John 2, Wedding and Feast (Overview)

After Jesus has been introduced by the Baptizer to the nation of Israel, the disciple John records an event at a small private party and then describes an event in Jerusalem. The first event is not included in the other gospels; it is not clear how the second event fits in. The passage ends with a short teaching response by Jesus.

We will summarize this chapter before looking more carefully at the individual verses.

John 2: 1-12, A wedding in Cana
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

The third day after what? Presumably this event occurs shortly after the events in chapter one, in which the Baptist has introduced disciples to Jesus.

No mention is made here of Jesus's father Joseph.  It is presumed that he died before Jesus's ministry began, for only Mary appears in the events of Jesus's adult life.

After conversations in a recent study in this passage in our Bridges International ministry at Sam Houston, it hit me that this may indeed say something about the direction God plans to take us human beings. Both water and wine have very similar characteristics -- wine is mostly water -- but wine is "glorified" water, water that has become extraordinary and sublime.

John 2: 13-17, Driving money changers from the temple
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"

His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."

The whip may have been simply for the animals, but it is noted that Jesus scattered the coins and overturned tables. The other gospels record this cleansing at the end of his ministry. Is this the same event, or a new one?

The quote about zeal is from Psalm 69:9.

John 2: 18-22, Rebuilding the temple in 3 days
Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?"

But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

This statement about rebuilding the temple is later twisted by Jesus's accusers to be an attack on Judaism.

John 2: 23-25, Feast and fickle followers
Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

We will be reminded again and again that Jesus, the True Light (as described at the beginning of the book), is very aware of how fickle we humans can be.  The people are impressed by miracles but pay more attention to the entertainment than to the One working the miracles.  Throughout John's gospel, many miracles comes with a statement, an explanation of purpose. The miracles make a theological statement.