Tag: John

The Temple

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John 2:18-22  Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shew thou unto us, seeing that thou do these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. 

The Jews were as always acting as an evil and adulterous generation that seek after a sign (see Matt. 12:39; 16:4) and Jesus gave them the same answer He would do later: that of His death and resurrection (the sign of the prophet Jonas). The one sign that will hopefully be the answer to all their doubts and unbelief so that they will accept Him as their Saviour.

Here He gave the same answer in the form of the destruction of that temple (Herod’s) that He will raise up in three days. This is the third New Testament prophecy in John where He no doubt pointed to His body – this temple.

With Christ’s death, the New Testament period started (Matt. 26:28; 1Cor. 11:25; Heb. 9:15) and temple service was abolished. God now (during the New Testament period) works through individuals and He clearly states in 1Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost and He warns us through the Apostle John in Revelation 2:9; 3:9 that there will be those that blaspheme because they say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of satan. Service to God now comes through the body of Christ (1Cor. 12:27; Ep. 4:12), thus each individual that is consecrated to Him for His glory and honour (1Pet. 2:21-22) and not through a temple or synagogue (Acts 7:48; 17:24).

The rebuilding of the temple was commenced by Herod the Great, 20 B.C. Herod tore down Zerubbabel’s temple to make it larger and better.

When Jesus has risen from the dead (Matt. 27:51-53; 28:6; 1Cor. 15:12-23), His disciples remembered His words and they believed the Scripture – that was given to Christ of the Father (John 14:10).

Cleansing the Temple

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John 2:13-17  And the Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 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; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 

It started out to be ‘the Lord’s Passover’ (Exo. 12:11, 12:27; Lev. 23:5; Num. 28:16), but now it had degenerated to be “the Jews’ Passover” (John 2:13; 6:4; 11:55). The feasts of the Lord (Lev. 23:2) had now become the feasts of the Jews (John 5:1; 6:4; 7:2; 11:56; 19:42). Even the commandments were nullified by the traditions of men (Matt. 15:1-9; 16:6-12).

According to historians, 256,500 animals were sacrificed each Passover, so the market must have been huge. The priests sold licenses to the vendors, so this profanation must have been a large source of revenue.

Jesus made a scourge of small cords; He plaited a whip of rush-ropes and drove the animals and the sellers out of the temple. These dealers were very unpopular because of their extortions; they were also conscious that they were profaning the temple and violating the law. They were a stumbling stone (Matt. 16:23; 18:7) for those who wanted to reconcile with God.

My Father’s is a term used by Jesus 60 times of God (John 5:17, 43). The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up is the second Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in John (Psa. 69:9).

Miracles

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John 2:6-12  And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 

The six waterpots of stone were proportioned to the number of wedding guests and each pot contained 122 litres an in total for the 6 pots there were 736 litres.  The ruler of the feast would have been either a chief guest, a friend of the bridegroom or a chief domestic who attended to the supply of the others.

“Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine” This is man’s way. God’s way is to give the best first, and always, and when they have “drunk well” which means to drink freely, not when they are all drunk, as some suppose.

And with this wedding, the miracles of Jesus Christ on earth began, not as some apocryphal books state falsely that He did some childhood miracles.

The Greek word for miracles is semeion, a sign or token by which something is known; a token of confirmation of a divine work or call. Generally used of miracles and wonders done by people to confirm their call and mission from God (Matt. 12:38; 16:1-4; John 2:11, 18, 23; 3:2; 7:31; 9:16; 10:41; 11:47; Acts 2:22, 43; 8:6). It is also used of the power by which false teachers seek to confirm their fallacies to be of God (Matt. 24:24; Mark 13:22; 2Th. 2:8-12; Rev. 13:13-18; 16:14; 19:20). The last scriptures above refer to the satanic powers in these last days to cause men to accept false teaching and be lost. God does not want satan and his agents to manifest more power than His children! No! We have been promised power over all satanic forces (Matt. 17:20; 18:18; 21:22; Mark 9:23; 11:22-24; 16:15-20; Lk. 10:19; John 14:12; Acts 1:8).

The manifestation of His glory is the purpose of all miracles of God. Does God get more glory out of the weakness, helplessness, defeat, sin, sickness, and failure of His children than their power, victories, holiness, health, and success? Which then is the will of God?

Water in Wine

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John 2:1-5  And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 

On the third day after Jesus left Jordan to start His ministry, He attended a marriage feast that sometimes lasted a week. Cana of Galilee was located on a low hill on the side of a rich upland plain, about eleven kilometres north of Nazareth. Called “Cana of Galilee” to distinguish it from Cana of Asher. It is not known how many disciples Jesus had during this first week of His ministry.

When they – the wedding party – ran out of wine (new/good wine = sweet juice) Mary offered Jesus’ service to help create grape juice. ‘Wine’ is used of both fermented and unfermented drink in Scripture. It speaks of the juice of grapes as ‘wine’ while it is still on the cluster (Isa. 65:8) and calls it ‘new wine’ when it is just pressed out of the grapes. It is blasphemous to say that Jesus would have made a wine containing alcohol, He was without sin (1Pet. 2:21-22; Heb. 4:15) and He would not have transgressed Habakkuk 2:15 that says “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink.”

Jesus answered His mother: “Woman…” not a name of disrespect, but one of respect, like our Madam (Matt. 15:28; John 4:21; 19:26; 20:15), “what have I to do with thee?” What have I to do with you in this matter? My time for working a miracle is not fully come. It is sad to see that the first miracle that was chosen for Christ – not chosen by Him – as one that so many people use today to justify the use of alcohol. The Word of God is very clear on the subject of being sober, which is a command to obey, not a request (1Th. 5:6,8; Tit. 2:2,4,6; 1Pet. 1:13, 5:8) and clear on not to drink (Pro. 23:21; 1Tim. 3:3; Tit. 1:7).

The Son of God and of Man

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John 1:49-51  Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believe thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. 

The second New Testament prophecy fulfilled in John – thou shall see greater things than these – Nathaniel did see many greater works when he saw all the works of Christ for over three years. John 1:51 is to be fulfilled in the eternal kingdom of Jesus on earth when angels will ascend and descend in a more literal way than now (Matt. 13:41-43; 24:31).

Verily, verily means Surely, surely or Amen, amen. So used for emphasis, and only by Him who is the truth (John 14:6). Always used singly elsewhere: in the Old Testament only 16 times; 30 times in Matthew; 15 times in Mark; and 8 times in Luke and only by Christ.

The Son of man is used 88 times of Christ in the New Testament and once in Daniel 7:13 where it was predicted that He would come as the Son of man. It always has the definite article when used of Christ, but not when used of ordinary men. He, Jesus, is God’s Man to redeem mankind. He is God’s answer to satan to guarantee his defeat and restore man’s original dominion.

Calling of Philip and Nathanael

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John 1:43-48  The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and find Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip find Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence know thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou was under the fig tree, I saw thee. 

Philip was one of the twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mar. 3:18; Lk. 6:14; Acts 1:13), a brother of Nathanael, who brings him also to Jesus. Nathanael (means gift of God) is Bartholomew, which is a patronymic of Nathaniel, also one of the twelve.

The question he asked “can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” was because they were expecting the Messiah from Bethlehem, and not Nazareth. Never a better person came from any place on earth than Jesus Christ!

Jesus knew Nathanael’s heart through the Holy Spirit’s gift of knowledge (John 3:34; 1Cor. 12:4-11) and said that he was an Israelite in whom is no guile – he was without deceit.

Christ’s statement of seeing him by the Spirit before He could see him with His eyes convinced Nathaniel of Christ’s Sonship.

Calling of the First Disciples

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John 1:35-42  Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek you? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwell thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first finds his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. 

Two of John the Baptist’s disciples, the one was Andrew (Peter’s brother), the other probably John the Apostle, as he never mentions himself in this book. They looked upon (Jesus) the Greek word emblepo, which means to look with fixed eyes upon or look intently as they heard John the Baptist say: “Behold the Lamb of God!” A symbol of Christ used thirty-two times in the Bible.

Andrew and John asked Jesus “Rabbi, (which means Master) where dwell thou?” Jesus told them, “Come and see.” So, they came and saw where He stayed and stayed with Him for that day because it was already the tenth hour – 4 pm.

‘found the Messias’ Finding Jesus changes one’s life (2Cor. 5:17-18). Messias is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Mashiyach, meaning anointed (John 4:25; 1Sam. 2:10, 35; Psa. 2:2; Dan. 9:25-26). The equivalent of mashiyach in the Greek is Christos, used of Jesus 569 times in the New Testament.

‘Cephas’ is the Aramaic word for stone (1Cor. 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5; Gal. 2:9). And ‘stone’ is the Greek word petros which means little stone, rock and 161 other places translated “Peter”. This shows how Jesus could judge a man at the first look. He knew Peter to be firm and strong in soul, and hard and unyielding in purpose.

Behold, the Lamb of God

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John 1:29-34  The next day John see Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptize with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. 

John the Baptist saw Christ and proclaimed “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” This is the first New Testament prophecy fulfilled in John. Lamb of God is a symbol of Christ, mentioned thirty-two times (Isa. 53:7; John 1:36; Acts 8:32; 1Pet. 1:19; Rev. 5:6-13; 6:1, 16; 7:9-17; 12:11; 13:8; 14:1-10; 15:3; Rev. 17:14; 19:7-9; 21:9-27; 22:1-3). The Greek word for taketh away is airo, which means to bear in the sense of removing sin; doing away with the guilt and punishment (1Pet. 2:24; Psa. 103:12; 1Jn. 3:5). The Greek word for sin is hamartia, which means missing the mark; always in a moral sense – a sin, whether by omission or commission, in thought, word, or deed. Christ came to teach men how to shoot straight – to hit the moral bull’s eye every time (Tit. 2:11-14; 1Jn. 2:1-2, 29; 3:9; 5:1-4, 5:18).

‘For he was before me’ – Christ lived before John as the second person of the Trinity “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” Micah 5:2 (See also Isa. 9:6-7; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 1:8.) John did not know Jesus, but he did know the Father who sent Jesus (v33). The Greek word for manifest is phaneroo, which means to bring to light. Here, it means to introduce the Messiah to Israel (John 1:11; Matt. 15:24).

John bare record, the Greek word martureo means bearing witness. There was seven witnesses to the Messiah: The Father (John 5:30-38; 8:13-18); the Son (John 5:17-27; 8:14; 18:37); the Holy Spirit (John 15:26; 16:13-15); the written Word (John 1:45; 5:38, 46); Divine works (John 5:17, 36; 10:25; 14:11; 15:24); John the Baptist (John 1:7,32-34; 5:33-35); and the Disciples (John 15:27; 19:35; 21:24).

The Greek word for abode is meno which means abide, dwell, remain. Occurs 41 times in John and only 12 times in the other gospels.

‘He that sent me’ is a clear reference to the Trinity. The Son he did not know; the Father he did know; and the Spirit he saw coming from the Father upon the Son (Matt. 3:16-17; Lk.3:22). The Greek word for see is eidon which means to see; not only the mere act of looking but the actual perception of the object. Thus, not only have the Father and Son been seen with human eyes as separate and distinct persons at the same time and place (Dan. 7:9-14; Acts 7:55; Rev. 5:7; 7:10), but the Holy Spirit as a separate person from both the Father and the Son has been seen.

‘Spirit descending, and remaining on him’ is a fulfilment of Isaiah 11:2; 42:1; 61:1 and recorded in Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:10 and Luke 3:22. Christ is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11; Lk. 3:16; 24:49; John 7:37-39; 15:16-17, 26; Acts 1:4-8; 11:16).

The Testimony of John the Baptist

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John 1:19-24  And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What say thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 

John the Baptist was not the Christ, Elijah, or anyone else who had lived in the past. He was the natural son of Zacharias and Elizabeth (Lk. 1:24, 1:57). He came in the spirit and power of Elijah to do for Israel before the first coming, what Elijah will do before the second coming (Mal. 4:5-6; Lk. 1:17). This explains Matthew 11:14 and 17:10-13.

He was the prophet that Moses predicted would come (Deu. 18:15-18; Acts 3:22-23; 7:37).

‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias’ is the first Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in the gospel of John.

Malachi 3:1 predicted of John “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”

Grace for Grace

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John 1:15-18  John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spoke, He that come after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 

Christ was in existence before John, but after John in public earthly ministry (Matt. 3:11; Lk. 3:17; John 1:31-33) “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” Micah 5:2 (See also Isa. 9:6-7; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 1:8.)

The Greek word for fullness is pleroma which means abundance, completeness. All needs and lawful wants are promised by the gospel (2Cor. 1:20; Mat. 7:7-11; 17:20; 21:22; Mark 9:23; 11:22-24; John 14:12-17; 15:7, 16; 16:23-26).

Grace upon grace means full grace, according to our needs and wants (Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-38; Jas. 1:5-8).

The law that condemns in the moral life, and only typifies in the religious life is the law of Moses. First of 13 times Moses is mentioned in John (John 1:17, 45; 3:14; 5:45-46; 6:32; 7:19-23; 8:5; 9:28-29). Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ – this does not mean that there was no law before Moses, or no grace and truth before Jesus Christ. The law itself is truth, and the New Testament is law. There are 1,050 commands in the New Testament. The idea here is that the fullness of grace came by Jesus Christ. One can get today in fullness what men received only in part in Old Testament times.

The Greek word for seen is horao which means to see with the eyes and also see with the mind. That it means here to comprehend fully or understand is clear from the fact that many men have seen God with the eyes (Gen. 18:2, 33; 32:24-30; Exo. 24:10; 33:11; Jos. 5:13; Isa. 6:1-13; Ezek. 1:26-28; Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-6; Acts 7:56-59; Rev. 4:2-5; 5:1-7). The verse could read, “No man has ever comprehended or experienced God at any time in all His fulness, save the only begotten Son . . . . He hath declared Him.” That Christ is the first to experience God in the fullness of the Holy Spirit is clear from John 3:34; Acts 10:38; Isaiah 11:1-2; 61:1-2 and Luke 4:16-18.

The Greek word for declared is exegeomai which means revealed, expounded; where we get our word exegesis.