January 18, 2016

John 2:11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

This is how John sums up the story where Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding. It’s a good start to his ministry and since as a result of this act “his disciples believed in him” John could have made his a rather short gospel. Except just a little further on in 2:22 he writes, “After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.” So what’s the deal? Did they believe at Cana or after Jesus rose from the dead. Then further on in 12:16 he adds, “At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.” And near the end he throws in this aside in 20:9, “(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)” When exactly did they understand and believe what? Kind of messy, isn’t it? But maybe that is at least part of the point John is making. Faith or believing or understanding is not often a static state, not often an epiphany that illuminates suddenly and then remains stagnant. It weaves and bobs and blossoms and withers and ebbs and flows. The faith you had as a child is probably different presently, but it was faith then and it is faith now. This week think, “Where is my faith now? What am I coming to believe? What am I struggling to understand?”