Steve Webb  0:00  
Could it be any clearer than that?

Steve Webb  0:10  
Coming to you from Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring! One Year Bible and podcasting since 2004, I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. Today's Gospel Saturday, and we'll begin the book of John by reading the first two chapters. Before we get started, let's have a word of prayer. Our heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your Word, and especially we thank you for the book of John. As we read today, I pray, Lord, that you would open our minds touch our hearts and give us something that we can apply to our lives today. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, let's get going. 

Steve Webb  0:46  
John, chapter 1. 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. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 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.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Steve Webb  6:16  
John, chapter 2. Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his followers were also invited to the wedding. When all the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” Jesus answered, “Dear woman, why come to me? My time has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you to do.” In that place there were six stone water jars that the Jews used in their washing ceremony. Each jar held about twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled the jars to the top. Then he said to them, “Now take some out and give it to the master of the feast.” So they took the water to the master. When he tasted it, the water had become wine. He did not know where the wine came from, but the servants who had brought the water knew. The master of the wedding called the bridegroom and said to him, “People always serve the best wine first. Later, after the guests have been drinking awhile, they serve the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best wine till now.” So in Cana of Galilee Jesus did his first miracle. There he showed his glory, and his followers believed in him. After this, Jesus went to the town of Capernaum with his mother, brothers, and followers. They stayed there for just a few days. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast, Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves. He saw others sitting at tables, exchanging different kinds of money. Jesus made a whip out of cords and forced all of them, both the sheep and cattle, to leave the Temple. He turned over the tables and scattered the money of those who were exchanging it. Then he said to those who were selling pigeons, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place for buying and selling!” When this happened, the followers remembered what was written in the Scriptures: “My strong love for your Temple completely controls me.” Some of his people said to Jesus, “Show us a miracle to prove you have the right to do these things.” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will build it again in three days.” They answered, “It took forty-six years to build this Temple! Do you really believe you can build it again in three days?” (But the temple Jesus meant was his own body. After Jesus was raised from the dead, his followers remembered that Jesus had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus had said.) When Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, many people believed in him because they saw the miracles he did. But Jesus did not believe in them because he knew them all. He did not need anyone to tell him about people, because he knew what was in people’s minds.

Steve Webb  9:11  
Well, Beloved, today, I've got comments on both chapters. John 1 is, in my opinion, the clearest declaration of the deity of Jesus there is. It begins as the book of Genesis does "In the beginning." Genesis says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens in the earth." John says, "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." And then further down, we read, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." Could it be any clearer than that? I have to say that these words thrill me every time I read them, and I've been a believer for over 50 years. This chapter never gets old. In chapter 2, we read of Jesus' first miracle and of his driving out the money changers from the Temple. I'd like to talk about the latter here for a few minutes. The Bible talks about two instances of Jesus doing this, here at the beginning of his ministry and also during his final week. So why did Jesus have an issue with the money changers? According to Exodus 30, verses 11 through 16, a temple tax of a half shekel was required of Jews and visitors from other nations when they offered their sacrifices, and the tax had to be paid with temple coinage. So in order to pay the taxes, all money had to be exchanged for temple money. And those who provided the service of exchanging foreign money into temple money did so at highly inflated profits, thereby taking advantage of those who came to the temple to make sacrifices to God. And they were some who sold sacrificial animals to people who didn't bring their own animals to sacrifice, again, at inflated prices. Others were inspectors of animals to see if they were of high enough quality to be sacrificed. And they would often disapprove of animals forcing the people to buy approved animals for you guessed it, inflated prices. These were the people that Jesus drove from the temple. They were people who extorted money from those who came to worship God, they were operating from a motive of greed. And please note that God established in Mosaic law that the priests were to be supported by the sacrifices that came into the temple. And Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:14, that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel, meaning that they should be supported by the people who hear the Gospel. I mention this because, over the years, I've been criticized for asking for donations to help support Lifespring! Media, and for selling my book "Webb's Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide." I can very confidently say that the donations that I've received for Lifespring! Media and the royalties for my book combined would not even approach $1 an hour if I totaled up the time invested in producing more than 3000 podcast episodes and researching, writing the book, and recording the audio of the nearly 7000 names in the book. The book itself was a two-year endeavor. So if my goal was to extort an exorbitant profit, then I failed miserably. Yes, there are those who have gotten wealthy from preaching the gospel, but I am certainly not one of them. And it never has been my goal which is good. The Podfather himself, Adam Curry, has said many times and only half in jest that being a podcaster is tantamount to taking a vow of poverty and I concur. Well, tell me your thoughts, call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511, or comment via boostagram, or go to comment.lifespringmedia.com. I'll even give you my email address to send comments, steve@lifespringmedia.com. I do read every comment and your comment might just appear on the show. Tomorrow will be Epistle Sunday, and we'll read the book of 2 Thessalonians. We'll also have a time of praise reports and prayer requests and if there's a prayer request or praise that you'd like to share with the Lifespring family let me know at prayer.lifespringmedia.com and I have a praise report tomorrow that I'm really excited to share with you so don't miss tomorrow.

Steve Webb  13:34  
Anonymous has increased their weekly donations to $33.33 which came in today so they're now at the Distinguished Producer level. Thank you, Anonymous. God bless you. And Associate Producer Michael Haner came in today with his weekly $7.77 Stryper donation. Thank you, Michael. God bless you.

Jingle  14:04  
Lifespringmedia.com/support

Steve Webb  14:04  
Scott Snider did today's show art. Thank you, Scott. God bless you. And thanks to Sister Denise, Michael Haner, Jason Paschall, and Sister Brittaney. Thank you for making me a part of your day. Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai