Why do you think that John included Jesus turning water into wine and Jesus clearing the
temple in his gospel? Why do you think he included them together in this passage like he
did?

In what ways does true love demand anger? And why is “spineless love hardly love”?

Why did Jesus react with such anger when He cleared the temple? How can Jesus be angry?
Isn’t anger sinful?

Can you think of a contemporary application of Jesus clearing the temple? How should
Jesus’ anger with the vendors in the temple caution us in the way we enter into worship? As
you reflect on your own habits of worship, what are some ways you personally can treat
worship with more reverence? How can we as a church demonstrate greater reverence for
God in worship?

Talk through this phrase: “The way we worship reveals what we think about God”. Is the
phrase true? How so?

How does Jesus’ reference to the sign that He would give to prove His authority provide a
direct challenge to the empty ritual of Jewish worship in His day (2:18-22)?

In what way can the Christian faith be reduced to mere ritual without reality? (Look at 2
Timothy 3:5.)

Why doesn’t Jesus welcome the “faith” of those who responded to Him in Jerusalem during
the Passover Feast (2:23-25)? How might similar “faith” manifest itself in the church today?
What would you consider to be evidence(s) that a person may have “faith” like those at the
end of this chapter?

What would you tell someone who is in despair after hearing that God is angry toward sin?