Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 414
402
IMMERSE
•
MESSIAH
2:9–3:2
some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.
When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not
knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew),
he called the bridegroom over. “A host always serves the best wine first,”
he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less
expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”
This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed
his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
After the wedding he went to Capernaum for a few days with his mother,
his brothers, and his disciples.
It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to
Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep,
and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign
money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the
Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’
coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the
people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop
turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”
Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.”
But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave
you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”
“All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up.”
“What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this
Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” But when Jesus said “this
temple,” he meant his own body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures
and what Jesus had said.
Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover
celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human
nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.
There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a
Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he
said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs
are evidence that God is with you.”
