January 10th, 2026

The transition has been made from Christmas to Epiphany. One of the titles for this Sunday is the First Sunday after Epiphany, with the word “Epiphany” seen as a fancy English word (based on a Greek word) for “manifestation” or “appearance”. And Jesus began to be revealed for his public ministry in his special baptism by John the Baptist. Therefore the title of “The Baptism of our Lord” is usually seen as the most familiar title for this Sunday. And since this year, with it being year A, we are looking mainly at the Gospel according to Matthew, and so the Gospel text for this Sunday is Matthew 3:13-17.

It took a little while to explain where we currently are when it comes to the church year, and it will also take a little while to explain the purpose of these writings, where we currently are when it comes to looking at a part of the bible. These writings are designed to help you take a closer look at the scriptures, and it is also suggested that you also use your own bible or a study bible, mainly because with the writings of this website, a part of the scriptures is given in a unique translation, and it is a translation that you might find a bit unusual.

For the last three years in the writings on this website, we have been going through the three similar Gospel accounts, usually taking a small section at a time, not skipping anything, and sometimes that happens in the appointed texts for the Sunday. And a very unique, extremely literal translation is given to each section. And sometimes there are comments about that section. This year we have been going through the Gospel according to John, and it is significantly different from the others. We are still going through the account in much the same way as the others, having a unique and literal translation.

The writing of last week went through the entire text of what is typically called chapter three of the Gospel according to John. It was a long text, and the purpose of studying such a long text was to study a short text for this week. We will be looking at the beginning of what is typically called chapter four of the Gospel according to John.
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Much could be said about literally ANY verse of the bible. Much has already been said about a LOT of bible verses. What has unfortunately happened because of the division of the bible into chapters and verses is that a clearer view of the literary structure of the text is not so easily seen. When you are reading one of the books of the bible, and the chapter numbers keep getting higher, you get the idea that you are going farther and farther away from the beginning of the book. With that kind of structure, you may be reminded of who wrote the words of the text. But what is the literary structure of the text you are currently reading? Where are some of the more important points that the writer wants to get across? It may be hinted at in the beginning. But it is probably somewhere near the end. But what is the progression leading up to that point? Because of the structure of chapter and verses, the literary structure of a work may not be very obvious.

Within the Gospel according to John, the clear designation of a first and second sign by the writer may point to the text as a type of blessing. In much the same way as a pastor has two hands and may raise them up at the end of a service to give a blessing, and in much the same way as the picture of an open hand shows that good things may be given out, Jesus did these two miracles, and some good things come from them.

The miracle designated as a first sign was at the beginning of what is called chapter two, and Jesus essentially turned water into wine. But Jesus did the whole thing in a very secretive way. And it was a very good thing. And it was extremely good wine! And the text says that his disciples believed in him.

The miracle designated as the second sign was at the end of what is called chapter four, and Jesus healed an official’s son, from a long distance away this time. And a similar result occurred, that the official and all his house believed. Again, something good happens as a result.

Sometimes what is in the middle of things is important in terms of its literary structure. As the head of a man is in the middle of the two hands that are lifted up, the middle is a very important thing in that case. And what is in the middle of those two signs will be given below.

This writing is finally to the point where the extremely literal translation of the text is given. If you are familiar with that designation of “extremely literal” in the writings of this website, you may skip the rest of this paragraph. For this extremely literal translation, the words with hyphens occur when more than one English word is used to describe a single word of the ancient Greek. And the words chosen below are meant to point out the close connection that sometimes occurs between the English and Greek languages. Something important to point out is that the order of the words below is also the same order that is in the ancient Greek. (The exception to this is that there are a couple of words that are second in a sentence that are meant to be first when translated.) In general, the verbs appear slightly earlier in the sentence than we have in English. The verbs are in such a special form that they do not need the subject before them in the sentence, as we usually have in English. And generally speaking, the earlier in the sentence, the more important the word is. And although the following did not happen within the translation this time, the words in capital letters are called HISTORICAL PRESENTS and help make the connection between the gospel account and its particular living creature. (For the Gospel according to John it is the eagle.) And although it should be somewhat obvious, it should be mentioned that a word which is repeated is important.

So, as was promised, what follows is an EXTREMELY literal translation of what is between the two signs of the Gospel according to John (John 4:1-3):

Therefore,  as  he-knew,  the-One  [Jesus/Lord]  that  they-heard,  the  Pharisees,  that  Jesus,  more  disciples  he-is-making  and  he-is-baptizing  than  John,  although  Jesus  himself  not  he-was-baptizing,  but-on-the-contrary,  the  disciples  of-him;  he-left  the  Judea,  and  he-came-away  again  into  the  Galilee.

Usually brackets are not used within the translation. They exist when there is a difference in the text with the ancient manuscripts. In this case, some of the manuscripts have just “the-One”, some have “the-One, Jesus,” and some have “the-One, Lord.” The writings of this website will not go into great detail regarding such a thing. Such a difference does not happen too often, and when it does, the meaning of the sentence is not changed. In the example above, the One, the Jesus, and the Lord is basically the same person. It is clear that this is talking about the One who came down, who was named Jesus, and who is the Lord over something very important.

It was said about that this is in the middle between the two signs. How much is this in the middle? One of the benefits of such a literal translation is that it helps to point out the number of words that a text possesses. The basis of such a translation is a book called the Novum Testamentum Graece (or “New Testament, Greek”). You might say that is a popular book among people who are concerned about what the Bible has to say, and it is currently in the 28th edition. That text gives the following answer to the centrality of the above text.

Between the word “signs” in John 2:11 and the word “the-One” in John 4:1 there are nine-hundred-and-twenty-five words (925).  And between the word “the-One, Lord” and the word “sign” in John 4:54 there are nine-hundred-and-twenty-one words (921). Those two numbers are especially close, especially when one takes into account that a total of ELEVEN other words are also in brackets in the current 28th edition of the Greek New Testament, six before the middle and five after. It should also be noted that all of these other words are very insignificant differences.

To give an idea of the insignificance, here are the words that are unsure: His (when referring to brothers in 2:12), the (when referring to the name of Nicodemus in 3:4), that (when referring to what John had said; this could also indicate quotation marks), above all he-is (at the end of 3:31); the (when referring to name of Joseph in 4:5), the woman (when referring to “she” in 4:11), in (when referring to “that hour” in 4:53), now (when talking about the sign at 4:54).

One interesting thing is the use of the word “Lord” in the rest of the Gospel according to John. The more frequent use of “Lord” is usually after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the word appears within that context in this account at John 20:20. It is interesting that the other occurrences in this Gospel account are significant and seem to possess a commonality in terms of “sacred acts”.

The above text is closely related to baptism. In John 6:23 the text says that the Lord had given thanks, but the Greek word is “eucharist”, and so, a hint is given that connects the reader or listener to the special supper Jesus starts in the other accounts. It is sometimes is called “Holy Communion” or “The Lord’s Supper”. The title “Lord” also appears at John 11:2, and the title is connected to anointing.

When looking at the Gospel according to John, some have wondered why there was not too much space devoted to the so-called “Last Supper” that appears in the other gospel accounts. But if the previous accounts already had that emphasis, why not have a slightly different emphasis of the same thing within a slightly different account? As was mentioned in previous writings, the living creature connected to this account is the eagle, and the eagle has a much larger perspective than those on the ground.
Yes, much more could be said about just a small text. But that is enough for now. And, as of now, we have a very big Savior. And we have a wonderfully big Bible to point us to that huge and beautiful Savior.