Swindoll Study Bible - Book of John - Flipbook - Page 17
J ohn 1 : 2 8
28 This encounter took place in Bethany, an area
east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
Jesus, the Lamb of God
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and
said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world! 30 He is the one I was talking about when I
said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than
I am, for he existed long before me.’ 31 I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing
with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon
him. 33 I didn’t know he was the one, but when God
sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one
on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the
one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw this
happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One
of God.*”
The First Disciples
35 The
following day John was again standing with
two of his disciples. 36 As Jesus walked by, John looked
at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of
God!” 37 When John’s two disciples heard this, they
followed Jesus.
38 Jesus looked around and saw them following.
“What do you want?” he asked them.
They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”),
“where are you staying?”
39 “Come and see,” he said. It was about four
o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to
the place where he was staying, and they remained
with him the rest of the day.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these
men who heard what John said and then followed
Jesus. 41 Andrew went to find his brother, Simon,
and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which
means “Christ”*).
42 Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus.
Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is
Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas”
(which means “Peter”*).
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43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galil ee. He
found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.”
44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s
hometown.
45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him,
“We have found the very person Moses* and the
prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of
Joseph from Nazareth.”
46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything
good come from Nazareth?”
“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a
genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”
48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree
before Philip found you.”
49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the
Son of God—the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because
I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will
see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “I tell you
the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels
of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one
who is the stairway between heaven and earth.*”
The Wedding at Cana
2
The next day* there was a wedding celebration in
the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was
there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited
to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during
the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have
no more wine.”
4 “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
5 But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he
tells you.”
6 Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used
for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold
twenty to thirty gallons.* 7 Jesus told the servants,
“Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been
filled, 8 he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to
the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed
his instructions.
LIVING INSIGHTS
1:34 Some manuscripts read the Son of God. 1:41 Messiah (a Hebrew term) and Christ (a Greek term) both mean “anointed one.” 1:42 The names Cephas (from Aramaic)
and Peter (from Greek) both mean “rock.” 1:45 Greek Moses in the law. 1:51 Greek going up and down on the Son of Man; see Gen 28:10-17. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus
used for himself. 2:1 Greek On the third day; see 1:35, 43. 2:6 Greek 2 or 3 measures [75 to 113 liters].
FOUND John 1:40-41 Andrew says to Simon Peter, “We
have found the Messiah.” What does that imply? It implies
that they had been looking for Him. If you’ve lost something
and have told your family that it’s lost, you also then tell
them when you find it. Andrew and Simon Peter had been
looking for the promised Messiah—and they had found Him.
I wonder if more people today would find Jesus if they
simply began to look for Him.
GROWING UP John 2:4 Sometimes people look at the
way Jesus responds to His mother in this story and wonder
what is going on. Certainly several things are in play here,
but one thing I see is that Mary doesn’t understand that her
relationship with Jesus has changed. Sometimes parents
need to grow up as well as their children. As children grow,
their parents’ relationship with them needs to change.
Parents need to let their kids become their own people
while at the same time cultivating friendships with them. If
you are a parent, you’ve been raising your children to one
day be on their own. So let them go. As hard as it is, let
them go. This does not mean your children will no longer
relate to you. It means that they will now relate to you in
a different way. That’s God’s design.
