Alive To God

When Jesus visited Jerusalem on a Passover, He found something in the temple that did not belong there. “And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business” (John 2:14). Does this sound familiar?

In the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus examines seven churches. As in Jerusalem, He found something in the churches that did not belong there. The church of Ephesus had left its first love. Pergamos put a stumbling block before the children of God. Thytira allowed a woman prophetess to woo God’s servants into sexual immorality. Sardis was a dead church. The Laodicians were a lukewarm church.

In John chapter 2, Jerusalem’s issue was making “My Father’s house a house of merchandise” (John 2:16). In every case, the church and temple had not lived up to its calling. The temple was the place where God’s holy presence dwelt. And from there He was to rule and bless those who kept His commandments. From within His people, He would make Himself known.

Jesus performed various signs, or miracles, at a certain Passover, and many believed in Jesus as a result, v. 23. But that wasn’t enough for Jesus to return their trust, v. 24. This response should interest us. What is Jesus looking for in His followers that was missing in these believers?

When the Jews asked for a sign that showed He had authority to drive out the moneymakers, Jesus pointed to the temple of His body. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:18-19). Why did Jesus point to His body? 1) Because His body was the incarnation of the divine with the human. The tabernacle and temples were merely signs pointing to the true tabernacle of God’s presence. The Son of God “tabernacled” in the human body of Jesus. His was the true and superior dwelling place of God’s presence, v. 21, like a flame of fire that outshines a mere drawing of a match. God was working through Him.

2) Because the true light now shines to help people see the “real world” of God’s kingdom. Role-reversals like those of Christ ruling over the temple become commonplace in the kingdom of light. Christ and His work of preaching the kingdom with its healings exposes the darkness of men’s hearts, who are valuing things and activities over God Himself. Idols become apparent next to the character and power of God in Jesus. Who should you base your life on, God’s incarnate Son, or a man-made thing?

When Jesus came to Jerusalem one Passover, He found that the temple caretakers had lost their vision. What was to be a place for worshipers to pray on holy ground, became an opportunity for the caretakers to prey on the pilgrims.

What should have been a quiet place for reflection and prayer was full of noise and distracting commotion from the buying and selling of animals in the courtyard.

At a wedding at Cana in Galilee, Jesus miraculously turned water into wine. But John inserts a significant piece of detail that I’ve often overlooked: “Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing 20 or 30 gallons apiece” (John 2:6 NKJV).

The details of “waterpots of stone” for “purification of the Jews” points directly to rituals the Jews relied on to be pure before the Lord. Since John used metaphors throughout his book, we can do the same here. We just need to keep to John’s emphasis given in 20:31, lest we be unfaithful to the word.

The Bible reveals the state of our hearts. We may come to the Scriptures initially skeptical of Jesus, as Nathaniel did in v. 46 (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”). But when the Lord reveals His grace, He turns us around.

When Philip approached Jesus accompanied by Nathanael, Jesus told Nathanael that he was an Israelite without deceit. When Nathanael asked how He knew him, Jesus said He saw him under the fig tree before Philip called him (vv. 47-48).

John the baptizer’s goal was to turn people to Jesus, not to build up a large following of his own. His job was to be the voice in the wilderness prophesied in Isaiah 40:3 to prepare the people for Christ’s coming. “The two disciples heard him [the baptizer] speak, and they followed Jesus” (John 1:37).

These two disciples paid attention as John turned their allegiance from him to follow Jesus. This is the goal of all those who earnestly want to be witnesses of Jesus. People notice and hear you, and follow Jesus, not you. What kind of life is this where people turn from you to Christ? A holy life. First we ourselves need to be with Jesus.