The First Sign

June 27, 2016

The First Sign

Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

John  2:11

Responsive listening is one of the most effective ways to study the Bible. Read the scripture passage aloud and then focus on the word, sentence or phrase that caught your attention. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you as you ponder what God is showing you and perhaps what God wants you to do in response to what you are seeing in the scriptures. The Gospel of John is a great place to practice this technique because there is so very much to ponder in this Gospel.

In John’s Gospel, the signs or miracles Jesus performs are heaven and earth coming together in the person of Jesus.  How do you see heaven and earth coming together in Jesus transforming the water into wine at the wedding in Cana? As an excellent teacher, John gives his readers much to ponder. As an example, Jesus’ mother is only mentioned twice in this Gospel: at the wedding and at the crucifixion. Why was that detail important in the way John told his story? Also, John begins Chapter 2 and the story of the wedding in Cana by saying, “On the third day . . .” Why does John tell us this? Why was that significant? Are we supposed to see a connection between verse one and nineteen? (“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19)) Something to ponder.

There is much to ponder from the details of Jesus’ visit to Cana. My take-away from the miracle is grasping how important it is to see signs of the Messiah in the ordinary flow of my life. Last week I had the joy of being a storyteller for VBS. The challenge of presenting the stories of Jesus to groups ranging in age from kindergarten to sixth grade was daunting. Even so, we saw signs of heaven and earth coming together as the Good News of Jesus was shared.

What’s on your agenda for today? Will you ask the Holy Spirit to help you be open and receptive to the signs of the Messiah in your life?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.