John 2

Jesus, His mother, and His disciples were invited to a wedding in Cana. When the wine ran out, Jesus  performed His first miracle of turning water into wine. By doing so, He "manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. 

During the Passover of the Jews, Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the temple, they sold oxen and sheep and doves and exchanged money. Jesus then drove them and the animals out of the temple and overturned the tables with money, and said, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"

The Jews wanted to know what sign He did these things. He replied, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." They misunderstood Him to be speaking of the temple, but He was talking about His body and the resurrection. 

Because of the signs He did in Jerusalem, many believed in His name; but He knew their hearts were not genuinely converted.

COMMENTARY

The wedding at Cana foreshadows the wedding that is coming. "Christ began His ministry on earth at a wedding and He will conclude it...with a wedding...at the marriage supper of the Lamb" with the church as His bride. Also, contrast Jesus' first miracle of turning water into wine with Moses' first miracle of turning water into blood. Moses gave the Law, but Jesus gave grace and truth.

When the wine ran out at the wedding, Jesus' mother informed Him and He asked her what it had to do with Him: His time had not come, yet. McGee suggested that Mary was eager for Jesus to demonstrate who He was as an opportunity to "clear her name." She knew who He was, but she had to wait thirty years to confirm it publically. 

Changing the water into wine is a spiritual lesson for all Christians because we are all like water pots, "beaten and battered." The Lord fills us with water, like the Word of God, and when we "ladle it out," then it becomes like wine through the working of the Holy Spirit. We are transformed by the Holy Spirit. 

When Jesus went to the temple during the Passover, He cleansed the temple of those who exchanged money and sold animals. They did this to make religious practices easy and to make a profit. Jesus then chased them all out of the temple, and His disciples remembered Psalm 69:9: "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." 

People started to witness the miracles of Jesus, and they believed; but they did not truly have a conversion of saving faith. They believed what they saw, and they believed Jesus performed it; but they did not have a genuine transformation. And Jesus knew their hearts because He is the Creator.