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John 2:12-13 - Lesson #18 |
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| During His first week of ministry Jesus called several of His first disciples, began to teach them who He was and why He came, attended a wedding and performed His first miracle of changing water into wine, "and His disciples believed in Him" (John 2:11). |
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| John 2:12-13 |
| "After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." |
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| With the wedding celebration over, Jesus traveled with His family and disciples to Capernaum - a distance of just over 30 Km on the north shore of the sea of Galilee. Capernaum would serve as a ministry base around Galilee. I can't help but wonder what the conversation was like on that journey. Jesus had turned water into wine as a sign that He was indeed the Son of God. That must have occupied more than just a little of the talk on the long journey. |
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| Imagine walking 30 Km with the One you have just believed to be the Son of God. Think about seeing the first sign which revealed your brother, or your son, as the One written of by the prophets. Maybe I have gone too far off track, but just imagine, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). The real God took on real flesh and walked with real people down a real road. That's real awesome! |
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| After a short stay in Capernaum, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover feast, celebrated on 15th Nisan (late March to mid April). This was a time to remember when God caused the angel of death to "pass over" the homes which had the blood of a lamb smeared on the door posts. The first Passover occurred over fourteen hundred years before Jesus when God led the people of Israel out of Egyptian slavery. It had become an important part of the Jewish tradition. |
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| Jesus did not come, as some suggest, to do away with the Jewish religious system. Rather, He came to establish a new covenant which was a perfection of the old covenant, "I did not come to destroy but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). His would be the perfect sacrifice which the Law required. It's unfortunate we have created such a separation between Christianity and the traditional Jewish heritage - Jesus never maintained such a separation. Our Lord was born and raised a Jew and celebrated as a Jew throughout His ministry. We miss a deep richness to our faith when we discard what led us to Christ. |
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| In all He did, Jesus declared and revealed the glory of God. He was patient and loving; and, as we'll see, He was firm and decisive. God took on the form of a man and loved at each stage even to the point of death. But this was the fulfillment of His plan from the foundations of the world. Let's walk and talk with Him today. Let's celebrate with the Son of God along this wonderful journey called life. |
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| Steve Troxel |
| God's Daily Word Ministries |
