If the seats are uncomfortable… they won’t worship Jesus. If the preacher is boring… they won’t worship Jesus. If the songs at church aren’t to their liking… they won’t worship Jesus. If there’s a family gathering or activity that takes them out of town on a Sunday… they won’t worship Jesus.īecause they’ve confused the BUILDING with Jesus.
If there’s a snow storm and they can’t get out for church… they won’t worship Jesus. If there’s NO church building… they won’t worship Jesus. They’d confused the things about Jesus - with Jesus. They’ve seen what Jesus can do and they’d like to have Him stay… they just don’t want to “follow” Him. And the folks want Him there - but not because of WHO He is but because of WHAT He could do for them. John 2:23 “while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.” John 4:45 tells us “the Galileans (at Cana) welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. And then there was what He did at Jerusalem. He did that miracle at the wedding feast here at Cana – water into wine and everyone knows about it. So everybody there… including the dad… was there for what they could get from Jesus. These folks don’t really want Jesus, they want what Jesus can GIVE them.
You’d soon realize that they didn’t want you for YOU… they wanted you for what you could give them. Those “so-called friends” were there ONLY for the advantages they can get from you. If it had been you that bought the boat or came into money you’d know something was wrong. Have you ever heard of someone buying a boat… and then suddenly they have lots of friends? Or have you heard of folks who’ve come into a large inheritance or win the lottery… and suddenly everybody seems to want to spend time with them. They wanted WHAT Jesus could give… but they didn’t want Jesus Himself. All they seem to want are signs and wonders - but no commitment. What Jesus says is here is - they weren’t really believing in Him. (Depending on your English version the translation will either make that clear in the text, or will put a footnote at the bottom of the page explaining this). Jesus was talking to everyone who was there. So I looked it up in the Greek and found that while Jesus addressed the father, He wasn’t saying (to the dad) YOU will not believe unless you see signs and wonders, He was saying YOU’ALL will not believe… unless you see signs and wonders. Why would Jesus say something like THIS to a grieving father! He’s walked 20 miles to see Jesus - and Jesus rebukes him? I figured there was something here that I wasn’t seeing here, because this didn’t make any sense at all. John 4:48 tells us “So Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’”Īnd I’m thinking to myself… that’s pretty harsh! This man’s son is dying. The man’s son is dying and he has traveled 20 miles to see Jesus and ask Him to heal his child.Īs I first looked at this text I was a little shocked by Jesus’ first words. No sooner does He get there than a man approaches Him. Jesus has just left the Samaria a couple days before where he met with a woman at a well and now He has returned to Cana where He did His 1st sign in Galilee. Our story this morning, tells about this idea of people making decisions. The class almost unanimously responded: ONE How many frogs are there left on the log?”
“Four of the frogs decide to jump into the water. So he started out telling the story of 5 frogs sitting on a log. OPEN: An instructor was conducting a seminar for executives and focusing on the topic of decision making.
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