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Smells, Signs, and an Indignant Savior

Click Here to Read John 2:13-25

An Unusual Day in the Temple

I imagine that Jesus’ actions in the temple that day raised a lot of eyebrows. The rumors must’ve been flying, the comments a mixture of wonder and criticism. Who had ever come into the temple, overturned tables, and whipped merchants? Merchants in the temple courts?

Another Kind of Aroma

The habit of selling animals and changing coinage began as a convenience for worshippers to buy the animals needed for sacrifice. It started in the city, but turned profane when it moved into the temple courts. The purpose of the temple was prayer, worship, and sacrifice—not business.

Not only had the merchants turned the temple courts into a currency exchange, they had turned it into a barn. Herd animals urinate and defecate at random, attracting all manner of flies, parasites, and vermin. The floor of the temple courts was covered with filth. The pleasant aroma of incense wafting heavenward from the altar of incense (signifying prayers) was replaced with the smell of a feed lot.

Incensed (no pun intended), Jesus fashioned a whip made of several cords and drove the oxen and sheep out, along with those who were selling pigeons (with their caged pigeons). 

The disciples recognized the prophetic significance of his actions. “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me1.’”

Demand for a Sign

Jesus provoked his adversaries. They pushed back.

“What sign do you show us for doing these things?” They wanted proof his authority to regulate the temple was greater than theirs.

Significantly, this happened during Passover2, the festival commemorating the night that every home in Goshen marked with the blood of a lamb was spared the death of the firstborn of that household.

An Indignant Savior

Jesus, God incarnate, responded prophetically.

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” While they thought that he meant Herod’s temple, he was speaking of his body. He was referring to sacrifice, atonement, and resurrection.

While fathers were recounting the story of lamb’s blood on the lintels and doorposts in Goshen to their children, Jesus pointed them back to the words of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” His blood would not be spread upon doorposts, but would carried into the holy places in Heaven.

“… He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”3

John reports that “many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he [Jesus] was doing.”

When I was younger I was a straight arrow. I depended upon the knowledge that if I just lived by certain principles I’d be “in”. However, in these later years, I see things a bit differently. Usually within the first few minutes after waking each day, the thought crosses my mind that if Jesus doesn’t save me, I cannot be saved. I cannot carry a sack full of merits into the Holy Place and exchange them for salvation or redemption. I must trust that Jesus himself will walk into the holy places with and by his own blood to make atonement for my sin and rebellion.

Questions for reflection:

  • Who or what do I believe will make my life whole or complete?
  • What role does prayer and worship play in my life?
  • Who do I believe Jesus to be? Does my belief correspond to what we see written in this passage?

  1. Psalm 69:9, ESV ↩︎
  2. Exodus chapter 12 ↩︎
  3. Hebrews 9:12, ESV ↩︎

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A Wedding, a Sign, and the Son of God

Click Here to Read John 2:1-12

From the very first words of his Gospel account, John has been establishing Jesus’ deity: as God, Creator, pre-existent, eternal.

The first witness he called was John the Baptist, who was baptizing near Bethany across the Jordan River. John identified Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world1” and as “the Son of God2”. He goes so far as to direct Philip and Nathaniel to Jesus, thus beginning to relinquish his influence to the One who rightly deserved it.

A Wedding

John then places the reader in Cana3, about eight or so miles north of Nazareth, at a wedding. It is here that John the apostle says that Jesus performed the very first sign showing that he is, indeed, Messiah. The witness to his deity, in a moment, shifts from external (John the Baptist’s preaching) to internal (a demonstration of his power).

There is much speculation about the specific meaning of the act itself—changing the water into high quality wine. Some point to the significance of Jesus starting his public ministry at a wedding, foreshadowing the wedding feast of the Lamb, when Jesus marries his bride, the Church. 

Others speculate that the water, used for the purification rites of ancient Israel, was being replaced by a better purification, that is, by Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. Indeed, Jesus later connects the Passover cup to the blood he would shed on the cross4

One might speculate that Jesus turned something common into something remarkable.

However compelling these sound, they are all speculation. But there are things that can be known without speculating.

A Son

First, the relationship that Jesus had with his mother and siblings changed. Mary is mentioned twice in John, here and later while Jesus is hanging on the cross. In both instances, Jesus refers to her as γυνη, “woman”, rather than the more intimate term, “mother”. 

His response to Mary in regards to the lack of wine for celebration reflected that change of relationship. “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not come.” While he is respectful of her, he subtly reminds her that his priorities are now aligned with his role as Messiah, not as her firstborn son.

A Sign

Second, despite what appears to be initial reluctance to comply with her wishes, Jesus quietly does as she asked. Very few in attendance were aware of it: Mary, Jesus, and his disciples. Verse eleven states, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

These words remind us of John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

As the disciples witnessed the sign, which brought to light the glory of the Son, they believed. John always refers to these supernatural occurrences as signs rather than works or miracles. The signs affirmed that Jesus was the anticipated Messiah and is the Son of God. The signs were performed not to impress or gain power, but that you might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John wrote his Gospel for a wider audience, which included many Gentiles who were unfamiliar with Jewish life and practice. He writes the account in such a way as to produce faith in the reader/hearer.

The Son of God

Jesus, affirmed by his Father at his baptism, by triumphing over Satan in the wilderness, and returning home to begin his public ministry, is found to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” and “the Son of God”.

Questions for reflection:

  • What is your relationship with Jesus? Is it constant or has it changed over time?
  • How have the signs written in John’s Gospel affected your belief? Do you believe?
  • Do your acts of obedience show the glory of Christ in you?
  1. John 1:29 ↩︎
  2. John 1:34 ↩︎
  3. Click on “Cana” above to view a map of the area described in this passage. The map is copyrighted by Logos Bible Software, 2014 ↩︎
  4. Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ↩︎

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Behold! The Lamb of God!

Background

John the Baptizer was out in the wilderness, along the Jordan River, baptizing. He was a child of Torah, having memorized Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy by the time he was ten years old. His father was a Levitical priest.
As he grew, he would have become intimately familiar with the other books of the Jewish Bible, now called the Tanakh1.

Click to Read: John 1:29-34

Identity

The day before, John had been grilled by representatives of Jewish ruling council regarding his identity. “Who are you?” they asked. “If you are not the Christ, what then? Elijah?” The Holy Spirit had indwelled John since before he was born, the Word of God filled his mind and heart throughout his lifetime. Drawing from that well, he responded,

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”2

He knew with certainty that he himself was not the Anointed One, sent to take away the sins of the world. He was the forerunner, sent to turn people’s attention to the Anointed One, who was there with God in the beginning; who was God himself.

I presume that he was so certain of this because he had been told by God or one of his messengers, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.”

Fulfillment and Diminishing Influence

He testified to this when he saw Jesus coming toward him the next day, declaring, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”

To some degree, this signaled the fulfillment of his ministry. While he continued to baptize and preach, his influence increasingly diminished as he turned more and more of his followers to Jesus.3

World System

Perhaps you’ve noticed how much our world seems to be spinning out of control. Year by year natural disasters, wars, intrigues, political movements, and power plays seem to be on the increase. Media outlets are signaling increasing fear of nuclear holocaust in our time, financial disaster, and religious persecution.
The influence of the Roman Empire in John’s day was nothing compared to the power of the world system in our day. While the Roman’s power was distributed and external, the world system’s power is individualized and in our homes, ostensibly by means of ubiquitous technology.

Proactive Action

Now is not the time to allow the spirit of the age to direct us into its pernicious plans. There has never been a more opportune time to bear witness to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The more dark and demented society becomes, the more it needs the Light and Life.
We do well to follow in John’s footsteps by:

  1. Recognizing who we are and who we are not.
  2. Resisting the temptation to make a name for ourselves, instead turning others’ attention to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
  3. Encouraging those who would follow us to instead follow Him.

Conclusion

It is not an easy road to follow. It takes a quality of humility that is rare in our time. John willingly and rightfully ceded his influence to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We must do the same if those entrapped in the world system are to see something qualitatively different in those who follow the Lamb.
The world system is filled with ladder climbers, platform builders, and influencers who seek power/attention/influence for themselves.
Through our attitudes, actions, and words we must consistently trumpet the message of John the Baptist, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”


  1. A name made by combining the names of its parts: Torah, Nevi’im, and Kethuvim.⁠ The Nevi’im are the Prophets and the Kethuvim are the Writings. Together with the Torah, they comprise the same books as are in the Old Testament, albeit in a different order and arrangement. ↩︎
  2. Isaiah 40:3 ↩︎
  3. Cf. John 3:22-30 ↩︎

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Creation—Old and New

I have a box of family photos in the closet. Most are old Polaroids, yellowed and faded with the years. I’m always drawn to candids of my Dad. He was sort of the poster child of Welshness: jet black hair, green eyes, swarthy complexion. In the older ones he sported a flat top haircut. But as the years wore on, as the “top” became more sparse, he slicked the sides back with Brylcreem.


One particular photo fascinates me, a photo taken of Dad when he was five or six years old: enormous, sad eyes staring into the lens, soft focus, black and white. A child of the Depression and dysfunction, he knew more hunger and grief than any little boy should. That photo is a snapshot of his story.


That snapshot orients me in his story. My story is indelibly written with the ink of his experience. The want and pain he knew somehow insured that I would not go hungry or without.

Beginnings


John opens his Gospel with a snapshot, that encapsulates the story of redemption via Messiah.
“In the beginning …” writes John. One finger in John, I flip back to Genesis where I read the very same words. I open the Greek New Testament: “Εν αρχη …” I then open the Greek translation of Genesis (an ancient translation known as the Septuagint, translated from Hebrew in about 270 B.C.) and read the very same Greek words. The similarities are not coincidental.


Genesis tells us that in the beginning the earth was formless and void. Spread over that void was a great darkness. The Spirit of God is hovering over the face of the waters. The first creative act in response to the formless, dark, void was … light. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” As the days of creation progressed, beginning with light, God brought form to formlessness, substance to void, order from chaos.

Craftsman


John gives us, what Paul Harvey might have called “the rest of the story.” In the Genesis account, we see God and his Spirit. John reveals to us the creative agent that God used to do his work. Perhaps John was thinking of Proverbs in describing the Son (characterized as ‘wisdom’):


“When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.” (Proverbs 8:27-31, ESV)

Reason

While Proverbs refers to “wisdom”, John refers to the λογος, the Word. Now, this is where the story gets interesting. Bible scholar D.A. Carson says that “the Stoics [Greek philosophers] understood logos to be the rational principle by which everything exists, and which is the essence of the rational human soul.” This idea would have been known among the educated when John was writing down his Gospel. But John takes the concept so much further than the Stoics ever would or could. John reports that this logos, this Word, became flesh and dwelt among us. The Stoics were fixed on an idea. John knew logos as a person, the Craftsman of all Creation. In the Father’s presence he was “daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.”
Whereas in Genesis, the Spirit hovered over the face of the deep, in John the Savior made it possible for the Spirit to dwell in us, rather than over us.

New Beginnings


“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:9-13, ESV)

Light & Life

Just as the earth began a formless, dark void, so our lives began. Sin tarnished all of creation, casting its dark shadow across the millennia. Our foolish hearts were darkened, our passions perverse, our intentions turned inward. Into the darkness and death descended Messiah, to bring inextinguishable light, overcoming the darkness, offering spiritual light to dispel spiritual darkness. And that light brought life.


As I dig through the pages of Scripture, I see a lot of images, a lot of photos, not yellowed with age, but vibrant and colorful. I see a brother who gave himself to save me from the pure Hell of my sin. I see a Savior who overcame my darkness with his light and gave me life. I see a family who drew me in when I was an orphan, wandering in the cold, cruel world. I see reason that stands out against a background of foolishness and strife.

Conclusions


John opens his Gospel by reminding us that Jesus not only created the Heavens and the Earth, he created a new people, the believing ones, born of God. The Spirit that hovered over the chaos in the original creation is now given to this new people, to indwell, comfort, and empower them.