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HOW CLOSE IS GOD'S LOVE FOR YOU?
Matthew 3:2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Mark 1:15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and
believe in the gospel.”
After the first public miracle of Jesus turning the water into wine, He went to Capernaum and then to
Jerusalem for Passover. The scene in these next verses seems out of character
for Jesus but as we look at it we’ll see that it was really an example of “…but
faith working through love.” Gal. 5:2. This next scene in John 2 is the first
of many confrontations with the religious authorities and Jesus demonstrates
tough love to show them the Kingdom isn’t theirs, it’s God’s.
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| https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/john-2-15 |
John 2:14 In the temple courts he found people selling
cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
15
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts,
both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and
overturned their tables.
16
To those who sold doves he said,
“Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
17
His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will
consume me.”
The peddlers at the temple were taking unfair advantage of the thousands
who traveled a long way to get to Jerusalem for Passover. Motivated by greed,
they didn’t consider the sanctity of where they were. This was the sanctified Temple
of the Living God, not a market place with marked up prices because of the crowd
of travelers. In throwing them out He so clearly teaches this lesson of
repentance. Their doing this in that place, their graft and corruption, was not
acceptable Kingdom of God behavior. Hopefully many of these peddlers became
disciples.
Let’s make this personal. As a young teen, I went to the Synagogue for
the
High Holy days services. I was not a practicing Jew but that was just
something we were all expected to do living in a predominately Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, NY.
This was probably a few weeks after my Bar Mitzvah. Doing business was out of
the question during those special days in September. At one point in the
service they were taking pledges from the leaders of various ministries of the Synagogue. Leaders would stand up and give a number, not using
the word “dollars,” relative to their ministry’s donation for the year. I said
to myself, “if I had to put on nice suit and tie, walk to the Synagogue on a
hot day and not play ball in the streets how dare these hypocrites do business
during this formal, ceremonial service? That was probably the last time I went
there. Maybe I experienced a bit of
“Zeal for Your house will consume me.” Though I didn’t believe in God
for another 7 years, something inside caused me to recognize this was not
acceptable behavior.
Author's note - this incidence in that particular Synagogue was an isolated case and interpreted by an impressionable, rebellious 12 year old. I make No insinuation that this is typical of Jewish behavior. I am very proud of my ethnic heritage and I hate anything that looks like antisemitism.
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| not this author |
Author's note - this incidence in that particular Synagogue was an isolated case and interpreted by an impressionable, rebellious 12 year old. I make No insinuation that this is typical of Jewish behavior. I am very proud of my ethnic heritage and I hate anything that looks like antisemitism.
Jesus continues to reveal the separation of darkness from light in the
following verses.
John 2:18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What
sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
19
Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up.”
20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,
and will You raise it up in three days?”
21
But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered
that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word
which Jesus had said.
God’s love and wisdom are so great. Look how Jesus dealt with the Jews
adversarial comments. He set them up to blow their minds. Surely He knew that
they would have no understanding of His response to their question. Nor did He
offer any explanation because it was obvious their hearts where not ready to
receive anything. Verse 22 shows us His motive; He was sowing seed in the
disciples’ hearts that would grow and blossom after His resurrection.
The WHY of what Jesus said and did became obvious. He was driven by love
for the Father and love for people. His wisdom and love found every means to
reveal the reality of who He is and to proclaim the Gospel in its most
simplistic phrasing,
Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to
say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Verse 23 is the exclamation point,
John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the
Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the
signs which He did.
PRAYER – Father, help us to walk so close
to you, so in love and holiness that our actions and life are good examples of
what it means to live in the Kingdom of God. May people see You in us and in
seeing You realize their sin and the closeness of Your Kingdom. Give us the
boldness to lay hands on the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead and move in
the supernatural so that people will again see the signs which He did.
John 14:12 “Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do
also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
The Discerner of Hearts
In conclusion, the last paragraph of the chapter clearly exemplifies an
aspect of What Makes Jesus Tick and is an important life lesson.
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| https://robcampbell.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/ q-why-did-the-tin-man-want-a-heart/ |
John 2:23 Now
when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in
His name when they saw the signs which He did.
24
But Jesus did not commit Himself
to them, because He knew all men,
25 and had no need that anyone should
testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
It is not always appropriate to tell the whole story, something I am very
prone to do. Jesus knew the hearts of the people He was with and chose His
words to only speak what was needful, saying more would have detracted from the
effect of everything written previously in the chapter.
Matthew 7:6“ Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor
cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and
turn and tear you in pieces.
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