The Emphasis in John's Account on the Disciples' Faith

I've been intrigued by Jn 2.11 where it is said that after seeing the sign of water into wine and the manifestation of Christ's glory, 'his disciples believed [put their faith, NIV] in him'.

What's intriguing about that you might ask?
Well, the text doesn't comment for example on the belief or otherwise of anyone else. Not the servants who filled the stone jars or the 'master of the banquet' (NIV)--all of these knew about the miraculous sign--but the active faith of the disciples.

The gospel writer is sophisticated and chooses his words and themes carefully and as responsible readers we must do that same. That this observation above is not just happenstance is seen in the fact that in the same chapter after Jesus has driven out the money changers out of the temple precincts, a similar statement is made (Jn 2.22). And in this statement, the author projects us into the post-resurrection period when the disciples 'recalled what he had said [about his body being raised in three days]. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken' (NIV).

Even before John 2.11 we've heard about the faith of the disciple by either implication as in Andrew's, Simon Peter's and Philip's cases or directly as in Nathaniel's case. The latter scorns the idea that anything good can come out of Nazareth but is confronted by the Son of Man who knows him and confesses that he is the Son of God, the King of Israel (Jn 1.49).

Why is the writer so focussed on the disciples' faith?

At least one of the answers to that question is found in Jn 2.23-25. This little passage is slightly discordant in terms of the above because Jesus, we notice, doesn't take the faith of those who see his signs at face value. He calls a certain disciple group to trust in Him and in turn he is entrusting himself to them.

But apparently not to everyone because 'he knew all men'; he knew their instability and fickleness it would appear and his time 'had not yet come' to be handed over to be executed (which has been alluded to in verse 4 and verses 19-21).

The faith of the disciples is going to grow throughout the gospel account and even after the Resurrection; so we should take heart. The faith that we have today by God's grace is going to grow as we mature in union with our Lord Jesus Christ.