John the apostle shared how Jesus turned water into wine, and he wrote how Jesus, “went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 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 from here; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of your house has eaten me up”, and in chapter two and verse eighteen of his book, John shared how the Jews in Jerusalem asked Jesus, “what sign show you unto us?” where we read:
Then answered the Jews and said unto him,
What sign show you unto us, seeing that you do these things?
The verse reads, “Then answered the Jews and said unto him, ...” John began with the words, “then answered the Jews” which means “at that time the people within the Jewish nation responded and began to speak” “and said unto him” which means “and uttered, declared, proclaimed and asked Jesus” the following question. John shared how people who belonged to the Jewish nation, their rulers, asked Jesus the following question.
The verse goes on to say, “... What sign show you unto us, seeing that you do these things?” John continued with words, “What sign” which means “which mark, symbol or token of an unusual occurrence which transcends the common course of nature” “show you unto us” or “do you, Jesus, expose, give evidence or proof of by words or teaching”, “seeing that you do these things?” which means “because, since and on account that you, Jesus, perform, produce, construct, form and fashion the emptying of the temple from the animals, merchants and money changes”. John shared how the “people within the Jewish nation” wanted Jesus to “show” them some sort of “miracle” that would transcend “the common course of nature” to prove He had the authority to empty the temple.
When we consider John's words in this verse, we learn how the Jewish people, the religious leaders within the temple, wanted Jesus to prove He had the authority to remove these things from the temple. Because they believed Jesus to be only a man and had no idea He was the Messiah of God, they wanted to see a supernatural work performed by Him. Jesus was God come in the flesh as we learned in chapter one, (See John 1:14) and He had the “authority” to do whatever He desired. Jesus wanted the temple to be a place where people could “pray” and meet with God. God's desire is to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and those who study His life and miracles will find more than enough evidence that He has authority to do whatever He desires. Let all who read these words study the life of Jesus and yield their life to Him.
Next time John shares how Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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