Kingdom Thinking

John 2:4

And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come."(NASB)

"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." (NIV)

Jesus said, "Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine? This isn't my time. Don't push me."(Message)

“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

T. Austin Sparks says this, a far better translation is "Woman, you and I are thinking in two different realms; we have at the moment nothing in common" Thus throughout the lives of those around Jesus they sought to impinge upon im with their mentality. No, all the time He was putting them back and showing them how different were His thoughts, His ways, His ideas, His judgments, altogether different. 1

Sources:
1 The School of Christ, T. Austin Sparks p 10

A New Location for True Worship

 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. ²³ But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. ²⁴ For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”  John 4:21-24 NLT


Here in John 4 we see comparisons of places of worship.  The scene is Jacobs well.  It is the place where Jacob met Rachel and was considered a holy place.  Sacred wells were common place in ancient Mediterranean, and Jewish tradition reports various miracles performed at Jacobs well. 1

This well is also in view of Mount Gerizim.  Mount Gerizim was a holy place for Samaritans.  Jesus also addresses the temple in Jerusalem.  True worshipers won't need to go to Jerusalem or Mount Gerazim.  True worshipers will need to worship in Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the key to true worship not a physical location.

Sources
1 The Spirit in the Gospel and Acts, Craig Keener p 153,154

What a gift

 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."  John 4:10 NLT


10 if you only knew - what a phrase, if we only knew what God wants to do in us and with us. He wants us to connect with Him in an eternal relationship and reap living water. He wants us to have a connection with Him that brings a type of nourishment that this world can not bring to us. It is beyond what we naturally know in this world. There is grace, peace, love, joy etc. that has a quality that we could never experience in this life. It is beyond what we could obtain on our own. Without fellowship with Him we can never know the reality of this living water.

the gift - that otherness of Gods living water is such a gift. When you have tasted it you realize just what a gift it is. When we quit seeking God and are left to our own devices and meeting our own needs we realize how utterly helpless we are. We can't generate the qualities of the living water that God gives us. It is an amazing gift.

If we knew who we are speaking to - this speaks so much of the honor we should give this one who has the power to give us a relationship with the living, almighty God of the universe. What an incredible man to meet to can impart to us eternal life. It is the discovery of the fountain of youth. We will be enabled to live forever with the creator and in fellowship with Him as a son and daughter. The man, this day was the God man who could give this incredible gift.

Unveiled

The Idea
The book of Revelation begins with these words: the revelation of Jesus Christ. John puts his purpose for this book of the Bible right up front. It is about Jesus being revealed. Revelation in essence is unveiling something. it would be like an artist having a showing. In that showing a masterpiece would be covered by a large cloth. After a brief introduction of the work, the large cloth would be taken off and the new creation would be unveiled for all to see.

Two Sides
As I pondered on this word unveiled I recognized that there are two sides of an unveiling. On the one side the art has already been done. The beauty is already there. On the other side is the one that has not seen nor created this beauty, yet will get to experience it with the unveiling. Isn’t this our lives as Christians. God is consistently unveiling Himself through Jesus. And it seems to me there is so much revelation, that God has to give it to us in morsels for us to grasp.

The Process
I am reminded of the gospel of John. Throughout we see that there is a testimony or witness of Christ (an unveiling), then an opportunity to put faith in Him and then the result of faith would be life ().
1. Unveiling (Testimony) – continued works of art, continued unveiling of the splendor of the Lord.
2. Faith – believing in Gods ways above our own
3. Life - the God kind of Life: zoe

Hebrews reminds us that we walk by faith, and then that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Why? The word of God is continually unveiling His character to us thus giving us opportunity to put faith in Him with the result being His life manifested in us.

A consistent walk of unveiling
This is what Paul was speaking of in Galatians 1:1 Paul an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the father who raised Him from the dead),. . . then later in 10-12 where Paul says that he received the gospel through revelation in Jesus Christ. Paul’s gospel was not taught to him by men nor did he get it from men but it came through revelation (unveiling). And again in 15-16 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mothers womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, . . . The again in 2:2 And I went up by revelation . . . Chapter 3 is challenging us to not approach God by works but through faith and that walking in the Spirit comes by the action of faith.
Again in our lives is faith generated more from what we read or hear from somebody else or our own dynamic walk with the Lord where we come to faith by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Our own revelation brings strong faith.

In 2 Peter
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, . . . Isn’t the process of a testimony which gives opportunity for faith which produces His life-flow in us and through us the very process of growing in the knowledge of God.

Occurrences of sign or signs in John

These are the occurrences of the word sign in John when it speaks of a miracle.  In all 18 occurrences the phrase "miraculous sign(s)" is used.

John 2:11

This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

John 2:18

But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”

John 2:23

Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him.

John 3:2

After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

John 4:48

Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”

John 4:54

This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.

John 6:2

A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick.

John 6:14 

When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”

John 6:26

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.

John 6:30

They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do?

John 7:31

Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”

John 9:16

Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.

John 10:41

And many followed him. “John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.”

John 11:47

Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs.

John 12:18

That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign.

John 12:37

But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him.

John 15:24

If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.

John 20:30

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book.

His Name is No Magic Token

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. John 14:13 NLT

Just saying the name of Jesus is not a magic token that automatically gets you a wish granted. In my name points to the identity and essence of a person. We ask in their name we ask because of who they are and in identification of their identity.

Jonathan Huntzinger gives an example: The name Jesus, which is Yeshua (Joshua) in Hebrew, is derived from the root word for salvation. By calling upon this name, the disciples identify themselves with the One who saves and, because of their relationship with Him, are enabled to invoke His authority for the benefit of others. 1

Source:
1 Spirit Filled Life New Testament commentary Series, John: Jonathan D. Huntzinger pp 65,66

The Sign Says

This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him. John 2:11 NLT

A Sign

• the most common greek word used for Jesus miracles in the NT is dynameis which denotes a 'mighty work', but John does not use it in his gospel.

• the word here is semeia 'signs'. The NT miracles are not mere miracles; they are all signs of some underlying reality. 1

• like John the Baptist testimony in chapter 1:6, his purpose was to tell about the light so that everyone might believe. The signs are to point to the light so everyone might believe.
  
  
• This follows the pattern of John seen in John 20:31  But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.  A __________ (sign, testimony, witness) that causes belief which gives you life
  

Sources
The Gospel of John, F.F. Bruce p 72

The chosen place of revealing

This was the story of one of the most historic occasions in human history. God was about to reveal His glory through the God/man named Jesus. This was the first public miracle Jesus would do which would show the world that he was the Messiah.

If we were in Jesus entourage I wonder where we would plan this meeting for him.

God chooses a much different place than we would I think. Here is a quote from Ken Gire "That glory was not revealed at the imperial palace in Rome.  Or at Herod's temple in Jerusalem.  Or at the colonnaded Acropolis in Athens.  But here in an impoverished village of Cana, nestled away in an obscure corner of Galilee." 1

If Jesus lived in Texas we would think he would unveil his Glory amidst a throng of reporters on the steps of the capital building in Austin, or maybe at half time of a Superbowl being held in the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, and yet it was more like the place I graduated high school in Southland Texas. Southland has a population of maybe 150. There used to be one local store and I'm not sure if it is still open or not. It was a place like Southland, Cana, at a local wedding that God chose to have Jesus glory revealed.  Cana was in close vicinity of Nazareth where Jesus grew up.

This is like God, who is not impressed by the structures of men, to reveal himself in a common place.

Source:
1 Incredible Moments with the Saviour, Ken Gire [Grand Rapids, 1990] p 6