Chapter 2

16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” - Jn 2:16–17.

John chapter two brings us rich theology over two short but powerful narratives. The wedding in Cana showed us the positional authority of Jesus compared to his mother, who remained nameless in this text, symbolizing the identity of the significant one of power and true authority. Further, Mary did not describe to Jesus how to fix the problem, she only brought him an awareness of the problem. How many times do we bring our own solutions to God? Is it possible that we often overlook what God is doing in our lives because of our own idea of what the solution is going to look like? Further at the wedding, Jesus turns water into wine, symbolizing disgrace to joy. But on a deeper level, the joy that Jesus brings is full, pure, and holy. It’s important to note that we are not talking about happiness, but the sustaining Joy of the Lord. 

In the next narrative, Jesus is seen cleansing the temple. This is a symbol for us that only Jesus has the power to clean out our temple. (Our hearts, bodies, and minds) Jesus takes this further in fighting for purity in our temple and no longer permitting defilement in our temple. A parallel to this can be drawn from Joshua driving the Canaanites out of the Promised Land. The command was given “6 So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left. 7 Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them. 8 Rather, cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until now.” - Jos 23:6–8.

Read John 2 - How do we commit ourselves to an undefiled temple?