Jesus Goes Nuts

Jesus goes nuts. That's how the passage in John 2:13-25 ought to be titled. He does this cool miracle with the wine and the wedding and then He goes to the temple and breaks out a homemade whip. Unreal. But the smaller details are hitting me this time through. He goes up against the financial center of his day (as Brad discussed in his sermon this past Sunday. you can get the audio here.) He wrecks havoc, and the pharisees ask Him for a miracle. Is it sarcasm on their part? Obviously, word of the wedding has already spread. I think we too often forget how well known Jesus would have been before His "ministry years" even began. Maybe they weren't really surprised at His actions. Maybe they had seen it coming in the young student who "just didn't get it". Maybe He was a huge disappointment to the religious community, being such a bright and capable student who wanted to run off on such weird tangents.

So, they ask for a miracle sign. Jesus has them. He could turn one into a sheep, and they would all follow Him. But He doesn't. I wish He would have. Everything would be so much cleaner and easier. But God is seldom about the clean or easy. Look at His birth story in Matthew or Luke for proof on that. He rambles about tearing down and rebuilding the temple in three days. You'll notice that NO one understood that remark for the next three years. That's a slow processing lesson! Three years?!

But then He leaves and goes and heals the blind and cures the sick when the Pharisee's aren't around. He doesn't give them the control, He holds on to it. Is it because He's afraid of them? Is He power hungry? Why won't He dance when they say dance? You find the answer in verses 24, 25. Jesus doesn't entrust Himself to us totally, because He knows all people. He doesn't need us to testify for each other, or to put each other down. He knows what is inside of each of us. He did then. He does now.

So when God doesn't want to do things my way, when He doesn't want to dance when I yell "dance!", at least I know why. He knows me. I'll hurt myself and everyone else with that kind of power. He is not afraid to serve, give, sacrifice, or love. He just knows me. And He protects me. So, He tells me no for my own good. Far more often than I would like to see. But He does it anyway. He knows me.