Hi Guys

We will be covering John 2: 12- 25 this sunday. Please read it.

Also if the psi is above 150, the youths' cell will be cancelled.

Main points of today's lesson.

1) Zeal for God and not the World
2) The word generates Faith and miracles ONLY lead us to Word.


TUNER: Prepare two sets of instructions. One saying you are team blabblerpop. Your job is to make the other team talk to you. If someone from your team, stops talking for more than 30 seconds. Your entire team loses. NO POKING.

 The other team is team silent hill billies, your job is not to make a single sound. If one person from you team makes a sound or says a word. Your team loses.

Team that wins gets a prize. You can give them a jar of air or some sweets.

Tuner Lesson: Hopefully some of your students zealously try to make people talk haha.


First ask the youths to Read (john2:12-16)

 Next give them the background story: Jesus, His family and His disciples remained in Capernaum a few days, and then he went to jerusalem for the Passover Feast.

Though He deliberately violated the man made religious traditions of the Pharisees, our Lord obeyed the statutes of the law and was faithful to upload the law. In His life and death, He fulfilled the law so that, today believers are not burdened by that" yoke of bondage: (Acts 15:10)

Point 1: Zeal for God

What is Zeal?
answer: eager or earnestly enthusiastic about or toward a particular effort.


We can see Jesus's zeal for two things in verses 13-17
 His zeal that God maybe glorified and lost people maybe saved.

1) Cleansing his Father's house.
Jesus revealed His Zeal for God first of all by Cleansing the temple (John 2:13-17). The priests had established a lucrative business of exchanging foreign money for Jewish currency and also selling the animals needed for the sacrifices. No doubt this "religious market" began as a convenience for the Jews who came long distances to worship in the temple, but in due time the "convenience" became a business, not a ministry. The tragedy is that this business was carried on in the court of the Gentiles in the templem the place where the jews should have been meeting the Gentiles and telling them about the one true God. Any gentiles searching for the truth would not likely find it among the religious merchants in the temple. Our Lord suddenly appeared in the temple and cleaned house! he was careful not to destroy anyone"s property (He did not release the doves for example)

Declaring war on hypocritical religious leaders that were exploiting the people. These people who were a Godly remnant in Israel who loved God and revered His temple (Luke 1:5-22)


Questions:
What are somethings we have zeal for?

Do we have that same zeal for God and his people?


2) Giving up His life and giving a new way (john 2:18-22)


In John 2:19, Jesus answered the Pharisees by saying Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days. 

Jesus used the image of the temple to convey this truth "Destroy this temple (My body), and in three days i will raise it up. Being spiritually blind, those who heard misunderstood what he was saying. This was also Jesus foretelling his death.

The temple was an important element of the Jewish faith, for in it God was supposed to dwell. All of the ceremonies and sacrifices of the Jewish religion centered in the temple. If his body is now the temple, then the Jewish temple would be needed no more. No longer by works but by faith. That was one of the purposes that John had in mind when he wrote his gospel. That the legal system has ended and grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ. He is the new sacrifice (John1:29) and the new temple. (John 2:19)



Point 2: The word generates Faith and miracles ONLY lead us to Word.


Read John 2:23-25

The words believed in john 2:23 and entrust in john2:24 are the same greek word. These people believed in Jesus, but He did not believe in them. They were unsaved believers. Jesus had performed many miracles. Thus many people professed to believe in Him. Why did Jesus accept human testimony? Because being God, he knew what was in each person's heart and mind. It was one thing to respond to a miracle but quite something else to commit oneself to Jesus Christ and continue in His Word.

John was not discrediting the importance of Jesus's miracles because he wrote his book to record these signs and to encourage his readers to trust Jesus Christ and receive eternal life. However through the book, John makes it clear that it takes more than believing in miracles for a person to be saved. Seeing the signs and believing in them would be a great beginning.

Jesus's miracles were testimonies giving evidence of his divine sonship.

Through out the gospel,Jesus always tied his miracles to the truth of His message.

At the beginning, it was easy for people to follow the crowd and watch his miracles. but then his Words penetrate hearts. Which leads to conviction. Conviction leads to either conversion or opposition. It is impossible to be neutral. People have to decide.

Jesus knows the human heart. (John 4:48)
People who want His works but not His word can never share His life.
Seeing is believing is not the Christian way. First we believe;then we see. Miracles can only lead us to the word (John5:36-38) and it is the Word that generates saving faith (Romans 10:17)



(Break up time)
Take 5 mins to individually reflect upon our lives. Are we placing our faith in His word and God being our end. Or are we seeking after his power and asking for his power to achieve our ends.

Share with one another in groups and leaders please pray for your youths.