Bible Study

John 5 Outline: The Confrontational Character of Christ

Outline of John 5

Introduction. Until now the Gospel of John has shown Jesus in relationship with individual people, or with his disciples or family (his mother). But now the scene broadens. Jesus begins to be in conflict with a group of people, the Jews, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law (Scribes).

The time. The chapter begins with the information that this was the time of a “feast.” But no specific feast is mentioned. The alternative reading “the” feast, is doubtful and does not settle the question. John gives us some details, but not all that we would, perhaps like. Nonetheless, it is all we need.

Jerusalem seems to be standing at the time of writing (dating the Gospel before 70 AD), see 5:2, “Now there is in Jerusalem the Sheep Gate . . .” (Leon Morris, John, ad loc).

The chapter breaks into two sections. The healing of the paralytic by the Pool of Bethesda, and the conflict with the Jews over the Sabbath.

Part 1 — The healing at Bethesda.

  1. The man who was healed by the pool of Bethesda had been ill a long time. For 38 years he had been  coming to the pool waiting for the waters to be stirred so that he might receive healing. The myth or legend of the stirring of the waters was well-known, and it is a point of pity toward the man so-long-ill. The language used to describe the man may infer or imagine that he was injured and became a paralytic as a result of the injury. But the text is notably absent on the cause of his paralysis, just the length of it, pointing to the protracted time of his malady. The age of the man is not given, only the length of the time of his suffering.
    1. It is to be noted that the man did not express any faith in Christ, nor knowledge of him other miracles or his competency to effect healing of his organic disease. The man seemed not to know anything about Jesus in terms of his name or family, or spiritually as one who was a worker of miracles. It is most amazing that the man didn’t stay with or follow Jesus after he was restored.

i.      It could be that the healing put new responsibility on him.

ii.      It could be that he had learned to be passive and a beggar and that he was not able to function as one who was able to provide for himself.

iii.      It appears that his lack of faith was profound (see 5:16, his betrayal of Jesus).

  1. The absence of faith in the paralytic is all the more interesting because it was Jesus who came to the man, not the other way around. Jesus came and asked the man if he wanted to be healed.
  2. Faith was not the cause of his healing. He did not seek healing, but pity from Jesus, “there is no one to help me get into the water.”

i.      Many are healed of terrible diseases, they call upon God to heal them, and they are restored, yet they do not believe.

ii.      His belief in the “stirring of the waters” myth (hope) seemed to have been his only hope for healing. When Jesus comes to him and heals him, he doesn’t have any way to interpret what Jesus did for him. Jesus didn’t stir the waters. Jesus didn’t carry him first into the pool. Jesus didn’t do any of the things the man believed would bring him healing. Jesus simply healed him.

  1. The healing of the paralytic set in motion the totality of events that resulted in the death of Jesus.

i.      The conflict with the Jews about carrying a load on the Sabbath, and the ensuing defense that Jesus gives to them of his work, his person, of his relationship to the Temple, to God the Father and to the Father’s work, all created the set of charges that would follow Jesus until he is formally charged and then executed for blasphemy.

ii.      The references to the murderous inclinations of the Jews toward Jesus found in John’s Gospel:  5:18; 7:19, 25; 8:37, 59.

iii.      The greatest irony of Jesus’ death is that he is executed for the sin of blasphemy because he claimed “he was equal with God,” which he was.

  1. The distinction that Jesus made of his relationship with the Father was that he was “my Father.”  The Jews spoke of God with very careful language, as “Our Father,” — the same name by which he taught the disciples to pray to God in the Lord’s Prayer.
  2. The claim that Jesus was in a special relationship to his Father in Heaven was a claim of equality with God, of being of the same family and origins as God. It was most offensive for the Jew to address God in this manner.
  3. Jesus, at the end of John, employs the same language of intimacy with the Father, and with God.
    1. He joins those who have faith in Jesus in that circle of intimate relationship with God as a personal and familial connection.
    2. Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17 ESV)
    3. Addressing God
  4.  The paralytic proved himself to be “the worst sort of character.” Immediately after being found by Jesus after he spoke with the Jews about why he was carrying his bed around on the Sabbath, he immediately returned to the Jews and told them it was Jesus who had healed him.

i.      There was no appreciation for the healing expressed. There was no sense of loyalty or desire to protect Jesus from the religious authorities; he was immediately and continuously loyal to the Jews and their leaders.

ii.      This even though Jesus warned him (5:15) about worse things  happening to him, Jesus said to him, “Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

  1. The Jews are directly addressed from 5:19–47. The teaching Jesus gives them about himself is clear, challenging, confrontational, and glorious.
  2. Notes on John 5:19-47
    1. 5:19  Jesus declares that he is only “doing what the Father is doing.” This is the way in which Jesus decided what he would do. If he saw the Father working, he would work there. If not, he would not. This is associated with Jesus’ prayer, “Not my will, but yours be done” see Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42.

i.      The revelation to the Jews is quite stunning. These men have been rising in their opposition to Jesus even in these early days of his ministry and yet he addresses them with many doctrines and teachings about himself, his relationship with God the Father, and his own Person and work.

ii.      Because he is doing what the Father is doing, any complaint about his work becomes a complaint about the Father’s work and a criticism of the Father.

  1. 5:20  The love of the Father for the Son and the work of the Son to reveal all the works of the Father to those who have eyes to see it.

i.      And there is promise of far greater miracles that will be seen in the future. Scholars often see this as  a cryptic  reference to the resurrection, though it is impossible to know exactly what miracles Jesus had in mind at this early point.

ii.      The end of these miracles is that they may “marvel” at what he has done.

  1. 5:21  The work of resurrection (spiritually and physically) is both the work of the Father and the work of the Son of God.

i.      The sovereignty of the Son is laid out in that the Son gives life “to whom he will” and to them alone.

ii.      This would appear to be both an allusion to the electing mercies of God and to the sovereignty of the Son to heal (like the paralytic) or not to heal as he wills, remembering that he has said that he only does what the Father is doing, so even the electing graces of Christ are consistent with and flow from the Father. Trinitarian theology is richer than gold.

  1. 5:22  All judgment is given to the Son. This is remarkable for the Father to relegate all Judicial action to the Son of God alone.
  2. 5:23  The giving of judgment to the Son was so that all may honor him.

i.      The connection between honor to the Son and honor to the Father is established. Just as no one can be received by the Son unless the Father give him (and many statements of similar point).

ii.      5:24  This is the giving of Eternal Life by the Son, to those who hear his voice and believe him (the Father) who sent the Son.

  1. They are delivered from death unto life. The physical resurrections are a down-payment of the spiritual life-giving of the Son.
  2. 5:25  The promise of resurrection by “the Son of God.”

i.      The “Son of God” is rarely used in the John. But here Christ speaks of himself in this language.

ii.      Belief in the Son of God gives eternal life. Those who hear the voice of the Son of God will live.

  1. 5:26   The Father has life in himself, he gives his same self-generating life, to the Son. The Son is not dependent on the Father for his life, but the Father have given the Son the authority to have life in himself, just as the Father has life in himself. Again, difficult, wonderful, Trinitarian doctrine given by Christ as he describes his own life with the Father and how this life is sustained from eternity and to eternity.
  2. 5:27  The authority to execute judgment is the Father’s but he gives this authority to the Son.
  3. 5:28  Resurrection of life and resurrection of judgment.
  4. 5:30 –36 The witnesses to Jesus, from John the Baptist (the last and greatest prophet, whom the Jews rejected) and from God the Father.

i.      The conflict and the confrontation are set up in this section.

ii.      Notice the many uses of “witness” through this section.

iii.      This leads to Jesus turning to the Jews and charging them that they do not believe 5:37ff.

  1. Confrontation with the Jews about Jesus’work and Person.
    1. 5:37  The Father has borne testimony to the Son but the Jews have not understood (remember the prologue of the Gospel, John 1:11, “he came to his own, but his own did not receive him.”
    2.  5:38  “and you do not have this word abiding in you.”
    3. 5:39 – 45 The Jews thought that through the Scriptures they would have eternal life, but it was the Scriptures (Moses) who condemned them.

i.      They did not have the “love of God within” them (5:42) .

ii.      He has come in his Father’s name, yet they do not receive him (5:43).

iii.      They receive glory from one another, not from God (5:44).

iv.      Jesus doesn’t have to accuse them, Moses is the one who indicts them (5:45).

  1. The prophetic words of Moses predicted the coming of Messiah, the Christ, and Moses wrote about Jesus (5:46).
  2. They are beyond believing in Christ because they did not believe Moses’ writing, therefore they could not receive him (4:47).


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Study in John 4:1-45

Summary of Context: John 3:22-36

3:22–23 John baptizing at Aenon.

3:24 John not yet imprisoned.

3:25 Dispute over “purification” – one of the implications of John’s baptism, and understood as purification by John’s critics.

3:27 Nothing received except as given from Heaven.

3:28 “I am not the Christ.” “I have been sent before him.”

3:29  The friend of the bridegroom is not the one getting married.  He rejoices with his friend.

3:31–36 Appears to be John the Evangelist’s (the writer of the Gospel) commentary on these events.

He who comes from above is over all. No one receives his testimony. He whom God has sent utters the words of God. For he gives the Spirit without measure.

General outline of Chapter 4 (from D.A. Carson John)

Narrative verses 1–26

Exposition verses 31–38

Demonstration 28:30, 39–42

John 4 has “great cohesion.” What was the source of this account? What is most interesting is that the disciples, the eyewitnesses, were not present. This account could have come to the disciples through the report of Jesus himself, or it could have come from the woman, or those with whom she spoke when she told them about the things Jesus had said to her.

Notice the appearance of water in the account. See John 2:6; 3:5; 4:10.

Jesus reveals that he is the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises regarding the Messiah.

John’s disciples and Jesus’ disciples both practiced water baptism. The overlap of the two groups may explain why it was that Jesus departed Judea and returned to Galilee. He left the work of preparation with John, and he began the work of fulfillment.

John was at great danger in the southern region. He would soon be arrested and executed.

John’s doubts. The strong testimony of John the Baptist in the end of Chapter 3 must be compared with the Synoptic report of John’s doubts and request for assurance that Jesus was the Coming One. See Luke 7:18–36. He sends his disciples to Jesus to confirm his identity. Jesus tells them to report to John what he has seen Jesus do.

John 4:4 the Trip to Samaria. Many contemporary  sermons have emphasized that Jesus would not have gone through Samaria because it was the land of the sect of Judaism that was rejected by the Jews, spoken against in the Mishnah, and vilified by most of the Temple-attending Jews of the day. But the fact is that a journey from Judea to Galilee would have almost always taken the Samaritan route. It was the shortest route and many ancient authorities have made note of the common and accepted practice of traveling to the north and to Galilee through the land of the Samaritans.

Often it is cited that Jesus needed to go this way because of his encounter with the woman at the well. But taking an established and common route is not exclusive of also wanting to proclaim the message of redemption and “living water” to the Samaritans. It is to be noted that this mission to the Samaritans was soon closed off (see Matthew 10:6), and that the disciples wanted to call down fire on Samaria (Luke 9:52ff). It must be added that Samaria was the focus of Philip’s evangelism after Pentecost. He traveled there (Acts 8:4-8) and experienced a great reception of the Gospel message. In the encounter in John 4, Jesus was asked to stay for a few days and many were said to have believed in him as a result. The testimony of the Woman at the Well was confirmed by Jesus’ own words. The cities of Samaria, at this time were receptive and directly impacted by the ministry and miracles of Jesus. Then Jesus turned to the Jews again, then after the Cross/Resurrection, he turned again to these people in evangelism. The promises to Jacob (Israel) may have been fulfilled (to some great extent) in his mission to Samaria. Jacob’s well located about 1/4 mile South of the town, and Joseph’s tomb (just a few hundred yards north of the well), remind us of the promises of God to these patriarchs.

Promise to Jacob (and his offspring):

“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

(Genesis 26:3-5 ESV)

Walkthrough of John 4

Verse 5 Sychar is the modern ‘Askar near Mounts Ebal and Gerizim near the Jordan River, on the eastern part of Samaria, at about the mid-point of the region. Sychar stands just between the two mountains.

Verse 6. Jacob’s Well is clearly known and one of the few places in ancient Israel that there is no confusion or lack of clarity about its identity and location. The Greek text uses two words, (pege) Spring – see verse 6, and (phrear) Cistern/ well– see verses 11 and 12. This was a well with a stream and with a dug-out cistern to contain the water. Jacob’s well has these features today.

Verses 7-8  The woman came alone. This is another case where sermons may contribute to misunderstanding. One sermon being preached and published and it repeated in a thousand ways. The commonly repeated assumption is that that Woman at the Well is a repeatedly immoral woman. The notion is commonly repeated that she was immoral, having had five “husbands” perhaps none of them legitimate, and that she continued that practice up to the point of her conversation with Jesus.

The text reports that she had five husbands. It is conceivable that she was married five times and that each of her husbands died. The Jewish Mishnah, forbade a widow to marry more than three times (perhaps to give other widows an opportunity for numbers two or three). She could have been divorced five times, or some combination of divorce or widowhood. We do not know.

It is often assumed that her coming alone to the well was because of her shame or the mistreatment she was receiving from the other women who would come to the well with her. Her coming alone was seen to be a protection from the gossip or a relief from reminders of past failures. But none of it can be proven.

Her testimony to the town seemed to be spontaneous. She appears to have wanted her friends and relatives to come and see the Messiah. They were not resistant in any way. They even praised her to her face for her testimony (apparently in the presence of Jesus, see 4:32). She did not seem to be a pariah to her people, indeed, far from it.

It is good not to repeat the inventiveness of others. Some of the details of the accounts are sparse and it is well not to go beyond what is written.

It is clear that her current arrangement with her lover was not permitted. She was living with someone who was married to another. “The one you have now, is not your husband” (4:18) may be implying that he was someone else’s husband. Certainly, she was not married to the man she was living with. That was the chief objection of Jesus, not her five previous marriages. He was telling her, that he was aware of her life and that he knew it in detail. There was no need to lie about it (see Exodus 20:16, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”)

Verse 10 – “for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” The suggestion of D.A. Carson is “For Jews do not use dishes the Samaritans have used.” (See NIV footnote). Samaritans were so despised by the religious leaders in Judea that the Mishnah forbade any contact with thee Samaritans (see Mishnah, Niddah, 4:1). This explains a bit more of the surprise of the Woman at Jesus’ request for water. He would have to share a driving vessel with her.

Living water. See Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV):

“for my people have committed two evils:

they have forsaken me,

the fountain of living waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Verses 11–12 “Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well?”

From the Samaritan Pentateuch: The Messiah (whom they called Taheb), “water shall flow from his buckets,” which is an adaptation of Numbers 24:7. See F.F. Bruce (John, 105).

Carson (John,  221) Jesus spoke to her “deepest needs, greatest sin, hopelessness, guilt, despair, need.”

The Old Testament background for the water and the well.

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,

and my blessing on your descendants. (Isaiah 44:3 ESV)

… they shall not hunger or thirst,

neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,

for he who has pity on them will lead them,

and by springs of water will guide them. (Isaiah 49:10 ESV)

“Come, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

come, buy and eat! (Isaiah 55:1 ESV)

Verse 15. The Woman in thinking purely of natural, material water, not spiritual water, living water. But though she didn’t understand, she was willing to play along with what may have seemed to her as a bit of a “game.” “Sure, I’ll bite,” we’d say.

Verse 16. The Woman does not yet grasp who Jesus is. He asks her a question.

Verse 17. She is evasive — “I have no husband.” Jesus is not very polite when he confronts her. He does speak the truth. He plays no games with people.

She replies with objection about the place of worship. F.F. Bruce comments, “There are some people who cannot engage in a religious conversation with a person of a different persuasion without bringing up the points on which they differ” (Bruce, 108, cited in Carson, 222).

Verse 21. Jesus replies in three points.

  1. The coming destruction of worship in both Jerusalem and Mt. Gerazin, is upon them.
  2. Salvation comes from the Jews, not from the Samaritans.
  3. The nature of true and acceptable worship is by means of the Spirit and truth.

Verse 21, “Believe me …” is not an invitation to faith, but a declaration of the truthfulness of Jesus’ statement.

Verse 26, “I who speak to you am he.” Jesus removes any question about his claim to be the Messiah of God.

Verse 27. The return of the disciples concludes the interview. She leaves her water-pot and goes and immediately tells the people of her town about Jesus.

Verses 39 and 41 The faith of the Samaritans came in two stages. First they believed because of the testimony of the Woman at the Well. But then, subsequently, they believed because of their interaction with Jesus. They believed in him.

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Notes on John 3:1-21

Introduction to John 3.

There is continuation of the issues presented in 2:23-25 into 3:1. Jesus was said to “not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, and needed to one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Now there was a man of the Pharisees …” The word “man” (anthropos) occurs three times in 2 verses. The connection seems unmistakable.

The man who came to Jesus was identified as a Pharisee. This was the group that was most strongly opposed to the Person and Work of Jesus. They were his chief persecutors and they prosecuted him with charges that led to his death.

C.K. Barrett (John) notes that there was “minimal dialogue” between the man and Jesus. There was no purpose given for his visit to see the Lord. But the purpose was known to Jesus. Remember 2:25, “he knew all men” and “he knew what was in man.” And so he does in this conversation with Nicodemus.

Summary Outline of John 3

John 3: 1-15 – discourse / questions between Nicodemus and Jesus

John 3:16-21 – the meditation by John the Evangelist (the writer of the Gospel)

John 3:22-36 – more on John the Baptist. After being introduced, John is sidelined almost immediately when Christ appears on the scene. His testimony is recounted, and the fact that he would be imprisoned and killed is anticipated (3:24).

Nicodemus’s timeline through John

Nicodemus is introduced in John 3 but he appears in John in two other sections. In this first encounter, nothing is said about his faith or his response in any way. He responds almost in a dismissive way to the claim that “you must be born again,” but when Jesus gives a more detailed description of the new birth, there is nothing recorded of Nicodemus’s response.

John 7:50 – in the rising tide of Pharisaical hatred of Jesus, Nicodemus rises in the defense of Jesus inasmuch as the charges brought should be tried carefully and there should not be a rush to judgment without “giving him a hearing and learning what he does.”

Nicodemus had, in fact, done these very actions. He interviewed Jesus and he was aware of his miracles, having either seen them or come to believe they had been done through his own research and information-gathering. In this conflict in Chapter 7, Nicodemus is appealing for the leaders and Pharisees to be careful not to rush to judgment.

John 19:39 – After the crucifixion of Christ, Nicodemus, along with Joseph of Arimathea, tended to the burial of Jesus. Joseph by providing the tomb. Nicodemus by bringing the spices required for the if they saw someone raised from the deadpreparation of the body for interment.

His name only appears five times in the whole of the New Testament — John 3:1, 4, 9; 7:50; and 19:39.

The power of the miracles and their danger.

The miracles of Jesus were powerful testimony to his authority over nature, his ability to heal diseases demonstrated his compassion for the hurting and his healing power was certainly miraculous, outside the realm of our normal experiences. His miracles are called signs. They point to the one who does them.

The signs to Grand Canyon can be impressive, but if you merely stopped your car and took all your pictures standing beside the sign that said, “Grand Canyon” you would miss the point. The signs and miracles can be of that sort. They can be so powerful that they command the attention and admiration of the viewer, but they can hide the purpose of the miracle. The miracles themselves were not the stuff out of which faith is made. Faith comes from knowing the One who creates the miracle.

He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:31 ESV)

He came to him at night.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. One might think this to be an unimportant detail, but something that an eye-witness might think to include. But when you look at the others references to night in John, and the introduction that wrote about the darkness and the light, then perhaps there is something more.

Night and darkness referenced:

Night:

  • John 3:2

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

  • John 9:4

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

  • John 11:10

But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

  • John 13:30

So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

  • John 19:39

Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.

  • John 21:3

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Darkness:

·         John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

·         John 3:19

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

·         John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

·         John 12:35

So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

·         John 12:46

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

The passage present the dark, the night as having a moral component. Nicodemus came to Christ at night, because he was in the dark. There were forces of spiritual darkness at work. The darkness is being engaged in conflict with the Light of the World.

These concepts are important to the message of Jesus and they appear quite remarkably in the account of the Gospel.

Water and spirit.

John 3:5 has been given many different interpretations, from believer’s baptism, to physical human birth, to a hundred other options. But it seems that perhaps the best understand must come from the Old Testament. Jesus points Nicodemus the Old Testament, he was “The Teacher of Israel” an important post, and he would have been teaching the content of (what we now call) the Old Testament. Certainly it must be said that Ezekiel 36:25-27 is one of the most  important of the prophetic proclamations. And in that important declaration, Ezekiel speaks about the cleansing of water (implying the forgiveness of sins) and the giving a new heart by an act of the Spirit. There could not be a clearer picture of the new birth that this section.

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”  (Ezekiel 36:25-27 ESV)

But it was eternal life that Nicodemus did not understand. He should have had some understanding of the promise of sprinkled water and the new heart of flesh. So many in Israel knew something about the life of faith, but they had missed the central point. Faith is knowing God. Believing in God is more than obeying the Law.  Loving God is much more than justifying yourself. Nicodemus was at this point woefully lost and incapable of understanding eternal life. He asked, “How can these things be?”

“You must be born again,” Jesus told him.

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Glory in a Sign

Overview of Chapter Two

2:1–11 The miracle at Cana of Galilee
2:7-10 Wine made from water
2:11 the declaration about the First Sign
2:11 down to Capernaum
2:12 up to Jerusalem during the Passover
2:14-17 Cleansing of the Temple
2:18 the Jews demand a sign
2:19–22 The Temple and his body
2:22 the sign of the resurrection
2:23 Jesus at the Passover
2:24 Jesus’ caution about the “faith” of men
2:25 His independence from and knowledge of men (preparation for 3:1, There was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemas ….”)

1. After the Hymn to the Logos 1:1-18, the Evangelist turns to the ministry of John the Baptist.

a. John the Baptist boldly announced Christ as the Messiah, the Lamb of God, at this time in his ministry, but in Matthew 11:1ff (and parallels) he asks for another confirmation that Jesus is indeed the Coming One. When John was in prison, about to die, he seemed to need further assurance from Christ. Christ gave him great words of confirmation.

b. Some of the Baptizer’s disciples left him and followed Jesus. This seemed to spark the selection of his disciples. Jesus welcomed the disciples of John – one of whom was Andrew – who found Peter, his brother …. and John, whom Jesus accepted. Then Jesus found Phillip, who found Nathanael (1:45–48).

c. Jesus promised greater glory in the future to those who followed him (1:51).

2. The time of the sign is given: “Three days later.” The site of the wedding was about 60 miles away from the place of John’s ministry. In this place, Cana, there was a wedding and Jesus’ mother was there.

a. Jesus does not address Mary as his mother, or by name in the whole of the Gospel.

b. He is careful to address her as “Woman,” though he identifies her as John’s mother when he committed her care to John when he was on the cross,

i. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:26-27 ESV)

ii. This may bring to mind the call of Jesus regarding physical parents, children, and kin, that “whoever follows me … must hate father, mother, …” See Luke 14:26.

c. The wedding was not a completely public event. The people there were invited.

d. The hour.

i. Jesus’ reply to his mother is centered on his “hour.” “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)

1. His hour has “not yet come” in 2:4; 7:30; and 8:20.

2. His hour has arrived in 12:23, 27; 13:1; and 17:1.

ii. The condition of the miracle was not to rest on the desire of his mother, but on the fulfillment of his ministry, and of the will of the Father (see John 5:19, ‘So Jesus said to them,

1. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” (John 5:19 ESV)

iii. There is a tension between the rebuff of Mary and his immediate willingness to help resolve the dilemma at the wedding celebration, “They have run out of wine.”

1. Mary is now powerless to compel him to act. But she is hopeful that he will answer the need she identified. She is not rebuffed. She immediately prepares for his reply and answer by telling the servants to “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5)

2. This is the life of faith in a Sovereign God. He does what he wants/ He loves his children and delights to answer their prayers/ But he does only what he chooses to do for his glory / And he delights in our faith and worship and he acts for our good and blessing.

iv. The principle seems to be that Jesus, at this point in his life and ministry is not directed by or engaged in ministry solely on the direction of his mother. That time had passed. His role as her son was replaced by his identity as the Son of the Father, the Son of God, Messiah, Lamb of God. So everything he did was to be focused on his new and expanding ministry leading to the Cross in every choice and word.

v. The miracle was limited in scope. Few people at the wedding knew, at the time, what had happened.

1. It would seem that only the servants who filled the water jugs and drew out the new wine were aware. His disciples knew, also. But beyond that, the chief steward didn’t give credit to Jesus for the miracle, he praised the Groom (see 2:9).

2. It could be that few knew about the miracle except the disciples and the servants. Perhaps after the festivities settled down, word would spread about the miracle.

vi. The result was that his disciples believed. An overview of faith in John’s Gospel:

1. John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

2. John 1:50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

3. John 20:8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;

4. John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

5. John 20:31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.)

3. Cleansing of the Temple.

a. Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.”

b. Lightfoot notes (in John):

i. He condemned Jewish Worship.

ii. He destroyed the Old Order.

iii. He brings his Work and Ministry into focus.

c. Three uses of Temple.  Matthew 12:6, “I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here.

i.The Temple in Jerusalem

ii. The Temple of Jesus’ physical body (which would be resurrected).

1. It was the promise of Jesus that he “would destroy the temple and in three days it would rise again,” that was one of the chief charges against Jesus by the Pharisees. It was a charge of treason against the Temple and was punishable by death. (see Matthew 26:61; 27:40)

iii. The Temple of our bodies as Christians, in whom God resides today. (See 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17; 6:19)

d. Jesus drives out those selling and changing money for the pilgrims who traveled great distances to come and worship at the Temple.

i. He drives them out. See 2:14-17.

ii. The prophecy about the Temple of his body: “Destroy this temple and, in three days, I will raise it up.” (John 2:18)

4. Jesus’ refusal to trust people (2:23-25).

a. The report is that many people believed because of the signs he performed.

i. He continued his healing ministry in Jerusalem, having begun the signs in Cana.

ii. But they though they believed in Jesus, Jesus didn’t believe in them. The same Greek word is used in both places – they believed, but Jesus didn’t believe “did not entrust himself to them” – same word (see John 2:23–24).

5. Applications from John 2

a. Jesus is the Lord of every event, every occasion, every interview, every contact, everything.

b. Jesus, even today, only does what he sees the Father doing.

c. Jesus is not subject to human relationships and loyalties.

d. He is Sovereign over matters of faith and salvation.

e. He is able to create anything (wine) out of anything (water). (He turns water into wine every day, through natural means.)

f. He is not limited or constrained by anything or anyone, when he does the will of his Father.

g. His miracles do not cause faith – they confirm the faith that is there. People do not believe solely because of the miracle, they believe in Christ who performs the miracles. Christ gave the signs and wonders to strengthen our faith in him. But he didn’t need them if our faith had been stronger.

h. Christ is completely unmoved by people. He is guarded about peoples’ promises and enthusiasm.

i. Jesus is questioning of our requests, but willing to take them all to the Father.

j. Like Mary, we should leave our requests, more as stating a fact or a need, and then wait to see what Jesus will do to meet it.

k. He is able to refuse every request, but willing to grant them, for his glory and for our good, as he sees fit.

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Worship

Astonished

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 ESV)

Christ made everything. Every seed, every blossom, down to every molecule in anything and everything, he made. He gave us the ability to taste and he made things with sweetness, sour, and spice.

He made our eyes, then he created the rainbow and stars for us to see. He formed every child, down to the tiny, soft, hairs on their little heads. He made the stuff you are sitting on and all the water you drink.

He created all the photons and he is responsible for every glimmer of light – everywhere in all creation. He made each and every electron for all the power there is, and he made every sub-atomic particle, many we don’t yet know exist, and they are holding the universe together.

He made the wind and so every breeze is his. He made the storm and created the calm. Snow was his idea, as is the heat of Summer. He hears your every word and is the only other person who knows what you are thinking and so he is listening to all your prayers.

He died on a tree he created in seed and soil, he caused it to live and to be strong enough to hold his body so he could die on it. He formed the hill on which it stood. He fashioned, by his spoken word alone, the Earth that held the hill on which the tree stood. He made our planet from nothing and set it in a solar system he designed, within a galaxy he set in a field of millions of galaxies, in a universe that is absolutely dependent on him in every way for its very existence.

And he made you.

Give a little credit.

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Worship

Imagine a new world.

Imagine a world where no one and nothing, no possession, no person, no experience, no thought or action, no longing or desire, is more important than God.

It is coming.

Imagine a world in which no one grieves or sins against God in the smallest degree, or breaks his heart or puts out the Spirit’s flame; this place has no one who disobeys him and no one who even thinks about rebelling against his will.

It is coming.

Imagine a world of absolute, extensive, and comprehensive beauty, a beauty that is seen and expressed everywhere and in everything that is made with astounding loveliness; that beauty everywhere and in everything, emanates from the very glory of God.

It is coming.

Imagine a world without lies, or liars.

It is coming.

Imagine a world without lust, greed, or pride.

It is coming.

Imagine a world without grief, or sin, or death.

It is coming.

Imagine a world without selfishness.

It is coming.

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Bible Study

Colossians 4:2. Praying for the worth of it.

Praying as privilege and partnership with God.

Colossians 4:2ff. Paul’s conclusion to the Colossian letter is driven by the principle that Christ is dwelling within the physical body of Christian people, and that to pray is to communicate with God, and it is to be involved directly in the work of God in the world. Prayer seems to be an annoyance to many, a drudgery to some, and a waste of time. Many Christians think that God is going to do what God wants to do, and that prayer has nothing to do with it. That is a view of the fatalist not the Christian. God loves our prayers and he is intent on listening to them and answering them according to his purposes. God has an intimate connection with the life of the believer in Christ and there is a leading of the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18), and there is communication from the Christian to God, by means of prayer. Prayer is described in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, as “without ceasing.” It seems to be pretty important.

Colossians 4:2 – “Devote yourselves to prayer”(NIV), or “Continue steadfastly in prayer” (Colossians 4:2 ESV). There is in this direction, the exhortation to be serious about the content and the preparation of prayer. Prayer can be spontaneous and emotional, when called for. There is no prohibition on the panicked prayer offered up in an emergency, but prayer driven by our devotion to God and expressed in continued steadfastness, are here addressed. This is about a more regular and sustainable — a long-term — kind of prayer.

Preparing to pray.

To pray with devotion and steadfastness would require ordering our prayers and organizing them in some way. Concerted effort is not just in the offering of the prayer with physical engagement and emotional energy, there is work to prepare, time to think through what should be prayer about, and commitment to keep at the “work of prayer.” There is not only the continued habit of prayer, but the desire to pray well, with dignity, and thoroughly in our address to our Heavenly Father.

The Greek term translated “be devoted to” in the NIV, means, “continue in, keep close company with, be ready (as in preparing to embark on a boat-trip), to prepare for an event prior to it.” As applied to prayer, it means that there is serious consideration as to the content of the prayer, and the preparation of the one who is praying. This means that there is taking into account (a list perhaps) those things that need prayer, those individuals and events that merit prayer, and those matters of communion with God that are desired and necessary (confession, praise, thanksgiving, and the rest).

Practically, this would indicate a season of confession of sins, removing of offenses before God. It would certainly direct us to forgive others of their transgressions, as we have been forgiven ours. There is also a taking into account the long-term nature of the relationship with God, the encouraging truth that in our requests God always hears but he may delay or deny our petition. But the long-term nature of our relationship with God extends through the rest of our natural life and then continues forever with God in his home in Heaven. We see the eternal aspect to prayer that should keep us at it, not of weeks, or months, but for decades and then for eternity.

The preparation of prayer may be as simple as finding a place and a time in which you can pray. Many young Christian mothers, rise early before the family wakes, to have time alone and quiet with God. Busy people pray in the car, or while walking. If you put ear-buds in your ears while walking, people think you are listening to music, but you may just be praying in the silence afforded by the buds plugged into nothing, except God through Jesus Christ, by the Spirit’s help and his tender encouragement. Wonderful silence.

Be watchful in prayer.

The NIV omits the phrase, “in prayer” [lit. in it], and Colossians 4:2 reads like a list of three separate items, as if to say, “Be devoted to prayer; be watchful; be thankful.” But the grammar clearly points to three aspects of prayer. Devotion, watchfulness, and thanksgiving. The NET has Col. 4:2 this way: “Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving,” all referring to prayer. This is a solid rendering.

Preemptive praying is watching people, paying attention to how people act, what they say, and noticing what they do. Watchful prayer looks for danger signs, for changes in attitudes, for weaknesses, for character flaws, and it makes those matters of prayer. Now, we don’t always understand what is driving a reaction, an expression of frustration, a poor attitude in another person, and we can and often get these things wrong. But watchfulness pays attention, and if there is an opportunity to ask, you may learn what is going on. But without being presumptuous, you can still pray for a friend who looks distressed, who is short in her replys and course in her language, who is pulling back from a friendship. You don’t know what the issue is until she tells you (even then, it may not be all of it), but you can still identify and pray for a need that is unknown to you but is known completely to your Father in Heaven. Be watchful of others and pray for them.

Be watchful of yourself, of course. The watchfulness is the same word as the guard on the city wall. You see the danger approaching as a distance – it may be a huge dust storm that would devastate a city, or a powerful tornado that would ravage a city’s people, or it could be a marauding army coming to pillage your town. But the watchman (watchwoman) stands guard and is paying attention. Watchful prayer is being aware of what is going on around you, in other people, and in the distance as far as you can see. Be watchful, not presumptuous and pray like mad.

With thanksgiving.

It has been said thousands of time that the best way to train a child to pray is to teach them to thank God for his gifts. A 4 year old can thank God earnestly for her new toy and describe it to the God of Heaven in tender details, explaining to him how much she loves it and how glad she is that God let her have it. Such expressions are very much in line with our thankfulness as mature believers as we pray to the God of Heaven. We make a listing of the things that God has provide. We give him praise for his gifts and we understand that the gift, as does every good and perfect gift, comes from God (see James 1:17).

Thanksgiving is simple and child-like prayer but it is the kind of prayer that should last our whole life long. When should you cease to be thankful? Thanksgiving is on the lips of God’s people in glory (see Revelation 7:12). All of eternity will be offering thanks to God for his salvation and in praise of his glory, forever.

Start with thanksgiving in your first prayer to the Father and keep praying that way forever.

Summary of Colossians 4:2.

Learn to pray by praying. Prayer is not learned by reading a book on prayer. Almost all books on prayer are dismal (O. Hallesby’s, Prayer, is an exception, and there may be a few others, but most are dreadfully dull or completely useless).

Learning to pray by praying means that every believer doesn’t need to learn to pray, they need to be disciplined enough in their day to take time for praying. Prayer is never difficult for the child of God. It is excruciating when we are locked in sin, or frustrated that God didn’t meet some want of our wants. But prayer is never more than a second from our hearts, and he gives us all we need as children of the Living God (Matthew 6:33).

It is right to think of this practical section in Colossians 4 as the outworking of the great mystery of the Christian faith, “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” see Colossians 1:26, 27; 2:2. The presence of Christ indwelling the Christian’s physical body should be inducement enough to pray and to seek fellowship with our God-within.

The Holy Spirit of God, of course, dwells within us as well.

John 14:17, “even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Romans 8:9, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

2 Timothy 1:14, “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” (ESV)

So prayer is not a matter of sending a trans-Universe message beyond the stars to a God, far, far, away. It is speaking to the God who lives within, close, inner-personal (and interpersonal). Prayer is not hard. It is our life with God.

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The Word of God in the life of the believer.

My sin, your sin and the honor of Christ.

Sin hurts. 

When a Christian fails or falls into sin, all who love them are wounded by what they do. The Savior is insulted by the deed. And most difficult to repair, the world has one more compelling reason to think we are all fools for believing Christ and trusting his promises. Your sin makes Christ appear to be an inglorious liar. 

Guard your heart. Christians are connected to every other redeemed person. We are members of one another. When you fail, we all who know you feel it. We all grieve what you have done. We who love you and who love God are deeply affected by what you do in disobedience to God. So close is our connection to you, that when you fail, we are bruised. 

When we fail, the whole Church is stabbed by our treason against God. My sin affects you. You feel it with a sorrow deeper and more tender than any other human connection. When you sin, it breaks my heart. 

My sin hurts you. Your sin hurts me. Consider the price those who love you must pay when you disobey and do what you know is sin. Private sins become public. Hidden sins are brought into the light. The things done in secret are shouted from the rooftops. Of course. Jesus promised they would (see Luke 12:3). 

Your life matters. We are members one with another. We are the Body of Christ.

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Philosophy of ministry.

Mimicry.

Don’t look to others.

How much do I give of my life to God? Just as much as he, or almost as much as she? What will our church create in program and mission? Will we become like the “fastest growing church in America,” or something else, something better?

Don’t look to others human institutions to see what a church should do or how it should be run. Don’t look to people to see how much you should value or think of God or how much you should love him.

When it feels like everyone is imitating the popular, the famous, the models and successful, what could be wrong in that?

We are painfully incapable, it would seem in this day of mimicry, to be able to do anything without comparing ourselves to others. We buy a car because he bought one. We watch a TV show because they watch it. We buy a cell phone because our friends have one. We shop here, vacation there, decorate our house, eat gluten-free (for no reason), vote for this political party, all because she does. We are alarmingly addicted to other people, even, and sadly, especially in our life with God.

Our addictive culture can’t keep from looking at others to determine how much, how deeply, how consistently, we should love, worship, serve, or sacrifice for, God. This mimicry deeply impacts how we live our life with God. We adopt Christian lingo, worship in ways that are really pretty silly. Then we praise successful, best-selling writers who are idiots and congratulate ourselves that we become, through an embarrassing act of self-doubt and false faith, like other people who are popular, famous, or influential. Stop it!

Instead, look to God. Don’t measure your godliness by what others do. Don’t congratulate yourself that you are just like others whom you admire. The bar is set far too low. You praise yourself much too easily. Godliness is not mimicking other people, it is being like Christ.

Doing what others do is a form of selfishness. You protect yourself by making easy choices, walking in line, saying what others say, becoming like THEM. It betrays the truth, and it substitutes any authentic life with God for follow-the-leader. It exposes an alarming lack of creativity and insight. Doing what others do is the road to judgment not glory.

Don’t look to others. Look to God. And in that perspective, and apart from what any other human being does or says, make your decisions and live your life for God completely.

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Bible Study

Redeeming submission.

Colossians 3:17ff. Submission, Love, Obedience, and Service

Working through the “submission” and “obey” sections in Colossians 3:17ff., it is interesting that every command — wives to submit, husbands to love, children to obey, slaves to serve — all point to Christ as the model of submission, love, obedience, and service. Christ is also a restraint against any abuse of the principles taught. Marriage is to be a mirror of the relationship between Christ and the Father and between Christ and his Church. Christ demonstrates submission to the Father. He shows his great love for the Father in submission to his will (“not my will, but yours be done”), and his redeeming love for the Church. Submission, love, obedience, and service can only be understood by seeing how Christ did them all.

There is no justification for a husband to be cruel or domineering to his wife because of the command that she must submit to him. It is like saying that icecream is a murder weapon — because someone was hit over the head with a block of ice. Icecream and the murder weapon have nothing in common except the temperature of the ice. The principle of submission, as it is presented in Scripture, is at the center of the relationship of Christ for his Father. Submission becomes foundational for the way the Church relates to God. Submission is irreplaceable in the manner in which every Christian relates to God by faith. Submission appears in the way each Christian relates to every other Christian. Submission, when understood in Christ and applied by faith, becomes the way wives relate to their husbands — children to parents, slaves to masters. Our difficult with submission rests in our difficulty being submissive.

Scriptures denunciate any notion that the wife’s submission gives the husband the right to be harsh with her. It specifically forbids any unkindness or unloving act of the husband toward his wife, as Christ loved the Church and loved her redemptively, sacrifically, and completely. Even so, that is how husbands are to love their wives, see Ephesians 5:25. They are commanded in Scripture, in the context of submission, “do not be harsh with (your wives),” see Colossians 3:18. Who could object to that kind of treatment — hubands loving their wives, not being harsh with them, as Christ loved the Church? Where is the seed for mistreatment there? There is none. Just practical instruction on how to be kind and loving in marriage. The seed for mistreatment comes not in submission but in sin.

The objection to submission, as it is rejected in our day generally and in principle today, must rest in our difficulty submitting to God. That is the great stumbling block that many cannot overcome when the subject of submission comes up. Some people hate the word. But rejecting the word out of hand it to reject the center of Christ’s relationship with his Father, and the chief principle by which the Church relates to God, and how husbands and wives relate to one another, and how children relate to their parents, and slaves to masters (and by extension, workers to their bosses).

By refusing to submit to God, husbands treat their wives unkindly, abusively, harsely. But by refusing to submit to their godly husbands, wives become separated from the love of their husband and his protection. They cannot submit to God, because they will not submit to anyone. The issue is not that their husband is cruel, it is that they must do what another person wants them to do. It is here where our sin cries “foul” and we kick against submission as a great evil, when it is the greatest gift of life.

Submitting to God is the way to peace with him. A godly woman’s submission to her godly husband, is the surest way to happiness and peace. But not in our day. Submission is evil, an invitation to abuse, and Medieval. But it is none of those things. It is freedom and joy and safety, when lived in the way that Scripture presents it. It is the greatest freedom to give up our rights to One who loves us the most and who has nothing but our best interest and our supreme happiness in his heart (husband or Savior in mind here).

There is nothing in the Bible that can permit, tolerate, or endorse any mistreatment of a Christian wife by her Christian husband. Submission of a wife to a husband assumes a husband truly loves her, and he loves her like Christ loves the Church. There is redemption in that relationship, not hatred and abuse, nor is their unkindness and harshness. There is, to the contrary, love and mercy, forgiveness and sacrifice of the husband toward the wife he loves more than his own life. And there is found the submission and love from the wife toward her husband. There is discovered, as a beautiful diamond, respect and deferrence, trust and love.

The snarls and grimmaces are viceral when submission comes up. In current day discussions (especially around marriage vows, “I won’t say ‘submit'”) hatred of submission is categorical. But that rage is simply not justified by the teaching of Paul. He defends and gives protection for women against abusive husband domination. He celebrates submission of all Christians, one to the other. As Christ to the Father, even so we to each other, especially wives to husbands. In each case of obedience, submission, obedience, and love, submission mirrors the relationship of Christ to the Father.

It turns the Scriptures upside down to castigate Paul for teaching submission as an unfair and sub-human condition resulted every time the word “submit” is uttered. As though this wonderful and essential word has become a “dirty” word. If submission is good for all Christians, it is good for wives. If it is good for all Christians, is good for husbands, too. But submission isn’t horrible because some men are jerks or because some women don’t want to submit either to God or their husbands. In the same way it would be a grotesque reading of Scripture to say that Paul encouraged slavery when he was simply and wisely encouraging faithful service from slaves to their masters. Paul called himself a “slave of Jesus Christ” as he identified himself in the greeting of most of his letters. Neither does Paul endorse the horror of slavery when he tells slaves to obey their masters. But there is something in that slave-master relationship that is part of the Christian life and the experience of everyone who is a believer living in submission and obedience to God. We relate to God as Christians as though we were his slaves serving our loving Lord (“Master”). Being a slave of Jesus Christ is an incredible honor for us. His Mastery and Lordship can be trusted and our service to him freely given. Slaves can serve their earthly masters, rendering service “as to the Lord.” It was not Paul’s agenda to end slavery in the Roman world. But neither does Paul celebrate or agree with slavery. He is living in a world in which slavery exists. But he sees in the slave/master relationship something that rings true of the relationship we have with our Lord. Slavery can be horrible, but not if your Master is wonderful. Submission to Christ is wonderful, but neither does he endorse submission to a cruel and abusive husband.

The New Testament is not a civil rights manual. It is not a marriage manual. It is a “Christ is enough in every circumstance” manual.

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