It started out as the Lord's passover. A layman's commentary on John chapter two, verses 11-13.

 A layman's commentary on John 2:6 through ??

Having covered the wedding at Cana, I do not want to go into all the details again, but John 2:10 offers an incredible opening statement.

Why choose the words, an astounding opening statement?

Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”
John 2:11 BSB

Just toying with ideas, but I could read this passage one of two ways.

1. This, we are told, is the first sign He performed.

   If that is the case, how did his mother come to believe that He was capable of doing other things, like raising a human from the grave?

   The miracle that He performed at the wedding may have communicated, to those paying attention, on so many levels.

2. It may be that the statement we see in verse 11 was speaking exclusively to any miracles that He performed in Cana.

Signs seem like such a simplistic word, so let's look at it for a moment.

It is the Greek word sēmeion, and has meanings, given to us by [Thayer's Greek definitions], such as: (1) that by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others and is known. Well, Jesus was soon to be known more for the remarkable events, such as healing a crippled man who was lowered through the roof.

“And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they *came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.” Mark 2:2-4 NASB)

(2. An unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature. Certainly, reattaching Malchus' ear was unusual.

“Then Simon Peter drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.”
John 18:10 BSB

The narrative about Malchus does not end there.

“Those around Jesus saw what was about to happen and said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And He touched the man’s ear and healed him.”
Luke 22:49-51 BSB

Most of these retellings of Jesus's actions are sterile and devoid of background information; it does not seem to matter since the combination of passages, from the Apostle John, and Dr. Luke, who did not come into view until the Apostle Paul describes his actions in his letters to Timothy, Philemon, and the church in Colossae; leaving us to fill in blanks, with information such as: who saw this happen?

The answer to the question above was Peter, Andrew, James, John, and John Mark. John's recollection details that it was Malchus, the servant of the high priest.

Here is an interesting thought. Is it possible that Malchus came to be a follower of Jesus?
Moving on.

“After this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples, and they stayed there a few days.”
John 2:12 BSB

“After this?”

After the wedding at Cana.

“His mother and brothers and His disciples?”

We seem to forget, or ignore, that He had other brothers and sisters; remember, they were the

offspring of Joseph and Mary, not Mary carrying God's embryo, placed by the Holy Spirit.

“When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”
John 2:13 BSB

I cannot explain why this grabs my attention.

“Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

Here is a piece of information that should help you understand biblical eschatology. Your point of reference when considering Israel and prophecy is to remember that the heart of Israel is Jerusalem.

Dake's notes indicate that this was and still should be the Lord's Passover.

It was the Passover.

“It started out to be "the Lord’s Passover."

• Exodus 12:11,

  'Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste--it is the LORD'S Passover.” NASB

• Leviticus 23:4-5;

  'These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. 5 'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover.

• Numbers 28:16 NASB,

  'Then on the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the LORD'S Passover.”

But it had degenerated to be "the Jews’ Passover." Passover was one of the six yearly feasts dedicated to the Lord.

I want you to consider something before we move on to a commentary by E.W. Bullinger. As part of the wrath/signs that God poured out upon Egypt, as part of an extensive effort meant to motivate Pharaoh to release God's people, Israel.

The Passover, while meant to bring about the release of Israel, would also bring about a quick death to the firstborn of "anyone" in Egypt that did not protect themselves by having their door lintels covered by the blood.

The majority of Israel was effectively atheist.

How could I say that?

Well, seeing that many of us had been taught, in Sunday school, to assume that Israel followed, wholeheartedly, after God. Sorry, but that was not the case. To prove my point, after gaining their “freedom” from Egypt, several years passed, and this “prophet for hire,” Balaam, was brought in by Balak, the King of Moab, to curse Israel. The end result of that chapter of Israel's history was that Balaam conveyed to Balak how introducing the good-looking “foreign” women into the camp of Israel would corrupt and destroy Israel from the inside out. That is exactly what happened.

How many generations does it take to effectively strip the understanding and love of God out of your heart and mentality?

In some cases, one generation is about 20 to 30 years. Let's speculate that 20 years is the standard. Israel spent 40 years wandering in the desert, so we might be able to say, Israel, just based upon time spent in the desert wanderings, is looking at two generations. We have watched this very thing within our own family, as our oldest grandchild is now 23. Israel, before leaving Egypt, spent 400+ years in captivity. I like to describe what we call Israel as effectively Egyptians. This is why I can say, in a sense, Israel had to be taught rather quickly to obey.

Obey what?

A rather difficult set of instructions. No, it was not difficult to splash some paint on your door lintels, but it was difficult to bring a young lamb into your home, love it, and then slaughter “what had, in a sense, effectively become a family member”.

Understand that Israel had been living for over 400 years, with a mere trickle of the descendants of Judah following after God, and that these descendants now attempted to comprehend.

Did Moses have a strong grasp of God?

Moses was born into a Jewish family (If you know the narrative surrounding Moses, then you also know that the origins of this relationship, which led back to the God of Abraham, a relationship that had NO religion tied to it.)

How do I know that?

Because we see Moses, though raised in Pharaoh's courts, had some education in the ways and understanding of “his” people.

What does the book of Hebrews tell us?

“It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:24-27 NLT

Pharaoh had given orders to kill off ALL the male children born to the people of Judah, “God's people.” Fortunately, Moses' mother chose to disobey that order and eventually put their baby boy in a reed basket, made waterproof with pitch. Who should find that basket? A servant girl, who then took the baby to the daughter of Pharaoh. Moses' sister had watched this and then offered the services of an Israelite who could nurse the baby. How convenient. I believe Pharaoh and his daughter both knew that this was the mother of the baby.

Now comes an extraordinary event. Moses came to understand who his family and relatives were, and what they believed – that there was a God in the heavens who was willing to make a covenant with a long-dead ancestor named Abraham.

How did that happen?

To answer that question, you have to assume and project a logical understanding into the scenario. That mother nursed that boy long enough, with probable visits from Pharaoh's daughter, to the point that Moses was familiar with both “parents.” He learned the language of his people as well as the Egyptian language, and seemed to understand the plight of the “Jews” and why they were here in Egypt.

This next verse, though vague, will help to explain Hebrews 11:24-27.

“Later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. The princess named him Moses, for she explained, “I lifted him out of the water.” Exodus 2:10 NLT

“Later, when the boy was older,” How old is older?

Honestly, I have seen a “documentary” that may have been made to show the ridiculousness of women breastfeeding children as old as 12 years of age.

Is that absurd?

It seems so, and my wife agrees, and yet the documentary indicates that the women were willing to do this for the sake of the child's emotional health. A rational answer will have to go unanswered, lacking an understanding of the culture of that time. If the Pharaoh's daughter had not been given access to the child throughout this time of nursing, she may have become bored with the idea of raising the child, and perhaps Moses would have been killed. Again, we don't know the answer short of speculation. You cannot walk through this narrative without seeing the hand of God in all of it.

Take this familiar scene one step further.

Over 40 years later, Moses will tell the people of Israel to take a lamb into their homes, love on it, and then on a specific day (the first day of the first month), a day which was as yet foreign to many of them, and slaughter that lamb. They then had to place the blood of that lamb upon the doorposts, in the sign of a cross, to “secure” the salvation of the firstborn, as the angel that was to bring death would pass over their home on that night. This angel did not merely kill newborn babies; it went after all ages. Surprise, I was the firstborn among my siblings, and Caleb (not a Jew) was the firstborn among his siblings. Interesting, yes.

The Companion Bible by E. W. Bullinger makes a point of telling us that Noah came out of the ark on “the first month, on the first day. Bullinger further indicates that there are six additional important events that occurred on the fourteenth day of the first month in the Bible:

1. The drying up of the flood waters from the earth. (Gen_8:13)

   “In Noah’s six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth. So Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.” Genesis 8:13 BSB

   Noah, after a year in the ark, is now six hundred and one years old.

2. The setting up of the Tabernacle by Moses. (Exo_40:2)

   “On the first day of the first month you are to set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.” Exodus 40:2 BSB

   You should have enough of a grasp to understand that this ornate and heavy tent, Moses set up in the desert, was designed and purposed by God. This structure was for many years the temple of God, where the Mercy seat was.

3. The sanctification of the restored and cleaned-up Temple by Hezekiah (2Ch_29:17);

   They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month, they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days, they consecrated the house of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month. 2 Chronicles 29:17 BSB.

4. The going up of Ezra. (Ezra 7:6-10)

   This introduction is peculiar at best. Immediately, we see that Ezra was, too, a captive of Babylon.

   E. W. Bullinger established that Ezra was of the lineage of Aaron, and goes on to say,

   “This Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him. So in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, he went up to Jerusalem with some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants. Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king. He had begun the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him. For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Ezra 7:6-10 BSB

5. The giving up of strange wives (Ezra_10:17);

   By the first day of the first month, they finished questioning all the men who had taken pagan wives.” Ezra 10:17 NKJV

   The KJV version used the term strange. Some can hear this, and at best, think it means ugly. I do not think so. Strange, in Hebrew, the word is nokrı̂y. It carries meanings of: stranger, foreigner. It refers to someone who was not part of the family. Under the Law, strangers were not allowed to rule in Israel (Deu_17:15). Strangers were regarded as unholy (Deu_14:21). More emphasis was placed on avoiding the defilement of foreign women (1Ki_11:1; Ezr_10:2, Ezr_10:10-11, Ezr_10:14, Ezr_10:17-18, Ezr_10:44; Pro_6:24); and foreign ways (Isa_2:6; Jer_2:21; Zep_1:8). Definitions from Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions.

   So, lacking the willpower to say NO, Israel was ordered, by ordinance of scripture, to get rid of the foreign wives they had taken.

6. The offering up of a bullock in Ezekiel’s future Temple (Ezk_45:18).

   “This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the first day of the first month you are to take a young bull without blemish and purify the sanctuary. And the priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court. You must do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for anyone who strays unintentionally or in ignorance. In this way you will make atonement for the temple. On the fourteenth day of the first month you are to observe the Passover, a feast of seven days, during which unleavened bread shall be eaten. On that day the prince shall provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land.” Ezekiel 45:18-22 BSB

Ezekiel 45:18-22 is a forerunner of Jesus, who, as the high priest, offered His own body as the sacrifice, and His own blood for the cleansing of the sanctuary, a pattern of which was already in the heavens.

Continuing on with John 2.

John 2:13-22 NASB The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14) And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15) And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16) and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business." 17) His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME." 18) The Jews then said to Him, "What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?" 19) Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20) The Jews then said, "It took 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) So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Matthew 21:12-17 NASB And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13) And He *said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN." 14) And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15) But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant 16) and said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus *said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF'?" 17) And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

Mark 11:15-18 NASB Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16) and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 17) And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN." 18) The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.

Luke is giving us second or third-hand information.

Luke 19:45-47 NASB Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, 46) saying to them, "It is written, 'AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,' but you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN." 47) And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him,

• All three, Matthew, Mark, and John, have Him entering the Temple.

  A prime assumption, but a good one, is that He went straightway to the Temple. He was on a mission.

• Both Matthew and Mark show Him using the sentence, "MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER." Mark added, "FOR ALL NATIONS."

• While John and Mark both spell out that there were sellers and money changers in the temple, only John tells us that He intentionally made a scourge of cords.

Because, if I am going to be honest, the varied Sunday School inputs got me confused. I assumed that the clearing of the temple happened only once shortly after He rode into town on the young colt. Mark's gospel is a good example.

“Mark 11:15-16 NASB Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16) and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.

The reason I grabbed this as an example is that it has verses that are comparable to Matthew's gospel and clearly show Him clearing the outer courts. Let's look at what Matthew tells us.

Matthew 21:2-12 NASB saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3) "If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." 4) This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5) "SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, 'BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.'" 6) The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7) and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8) Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9) The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" 10) When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" 11) And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee." 12) And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.

So I am always trying to build a clean chronology in my mind. If I could do this, then I would be able to say, without doubt, that Jesus entered the temple twice and raised a bit of a ruckus twice.

Perhaps this point is useless without a definition of ruckus, because while the chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to destroy Him, the crowd was astonished by His teachings.

Mark 11:18 NASB “The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.”

I, too, am astonished by Him, in a good way. I stand in awe of Him, and He lives in me.

Does He live in you?