Ep.454: John 2: Wine, Wrecking, and a Reckoning.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Why would John put stories of winemaking and wrecking side by side? That’s what he did, in chapter two of his gospel. 

The wine ran out at a wedding so Jesus turned ordinary water into fine wine to keep the celebration going. 

Next, John flips to a story about merchants selling sacrifice-animals and providing foreign exchange in the temple. Jesus was offended, so he made a whip and drove away the animals. He knocked over the money changers’ tables, coins flying, tempers rising. A regular wrecking party. 

Here’s my take on John’s stories. 

At an ordinary wedding, Jesus did something extraordinary, something that hinted he was more than just an average rabbi wandering backwater Galilee. John says the winemaking showed his glory. Jesus, the carpenter with callused hands and unkempt hair. But unexpectedly, the love and power of God shines through. That’s his glory. quietly using God’s power to solve human problems.  

Psalm 104 says God gives wine to gladden human hearts (v 15). At the wedding celebration, Jesus gave the gift of  gladness. 

But it’s not just gladness Jesus brings. What about his wrecking ball encounter at the temple? He couldn’t tolerate money-grubbing incursions into God’s holy place. Nor would he tolerate noise where God ordained quiet, or business where God ordained worship.

That’s John’s picture of Jesus. Meek and mild, a gladdener of hearts. Strong and wild, a wrecker of false worship. Which Jesus will meet you today?

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, too often we are like those money changers and animal sellers. Too often our religion is a business. Too often we leave church on Sunday and serve our own interests all week.

Our reverence for you has devolved into tolerance, our worship is full of empty words, our prayers vain repetition. 

Restore us to true spirituality, to communion with you, to a love of your church and your people. Help us make your house a house of prayer. Teach our hearts to touch your heart. Help us use our lives to show your praise. 

O Jesus, make us glad with new wine. Feed us daily with your bread. Illuminate our souls with your light. Refresh our journey with your presence. 

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube Text

Ep.453: John 1: Come and See.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

If Jesus said, “What do you want?”, what would you say? 

That’s the first question Jesus asked his disciples. When John introduced him as the lamb of God, two of John’s disciples followed Jesus, so he said, “What do you want?” 

Taken aback, they replied, “Uhhhh–like, where are you staying?”

“Come and see,” he said (John 1:39). And they spent the day hanging out with him. 

So begins John’s story about Jesus’ disciples. He doesn’t start with a splash, like Matthew and Luke, where Jesus calls busy fishermen. John starts with curious disciples trailing Jesus.

One of the most amusing and mystifying features in John’s gospel is how he contrasts Jesus’ greatness in heaven with his low profile on earth. 

  • Jesus was the creator, but his creation didn’t recognize him.
  • He was eternal, but he functioned on an earthly clock, all the way from a baby to a man.
  • He was full of grace and truth, but the Jewish religion thought him a scammer.
  • His home was heaven, but he invited the first disciples to his residence on earth. 

“What do you want?” he asked them. Does he ask you that? Do you know what you want?

Continuing the story, one of the two who followed Jesus was Andrew. He made a detour to collect his brother Simon. And Jesus gave Simon a new name, Peter, the rock (John 1:42). Does Jesus give you a new name?

The next day, Philip invited Nathanael saying. “Hey! We found the Messiah. He’s Jesus of Nazareth.”

Listen to Nathanael’s shocked unbelief. “A messiah from Nazareth? Nothing good ever came from that place” (John 1:46). 

Jesus, a commonplace man from a disreputable village. In Matthew, shepherds heard angels and believed who Jesus was. In John, Nathanael heard Philip and disbelieved his testimony.

Jesus responded to Nathanael, “I saw you under the fig tree. I know you are a man without pretensions” (John 1:48). Amazed, Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the son of God, the king of Israel” (John 1:49). 

John doesn’t describe the logic, the reasoning, that lifted Nathanael from “Nazareth? Unbelievable” to “I believe in you, Jesus.” But perhaps that’s what meeting Jesus can do. 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, you invited the disciples to “come and see” where you were staying. 

Two thousand years and half a world away, we still hear your invitation. We come, we see, we believe you live among us and in us.

O Jesus, speak to us as you spoke to Nathanael, words that turn our hard unbelieving hearts to faith, that turn our harsh unyielding realism to gentle openness, that turn idle curiosity into living discipleship. 

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.452: John 1: Blood Sacrifice.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Have you seen a lamb slaughtered as a sacrifice? 

It was common practice in the Old Testament. When the Israelites prepared to escape Egypt, each family killed a lamb, painted some of its blood on their doorposts, and had roast lamb for dinner (Exo 12:6-7). 

Under the Levitical system, Israelites used a sin-offering lamb to ask God for forgiveness. The priest poured the blood under the altar, burned parts of the lamb on the altar, and God forgave their sins (Lev 4:32-35).

Dead lambs, blood on doorposts and under the altar, forgiveness of sins. Not like our worship services today.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Look! The lamb of God, the one who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). 

Ouch. Doesn’t sound like good news for the lamb of God, does it? 

It’s a spoiler in John’s story. John’s not planning a surprise ending. He’s telling us up front what Jesus will do. 

So far in his gospel, John has said Jesus was in the beginning with God, that Jesus created the world, that Jesus came to earth, that he was God living among us. John adds that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away sin. Is John hinting that Jesus will become a blood sacrifice like the sin-offering lamb in the Old Testament? 

We moderns find blood sacrifice cringy. Still, we celebrate Remembrance Day to honor soldiers who fought bloody wars and died bloody deaths to save civilization. 

Jesus, the lamb of God, a sacrifice for sin. Does John think that’s what humanity needs? Where will John take this story?

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we begin John’s gospel heartened that you sent  your son to experience life on earth. That he invites us to be his brothers and sisters, your children. 

But now we hear John call him the lamb of God, predicting he will be sacrificed to take away sin. Are our doorposts so dirty that only blood can cleanse them? Are our thoughts so wayward that only a sacrifice can heal them? Are our sins so awful they require blood? 

O father, lead us to the truth. Teach us to know you, to know ourselves, to know sin and righteousness. May we know your son, Jesus, in all his truth and grace.

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.451: John 1: Glory.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

When Jesus showed up in a human body, there was much confusion. No one recognized their creator. Darkness didn’t understand the light. The nation he was born into didn’t think he was legit. 

What did John, the gospel writer, think of this? 

He didn’t see confusion. He saw glory. He says, “The Word [that’s Jesus] became flesh, and lived among humans, and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). 

Glory? In a human Jesus trudging around backwater Palestine?
Glory? As Jesus argued with Pharisees and told stories to confused disciples?
Glory? On a cross between criminals?In two nights in a borrowed grave?

Do you understand what glory is? I find it a difficult concept. 

In Homer’s writings, the Odyssey and the Iliad, when soldiers fought bravely and honorably, they covered themselves with glory, even if they died. Or maybe especially if they died. 

When I worked in computing and someone made a programming error that crashed the system, my boss would say, “He didn’t cover himself with glory.” 

It’s difficult to define. Think about basketball. It’s a game where people throw a ball around, try to keep it from the other team and throw it through a high-hung steel hoop. But that doesn’t give you the real sense of the game? You only understand the essence of the game by watching it, by feeling the drama as two teams play for a championship. dr 

Similarly with glory. You can say it’s a heroic death for a soldier, a successful software install for a computer programmer, or the light of God showing up when Solomon dedicated the temple. But those meager descriptions miss the tension, the excitement, the drama that gives the story glory. 

The word gospel is old English for “God’s spell”, or “God’s story.” Jesus is the action hero in the biblical drama. His glory was to play the game of life, to reveal God to the world, to subvert the forces of evil, to build his kingdom on earth. 

Let’s pray. 

O father, we prepare ourselves to see Jesus’ glory in John’s gospel. To cheer his battle against darkness and disease. To see his truth exposing lies. To watch his power defeat the devil. To experience the failure of his cross turned into the victory of eternal life.

We have seen his glory, glory as of the only begotten son of God, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). As we study John’s telling of Jesus, open our hearts to his grace, our minds to his truth, our lives to his presence. 

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.450: John 1: Three Strikes.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

What’s the biggest problem Jesus faced? 

John hints at it when he says, “[Jesus] made the world, then he came into the world, but the world did not recognize him” (John 1:10).

The problem is, How can people recognize the creator of the world when he shows up with sawdust on his elbows and splinters in his fingers?

The religious people were certain that if God showed up, he’d approve their religion. But Jesus sure didn’t. The disciples saw his miracles for three years, but never clued in to who he was. And we, his modern disciples, have a wide range of beliefs and practices. 

John points out a second problem. Jesus was the light that “shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it” (John 1:5). Here’s another question: How would you recognize the light if it showed up in your darkness? Would you be one of those who loves darkness rather than light?

John also says, “[Jesus] came to his own people, but they didn’t receive him” (John 1:11). 

Jesus showed up with three strikes against him:
– Humans didn’t recognize their maker
– The darkness couldn’t understand the light
– His own people rejected him outright

What a great start for the gospel of John! It’s like, three strikes and you’re out. But John doesn’t call Jesus “out”. Not yet. Stay tuned to see where John takes the story from here. 

Let’s pray.

Our father, Jesus’ problems at his coming are still problems for us today. Yes, our religion worships God, but is Jesus the one who inspires our lives and churches? Or have we strayed far from our maker? 

Jesus was the light, but the darkness didn’t understand him. For years, we have studied  scripture, but our lives and world are still dark places. Help us receive his light, his spirit, his truth. 

With John as our guide, we follow Jesus once more. We believe he is our maker. We believe he makes us children of God. We receive his light and his way of life. We are his brothers and sisters. 

Thank you for the life of Jesus. Thank you for his life in us. 

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube