John 1, 2, 3

John 1, 2, 3

Overview:  John's birth narrative.  Jesus performs his first miracle in Cana.  John the Baptist makes a few appearances.  Nicodemus meets with Jesus.

Mark has no birth narrative.  Matthew has a brief account.  Luke has the most detail.  And John?  Some might say that John, like Mark, has no birth narrative.  I tend to think of John 1:1-18 as John's birth narrative.  "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory." (1:14)  Luke focuses the camera in close so we can see the particulars of the shepherds and the angels and the young parents in the stable in Bethlehem.  John pulls the camera way back so that we can see the sweep of human history - "In the beginning was the Word" - and then brings his focus in on the familiar and elusive John the Baptist.  This close reading in larger chunks of the Gospels in the past month has caused me to spend a lot of time thinking on the person and work of John the Baptist.  I read a book (whose name I will have to track down) a few years back speculating on the role that John played in Jesus ministry and in the people's ability to understand who Jesus was and what his ministry was to be about.  It had a good bit of speculation and was probably a bit over the top, but it did make a compelling argument to at least consider more closely the not incidental, but rather critical role that John plays in Jesus ministry.  I am still probably not on board with all the conclusions of that work, but I buy in wholeheartedly to the central role of  John.
We did not visit Cana of Galilee this trip to Israel.  Technically we did - we drove through it - but we didn't get out and walk around.  We have in the past.  Here Jesus performs what John tells us is his first miracle.  I've always liked the interaction between Mary and Jesus in this story.  Mary, the mom, asks Jesus to do something.  Jesus seems to decline.  Mary tells the servants to do what Jesus tells them to do and then Jesus does what Mary asked him to do.  John offers no explanation on Jesus' apparent change of heart, and for anyone who has ever witnessed a child and a parent, particularly a mother and a son, no explanation is needed.  Jesus registered his thoughts on the matter, but mom's will was going to carry the day.  So the water gets turned to wine and Jesus miracle working days are set in motion.