FOUNDATIONS OF OUR FAITH
Chapter 2: John 2
The Wedding at Cana
Read John 2:1-12
Jesus, His mother, and His disciples went to a wedding. According to the custom, wine was served at the feast. Before the feast was over, the wine was all gone.
Jesus was always ready to help people. Mary, His mother, asked Him to do something so that the couple would not be embarrassed at their wedding. It would take the power of God, a miracle, to meet this need. Mary had no right to tell Jesus to do a miracle. Only God, His Father, had that right.
Jesus was not sure that it was time for Him to start doing miracles, but God must have let Him know that it was. He turned water into wine and met the need. The Son of God can do anything.
For You to Do
1. What were the results of Jesus’ first miracle?
a) Mary realized her place of importance.
b) He demonstrated His glory and His disciples believed in Him.
c) Jesus became good friends with the bride-groom.
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Jesus Goes to the Temple
Read John 2:13-22
Every year the people of God went to His house in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. They sacrificed lambs in memory of the Passover lamb that had saved their people from death long ago. When the angel of death was going to pass through the land, God had told His people what to do. Each family had killed a lamb and put its blood on the door. The death angel passed over every house marked by the blood of a lamb. In all the other houses the oldest son died.
All this was a picture of how Jesus, the Lamb of God, was going to save people from eternal death. And the Passover celebration was a very important kind of worship to God.
Everyone should have been very respectful and worshipful in God’s house. Instead of that, some traders were ruining everything. Jesus drove them out because they were just making a business out of religion.
Jesus refused to do a miracle just to show people who He was. He did all of His miracles to help people. But He did mention the greatest miracle of all which would prove that He was the Son of God. He spoke of His body as the house of God because God lived in Him. The people would destroy it, kill His body later on right there in Jerusalem, but in three days He would rise again from the grave. However, the people didn’t understand what He meant.
For You to Do
2. What did Jesus do in the temple at Jerusalem?
a) He drove the traders and the money-changers away.
b) He made a sacrifice.
c) He tore the temple down and rebuilt it.
3. What lesson did Jesus teach while in the temple?
a) That the temple was the place to do business.
b) That He would destroy that very temple and build it again in three days.
c) That His body was a temple. He would die and arise from the grave after three days.
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Jesus Knows All Men
Read John 2:23-25
One reason we are studying this course is so that we can understand who Jesus really is and what He can do for us. In Jerusalem many persons believed in Jesus when they saw the miracles that He did. Let us believe what the Bible teaches about Jesus.
Many people say they believe in Jesus but don’t act like it. If we believe that Jesus is the Word, we will believe what He taught. If we believe that His life is our light, we will follow where He leads. If we believe that He is the Lamb of God, we will accept Him as the sacrifice for our sins.
For You to Do
Memorize John 2:25:
No one needed to tell him what mankind is really like. (John 2:25, NLT)
Check Your Answers
The answers to your study questions are not given in the usual order, so that you will not see the answer to your next question ahead of time. Look for the number you need, and try not to look ahead.
1. b) He demonstrated His glory and His disciples believed on Him.
2. a) He drove the traders and money-changers away.
3. c) That His body was a temple. He would die and arise from the grave after three days.
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Go to John Chapter 3
