Daily Devotion for June 28, 2006
Please note:
Over the Next three weeks, Tim will be over in the Middle East. He is leading a Biblical Study Journey and is taking a film crew to capture some of the sites in the Land of the Bible to be used with his Word Among Us Bible Study program. The devotions while he is gone will focus on the Land of the Bible. We hope in some small way you can share in the Journey and be enriched with your walk with Jesus.
Over the Next three weeks, Tim will be over in the Middle East. He is leading a Biblical Study Journey and is taking a film crew to capture some of the sites in the Land of the Bible to be used with his Word Among Us Bible Study program. The devotions while he is gone will focus on the Land of the Bible. We hope in some small way you can share in the Journey and be enriched with your walk with Jesus.
Day 3
Cana and Nathanael
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. John 2:1-11
"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. John 2:1-11Cana in Galilee is a homespun town not far from Nazareth. At a village wedding feast here, Jesus worked his first miracle at the request of his mother. Perhaps more commercialism and bigger shrines could therefore be expected here – but there’s not! It is true that a few shops offer bottles of “wine from Cana” as pleasant souvenirs. One shopkeeper says his wine comes in two flavors, “Sweet and sweet-sweet.” But Cana people are friendly country people, and both Christians and Moslems welcome the small number of pilgrims who find their way here.
On Sundays, the “children’s Mass” in the Franciscan church, the Cana wedding site, is full of lively boys and girls. An elderly friar shuffles down the aisle to the altar. Old ladies in black finger their rosaries but exchange bits of village gossip at the same time. Pilgrims can feel very at home here in Cana.
What many do not know about Cana is that Nathanael is from there.
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. John 21:1-2
We are most familiar with Nathanael from the first Chapter of John:
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." John 1:43-51
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." John 1:43-51
Can anything good come from Nazareth? Oh Nathanael – you were soon to find out that YES something good could come out of Nazareth.
How has God taken our skepticism and turned it into belief?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you each day can take the ordinary things in life – and people – and turn them into something special, whether it be water into wine, or Nathanael into a disciple. Change me! Amen
Heavenly Father, you each day can take the ordinary things in life – and people – and turn them into something special, whether it be water into wine, or Nathanael into a disciple. Change me! Amen
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While in the Middle East for a Biblical Study Journey with fellow Word Among Us Students, a 5-person crew is filming and taking pictures of the various sites. This vibrant photographic material will be incorporated into next year's Word Among Us classes.
Want to learn more about the Bible Jesus used – The Old Testament – and the Bible Jesus taught? Enroll today in Word Among Us – Cover to Cover study of the Bible starting in Genesis and going through Revelation including the inter - testamental period, using history and archeology and Biblical culture to make the text alive - taught by Tim Hetzner.
Class sites are across the USA. Click here for more information.
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posted by Lutheran Church Charities at 4:03 AM
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