Believing

Today, we are again looking at Jesus' miracle of changing the water into wine. This time though the focus of the sermon is going to be on how Jesus' disciples responded. John tells us that because of the miracle they believed in Jesus. I'd like to examine that a bit. The issue I'd like to deal with has to do with mature believing. So, please listen as I read our text, John 2.1-12.

Let's start with this. John is pretty clear. As a result of this miracle, Jesus' disciples believed in him. But as soon as you say that, questions pop up. So, for example, I thought these men already believed in Jesus back in chapter one. Do you remember how one of them said, 'We have found the Messiah'? And another said, 'We have found him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote.' And then one other said, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!' I think it's fair to conclude that in chapter one John described a handful of men who believed in Jesus. No? So, what's this, 'And his disciples believed in him', here in chapter two? When questions like this pop up it's usually a sign that something is going on beneath the surface, something more subtle. Should that be surprising? The Bible, after all, is sophisticated literature.

This thing, 'believing', is, as you would expect, a big deal in John. Back in chapter one John wrote this. 'But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.' Then, of course, there is John's clearly stated purpose at the end of the book. 'Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.' Thse statements summarize John's key concerns about believing. But in between these two bookends there are some rather interesting twists and turns. So, consider this is from the end of chapter two. 'Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.' Jesus didn't trust these people. But they were believers … weren't they? There's something going on here. Then, there's this in the middle of chapter eight. John writes: 'So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him...' and on we go into a conversation between Jesus and these men, these believers. But by the time that we get to the end of the conversation, these people, people who, according to John, had believed in Jesus, claimed that he was possessed by a demon! And then, to make matters worse, they picked up some rocks to throw at him. They wanted to kill him! But didn't John write that they 'had believed in him'? This 'believing' thing is not as simple as many think.

Let's look at this a bit. One common notion about believing is that it's like a light switch. It's either on or it's off. You believe or you don't. Then some add on to that. They say that once it's turned on, once you believe, it can never be turned off. You're a believer for the rest of eternity. I don't think John would agree, and I say this as a convinced Calvinist. Just consider what he wrote about that group in chapter eight. They believed and then, they didn't. That kind of shoots a hole in the 'once the switch is turned on it stays on' kind of thinking. And what about what happens to the disciples in our text? It raises questions about 'the switch is on or off' idea. We were told that they believe in chapter one. Was their believing in chapter two something else, something different, something more? How do we put all of this together?

Some may think that this is just too confusing and why bother? But if God wanted to adopt the 'keep it simple, stupid' model, then the Bible would be one verse, something like John 3.16. But he wants our thinking and thus our living to be stretched. There is more of him to enjoy. Confusing parts of the Bible are reminders that we still have lots of areas where we need to be stretched. Our text is one of those reminders.

So, what's going on in all of this? In light of the rest of John's Gospel, it seems best to see what happened in chapter two as a development of what happened in chapter one. In chapter one they believed in Jesus as the promised Messiah and King of Israel. And that was good. But then, after the miracle, their believing changed a bit. It took an important step forward. And, if you think about it, that fits with what is yet to come in this Gospel. Instead of looking back from chapter two to what happened in chapter one, look ahead. While these men believe in Jesus in chapter two, they certainly don't believe in him as a dying Savior. That's nowhere on their radar. But they will believe that. They will come to see that Jesus is the Savior who came to die. When that happens their believing will change. And at that point, it will have developed a bit more just as it did from chapter one to chapter two.

So, you see, believing in Jesus is not just an on/off kind of thing. It changes. And that goes both ways. It can deepen and develop, or it can wither and die. So, think about the parable of the four soils. The seed in the fourth soil sprouts and produces fruit. This person believes and that believing develops and it shows. But consider the seed in the second soil. It also sprouts. Jesus says that these people 'receive the word with joy'. And he even says that 'they believe'. But then, something happens and it changes. This believing of the seed in the second soil withers and dies. The quality of a person's believing changes. And that will show. It will either grow or it will die.

So, here's the point. The believing of those disciples changed. It grew, developed and matured. As a result, their lives serve as an example, an exhortation. Your believing also needs to change. It also needs to grow and develop and mature.

It's at this point that a closer look at those disciples will be encouraging. You know at least something of the the history of their believing in Jesus. They are such a mixed bag. At times their believing is stellar. Jesus asks them, 'Who do you say that I am?' And Peter, as spokesman for the group, gets it exactly right. 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Excellent! And Jesus responds with a blessing. He then goes on to explain what it means for him to be the Christ. He talks about the Cross. And what does Peter do then? He rebukes Jesus for saying such a thing! What is that but the expression of a kind of believing that is still immature, still relatively undeveloped. But it doesn't stay that way. Things change by the time we get to the book of Acts. The believing of these men has become so very different. It is stable and fearless. So, they are quick to respond to the Spirit, the Church grows daily and the Gospel spreads to the nations. And these sorts of things happen because these disciples have come to believe in a way that is mature and that continues to mature. Jesus has matured them.

Now, there is absolutely no reason why each of you can't believe with a similar, maturing believing and to have it show like theirs did. The key is to do what they did. You need to respond to Jesus with whatever kind of believing you have. As you do that, Jesus will bless you. He will do this even though he knows that you, like Peter, have a believing that is still immature. But he will bless and his blessing will result in the maturing of your believing.

Now, let's go back to our text and raise another question. What happened so that the believing of the disciples changed? John tells us. 'This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and he manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.' Do you see the connection? Jesus displayed his glory, and there was change in the disciples. Now, remember that 'glory' is a church-word that we've translated before. These guys saw something of the beauty of Jesus, something that they had not grasped before. And that's why the quality of their believing changed. And what aspect of Jesus' beauty did they see? Two things stand out. First, they saw his power. Jesus did the impossible. Water does not become wine just like that. But this water did. Jesus made it happen. He has power to do the impossible. The second thing has to do with how John labels this event. He doesn't call it a miracle. He calls it a 'sign'. What Jesus did was a sign, a pointer to something else. I'm not going to develop this now, though I plan to next week. For now it's enough to say that this sign points to some OT promises about what was to happen when the Messiah finally arrived. One OT picture of the Messiah's coming focuses on wine. The water turned to wine was a sign, a pointer, that Jesus is the promised Messiah who brings great change with him. More about this next week.

So, by this sign Jesus displayed something of who he is and what he can do. He is the long-awaited Messiah who does the impossible. Now, I don't know how much of this the disciples grasped, but they got some of it. And that showed. They saw his glory and they believed in Jesus. That is, the quality of their believing changed. It matured a bit.

This helps us answer another important question. The believing of the disciples matured after they saw a miracle. Do you need to see a miracle for the same thing to happen to you? You don't need a miracle. What you need is to see is more of Jesus' glory, more of what is so attractive about him, more of his beauty. You need to be further gripped by who he is and what he can do. So, what do you do to make that happen? Well, the fact of the matter is that there is nothing that you can do to make that happen. Jesus sets the agenda. He needs to make that happen. He needs to manifest his glory to you. And if he doesn't, there is nothing that you can do about it. The ball is in his court. The ball is always in his court.

Looking at Jesus' relationship with his disciples is quite helpful here. These men spent three years with Jesus. And those three years were spent answering one question. 'Who is this guy?' They watch as he pronounces a paralyzed man forgiven of his sins. Then, as proof that he can do that, he heals the man. And off he goes, walking through the crowd. They see him tangle with the elite religion scholars of his day and do more than just hold his own. In fact, he repeatedly puts these scholars in their place. They listen as he teaches the people, and he teaches outlandish things. Turn the other cheek?!? And they are witnesses when he turns water into wine. For three years the question is still the same: 'Who is this guy?' Over time Jesus provides - and their souls grasp - some profound answers to that question.

And that's the question that you need to get answered also. You cannot answer it on your own. It's a question that Jesus needs to answer for you. And that is exactly what he is doing. Remember, he has not abandoned you. Immanuel. He is with you by his Spirit. And the Spirit is busy providing answers to that question, 'Who is this guy?' And as a result, your believing is becoming more mature.

Again, what helps here is to consider how Jesus did this with those disciples. There was teaching and practicums. So, there is Jesus with his disciples and all of these people who have gathered to be taught by Jesus; thousands of people in the middle of nowhere. And Jesus turns to Philip and he asks, 'Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?' And what does Philip do? He responds with good logic and clear reason. 'Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.' Now, the text doesn't say this, but I'm thinking that Philip is staring at Jesus with a look that says, 'Are you crazy? Feed all these people? Impossible!' That's what I would do. Now, there’s an important sentence between Jesus' question and Philip's answer. 'He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.' Jesus teaches you, and there's lots of content. And every once in a while, he throws in a test, a pop quiz; practicums. He puts you in a particular situation, just like he did with Philip. He gives you an opportunity to put into practice something that he has been teaching you. And just like Philip at the feeding of the five thousand, you get to see a bit more of his glory. You get to see a bit more of who he is and what he can do. Jesus is the promised Messiah who can do the impossible. But remember: the initiative is his. He sets the agenda. He decides when to teach and when to test. What he leaves to you is your response. It's at this point that it is so very encouraging to remember how the disciples did with these pop quizzes. They usually blew them. And yet, in time, it was these losers with their puny believing who changed the world.

I am learning that there are some distinct advantages to getting older. I see some things now that I could not see before. When I arrived here as pastor of Faith Reformed, I was young and proud. I had a lot of Bible knowledge, but even with all of that knowledge I blew a lot of pop quizzes. I see that much more clearly now. But what I also see is that Jesus did not give up on me. He kept teaching me, and he kept on giving me those quizzes. And it needs to be said that he did a lot of tutoring too. And the result? There are things that I now understand that I was blind to before. Life makes more sense now; not completely, but more so. And so, I enjoy a good measure of contentment and joy and hope. There is a greater willingness and ability to put up with stuff for the sake of Jesus. And at the heart of all of that is a believing that has matured.

I say all of that to encourage you. Satan will do his best to get you down. And so he whispers in your ear. 'Haven't you gotten that lesson yet? Don't you understand anything? You are such a loser.' But Jesus takes losers like us - the Bible translation of that is 'sinners' - and uses them to change the world. And that is exactly what he is doing with us.