Study on John 2

2:1-11 Jesus seemed reluctant to do anything at first, because “My time has not yet come”, but his mother Mary just told the servants and forced his hand. Some Catholics and Orthodox Christians point to this as evidence to support the efficacy of asking for Mary to intercede for us.

Be as it may, we are supposed to intercede for each other in prayer, and God may do things that might not otherwise have been done had we not prayed. I don’t know how this works, with the sovereignty of God, but I guess it’s one of those things that are beyond human understanding to a certain extent. God is sovereign and He is beyond us, yet “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)

So, I don’t fully understand how or why prayer works, but yes, it works! So, let’s pray!

2:12-18 Here in John, the clearing of the Temple is near the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, instead of near the end, as in the synoptic Gospels. Some people think there were 2 different clearings of the Temple, while other people think this is an artifact of the lack of concern for chronology in ancient storytelling.

Be as it may, people were disrupting the proper use of the court of the Gentiles -- a place for people who do not yet know Yahweh to come and find out about Him -- and using it for their own selfish purposes instead.

2:23-4 “Now while Jesus was in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.” In fact, they had completely missed the main purpose of His coming -- not to become a political Messiah King but to die for our sins and save the world -- including the Romans.