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1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in
Galilee. Jesus' mother was there,
2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They
have no more wine."
4 "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied.
"My time has not yet come."
5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for
ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water";
so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the
master of the banquet." They did so,
9 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
10 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."
11 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.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers
and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
John 2:1-12
Explanation: 2:1, 2 Jesus was on a mission to save the world,
the greatest mission in the history of mankind. Yet he took time
to attend a wedding and take part in its festivities. We may be
tempted to think we should not take time out from our important
work for social occasions. But maybe these social occasions are
a part of our mission. Jesus valued these wedding festivities because
they involved people, and Jesus came to be with people. Our mission
can often be accomplished in joyous times of celebration with others.
Bring balance to your life by bringing Jesus into times of pleasure
as well as times of work.
2:1-3 Weddings in Jesus' day were week-long festivals.
Banquets would be prepared for many guests, and the week would be
spent celebrating the new life of the married couple. Often the
whole town was invited, and everybody would come--it was considered
an insult to refuse an invitation to a wedding. To accommodate many
people, careful planning was needed. To run out of wine was more
than embarrassing; it broke the strong unwritten law of hospitality.
Jesus was about to respond to a heartfelt need.
2:4 Mary was probably not asking Jesus to do a
miracle; she was simply hoping that her son would help solve this
major problem and find some wine. Tradition says that Joseph, Mary's
husband, was dead, so she probably was used to asking for her son's
help in certain situations. Jesus' answer to Mary is difficult to
understand, but maybe that is the point. Although Mary did not understand
what Jesus was going to do, she trusted him to do what was right.
Those who believe in Jesus but run into situations they cannot understand
must continue to trust that he will work in the best way.
2:5 Mary submitted to Jesus' way of doing things.
She recognized that Jesus was more than her human son--he was the
Son of God. When we bring our problems to Christ, we may think we
know how he should take care of them. But he may have a completely
different plan. Like Mary, we should submit and allow him to deal
with the problem as he sees best.
2:6 The six stone water jars were normally used
for ceremonial washing. When full, the pots would hold 20 to 30
gallons. According to the Jews' ceremonial law, people became symbolically
unclean by touching objects of everyday life. Before eating, the
Jews would pour water over their hands to cleanse themselves of
any bad influences associated with what they had touched.
2:10 People look everywhere but to God for excitement
and meaning. For some reason, they expect God to be dull and lifeless.
Just as the wine Jesus made was the best, so life in him is better
than life on our own. Why wait until everything else runs out before
trying God? Why save the best until last?
2:11 When the disciples was Jesus' miracle, they
believed. The miracle showed his power over nature and revealed
the way he would go about his ministry--helping others, speaking
with authority, and being in personal touch with people. Miracles
are not merely superhuman events, but events that demonstrate God's
power. Almost every miracle Jesus did was a renewal of fallen creation--restoring
sight, making the lame walk, even restoring life to the dead. Believe
in Christ not because he is a superman but because he is the God
who continues his creation, even in those of us who are poor, weak,
crippled, orphaned, blind, deaf, or with some other desperate need
for re-creation.
2:12 Capernaum became Jesus' home base during his
ministry in Galilee. Located on a major trade route, it was an important
city in the region, with a Roman garrison and a customs station.
At Capernaum, Matthew was called to be a disciple (Matthew 9:9).
The city was also the home of several other disciples (Matthew 4:13-19)
and a high-ranking government official. It had at least one major
synagogue. Although Jesus made this city his base of operations
in Galilee, he condemned it for the people's unbelief (Matthew 11:23;
Luke 10:15).
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up
to Jerusalem.
14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves,
and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
15 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.
16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here!
How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
John 2:13-16
Explanation: 2:13 The Passover celebration took place yearly
at the temple in Jerusalem. Every Jewish male was expected to make
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem during this time (Deuteronomy 16:16).
This was a week-long festival--the Passover was one day, and the
Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted the rest of the week. The entire
week commemorated the freeing of the Jews from slavery in Egypt
(Exodus 12:1-13). Jerusalem was both the religious and the political
seat of Palestine, and the place where the Messiah was expected
to arrive. The temple was located there, and many Jewish families
from all over the world would travel to Jerusalem during the key
feasts. The temple was on an imposing site, a hill overlooking the
city. Solomon had built the first temple on this same site almost
1,000 years earlier (949 B.C.), but his temple had been destroyed
by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25). The temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C.,
and Herod the Great had enlarged and remodeled it.
2:14 The temple area was always crowded during
Passover with thousands of out-of-town visitors. The religious leaders
crowded it even further by allowing money changers and merchants
to set up booths in the court of the Gentiles. They rationalized
this practice as a convenience for the worshipers as a way to make
money for temple upkeep. But the religious leaders did not seem
to care that the court of the Gentiles was so full of merchants
that foreigners found it difficult to worship. And worship was the
main purpose for visiting the temple. No wonder Jesus was angry!
The temple tax had to be paid in local currency, so foreigners had
to have their money changed. But the money changers often would
charge exorbitant exchange rates. The people also were required
to make sacrifices for sins. Because of the long journey, many could
not bring their own animals. Some who brought animals would have
them rejected for imperfections. So animal merchants would do a
flourishing business in the temple courtyard. The price of sacrificial
animals was much higher in the temple area than elsewhere. Jesus
was angry at the dishonest, greedy practices of the money changers
and merchants, and he particularly disliked their presence on the
temple grounds. They were making a mockery of God's house of worship.
John records this first clearing, or cleansing of the temple. A
second clearing occurred at the end of Jesus' ministry, about three
years later, and that event is recorded in Matthew 21:12-17; Mark
11:12-19; Luke 19: 45-48.
2:14-16 God's temple was being misused by people
who had turned it into a marketplace. They had forgotten. or didn't
care, that God's house is a place of worship, not a place for making
a profit. Our attitude toward the church is wrong if we see it as
a place for personal contacts or business advantage. Make sure you
attend church to worship God.
2:15, 16 Jesus was obviously angry at the merchants
who exploited those who had come to God's house to worship. There
is a difference between uncontrolled rage and righteous indignation--yet
both are called anger. We must be very careful how we use the powerful
emotion of anger. It is right to be angry about injustice and sin;
it is wrong to be angry over trivial personal offenses. Jesus made
a whip and chased out the money changers. Does his example permit
us to use violence against wrongdoers? Certain authority is granted
to some, but not to all. For example, the authority to use weapons
and restrain people is granted to police officers, but not to the
general public. The authority to imprison people is granted to judges,
but not to individual citizens. Jesus had God's authority, something
we cannot have. While we want to live like Christ, we should never
try to claim his authority where it has not been given to us.
17His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your
house will consume me."
18 Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can
you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise
it again in three days."
20 The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build
this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?"
21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
22 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.
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people
saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.
24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all
men.
25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was
in a man.
John 2:17-25
Explanation: 2:17 Jesus took the evil acts in the temple as
an insult against God, and thus he did not deal with them halfheartedly.
He was consumed with righteous anger against such flagrant disrespect
for God.
2:19, 20 The Jews understood Jesus to mean the
temple out of which he had just driven the merchants and money changers.
This was the temple Zerubbabel had built over 500 years earlier,
but Herod the Great had begun remodeling it, making it much larger
and far more beautiful. It had been 46 years since this remodeling
had started (20 B.C.), and it still wasn't completely finished.
They understood Jesus' words to mean that this imposing building
could be torn down and rebuilt in three days, and they were startled.
2:21, 22 Jesus was not asking about the temple
made of stones, but about his body. His listeners didn't realize
it, but Jesus was greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6). His words
would take on meaning for his disciples after his resurrection.
That Christ so perfectly fulfilled this prediction became the strongest
proof for his claims to be God.
2:23-25 The Son of God knows all about human nature.
Jesus was well aware of the truth of Jeremiah 17:9, which states,
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can
understand it? Jesus was discerning, and he knew that the faith
of some followers was superficial. Some of the same people claiming
to believe in Jesus at this time would later yell Crucify him! It's
easy to believe when it is exciting and everyone else believes the
same way. But keep your faith firm even when it isn't popular to
follow Christ.
