John 2 - Signs, Signs Everywhere Signs!

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Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

Cana was about 8 miles from Nazareth. It was the hometown of Bartholomew, one of Jesus' disciples. The fact that Jesus was invited says a lot about him. He wasn't as some Christians are, "holier than thou." 

"This is the first of many stories suggesting that Jesus was always welcome among those having a good time. Jesus didn’t spoil the good time, and in the Jewish culture of that day a wedding was the best party of all." - Guzik 

There is no mention of Joseph at the wedding. Most commentators read the Joseph had already died, therefore most like Jesus had to take care of his mother and family. Since Joseph was most like older when Jesus was born, this was 30 years later, so it gives some credence to this theory. 

The host of the wedding had run out of wine, which was a big "social faux pas" in Jesus' day. Weddings were a very big deal. 

This was a major social mistake, and could shame the couple for a long time. A wedding was supposed to be the best party of all, and for a host to fail in providing adequate hospitality (partially in the form of food and drink) was a great dishonor. - Guzik

Jesus' mom saw that it was a dire situation, and asked Jesus to deal with it. This showed the trust she had in Jesus, but it also shows that she was expecting some kind of miracle by Jesus' response. Jesus says, 

"Women it is not my time." This is a common theme in all of the gospels, as Jesus carefully picked the times and place he would do miracles, signs, and wonders. 

Was this rude for Jesus to speak to his mom in this way?

"Jesus spoke to His mother with a term of respect, but He did not call her “mother.” Jesus wanted to emphasize that now, at the beginning of His public ministry, He now had a different relationship with Mary." - Guzik

Nonetheless Jesus honored his mom's request out of respect for her and sympathy for the bride and groom. He told the servants to take six, very large containers, which held water for ceremonial cleansing according to Jewish law. These were huge vats containing 20 to 30 gallons of water, John tells us. 

When the servants brought the big containers to the host, Jesus told them to draw out the water. And sure enough when they brought it out it became wine. Not ordinary wine, but really good wine. The host gave the bridegroom "kudos" for saving the best wine for last, perhaps a metaphor for Jesus who God saved the best for last. 

John says, "What  did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.'

As you will see throughout the book of John, he uses the term "signs" rather than "miracles". Whereas the word miracles refers more to the power, signs show the purpose of the miracles. Like any sign, it had a purpose which pointing to something more important than the sign itself. The disciples, who had seen this sign, came to believe in Jesus. There are seven major signs in the gospel of John revealing who He was. 

Of course they believed before, but now their belief was deepened and re-expressed. This is typical in the Christian life. God does great things in our lives, and we believe in Him all over again. - Guzik

Jesus then returned to Galilee, which was on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. It became his hometown. He traveled with his disciples, his mother, and brothers. There are several instances in the bible which show he had brothers. 

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

When Passover came John says, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was at a much higher elevation than Capernaum in Galilee. This presents one of the many differences in John's gospel, as the other gospels have Jesus going into the temple and overturning the moneychangers in the temple much later. 

The money changers were doing business, which was common because people came from all over to celebrate this annual feast required by Jewish law. They were selling all of the kinds of animals used for the sacrifice that the pilgrims were required to bring. 

This wasn't the offensive part. The offensive part was that they were not only making a profit, but they were doing it in the temple courts, which has a holy part of the temple. They also sold doves, which were much less expensive and were accepted as a sacrifice from those without means. 

Jesus furious and overturned their temples causing quite a ruckus in the temple courts. He exclaimed,

"Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

This was a quote from Psalm 69:9, which the disciples remembered. They knew their Old Testament and so should we. 

So if Jesus was sinless, why did he get so angry? Isn't anger a sin? 

Jesus was not angry in the sense of destructive or prideful anger. It was "righteous anger", which meant it was because they were profaning the name of God. The temple was a holy place and they had made a mockery of it. It would be like if people were selling things in the foyer of one of our churches. 

The people were offended at this, and asked Jesus by what authority he was doing this. What gave him the right to make this scene in the temple? After all, it was common practice and wasn't the offering serving God?

Jesus did not back down. He said, 

"Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

I am sure they did not understand what he meant by this, but it is obvious reference to his body being a temple of God as he mentions. Though the temple would be destroyed in 70 A.D, that is much later than Jesus' death and resurrection. We see that this temple was fairly new, as it that it was only built 46 years before, just 14 years before Jesus' was born. 

The original temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians 500 years before, though there were various times it had been re-built.

Jesus apparently did many other signs them, because the people came to believe in him when they saw them. Jesus did not entrust himself to them, because they only believed in his name. This might suggest that they believed in the signs themselves rather than who they pointed to, Jesus the Messiah. The last verse suggests this when he says, 

"He knew what was in each person." Many people would believe in the signs but that didn't mean they believed Jesus was the Messiah. This is why he picked the time and the places. Jesus didn't want to be seen as a magician.