There is no question what this verse says and teaches, and the context does not change the obviousness. Who is it that God is saying gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist? God does! The example He gives is that He called Abraham the father of many nations in the past tense, before it happened. Why can God do this? Because He sees all time. We however do not. Yet I have heard Joel Osteen literally claim that this verse says WE can call things that are not as though they are because that teaching is central to his word faith heresy. This is a perfect example of NOT doing whatever He says and in fact, doing the opposite. So, we see in this story from the wedding at Cana that Jesus gave them very specific instructions. He said to fill all six jars, but they did not decide, well, we only need four, or maybe He really meant five. Jesus instructed them to fill the jars and the text shows they filled them to the brim. They did not make cultural arguments why He probably only meant three quarters filled or logical arguments about how they might spill if they are filled too much. They did whatever He asked. They did not question in their finite minds why they would be drawing some of the water they just put in for the master to taste. Like those that charged around the walls of Jericho for seven days simply because they were doing whatever He said, the servants did as they were commanded.
The result was the first recorded miracle of Jesus' ministry. Perhaps the most important line here is that His glory was manifested, and His disciples believed in Him. His glory was manifested because those involved knew there could be no deception in this divine occurrence. They knew the vessels had been empty. They knew they had filled them with water. They knew that when they drew from those vessels it was now wine. They did whatever He said, and the result was divine to the glory of God. So, it can also go for us today if we would do whatever He says. The result was also far beyond what might have even been expected as the master declared this divine wine was better than the wine served at the start of the wedding. We continue"
Now, we come to the second significant portion of John Chapter Two. The story of when Jesus clears the temple. This is one of those biblical stories that many false teachers have latched onto to pretend they are doing whatever He says when they are clearly not. Let me start with what this is a story about. The money changers specifically exchanged money for sacrifices for the people who traveled from great distances to the temple. So, they would charge them for the sacrifices they did not come prepared with - oxen, sheep, pigeons. The problem is they knew these people were stuck. They came from too far to simply return and they did not have the requisite sacrifices they needed. So, they would price gouge them. They would charge them exorbitant amounts to provide the sacrifices they needed. They were in fact placing obstacles up for people trying to seek God and as such, the money changers represent false teachers in the church today. They impose their own rules, their own hindrances, and in doing so, they actively separate people from connecting with God. Today, discernment ministries do the active work of driving the money changers out of the temple. In the Synoptic Gospel accounts Jesus declares that these people have turned the house of God into a den of robbers. So, it still goes today. We may not have to buy pigeons, sheep and oxen but restrictions are still placed upon us by those who actively keep people away from God. If you want blessings, you better pony up God's 10%! The recently disgraced Robert Morris created the demonic theology that if you did not give him the first ten percent of your income, before paying for bills, food or even medicine, then God would literally curse all of your money. How disgusting. Morris was a modern-day money changer who parlayed these abusive teachings into a 100-million-dollar personal fortune.
I have also heard these verses used to justify Jesus as being political. He was no such thing. His involvement here was about the purity of the house of God and had nothing to do with the carnal politics of man. Remember that the Jewish people were genuinely and horribly oppressed by the Roman Empire during the life of Jesus, yet He did nothing to change that or be involved because as He said, His kingdom is not of this world. There are some sad verses after the crucifixion when the men are walking to Emmaus and Jesus comes alongside of them. Their great lament at that time was that they had hoped He would deliver them from Rome, but He did not. They still did not get the big picture. He came to deliver them and us from so much more than any worldly concern. He came to deliver us from the oppression of Satan and sin and provide us with eternal life.
The other abuse of this story usually comes in the form of trying to butchify Jesus or justify what we have convinced ourselves is righteous anger. I remember once I felt I was righteously angry. People at my church were in the process of driving out my pastor and they were doing so in many very unchristian ways. I sat down to write a devotional about righteous anger, using this story of the money changers. By the time I was done, the Holy Spirit showed me that the bar for righteous anger is so much higher. I just did not like the way things were going. Jesus' ministry is entirely about helping people, compassion, and love. He will return as the lion but now He is the lamb. He lays down His life willingly. Yes, He came to bring a sword but that sword only divides based upon whether or not we believe. We chose the division, not God. When we choose to not do whatever He says, we divide ourselves against God. Whenever apostate church wants to pretend that Jesus was angry or mean, they turn to this story. The problem with that is His righteous anger was not against the lost. It was not against those that He saw as sheep without a shepherd. It was against the religious establishment. It was against those that were the false teachers of His day. It was against those extorting the innocent for profit. Any of this sound familiar to today? Do not make my house a house of trade! It seems the church today teaches zeal in all the wrong places. We have zeal for tithing. We have zeal for chasing blessings. We have zeal for the politics of man. We have zeal for ending abortion. We have zeal for condemning people. We have zeal for xenophobia and hatred. We have zeal against people. Where has the zeal for His house gone beloved? We have seen throughout the years the worst carnality in the so-called house of God. We have seen churches turned into motocross fields. We have seen the church transformed into famous movie sets. Monster truck rallies. Free gun giveaways. The naked cowboy at a woman's conference. Silent Night turned into a strip show. Worship sets including secular songs such as, "I like to Move It, Move It" and "Highway to Hell." I remember one night at my old church an itinerant preacher making people throw their money on the altar for him. I remember another time a woman made people chase her around the sanctuary so she could slap them on the forehead. I remember an itinerant worship leader repeating for 20 straight minutes - "jump in the river if you want a hug from Jesus." Clairvoyance disguised as prophecy. Emotionalism disguised as a move of the Spirit. Psychic parlor tricks disguised as spiritualism. Fake healings and leg lengthening nonsense. Believe me when I say I am not even scratching the surface. There is no more zeal for the house of the Lord. None. We instead are consumed each week with our own bastardization of faith and whatever false teaching scratches our itching ears and confirms the bias we already hold. We need to get back to being consumed by the zeal for the house of the Lord. John 2 concludes:
Just in case there is any doubt about the depravity of man, we have the conclusion to chapter two of John's gospel. Many believed when they saw the signs He was doing but he did not entrust Himself to them. Why? Because He knew all people and did not need a testimony of who man was and still is today. He knew what was in man. The same people who shouted Hosanna on Palm Sunday were the same shouting crucify Him a week later. When asked why he did not preach sin, Joel Osteen famously said that he believed people already know what they have done wrong. If only it were that easy. Left up to our own devices we will always compare ourselves to other sinful people so we can feel better about ourselves. What we need is to feel better about God.
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