This Chapter is easily one of the most memorable in the Bible. It starts with a private conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. Then we’ll hear about Jesus from John the Baptist. Important verses in this chapter are the well-known John 3:16, which explains the gospel in one verse, and John 3:30, which summarizes discipleship in one verse: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Audio: John03.mp3
Study Notes: John03.pdf
The Lord often teaches us when things go wrong. So it was for His first disciples and so it is for us. A valuable lesson on preparation is found right after the Transfiguration. Jesus, Peter, James and John get down from the mountain to find a crowd gathered and Christ’s other disciples in the midst of a dispute.
And He asked the scribes, ‘What are you disputing about with them?’ Then one of the crowd answered and said, ‘Teacher, I brought my son to You, because he has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, and gnashes his teeth, and he becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they might cast it out, but they were not able.'” – Mark 9:16-18 (M-Text)
So Jesus, as usual, solved the problem, but the disciples were left wondering as to just why they fell so short.
And after He entered into a house, His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why were we not able to cast it out?’ So He said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.'” – Mark 9:28-29 (M-Text)
Opportunities for ministry often come at unexpected times. When they do, it’s important to be ready. Fasting and prayer should not only be something we engage in at a time of great need – though there is nothing wrong with that. It should be a form of preparation for the needs that are yet to come.
This week we’ll see Jesus perform His first sign or miracle, in which He turns water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Then He’ll go up to Jerusalem for Passover and, while there, He’ll get angry with those who are profiteering off people at the temple. He’ll drive out their animals with a whip of cords, pour out the changers’ money and overturn their tables. The notes and audio recording are both in place below.
One sure sign of stagnation in the Christian walk is a deepening desire for nostalgia – that sick sense of longing for the good old days. Solomon reminds us that dwelling on an idealistic view of the past is pointless:
Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.”
– Ecclesiastes 7:10 (NKJV)
As followers of Jesus, we need to keep looking forward if we ever expect to keep up. We do not follow a Savior who stands still – much less one who walks backwards. The future is the only time available for us to apply the lessons we’re learning right now. The future offers the only opportunity there is to experience the result of our spiritual growth.
Paul realized that even he was a work in progress. The Christian can always be sure that the best is yet to come. Reaching forward is the only way to get to it. The Lord has a future planned for you that you don’t want to miss.
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV)
Central Reflections 