Episode 5: Glorious Authority (2:1-25)
Jesus’ authority comes into sharp focus in this chapter in two very different ways.
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- What strikes you about Jesus’ authority in this passage?
- What’s the significance of his body being the temple?
- How has this chapter grown your view of Jesus?
- What are you enjoying about Jesus as you continue journeying through John’s gospel?
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Sarah: This podcast is sponsored by 10ofthose.com. 10ofthose.com handpick the best Christian books that point to Jesus and sell them at discounted prices. Side By Side by Ed Welch is a book written with the conviction that friends are the best helpers as we journey through the Christian life. It's a really accessible and short book, equipping us to share our burdens with one another. It's another one of those books that I could read every year as I'm reminded of the power of ordinary relationships to be used for God's glory. Go and check it 10ofthose.com.
Felicity: Hello, and welcome to Two Sisters in a cup of Tea. My name is Felicity and I live in the USA and this is my sister Sarah and she's in the UK.
Sarah: Hi, Felicity
Felicity: Hi, Sarah. Anything of interest in your cup today?
Sarah: Just the Yorkshire tea today, but it is joined by a very delicious Belgian chocolate chunk cookie. Left over from the Christmas tin.
Felicity: Actually an Ms Tin that's I know.
Sarah: Such a gift. Like, people have been so generous, literally bringing around a lot of busy still getting through them, but it's just a step up from many other cookies.
Felicity: I agree. There's something about just the M and S, Marks and Spencer's kind of creme de la creme.
Sarah: Also.
Felicity: What is that about? In posh shops? They always say it's Belgian chocolate.
Sarah: It definitely makes you want it more, though. Very good.
Felicity: Well, actually made a new venture on the Tfront. Those of you who listened to our previous season might remember a certain encounter in a posh tea shop down the road involved hands on a table, just general disaster. So I've revisited because I got given a voucher and she didn't actually remember me, which is surprising, because in my mind it was quite a dramatic.
Sarah: She.
Felicity: Must get many English girls coming in. I purchased something called Earl Grey. Bravo. And like, a loose leaf tea. So whatever you do, you know stupid. No, just a little thing over my cup.
Sarah: And a dunking thing.
Felicity: Yeah, one of them. There's probably a name for that, isn't it? I bought it, actually, because it had little blue flowers in it, which isn't that fun. What looks fun might just taste a bit floral, but actually it's very delicious in a delicate, slightly floral manner.
Sarah: Well, Christine, we wanted to chat briefly before we get stuck into chapter two today about what we do when we just don't feel like opening the Bible. Whether we're going through a hard season, whether it's just a hard week, whether we're just not that bothered and we just don't feel like it. What do you do in those times?
Felicity: Yeah, well, let's just admit that those times come fairly frequently. This week, I found a struggle, actually. It's that thing, isn't it, where you wake up in the morning. I don't know whether you do your biweekly in the morning or whenever it is, but wake up in the morning and think, can I really give others sleep? Seems better. Or getting on with the jobs of the day seems better. And I think that is a battle that is very real. Yeah, maybe an everyday thing, but that kind of idea, the thing which helps me, I think is remembering reminding myself that the Bible is not just any, but God himself is working when I open up the Bible. And he doesn't just work when I read like a whole chapter, like literally any little nugget of God's word is going to be doing a work in my heart that will then enable me to be more like Jesus, to love Him more, inclines my heart towards Him. It's that thing, isn't it? Whether you give yourself the Word, you want the Word and you want the Lord you want to it's a kind.
Sarah: Of cyclical thing, isn't it? You have to preach, preach yourself that, don't you know? I find I have to like talk to myself quite a lot of the time to do that and I think for me as well, I think it's just praying, it's just being honest with the Lord. Lord, I don't feel like doing this today, this is a battle today, but please, would you help me? Please, would you shed light on your Word? I'd understand it and find joy in doing it. I think for me as well. I think just being able to be honest with a friend in that as well, and just being able to say, I'm just finding this hard. This is a battle for me at the moment, and just kind of being accountable to someone else just helps to know that someone else is going to be praying for me in that and can ask me how it's going and that kind of thing. I think half the bafflers think I need to kind of hide it or I'm too proud to say, that's a really good idea.
Felicity: It's hard though and it's courage to be vulnerable in that way. So worth it. And just the idea that someone else's prayers, that is a really valuable thing, isn't it?
Sarah: Well, let's get stuck into it eventually. Chapter two today, so we finished up chapter one last week, we're now doing the whole of chapter two, so I'm going to be reading from the NIV. Let's go. On the third day, a wedding took place at Kayna in Galilee. Jesus mother was there and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus'mother said to him, they have no more wine. Women, why do you involve me? Jesus replied, my hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremony or washing, each holding from 80 to 120 litres. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the broom then he told them now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so and the master of the banquet tasted the water that been turned into wine. He did not realize where it'd come from though the servants who had drawn the water new. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink. But you have saved the best till now. What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts both sheep and cattle. He scattered the coins the money changes and overturned their tables. Devoted sold delta. He said, Get these out of here. Stop turning my father's house into a market. His disciples remembered that it was written zeal for your house will consume me. The Jews then responded to him what sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this? Jesus answered them destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days. They replied, It's taken 46 years to build this temple and you're going to raise it in three days. But the temple he'd spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead his disciples recalled what he had said then. They believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. Now, while he was in Jerusalem at the path of the festival many people saw the sign he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not interest himself to them for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind for he knew what was in each person.
Felicity: Thank you Sarah. It's funny that this is a familiar story. I think if you've been around church at all you would have heard this story. And I think because of that then sometimes we kind of skim past it and we just forget to notice that this is a megamiracle going on here. Did you notice that he doesn't actually touch the water or it's like an act of will. All it does is say now draw some water and suddenly it's wine and.
Sarah: It'S a massive amount of water. Massive amount of water. But also notice that he's not actually that willing to start off with, ism he? Like it's his mum persuading him come on son, like you can do it. Lend a hands and need some help kind of thing.
Felicity: I love the expectance the extra company.
Sarah: I know you can do it. But having said he's not willing, he then produces the most extravagant and generous and the best wine that anyone could ever have. And it's just like a testament to his generous love towards this family who don't know. The bridesproom didn't know where it come from, the matter, the bankers didn't know where it came from. Like, he just did it because he can he can be that generous and extravagant. And I love that.
Felicity: Yeah, I think that's so true. That kind of authority that means that he the power and authority, that means that he can do it. And then he chooses to do it in such a way because any transformation of water into juice would be fair. I know you and I have talked about about this beforehand, but we were sort of debating amongst ourselves as to whether you just refer to and remember the echoes of the Old Testament that are going on here. And I think if we just remember the context we've just had at the end of chapter one, there these kind of tumbling Old Testament names for Jesus Christ, God's, King, the one the prophets and Moses spoke of. And so you're kind of primed to know that Jesus is the fulfillment of all those Old Testament anticipations. And then we were sort of talking about war, but let's just say, full stop, this is an amazing miracle without any Old Testament kind of echoes. But if as we're reading it, just something in there just reminds us of something right before. So as I was reading it, I was thinking wine. And as I think of wine, I then think back in the prophets, we have just wine and new wine, and the best one is often associated with new creation and the kind of final feast, feasting on into eternity. And so I wonder whether if we just bring that in a little bit, we just get this added. Not only is Jesus generous and extravagant here, right here, right now, but actually on into eternity.
Sarah: Yeah, definitely. It's definitely a sense that there's a foretaste of heaven in this, isn't it? I think as you see, as you begin to see Jesus miracles in the Gospels, you're definitely seeing these little thumbnails prints of like what's to come and it is like these little tasters. And I think I didn't really know where to go back to in the Old Testament to kind of see what you've seen there. But I think that's okay either way, isn't it? Either way, we got this extraordinary picture of his generous and extravagant love and kind of individual care of his family. And, you know, he revealed his glory in verse eleven. He chooses to reveal his glory through this sign. His disciples believed in him. So this was a really significant moment in his ministry, even though it wasn't really seen by many people. And it is a kind of pointer forward to the extraordinary nature of new creation, isn't it? And that's a wonderful thing. But an even more wonderful thing as you get on to the next bit of the chapter, is seeing an even bigger kind of fulfillment, isn't it, of new creation and what's to come. Do you want to talk us through that bit?
Felicity: Well, there's a bit of a shift, isn't it? So we go from this kind of like, very, I think quite gentle, kind of compassionate, like ordinary moment. Like weddings are kind of everyday kind of moments. And then within three sentences, he is striding into the temple. We're talking about the mighty Temple of Jerusalem at the center of the whole Jewish community. And he's angry and he grabs this cord of whips and he drives out everything that's been going on, which has kind of basically become a commercial center, hasn't it? And in the midst of it, this most audacious of statements in verse 16 get these assets. Stop turning my father's house into a market. I mean, this guy, for all intents and purposes, is just a guy from Nazareth who hasn't been seen very much in public, really. As you say, the wedding sign was fairly private. And here he is striding into the Temple with apparent authority and saying, they got it wrong.
Sarah: That's a big deal. It's a big deal. And you can see why the Jews then, in verse 18 say, well, prove it because who are you to kind of destroy our marketplace, essentially, and destroy this very fruitful commercial enterprise, essentially, isn't it? What's going on? And like, you know, that would have been to do with sacrifices. It wouldn't be completely random just selling Catholic sheep there was it like, there are links to why that's happening there, but he's seeing right through them. And we get hints of that right at the end of chapter two. He knew all people. He knew what was in each person. He's seeing right through what's going on in that temple scene, in those temple courts. And then he delivers this kind of massive kind of answer and reply, doesn't he, and saying, destroy this temple, and I'll raise it again in three days. And by saying that, as John kind of edits it, he says he's talking about his own body being the temple, like, you know, whoa. Yeah, whoa, what's happening? In that sense?
Felicity: And I think as I've been mulling on this passage over the last few days more and more, that sentence has become the kind of this is possibly the biggest deal of what's being said. Here the thing. Previously in verse 17, we get this Psalm 69 reference. And so we're kind of being pointed towards who Jesus is. He's kind of david. He's like of King David. He's of God's king. So we're kind of being persuaded again of his identity and his authority in that. But then when he says this, the temple is his body. If we think of the temple's purpose, the whole reason for the temple is to enable relationship between God's people and God. That was why it was set up, wasn't it? Back to the Arc, all those, like the tabernacle kind of things, the means by which so sacrifices happen here, priests dwell here to intercede for the people. And he says, it's no longer about this giant building, it's about me and my body and who I am.
Sarah: Which is so bold, isn't it? Like, it's so, so bold. If you go back to kind of the end, you know, John's prologue that we had at the beginning of chapter one, remember the famous words of verse 14? The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory and made his dwelling among us. The phrase can be tabernacle among us. That kind of dwelling. And the tabernacle was a small version of the temple. And just like, you suddenly start to realize, whoa, what he's saying here and what he's doing is clearly saying, I'm.
Felicity: It.
Sarah: I'm at the center of all of this. And yeah, I think that's really all.
Felicity: We need as Jesus dies and rises again. At that point, all we need is Jesus. We don't need the temple, we don't need anything else. And that's kind of where John's gospel is taking us, isn't it? It's like almost knocking out all the other possibilities. Like all we need is we are in intimate, unconditional relationship with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that cannot be changed. Like, that cannot be taken away. That is incredible reality.
Sarah: And I think you get the disciples at the end of chapter one because of saying, wow, this is the man the prophets wrote about, this is the guy Moses wrote about, this is the King of Israel. But was anyone then expecting for him to say, I'm the temple? Like, I'm in, I'm the center of what's been going on for the whole of the Old Testament. And yet maybe they were. I don't know, it's just these terms are so weighty and then he's just kind of bringing in extra weight and saying, yes, I'm everything, I'm everything you're desiring. I'm everything that the whole of this is all about. It's found in me. And I think that's super encouraging, isn't it, as we can have drive this to our own hearts because we don't need to look outside of Jesus. Here he is it but it's also I found it really challenging because I'm like, well, how often do I look outside of Jesus? How often I am am I tempted to think that he's not all this.
Felicity: Like, you know, yeah, I think that's exactly it. Why wouldn't I run to Jesus when I see him like this? And actually, if you put it with the passage before the first half of the chapter, that picture of Jesus compassionate, generous, extravagant, giving us all we need. And then you get this as he knocks out any other options. Well, it's so kind of heart thrilling, isn't it, to see that? But then, as you say, there's the challenge of what do we actually do with that? It's a call to kind of examine, where are we tempted to trust other people?
Sarah: And I think of Jesus'own words kind of at the end of chapter two, then make it clear where our hearts naturally deviate towards, don't they? Because he's saying he knew all people, he knew what was in each person. And we're reminded back again in that prologue of the world did not receive Him. We're in darkness without his light. We're nowhere, aren't we? And we're kind of left I feel like we're left with a bit of a problem at the end of this chapter of realizing, gosh, this is where mankind is. We've had all this testimony about Jesus, and yet it says he doesn't need any testimony about mankind. He knows man's heart, he knows our heart, and yet we've kind of seen that he's the one. He's the one through which everything is going to happen. But there's still a kind of missing link, isn't there, and how that's going to happen? And hopefully next week we'll come on to that. But I think, yes, I feel challenged on my own heart at the end of this, but also I am going well at a bigger picture of Jesus. I think so.
Felicity: And I think the authority of Jesus, I think, who we're the same as his glory is being revealed, it's compelling to see his glory being revealed. And so I'm more persuaded to run to Jesus than I was before I read this passage, I think. And that's the hard work, isn't it? Praying that that would always be the case, that we would see Jesus on his terms as he is presented here, and so run to Him above all else, which is by God's grace.
Sarah: By God's grace. And you can do that. He is completely acceptable, accessible through his throne of grace, isn't he? That what he's saying here, is that nothing is needed to be able to access God. Like he's it. He's everything. And so I can come to Him and I can pour out my heart and I can come because he's made it possible. And that is just extraordinary, isn't it? So wherever I am, however I'm feeling at the start of this year like I can come to Jesus and he will willingly and generously and lovingly accept my prayers and leave me on. I just think, wow, cool.
Felicity: Yeah, absolutely. Do you want to pray for us, Sarah, as we get finished?
Sarah: I'd love to. All heavenly Father, we just thank you so much that we've had a bigger picture of Jesus today through reading chapter two of John's Gospel. We thank you so much for this extraordinary picture of who he is and what he says that's so bold and so mind blowing. And yet it's what we need to hear. And we just thank you, Lord. We thank you that we can access you, that we can come to you because of what Jesus has done on that cross and in rising again, that everything is through him. And we pray, Lord, would you help us to boldly approach your throne of grace because of what we read here? Would you help us to run to you? And Lord, as we've continually prayed through this season? As Jesus becomes greater, would we become less? For your glory, we pray, Lord. Amen.
Felicity: Amen. Thanks, Sarah. Another hit to the heart. In a good way. Yeah, as ever. So do check out that book that you're talking about, Sarah. Sounds fantastic. You can get it on one of those. We have a partnership store. So do type in two Sisters and you'll find all our recommendations. And as ever, do leave a review if you have the time and the energy to let others know about it. In that way.
Sarah: It only takes a couple of minutes. It's very quick. But we so appreciate every review. It just helps another person to find us who wouldn't ordinarily find our podcast. And we just really appreciate every review. Thank you.
Felicity: Absolutely.
Sarah: We'll see you next time.
Felicity: See you next time. Bye. Bye.
Sarah: Bye. Thanks for listening to this episode. It's sponsored by Tenorbow.com. Check them out for great discounted resources that point to Jesus.
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