The Deity of Jesus Christ

In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.

For the Law was given through Moses, but grace [the unearned, undeserved favor of God] and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts

Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,

and he looked at Jesus as He walked along, and said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

And Jesus turned and saw them following Him, and asked them, “What do you want?” They answered Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”

One of the two who heard what John said and [as a result] followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas (which is translated Peter).”

The next day Jesus decided to go into Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher, and walking the same path of life that I walk].”

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote about—Jesus from Nazareth, the son of Joseph [according to public record].”

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Here is an Israelite indeed [a true descendant of Jacob], in whom there is no guile nor deceit nor duplicity!”

Nathanael said to Jesus, “How do You know [these things about] me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, when you were still under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Jesus replied, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe [in Me]? You will see greater things than this.”

Miracle at Cana

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;

and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.

When the wine was all gone, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no more wine.”

Jesus said to her, “[Dear] woman, what is that to you and to Me? My time [to act and to be revealed] has not yet come.”

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.

This, the first of His signs (attesting miracles), Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory [displaying His deity and His great power openly], and His disciples believed [confidently] in Him [as the Messiah—they adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him].

First Passover—Cleansing the Temple

Now the Passover of the Jews was approaching, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

So when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said. And they believed and trusted in and relied on the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

But Jesus, for His part, did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people [and understood the superficiality and fickleness of human nature],

who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), we know [without any doubt] that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs [these wonders, these attesting miracles] that You do unless God is with him.”