John 2---Desecration of Pots and Temples

Of course not all chapters in John will deal directly with this concept of Christ taking away the sin of the whole world. A secondary issue of great interest to me is Christ's constant demonstration that the code of law established by Moses and the Levitical priests had passed away with His coming. Note first that it is Christ's coming that mattered most, not his death and resurrection. This is made obvious by the fact that if His arrival had not superseded the law then Jesus would have been a notorious sinner---not just breaking the law, but engaging in acts which could be conceived as mocking it.

In John 2 we begin with Jesus' first public miracle---the changing of water into wine. It was no accident that He choose the huge ceremonial cleansing pots to contain the wine. These held blessed water that was used through the day for pre-meal washing. After having the servants fill them to the brim, the water became wine which defiled the pots. Further the quantity here is staggering---a hundred and fifty gallons of wine---enough to make all the wedding party drunk many times over. At verse ten we hear the comment from the master of the banquet,
"Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." I believe this is a prophetic comment about Christ's arrival---God had revealed himself through the prophets of old, and yet Jesus was a giving of the very best at the end of the season of the wedding party between God and Israel. Throughout the Bible fine wine is referred to as a blessing from God. Here, the fine wine is God Himself, "This is my blood..." We commune with Him in a declaration of abundance.

John 2 begins with Jesus making a mockery of the ceremonial cleansings by desecrating the cleansing pots. The chapter ends with his clearing the temple of the money changers and those selling sacrifice. He did so not with words of admonition or a kindly plea, he runs through like a mad man with an instrument of violence. Interestingly he takes the whip to the physical temple in an act symbolic of the scourging His own body---the true temple of God---will receive at the end of His life. This is a demonstration that the old ways are set aside; the striving is gone, and perfection has come. Jesus desecrates the temple---at least in the understanding of those at the time. The true temple---the true dwelling place of God---supersedes all buildings and monuments which were a shadow of what has come.