We start miracles today. The signs according to John that point to some part of who Jesus was and is. And my hope is you see the wonder in the stories.
Let’s Pray:
Lord Jesus, I ask that You will write this lesson, that You will make Your glory visible and we would see the wonder You have revealed all throughout this chapter. I simply love how John has chosen specific stories to reveal you based on the purpose and the goal of this letter. But I also love a slow study of this to see what each individual story tells us about You. So help me Lord, write what You want to tell, or teach or share. In Your holy and precious Name, I pray. Amen.
Please read John 2:1-4
Miracle at Cana
1On the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was all gone, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “[a]They have no more wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “[Dear] woman, [b]what is that to you and to Me? My time [to act and to be revealed] has not yet come.”
Hmm, the third day, that’d be Tuesday, right? Because the Jews worship on Saturday. What a delightful discovery if it’s really the case because that would mean this story happened on the day of the week we’re studying.
One of the things about Jesus is He always knows if it’s the right time or not. And apparently seconds matter.
Please read John 2:5
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Trust, that’s what that is. She know He will act.
Please read John 2:6-7
6 Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification (ceremonial washing), containing twenty or thirty gallons each. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.
Six waterspouts of twenty or thirty gallons, 120 to 180 gallons. And when he said, “Fill” they filled, to the brim.
Please read John 2:8-10
8 Then He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter [of the banquet].” So they took it to him. 9 And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had turned into wine, not knowing where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew) he called the bridegroom, 10 and said to him, “Everyone else serves his best wine first, and when people have [c]drunk freely, then he serves that which is not so good; but you have kept back the good wine until now.”
Jesus turned that water into wine and not just wine but the good wine, 120 to 180 gallons of the best wine.
There are many studies on that story but really the best one is to say that in this story Jesus shows that He will give abundantly more than we can ask or imagine if we will believe.
Please read John 2:11-12
11 This, the first of His signs (attesting miracles), Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory [displaying His deity and His great power openly], and His disciples believed [confidently] in Him [as the Messiah—they adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him].
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.
Revealed glory – wonder – displayed His deity and His great power. The best response is belief. You can absolutely trust and rely on Him.
Please read John 2:13-17
First Passover—Cleansing the Temple
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was approaching, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And in the temple [enclosure] He found the [d]people who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at their tables. 15 He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16 then to those who sold the doves He said, “Take these things away! Stop making My Father’s house a place of commerce!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written [in the Scriptures], “Zeal (love, concern) for Your house [and its honor] will consume Me.”
The Father’s House is to be one of prayer and fellowship, worship and adoration, not commerce.
Please read John 2:18-22
18 Then the Jews retorted, “What sign (attesting miracle) can You show us as [proof of] your authority for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 Then the Jews replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and You will raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking of the temple which was His body. 22 So when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said. And they believed and trusted in and relied on the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
The temple within us, Jesus within us, that’s what He’s talking about here. Later he will tell that the place isn’t important, the heart is.
Please read John 2:23-25
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in His name [identifying themselves with Him] after seeing His signs (attesting miracles) which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, for His part, did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people [and understood the [e]superficiality and fickleness of human nature], 25 and He did not need anyone to testify concerning man [and human nature], for He Himself knew what was in man [in their hearts—in the very core of their being].
He knew them then and He knows us now; knows what is in your heart — in the very core of your being. Believe not just in what He does, but in Him based on what He does and says.
Footnotes
[a] John 2:3 -“[a]They have no more wine.”- To fail to provide for the wedding guests would bring disgrace on the groom.
[b] John 2:4 –“[Dear] woman, [b]what is that to you and to Me?-Lit what to Me and to you (a Hebrew idiom).
[c] John 2:10 -and when people have [c]drunk freely, then he serves that which is not so good- Or have become intoxicated.
[d] John 2:14 -in the temple [enclosure] He found the [d]people who were selling- These were vendors profiting from the sale of certain animals for sacrifice, or from the exchange of foreign or pagan coins for temple currency (money approved by the priests to present as offerings).
[e] John 2:24 -He knew all people [and understood the [e]superficiality and fickleness of human nature]- For some people this display of “belief” was not an abiding trust or true faith in Jesus as Savior (Messiah), but merely a temporary belief based on the excitement caused by witnessing His miracles. These people, whose belief was fleeting and superficial, were representative of the followers who abandoned Him later.
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