Gospel of John: Night meeting with Nicodemus

 Night meeting with Nicodemus

Text: chapter 3

Outline: First of all, it is a good time to state that chapter three is a part of a larger unit – chapters 2 to 4 – seven parts, again.

A. 2:1-12, Jesus at Cana of Galilee

  B. 2:13-25, Jesus at Jerusalem

    C. 3:1-21, Nicodemus (man, night meeting)

      D. 3:22-36, St. John glorifies Jesus

    C'. 4:1-42, Woman of Samaria

  B'. 4:43-45, Jesus goes to Jerusalem

A'. 4:46-54, Jesus comes to Cana in Galilee

Chapter three itself can be outlined as following:

A. 3:1-2, Nicodemus: You are the teacher from God

  B. 3:3-8, Born of the Water and the Spirit

    C. 3:9-15, Bearing witness on whoever believes has eternal life

    C'. 3:16-21, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.

  B'. 3:22-24, The disciples of Jesus and St. John baptize people (in different places).

A'. 3:25-30, John the Baptizer: He must increase, and I must decrease.

D – Conclusion, 3:31-36, repetition of the main themes: born from above, witness, Father loves the Son, eternal life.

Comments: Meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus gives a foundation for many dogmatic decision made by the Church – understanding of the Holy Baptism, the ministry of the Spirit and the Son. There are also a few misunderstandings – why night, etc. I'll try to address the main ones.

Let's start with the time of the meeting. There are propositions that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night because he was afraid. He was afraid for his position as a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1) or he was afraid for his life, like disciples after the crucifixion of Jesus (cp. John 20:19). I don't agree with this interpretation. The reason being – John has no problem to say that disciples were afraid, the parents of the blind man feared the Jews (John 9:22) etc. But he doesn't say anything like this about Nicodemus. So, why did he come by night? I think he came by night because he and Jesus were busy doing the ministry – in their own respected areas. The only possible time for them to meet was when every one else went to sleep.

The language of Jesus. The phrase “born from above” vs “born again” is a reason for misunderstanding. The Greek word “anothen” has two meanings – again and from above. Nicodemus obviously understands it as being born again – literally, from his mother – can a man second time come to his mother's womb? (John 3:4). Then Jesus explained to him the true meaning of the beginning of the spiritual life – being born from the water and the Spirit (John 3:5). This one of the foundational text for baptismal theology in the Book of Concord (AC II:2).

Wilderness imagery. Unlike other Gospels the Gospel of John does not have a wilderness story. At the same time there no lack of wilderness imagery – here is one of the examples. Jesus reminds Nicodemus of the Bronze serpent that Moses used to heal the wounds of the people of Israel (Numbers 21:4-9). Building on this example, Jesus foretells that He – the Son of Man – will be lifted up (John 3:14). What is He talking about? Crucifixion or Ascension? The way to solve it is to allow the Scriptures interpret the Scriptures – later, Jesus again will talk about Him being “lifted up” (John 12:32). There John will clearly point out that it was a reference to His death (John 12:33). That's why we use crucifixes in the Church – the Crucified Savior draws people to Himself.

The golden verse. Who doesn't know John 3:16? The extend of God's love in Jesus has no boundaries. Love for the [whole] world led Father to send His only begotten Son to be the source of eternal life. Yet, there are churches who misunderstand even this verse. The Presbyterian and Reformed churches believe that the World means a collection of the elect – only those who would receive Jesus by faith, for them and only for them Jesus died on the cross. We reject this notion – the world did not accepted Jesus (cp. 1:10). He died to bridge the gap between the rebellious world and the Creator (2 Corinthians 5:19). Some people would accept and have a life of faith, and some people would keep on fighting to the end (no pun intended...).

Ministry of John. The second title for John the Baptizer is John the Forerunner. He began the ministry prior to Jesus – to prepare the way (cp. Like 3:1-6). Also, his martyrdom would point to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. In between he would minister to people, but his ministry was unique in a sense that he would always point to Jesus. It can be summarized in the phrase from this chapter - “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Given vs reception. We already touched a little bit on the topic of election. There is another extreme – teaching of free will of reception. One of the most obvious implication of that is “we don't teach our children, they need to receive Jesus on their own.” But St. John the Baptizer explained it very plain – a person can not receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven (John 3:27). We teach our children, because it is given to them – since they are born in the family of the believers. The world without the knowledge of Christ is under the wrath of God (John 3:36). We don't want our children to be under the wrath, but to believe and to be obedient to the Son.                            

The Twelve: St. Thaddaeus or St. Jude

St. Thaddaeus or St. Jude

Identity: Before we start to talk about the meaning of the name and life story, we need to identify who he really was. Modern scholarship (especially secular) make a big deal out of “confusion” with three lists of the apostles we have in the Gospels of Matthew (10:1-4), Mark (3:16-19), and Luke (6:13-16). Luke gives one more list in the Book of Acts (1:13). While Matthew and Mark talk about Thaddaeus, Luke mentions Judas the son of James in both of his books. Along with this John mentions Judas (not the Iscariot) as a part of the fellowship at the Last Supper (John 14:22). We also have the Letter of Jude – the last of the 7 General or Catholic Epistles. Therefore, if we believe that the Apostles and Gospel writers knew what they were talking about. We just need to assume that Judas, Jude, and Thaddaeus is the same person. This should not surprise us for we have multiple instances of people having more than one name – Simon being also called Peter would be a parade example.

Meaning of the name(s). Let us start with Thaddaeus. Depending on the origins it can mean “courageous heart” (if derived from Aramaic), or “gift of God” (if derived from Greek).

Judas – Greek form of Hebrew name Judah – means “praise the LORD.” It was the name of the fourth son of Jacob by Leah (Genesis 29:35). As you might remember Leah and Rachel got into to a racing competition for the love of their husband. Bible simply states that Jacob loved Rachel – it was the love from the first sight, and he was ready to serve seven years for her (Genesis 29:20). Leah was trying to gain Jacob's love by bearing him sons. First came Reuben, then Simon, then Levi – every time she hoped and hoped... Then Judah was born, and she praised the LORD. She finally can to the ultimate type of relationship – relationship with God. She stopped bearing.

Story: Part of the Twelve. We don't have many stories for Judas (Jude), but the fact that Lord Jesus Christ selected him to be one of the Twelve means something. What were the criteria? Apart from personal assessment of Jesus, St. Luke left us the list of features the apostles paid attention to when they replaced the traitor. In the first chapter of the Book of Acts the apostles are looking for someone else to be “on the team.” Let's see what they considered right to be qualified. There are two basic conditions: (1) be with the group from the very beginning (from the baptism of/by John [Baptizer]) (2) until the day of Jesus's ascension. Covering the time-span of the ministry of Jesus. But within this the apostle should be a witness of resurrection. For sure, when Jesus selected the Twelve, they didn't have the resurrection yet. But what we can certainly know is he was with the disciples from the time of Jesus being baptized by John. This means that he heard the voice from heaven: This is my beloved Son, in Whom I'm well pleased (Mark 1:10-11).

Conversation at the Last Supper. We also see Judas as an active participant at the Last Supper (John 14:22). It is very interesting that Judas listens very carefully, takes his time to process a very rich “spiritual food” of Jesus' sermon, and then asks the question. His question related to what the Lord said a couple sentences prior. But he didn't want to leave it alone, having “I'll ask later” attitude. And Jesus response to his question, taking him very seriously. The distinction between the disciples and the world is maintained by faith through the reception of the word, the word that came through the Son from the Father. When the disciples will receive the word and follow Jesus' commands, the love of Jesus will be manifested among the disciples – that's how the world will know about the Savior (John 13:34-35). This was the driving force for Jude's ministry – be it writing his Letter or preaching of the Gospel to unknown lands (Armenia included).

The Letter of Jude was written around 60AD. The apostle encourages the church not giving in to the evils of the world as it tries to penetrate the church and corrupt the church from within. But imminent judgment on the ungodly IS coming. Though it looks like the wicked prevail (at times and places), there is a greater judgment that is ultimately coming to the world (cp. Ps. 73).

As long as the Church is present on earth, the forces of evil will attack her from the outside and try their best to penetrate corrupting from the inside. The Letter of Jude is very helpful with the identification of these attempts, encouraging the “beloved” to hold fast to faith once delivered to the saints. Also, regardless of the difficulty and severity of the spiritual and life combat, we eagerly await the Second Coming of Christ which will complete the ultimate deliverance.

Tradition: Commemoration date for Jude and Simon (the Zealot, we'll talk about him next week) is October 28. Traditionally, the symbols for St. Jude is ship – for traveled extensively – or a spear – reflecting of the record of St. Michael's spiritual engagement with the devil.

Prayer: Almighty God, You chose Your servants Simon and Jude to be numbered among the glorious company of the apostles. As they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so may we with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

1 Corinthians: Conclusion

Conclusion

text: 1 Corinthians 16

Outline:

A. 16:1-12, Unity in three gifts of God: material (1-4), time (5-9), people (10-12).

  B. 16:13-14, final encouragement to the Corinthian congregation.

A'. 16:15-20, Unity through greetings.

  B'. 16:21-24, Blessings.

Comments: At the very end St. Paul returns to the ultimate concern he had for the congregation in Corinth – unity. He will address it in a way of caring for the ministry – utilizing the three main gifts: material resources or money, quality time spent together, and people who dedicate their talents to the work in the Lord's field. At the same time unity can be seen in or even experienced through mutual participation in life of each other. All of this is surrounded by blessings and encouragements.

A. Three gifts. The apostle starts with a remark concerning fundraising for the benefit of Jerusalem church (at that time the believers underwent a period of persecution in Judea). He wants the fundraising to be organized ahead of time – then the collection of the offerings would be complete before his arrival. Same as he commanded the church in Galatia (16:1). This shows that, being in Ephesus, he encouraged all of the churches he had relations with collect donation for the sake of their brothers in Christ in Judea.

Also, he talks about the time he wants to spend with them. He openly states that he doesn't want to see them in passing. His intent to spend quality time, maybe even the whole period of winter (16:6-7). This phrase presents him not a modern fundraiser, concerned about money only, but a father caring for his spiritual children (cp. 4:14-15).

The third gift of God to the church is people or the ministers. At this point St. Paul brings up the names of two of them – Timothy and Apollos. We know that Timothy will eventually settle in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3). As of right now, he is a helper of St. Paul, and comes wherever the apostle needs him. Being young, probably even younger than he was during the time when St. Paul wrote him (cp. 1 Timothy 4:12), he needs an emotional support from more experienced minister, which Paul proved with gladness, ensuring that the congregation would care for Timothy.

Concerning Apollos, the apostle looks loose – Paul wanted him to come to Corinth earlier, but allows for the personal inputs from his colleagues. The mission can not be raced, it should be guided by the Holy Spirit (cp. Deuteronomy 20:8).

B. Final encouragement. The apostle lists 5 features of a Christian living:

Be watchful – be vigilante, stay awake

Stand firm in the faith – a posture of being ready for whatever comes one's way (the word appears only 7 times in the NT).

Act like men – meaning, being mature

Be strong – resembles Joshua 1:6,7,9,18

all should be done in love (cp. Chapter 13)

A'. The unity of the church is not an abstract thing – it can and should be seen in the involvement of the congregations and districts (dioceses) in each other's life: praying for each other, helping and supporting the ministry of each other. St. Paul reminds Corinthians the people they new from previous or resent engagements. He starts with Stephanas and his household, the most resent convert in Achaia (the South Greece region around 1 Corinthians). He and two others (Fortunatus and Achaicus) came to see the apostle, which made him happy enjoying fellowship (16:17).

The churches of Asia (current Turkey) – Ephesians, Galatians etc. He also mentiones Aquila and Prisca (short for Priscilla), who at this time hosted a church gathering in their house (in Ephesus). They spent time with Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:1-3). It is always good to hear the familiar names – people you know who continue to work in the field of the Lord in every circumstance.

Then he concludes “all the brothers send you greetings” (16:20). All the brothers – wherever St. Paul is [most likely in Ephesus] + the people he knows about and associates with – they all extend their greetings to the congregation in Corinth. The unity of the brothers is an encouragement in itself to Corinthians to keep peace and unity among themselves.

B'. The blessing. It begins with acknowledgments that the greeting is written by his own hand – see more on this in “Epistolary Opening” lesson. Therefore, the concluding words have a special weight when he again reinforces the theme of love (cp. chapter 13). Yet, here it come even stronger – it is not simply meaningless to engage without love, but the person should be anathematized, same terminology he brings up in the Letter to Galatians talking about the Gospel (1:6-9).

Two last lines are grace of the LORD and my love be with you [in Christ Jesus]. God's grace IS the foundation of the Christian faith and life. And it should be expressed in love (once more, showing how much this word, theme, and attitude means to him). Amen – which is truly so.

Book of Acts: From Troas to Miletus

From Troas to Miletus

The Passage: Acts 20:15-38

Structure:

a. 20:15-18a, Arrival to Miletus and call for Ephesian’s elders

St. Paul’s speech:

parts 1 [v. 18b-24]:

  b. 20:18b-19, among you

    c. 20:20-21, I didn’t shrink

      d. 20:22-23, Holy Spirit

        e. 20:24, my life has no value

part 2 [v. 25-30]:

  b’. 20:25, among you

    c’. 20:26-27, I didn’t shrink

      d’. 20:28, Holy Spirit

        e’. 20:29-30, not sparing the flock

take away [31-38a]:

 f. 20:31, I admonished you with tears

  g. 20:32, I commend you to God

   h. 20:33-34, I coveted no one’s silver and gold

   h’. 20:35, I have shown that working hard we help the weak

  g’. 20:36, he knelt and prayed with all

 f’. 20:37-38a, weeping of all

a’. 20:38b, ship – departure from Miletus

Historical and geographical context:

This famous sermon is delivered in Miletus – we don’t have much information on St. Paul’s ministry here. Yet, he wants to avoid Ephesus – probably deciding not to risk his life there; his destination was Jerusalem (Acts 20:16,22).

There is also a minor chronological challenge – St. Luke reports in Acts 19:8 and 10 that the total time of St. Paul in Ephesus should account for 2 years and 3 months. At the same time, in his sermon he speaks of three years (20:31). This conundrum can be solved by understanding that he addresses leaders from the whole of Asia, not only the elders/bishops of Ephesus (cp. 20:16,18).

Theology:

Very personal speech. St. Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. Everyone tells him and everything points to the reality of the arrest. Meeting with people dear to his heart, whom he taught for about three years (see Historical and Geographical challenge), he is sharing his personal concerns or fears about the future of Asian congregations. On the other hand, they are sad to realize that most likely they won’t see him again…

Guidance of the Holy Spirit. On one hand, St. Paul encourages the leaders [elders and/or bishops] of the church saying that their ministry is not based on their own authority: it is the Holy Spirit that made them overseers to care for the church. Yet, the same Holy Spirit testified to the apostle that trip to Jerusalem will end up with imprisonment and afflictions (Acts 20:23). Establishment, comfort, and guidance during hardship of life are the elements of the ministry of the Third person of the Trinity.

Unity of the church. St. Paul addressing representatives from different congregations tells them that they are to care for the church – as we confess: one, holy, Christian (lit. universal/worldwide), apostolic church. One of the main challenges is a rise of men who will drive away disciples after themselves (Acts 20:30). For the apostle the unity of the church is based on the unity within the Godhead of Trinity – the relationship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Having example when his work (or the ministry of the Holy Spirit through him) was almost destroyed by schismatic distortions in the congregation of Corinth (cp. 1 Cor 1-4), he warns the leadership of the whole Asia to do “preventive maintenance”, commending them to God and the word of His grace (Acts 20:32).

Responsibility of the leaders of the church. Apart from keeping the unity in the Body of Christ (the church), St. Paul charges the leaders with paying close attention to themselves and to all the flock, caring for it (Acts 20:28). Close attention to themselves is not a sign of selfishness, but a practice of regular self-evaluation. Saying this in public, I believe, was Pauline attempt to establish and maintain the brotherhood mutual trust, commitment, and accountability. 

The Twelve: St. James, the Minor

St. James, the Minor

Meaning of the name: James is actually Jacob – don't ask me why the translators changed it. Jacob means “holder of the heel” or “supplanter.”

Mark (2:14) mentions that the tax collector's name is Levi, the son of Alphaeus. Comparing it with Matthew 9:9, makes it possible that Matthew (the Levi) and James were brothers. But, unlike James and John, they are not put together. This might mean that the connection to Jesus was stronger that the family ties.

A possible explanation to this might be a fact of rejection of Matthew's “vocation.” In those days the tax-collector was employed by Roman occupational government. No wonder that St. Luke, giving his list of the Twelve, places James together with Simon the Zealot (an extremist terrorist organization, trying to subvert or get rid of the Roman rule). It is possible that James was way closer with Simon in his political views than with his own brother. There are at least two lessons to learn here. First, we do not have a record of a single conflict between the brothers, regardless of the reason of their estrangement. Second, Jesus is the Lord for those who had or have good family life, and those whose family life is not the best.

Life story: We don't have much information about the apostle. He is present in all of the lists of the Twelve. This means that he was part of the first apostolic instruction and “deployment” (Matthew 10).

It also means that he was present at the calming of the storm (Mark 4:35-41) and feeding of 5000 (Mark 6:30-44). He was actively engaged in the life of Jesus' community. The apostles talked to one another after the storm about the exhibition of Christ' power. To participate in this conversation one need to know Psalm 107: 23-32. Which shows the depth of James' knowledge and reverence of the Scriptures.

His constant presence among the Twelve means his partaking of the Last Supper. Unlike Peter, who argued with Jesus about washing of the feet and then about the power to withstand the temptations (we know it didn't end well), James is a deep thinker, who takes the offered gifts contemplating the amazing measure of the love and care of the Lord toward fallen humanity.

This love led him to become a leader of Jerusalem church at the time of the First Jerusalem counsel (Acts 15), as well as St. Paul's return from the Third Mission trip (Acts 21). The reason we know it should him is the fact that James the brother of John was killed by Herod (Agrippa) a few years earlier to please the Jewish leadership of the capital (Acts 12:1-2).

This makes even more possible that he is the author of the Letter of James. For the letter addresses biblical principles of the Christian community in a hostile environment.

The epistle is important to us for at least three reasons. It sets the patterns of order in the congregation – not quarrelling, but relying on the wisdom from above, all matters should be solved in peace and reason (3:17). Second, the orderly life also can be reflected in the way the church treats the powerful figures of this world. James/Jacob argues for avoiding partiality. Which leads to the third lesson of the Epistle. The rich will assault the church, therefore, in the light of forthcoming tribulations, we need to learn and train ourselves to set aside zealotry, but practice patience in sufferings, confessing our sins, and calling back the wanderers.

Prayer: May 1, St. Phillip and St. James.

Almighty God, Your Son revealed Himself to Philip and James, and gave them the knowledge of everlasting life. Grant us perfectly to know Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the way, the truth, and the life, and steadfastly to walk in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ, out Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, not and forever. Amen.

1 Corinthians: Church's Hope

The Word of the Cross is

the foundation of the Church's hope

Text: 1 Corinthians 15

Outline:

A. 15:1-11, Resurrection of Christ

B. 15:12-30, Resurrection of the dead

C. 15:31-58, the Body of Resurrection

Comments: St. Paul concludes his epistle (apart from the final greetings) with laying the foundation for the Christian's hope. As he begins with the Crucified Lord, he ends with the message of the Lord Who was raised from the dead. The apostle delivers his message in three stages. He brings up the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. His resurrection builds up the foundation of the Christian's theology – our resurrection. Then he goes even farther – he not only gives hope, we will be raised, following out LORD, he talks about the resurrection as the outcome of faithful life of a believer. These three stages are the 3 steps of the Biblical Waltz: foundation, filling, glorification (see Genesis 1:1-2).

A. Resurrection of Christ.

a. 15:1-2, unless you believe in vain

  b. 15:3-8, things of first importance

a'. 15:9-11, we preached and believed

St. Paul lays a foundation of Christian faith by drawing from two sources: Scripture and eyewitnesses. Both parts of his arguments form our New Testament Scriptures. It is important to note – we, being that far from the time and place of the Crucified and Risen LORD, can not interview the eyewitnesses. But the cool part – we don't need to. Luke, St. Paul etc. did the homework for us. St. Luke opens up his Gospel with the statement of his methodology (Luke 1:1-4). Then he follows with the Book of Acts, continuing with the same methodology (Acts 1:1-3). In the similar way St. Paul mentions Cephas, the 12, more than 500, James, the apostles, and Paul himself. Most of the people were still alive at the time of 1 Letter to Corinthians was written (1 Corinthians 15:6). It would be very easy to come up with the disclaimer of the Christian message – show the Body of Jesus and/or provide at least as many eyewitnesses the Church relies on who can state [under oath] that they saw the Body.

Also, Paul's bases his case for the resurrection of Jesus on the Scriptures. Which Scriptures? There is a number of Psalms (4, 11, 16, 23 etc.) which talk about life eternal with the LORD. Jesus Himself brought up the call of Moses as a biblical foundation for resurrection (Matthew 22:29-33).

B. Resurrection of the dead.

a. 15:12-19, If Christ was not raised from the dead

  b. 15:20-22, death came through one man, resurrection came through one man

    c. 15:23-25, He hands over the Kingdom to God the Father

  b'. 15:26-28, the last enemy to be destroyed is death

a'. 15:29-30, If dead are not raised

The resurrection of Christ gives the foundation for the resurrection of the dead. Our connection with Jesus runs both ways. We will follow Him, because He came for us. Jesus came to the world not in an angelic form, our in a form of a tree, rock or talking donkey. Not even in a form of great mother or Lady Wisdom. He came as a second Adam – He had to undo the damage done by the first Adam. The first one should've develop and protect the world and at the end submit the results to the Creator. He failed. That's why Jesus comes as the second Adam, follows through with all the aspects and stages of life, including death, to reconcile and transform the world, delivering it to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24, 28). Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! Therefore, our creed states we believe “in the resurrection of the dead.”

C. The Body of the Resurrection.

a. 15:31-32, in the LORD

  b. 15:33-34, Sin

    c. 15:35-43,death and resurrection

      d. 15:44-49, nature and spirit

    c'. 15:50-53, death and resurrection

  b'. 15:54-56, Sin

a'. 15:57-58, in the LORD

The resurrection of Jesus will lead to our life awaiting the resurrection of the dead. This live results in three major changes, First, based on the faithful convictions one is invited and encouraged to live a pious life fighting with sin (1 Corinthians 15:33-34, 54-56).

Second, St. Paul gets a assuming question: “With what kind of body do they [resurrected people] come?” (1 Corinthians 15:35). In the very elaborate answer he presents a case about our resurrection with the spiritual bodies. He calls it mystery (1 Corinthians 15:50-51) – something that we know only partially, we can talk about it with somewhat certainty, at the same time we rely on God's final authority and decision on the ultimate execution.

Third, Christians are waiting for the resurrection. Yet, while we await for the resurrection, we aren't to be lazy. Following our LORD Jesus, Who came as the second Adam, we are to beautify and protect the world in accordance with God's will, knowing that in the LORD our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Gospel of John: First Passover

First Passover

text: John 2:13-25

Structure:

A. 2:13, Passover at Jerusalem

  B. 2:14-16, Jesus is in the Temple

    C. 2:17, Disciples remembered

  B'. 2:18-21, Jesus talks about the Temple

    C'. 2:22, Disciples remembered

A'. 2:23-25, Passover at Jerusalem

Comments: The Gospel of John is structured around three Passovers. First one is here, in chapter 2. The second one is a Passover-related – chapter 6. And thirst one is the longest of Gospel's story, John 12 – 20. There are four main themes in the first Passover: Passover itself, the Temple, signs of Jesus, and people coming to faith.

Passover of the Jews. The original Passover happened about 1400 years prior. Since then the Feast was a commemoration of the Exodus (remembering the past) and celebration of the work of God in the present. Even secular master minds use this paradigm – Isaac Asimov's short story “Anniversary” (1959) sets the plot in a house where three friends “recreate” the events of their rescue, living through them year after year as a symbolic ritual. The Sons of Israel supposed to live through the events of the first Passover as one of the three “required” feasts to attend (Deuteronomy 16:16-17).

Temple. This is the Second Temple. The first one – as everyone knows was built by king Solomon. And it was destroyed in the time of Jeremiah (587 BC). The Second Temple was built after the exile (see Books of Ezra and Nehemiah) and really beautified and expanded by king Herod (at least something good done by him). He ended up creating a large complex about 36 acres. Pilgrims from the whole world would come there. Therefore, the people who provided the possibility for fitting sacrificial animals were a blessing to worshiping community. But (!) as usual, people, being very creative in perverting the God's gifts, subverted the whole purpose of the sacrificial system into the money flowing enterprise.

Again, the problem was not with the money per se, the problem was that they would sell the animals in the sanctuary. What is the problem with this? Two things. People were more concerned with the getting the right/perfect lamb or ox than the meaning and reason for these sacrifices.

Also, the altar of the LORD WAS a place of exchange – people confessed their sins, getting absolution in return. But (!) having a trading outpost in the sanctuary created a sense of even exchange – I paid money, got an animal, then got my blessings. This procedure clouded the sense of grace that was engraved into the system. That's why Jesus rebukes them “do not make my Father's house a house of trade” (John 2:16).

Signs of Jesus. The theme of signs began in the previous passage (the first sign – turning water into wine in Cana of Galilee, John 2:1-12). Surprisingly, the Jews (the leadership of the community) were not upset with Jesus, they were looking for an explanation (John 2:18). They took His cleansing right – as a symbolic act. Now, can Jesus give them an explanation? Yes, He can, and He did. But – as we say – it went over their heads. It went over the heads of the Jews, but also went over the heads of the disciples. That's why St. John points out that the disciples remembered His phrase when they witnessed the resurrection of Jesus (John 2:22).

So, what was the meaning of His “sign”? Destruction of the Temple corresponds to the Temple's restoration in three days (John 2:19). Just on the surface, there are at least three aspects that should be taken into an account. First, when Jews emotionally respond to Christ statement, they bring up the factor of 46 years of previous construction project activities. They are not ready to see in the Temple anything but stones, furniture, etc. Jesus talks about [the Temple of] His body (John 2:21). The divine interpretation of His words points to two other aspects. First of all, His bodily resurrection – that's what disciples remembered. But remembrance in the Bible is the verb of action – making steps based on what was remembered. Therefore, third aspect is formation of the Temple of Jesus or Body of Christ – the Church.

People coming to faith. These bold actions (words included) brought many people to faith. Yet, Jesus didn't trust them. He knew their nature... even His disciples left Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane, and the denial of Peter is a factor for an interpretation of this phrase. Also, they believed seeing His glorious actions. They did not witness the trial, flogging, and crucifixion yet... again, even His disciples did not interpreted the empty tomb right. At best, they were puzzled... Therefore, the fact of Jesus being the Christ is not based on the testimony of man – His actions, words, and testimony of the Father and the Holy Spirit are the formative reasons for our faith.