[uplifting music]
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[uplifting music]
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>>Eric Flickinger:
Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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We're glad that you
are joining us today.
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Today we are
beginning a brand new journey,
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a 13-week study
in the book of John,
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13 lessons where we're going
to delve into the various themes
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in the book of John
and learn a whole lot
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about Jesus along the way.
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We're glad that
you could join us.
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Let's begin with prayer.
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Father, we wanna thank
You for being with us today
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as we open the book of
John and learn more about Jesus
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and more about You.
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We ask that You will
bless our time together,
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give us wisdom and insight,
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and help us to
find practical ways
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that we can invite
the gospel into our lives
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and introduce others
to the gospel as well.
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We thank You, in
Jesus' name, [both] amen.
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So we're glad that
you are joining us,
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and we are also glad to
have one of the co-authors
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of this quarter's study with us.
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His name is Dr. Thomas Shepherd.
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He is the senior
research professor
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of New Testament at
the Theological Seminary,
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Andrews
University. Tom, welcome back.
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You were our guest not too
long ago in the book of Mark,
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and here you are
helping us understand
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the book of John as well.
We're glad to have you again.
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>>Thomas
Shepherd: Thank you, yeah.
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>>Eric: Share with us
a little bit about how
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this particular quarter's
lesson came into being.
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Where did it come from?
What was your role in it?
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Bring us up to where we are,
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opening this book
in our hands right now.
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>>Tom: Yeah, so actually,
the main author of this series
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of lessons on "Themes in
John" is my friend Edward Zinke.
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And he put
together these lessons.
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And then I was also asked to
be a co-author with him on that.
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And so we worked
together on putting it--
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putting together these themes.
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We're going to look
at the book of John,
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not step by step
going through the book,
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but rather taking
various kind of thematic look
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at the places in John.
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So we'll actually come
into John by looking at
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some of the same
chapters more than once.
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And so, people
shouldn't be surprised that,
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"Oh, we saw that before."
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Oh, yeah, but
now we'll maybe come
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from a little different
angle. >>Eric: Fantastic.
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We are looking forward to
joining you on this journey.
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As we're about to
dive into lesson number 1,
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"Signs That Point the Way,"
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give us a little introduction
to the book of John.
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How do we understand
the book of John as a whole?
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Where does it come
from? Where does it lead us?
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Lead us into that.
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>>Tom: John was
written by the apostle John.
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He was the longest lived
of the 12 disciples of Jesus.
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And he probably
wrote the Gospel of John
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towards the end
of the first century.
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And he gives, at
the end of the book,
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he tells why he wrote this book
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and what its purpose is.
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It's found in John
20, verses 30 and 31.
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And it says, "Now Jesus did
many other signs in the presence
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"of the disciples, which
are not written in this book;
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"but these are written
so that you may believe
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"that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God,
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"and that by
believing you may have life
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in His name."
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So the purpose of this
book is to increase our faith
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and to strengthen
us in being disciples
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and to call people to
become disciples of Jesus.
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Now, the Gospel of
John is very well written--
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all the gospels are--
but it's very well written
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in terms of
drawing people to faith.
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It's one of the
reasons why people say,
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"Oh, if you want
to understand Jesus,
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study the book of John."
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And the book of John has
at least five different ways
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that it draws
people towards faith.
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The first is, interestingly,
that throughout the book,
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we're gonna find that
there are numerous people
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who misunderstand
what Jesus is saying.
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For instance, in chapter
2, He'll say--He's standing
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in the temple at
Jerusalem, and He'll say,
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"Destroy this temple,
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and in three days
I will raise it up."
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And the religious
leaders are, like,
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"Pfft, it took 46
years to build this temple.
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You're going to
raise it up in three days?"
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So they
misunderstand what He's saying.
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Then, going along with
that, not uncommonly, is asides
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by the narrator to the reader.
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And right at that
very place he says,
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[whispering] "He was talking
about the temple of His body,
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"and His
disciples understood that
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after He was
raised from the dead."
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[normal voice] Now, nobody
that was in the temple that day
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heard that voice. But
the reader gets to hear this,
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and so the reader is placed
in a position above the people
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in the book who don't
understand. You understand,
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so that, of course, draws
you to the side of the narrator
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who's telling you this story.
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Third, there are
symbols in the book.
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There's these
famous statements of Jesus:
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"I am the bread of life."
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"I am the way, the
truth, and the life."
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"I am the
resurrection and the life."
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"I'm the good
shepherd." Things like that.
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So there's
symbolism within the book.
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There's also
some very thick irony
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in the book where
people say one thing
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and they don't get it--
that really what's going on,
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it's, like, a different
level. And the reader sees it,
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and the people
in the story don't.
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And then finally,
very interestingly,
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there are these intimate scenes
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with just Jesus
and one other person.
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And so like,
you're, as the reader,
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on the front row seat, watching,
you know, what's going on:
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Jesus and Nicodemus,
Jesus and the woman at the well,
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Jesus and the paralytic
at the pool of Bethesda,
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Jesus and Peter,
Jesus and Pilate,
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Jesus and Nathanael. I
mean, it just goes on and on.
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There's a whole series
of these intimate scenes.
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And that also, you know, just
gives you this intimate feel
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of this book and draws
you in, draws you to faith.
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So it's really a wonderful book.
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>>Eric: We are about to be drawn
into that book, and like I said,
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we've got 13 lessons that
we're going to unpack this.
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But lesson number one is about
"Signs That Point the Way."
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John talks a
fair bit about signs.
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What does he mean
when he talks about signs?
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>>Tom: Okay, so the
book of John can be divided
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into two parts. When we
studied Mark, it was two parts
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it could be broken into.
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And John is not
uncommon, not--is like that too.
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The first 12 chapters are often
called "the book of signs."
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And we're going to see
that there's a number of signs
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that are--Jesus gives.
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The second half of the book
is called "the book of glory,"
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pointing towards the
cross as Jesus' hour of glory.
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So we have kind
of these two sides.
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So when we come to
signs, we'll have statements,
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we're going to look
at some of these today,
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where they'll have a--
Jesus will do something,
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and it'll say, "This was
the first sign that He did
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and showed His
glory to His disciples."
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Now, the background
for this idea of signs
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can be found in
the Old Testament.
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So if we turn to the
book of Exodus, chapter 4--
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so I'm gonna put
my marker in John
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so we come back to John.
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But Exodus, chapter 4, we
want to read verses 1 through 9.
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This is God talking to Moses
and how He's going to send him
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to Egypt to
bring the people out,
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the people of Israel out.
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So why don't you
read that for us.
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>>Eric: "Then
Moses answered and said,
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"'But suppose they
will not believe me
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"'or listen to my
voice; suppose they say,
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"'"The Lord has
not appeared to you."'
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"So the Lord said to him,
'What is that in your hand?'
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"He said, 'A rod.' And He
said, 'Cast it on the ground.'
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"So he cast it on the
ground, and it became a serpent;
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"and Moses fled from it.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
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"'Reach out your hand
and take it by the tail'
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"(and he reached out
his hand and caught it,
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"and it became a
rod in his hand),
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"'that they may believe that
the Lord God of their fathers,
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"'the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac,
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"and the God of
Jacob, has appeared to you.'
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"Furthermore the
Lord said to him,
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"'Now put your
hand in your bosom.'
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"And he put his
hand in his bosom,
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"and when he took it out,
behold, his hand was leprous,
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"like snow. And He said, 'Put
your hand in your bosom again.'
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"So he put his
hand in his bosom again,
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"and drew it out of his bosom,
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"and behold, it was
restored like his other flesh.
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"'Then it will be, if
they do not believe you,
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"'nor heed the
message of the first sign,
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"'that they may believe
the message of the latter sign.
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"'And it shall be,
if they do not believe
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"'even these two signs,
or listen to your voice,
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"'that you shall
take water from the river
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"'and pour it on the dry land.
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"'The water which
you take from the river
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will become blood
on the dry land.'"
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>>Tom: All right,
so we notice that here
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there's
reference to these signs,
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that they're
miracles that Moses would do
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to demonstrate the
truth of God's word,
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that you could trust that Moses
was a representative of God.
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So these signs,
then, are these events,
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these miraculous events,
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that demonstrate
the truth of God's word.
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So that's some of the background
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of what we see
in the book of John
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when it comes to
the word "signs."
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They're signs of Jesus' power,
signs that Jesus is the Messiah,
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that you can trust Him.
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>>Eric: So let's
jump to the first sign,
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and we find that
in John, chapter 2.
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What was His first sign,
and what was its significance?
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>>Tom: All right, so
this is a great story.
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It's John 2, verses 1
to 12. It's a short story,
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but it's about a
wedding feast, all right?
00:09:37.24\00:09:40.04
So we want to read some of this,
John 2, verses 1 through 5.
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>>Eric: "On the third
day there was a wedding
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"in Cana of Galilee,
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"and the mother
of Jesus was there.
00:09:49.88\00:09:51.75
"Now both Jesus
and His disciples
00:09:51.79\00:09:53.52
"were invited to the wedding.
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"And when they ran out of wine,
00:09:55.12\00:09:56.49
"the mother of
Jesus said to Him,
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"'They have no wine.'
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"Jesus said to her,
'Woman, what does your concern
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"have to do with me?
My hour has not yet come.'
00:10:02.73\00:10:05.80
"His mother
said to the servants,
00:10:05.83\00:10:07.54
'Whatever He
says to you, do it.'"
00:10:07.57\00:10:09.70
>>Tom: [laughing] Okay,
well, this is interesting.
00:10:09.74\00:10:12.91
Jesus goes to a wedding
feast, and they run out of wine.
00:10:12.94\00:10:16.18
We'll talk about
that in a minute.
00:10:16.21\00:10:18.48
So when they run out of
wine, His mother says to Him,
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"They have no wine."
00:10:22.58\00:10:24.19
Well, you know, I mean, if
they said that to you and me,
00:10:24.22\00:10:27.39
"They've run
out of grape juice,"
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or "They've run out of
chips," you know, you would say,
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"Oh, that's too bad." [laughs]
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But John has this sort of
understated way of things.
00:10:34.63\00:10:39.10
His mother is implying that
Jesus can do something about it,
00:10:39.13\00:10:42.94
you know? "They have no wine."
00:10:42.97\00:10:45.27
And His response to us sounds
like kind of cheeky, you know,
00:10:45.31\00:10:49.78
kind of like, "Woman, what
does that have to do with me?
00:10:49.81\00:10:53.18
My hour has not yet come."
00:10:53.21\00:10:54.52
Well, so, first of all,
"woman" was a respectful way
00:10:54.55\00:10:57.29
to address His mother.
00:10:57.32\00:11:00.66
But His statement, "What
does this have to do with me?"
00:11:00.69\00:11:04.33
does have a little
bit of a ring to it that,
00:11:04.36\00:11:06.49
you know, "This
is not my concern."
00:11:06.53\00:11:09.66
He says then, "My
hour has not yet come."
00:11:09.70\00:11:12.33
Now, we're going to see
as we study through this book
00:11:12.37\00:11:14.90
that Jesus' hour
is the cross, okay?
00:11:14.94\00:11:18.57
And so, what in the
world does the cross have to do
00:11:18.61\00:11:23.88
with this wedding in
Cana? You know, you wonder.
00:11:23.91\00:11:27.05
Well, let's read
a little bit more,
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verses 6 down through verse 11.
00:11:28.98\00:11:33.72
>>Eric: "Now there were set
there six waterpots of stone,
00:11:33.76\00:11:36.73
"according to the manner
of purification of the Jews,
00:11:36.76\00:11:39.16
"containing twenty or
thirty gallons apiece.
00:11:39.19\00:11:42.03
"Jesus said to them,
'Fill the waterpots with water.'
00:11:42.06\00:11:44.90
"And they filled
them up to the brim.
00:11:44.93\00:11:46.94
"And He said to
them, 'Draw some out now,
00:11:46.97\00:11:48.87
"and take it to the
master of the feast.'
00:11:48.90\00:11:50.74
"And they took it.
00:11:50.77\00:11:52.07
"When the master of the
feast had tasted the water
00:11:52.11\00:11:54.24
"that was made wine,
00:11:54.28\00:11:55.68
"and did not know
where it came from
00:11:55.71\00:11:57.28
"(but the [servers] who
had drawn the water knew),
00:11:57.31\00:11:59.58
"the master of the
feast called the bridegroom.
00:11:59.61\00:12:01.95
"And he said to him,
00:12:01.98\00:12:03.28
"'Every man at the beginning
sets out the good wine,
00:12:03.32\00:12:05.62
"'and when the guests have
well drunk, then the inferior.
00:12:05.65\00:12:09.22
"You have kept the
good wine until now!'
00:12:09.26\00:12:11.43
"This beginning of signs
Jesus did in Cana of Galilee,
00:12:11.46\00:12:15.23
"and manifested His glory;
00:12:15.26\00:12:16.80
and His
disciples believed in Him."
00:12:16.83\00:12:18.80
>>Tom: Right, so
notice here, first of all,
00:12:18.83\00:12:20.30
the connection between
glory and the sign, all right,
00:12:20.34\00:12:23.27
that they have.
00:12:23.30\00:12:24.77
We'll have to take
probably a little time
00:12:24.81\00:12:26.51
into the second
part of this lesson
00:12:26.54\00:12:29.74
to unpack this
just a little bit more.
00:12:29.78\00:12:33.28
But one of the things we
notice here is that Jesus
00:12:33.31\00:12:37.42
actually does something.
00:12:37.45\00:12:38.75
You know, He says,
"My hour is not yet come,"
00:12:38.79\00:12:41.02
and then He goes
ahead and does something
00:12:41.06\00:12:43.36
in honor of His mother.
00:12:43.39\00:12:44.96
>>Eric: So we're gonna
dig into this first miracle
00:12:44.99\00:12:47.23
of Jesus, this first sign,
if you will, in just a moment.
00:12:47.30\00:12:51.33
But the book of John
is a fascinating book.
00:12:51.37\00:12:53.84
It's a very deep book.
It's a very significant book.
00:12:53.87\00:12:57.14
And we only have a short
amount of--a short bit of time
00:12:57.17\00:13:02.64
that we can delve into it
in this study that we're doing.
00:13:02.68\00:13:05.95
If somebody wants to
dig more deeply into it,
00:13:05.98\00:13:08.12
what can they do?
00:13:08.15\00:13:09.45
>>Tom: They can
get the companion book
00:13:09.48\00:13:11.25
that goes along with it.
00:13:11.29\00:13:12.59
That companion book
will go into extra details
00:13:12.62\00:13:15.76
that are found in the lesson
or in the teacher's quarterly,
00:13:15.79\00:13:18.66
and it helps the
interested Sabbath school member
00:13:18.69\00:13:21.80
and the teacher to
have extra information
00:13:21.83\00:13:25.20
to have a better understanding
of what we're studying.
00:13:25.23\00:13:27.87
>>Eric: Thank you, Tom.
00:13:27.90\00:13:29.27
And if you want
to pick up that book,
00:13:29.30\00:13:30.94
it's very easy to do.
00:13:30.97\00:13:32.61
You can just go
to itiswritten.shop.
00:13:32.64\00:13:35.28
Again, that's itiswritten.shop.
00:13:35.31\00:13:38.05
Pick up that book
and you will be able to
00:13:38.08\00:13:39.95
contribute more deeply to
your Sabbath school class.
00:13:39.98\00:13:43.45
There's additional
insights that you just won't get
00:13:43.49\00:13:45.95
from this
program or the quarterly.
00:13:45.99\00:13:48.22
So make sure you pick that
up again at itiswritten.shop.
00:13:48.26\00:13:50.96
We're going to come
back in just a moment
00:13:50.99\00:13:52.33
as we continue
digging into the wedding feast
00:13:52.36\00:13:55.30
in Cana of Galilee.
We'll be right back.
00:13:55.33\00:13:58.30
[uplifting music]
00:13:58.33\00:14:01.34
>>John Bradshaw: You
know that at It Is Written,
00:14:03.34\00:14:05.11
we are serious about the
study of the Word of God,
00:14:05.14\00:14:08.28
and we encourage
you to be serious
00:14:08.31\00:14:10.38
about God's Word also.
00:14:10.41\00:14:12.51
Well, I want to
share with you another way
00:14:12.55\00:14:14.62
that you can dig
deeper into the Word of God.
00:14:14.65\00:14:17.32
And here it is:
itiswritten.study.
00:14:17.35\00:14:22.62
Go online to itiswritten.study
and you can access
00:14:22.66\00:14:26.73
the It Is Written
Bible Study Guides,
00:14:26.76\00:14:29.73
25 in-depth Bible studies that
will walk you through the Bible.
00:14:29.76\00:14:34.70
It's going to be good for
you, and it's the sort of thing
00:14:34.74\00:14:37.61
that you will want to
tell somebody else about
00:14:37.64\00:14:40.94
so that they can dig
deeper into the Word of God
00:14:40.98\00:14:43.85
and come to know the
things of the Bible intimately.
00:14:43.88\00:14:47.62
As you get into
the It Is Written
00:14:47.65\00:14:48.95
online Bible study guides,
00:14:48.98\00:14:50.79
you'll understand the
prophecies of the Bible,
00:14:50.82\00:14:52.75
the plan of salvation, and more.
00:14:52.79\00:14:55.09
So don't forget:
itiswritten.study,
00:14:55.12\00:14:58.29
itiswritten.study.
00:14:58.33\00:15:00.30
[uplifting music]
00:15:02.96\00:15:06.94
>>Eric: Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:15:06.97\00:15:08.44
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:15:08.47\00:15:10.11
We are taking a journey
now through the book of John,
00:15:10.14\00:15:12.84
looking at some of the
signs that Jesus performs.
00:15:12.87\00:15:16.18
Tom, we're in chapter
2 of the book of John,
00:15:16.21\00:15:18.35
looking at the
wedding feast in Cana.
00:15:18.38\00:15:20.62
And Jesus turns water into wine.
00:15:20.65\00:15:24.95
Now, what about this wine?
00:15:24.99\00:15:26.45
Is this what we would refer
to as alcoholic wine today,
00:15:26.49\00:15:30.79
or is it something else?
00:15:30.83\00:15:32.63
>>Tom: Okay, so, the Greek
word for "wine" is "oinos,"
00:15:32.66\00:15:35.20
and that was a
common term for wine
00:15:35.23\00:15:37.87
but could also
refer to grape juice.
00:15:37.90\00:15:40.14
Now, the question
is, which is it [laughs]
00:15:40.17\00:15:43.44
here at this wedding feast?
00:15:43.47\00:15:46.94
Now, there are six
jars that--stone jars--
00:15:46.98\00:15:51.45
these were used
for purification.
00:15:51.48\00:15:52.95
They were stone
because if it was a stone jar,
00:15:52.98\00:15:55.52
you didn't have--
if it got defiled,
00:15:55.55\00:15:57.52
you didn't have to break it.
00:15:57.55\00:15:58.75
If it was something else, like
a clay jar, you had to break it.
00:15:58.79\00:16:02.29
So the stone jars
were more precious to them.
00:16:02.32\00:16:05.59
So they held 20
to 30 gallons each.
00:16:05.63\00:16:09.76
So 6 times 30 is 180 gallons.
00:16:09.80\00:16:14.44
So if He made alcoholic wine,
that's a lot of wine. [laughs]
00:16:14.47\00:16:18.87
So is that what He made?
00:16:18.91\00:16:22.01
And the answer to that
question that I give is,
00:16:22.04\00:16:24.05
no, that's not what He made.
00:16:24.08\00:16:25.51
And you say--somebody says,
"Well, how do you know that?"
00:16:25.55\00:16:27.92
All right, so what we do is
we go down to verse 9 and 10,
00:16:27.95\00:16:33.22
the master of the feast--
now, this is really interesting.
00:16:33.25\00:16:36.76
So, the servants filled the jars
with water at Jesus' command.
00:16:36.79\00:16:41.73
Then He says,
"Draw it out and take it
00:16:41.76\00:16:43.63
to the master of the feast."
00:16:43.67\00:16:45.27
So they do so.
00:16:45.30\00:16:46.94
"[And] when the master of
the feast tasted the water
00:16:46.97\00:16:50.31
"[that's] now become wine,
00:16:50.34\00:16:53.38
"and did not know
where it came from
00:16:53.41\00:16:56.38
(though the servants who
had drawn the water knew)"--
00:16:56.41\00:17:02.28
now, when did it turn into wine?
00:17:02.32\00:17:06.69
It seems--they poured
it in. It was still water.
00:17:06.72\00:17:09.29
They drew it out.
It was still water.
00:17:09.32\00:17:12.29
They come and pour it in
his cup, and it's wine. [laughs]
00:17:12.33\00:17:16.60
I can imagine the servant
looking--he's looking at it
00:17:16.63\00:17:20.10
pouring it out,
[laughing] and it becomes wine.
00:17:20.14\00:17:22.80
Now, the interesting is what
the master of the feast does.
00:17:22.84\00:17:27.01
"[So] the master of the
feast called the bridegroom
00:17:27.04\00:17:29.34
and [he] said to him"--
now watch what he says--
00:17:29.38\00:17:31.61
"'Everyone serves
the good wine first,
00:17:31.65\00:17:35.38
"'and when people
have drunk freely,
00:17:35.42\00:17:39.09
"'then the poor wine.
00:17:39.12\00:17:41.16
But you have kept the
good wine until now.'"
00:17:41.19\00:17:43.19
Now, why would they
serve the good wine first
00:17:43.22\00:17:47.36
and then the poor wine?
00:17:47.40\00:17:49.33
Well, when people drink alcohol,
00:17:49.36\00:17:52.77
after a while, doesn't matter
so much [laughing] what it is
00:17:52.80\00:17:57.87
when they're drunk. You know,
it's, "Hey, this is great."
00:17:57.91\00:18:01.41
So the point here
is he's not drunk.
00:18:01.44\00:18:07.68
He's not drunk, see?
00:18:07.72\00:18:09.18
"Everyone serves
the good wine first
00:18:09.22\00:18:10.89
"and when the people have drunk
freely, then the poor wine.
00:18:10.92\00:18:13.39
But you have kept
the good wine till now."
00:18:13.42\00:18:14.96
He could still tell
the difference, all right?
00:18:14.99\00:18:17.36
We also turn back to
the book of Proverbs,
00:18:17.39\00:18:20.46
chapter 20,
Proverbs, chapter 20.
00:18:20.50\00:18:23.77
There are numerous
passages in the Proverbs,
00:18:23.80\00:18:26.33
which is the book of
wisdom, that talk about wine.
00:18:26.37\00:18:30.37
Read for us
Proverbs 20, verse 1.
00:18:30.41\00:18:33.68
>>Eric: "Wine is a mocker,
strong drink is a brawler,
00:18:33.71\00:18:36.71
and whoever is led
astray by it is not wise."
00:18:36.75\00:18:39.88
>>Tom: Yeah, now, "strong
drink" in the ancient world
00:18:39.91\00:18:42.05
would be beer. [laughs]
00:18:42.08\00:18:44.99
They didn't have
anything stronger than wine.
00:18:45.02\00:18:46.76
The alcohol content of
wine is 12% to 14% by volume.
00:18:46.79\00:18:54.60
And actually, in
the ancient world
00:18:54.63\00:18:55.93
they would often
water that down with water,
00:18:55.96\00:18:59.90
three or four parts of water,
00:18:59.93\00:19:01.50
to make it actually
the same amount of alcohol
00:19:01.54\00:19:04.34
as you would have in beer.
00:19:04.37\00:19:05.67
But of course, you
could still get drunk.
00:19:05.71\00:19:08.51
If you turn over to
Proverbs, chapter 23,
00:19:08.54\00:19:14.28
you have the
description of a person
00:19:14.32\00:19:17.09
who's an alcoholic, actually.
00:19:17.12\00:19:19.49
And it's in verses 29 and
to the end of the chapter.
00:19:19.52\00:19:22.39
It says, "Who has
woe? Who has sorrow?
00:19:22.42\00:19:25.69
"Who has strife?
Who has complaining?
00:19:25.73\00:19:28.16
"Who has wounds without
cause? Who has redness of eyes?
00:19:28.20\00:19:31.27
"Those who tarry long over wine;
those who go to try mixed wine.
00:19:31.30\00:19:35.40
"Do not look at
wine when it is red,
00:19:35.44\00:19:37.34
"when it sparkles in the
cup and goes down smoothly.
00:19:37.37\00:19:40.21
"In the end it
bites like a serpent
00:19:40.24\00:19:41.68
"and stings like an adder.
00:19:41.71\00:19:43.31
"Your eyes will
see strange things,
00:19:43.35\00:19:45.35
"and your heart
utter perverse things.
00:19:45.38\00:19:47.48
"You will be
like one who lies down
00:19:47.52\00:19:49.12
"in the midst of the sea,
00:19:49.15\00:19:50.45
"like one who lies
[in] the top of a mast.
00:19:50.49\00:19:52.79
"'They struck me,' you
will say, 'but I was not hurt;
00:19:52.82\00:19:55.46
"'they beat me,
but I did not feel it.
00:19:55.49\00:19:57.66
When shall I awake? I
must have another drink.'"
00:19:57.69\00:20:01.93
Alcohol causes
tremendous trouble
00:20:01.96\00:20:04.60
in our world. In the United
States alone, it's something
00:20:04.63\00:20:06.94
like 80,000 to 100,000 people
each year die from alcohol.
00:20:06.97\00:20:11.24
I'm a member of the Rotary Club
00:20:11.27\00:20:14.78
at Dowagiac, Michigan,
00:20:14.81\00:20:17.38
and we have a
prosecutor and a judge
00:20:17.41\00:20:19.88
as part of our group. The
prosecutor recently said that
00:20:19.91\00:20:22.95
80% of the cases
that come before them
00:20:22.98\00:20:25.29
are drug- and alcohol-related,
80% of the cases.
00:20:25.32\00:20:29.69
Just think, if we could
rid our country of the problems
00:20:29.72\00:20:33.66
of alcohol and the
problems of illicit drugs,
00:20:33.70\00:20:37.10
it would decrease crime so much;
it would be a great blessing.
00:20:37.13\00:20:40.27
So did Jesus
make alcoholic wine?
00:20:40.30\00:20:41.94
No, He made grape
juice for the people.
00:20:41.97\00:20:45.64
And this was one of
the-- this was His first sign.
00:20:45.67\00:20:47.51
Now, what does it have to
do with this idea when He says,
00:20:47.54\00:20:51.21
"My hour has not yet come"?
00:20:51.25\00:20:53.15
Well, when you
study the other gospels,
00:20:53.18\00:20:56.28
you find that
there's the Lord's Supper,
00:20:56.32\00:21:00.09
where there's the cup.
00:21:00.12\00:21:01.66
Remember, it's
never called wine,
00:21:01.69\00:21:03.26
it's always called the
cup or the fruit of the vine,
00:21:03.29\00:21:06.36
so it's non-alcoholic.
00:21:06.39\00:21:08.26
The cup and the bread, right?
00:21:08.30\00:21:11.03
In the Gospel of
John, interestingly enough,
00:21:11.07\00:21:13.57
there's no reference to the
Lord's Supper, to the Eucharist.
00:21:13.60\00:21:17.31
Now, He has a meal, a
last meal with His disciples,
00:21:17.34\00:21:19.27
but He never
breaks the bread and says,
00:21:19.31\00:21:20.61
"This is my body," takes the cup
and says, "This is my blood."
00:21:20.64\00:21:24.21
And so people say, "Oh,
there's no Lord's Supper
00:21:24.25\00:21:26.68
in the book of John."
00:21:26.72\00:21:28.02
Well, yes and no.
00:21:28.05\00:21:30.85
There's the feeding of
5,000 we'll come to later,
00:21:30.89\00:21:33.79
but there's also this
story of Jesus with His mother.
00:21:33.82\00:21:38.36
The first of His signs is making
this wine, making the cup.
00:21:38.39\00:21:42.83
It's like the Lord's Supper,
and it ties into His death, see?
00:21:42.86\00:21:46.43
So, John's sort of
a little more subtle,
00:21:46.47\00:21:49.44
but there's still this imagery
of the Lord's Supper present.
00:21:49.47\00:21:54.31
>>Eric: Thank you for leading
us through that first sign.
00:21:54.34\00:21:56.44
Let's take a
look at the next sign.
00:21:56.48\00:21:58.95
What do we see
over in John, chapter 4?
00:21:58.98\00:22:01.48
There's the story
of the royal official
00:22:01.52\00:22:04.25
who asked Him to heal his son.
00:22:04.29\00:22:05.75
>>Tom: That's a great story.
00:22:05.79\00:22:07.26
Turn to John, chapter 4,
and we'll read verses 46 to 54.
00:22:07.29\00:22:10.79
It's not a real long passage.
00:22:10.83\00:22:12.33
>>Eric: "So Jesus came
again to Cana of Galilee
00:22:12.36\00:22:14.83
"where He had
made the water wine.
00:22:14.83\00:22:16.97
"And there was
a certain nobleman
00:22:17.00\00:22:18.33
"whose son was
sick at Capernaum.
00:22:18.37\00:22:20.47
"When he heard that
Jesus had come out of Judea
00:22:20.50\00:22:23.00
"into Galilee, he went to Him
and implored Him to come down
00:22:23.04\00:22:26.54
"and heal his son,
00:22:26.57\00:22:27.88
"for he was at
the point of death.
00:22:27.91\00:22:29.88
"Then Jesus said to him,
00:22:29.91\00:22:31.45
"'Unless you people
see signs and wonders,
00:22:31.48\00:22:34.18
"you will by no means believe.'
00:22:34.22\00:22:36.02
"The nobleman said to Him,
00:22:36.05\00:22:37.35
"'Sir, come down
before my child dies!'
00:22:37.39\00:22:40.19
"Jesus said to him, 'Go
your way; your son lives.'
00:22:40.22\00:22:43.36
"So the man believed the
word that Jesus spoke to him,
00:22:43.39\00:22:46.33
"and he went his way.
00:22:46.36\00:22:48.00
"And as he was now going down,
00:22:48.03\00:22:49.33
"his servants met
him and told him, saying,
00:22:49.36\00:22:51.53
"'Your son lives!'
00:22:51.57\00:22:53.17
"Then he inquired of them
the hour when he got better.
00:22:53.20\00:22:55.80
"And they said to him,
'Yesterday at the seventh hour
00:22:55.84\00:22:58.14
"the fever left him.'
00:22:58.17\00:22:59.61
"So the father knew
that it was at the same hour
00:22:59.64\00:23:01.81
"in which Jesus said
to him, 'Your son lives.'
00:23:01.84\00:23:04.61
"And he himself believed,
and his whole household.
00:23:04.65\00:23:07.65
"This again is the
second sign Jesus did
00:23:07.68\00:23:09.92
when He had come out
of Judea into Galilee."
00:23:09.95\00:23:12.59
>>Tom: Now,
remember that signs show,
00:23:12.62\00:23:15.46
they demonstrate
the truth of God's word.
00:23:15.49\00:23:17.49
They show the power of God.
00:23:17.53\00:23:18.83
Here's Jesus with the ability
to heal a boy at a distance.
00:23:18.86\00:23:24.63
He's up in Cana,
and down in Capernaum
00:23:24.67\00:23:28.44
is where the boy is sick.
00:23:28.47\00:23:30.01
The father has come up to Cana.
00:23:30.04\00:23:32.17
That's the--Cana is up in
the mountains, up in the hills.
00:23:32.21\00:23:37.01
And of course, Capernaum
is down by the Sea of Galilee.
00:23:37.05\00:23:39.98
It's a bit of a
hike, some distance.
00:23:40.02\00:23:43.05
Not something that--you
could probably make it in one,
00:23:43.08\00:23:45.79
you know, one day if he
wanted to, whoosh, rush back.
00:23:45.82\00:23:48.79
But when he believes
Jesus, it changes his behavior.
00:23:48.82\00:23:52.76
He doesn't rush home.
00:23:52.79\00:23:54.40
And the servants
come and meet him,
00:23:54.46\00:23:57.53
and they say, "Your son lives."
00:23:57.57\00:24:00.54
You know, it's almost
the same kind of words that--
00:24:00.57\00:24:06.27
"His servants met him and told
him that his son was recovering.
00:24:06.31\00:24:09.18
'Your son lives,'"
and it's the same thing.
00:24:09.21\00:24:11.21
Jesus said, "Go,
your son will live."
00:24:11.25\00:24:13.18
And so the man
inquires very carefully,
00:24:13.21\00:24:16.25
"When did that happen?"
00:24:16.28\00:24:17.92
"Yesterday at
1:00 in the afternoon."
00:24:17.95\00:24:19.72
That's exactly
when Jesus had spoken.
00:24:19.75\00:24:21.32
So now he becomes a
believer in Jesus, you see?
00:24:21.36\00:24:23.96
So these signs
demonstrate Jesus' power;
00:24:23.99\00:24:26.63
they demonstrate who
He is as the Son of God.
00:24:26.66\00:24:30.47
We're gonna see
as these progress
00:24:30.50\00:24:32.27
that the signs
become greater and greater
00:24:32.30\00:24:34.00
until we reach
really great signs.
00:24:34.04\00:24:37.21
>>Eric: And we've got
another big one coming up
00:24:37.24\00:24:39.41
here in chapter 5
about the story of the angel
00:24:39.44\00:24:42.24
coming down and
stirring the water
00:24:42.28\00:24:44.08
in the Pool of Bethesda.
Help us understand that one.
00:24:44.11\00:24:46.75
>>Tom: Yeah, let's
read this real quick,
00:24:46.78\00:24:48.55
and we may have to come
back to this another time.
00:24:48.58\00:24:51.65
Let's read verses 1 through--
00:24:51.69\00:24:55.96
let's see, let's
go down 1 through 9.
00:24:55.99\00:24:59.66
>>Eric: "After this
there was a feast of the Jews,
00:24:59.69\00:25:01.66
"and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
00:25:01.70\00:25:03.80
"Now there is in Jerusalem
by the Sheep Gate a pool,
00:25:03.83\00:25:06.27
"which is called
in Hebrew, Bethesda,
00:25:06.30\00:25:08.20
"having five porches.
00:25:08.24\00:25:10.31
"[And] in these
lay a great multitude
00:25:10.34\00:25:12.04
"of sick people,
blind, lame, paralyzed,
00:25:12.07\00:25:14.61
"waiting for the
moving of the water.
00:25:14.64\00:25:16.48
"For an angel went
down at a certain time
00:25:16.51\00:25:18.48
"into the pool and
stirred up the water;
00:25:18.51\00:25:20.68
"then whoever stepped in first,
after the stirring of the water,
00:25:20.72\00:25:23.95
"was made well of
whatever disease he had.
00:25:23.99\00:25:26.62
"Now a certain man was
there who had an infirmity
00:25:26.65\00:25:28.92
"thirty-eight years.
00:25:28.96\00:25:30.59
"When Jesus saw him lying there,
00:25:30.63\00:25:32.43
"and knew that he already
had been in that condition
00:25:32.46\00:25:34.56
"a long time, He said to him,
'Do you want to be made well?'
00:25:34.56\00:25:38.43
"The sick man answered Him,
00:25:38.47\00:25:39.87
"'Sir, I have no man
to put me into the pool
00:25:39.90\00:25:42.80
"'when the water is stirred
up; but while I am coming,
00:25:42.84\00:25:45.11
"another steps down before me.'
00:25:45.14\00:25:46.98
"Jesus said to him, 'Rise,
take up your bed and walk.'
00:25:47.01\00:25:50.48
"And immediately
the man was made well,
00:25:50.51\00:25:52.35
"took up his bed, and walked.
00:25:52.38\00:25:54.05
And that day was the Sabbath."
00:25:54.08\00:25:55.92
>>Tom: Okay, so this is
00:25:55.95\00:25:57.75
another one of Jesus' miracles.
00:25:57.79\00:25:59.75
We don't have much
time to talk about it here,
00:25:59.79\00:26:02.02
but the
interesting thing is verse 4
00:26:02.06\00:26:05.03
that talks about the
angel stirring the water.
00:26:05.06\00:26:06.70
It seems like a very strange
thing for God to do, you know,
00:26:06.73\00:26:09.43
stirring the water,
and the first one to get in
00:26:09.46\00:26:11.23
is the one who gets healed.
The man even references that.
00:26:11.27\00:26:15.84
Actually, our
earliest manuscripts
00:26:15.87\00:26:17.01
don't have those words,
00:26:17.04\00:26:19.24
that there was an
angel that stirred it up.
00:26:19.27\00:26:20.98
But this was probably a
belief of people, you know,
00:26:21.01\00:26:24.01
that the angel
came and stirred it up.
00:26:24.05\00:26:26.28
But Jesus heals this
man by saying, you know--
00:26:26.31\00:26:30.32
well, first He asks him,
"Do you want to get well?"
00:26:30.35\00:26:32.95
which is really interesting.
But then He tells him,
00:26:32.99\00:26:35.46
"Get up and take
your bed and walk."
00:26:35.49\00:26:37.59
And once the man is
healed, he gets up, he walks,
00:26:37.63\00:26:40.63
and then John tells
us it was a Sabbath.
00:26:40.66\00:26:44.27
Now, that will come back again,
00:26:44.30\00:26:45.97
and we'll probably
have more time another time
00:26:46.00\00:26:48.17
to look into
this in more detail,
00:26:48.20\00:26:50.37
but we're looking at
the signs that point the way
00:26:50.41\00:26:53.94
that Jesus is the Messiah,
00:26:53.98\00:26:55.78
and all of these miracles
point us in that direction.
00:26:55.81\00:26:59.01
>>Eric: Thank you, Tom.
00:26:59.05\00:27:00.68
And thank you
for joining us today.
00:27:00.72\00:27:02.62
This, of course, is
lesson number 1 of 13
00:27:02.65\00:27:05.79
that we are looking at,
00:27:05.82\00:27:07.12
going through the great
themes in the book of John.
00:27:07.16\00:27:10.69
We have just
scratched the surface,
00:27:10.73\00:27:12.49
looked at a few of the signs
00:27:12.53\00:27:14.66
that help us to
understand exactly
00:27:14.73\00:27:16.50
who Jesus is, the power
and strength that He has.
00:27:16.53\00:27:20.17
And we're going to see
how He can give you and me
00:27:20.20\00:27:22.40
power and strength to
live in this world as well.
00:27:22.44\00:27:25.94
We're glad that
you've joined us today.
00:27:25.97\00:27:28.04
Make sure that you
join us again next week
00:27:28.08\00:27:30.81
as we continue
delving into the great themes
00:27:30.85\00:27:33.31
in the book of John.
00:27:33.35\00:27:34.88
Week by week, new
lessons, new insights.
00:27:34.92\00:27:37.99
We look forward to
seeing you again next week,
00:27:38.02\00:27:39.95
again here on "Sabbath School,"
00:27:39.99\00:27:41.46
brought to you by It Is Written.
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