John 1:23

1:23 John ¹  said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight ²  the way for the Lord,’ ³  as Isaiah the prophet said.”

John 2:16

2:16 To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make ⁴  my Father’s house a marketplace!” ⁵ 

John 6:15

6:15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone. ⁶ 

John 7:4

7:4 For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself ⁷  does anything in secret. ⁸  If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”

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¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn This call to “make straight” is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

³ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

⁴ tn Or (perhaps) “Stop making.”

⁵ tn Or “a house of merchants” (an allusion to Zech 14:21).

sn A marketplace. Zech 14:20-21, in context, is clearly a picture of the messianic kingdom. The Hebrew word translated “Canaanite” may also be translated “merchant” or “trader.” Read in this light, Zech 14:21 states that there will be no merchant in the house of the Lord in that day (the day of the Lord, at the establishment of the messianic kingdom). And what would Jesus’ words (and actions) in cleansing the temple have suggested to the observers? That Jesus was fulfilling messianic expectations would have been obvious – especially to the disciples, who had just seen the miracle at Cana with all its messianic implications.

⁶ sn Jesus, knowing that his “hour” had not yet come (and would not, in this fashion) withdrew again up the mountainside alone. The ministry of miracles in Galilee, ending with this, the multiplication of the bread (the last public miracle in Galilee recorded by John) aroused such a popular response that there was danger of an uprising. This would have given the authorities a legal excuse to arrest Jesus. The nature of Jesus’ kingship will become an issue again in the passion narrative of the Fourth Gospel (John 18:33ff.). Furthermore, the volatile reaction of the Galileans to the signs prepares for and foreshadows the misunderstanding of the miracle itself, and even the misunderstanding of Jesus’ explanation of it (John 6:22-71).

⁷ tn Or “seeks to be well known.”

⁸ sn No one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret means, in effect: “if you’re going to perform signs to authenticate yourself as Messiah, you should do them at Jerusalem.” (Jerusalem is where mainstream Jewish apocalyptic tradition held that Messiah would appear.)