APRIL 8 READING… JOHN 2
John records for us the first of Jesus’ miracles that occurred at a wedding feast in the town of Cana. This miracle showed that Jesus had power even over the molecular nature of the things of creation. Water and wine are not the same, though both liquids, they are distinct and different from one another. Water does not become wine…except when Jesus says so. Why such a miracle as this? I have heard some say this was a way for the Lord to affirm God’s pleasure at the institution of biblical marriage…therefore He blessed it with this miracle. Some say He wanted to please His mother, He wanted to honor her request. To me it is much simpler, yet incredibly powerful. Jesus was ready to begin His ministry, it was time to begin to reveal His identity and show that He had the power over all things. This power is reserved for God alone…Jesus was revealing that He is God. Notice the impact on Jesus’ disciples. They see this display of power, and their faith in who Jesus is begins to grow…they begin to believe in Him for who He is. Certainly, they did not fully get it…but this is the first step.
John tells us then that in the first year of Jesus’ ministry He heads to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Jesus would do this in each year of His earthly ministry. When He comes to the Temple He finds the money changers cheating the people who were there to purchase sacrificial animals and exchange their Roman coin for Temple currency. Jesus becomes angry and turns over the tables, and chases the money changers away. Telling them this is the house of God, it’s for prayer, not for thieves. You will remember that the last time Jesus comes to Jerusalem, just before His crucifixion, He does the same thing. Clearly, they did not get the message the first time. Jesus also makes and incredible statement about the destruction of the Temple…what they did not get the Temple He was talking about was His own body. We are told that many began to believe in Jesus, but He was not ready to reveal Himself to them, not quite yet. He knew what they were like…He knew them…the way God fully knows all mankind.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
MONDAY’S READING… JOHN 3
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