Johns Gospel: Missing the Messiah

Reading through John's gospel, you can easily be forgiven for simply reading it as a series of unrelated stories and accounts. An introduction of who Jesus is, the introduction of his ministry on Earth, and now a celebration at a local wedding. But John's gospel account is anything but that. What you will begin to see while you meditate on it, is that just below the surface, within the subtext, there are more layers. For years Christians have fiercely debated that the very nature of humanity isn't simply "survival of the fittest", and that our lives aren't only “eat, sleep and repeat”. But how do you emphasise the joyousness and the fullness of life in relationship with the Father, to those who haven't experienced it themselves? John’s audience would be intimately familiar with the legalistic ceremonial cleaning rituals, as well as the significance of water being central to life and health. The ancient stories in their bones of their liberation from Egypt, where Yahweh turned the water in the Nile to blood would certainly not have been lost on them either. Remarkably, Jesus highlights the danger and futility within “ritual” itself by showing us that ritual is pointless unless it leads to “knowing”, and that central to our humanity is something more joyous than simply “existing”. How many of us are caught focusing on the ritual without seeing the truth? Jesus turns water into wine to show us that life is a celebration - and that it is here for us to have now, and given in abundance. Find out, as Lead Pastor Stuart Starr brings us this new message from John 2, why humanity can’t thrive on bread and water alone, but by having abundance in Christ.   [bible passage="Mark 7:1-12" heading="h3"]   [bible passage="John 2:1-11" heading="h3"]