2 posts tagged “john 2”

So interesting to see this at the beginning of John's gospel where a similar story is at the end of the synoptic gospels. N.T. Wright makes the point that it really seems to be a second unique event because Jesus goes to Jerusalem pretty often throughout John, unlike in the synoptic gospels, and so the Jerusalem temple cleansing at the beginning of his ministry is just not mentioned by the other gospels because they concentrate more on his ministry outside of Jerusalem up until he "sets his face resolutely" to go to Jerusalem.

v 13: Passover, fitting with the "lamb" picture in chapter 1
v 14: he found (in the sense of searched and then found, not stumbled upon - Jesus was seeking out this confrontation)
v 15: this picture of Jesus making a whip of cords really struck me a few months ago as Jack Stockdale pointed this out. Jesus making a whip. People thinking "He wouldn't....would he?....He IS!"
v 17: Zeal for the holiest place in all the world at the time, only Jesus now starts to point to Himself as the temple (v 21)
v 21: Jesus is replacing the old system and the old symbols with himself.
v 24: So great - "many believed", BUT (great reminder) don't "entrust" yourself to people, in other words don't find your fulfillment, your purpose, your value in other people. Why? Because of what is in mankind (v25)

1: John Lennox pointed something out about this in his sermon on John 1-2: Interestingly it's "the third day", making this day 7 so far in John (note the "next day"s in 1:29, 1:35, 1:43). I doubt it's a coincidence John talks about a wedding on the 7th day of his narrative.

2: To be invited to a wedding at the very least shows the kind of person Jesus was NOT: the kind you wouldn't want to invite to a wedding. ;)

7: You know what everyone is thinking: "Oh NOOOO, the wine is out and now Jesus thinks it's time for ANOTHER purification ceremony. Not again!"

8: The big surprise: Through this miracle Jesus points to the fact that His kingdom is not about rites, laws, rules, or regulations, but about being freed to love, to rejoice, to enjoy relationships with each other and with God. He also pointed to the abundance of joy in His kingdom, because 150 gallons of wine is...quite a lot. Finally I see a clear pointing forward by John to the wedding of the Lamb in Revelation. Lamb in chapter 1. Wedding in chapter 2.

10: Overly cautious translation here in the ESV in my opinion. Literally the verb means "to drink until intoxication", i.e. "to get drunk". http://net.bible.org/strong.php?id=3184