February 17, 2003
March 9
___John 2:1-22
It is wise to do what Jesus says
___By Paul Kenley
___The verses in this lesson present two sides of the personality and ministry of Jesus--first in celebration and then in condemnation.
___Verses 1-11 record Jesus' first "sign" or miracle in the celebratory setting of a wedding feast. Verses 13-22, in stark contrast, demonstrate Jesus' authority over those misusing the environment of the temple for personal gain. In the first instance, Jesus enhances a party. In the second, he breaks up a travesty.
___The end result, however, was the same for both. Whether obeying him willingly, as was the case at the wedding, or by compulsion, as did the temple merchants, both incidents reveal people doing what Jesus told them to do. Our lesson deals with obedience; and we learn quickly that while God desires our willing obedience, as the Righteous Judge, his authority will ultimately be asserted over those who refuse to obey.
___Jesus as one who celebrates
___Observing how Jesus responds to a celebratory atmosphere teaches us some important things about his personality that we usually overlook in our rush to get to the meaning of this event. Indeed, the insight this passage affords us into how Jesus responded to joyful times may be useful in properly interpreting his response to suffering. Proper insight into this passage cannot be gained without recognizing that Jesus was not a stuffy person.
___In this narrative, we see Jesus assuming the role of the consummate host, relieving the real host of the anxiety of not having sufficient wine for the number of guests that attended. He was no mere bystander, but a willing participant in the party.
___Max Lucado has suggested he can easily visualize Jesus "taking the bride for a spin around the dance floor." What a contrast to a more common view that would have Jesus standing against the wall, looking down his nose at the proceedings. Scripture does not record Jesus telling a joke or guffawing with laughter, but as the most well-rounded personality who ever lived, is there not room to believe he did?
___His mother steps in
___The story of this happy event also includes the record of a minor crisis. The supply of wine was not sufficient for the number of guests who attended. Perhaps having observed the desperate and helpless host, Jesus' mother, Mary, who also was present, decided to intervene.
___At this early moment in her son's ministry, she was perhaps more familiar with him and his mission than any other human being. She did not approach him with a direct instruction but merely stated the fact, "They have no wine" (v. 3). Jesus, reading between the lines, responded as would anyone who was not in charge: "Why are you telling me this? My hour has not yet come," as if to say the time for his ministry had not yet begun.
___And yet, with some kind of motherly intuition, she quietly spoke to the servants of the house a statement which forms the title of today's lesson, "Whatever he says to do, do it" (v. 5). She sensed Jesus would not sit idly by while a need he could meet presented itself.
___How real was the crisis?
___In the overall scheme of things, the lack of sufficient drink at a party doesn't exactly rate as tragic. To call upon the God of the universe to head off a mere social faux pas hardly seems worthy of him.
___But such an assumption overlooks the fact Jesus never worked a miracle for the miracle's sake. He always had a larger purpose, a deeper message to communicate through any supernatural act he performed. Jesus was no mere magician; while the multitudes later would follow him as such, he was always clear in his larger intention.
___In the case of the Cana wedding feast, the purpose behind the miracle was one that neither the host nor the guests could fathom.
___Writing in the "Word Biblical Commentary," George R. Beasley-Murray suggests the sign was for the purpose of revealing "the glory of Jesus and a strengthening of the faith of his disciples."
___Indeed, as was typical of his later miracles, Jesus used the setting to set forth God's power over human circumstance--a lesson continually valid for us all.
___A true crisis of
___huge proportion
___If the sign at Cana could be considered a "warm-up" for later actions, a real crisis was not long in coming. After a brief sojourn at Capernaum, we find Jesus and his followers in Jerusalem for the Passover. John is the only Gospel writer that distinguishes between the Passovers of Jesus' ministry.
___According to A. T. Robertson, John mentions two Passovers other than the one in which Jesus was crucified--this one, and the one in 6:4. Adding that there may have been another one in 5:1, Robertson remarks that were it not for John, we might have assumed Jesus' ministry to have lasted scarcely over a year.
___As he approaches the temple, Jesus finds that merchants have erected their booths in the Court of the Gentiles, an act which Jesus considered a desecration. Here we see Jesus exercising both judgment and wrath, and this time no miracle was needed.
___In a remarkably deliberate manner, he fashions a scourge of cords, and then by sheer force drives the merchants and money-changers from the temple grounds. Acted out before them, we see the superiority of Christ over the institutions of man--even long-established Judaism--and a tragic commentary on how far awry even the church can become when humans take charge of it to the exclusion of Holy Spirit guidance.
___This lesson is not lost on us, lest we assert our own authority in today's church while ignoring the authority of Christ the head, to the end that the process of sharing the gospel is mutated into ineffectiveness.
___The two scenes contrasted
___What an interesting contrast to Jesus' approach at the Cana wedding. There he changed water to wine unbeknownst to those present. They simply discovered after the fact what had been done. There was no waving of a wand or uttered mantra. But at the temple, Jesus overtly and with much fanfare, with not a hint of the supernatural, acted as a human under divine authority to rectify a horrible setting.
___In Cana, Jesus' mother instructed the servants: "Whatever he says to you, do it." But in Jerusalem, Jesus' instruction was enacted by force, as tables are overturned and coins fly. According to verse 17, all this caused the disciples to recall Psalm 69:9: "For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me." For the disciples, this may have been one of the earliest scriptural affirmations that the one they were following was indeed the long-promised Messiah.
___An expected reaction
___Such animation on the part of Jesus did not go unchallenged. What is interesting about the reaction of the Jews is what actually troubled them. They were not nearly as distressed about the havoc that had been wrought in the Court of the Gentiles as they were by what authority Jesus was functioning (v. 18).
___Jesus' response bore the same kind of double-meaning that was characteristic of his teaching methods. The object of his wrath had been the desecration of the temple, but the temple he proposed to destroy and then rebuild in three days was the temple of his body, which was to be destroyed and rebuilt in his death and resurrection.
___A cross-reference we immediately recall is Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 6:19--"your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you," a statement rich in its implications for our role as the dwelling place of God in his overall redemptive plan. In verse 22, John takes us forward to the actual death and resurrection of Christ and confirms that when the deed was actually done, his followers who witnessed the cleansing of the temple recalled what he had said there, and their faith was strengthened.
___A troubling thought
___The apparently violent act of Jesus on the temple grounds troubles many who simply cannot imagine Jesus Christ responding in such a manner. Perhaps both of these incidents--the sign at Cana and the temple cleansing--cause us to confront the humanity of Jesus in a way we are not comfortable with.
___Could it be that we are more uncomfortable recognizing his humanity than his deity? Was Jesus really angry at the temple that day? If not, his followers and others present were greatly misled.
___We must remember that anger itself is not sin. In Ephesians 4:26, Paul admonishes, "Be angry and sin not." And then in the same verse he urges that anger must be temporary, lest it be allowed to fester--"Do not let the sun go down on your anger."
___While we prefer to major on the love of God, we must also acknowledge that the day of retribution is coming. Here the words of Jesus' mother at the wedding feast are wise counsel for us all--"Whatever he says to do, do it." How much better to obey willingly than by compulsion!
___
___Questions for discussion
___ How do the jars of water become wine and a temple returned to order relate to our lives in the Master's service? Is there anything he has called us to do that he will not also enable us to do?
___ Of the types of obedience viewed in these two settings, which is the most desirable, the most meaningful and why?
___ What do we see of Jesus' lordship in these two incidents? Why are we so hesitant to trust his lordship in our own lives?
___ The temple merchants were operating according to custom without a thought of wrongdoing. Can our traditions also divert the purposes of God, and what can we do to safeguard this from happening?
___ Explore the implications of our bodies, our "temples," actually being the dwelling place of God. What does this demand of us as submitted followers of the Lord Jesus?
___ Assuming Jesus was genuinely angry at the temple that day, how can we channel our own anger into constructive results? Is there such a thing as "righteous indignation"?
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