January 2, 2023
Loved | John 2:1-11
A YOUNG COUPLE’S EMBARRASSMENT
The Gospel of John was written by an author who only ever self-identified as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Such was John’s experience, he knew and felt what it is to be loved by Jesus. Many of the stories in his biography of Jesus are accounts of people who experienced the very same thing: what it means, even what it feels like, to be loved by Jesus.
We are going to enter their stories.
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John 2:1-11
- The author of the book of John tells us that he wrote this so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through him you may have life in his name” (20:1). How does this story of Jesus turning water into wine fit with that purpose?
- Jesus tells his mother that “his hour has not yet come.” Read John 12:23-28. What is the hour that Jesus is speaking of? How does that hour glorify him?
- How would you describe Jesus’ love based on the clues in this story: where he does his first miracle, what he does, and how he does it?
- Jesus’ transformation of water into wine is a symbol of how he transforms a person, giving them “life to the full” (John 10:10). That transformation happened when the servants took seriously Mary’s instructions to “do whatever he tells you.” As you reflect on your life, where is Jesus calling you to greater obedience that leads to transformation?
- How easy is it for you to identify yourself as the disciple whom Jesus loves? What helps you to experience his love that way? What gets in the way?
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