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Yeshua is the Most Important Man Who Ever Lived. He also brought the world the Most Important Message, a message that must be believed for human beings, who are alienated from God and headed to Hell, not Heaven, to death, not life, to be reconciled to their Creator and live forever.
Not only is Yeshua the Most Important Man, He is also the risen Messiah, who is alive now, and seated at the right hand of God the Father, where He rules as the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
We want to be aware of Messiah, close to Him, connected to Him, learning from Him, directed by Him.
We want to understand as much as we possibly can about the Most Important Man and His Most Important Message. We want to line up our thoughts and our lives with the Most Important Man and His Most Important Message. We want to tell as many people as we can about the Most Important Man and His Most Important Message.
The book of John helps us do that. It’s one of the greatest books ever written. It’s divinely inspired; accurate; true, reliable; trustworthy.
It is one of the most widely read books ever written.
It is one of the most loved books ever written.
It was written by John, a man of the Chosen People, and one of Yeshua’s closest disciples. John was one of Messiah’s inner circle. So, this book was written by someone who was very close to Yeshua and an eyewitness of these amazing events.
The book of John was written by John, in the first century, probably between 45 and 90 AD.
It was written to help us believe that Yeshua is the Messiah and the Son of God; and by knowing that Yeshua is the Messiah and Son of God, and by becoming loyal to Him, we are able to gain eternal life.
To help us believe, John record a number of “signs” – miracles that point to Yeshua and tell us something about who He is.
To help us believe, John includes some “I Am” statements: I am the Bread of Life. I am the Light of the World. I am the Door. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the Resurrection and the Life. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. I am the Vine. Before Abraham was, I Am.
To help us believe, John gives us titles for Yeshua which enable us to better understand who He is. He is the Word; He is God; He is the Light; He is Rabbi; the Messiah; the King of Israel; the Lamb of God; the Savior of the world; He is the Son of Man; He is the Son of God; He is Lord.
The book of John was written chronologically, using the holidays of Passover, Sukkot and Chanukkah.
It was written using simple, yet profound words.
It was written using contrasts – between God and Satan, good and evil, light and darkness, love and hate, life and death, flesh and spirit, slavery and freedom, truth and lie.
It was written with an emphasis on Yeshua’s deity and His humanity, showing that Yeshua is fully God and fully man and therefore uniquely able to end the alienation between a holy God and sinful humanity.
Yeshua had been identified by the forerunner of the first coming, John the Baptist, as the Messiah. Yeshua had found His first disciples among John’s disciples. He revealed to Nathanael that He had access to supernatural knowledge about people and events and that He was going to do even greater things.
Leaving the Jordan River area, Yeshua returned north, which became the center of His ministry. It was the third day from the events at the end of chapter 1. Now, God the Father will use Yeshua to do His first miracle, which reveals more about who Yeshua is. On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Yeshua’ mother was there, and Yeshua and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Yeshua’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.” Running out of wine would diminish the enjoyment of the celebration and embarrass the families of the bride and groom. Mary, who was at the wedding, was aware of the problem and brought it to the attention of her eldest son. I assume she thought Yeshua and His disciples might be able to do something to help – not do a miracle, since Yeshua had not done one, but maybe find a solution like coming up with money to buy more wine.
“Woman, why do you involve Me?” Yeshua replied. “My hour has not yet come.” Yeshua’s cryptic response indicates that He was aware that His life was now being directed by God to a special hour – the events connected to His suffering and death. It was no longer His concern to help with ordinary problems like running out of wine. His life and ministry were now headed in an entirely different direction.
It’s likely that Mary didn’t understand what Yeshua meant. But, in case Yeshua decided to help, she prepared the servants to be ready to assist. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”
After’s Yeshua’s initial cryptic response to Mary, God must have made it clear to Yeshua that although it wasn’t Yeshua’s responsibility to help with situations like this, God could use this situation, working it into His plan for Yeshua’s life and ministry. John tells us that nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jewish people for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons – totaling roughly 150 gallons. Yeshua said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then He told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
God the Father worked with Yeshua to turn the water into wine – real wine, as is made clear by the observation that when people drink a lot of wine, they can’t taste the difference between good wine and cheap wine. And, this was not only wine, but really good wine. And there was a lot of it. The wedding celebration was saved. The families were rescued from social embarrassment.
As someone who is familiar with wine and enjoys wine, I wish I could have tasted that wine – its fruitiness, acidity, sweetness, the amount of alcohol, and if there was any tannin in it. But I’m comforted knowing that I’ve been invited to a future wedding celebration, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which will celebrate our union with Messiah, and I’m sure that great wine will be on that menu, so I will have my opportunity to taste some divine wine.
Something else to consider: While the priests washed before serving at the temple, and leapers who were cleansed were washed, and those who touched an unclean person or object needed to wash, the Torah never commanded the Jewish people to engage in ceremonial washing on a day to day basis. Ceremonial washing is a man-made tradition and can lead to what is called “Legalism” – a religion of man-made rules that are added to the Word of God. Legalism is wrong and can be very dangerous. I like thinking that Yeshua turned the water of legalism into wine, teaching us that Yeshua wants to replace man-made traditions and legalism and dead religion with spiritual life and supernatural joy symbolized by wine.
John tells us that what Yeshua did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which He revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
This miracle gave the disciples a glimpse of Yeshua’s glory – how special, how amazing, how honorable Yeshua is.
This miracle reveals that Yeshua was close to God, since God only uses people who are close to Him to do miracles.
This miracle reveals that Yeshua can help people with all kinds of problems, big problems and small problems, religious problems and ordinary problems – like running out of wine at a wedding.
The majority of human beings who are living in a fallen world that is demonically controlled and who are rebellion against God and under a curse are not happy. Wine makes us feel happy. This miracle reveals that Yeshua wants to give us joy – a supernatural joy not dependant on circumstances, joy even in the midst of trials, and eventually eternal joy unmixed with any sorrow.
This miracle resulted in Yeshua’s disciples believing in Him. It produced trust in Yeshua, a confidence in Yeshua, a faith in Yeshua, a loyalty to Yeshua that will grow.
After this He went down to Capernaum, with His mother and brothers and His disciples. There they stayed for a few days. Capernaum was on the north shore of the Kinneret. It was the hometown of Matthew, Simon and Andrew, and possibly James and John. Capernaum became the headquarters for Yeshua and His disciples.
Next John tells us about Yeshua’s first Passover after beginning His ministry as the Messiah – which makes this Passover different from all His other Passovers. The action moves from Galilee in the north, to Jerusalem. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Yeshua went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts He found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
I love this! Just as, before Passover is observed, Jewish people cleanse their homes of leaven, so Yeshua cleanses His home of the leaven of inappropriate mercantile activity. So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves He said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning My Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Who is Yeshua? Someone who knew that the temple was His Father’s house. It belonged to God, His Father. Yeshua was very keenly aware that God was His Father; that He was the Son of God, and as the Son of God, He had authority over His Father’s house – the holy temple.
The temple was the most special place on Earth. It was the only place on Earth dedicated to the worship of the one true and living and holy God who alone can redeem us. It was the only place where divinely-ordained atonement was provided through the priests and the sacrifices. The temple was so special, so holy. But, the priests who were in charge of the temple had allowed it to become more like a Middle Eastern bazaar where profit was the most important thing.
And so Yeshua cleansed the Temple, using a whip, because of His fiery zeal to oppose everything that dishonors God and keeps people from God. Who is Yeshua? He is not only Someone who was willing to be whipped, but also Someone willing to use a whip – on those engaged in very bad behavior, and those who keep others from God. Just as a good father disciplines his children – don’t be surprised if Yeshua disciplines you.
Cleansing the temple in this powerful, dramatic, authoritative way was very radical, and tells us something about Yeshua, that He had zeal – radical zeal. John lets us know that it would only be later that Yeshua’s disciples would see a connection between the words of Psalm 69, zeal for your house will consume me, and this radical zeal involved in the cleansing of the temple. And, just as David, the author of Psalm 69, was zealous about God and the temple, yet was opposed and oppressed by many, and yet also was helped by God and vindicated, so was David’s heir, Messiah Yeshua.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who was passionate about God. Yeshua is Someone who was willing and is still willing to take radical action to protect God’s interests. And, He is Someone who wants to create that same kind of passion, desire, zeal for God and the things of God, in us.
Yeshua is Someone who is very concerned about keeping the Temple clean. And, since Christians and Messianic Jews have become the temple, He wants us to keep clean.
The temple was very, very important. It was the center of the Jewish religion. It was essential to the Sinai Covenant. The descendants or Aaron, the priests, were appointed by God to be in charge of the temple. Yet, that didn’t deter the young Rabbi from Nazareth, who was not a priest, from taking charge and cleansing the temple. The leaders demanded to know what right Yeshua had to exercise that kind of authority at the temple. And, because of the way they framed their demand, it seems they knew that Yeshua was doing miracles. The Jewish leaders then responded to Him, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do all this?”
While He did a miracle to help the families and guests at the wedding in Cana, Yeshua’s did not do miracles when they were demanded, especially by those who opposed Him. Yeshua answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and You are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple He had spoken of was His body. He promises to do a miracle that will reveal His authority to cleanse the temple, but that miracle will be His resurrection – which will take place several years later.
What an amazing statement: Destroy this temple, referring to His body, and I will raise it again in three days. Yeshua already knew, early in His ministry, that the Jewish leaders would reject Him and kill Him. And He also knew that He had the authority to raise Himself from the dead.
Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. Yeshua is making a connection between Himself and the temple. The temple was the place where God lived in the most special way on Earth. The temple was the place where the principles of atonement were most clearly. Yeshua connected Himself to the temple, because He knew He is the ultimate temple, where God lives among people in the greatest way and where ultimate atonement is available.
Yeshua often used well known physical things and processes, like the temple, like wind, like bread and leaven and food, like water, like birth, like seeds and sowing and reaping, like darkness and light to help people understand spiritual realities. And, very often people didn’t understand what He was talking about – even His disciples.
Here, the Jewish leaders definitely misunderstood what Yeshua was saying to them. And, it wasn’t only the Jewish leaders who didn’t understand Yeshua’s statement. John tells us that the disciples didn’t understand – at first. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Yeshua had spoken.
John is letting us know that it was only after the resurrection, when their faith and their understanding were enlarged, that everything made sense, and the disciples were able to understand the ways that the scriptures predicted Messiah’s death and resurrection, and the words Messiah used to predict His death and resurrection.
Yeshua was not always easy to understand. Sometimes He spoke in a cryptic way. It takes an openness to Yeshua to understand His enigmatic sayings and parables. May God bless us with the kind of faith in Yeshua that unlocks everything Yeshua said and what the Word of God says about Him!
This first Passover of Yeshua’s ministry sets the tone for His relationship with the leaders of Israel. It is one of battling over authority and rejection by the leaders. The antagonism of the leaders will intensify until they kill Yeshua – several years later at another Passover.
John tells us that the opposition of the leaders, who demanded a miracle and did not get one, was not the only response to Yeshua that Passover. Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs He was performing and believed in His name. That Passover, Yeshua was doing miracles in Jerusalem, helping those who approached Him with openness and humility. Many people witnessed those miracles and many were convinced that Yeshua was sent by God, and maybe was the Messiah.
Although many believed in Him, Yeshua didn’t entrust Himself to them. But Yeshua would not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for He knew what was in each person. Yeshua knew human nature. He knew that belief can be shallow. The enthusiasm created by belief can dissipate. Today’s believer can become tomorrow’s betrayer.
And so He did not trust Himself to these people, even though they had some belief in Him. So the questions for us are: What kind of belief do we have? Can He entrust Himself, and His interests, and important responsibilities, to us?
So, who is Yeshua according this second chapter of the divinely inspired book of John?
Yeshua is Someone who is able to replace dead religion with spiritual life and supernatural joy. If you want real religion, real spiritual life and supernatural joy, you need Yeshua.
Yeshua is Someone who was close to God, since God only uses people who are close to Him to do miracles. Yeshua, who is close to God, can bring others close to God. Do you want to be close to God? You need Yeshua.
Yeshua is Someone who can help people with all kinds of problems, big problems and small problems, religious problems and ordinary problems. Do you want divine intervention to help with your problems? You need Yeshua.
Yeshua is Someone who is glorious – special, honorable, amazing. If you want your life to be glorious, you need Yeshua.
Yeshua is Someone who is very concerned about keeping the Temple clean. And, since Christians and Messianic Jews have become the temple, He wants us to keep clean.
Yeshua is Someone who has zeal for God. Do you want a relationship with God that is genuine, real and passionate? You need Yeshua.
Yeshua is the ultimate temple, where God lives among people in the greatest way and where ultimate atonement is available. Do you want to be forgiven, reconciled to God, close to God, so close that God is living with you – now and forever? You need Yeshua.