John 2:12-22, The Intruding Jesus

What man has the authority to … Claim to be God (Jn. 5:18)? … Say ‘verily, verily’ (Jn. 5:24, 25, etc.)? … Teach in an authoritative manner (Mt. 7:29)? … Grant forgiveness (Mt. 9:1-8; Ac. 5:30-32; 10:40-43)? … Intrude into private lives, demanding change? Jesus did all this.  Today’s passage brings us face to face with this authority!

The story begins in Capernaum (v12), literally “Kephar Nahum,” the village of Nahum.  It was a city of recent origin but growing importance, a beautiful city on the Sea of Galilee.  If you saw it from the south on a clear day, you would see snow-capped Mt. Hermon in full view to the north.  It was Jesus’ new headquarters after leaving Nazareth (Lk. 4).  He was in Capernaum, and it was Passover time in Jerusalem.  So, Jesus and the disciples went up to the capital city.

There were several types of abuses in the temple area of Jerusalem.  The High Priest demanded the temple tax be paid in shekels, meaning Roman money had to be exchanged.  As it is today, so it was then: the exchange rate always favored the High Priest who profited from the business.  Few animals were brought from homes far away, so lambs, sold at a profit, had to be purchased at the temple.  Those brought from home were inspected for a fee.  Historians agree that the family of Annas (father-in-law to Caiaphas) was very corrupt.  It was this corruption, as well as the fact that arrival at the temple was dominated by the noise of the business, that offended Jesus.  He had what every Jew should have: a zeal for God’s house!

So, Jesus intruded.  He turned over the tables.  Coins went flying, rolling across the stone floor.  And tempers flared.  The question, “what sign,” is in essence, who gave you the authority to do this?  Jesus’ answer served to establish the end-game, if you will, of His life and ministry on earth.  Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.  He did not perform a “sign” at this point, to establish His authority.  But He did set the table for the final sign: His resurrection from the dead!  Here is Richard Lenski’s description of the intruding Christ:

The public ministry of Jesus begins with an act of holy wrath and indignation.  The Son cleans His Father’s house with the lash of the scourge.  No halfway measures, no gradual and gentle correction will do in a matter as flagrant as this.  Here at the very start is the stern and implacable Christ.  … Jesus never lost His self-control; if He had, He would have sinned.  The stern and holy Christ, the indignant, mighty Messiah, the Messenger of the Covenant … is not agreeable to those who want only a soft and sweet Christ.

Is it possible you have rejected Christ because you have feigned offense at His intrusion into your life?  Did he upset you, destroying what you had carefully built?  He has that authority.  His intrusion is your opportunity to submit to Him in faith.

John 2:1-11, The First Miracle (in Galilee)

How could Mary, knowing what she did (Lk. 1:45), still not understand that Jesus must be about His Father’s business (Lk. 2:50)?  How could John the Baptist, knowing what he did, still send from jail to find out if Jesus was really the Christ (Lk. 7:18-19)?  The answer has to do with Jesus’ humanity.  He looked very much like an ordinary human being, which He was.  He was God, but He became “flesh.”  He was Mary’s baby.  He was John’s cousin.  But it was now time for Jesus to reveal that the Son of Man was also the Son of God. 

His “reveal” was at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee.  It was a very human event.  The bride and groom were joined by friends and relatives for a celebration that could go on for days.  Mary was there, and Jesus and His growing group of disciples were also invited.  While this is a “nice” story, we need to keep in mind: it is not about Jesus’ drinking (and creating) wine nor about Jesus’ support of marriage.  The point is that at this wedding, Jesus “manifested His glory” (2:11).

The story turns in v3-5.  Mary, who may have had some responsibility for this feast, told Jesus they were out of wine.  Jesus’ answer was not disrespectful when He called His mother “woman.”  This was how He said it (cf. Jn. 19:26; 20:15).  Literally, His question is, “what to Me and to you?”  Why should I be involved in your affair?  Jesus’ reason for this question is, “My hour has not yet come.”  Up to this point, Jesus has been a son in a family, “the son of Joseph” (Jn. 1:45).  What Mary was asking for required that He become much more open about who He was and why He had come to earth!  It was time to show the signs of His glory.  She was releasing Him from the family to do His Father’s business.

The miracle is pretty straightforward.  Jesus performed a creative act, something only God could do.  He did it without a magic wand or reciting some incantation.  He truly manifested His glory.  As John the Apostle, the human author of this Gospel account, put it: this story was written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (20:31).  Faith in Christ brings conversion, as water to wine, so it is from sinner to saint.

William Hendrikson’s summary of this event is well put:

… everything else remains in the background.  Who was the bridegroom?  We do not know.  Who was the bride?  We are not told.  In exactly what relation did Mary stand to the wedded pair: was she, perhaps, the aunt of bride or groom?  Did Nathanael serve as ‘best man” (friend of the bridegroom)?  Also on this our curiosity receives no satisfaction whatever.  In the full light of day stands the Christ.  All the rest is shadow.  What Rembrandt did for art, John, under the Spirit’s guidance, does for religion.”

The issue is the person of Christ: is He the Son of God? 

John 1:35-51, Gospel Bridges (The Right Approach, 2)

We are considering 3 ways Jesus showed interest in those He called as disciples.

·       They believed because:

o   He made them a priority.  “Where are you staying” (v38) means they wanted some uninterrupted time with Jesus, alone.  He granted this (v39), from 4pm (the 10^th hour), apparently overnight.  For this to take place Jesus had to be living by His Father’s priorities.

o   He welcomed them without bias.  Peter acted as if he was pretty solid, and yet had serious misgivings (self-doubts).  Christ accepted him with thoughts of potential (v42, knowing what the Spirit would do in Peter’s life).  Nathanael (v47), when he asked about Galileans, was not expressing prejudice.  After all, Nathanael was from Cana of Galilee; he was a Galilean.  His bias came not from pride but humility.  As A. B. Bruce (The Training of the Twelve, p71) put it, Nathanael’s thought was, “surely the Messiah can never come from among a poor, despised people such as we are – from Nazareth or any other Galilean town or village.”  But Christ did not share this bias, as can be seen in how many of the Twelve were from Galilee.

·       They believed because they were aroused by a simple testimony to Christ (1:36,41,45). 

o   John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, calling Him “the Lamb of God” (v36).  Those of Jewish background understood this (knowing of the Passover Lamb, the “scapegoat” on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and the Suffering Lamb of Isa. 53).  

o   Andrew told Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (v41). Again, this was appropriate.  Peter would have been taught to hope for Messiah to come.

o   Philip told Nathanael of “the One Moses and the Prophets wrote about” (v45).  Jesus was the fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures.

Apart from Jesus, these claims were made by men who, almost certainly, did not know much.  But they met Christ and came away with a simple testimony: “This is the One you’ve been looking for all along.  COME and SEE! (v46).

·       They believed because the One they came to see passed every test. 

o   He met their needs, as in the case of Peter.  This mighty man was a crumbling soul on the inside.  Christ met that need (v42).

o   More important, He satisfied the claims: that He was the Lamb, the Messiah, the One of prophecy. 

In the end, the faith of these early disciples was limited (v50-51), but adequate!  They did not fail to recognize Jesus; they did not reject Him; but they received Him.  Where are you in this?

Psalm 133

This short Psalm tells us something else the pilgrim finds when he makes his journey to God.  He finds that he is not alone in the enjoyment of his soul-satisfaction.  He did not make this journey alone (Psalm 122:1). and he is not alone in Jerusalem.

I have often thought how wonderful it would be to retire alone to a cabin in the woods.  But before long, I come to my senses.  First, I realize that I would have to learn a whole new set of life-skills, such as how to deal with a grizzly in the yard or pesky raccoons on the porch.  But then, even more I think about what it would be like to live alone.  A few days alone can be, and are wonderful, but after that one becomes self-centered.  To live a life where you are the only object of your own attention is an empty life and not the one of deep satisfaction we discover when we come to God.

Think of another setting.  I once attended a Denver Broncos game with one of my sons.  The Broncos were trailing as they entered the 4th quarter.  The quarterback, John Elway, was known for his 4th quarter comebacks.  The crowd of 65,000 anticipated one of John's miracles, as did I and my son, and when it materialized, the response of the extremely partisan Denver crowd was just overwhelming.  We continued to bask in the glory of the moment as we made our all-night drive back to our home in Montana.

Now imagine that you are part of a crowd of people who has just completed the long, dangerous, dusty trek to the glorious city of God.  Rounding the corner where the magnificent temple of Solomon comes into view must have been a thrill.  To share it with a crowd would have been like that moment in Mile High Stadium.

But now go farther.  Think of a group, perhaps a church fellowship, or a Bible study class, or men's prayer group, or young moms fellowship for prayer and study.  Imagine that as they journey together in the Scriptures, sharing their lives together, together they come to know God at a whole new depth, life evermore as the Psalm says (v3).  I have experienced that a few times and there is nothing like it.  A Jew might say it's like the oil that runs down the beard of the priest at his most holy consecration.  Or perhaps it's like the refreshing dew of Mt. Hermon, that most beautiful mountain in Israel.  Words fail to describe, but one cannot miss the point: God has not only made us to fellowship with Him; He has made us to fellowship with other pilgrims.  And when you stay with each other on the difficult walk, the arrival at the moment of deeper worship is truly amazing!

John 1:35-51, Gospel Bridges (The Right Approach, 1)

Esther’s uncle Mordecai told her that if she was not willing to stand for her people, God would bring deliverance through someone else and Esther’s house would perish (Esther 4:14).  In terms of the gospel, all the elect will be saved.  But will God be able to use us?  Will we be faithful, available, and useful?  If we want to consider this question, we would do well to look at our Savior.

Let’s review John’s gospel.  It was written so that people would believe and have life in Christ (Jn. 20:31).  Some didn’t recognize Him; some recognized Him but didn’t receive Him; but many did receive Him (John 1:10-12).  We are at the point in John where we see Christ effectively pulling together those initial followers: two of John’s disciples (v37, including Andrew, v40 and perhaps John the son of Zebedee), Peter (v40), Philip (v43), and Nathanael (v49).  This is before their call to full-time discipleship ministry that came later when they were fishing.  Thus, as we read this story, we must ask, why did they believe?

·       They believed because they were influenced by someone they respected (1:35,40-42,45).  Note three human sources of these early relationships with Jesus: common associates (1:35-37; John the Baptist pointed these to Christ), common kinship (1:41-42; Andrew told his brother Peter about Jesus), and common friendship (1:44-45; Nathanael was apparently a friend of Philip).  Note some important words:

o   Andrew found Peter first (v41).

o   Andrew found Peter, Jesus found Philip, and Philip found Nathanael (1:41,43,45).  “Found” implies seeking.  The initiative must be on the one who is already a disciple.

o   Andrew brought Peter (v42).  It is as if Andrew had to overcome some obstacle or hesitancy on Peter’s part.

·       They believed because they were drawn by Christ’s interest in them (1:38f,42f,47f).  We see this in at least three ways:

o   Jesus cared about their desires.  In v38 He asked, “What do you want?”  Interesting: these are the first words of Jesus recorded by John. 

And as Christ has presented himself to the disciples, for the express purpose that they might come to him, so now, when they come, he gently encourages and exhorts them: for he does not wait until they first address him but asks, ‘What do you seek?’  This kind of gracious invitation, which was once made to two persons, now belongs to all.  We ought not therefore to fear that Christ will withdraw from us, or refuse to us easy access, provided that he sees us desirous to come to him; but, on the contrary, he will stretch out his hand to assist our endeavors. (John Calvin)

John 1:19-34, A Heart for the Gospel

Goals are reached and objectives accomplished when we put our hearts to the task.  Strong desire, ambition and singlemindedness are qualities of people who accomplish things.  We are currently involved in a presidential election (aren’t we always).  Campaigns are lackluster with the only “passion” being staged.  It reminds me of a campaign in England.  The politician said, “I was born an Englishman, I have lived an Englishman, and I’ll die an Englishman.”  From the back of the room came a voice with an unmistakable Scottish accent: “Hoot mon! Hae ye no ambeetion?” 

On the other hand, how often have we seen athletes who were a little short on skill, but overcome that by strong desire and heart so as to beat better performers.  Louise Ritter, who cleared 6’ 8” in the women’s high jump in the 1988 Olympics to defeat Stefka Kostadinova, the reigning world champion and world record-holder.  Ritter had overcome childhood injuries and illness to complete one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history.

In todays passage, we learn a lot about the heart of John the Baptist.  The “ministry” of John was to talk about someone else, to prepare people for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  To do this, John had to overcome the natural human tendency to pride and selfishness.  Many a “spiritual giant” has fallen because of that tendency.  But not John.  What do we see in this passage?

·       He did not fail to testify (v19-20a).  The religious leaders were intimidating (Jn. 7:13; 9:22).  But John was not intimidated.  He “confessed,” meaning his message was in full agreement with the message given to him by God.

·       He did not testify about himself (v20b-28).  He made it clear that he was not the Messiah, even though the crowds who came to hear him were growing.  He even made it clear that he was not Elijah, even though his ministry was like Elijah’s (Mt. 11:14; Lk. 1:16-17).  He said he was not “the” Prophet, a name for Messiah (Deut. 18:15; Ac. 3:19-23).  On the positive side, he said he was “the” voice of whom Isaiah had spoken (Isa. 40:3), and that he was unworthy!  That is the essence of our “gospel ministry.”  We are just a voice, and we are unworthy.

·       He publicly testified of Christ (v29-34).  He used his voice to make two true statements about the person of Christ.  First, John pointed to Jesus saying, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (v29-31)!”  Jesus was sent by God to be the atoning sacrifice for mankind.  Then John said, “this is the Son of God” (v32-34).  Jesus was God come in the flesh (John 1:14).

Do I, do we, have a heart for the gospel?  This new heart comes by accepting the Lamb as our own personal sacrifice for sin.  We must come to God as unworthy, and to know of His great love for us, providing forgiveness through the blood of the Lamb, His Son!  Having come to Christ in that way should give us that heart, a heart to see other unworthy sinners experience the saving power of the gospel.

John 1:1-14, Introduction to John’s Gospel (6)

CONTENT

The book falls into 5 easy-to-see sections:

     Prologue, 1:1-18.

     Public Ministry of the Word, 1:19-12:50.

     Private Ministry of the Word, 13:1-17:26.

     Passion of the Word, 18:1-20:31.

     Epilogue, 21:1-25.

Upon closer examination, one in fact sees a very purposeful flow to the book which is captured in this outline by Merrill C. Tenney.

Prologue, (Revelation of the Word), 1:1-18.

Public Ministry of the Word, 1:19-12:50.

ˆ       The Beginning Ministry, 1:19-4:54 (John the Baptist, the first disciples, the first miracle, Nicodemus, the woman at the well).

ˆ       The Rise of Controversy, 5:1-47

(Sabbath healing, discourse on authority).

ˆ       The Beginning of Conflict, 6:1-8:11

(Miracles, bread of life discourse, public debates).

ˆ       The Intensification of Controversy, 8:12-59

(light of the world discourse).

ˆ       The Manifestation of Opposition, 9:1-11:57

(blind man healed, Good Shepherd discourse, Lazarus raised).

ˆ       The Crisis of the Ministry, 12:1-50.

Private Ministry of the Word, 13:1-17:26

ˆ       The Last Supper, 13:1-30.

ˆ       The Last Discourse, 13:31-16:33.

ˆ       The Last Prayer, 17:1-26.

Passion of the Word, 18:1-20:31 (arrest, trials, denial, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, appearances, purpose).

Epilogue, 21:1-25.

APPLICATION

All Scripture is profitable (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  John has some very special benefits to share with each one who will be a doer of the word (James 1:22):

  1.  You will be a better personal witness.

  2.  You will know and be able to defend the claims of Christ.

  3.  You will be better prepared to be a true disciple.

  4.  You will increase in the ability to live and enjoy the abundant Christians life.

  5.  You will know Christ better.

  6.  You will walk by faith.