
• Want does this have to do with anything Mary was talking about?
• Plus, when we consider that Jesus went ahead and took care of the wine problem anyway, it becomes even stranger.


The answer to our question can be found in the following possibilities:
• (1) It seems possible that Mary was asking Jesus to do something divine or reveal Himself.
    o And as James Boice points out, Mary surely noticed that Jesus showed up with 5 or 6 strangers and so probably had an idea that something was up.
    o So she may have been thinking, “now is the time to declare yourself openly”.
• (2) Jesus was aware of a deeper symbolism in play with the wedding and the wine.
    o He knew that, “The prophets characterized the messianic age as a time when wine would flow liberally” (Amos 9:13-14; Je. 31:12; Ho. 14:7) – D.A Carson.
    o He knew of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messianic Banquet, as follows:
    o Isaiah 25:6–9 (ESV) — 6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
    o And He himself, in Matthew 22, Jesus tells the Parable of the Wedding Feast.
    o So if He was, “treating the developing circumstances as an acted parable, Jesus is entirely correct to say that the hour of great wine, the hour of his glorification, has not yet come” – D.A. Carson.
• (3) This event was one of many of Jesus that pointed to and “anticipated the glorification of Jesus on the cross” – D.A. Carson.
    o And in verse 11, we see that the disciples got a glimpse of this future glory.
• (4) Jesus saw it as an opportunity to reveal Himself as the Messianic Bridegroom to His mother and disciples.
    o Just as John the Baptist called Jesus in John 3:29-30.
    o Therefore he will provide all the “wine” needed for the Messianic Banquet mentioned earlier.
• (5) Jesus chose to “act out a parable” for the benefit of His disciples and mother:
    o He asked the servants to use “rites of purification jars” or “ceremonial washing jars” in verse 6.
    o So according to John Piper, it as if Jesus is saying, “I will take the purification rituals of Israel and replace them with a decisively new way of purification—namely, with my blood…I will give you an acted out parable of my death and what it will mean.”
    o Purification comes only through Jesus Christ not religion.

John 1:50b-51 - What's in a Name?

Fantastic instrumental version of Amazing Grace!

Josh Wilson - Amazing Grace from nicholsmgmt on Vimeo.

John 1:50–51 (ESV) — 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

1) ONE CHAPTER AND 10 NAMES

In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, there are 10 names or descriptions for Jesus.

Here are nine of them:
• The Word. Verse 1: “In the beginning was the Word.”
• God. Verse 1: “And the Word was God.”
• Light. Verse 9: “The true light … was coming into the world.”
• Jesus Christ. Verse 17: “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
• Lamb of God. Verse 29: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
• Rabbi. Verse 38: “And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), where are you staying?”
• Messiah. Verse 41: “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).”
• Son of God. Verse 49: “You are the Son of God!”
• King of Israel. Verse 49: “You are the King of Israel!”

Some of these we have discussed at length – the Word; was God; the Light; and the Lamb of God.
• The rest we have discussed but only briefly.

However, it is the 10th name that we will discuss at length today.


2) JESUS REVEALS IN HIS OWN WORDS WHO HE HIS

In John’s Gospel thus far, John has described Jesus in his words and in the words of John the Baptist.
• But in the last verse of chapter 1, John lets Jesus tell us who He is.
• And given that Jesus is the main arc of the entire OT, it makes sense that Jesus refers back to the OT to find His preferred description.

Jesus uses Jacob’s Vision:
Genesis 28:12–19 (ESV) — 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place!” 18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.



Jesus and the Ladder:
Genesis 28:12 (ESV) — 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it [D.A. Carson states the “more likely rendering is “on him”]!
John 1:51 (ESV) — 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
• Clearly, Jesus is the “ladder” that definitively links the OT to the NT.
• And one can’t help but think that it also says something about Nathanael, Jacob and believers in general one day sharing in seeing the fulfillment of this vision.
• But most significantly, Jesus words reveal that He is in fact the ladder between Heaven and Earth.
• The significance of this is best captured by John Piper when he says, “Jesus is the decisive, final connection between heaven and earth…When we move heavenward, we move on the Son of Man. When God moves earthward, he moves on the Son of Man.”


Jesus and Bethel:
Genesis 28:16-19 (ESV) — 16-19 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” 18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

Further Examples of significance of Bethel for God and Jacob:
• Genesis 31:13 (ESV) — 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’ ”
• Genesis 35:1 (ESV) — 1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
• Genesis 35:3 (ESV) — 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
• Genesis 35:7 (ESV) — 7 and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.
• Genesis 35:15 (ESV) — 15 So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

Jesus is Bethel.
• He is the “house of God”.
• He is the “altar”.
• He is the place where God has “revealed himself” to us.
• He is where God has “spoken” with us.
• Or to put it another way, Jesus “is the place where God is present. Heaven has opened, and Jesus has appeared. And from now on, Jesus will be the place where God appears most clearly among men, and where men find their way into fellowship with God. There are no holy geographic places any more designated by God as his meeting place with man. Jesus is that meeting place” – John Piper.
     o Cross reference John 2:19-22.

POI - The rest of the NT is in agreement with the truths discussed above:
• John 3:13 (ESV) — 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
• 1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV) — 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
• Hebrews 8:6 (ESV) — 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.


Jesus Uses Daniel’s Vision:
Daniel 7:13–14 (ESV) — 13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Jesus and the Son of Man:
Daniel 7:13 (ESV) — 13 “…there came one like a son of man…”
John 1:51 (ESV) — 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
• Only Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man in the Gospels and He does so about 80 times.
• This description name used by Jesus is still not fully understood and realized.

Why is it significant and what is its meaning?
• D.A. Carson (and others) argue that its significance and meaning lie precisely in its ambiguity.
     o “Jesus could take it up and use it without fear of being misunderstood because of doubtful associations in his hearers’ minds. Titles like ‘the King of Israel’ and ‘the King of the Jews’, while appropriate at a certain level, were so loaded with political messianism that they could not be adopted without restraint and appropriate caveats. ‘Son of Man’, on the other hand, lay ready to hand as an expression that could be filled with precisely the right content…[and Jesus] himself shapes its content” – D.A. Carson.
• So the “you will see” in verse 51 is Jesus giving Nathanael and the rest of the disciples an invitation to see how Jesus will “fill out its content” and give it meaning through
     o “the entire gamut of the action of the Son of Man for the kingdom of God: from the heaven that became open at his baptism, the blessings of the saving sovereignty [that] will be poured out through him in the signs he performs, the revelation of his word, the life that he lives, the death and resurrection that he accomplishes…till the goal is attained when the Son of Man welcomes the redeemed to the Father’s house” – John Beasley-Murray.
• So “the full articulation of ‘the Son of Man’ demanded all of Jesus’ ministry, including his life, resurrection and exaltation. Precisely parallel to this development, it will take John the rest of his book to ‘unpack’ the significance of the title” – D.A. Carson.

Lesson for Us:
With respect to John 1:51, James Boice points out that any good explanation of Jesus’ words needs to address at least 4 things: (1) the reference to the future you shall see; (2) the fact that the heavens will open; (3) the reference to angels ascending and descending upon Jesus; and (4) the title given by Jesus to himself, ‘the Son of Man.’”
• Our lesson today has really only dealt with points (1), (3) and (4).
• What explanation reconciles all (4) points together?
• According to Boice, only 1 thing can account for all (4) points together.
     o Jesus “was not talking about anything that took place during the lifetime of Nathanael. Nor was he talking about anything that took place either in the lifetime of Philip or Andrew or any of the other disciples or even of you and me. He was talking about something that is still future, that is still to come. In other words, although no one has seen the fulfillment of this verse yet, all will one day see it when Jesus Christ returns” – James Boice.
     o What a sight this will be!
     o Does this contradict D.A. Carson’s explanation?

John 1:43-50 - Two Ways to Come to Belief?

John 1:43–50a (ESV) — 43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe?


1) NATHANAEL THE SCKEPTIC

John 1:45 (ESV) — 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Concerning Philip and his remarkable claim about Jesus:
• It is unclear if Philip had any encounters with Jesus prior to this event.
• He may have known Andrew and Peter (all born in Bethsaida) and had some associations with John the Baptist.
• But what is for certain is that Jesus was looking for him and “found” him.
     o John 6:37 (ESV) — 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
• Now Philip’s claim is an allusion to Deuteronomy 18:15 & 18:
• Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV) — 15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
• Deuteronomy 18:18 (ESV) — 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

Nathanael’s response demonstrates his skepticism toward Philip’s claim:
• And interestingly, his response is informed by the current views of the Messiah.
• John 1:46 (ESV) — 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
• Nathanael’s response was based “apparently on the scriptural lore that neither the awaited prophet or nor the Messiah would have Galilean origins” – AYBD.

An example of the pervasiveness of this “scriptural lore” is found in John 7:40-44:
• John 7:40–44 (ESV) — 40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

Philip countered Nathanael’s speculation with simple, yet profound words:
• John 1:46b (ESV) — 46b Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
• Nathanael obliged Philip’s request; he had no reasonable reason not to.
• And as any honest skeptic should be, Nathanael was perhaps skeptical of his own skepticism.

Whatever the reason, Nathanael went with Philip to meet Jesus and it was an encounter that would change his life.
• BTW – Philip the Apostle is not Philip the Evangelist in the Acts.
• And Nathanael (a personal Hebrew name) is the most likely the same as Bartholomew (a patronymic name).

John 1:47–49 (ESV) — 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
• This is a remarkable encounter between an unbeliever and Jesus.
• With respect to the relationship between Scripture and the supernatural to salvation, it is unlike most other encounters in the Gospels.
• A comparison between Nathanael’s encounter and these other examples in Scripture will tell us something about the relationship between evidence and belief.

3 examples (and there are more) that appear to be at odds with our text today:
• John 5:46-47 (ESV) — 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
     o Prior to 46 and 47 above, Jesus had just revealed and taught how he came “in my Father’s name”.
     o They rejected Him and he told them that the one on whom they had set there hope, Moses, would be their accuser before the Father.
     o Why would Moses be their accuser – if you believed Moses you would believe Jesus.
• John 12:37–38 (ESV) — 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
     o Prior to 37 and 38 above, the crowd whom Jesus was teaching had just heard “a voice from heaven” speak of Jesus and yet “they still did not believe in him”.
• Luke 16:29–31 (ESV) — 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
     o Prior to 29-31 above, the Rich Man had been sent to hell.
     o From hell, He asked Abraham to send a supernatural sign to his brothers so that they might believe.
     o Abraham responds that they would not because they don’t believe what they do have.

These verses seem to indicate that if Scriptural revelation is not enough for you then supernatural revelation will not be enough either.
• Hundreds if not thousands who witnessed Jesus’ supernatural power rejected Jesus.
• Yet, Nathanael, who was skeptical that Jesus was the Messiah of the Scriptural revelation, believed in Jesus based on a supernatural encounter with Jesus.
• What was different about Nathanael’s encounter that caused him to believe?
• It can’t have been the nature of the supernatural power he witnessed because his was fairly tame compared to the healings and feedings Jesus did before the crowds.
• In other words, it appears the supernatural was not what really made the difference.

Maybe it was the fact that Nathanael was such a dedicated student of Scripture.
• Jesus described him as “under the fig tree” when Jesus “saw” him.
     o “In rabbinic tradition, fig trees were frequently cited as appropriate locales for teachers to discuss the meaning of the scriptures with their students” – AYBD.
     o In other words, Nathanael was presumably a dedicated student of Scripture.
• Jesus also alluded to Jacob’s vision as found in Genesis 28:12.
     o This is only useful if Nathanael was acquainted with the passage and the implication Jesus was making.
• Nathanael’s response to Jesus as “Son of God” and “King of Israel”.
     o These phrases are allusions to OT references to the Messiah (Psalm 2:7 and Zeph 3:15, respectively).
     o Possession of this knowledge further demonstrates his familiarity of Scripture.


Unfortunately, as steeped in Scripture as Nathanael seemed to be, it is fairly clear that knowledge of Scripture does not lead to salvation any more than witnessing the supernatural power of Jesus does.
• One need only look at the Pharisees, Sadducees, and temple Priests that rejected Jesus.
• It seems that something else was at play.

So we are still left with the question how was Nathanael’s encounter different than the others?
• Perhaps Jesus’ words provide the clues for us.

John 1:47 (ESV) — 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
• What in the world does this mean?
• It has to do with the nature of his heart.
• “Nathanael may have been blunt in his criticism of Nazareth, but he was an Israelite without duplicitous motives who was willing to examine for himself the claims being made about Jesus” – D.A. Carson.
     o In other words, as we hinted at earlier, as a skeptic, he rightly was open to the idea that skepticism of his own beliefs is just as warranted as skepticism of Philip’s claim about Jesus.
• In fact, according to D.A Carson, Jesus’ words are even more specific as to the disposition of Nathanael’s heart.
• Carson argues that Jesus statement is an allusion to Jacob after his wrestling match with God in Gen 32:22-32.
• Jacob at first had a heart problem – he stole Esau’s birthright via deception.
• However, later Jacob wrestled with God and received a new name (and presumably a new heart) – Israel.
• Jesus was telling Nathanael that he had the heart of “Israel” not the deceitful heart of “Jacob”.
• This allusion is further supported by Jesus’ reference to Jacob’s vision in verse 51.

So what is the answer to our question concerning the difference in Nathanael’s encounter with supernatural evidence and the “crowds” or the Rich Man’s brothers?
• Jesus’ own words reveal that the difference was not the kind (Scriptural or supernatural) of evidence or even the quality of evidence.
• The difference was that Nathanael had a different kind of heart than the “crowds” or the Rich Man’s brothers.
• And for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, Scripture and the supernatural are always making themselves available to persuade.
• It is also clear, however, that Nathanael’s knowledge of Scripture did provide him with the ability to flesh out his new found faith in a way he could make sense of.
o John 1:49 (ESV) — 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

And what about the relationship between evidence and belief, what can we learn about it?
• John 1:50 (ESV) — 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe?...”
• With this statement Jesus seems to be acknowledging a difference between coming to belief in Christ based on the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit alone responding to the Gospel (John 6:44, John 1:13, 1 Pet. 1:3, Eph 2:8-9, etc.), and a combination of the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit and outside evidence (shortly we will see He calls this type of person “slow of heart”).
• Jesus’ words also echo this sentiment in the following verses:
     o John 4:48 (ESV) — 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”
     o John 14:11 (ESV) — 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
     o John 12:10–11 (ESV) — 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
     o John 20:29 (ESV) — 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”


Nathanael was one of those who responded in faith to a combination of the outside evidence and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit.
• D.A. Carson notes that Nathanael’s faith was “grounded upon a miracle, and such a foundation can be insecure, though certainly better than nothing”.
• Jesus describes this type of person elsewhere in Scripture.
• Luke 24:25 & 31 (ESV) — 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! …31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
• John 10:38 (ESV) — 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

Lesson for Us:
• So can external evidence lead one to belief?
• It appears the answer is yes, if the person confronted with the evidence has a heart so disposed or inclined.
• In other words, a heart prepared by God and given eyes to see and ears to hear the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit.
• It is for this reason we speak the Gospel and seek to persuade with Scripture and apologetics; we don’t know who is so inclined and how they are inclined (internal or internal+external).
     o “The Spirit of God condescends to use it [evidence plus the gospel] in bringing certain people to Himself” – William Lane Craig.
• This also helps us make sense of Paul’s attempt to persuade in Acts 17:4; 18:4; 19:8; 19:26; 26:28; 28:23.
     o Some had hearts that responded to the Gospel alone (internal testimony of the Holy Spirit).
     o Some were “slow of heart” that responded to the Gospel plus Paul’s OT arguments for the Messiah, etc.

This relationship between external evidence and belief simply provide yet another reason that we are called to give account for our beliefs by Peter.
• As W.L. Craig puts it, we know why we believe, but we must be able to show why we believe.

John 20:30–31 (ESV) — 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Why Can We Rely on the Bible - Part IV & V

**Since this lesson I have written a 30 page document on the Reliability of Scripture which I used to teach a Deeper Life class in my church - Click Here for Info

4) WHY DOES SCRIPTURE WARRANT OUR BELIEF?

We have seen that Scripture contains the words the original writers wrote based on the manuscript evidence; that those words are God’s words; that the NT writers believed Scripture and saw it as authoritative; and that Jesus also believed Scripture and saw it as authoritative.
• And now we are faced with the obvious question – Are there objective reasons to believe Scripture and treat it as it demands to be treated?


I need us to be realistic at this point.
• As mentioned in previous lessons, born again believers (those with ears to hear and eyes to see) need no further reason to believe Scripture beyond the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
• This is important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that we believe the testimony of the Holy Spirit to be a True and Uncorrupted testimony originating with God the Father as seen in our “chain of evidence” discussion.
• However, there do exist other valid reasons to believe Scripture.
• And though these reasons can’t definitively prove the Bible to a fallen world, they can be used apologetically, especially when taken together.
• And for the believer, they can be used to buoy our faith, give us confidence and remove worldly barriers that may cloud our thoughts and hinder our obedience.

Having said that, let us explore some of those reasons.

Fulfilled Prophecy:
• According to Walter Kaiser, J. Barton Payne “itemized 127 messianic prophecies involving an amazing more than three thousand verses”.
• To get an idea of these fulfilled prophecies, see the Prophecy Chart.
• Obviously, when prophecies pronounced 400+ years before Jesus find their fulfillment in Jesus they warrant our consideration.
• BTW – we aren’t even considering here the fulfilled prophecies unrelated to Jesus.

Historical and Archeological:
From the beginning of the existence of the NT documents, investigations were made as to their authenticity.
• According to F.F. Bruce, Papias (a Church father) wrote the following around AD 130-140:
    o “If ever a person came my way who had been a companion of the elders, I would inquire about the saying of the elders – what was said by Andrew, or by Peter, or by Philip, or by Thomas or James, or by John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples; and what things Aristion and the elder John, the disciple of the Lord, say. For I did not suppose that what I could get from books was of such great value to me as the utterance of a living and abiding voice”.

And archeological evidence has strengthened the reliability of Scripture.
• In the book of Romans (written in Corinth) Paul tells the Romans that “Erastus the City Treasurer greets you”.
    o In 1929 a pavement stone was found with an engraving that stated, “Erastus, curator of public buildings, laid this pavement at his own expense".
    o F.F. Bruce states that “it is most probable that the donor is identical with the Erastus who is mentioned by Paul”.
• F.F. Bruce also discusses many more archeological finds which confirm Paul’s words concerning the existence of a Corinthian synagogue; the Corinthian meat market; the town of Lystra’s fascination with Zeus and Hermes (in Acts the Lystran’s thought Paul and Barnabas were Hermes and Zeus); etc.
• And for more examples please refer to the Archeological Handouts.

Mishnah and the Talmud:
• The Mishnah was the Jewish code of laws and the Talmud were rabbinical commentaries on the Mishnah.
• “These references do at least show that there was not the slightest doubt of the historical character of Jesus” – F.F. Bruce.
• In them Jesus is described as “a transgressor in Israel, who practiced magic, scorned the words of the wise, led the people astray, and said he had not come to destroy the law but to add to it. He was hanged on Passover Eve for heresy and misleading the people. His disciples, of whom five are named, healed the sick in his name” – F.F. Bruce.


The writings of Josephus:
• Even earlier than the Talmuds are the writings of Josephus.
    o From Josephus we get confirmation of the existence of Pilate, Felix, Festus, Caiaphas, Ananias; confirmation of Gamaliel’s words in Acts concerning Judas the Galilean; the Jerusalem famine in Acts 11:28 ; the death of Herod Agrippa I from Acts 12; a record of the death of both John the Baptist and James the brother of Jesus “the so-called Christ”; etc.
• There is also evidence that Josephus confirmed the following concerning Jesus Christ.
    o “We have therefore very good reason for believing that Josephus did make reference to Jesus, bearing witness to (a) His date, (b) His reputation as a wonderworker, (c) his being the brother of James, (d) His crucifixion under Pilate at the information of the Jewish rulers, (e) His messianic claim, (f) His being the founder of ‘the tribe of Christians’, and probably (g) the belief in His rising from the dead” – F.F. Bruce.

Various Gentile writers:
• Julius Africanus writing about AD 221 when referring to the writings of Thallus who wrote about 52 AD stated, “Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains away this darkness as an eclipse of the sun unreasonably, as it seems to me (unreasonably, of course, because a solar eclipse could not take place at the time of the full moon, and it was at the season of the Paschal full moon that Christ died).”
    o “From this reference in Julius Africanus it has been inferred (a) that the gospel tradition, or at least the traditional story of the passion, was known in Rome in non-Christian circles toward the middle of the first century; and (b) that the enemies of Christianity tried to refute the Christian tradition by giving a naturalistic interpretation to the facts which it reported” – F.F. Bruce.
• The British Museum contains a letter written by a Syrian after AD 73 that mentions the death of Christ.
    o It states, “What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise King?”
    o And goes on to say that as a result of the death of Jesus, “the Jews, ruined and driven from their land, live in complete dispersion”.
• The Roman historian Tacitus writing around AD 110 when speaking of the burning of Rome by Nero says, “Therefore, to scotch the rumour, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinement of cruelty, a class of men…whom the crowd styled Christians. Christus, from whom they got their name, had been executed by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate when Tiberius was emperor…”
• F.F. Bruce details many more examples which we don’t have time for here.

Given the evidence contained in both Jewish and Gentile writings as outlined above, F.F. Bruce says, “The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar”.
• Acts 26:26 (ESV) — 26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

General Revelation:
• Romans 1:19–23 (ESV) — 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

The Resurrection:
As Scripture declares, if Christ’s resurrection was an historical event, we have reason to believe in Scripture.
• John 2:22 (ESV) — 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
• 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (ESV) — 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
• Relevant to this point is the historical evidence for the resurrection as argued by N.T. Wright, Gary Habermas and William Lane Craig.


5) LESSON FOR US

Given all that we have learned about the reliability and authority of Scripture (even in Jesus’ life) and that there are very good reasons to believe it:
• Do we treat Scripture as it demands to be treated?
• And, as considered already, are we as immersed in Scripture as Jesus and the NT writers?

Examples of how it demands to be treated:
• Jeremiah 15:16 (ESV) — 16 "Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.”
• Hosea 4:6 (ESV) — 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

In Acts, we have yet another example of these admonitions in action.

Acts 17:11 (ESV) — 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
• Here, most likely, Paul was teaching that Jesus was the Christ and used the Old Testament to make his case.
• He commended the Bereans for exhibiting the “noble” trait of searching Scripture to verify the truth of his words for themselves.
• Given this example, it goes without saying, then, that we are also to search Scripture to verify the very words we speak to ourselves through our feelings, emotions and prayer life!
• We must make the Biblical case to ourselves.
• Hebrews 4:12 (ESV) — 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Another Consideration:
A couple of weeks ago, we discussed how to make much of God.
• Share Him
• Serve Him
• Search Him

Given our lesson today, we have a decision to make.
• If we have the words written by the NT writers
• If those Words espouse to be the very Word of God
• If Jesus viewed them as believable and authoritative
• And If we have more than sufficient evidence to believe all these things to be true
• Are we making much of God by Searching Him in Scripture thereby making His words “a joy and the delight of [our] heart[s]”?

And finally, if everything we have discussed with during the course of this series is true, it follows that any apparent contradiction within the Bible can be legitimately harmonized.
• This is exactly what we will do in our next lesson when dealing with John 1:35-42.


An important implication of this truth:
• Scripture can be tainted, even by the Christian.
• When we begin to look to the world around us to inform us of what is “right” or “true” or “just” we corrupt the chain of evidence and taint Scripture.
• Colossians 2:8 (ESV) — 8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
• Ephesians 4:14 (ESV) — 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
• Mark 7:8-9 (ESV) — 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
• We must remember that it is Scripture that is inerrant, not the words of men and the world.
• “The Bible tethers us to reality. We are not free to think and speak whatever might enter our minds or what might be pleasing to any given audience—except God” – John Piper.