7. JOHN 2 v 13-24: The first thing I noted on reading this passage is the amount of walking Jesus and His disciples did! After the wedding in Cana, they walk 18 miles to Capernaum which acts as Jesus' home base throughout His ministry and then they go to Jerusalem for Passover-John mentions 3 or 4 Passovers in the period when Jesus is at work-a distance of nearly 80 miles!

The other Gospel writers place the event when Jesus overturned the merchants' tables towards the end of His ministry, after His ride into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday; possibly it happened twice or John had his reasons to bring it forward. Those reasons could be that he is about to introduce us to the revelation of the man Jesus as the Son of God. Note what Jesus shouts: ''..Stop turning MY FATHER'S house into a marketplace!''

Another thing that may well have caught your attention is that John writes that miraculous signs have taken place and yet we have no record of them here! John's interest isn't in giving those details, he leaves that to the other Gospel writers: he focusses his attention on the God: the claims of Jesus Christ.

Let's go deeper...John is demonstrating that the death of Jesus will be the ultimate sacrifice, supplanting the need for Passover and the other Jewish feasts. When we read about this Passover our minds are inevitably drawn towards the last Passover for Jesus when He will become the new focal point of worship. At this one, Jesus predicts His death and resurrection and the Jewish leaders instead of taking time to absorb the mystery of Jesus' declaration, aggressively questions at Him in marked contrast to Nathaniel earlier. Remember that the Temple to which they are referring is now what was called Herod's Temple, which was begun in 20 BC , providing us with a possible date for this Passover as being 26 AD.

Going deeper still...Jesus quotes from the OT, Isaiah 56 v 7, combined with Jeremiah 7 v 11 , but His opponents demonstrate a lack of true knowledge of the Scripture by their words in verse 18 as Jesus had made clear His claim to be the Son of God.

Open your mind to Scripture! Study it, see God revealed in even the trickiest passages! God bless you! David