John The Baptist continued to repeat his testimony to Jesus as The Lamb of God (Passover lamb, who takes away the sins of the world). Two of John's disciples became followers of Jesus. One was Andrew, who went to his brother Simon Peter, and told him about The Messiah and he immediately went and met Jesus. Philip was invited by Jesus to join them. Philip also wanted his friend Nathanael (Bartholomew)-(COLOUR IN CAMEO) to meet Jesus. Before Jesus met Nathanael, He with divine insight knew Nathanael's character, that he was skeptical and needed signs for proof, so Jesus told him that He knew what Nathanael was thinking, what he had been studying from the scriptures, (Jacob's ladder) and that he had been sitting in the shade under a fig tree. These facts astounded Nathanael.
There, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry Nathanael acknowledged Jesus with the title, King of Israel. Jesus promised that these men would see greater wonders than that, fulfilling prophecy Jeremiah 33:14,15. This was at Capernaum, in Galilee.

-COMMAND OVER NATURE-

At Cana, near Capernaum, Jesus, His mother and His five friends attended a wedding where the host ran out of wine. Jesus' mother requested that He help. In obedience to His mother, Jesus instructed that the six stone jars be filled with water, they held 20-30 gallons each. These jars were then taken to the master of the banquet and after tasting, he exclaimed to the bridegroom that the wine was the best quality, not knowing that Jesus had turned water into wine. The wine lavishly provided, freely offered was a symbol of the full salvation to come by the sacrifice of The Lamb of God, His mercy and forgiveness, lavishly provided and freely given. The five disciples alone knew that he had already revealed His glory and they put their trust in Him.


To Print and Colour The Wedding at Cana, Scroll to Bottom Index

It was time for the Passover celebration and Jesus left Galilee and traveled to Jerusalem.
In the Temple area, the one place where Gentiles (non-Jews) could pray, He saw merchants selling cattle, sheep and doves for sacrifices. Jesus made a whip from ropes and drove out the sheep and oxen, scattering the tables and money. Fulfilling prophecy Psalm 69:9, Malachi 3:1-3.The Jewish leaders demanded that Jesus show them a miracle to prove He had authority from God to do such a thing. Jesus told them that the only sign that would be given to them would be that He would destroy His temple and raise it up again in three days-many did not understand what Jesus meant.
After He was raised from the dead, the disciples recalled these words that Jesus had spoken and knew the temple He was talking about was His own body.

Those who mock God also mock and insult His servants,and mocking His servants is the same as mocking God. The Temple Keepers were mocking God by having a market, making money in the Gentile Court area.



To Print and Colour The First CLeansing of The Temple, Scroll to Bottom Index

The Messiah, God's Son, who represented The Father, came to purify his people, to confirm and establish the New Covenant between God and man. Jesus, carries out the work of The Father. Jesus is the example of how people are to be open to God's cleansing process in their lives.
Jesus did many miracles at the Passover Celebration and many were convinced He was indeed The Messiah. This was Jesus' first cleansing of the Jewish Temple.

The New inner spiritual birth and moral transformation results in single-mindedness and total commitment to The Lord and to His Will. The Conditions of the New Covenant God declared that He would make the hearts of His people change to what He requires of His people. He would provide and furnish in His people His Holy Spirit so as to enable the human heart and spirit to be teachable as well as pliable. This could not be done with out the provision of The Holy Spirit.
God promised to restore spiritually and physically through The New Covenant by The Holy Spirit within.

The Holy Spirit cleanses and purifies hearts and breaths Life into the human spirit.
The New Covenant superseded The Old Covenant. (NEED TO KNOW TEXT)

The purposes of the Old Covenant are fulfilled in The New and Christ was made the foundation of the New Covenant God had promised. Unique personal relationship with God was pledged and His principals would be inscribed on the hearts of His people which offered a permanent relationship with Him. He would change hearts of people to love Him and offers a fresh beginning as each person would turn to Christ.

Late at night, Nicodemus, a respected religious Teacher of the Jewish Law came to Jesus and admitted that the ruling council and other religious teachers knew that Jesus had come from God to teach them, but Nicodemus himself was anxious to learn more.
Immediately Jesus explained that mankind, whether religious or not, cannot rely on their own efforts for Eternal Life with God. To be in God's Kingdom Jesus proclaimed the need for a new birth for all-a birth of The Holy Spirit. (NEED TO KNOW TEXT) Nicodemus, as one of Israel's teachers should have understood, for the former prophets foretold of a new inner life given from God. Ezekiel 11:19, 36:25,27. 37:1- 14-Jeremiah

Jesus told Nicodemus that He had come from heaven to earth and would return to heaven again-He came to live among men, to reveal what they could have never discovered by human striving. This new birth would make it possible for The Sovereign Holy Spirit to renew the human heart.
Jesus explained to him that just as Moses lifted up a bronze replica of a snake during the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness Numbers 21:9 so shall He be lifted up on a pole for all to see; to look upon and have life. The snake is the symbol of rebellion, evil, immorality, sin as the devil in the Garden of Eden. Jesus took the penalty for the sin of mankind upon Himself at the time of His Death, so that all who would look to Him and trust in Him will not have earned the wages of sin and death but given the gift of enjoying Eternal Life.

Soon after Jesus left Judea, John The Baptist was put into prison. On Jesus' way back to Galilee He traveled through Samaria, and paused where Jacob's Well was located. Jews did not speak to the Samaritans, as they considered them not to be full-blooded descendants of Abraham and therefore were not to be included in the promises given of God. A woman came to the Well and Jesus asked her for a drink, and said to her "If you only knew what a wonderful gift God has for you, and who I am, you would ask me for Living Water-the water I give becomes a perpetual spring within, watering them forever with Eternal Life. For it is not where we worship that counts, but how we worship; is our worship spiritual and real? Do we have The Holy Sprit's help? For God is Spirit and we must have His help to worship as we should. The Father wants this kind of worship from us". Jesus proceeded to tell her all about her life-this astounded her and she told all in the village about Jesus. (COLOUR IN CAMEO) Jesus had told her He was The Messiah for whom they were waiting. The villagers begged Him to stay. He visited for two days and all there believed he was The Saviour of mankind.

Jesus returned to Galilee full of The Holy Spirit's power. He soon became well-known throughout the region. Jesus went into the synagogue of His own hometown, Nazareth and stood to read the scriptures. "The Spirit of The Lord is upon Me . He has anointed Me to preach the Good News to the poor, He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted and announce that captives shall be released and the blind shall see, that the downtrodden shall be freed from their oppressors and that God is ready to bless all who come to Him". Fulfilled prophecy Isaiah 61:1,2.
Jesus said what he had read was now fulfilled-The people of Nazareth refused to believe Him; they wanted proof. Jesus reminded them of former great prophets sent by God whom the people of Israel had also rejected, so the prophets turned to non-Israelites and helped them because of their belief when they had heard God's Word. The people of His hometown became furious, mobbed Him and took Him to a cliff where their intent was to kill Him. Miraculously He passed through the crowd unharmed. Fulfilled prophecy of the rejection of The Son of God from Isaiah 53:3.

The Messiah was empowered with the full measure of The Holy Spirit and in wisdom and he delighted in God, His Father. The Messiah was greater than the original tree, DAVID and bear much fruit.

Jesus proclaimed God's favour had come and He announced that these verses from the prophet Isaiah, applied to Himself. and He came bringing freedom from the bondage of the sins, and to gather the people back to God and to Eternal Life.

God anointed Him with gladness, and as God defends Truth, Humility, Justice, so to The Messiah had the same qualities, and of faithfulness and obedience. The Messiah was The Suffering Servant, and he suffered physical and mental anguish, even those nearest to Him disassociated themselves from Him. He also endured personal rejection from His own nation, those, He had wanted to save and wanted them to welcome Him.