- John 2:11-15
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- John 2:11 (KJB)
- This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested
forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
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- John now states that the turning of water into wine was the beginning of
miracles which would become a part of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This miracle had revealed his glory by reason of the fact that He made wine
out of water, which was an act of creation and transformation. The disciples
which were with Him had now believed on Him and I am sure that Nathanael’s
faith was definitely increased when he witnessed the miracle. Here the
disciples believed on Jesus but during His ministry, their faith would
vacillate by what Jesus was teaching them along the way. This miracle at
Cana was considered a mountaintop experience where the miraculous working
power of God was seen first hand and that would definitely cause belief in
the person doing the miracles. Now it must be pointed out that it was the
disciples that believed but we are not told if the guests or the servants
believed on Him. The servants knew who turned the water into wine but this
is a good example that salvation is not by belief in miracles but by the
electing grace of God.
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- John 2:12 (KJB)
- After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his
brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
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- After the wedding at Cana, Jesus and His family plus the disciples had
gone to Capernaum which is about 18 miles from Cana. Jesus may have decided
to go to Capernaum because it was a bigger town than Cana plus those in
Nazareth had rejected the fact He was the Messiah.
(Mark 6:3 KJV) Is not this the carpenter, the
son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and
are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
He only stayed a short time in Capernaum. Many of the disciples of Jesus
were from Capernaum.
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- John 2:13 (KJB)
- And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
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- The Passover was coming close and Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem. Since
Jerusalem was about 80 miles from Capernaum, this would have been a
multi-day trip. An average person can walk about 20 miles before they would
have to make camp. Keep in mind they walked in sandals and not the advanced
shoe technology we have today so walking would have been much more tedious
especially with stones getting in the sandals.
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- John 2:14 (KJB)
- And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and
the changers of money sitting:
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- Jesus had gone to the Temple and in fulfillment of another prophecy
found in Malachi 3:1 concerning the Lord suddenly coming to his temple.
(Mal 3:1 KJV) Behold, I will send my
messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye
seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
The first thing the Lord saw was the moneychangers and
the merchants who were selling animals for sacrifice. Jesus knew that they
were cheating the people and were making this a business rather than a
spiritual event. These salesmen were making very big money for the corrupt
Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees. They were charging outrageous rates for
the conversion of the money and on top of that they were charging too much
for sacrificial animals.
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- John 2:15 (KJB)
- And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of
the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money,
and overthrew the tables;
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- This was the first cleansing of the temple and the second was about 4
days before Jesus was crucified. He made a scourge of small cords. We are
not told what the cords were made of, they could have been made of rope or
even the hides of sacrificial animals. Whatever it was made of, it did the
job. Jesus knew that they had turned the temple into a corrupt religious
business and His anger was kindled against those who turned the temple into
a business. This was because Jesus knew that the temple was a foreshadow of
Himself and they corrupted that type by profiteering. This is why the could
not recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah because they corrupted
the type and therefore made it unidentifiable and since the type was
unidentifiable, the anti-type was unidentifiable. Before we blame them, the
same thing is going on today all over the world. Have you ever walked into a
pseudo-Christian bookstore? Did you look around and see that they have taken
the name of Jesus and placed it on, anything they can possibly make a sale
on? These unsaved publishers along with the oblivious Christian bookstore
owners fail to realize that the name “Jesus” is another name for God. Lest
we forget the following:
(Exo 20:7 KJV)
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will
not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Using the name “Jesus” to make money is nothing less or
more than what they did at the temple at the time of Jesus.
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