This post is a lot of speculation, and naturally I may be wrong. But I might be right too. 😉
Last night I was reading and meditating John 1 and 2. I was using my movie screenwriter and director meditation technique. That is, as I read, I pause and think about how the words could show up in a movie. I think about reactions, gestures, emotions etc. It really helps the Scripture “come alive” to me. Consider this part of John 1. Two of John the Baptist’s disciples leave John and follow Jesus.
35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
John 1:35-39 NKJV
This is a rough draft of a possible script.
FADE IN:
NEAR BETHANY ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE JORDAN RIVER - DAY
JOHN THE BAPTIST and two of his disciples, ANDREW and UNNAMED.
John the Baptist and his two disciples are standing, having a casual, friendly conversation.
JESUS, the Son of God.
John the Baptist shifts his eyes from the two disciples and stops talking in mid sentence. The two disciples turn to look where John is looking. They see Jesus walking parallel to them about 20 yards away.
JOHN THE BAPTIST
(softly, with love and reverence)
Behold the Lamb of God!
The two disciples become visibly excited. Several times they change between looking at Jesus and looking at John the Baptist. When they look at John, their eyes clearly say they want to leave John and follow Jesus. But they do not say a word.
John's expression shows he understands their unspoken wish. He smiles, but the smile has just a hint of sadness. Looking at his two disciples, he raises his right arm to chest level, and motions them away by waving his fingers, palm down. The disciples understand, smile, and quickly turn and hustle off after Jesus, who is now further away. John watches them leave.
JOHN THE BAPTIST
(softly, to himself)
He must increase; I must decrease.
(chuckles)
That's a pretty good saying. I'm going to remember it.
The disciples walked very quickly as they left John the Baptist. But as they get closer to Jesus, they slow down. Their expressions and manners show they are both very excited and very apprehensive about meeting The Lamb Of God. Unable to work up the courage to catch up to Jesus, they follow Him about six steps behind. The three of them walk some distance like this. The smile and expression on Jesus' face shows he knows they are behind Him, and He loves them. He stops without turning around. The two disciples stop. Jesus takes two steps and they take two steps. The disciples are so excited and apprehensive they have had about all they can take. Jesus decides to give them a break. He turns around.
JESUS
What do you seek?
The two disciples make nervous motions and their lips move. It is obvious they want to ask "Are You really the Messiah?" or "Are You really the Lamb of God?" But they are just unable to ask something that important. The two disciples exchange a look and finally speak.
ANDREW
Rabbi,
(pauses, unable to continue)
UNNAMED
(spoken quickly, almost a blurt)
Where are you staying?
From their expressions, it is obvious all three know the real question which the disciples were unable to ask. Jesus smiles, and motions with his head that they should follow Him.
JESUS
Come and see.
The disciples walk towards Jesus. When they get close enough Jesus puts an arm on each of their shoulders. All three walk in the direction Jesus was going.
They must have had a wonderful conversation where Jesus was staying because of what Andrew immediately told his brother.
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).
John 1:39-41 NKJV
This part of John 1 is now very “real” to me. 🙂
John 2 starts with the story of Jesus changing water into wine at wedding in Cana in Galilee. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about a movie of the first five verses:
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
John 2:1-5 NKJV
I haven’t made a full script of this yet, but these are some of my thoughts.
- Weddings are some of the best-planned events ever. The planning for the WWII D-Day landings on Normandy was a slap-stick operation by comparison to some of the weddings I know about. 😉 I think this is especially true of Jewish weddings. With all the teaching I have heard about Jewish weddings from Matthew 24, that the wedding was planned for a full year, it seems impossible to me that the wedding “just ran out of wine” for lack of planning.
- The text says, “Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.” Oh, really? I assume the invitation went out quite some time before, probably months. But as I read John 1 and John 2, one week before the wedding Jesus had no disciples. “The next day…” 1:35; “The next day…” 1:43; “On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.” 2:1. Therefore my current set of suppositions is that Jesus and His mother Mary had formal invitations to the wedding, and when Jesus made it to Cana He left His disciples on the edge of town. But someone heard about His posse and they were invited too. “Oh, come and celebrate with us. We have plenty!” And those ‘invited wedding crashers’ were more thirsty than hungry and the wedding ran out of wine.
- In the “movie in my mind” with the supposition Jesus’ disciples were “invited last-minute guests” who were quite thirsty, Mary’s two statements more or less “guilt” Jesus into performing the miracle. She was a Jewish mother, after all. 😉 Not that Jesus would be moved by guilt, but by love. 🙂
So how many disciples went to the wedding in Cana with Jesus? John 1 names five: Andrew, Unnamed, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael. But we know from the replacement-for-Judas story of Acts 1 that there were at least three more.
21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
Acts 1:21-22 NKJV
There had to be at least three, because they selected two.
And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
Acts 1:23 NKJV
There may have been many more. Jesus sent out “the twelve” and “seventy others.”
1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Luke 9:1-2 NKJV
After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.
Luke 10:1 NKJV
I may be completely wrong about the disciples being last-minute invitees (“crashers”) to the Cana wedding. But it makes an interesting mind-movie, and potentially explains much. 🙂
Has the rapture happened?
You can still be saved and go to heaven!
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Are you following God's plan for your life?
You should.
Your plan is not going to work.
It is a really, really bad plan.
Please come to Jesus to escape your plan!
Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
Jesus is coming.
Are you ready to meet Him?
Give your life to Jesus Christ.
Time is running out.
Lift Up Your Eyes! 