Dr. Doug Bookman

A. The First Cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem

Scripture: John 2:13-22

Notes: According to the biblical record, Jesus cleansed the temple twice: at the first Passover of His public ministry (John 2) and again at the final (fourth) Passover of His ministry (Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 19). There is some debate as to whether the cleansing in John is, in fact, distinct from that of the Synoptics (i.e., did John simply relocate the story for his own literary purposes?). I am convinced that there were two cleansings, that neither was random or impulsive, but that the two cleansings were deliberately and marvelously strategic to Jesus’s ministry.

Questions/Observations: The Gospel of John includes four Passovers during Jesus’s public ministry (three explicit – John 2:13; John 6:4; John 12:1, and one implicit – John 5:1). Those four Passovers become the primary means of determining the length of Jesus’s ministry. Here John tells of Jesus’s visit to the temple at the first of those four Passovers.

B. Jesus’s Encounter with Nicodemus, the Seeking Pharisee

Scripture: John 2:23-25

Notes: Notice that the account of Jesus’s interview with Nicodemus is deliberately set off against this brief section (cf. the conjunction “Now” or δὲ with which John 3:1 begins – a slight adversative conjunction).

Scripture: John 3:1-21

Notes: Compare John 7:50-52 and John 19:38-42. Consider the role Nicodemus plays in John’s carefully crafted narrative.

C. Jesus’s Ministry with John the Baptist

Scripture: John 3:22-24

Notes: Notice carefully this little appreciated phase of Jesus’s public ministry.

Scripture: John 3:25-36

Notes: Notice the remarkable and noble selflessness of John the Baptist.

Questions/Observations: How do you understand John’s figure of the “friend of the bridegroom”?

D. Jesus Determines to Depart for Galilee

Scripture: Matthew 4:12; Luke 4:14; and John 4:1-4

Notes: Notice that John’s narrative “re-joins” that of the Synoptics at this point.

E. Jesus Makes His Way to Galilee Through Samaria

Scripture: John 4:5-42; John 4:43-45; Matthew 4:13-17; Mark 1:14; and Luke 4:14

Notes: John 4:5-42 is the narrative of the journey – most notably the witness to the woman at the well in Sychar. John 4:43-45 is the narrative of the arrival in Galilee. Recall that Jesus had earlier taken steps to make Capernaum His base of operations in Galilee.

Questions/Observations:

1. Notice that Matthew sees in Jesus’s ministry in Galilee the “fulfillment” of a portion of Isaiah.
2. Notice that Matthew and Mark relate Jesus’s decision to leave Judea for Galilee to the arrest of John the Baptist. How do you understand the relationship between these two?

Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).

Dr. Doug Bookman

Note: The months of ministry after Jesus’s baptism and before He commenced His ministry in Galilee are recorded only in John’s gospel. In other words, the narrative of John 1:19 fits entirely between Matthew 4:11 and Matthew 4:12, between Mark 1:13 and Mark 1:14, and between Luke 4:13 and Luke 4:14. Jesus spent those months in Judea, for a time ministering alongside John the Baptist. Throughout those months Jesus primary focus was to gather to Himself the multitude who had obeyed and embraced the message preached by John.

A. John the Baptist Interrogated by a Committee of Sanhedrinists

Scripture: John 1:19-28

Notes: Notice the four chronological notes in John 1:29, John 1:35, John 1:43; and John 2:1. The point of reference (i.e., the day from which the “next day” of 1:29 is computed) is the event of John 1:19-28.

Questions/Observations:

1. Notice that John’s ministry has become the cause of official concern among the religious leaders of Judea; these who question John at this time were “sent” to do so.
2. Notice carefully the way John responds to the question “Who are you?”

B. Day #1 of Jesus’s Public Ministry

Scripture: John 1:29-34

Notes: This is the actual beginning of Jesus’s “public ministry.” It is here that Jesus for the first time appears to men as the Messiah.

Questions/Observations: John’s identification of Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” is remarkably insightful and important.

C. Day #2 of Jesus’s Public Ministry

Scripture: John 1:35-42

Notes: This passage is best taken as representative of Jesus’s ministry throughout the months summarized here. In other words, Jesus spends these months gathering to Himself the disciples of John the Baptist.

Questions/Observations:

1. Who was the second disciple in this narrative?
2. How do you explain the curious question which these two disciples asked of Jesus after they finally caught up to Him?

D. Day #3 of Jesus’s Public Ministry

Scripture: John 1:43-51

Notes: John 1:43 speaks of Jesus “wanting to go to Galilee.” This is not the commencement of His Galilean ministry (which comes some months later); rather, it is a brief visit to Cana for a wedding feast.

Questions/Observations: Jesus’s ability to know Nathanael before meeting him is clearly an expression of omniscience; that is, it is supernatural. And yet, by John’s nomenclature, it is not a “sign” (cf. John 2:11). What is the significance of that distinction?

E. Day #5 of Jesus’s Public Ministry

Scripture: John 2:1-11

Notes: I believe the “third day” of John 2:1 is best taken as the third day after the day mentioned in John 1:43. Thus, by Jewish reckoning there are a total of five days narrated in this passage, but the narrative skips from the third day (1:43) to the fifth day (2:1, the 3rd day after the day of 1:43). The unrecorded day was a day of travel from Judea to Galilee.

Questions/Observations:

1. Notice the poignant scene of “leave-taking” between Jesus and His mother at the beginning of this narrative. It is significant that this scene occurs at Cana, and not in Nazareth.
2. What do you think was Mary’s role at this wedding (if any)?
3. Why do you think Mary approached Jesus with her concern over the fact that the host had run out of wine for the wedding?
4. Notice the care Jesus took to avoid any thought that the miracle was simply slight-of-hand.
5. Notice the significance and consequences of this sign-miracle, according to John 1:11.

Postlude: Jesus Moves His Family to Capernaum

Scripture: John 2:12

Notes: This visit to Capernaum seems to have been in anticipation of a permanent move (cf. Matthew 4:13).

Questions/Observations:

1. Notice that the move from Nazareth to Capernaum was strategic to the ministry of itinerant teaching which Jesus would commence in Galilee in a few months.
2. This brief verse suggests that even after commencing His official public ministry, Jesus continued to be faithful to His responsibilities as the eldest son in His family.

Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).