AM April 12th John 2

April 12^th John 2

B. The Introduction to Jesus the Christ

Sign 1 The Lord – Wine. (Moses)

1: And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3: And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4: 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: And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, 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 governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9: When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10: And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 11: This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. 12: After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.

The Lord clears the Temple

13: And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14: And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16: And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 17: And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 18: Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19: Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20: Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21: But he spake of the temple of his body. 22: When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. 23: Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24: But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25: And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

On the third day John records the first of eight Messianic signs. It’s a marriage in Cana of Galilee and Christ mother is invited with Christ and the disciples. Unfortunately they run out of wine. So Mary goes to Jesus to ask him what he is going to do about it. She knows that one way or other he will deal with this matter, So she primes the servants to make sure that they follow the instructions of Jesus whatever they might be. There were six stone water containers which the Jews used to wash themselves in their religious observance. Christ ordered that these containers should be filled and they filled them to the brim. Then Christ said now draw out water (from the well) and take it to the chief guest at the marriage. The chief guest is the father of the bride. When the water was offered to the guest he called the bridegroom and said that the water was now the finest wine. This miracle is very similar to the first miracle in Egypt when Moses turned water into blood. Then it was a sign of Jehovah’s servant this was a sign of the Messiah. Presumably at some later date the well reverted back to water. However during the feast every Jew could continue his religious ablutions and thus preserve his clean state before God. This was the first time that Christ demonstrated his Messianic power and the disciples believed on him because of it. At the first Passover of Christ’s ministry he went up to Jerusalem and while he was there he turned out the money changers and those who sold animals for sacrifice. The Jews always changed their money for Jewish money so that they never paid their tithes with idolatrous images engraved. The religious authorities made a fast buck out of this exchange. The religious leaders also made money out of the sale of animals for sacrifice. But this turned the temple into a filthy market and filled it with noise. Christ cast them all out declaring it to be a place of prayer. The religious leaders asked what authority he had for doing this. Christ answered by saying that you can kill my body but God will raise it up in three days. The issue for Christ was going to be the very reason for his murder - His messianic claims.

• Why did they run out of wine?
• What did Christ do about it?
• Why did Jesus clear the temple?