Ken Boa Reflections Ministries

Dr. Ken Boa: Did you recognize that prayer? You should recognize that prayer, that was the one from Philippians. There are these four remarkable life-changing prayers and "this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God."

I want you to be able to know them because they are meaningful to us. So make sure you use that little card, the four Paul's four life-changing prayers. We are up to John chapter two in our discussion of John. We've looked at several important issues here. Before we do that though, I want to make sure I mention this Brass Town Valley Retreat. It's now time to sign up for that. Again, I'm going to be doing on Friday night—I'll be working my way through the Eternal Perspective trilogy. Everyone gets a copy of that.

It's going to be Rewriting Your Broken Story, then the second one is Life in the Presence of God, and the third one's going to be Shaped by Suffering. We're going to be going through that together and I'm going to even have a little optional nature walk on the Saturday afternoon session as well for those who want to learn how to look at the beauty of nature. It's a good location and it's a great time for fellowship. You can rent a cabin if you want or whatever you want to do. It's for men and women, so just let you know about that.

As we go through the Gospel of John, you notice these "I am" statements that we looked at before. We were chewing on those together and it's really a powerful exercise to review those to just see who did this one claim to be: the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth, and the life, and the true vine. All those images of Him are a seven-fold overview of His glory and His dignity, His majesty, and His authority.

John is very big on the number seven. So we have this idea another seven and these seven in John concern the seven miracles. We're going to be looking today at the first of those seven signs that John uses. They're signs or pointers to His greatness: the turning of the water to wine, the healing of the nobleman's son, and so forth. We're going to be seeing what they mean. The ritual of law is replaced by the reality of grace. The law came through Moses but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

When we were together before, we looked at images of Him as the Word in chapter one and as the Light, as the Son of God, as the Lamb of God, as the Messiah, as the King of Israel and guess what? There's a seventh: the Son of Man. So there are again these seven images of Him. These are ways of beholding Him and beholding the Lord and to get to know who He really is.

In John chapter two, we're going to be looking at the miracle at Cana. On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Just to give you an idea of where that was, you have Capernaum up here and then you can see Cana right there. It even mentions him going back to Capernaum from that. This is the first of his signs where he reveals himself and it's a quiet revelation.

It's an interesting thing that he says "on the third day" because this means three days after the call of Nathanael. So you had this week going on here. The call of Nathanael, if you go to John chapter one and verse 19, you have the testimony of John. Verse 29 mentions him again "the next day" he saw him, and then verse 35 "again the next day." So we have these three days here and then in John chapter two, this is the third day after that. There's a seven-day week that's very significant in this book.

The beginning took place on the seventh day—the wedding feast took place on the seventh day. It's a week of creation is what's going on here. The culmination then is at the wedding feast. A wedding feast would be a seven-day process as well. There's a lot of symbolism going on here, making it clear there is a divine schedule obeying the will of the Father. This seventh day of this week is a day of celebration and Jesus is invited to come. The mother of Jesus was there.

We don't know whether it was because his mother was there or because we saw at the end of John chapter one that Nathanael—I suspect Nathanael may have been Bartholomew—it tells us Nathanael was from Cana of Galilee. So one of his six disciples that he brought with him to this feast was Nathanael. In any case, there was this wedding feast and 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."

It's intriguing that he entered into the normal experiences of life and sanctified them with his presence. Wherever Jesus was invited, he would go there. He accepted invitations to social events and though his enemies used this practice to accuse him, he sanctified the ordinary with his extraordinary presence. In verses three to five it says both Jesus and his disciples were invited and when the wine ran out—now, I don't know what she was expecting him to do because she held these things close to herself. She didn't reveal them publicly, but she came to him quietly and said they've run out.

What is that between us? It was not a disrespectful way of putting it, but it was actually a polite way to address her. He was saying, "Why are you getting me involved in this matter?" The question is one of timing because it says "his hour had not yet come." This phrase, "my hour has not yet come"—he was on the heavenly timetable. This idea of his hour marked out for him. In John 7, 8, 12, 13, and 17, it talked about "my hour has not yet come." It's intriguing, so it's worth looking at.

In John chapter seven and verse 30, they were seeking to seize him and no man laid his hand on him because his hour had not yet come. It's a very important note to make that it has to do with the sovereign purposes of God. One is immortal when one's doing the will of God until that purpose is achieved. In chapter eight and verse 20, these words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple and no one seized him because his hour had not yet come. God—he was on a divine timetable and I never see Jesus being in a hurry to do the will of God. He knows he has enough time to accomplish his purposes and that's what's given to you and me as well.

In chapter 12 and verse 23, again you see this expression. Jesus answered them saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." So now he sees the timetable coming up. Then in chapter 13, verse 1, "knowing that his hour had come that he should depart out of this world." All of these things relate to that. Then in chapter 17 and verse one, "Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you." All of this tells us that he was on a divine timetable that involved the purposes of God.

"Are you trying to force this before the time?" is almost implied here. "Is this to reveal myself?" But it's intriguing that this first miracle was a rather quiet affair. It was not a spectacular event. Only the people who were drawing the wine were there, the servants knew. So the water to wine was unlike the raising of Lazarus, which was a public miracle that drew a lot of attention. This was a quiet one. There were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification containing 20 or 30 gallons each.

He says fill the waterpots with water. So they filled them to the brim. The servants didn't know what he was doing but they obeyed his word. He said, "Draw some out now and take it to the head waiter." So they took it to him. When the head waiter tasted the water which had become wine, he did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. The head waiter called the bridegroom and he said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first but when the people have drunk freely then he serves the poorer wine but you have kept the good wine until now."

This is a very significant statement. He's saying you've kept the best stuff for last. Normally people bring out the good stuff first and then when people's palates are no longer discerning, they bring out the cheap stuff. You've done just the opposite, which is just the opposite of the way the world works. The world offers its best wine first and then later on. It's almost like an addictive behavior where things get less and less where you have more and more. It reminds me of the dopamine culture in which we find ourselves living.

We've talked about this before where we have a stimulus, distraction, dopamine release, then pleasure, then desire for more reinforcement, then habit formation. So it becomes a kind of a loop and the addictive behavior is a loss of pleasure. Here he's saying this is not like the world. This is something far more radical. This is actually something that God himself is bringing about. So it's a miracle of the kingdom as well. It's a miracle of time and it was the best vintage ever. It was a miracle of quantity, 120 to 150 gallons of the stuff.

It was an embarrassment for them to run out, but he then quietly does this. I see this as a miracle of the kingdom in which this beginning of his sign he did in Cana manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. This as a sign has an inner meaning that points beyond itself to the purposes and power of God. Moses' first miracle was a plague, turning the water into blood. Here he turns water into wine. It's a very different vision. One was of judgment, this is of provision.

I think it's of grace. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. The servants understood what was going on but the others did not see it. But he manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. So this is an important miracle. It's a miracle of provision and of what's to come. The abundance of it and the quality of it is a kingdom miracle. It's the kind of thing "and I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until I do it again with you in my Father's kingdom."

The first Passover, the cleansing of the temple. The Passover of the Jews was near and there would be three annual feasts that Jesus would go up to: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. These were required feasts. He was observing the Jewish law of Moses. He did not observe the traditions of men but he did obey the purposes of God and fulfilled the law. It was a mess in those days because it was a very dull and hollow routine religion at that time.

He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers seated at their tables. People were making money off of those who had come in from out of town by exchanging currency because you had to have the temple currency. They would also say that lamb or that offering is not perfect, here let me give you a better one. So they would make money off of that, then they'd turn and sell that to someone else. It was a real sham, a setup where people were being ripped off basically, and he was outraged by this.

He made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple. That's pretty amazing. This is not exactly what they would want him to do. He showed his authority and his power to drive them out with the sheep and the oxen, poured out the coins of the money changers, and overturned their tables. To those who were selling the doves he said, "Take these things away. Stop making my Father's house a place of business." The disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."

This is a quote from one of the Messianic Psalms, Psalm 69. It's a powerful picture of how he argues that this is my purpose for you. They challenged him, "What sign do you show me as your authority for doing these things?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." This is one of those examples where Jesus is speaking on a spiritual level and they're thinking about it on a physical level. It happens with physical birth versus spiritual birth in the next chapter.

It happens with living water versus real water. It happens with his body and my blood as well. He's speaking about the spiritual, and they're taking it literally. But the sign points to the spiritual truth. He said "destroy this temple." Of course it was the temple of his body, but they thought it was the Herodian temple which had been started in 20 BC and was still being built. They're saying, "How is this possible? It took 46 years to build this temple and you're going to raise it up in three days?"

He was speaking of the temple of his body. So when he was raised from the dead, the disciples remembered that he said this and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. It's a powerful picture then about this temple, about the authority of Jesus and how that refers to the temple of his body. This was a revelation to them that they had to see and understand. Again, much misunderstanding on one level—this is one of the themes in John's Gospel. You're hearing it on one level but there's a deeper level behind it.

There are several such situations that are pictures of the death of Christ and this temple image is one. He's seen as the Lamb, the temple, the serpent, the shepherd, and the seed. These are five actual images of his death. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world is a picture of his death, burial, and resurrection effectively, that his death would be that of a substitute for sinners. The destroying of the temple involves his own body which is going to be given for them.

The serpent, as the serpent was raised up—so it's again his death, burial, and resurrection. As well, the shepherd. "I'm the good shepherd, the shepherd lays down his life for his sheep." And finally, the seed: "Unless a grain of seed fall into the ground and die, it bears much fruit but if it die, it will actually bear fruit." So you have these pictures of the imagery of the death of Christ. The cleansing of the temple followed by this wonderful statement that the disciples remembered and they believed the scriptures.

When he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he was doing. But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them for he knew all men. Because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man. He had knowledge that was absolutely extraordinary and he understood the heart of man. He recognized that ultimately they would not understand him. So he revealed himself and he understood his signs and he communicated them.

The signs are testimonies, they're pointers to something else. They're also tests that reveal something that requires a response so that a person who wants his works but not his word—you see, many would follow him because of the signs he would do, but ultimately they would have to combine that with faith. That's where it comes to mind in John chapter five and verse 24. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life." It's a present possession. He does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life.

I find that to be a very comforting word. It's comforting because it reveals that the condition is not my performance but actually my trust and transfer of trust from myself to him. It's intriguing here that Jesus himself was not entrusting himself to any man. It was a matter of a transfer of trust, not just an intellectual desire or some kind of provision that you'd have, but something more profound than that. For he himself knew what was in man. People who want the works but not the word can never share his life.

It's a question of knowing him. To be perfectly honest with you, I do not understand the grace of God and why it is that some people are granted more than they deserve and others are not. If we were given what we deserve, we'd be in serious trouble because it would be a question of judgment. So ultimately, if God treats us with justice, you don't want to ask God for what's coming to you, what you deserve. Instead, you want grace and mercy. Ask him for mercy, which is not getting what you deserve, and ask him for grace, which is getting better than you deserve.

Why is it then that God gives some people better than they deserve? And I cannot demand that. If two people owe me $1,000 and I forgive the one but not the other, the one whose debt I did not forgive is going to think that now I have to forgive him. No, I chose to forgive him that debt but you still owe me. Remember the idea of the laborers. Some were hired at the 11th hour and they worked all day and they paid him—the last was first and the first was last.

The first ones who were hired at the beginning of the day were given a deal for one denarius. That was by justice. But when those who only worked an hour were paid a full day's pay, the first workers were indignant. He said, "I didn't do you wrong. I gave you justice. I gave you what we agreed for. But if I choose to be generous with my money, what is that to you or does your eye cause you to covet?" The grace of God is there. When I pray for someone and it's a sign of the grace of God on their behalf, so you are ministers and agents of reconciliation.

I do not grasp why it is that some people are called and they receive and they respond. Why is it that some people are four-soil disciples where they bear fruit and more fruit and much fruit? I don't understand that, but I can say this—that I'm grateful for the grace of God in my life. But my job is to respond to it and to take the things that are happening in my life and then to respond to that accordingly. So here's one who knows us through and through. You can't deceive him, you can't hide anything from him.

He knows you and understands you, but the one who knows you best is the one who loves you most. That's the amazing thought. He knows you through and through. He knows there's that iceberg below the waterline and he knows all that there is as well. And yet he has covered that because the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So even when we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another because the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

It's an amazing thought that this one who knows us through and through is the one who loved us enough to die for us in spite of the fact that we do not pursue him for the best reasons. No one comes to him to know him, but they come to him to actually have some benefit that they think they will have. God knows this. They may want to have a better life or better comfort, but he'll put up with that. Ultimately his desire is to be loved for himself and not for his gifts.

I may know you and become like you and become—and when I pray these prayers for the grace of God, it's a prayer that God will want to answer. But it's a sign of the grace of God that I'm actually even praying the prayer. So when I'm asking for a spirit of wisdom and the revelation and the knowledge of him, that's a grace of God that I'm even offering that prayer. It's an enigma to me beyond my grasp. But I can say this—that the more I know about him, the more I can trust him.

The more I can trust him and realize that in spite of the pains of this life and in spite of the difficulties, there is an anchor for the soul, a hope that's both sure and steadfast and which enters into the veil. He is the rock, the foundation, the anchor of our lives. We have a sure fixed point that never wavers, never changes. When he is being good, he's being himself. When he's being loving, he's being himself. When he's being true, he's being himself. He wants what's best for us and we can trust him for all that he offers for us.

The very fact that this is the one who demonstrated his love for us, not by words but in deeds. So he manifested that as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He manifested that as the temple who—the body of his own body would be then broken. The serpent who would be lifted up, the shepherd who would die for the sheep and the seed who would fall into the ground and die. I'd like you to reflect upon these images of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord.

Recognize that in some way you also were buried with him when he died. It's a mysterious concept that the followers of Christ, when you were identified with Christ—not only did he die for you but you died with him. In some mysterious way his death is your death, his burial yours, his resurrection yours. You are right now seated with him in the heavenly places at the right hand of the Father. It's a mysterious thought. You're a spiritual being having this earth-bound experience.

Ultimately though in this world, it is necessary for him to increase and for us to decrease. He must increase and we must decrease. So it's the downward mobility of actually finding ourselves becoming more like Christ by losing more of ourselves and finding our true selves in him. Let's take a look at this together and chat about that. What did you discover at your table today? Any particular thoughts or things you wanted to comment about?

Guest (Male): I'm not sure if this came up exactly this way at our table but I would ask you—can you exhibit belief if you have no life change?

Dr. Ken Boa: James talks about that pretty well and the idea of profession versus possession. If it's a faith that's alive, if it's a faith that's real, it's a faith that will bear fruit in some way. If there's no evidence of your faith then you're justified in asking whether you have the real thing or not. Intellectual versus personal reception becomes the difference. You can believe about him, but transfer of trust implies that there's going to be something that's new.

You show me your faith without your works and I'll show you my faith by my works. It's not that the works produce it, but they're an evidence of it that it's a real faith. So if there's no change in my life at all, I think I'd be justified in questioning whether I had the real thing. That's why Second Corinthians 13 says test yourself to see if you are really in the faith to see if you pass that test. The point is, is it more than just intellectual assent or has there been some change in my life? Is there a new appetite? Is there a new desire or is it just religious activities that I'm doing? I think that's a good question to raise. Yes.

Guest (Male): Twice now over the last couple months, you've switched gears at the very end to talk about our co-crucifixion with Christ and today it didn't seem to fit in with the rest of John chapter two. I'm real intrigued by the topic but I just didn't see how it—

Dr. Ken Boa: Our co-crucifixion with Christ is of course something that's not in John chapter two, but I was alluding to it. I was thinking of it in terms of our relationship with him from this vantage point. Where did I put my spiritual renewal cards? It goes down to this particular card here. He gave his life for you, that's his crucifixion, so he could give his life to you, that's his co-crucifixion. I was bringing that up because of our current position in him and knowing him in this relationship.

I was just adding that to us as part of our identity with him. He wants to live his life through you and so all these things fit. The Upper Room Discourse gives the hints and images of all these things that would be later found in the epistles. But I find that to be an incredibly important concept that we are so identified with him in that way. I was alluding to that because of the imagery of death, burial, and resurrection. In a very real way we were connected with him, so I'm taking that later understanding and applying it this way.

Guest (Male): Ken, what we were talking about—the image of the lamb, the temple, they're pretty easy to understand. The serpent—we talked about in pagan cultures the serpent represented a new birth because they can shed their skin. They can sort of throw their old life away. It was also used on the staff in Greek tradition, it's the symbol of healing because they could use the skeletons to make medicines. But it's also a fearsome idea and it can be deadly. So can you expound on that image of Christ as the serpent?

Dr. Ken Boa: There it has to do with the fiery serpents because they were being oppressed by that and many were dying. He had them to look, fix their eyes on that as an image of faith. But it's an image also of being lifted up. The serpent was lifted up between heaven and earth and so it was an image of crucifixion and death, burial, and resurrection as well. But they're all metaphors seen together. What I find astonishing in scripture is that the more you put these pieces of the puzzle together, the more they fit.

That's why I sometimes allude and go beyond John and refer to our co-crucifixion because they all relate to these same principles. The fact is that when I think of myself in this way, I think of myself as being so identified with him. This is my relationship with him. It's more than just a religion, it's a relationship. It's his pursuit of me and his wooing me and his calling me. That's a very powerful picture that he gives us. I think we're out of time. Thank you.