Two important events are recorded in chapter 2: Jesus’ first miracle, and Jesus cleansing the temple. Those two events, paired together, might cause you to raise an eyebrow. Why? Well, it’s Jesus’ first miracle at the beginning of his ministry, and the cleansing of the temple, according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, happened at the end of Jesus’ ministry.
What does this mean? People tend to interpret this one of two ways. One: Jesus cleansed the temple twice; once at the beginning of his ministry, as recorded in John, and once at the end of his ministry as recorded by the others. John is thought to have been the last of the four gospels written, so he knew the others had recorded the last so, he left it out. That makes some sense, but I don’t buy it. An event this important, if it happened twice, would have – I think – certainly been recorded twice.
So, two: John is not following a chronological view of Jesus’ life. This I find much more likely. People today tend to think linearly. We start at the beginning of the story, and follow the progression one step at a time. (This, by the way, is one of the things that is changing in how people view reality, and is important for how we share the Gospel with people. But that’s another conversation.) Ancient Jewish thought tended to follow and spiral, talking about the same event or point, and working your way around it from a variety of points. John is showing us two events to get to his point: God loves us so much that He wants us to know Him. Jesus is revealing God in these passages.
What are we to see?
Start with the wedding. We acknowledge that marriage is a sacred gift from God, and he binds the two to become one flesh. Wedding ceremonies take place – often – in a church as part of a special service. The reception, however, is a different story! It’s a party! This is not the kind of place we would normally expect to find God. He’s too important, too busy, for silly things like parties! Or is he?
Jesus is showing us our expectations, our preconceived notions, of what God does or doesn’t do are incorrect. Here is God-in-Human-Flesh at a wedding reception! Why? Because he loves the people who got married and is celebrating with them! And it sounds like it was quite a party, because they ran out of wine! So, what does Jesus do? He makes more. (Someone once said, the water heard Jesus’ voice and blushed because it was so honored to serve the Lord.)
Then the Temple cleansing: what was going on there? The fact that the Temple authorities had allowed and arranged for people to change money and sell animals for sacrifices is not really that surprising. People from all over the world came to Jerusalem to worship, and it’s hard to haul sacrifices that far! Easier, and biblically allowed, to sell the first fruits, bring the money and buy different sacrifices once the person was there in Jerusalem. What is surprising, is that they set up this market place in the Temple – in the court where non-Jewish people could come to worship setting up a barrier that kept people from knowing God loves them. He removes the barrier.
Could it be that God still loves us and wants us to know him – in our daily lives and in our worship? I pray that we will experience that love today in Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
What does this mean? People tend to interpret this one of two ways. One: Jesus cleansed the temple twice; once at the beginning of his ministry, as recorded in John, and once at the end of his ministry as recorded by the others. John is thought to have been the last of the four gospels written, so he knew the others had recorded the last so, he left it out. That makes some sense, but I don’t buy it. An event this important, if it happened twice, would have – I think – certainly been recorded twice.
So, two: John is not following a chronological view of Jesus’ life. This I find much more likely. People today tend to think linearly. We start at the beginning of the story, and follow the progression one step at a time. (This, by the way, is one of the things that is changing in how people view reality, and is important for how we share the Gospel with people. But that’s another conversation.) Ancient Jewish thought tended to follow and spiral, talking about the same event or point, and working your way around it from a variety of points. John is showing us two events to get to his point: God loves us so much that He wants us to know Him. Jesus is revealing God in these passages.
What are we to see?
Start with the wedding. We acknowledge that marriage is a sacred gift from God, and he binds the two to become one flesh. Wedding ceremonies take place – often – in a church as part of a special service. The reception, however, is a different story! It’s a party! This is not the kind of place we would normally expect to find God. He’s too important, too busy, for silly things like parties! Or is he?
Jesus is showing us our expectations, our preconceived notions, of what God does or doesn’t do are incorrect. Here is God-in-Human-Flesh at a wedding reception! Why? Because he loves the people who got married and is celebrating with them! And it sounds like it was quite a party, because they ran out of wine! So, what does Jesus do? He makes more. (Someone once said, the water heard Jesus’ voice and blushed because it was so honored to serve the Lord.)
Then the Temple cleansing: what was going on there? The fact that the Temple authorities had allowed and arranged for people to change money and sell animals for sacrifices is not really that surprising. People from all over the world came to Jerusalem to worship, and it’s hard to haul sacrifices that far! Easier, and biblically allowed, to sell the first fruits, bring the money and buy different sacrifices once the person was there in Jerusalem. What is surprising, is that they set up this market place in the Temple – in the court where non-Jewish people could come to worship setting up a barrier that kept people from knowing God loves them. He removes the barrier.
Could it be that God still loves us and wants us to know him – in our daily lives and in our worship? I pray that we will experience that love today in Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Comments