First, let’s look at Jesus as the Son of God and the Lamb. In the time of Abraham, it was the ram that replaced Isaac. In the New Testament, Jesus as the Son of God as the lamb replaced us. He shed His blood as a sacrifice on the cross and completed salvation for us. He died in our place, and only His blood can take away sins. “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”(1 John 1:7) We must rely on the Holy Spirit and pursue to be full of the Holy Spirit like Stephen. Second, we talked about the calling of Andrew and Peter, saw the importance of introduction, and then knew that every Christian should carry out the Great Commission. Third, we discussed the calling of Philip and Nathanael in detail, and once again saw the importance of introduction, and also saw that Nathanael only believed after seeing what Jesus had done, and “Jesus said to him (Thomas), “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.””(John 20:29) We have seen the Lord’s message, ‘ascending and descending’ tells us that people must first believe, and then there will be great blessings from heaven. Finally, we discussed Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana, which saw Him obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit rather than making do with the words of His mother. In this miracle of water turning into wine, there is an essential change, which means that Christians who follow Him will have an essential change in their lives. We also discussed that Jesus took a low-key attitude at that time because Jesus knew that His time had not yet come.
1. Jesus is the Son of God and the Lamb
”The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.””(John 1:29-34)
John the Baptist said that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. The lamb is used for sacrifice. This is a metaphor that Jesus will bleed and die. The book of Hebrews says very clearly, “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”(Hebrews 9:22) In the time of Abraham, it was the ram that replaced Isaac. As the scripture says, “Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.”(Genesis 22:13) “Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.””(Genesis 22:14)
In the New Testament era, the book of Hebrews says this, “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting (G1551) from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:11-18) Please note that the word “waiting (G1551)” is used here, which means that Jesus does not have such a footstool yet, but it will definitely happen in the future.
How did He offer the sacrifice? Salvation was achieved by His being crucified on the cross, so at the cross “…He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”(John 19:30) “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.”(Hebrews 10:19-20) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 6:23) Therefore, in the New Testament era, it is Jesus Christ who replaced us like a lamb. He was crucified and died for us. It is also clearly stated that we must reside ourselves in Jesus Christ in order to obtain eternal life. On the road to sanctification, one often slips out of Christ because of sin. Although sin is inevitable, you must still work with God with all your heart, all your strength, and all your mind. “Do not quench the Spirit.”(1 Thessalonians 5:19) The book of Micah makes it very clear, “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”(Micah 6:8) Regarding the tearing of the veil, it is not only talking about spiritual things, but also really happened. On the cross, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; …”(Matthew 27:50-51)
Note that this is a quote from the Old Testament prophecy, ““But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.””(Jeremiah 31:33-34) You must know, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses (G145, only appears once) trained to discern good and evil.”(Hebrews 5:14) So we must first discern whether we have grown up and not fall into Satan’s trap of using this passage as an excuse to say, I don’t have to listen to others anymore! If so, it is most likely that they have gone astray without realizing it, just like the church in Laodicea mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Please also note, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:17) This is something we should be happy to know, and it also clearly states that in the new covenant in the New Testament era, there is no need to offer sacrifices anymore.
John the Baptist knew very well that although Jesus was born after me, He was originally before me. In fact, we can also see this from the Old Testament. For example, the scripture says, “As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD (H3068, Jehovah) departed, and Abraham returned to his place.”(Genesis 18:33) The Jehovah who spoke to Abraham refers to Jesus, the Trinity of God. This could not be God the Father, because Jehovah said to Moses, “…You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”(Exodus 33:20) After the conversation, Abraham was alive and well. This could not be the Holy Spirit. Abraham could not see the spirit. Therefore, this Jehovah can only be Jesus, the Trinity God. John the Baptist had not yet been born at that time! So he would say that Jesus was before him.
Here, John the Baptist knew very clearly that Jesus was the Son of God. Even so, he still felt weak when he saw that his experience in prison was not what he thought. This scripture makes it very clear, “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?””(Matthew 11:2-3) We see that all people will be weak, even if they are as strong as John the Baptist, so we don’t have to worry when we fall. We should admit our sins and get up again. Even there will be repeated failures, we must still have a fighting attitude this way and don’t let Satan win.
We must rely on the Holy Spirit and pursue being full with the Holy Spirit like Stephen. It is not just about being filled with the Holy Spirit once. We have shared before that as long as we ask directly, the Holy Spirit will definitely fill us once. We had such a promise but without mentioning when it will happen. We shared this before, so we won’t say more here. (See Luke 11:5-13) So the scripture says, “…Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, …”(Acts 6:5) It also says “But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.”(Acts 6:10) He was even willing to lay down his life for the Lord, as the scripture says,
“They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.”(Acts 7:59-60) Please note that what is mentioned here is the spirit. He is a Christian who has a new spirit and knows that “…the spirit will return to God who gave it.”(Ecclesiastes 12:7) He was the first disciple to be martyred for the Lord. No wonder the Lord would stand at the right hand of God to welcome him. No one has this honor. (See Acts 7:55-56)
2. The calling of Andrew and Peter
“Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).”(John 1:35-42)
We see that Andrew knew the Old Testament quite well. He knew that the Lamb of God was the Messiah and followed Him. The Bible does not say who the other person was who heard the words of John the Baptist, only that Andrew was one of them. They were followers of John the Baptist. After hearing John’s words, they followed Jesus and wanted to know where He lived. Jesus invited them to stay with them and judge for themselves that He was indeed the Messiah. Here we also see that if Peter had not been introduced by Andrew, he might have had no chance at all. This shows that introduction is very important. Isn’t this just that “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”(Romans 10:17)
Therefore, everyone should have a sense of the Great Commission and introduce unbelievers to know the deeds and words of Jesus and the teachings of the Bible. The Great Commission is like Jesus said, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””(Matthew 28:18-20) We have seen that the Great Commission is not just for people to be baptized, but also to teach people to obey and embark on the road to sanctification. Staying with us can be viewed as an incidental reward, rather than missionary work for the reward. Don’t put the cart before the horse.
Regarding baptism, what should be said is this: baptize in the name of Jesus, into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, because in the New Testament, “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”(Acts 2:38) The Bible does not mention the position of a pastor at all. This is a human system, where many times a pastor is required for being baptized! Let’s look at one of the many examples in the New Testament, ” “…And he (eunuch) ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.”(Acts 8:36-38). Was Philip a pastor? Although the New Testament clearly states that he was a preacher of the gospel, for example, “On the next day we (Paul and others) left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.”(Acts 21:8) He was obviously filled with the Holy Spirit, for “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; …”(Acts 8:39) How come brothers who are filled with the Holy Spirit and preach the gospel cannot help people baptize? Reading the Bible depends on what the Bible says, not what people teach. We have been emphasizing this point, and we know doing this is very hard to those who look up to the teaching from other people, but this is the right way, and you must walk in it, as Isaiah said, “Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!””(Isaiah 30:20-21) We really have to believe that what God tells us through the Bible is consistent, and we by this way will see many things in the Bible that we usually cannot see.
3. The call of Philip and Nathanael
“The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.””(John 1:43-51)
First, we see that Philip knew that Jesus was the one, and that the one refers to “The LORD said to me (Moses), ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.”(Deuteronomy 18:17-19) We see that Philip immediately followed Jesus after being called, because he then introduced Nathanael. Here we see again the importance of introduction. Of course, not everyone who is led to Jesus will accept Him. I remember one time when I did this, I was scolded to death. So it depends on the situation, otherwise it will just make others more resentful.
We also saw Nathanael’s initial reaction, how much he looked down on Jesus! He had preconceived ideas, because as far as he knew, “…Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? .. “(John 1:46) Philip wisely asked him to judge for himself. After Nathanael met Jesus and saw what He had done, he believed that He was the Son of God. Here we also see that the fig tree was quite far away from Jesus, otherwise Nathanael would not have reacted like that.
From this verse, “… you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man,” it reminds me of another passage, that is, on the way out of Beersheba to Haran, Jacob fell asleep in Bethel. “He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 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.””(Genesis 28:12-15) We can see here that God has absolute sovereignty. Jacob did not ask for it, but God took the initiative to bless him. If we look at Jacob’s life, we will know that he clung to God. This includes the prophecy of blessing the twelve tribes of Israel before his death (see Genesis 49:1-28), so this initiative is not in vain. Yes, God just knew in advance that his life would be like this. In short, ‘ascending and descending’ gives us a very important message. People must believe first, and then they will receive great blessings from heaven.
4. The wedding feast at Cana
“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.”(John 2:1-12)
We have seen that the mother of Jesus had involved playing a role at the wedding feast. If she was just an ordinary guest, she would not have cared about whether there was wine or not. After His Mother’s intervention, although He knew His time had not yet come, He still obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit rather than giving in to His Mother’s words, which is the view of some people and the what I know about Catholic Church. If the Holy Spirit was leading Him not to perform the first miracle, what could the mother’s words do? However, here we see that the guidance of the Holy Spirit was consistent with the mother’s words, so the mother’s words were fulfilled. Don’t put the cart before the horse. We know, “…I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. …”(John 14:31) We also know, “I and the Father are one.”(John 10:30) And He knew that “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God (Jesus); for He gives the Spirit without measure.”(John 3:34) When He became flesh, He “but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”(Philippians 2:7) Unlike us, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and began without sin, “but One (Jesus) who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”(Hebrews 4:15) We see that the Father is leading Him through the Holy Spirit, so we would say that He was obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit and knew to perform the first miracle.
This can be seen from another thing that it is indeed the leading of the Holy Spirit, because this is like what happened when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was approaching, “So Jesus said to them (His brothers), “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.”(John 7:6-9) So He did not have the Holy Spirit to move Him to go at that time, and it did not say that He would definitely not have the Holy Spirit to move Him to go in the future.
Here, we see that He had no intention of going, “But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.”(John 7:10) This was obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit, because He knew that “But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach.”(John 7:14) Also know, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”” (John 7:37-38) He stood and spoke this with a loud voice, so that people would hear it and believe it.
Regarding the miracle (sign) that water turns into wine, it is an essential change, so it means that Christians who follow Him will have an essential change in their lives. The miracle He performed were initially known only to the man who ladled out the water, because he did it according to His mother’s words. They could also know it from the mouth of the person in charge of the banquet, who was also completely unaware of the essential change of water turning into good wine. In fact, even if It was the man who scooped the water who told everyone, and most likely no one would believe it.
But apparently some people knew about it later, because the scripture says, “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”(John 2:11) So at least the disciples He led knew it later, because Jesus knew that His time had not yet come, so He took a low-key attitude, and He would not let everyone know as if He was advertising. What God tells us through the Bible is consistent. There should not be many people who knew about this. As for whether the servant who scooped the water believed in Him because of this miracle, the Bible does not say clearly. Since God feels that we do not need to know about that, and we must respect Him, we should not guess. Guessing will not lead to the only conclusion anyway, and this is not the point that here wants to convey. The Bible does not speak explicitly about matters that are not important.
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
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