In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. IN HIM WAS LIFE, AND THAT LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (or has not overcome it). JOHN 1:1-5
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 1:9
He was in the world, and though the world was made though him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." 1:10-13
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, WHO CAME FROM THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH. 1:14
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. 1:16-18
Blessing comes from the fullness of his grace, not from the law. There seems to be a distinction between grace and law. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, not from the law. Blessings come from the fullness of his grace, but not from the fullness of the law.
Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 1:29
Even though it appears that Nathanael was skeptical about Jesus by saying, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (1:46) Jesus was not put off in the least, not offended. In fact, he greets Nathanael with affirming words of Nathanael's character: "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." v.47
Jesus turned water into wine for all the wine at the wedding was already gone. Perhaps this means people were already drunk? The master of the banquet commends the bridgegroom for bringing out the best of the wine at the end; because most do not save the best for last, for when people have already had too much to drink. Yet, Jesus gives them more wine and better wine?! And who knew firsthand where this wine came from? Not the master of the banquet nor the bridegroom; but the SERVANTS and the disciples. John 2:1-11
So, in this account of Jesus from gospel of John; we follow Jesus from this wedding, where he turned water into wine, to the temple courts when it was almost time for Jewish Passover in Jerusalem (religious folk). Is Jesus helping them, like he did the people at the wedding? NO! He pisses them off. He was quite angry with what he found there; men selling cattle, sheep and doves and exchanging money. He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area; both sheep and cattle and scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He didn't merely protest with in difference and passively decide to not participate in what was taking place in the temple courts. He took action to put a stop to what was taking place so others could NOT participate and said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" 2:16. I do not find exclamation marks frequently after Jesus' words; but this has two.
What resulted from Jesus' actions? --"Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus audaciously answered them by saying, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." Wow, it almost seems like Jesus was disrespecting their temple. First he stirs things up by driving all away in the temple courts preventing them from being able to sell and exchange money; then he responds to their demands of proving his authority to do this by saying this? Clearly this would offend those he was speaking to, even though Jesus was not referring to this actual temple but his actual body, but Jesus did not waste time in trying to explain this to them or justify his answer, he knew their hearts. Jesus was not responding like this to Nathanael's skepticism earlier. There must have been a sharp difference.
Also, the Jews had demanded Jesus to show them miraculous signs to prove his authority for what he did..he did not deliver what they demanded. He did however show miraculous signs to many people who were at the Passover Feast in Jerusalem; causing them to believe in his name. But Jesus didn't entrust himself to them, "for he knew all men." 2:24 So, Jesus could have easily proven his authority to the Jews who demanded it, but he did not.
In chapter 3 of John, there is an account of a Pharisee named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, coming to Jesus at night. He acknowledges the miraculous signs done by Jesus and that God was with him. Jesus didn't make it easy for this Pharisee to come to him, but rather seemed to give Nicodemus a hard time with some challenging things to think about and then questioned Nicodemus for not understanding Jesus' teaching while Nicodemus was Israel's teacher. But Jesus does explain more to him, which makes me wonder if Nicodemus' heart WANTED to see the truth. In fact, this is where Jesus explains the famous: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. He goes on to explain further: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but however does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son..." Isn't this the gospel in a nutshell? Right here explained to this "seeking Pharisee"? So, Jesus was not harshly bent toward all of the religious leaders in Israel. Like it says in 2:24-25 "..for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man." It seems to me that this Pharisee got a pretty thorough explanation or revelation from Jesus about the truth. Makes me wonder and consider that Jesus desires leaders to know the truth; so that they can teach it. But unfortunately it seems that many religious leaders do not have a heart that is open to the truth and can hear it.
