The second Sign... part 1...

We begin into the second sign today, and I find it powerful that certain things are in play with this one.  But for our first portion, we're going to cover one of the simplest lessons that can be taught about Biblical study, and we're going to make a specific point very clear.

Sign #2 - Healing the Official's Son

"Then He went again to Cana of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine."

John 4:46a

There is an old saying (which I will paraphrase, but not quote), which teaches the importance of paying attention to things that are repeated.  Patterns tend to form when repetition occurs, and those patterns can be examined and learned from.  Better than that, those patterns can be taken apart and put back together, and they are proven to be accurate through that process.  And when a word or action or thought or theme is repeated in the Word, we should all take notice.

We return to Cana... we're back at the site of the first Sign.  Please recall, Jesus headed back this way purposefully, and He took the path that placed Him in a Samaritan village so that He could speak to a specific woman at the well about salvation and grace.  As a dear friend of mine pointed out to me last night, Jesus went out of His way to find the lowest of the low, and encourage that person specifically.  And after doing so, and revealing Himself as Messiah to her, we arrive back in Cana.

It even states in the verse that He goes "again" to Cana, so the point that we need to take away from that is that there is a level of importance being placed here.  And if we reflect back on this small town, and the servant who saw the first Sign performed and then believed in Him, there is a lot that can be said about a return to the same small community to perform another Sign before them.  (In a way, it's a lot like a grassroots movement that starts in small towns and grows into something unstoppable... actually, it's exactly that!) 

We'll discuss an even bigger point next, but for now, in both this and other studies, make certain you pay attention to the repetitions in Scripture.  Think about it this way: if it weren't of any importance, it wouldn't have been written down at all... and it certainly wouldn't have been repeated.

God bless you all!!!