Daily Bread for Nov 7, Jhn 1-2

Today's readings are Jhn 1-2. 

The Gospel of John is not a synoptic gospel, as are Matthew, Mark and Luke. In other words. It is not a broad overview of Christ's life and ministry. It is more a theological treatise setting the foundation for who Christ is and what He came to do. As he makes his case for Jesus being the Messiah, chronological order is not a concern for John and is played with quite loosely. John’s message is one of light coming into darkness. As such, it should be read for what it says about the arrival of Christ and what He came to do rather than the order of events as they happened.

Jhn 1:1-3 tells us the Word is God who tangibly manifests as Jesus in the flesh, theologians call this the "incarnation." The eternally existing status of Jesus is established in Jhn 1;3 where we see that “All things were made through Him.” Christ was there before time began.

Jesus has a herald, John the Baptist, who publicly identifies Jesus as being the "Lamb of God” who takes away the sin of the world." The Baptist calls Jesus “the Son of God” (Jhn 1: 19-34). While Luke establishes the nature and order of arrival, John defines the roles of the Messiah and His herald. John proclaims, Jesus calls.

Jhn 1:35-48 depicts Jesus as He begins to call His disciples, sometimes supernaturally (Jhn 1:35-48). Notice that those who follow express no hesitation in doing so. They literally drop everything they’re doing and follow Jesus.  

Significantly, Jesus reveals to Nathaniel (Jhn 1:51) that He is the ladder Jacob saw going up into heaven (Gen 28:12). In other words, Jesus is the only way to heaven. The full import of this revelation is not yet apparent to those who are there when Jesus says it. 

Jesus begins working miracles, working miracles, each one a statement about who He is and what He came to do.

• The water at the wedding in Cana is the sacramental water, the water used to ritually cleanse. Jesus turns that water into wine. Wine is a symbol for His blood as we will hear in the Last Supper. What Jesus is saying in Cana is this, "What was ritually cleansed by water up until now, will be truly cleansed by My blood. The old covenant is passing away and will be replaced by a new one." 
• Jesus then cleanses the Temple in Jerusalem. The vendors, aside from being unscrupulous and shameful, have occupied the only area Gentiles could come to hear about God and see His ways. The Court of the Gentiles was designed to proselytize. The Temple was a "house of prayer for all nations" (Mk 11:17). The Jews have made the Temple mount into an exclusively Jewish area. Compounding that, they were charging outrageous prices for their goods and services. By clearing the Temple, Jesus was showing them that the cleansing He brought would not begin outside of God's people, with the Gentiles, as everyone assumed it would. It would start with the chosen people of God. "Judgment begins in the house of God" (1 Pt 4:17). 

By the end of Jhn 2, we have heard that Jesus is the Word made flesh. He is the Son of God and light of the world. He is the Lamb of God and the only way to heaven. He has come to cleanse His people. John has begun his gospel with world-changing news.