John 2

The first chapter of John is all prologue. In chapter two, he begins to actually tell us about Jesus, and the things He said and did.

The Four Evangelists each chose to arrange the incidents of Jesus’ life in a different way. John, as we’ve seen, skips the birth story entirely. And now, we see the first stories of Jesus are that John chooses to tell.

This chapter is a double feature. First, the opener:

¹ And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

² and Jesus also was bidden, and his disciples, to the marriage.

³ And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

⁴ And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

⁵ His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

⁶ Now there were six waterpots of stone set there after the Jews' manner of purifying, containing two or three firkins apiece.

⁷ Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

⁸ And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the ruler of the feast. And they bare it.

⁹ And when the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants that had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast calleth the bridegroom,

¹⁰ and saith unto him, Every man setteth on first the good wine; and when [men] have drunk freely, [then] that which is worse: thou hast kept the good wine until now.

¹¹ This beginning of his signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

This is an interesting story, and one that can cause much awkwardness when you bring it up around people who’ve bought into the aberrant teetotaler notion that God despises alcohol, of all kinds and in all forms. And as it’s the first of Jesus’ adventures to be related, let’s look at what it says about Him.

Imprimus, Jesus and his posse are attending a party, possibly invited because of His mother. Evidently, Jesus and his pupils aren’t quite the monastic ascetic type. How much actual reveling they did on this occasion (and for that matter, on other occasions) is not recorded. But they were, at any rate, definitely in attendance at a first-century Jewish wedding, one of the liveliest kinds of celebration around.

Secundus, we meet Jesus’ mother. As John took no interest in Jesus’ birthing, she hasn’t come up before, and appears now asking Jesus for a favor. His response is interesting to me.

On the one hand, he says “woman, what have you to do with me?” Which seems a bit cold. He further says that His hour has not yet come.

But even so, He does as she asks, and uses His power to provide a substantial amount of wine for a party where they’d just finished depleting the wine they had. I have, of course, talked to people who maintain that Jesus’ miraculous powers turned the water into good, wholesome non-alcoholic grape juice, but this seems to me improbable. Mine host remarks “you’ve kept the best stuff till last.” Two chapters in, and already teetotalism, one of the mighty pillars of my Southern Baptist upbringing, has been shaken.

Of course, there’s still plenty of scripture that advises against drunkenness. And this is certainly not to be disputed. Consuming, for instance, a very large vodka-and-sprite on the heels of a rum-and-lemonade and some beers can jack you up. I have heard. Moderation, then, is the watchword.

Natheless, it certainly seems like this Jesus is by no means opposed to some good honest partying.

The real point, however, is that this is Jesus working signs and wonders, thereby establishing His credentials and impressing the disciples.

The scene now shifts, and we come to the second tale of Jesus and His deeds.

² After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and [his] brethren, and his disciples; and there they abode not many days.

¹³ And the passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁴ And he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

I must admit, this is one of my favorite Gospel stories. Because Jesus, Jesus does not like what He found in the Temple.

¹⁵ and he made a scourge of cords, and cast all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers' money, and overthrew their tables;

¹⁶ and to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.

I cannot help but feel, in this case, that the Bible might be well-served by the presence of some exclamation points. Jesus, whose official ministry is at it’s very beginning, who said a few verses earlier that His time has not yet come, kicks off His trip to Jerusalem by stampeding cattle, kicking over tables, dumping other people’s cash on the ground, and yelling at them.

¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for thy house shall eat me up.

It is, of course, entirely possible that the disciples present were in fact remanded of that scripture at that moment. But this aside’s also a pretty good literary device, a way for John to say “and by the way, reader, Jesus is fulfilling prophecy here.” I also like the phrasing. Zeal for Thy house has eaten me. Zeal, of course, as in Zealots, the radical guerilla revolutionaries who were at the time running amok in Judaea. Wycliffe’s Bible, alternatively, gives us the term “fervent love” in place of “zeal.” But what’s universal is the statement that this zeal for the Temple has eaten Him. Jesus is consumed by a passion for the House of God. What He’s doing here, He’s doing passionately, in a wild fury. He sees something He loves being profaned, and His immediate response it to grab a bullwhip and start kicking over apple carts. Jesus, in short, is mad.

This will be a recurring theme, actually. The one thing that is guaranteed to get Jesus hot under the collar, the thing that will get Him hurling mighty invective and damnation, is religious hypocrisy. Being focused on money-making where you should be focused on praying. Being focused on people seeing you pray when you should be focused on being humble before God. Being focused on the rules, and not the love behind them.

But more on that later. Meanwhile, in the Temple, the onlookers are naturally curious about who gave Jesus the right to go around busting up the place just because He doesn’t like the way things are run.

¹⁸ The Jews therefore answered and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

“Hey, you got some kind of credentials, pal? Like, maybe some miracles you could do to demonstrate that you’re a legit prophet or something?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Not the kind of answer, I think, that they were looking for.

²⁰ The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?

²¹ But he spake of the temple of his body.

²² When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he spake this; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Jesus, as is not uncommon for Him, was talking about something other than what they wanted Him to be talking about. He had other things on His mind. I might also note that this is some excellent foreshadowing. We who’ve grown up in the church lose sight of these things sometimes because we already know all these stories, but here at the beginning, John’s telling us how it will end. Here’s what these verses reveal:

Jesus has a mighty passion for the things of God, and does not tolerate the profanation of that which is Holy.

Jesus is interested in matters beyond the ken of His audience. They want to see a miracle or hear an explanation of just who He thinks He is, and He starts talking about coming back from the dead, in a way that only makes sense in hindsight. He is, in short, not talking to the people in front of Him, He’s talking for the benefit of the disciples three years from then.

Jesus is going to die. But more importantly, He’s going to come back. And when He does, the things He said and did take on a whole new weight.

The epilogue to this tale:

²³ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, during the feast, many believed on his name, beholding his signs which he did.

²⁴ But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men,

²⁵ and because he needed not that any one should bear witness concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.

Jesus stayed in Jerusalem, and observed Passover, and He evidently continues to do miracles, and a following develops around Him. But, Jesus does not trust Himself to them (again, there is some foreshadowing here). The most important of these verses, it seems to me, is the last. Jesus doesn’t need anyone to tell Him that people can’t be trusted. He knows that already. He knows, because He’s a man. Wasn’t it King David who said “my heart has shown me the wickedness of the ungodly?”

Next up: Jesus gives His first sermon, explaining to a man in the shadows who He is and what He’s doing.