John 2 Jesus is Joyous, Righteous, and Victorious

 

John 2 – Jesus is Joyous, Righteous, and Victorious

 

A Jewish wedding is a joyful event, and Jesus was very much at home there.  He was “a man of sorrows” (Isa. 53:3), but He also experienced great joy (Luke 10:21); and He can share the joys and sorrows of our lives. The joy the world offers will eventually fail, but the joy He supplies goes on forever. Jesus performed His first public miracle, not in the temple, but in a Jewish home in Cana; not at a funeral but at a wedding. Not at a fast but at a feast. This is a reminder that the life of a Christian should reflect the joy that characterized Jesus. Jesus’ actions show how vastly different God’s ways are from the worlds. The world starts with the better, which often becomes bitter in the end. But God starts with something ordinary and makes it extraordinary. Whenever Jesus enters a life, He transforms it.

 

The other gospels record His cleansing of the temple at the close of His ministry, but John tells us He started His ministry by cleansing the temple. Judgment begins at the house of God (I Pet. 4:17). The temple was then “a house of merchandise” three years later, it was “a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13). Outward reformation without inward renewal is a temporary thing. Jesus used the temple to represent His own body and His coming crucifixion and resurrection. At the same time, He signaled that He replaced the temple. God would now dwell with His people in Jesus Christ.

 

The Jews repeatedly asked Him for a sign (I Cor. 1:22) and then rejected the evidence He provided. His resurrection was the greatest proof of His deity (Matt. 12:38-40), but the Jews did not understand what He was talking about. They would destroy the temple by crucifying Him, but He would triumph over them in His resurrection. Only after Jesus rose from the dead would the disciples finally put the story together.

 

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Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible. Through the Bible by J. Vernon McGee.