John 2: This chapter is about the account of the first miracle of Yeshua, which was turning water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana.
(John 2:1 NASB) And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;
(John 2:2 NASB) and Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the wedding.
John 2:2: You will not find the name “Mary” in the Gospel of John. She is only referred to on two occasions (here and when Yeshua was crucified), and her name is not mentioned either time.
(John 2:3 NASB) And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
John 2:3: In this day, wine was a staple of the normal diet. It still is today for many people including the majority of the Jewish people.
An ongoing argument has been whether or not this wine was fermented. If it was not fermented, then it certainly was not “wine.” To state that this wine was not intoxicating certainly takes away from the miracle that occurred. I heard one Baptist preacher say “There are four kinds of wine used in the Bible and one of them was a powder that was mixed with water and that was what Jesus always drank.” Well, that is slly. That inference was originally used by liberal scholars to explain this first miracle by Yeshua as having been nothing more than an ancient Kool-Aid.
Besides, the Greek word used for wine is “oinos” which is a derivative of the Greek word “yayin” which means “well fermented wine.”
(John 2:4 NASB) And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come.”
John 2:4: Yeshua is put out with His mother. This is not the timing He desired. His time to reveal Himself as the Son of Elohim and Messiah has not yet come.
The time of the revealing of the Messiah had not yet come up to that time. The time for the revealing of the Messiah was at His entrance into Jerusalem on the Sunday before his last Passover (Nisan 10, 32 AD). That was the specific date given by the prophet Daniel in his prophecy of the 70 weeks (Dan. 9:24-27). Yeshua Himself acknowledged this as the hour of His unveiling (John 12:23).
(John 2:5 NASB) His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
John 2:5: This was excellent advice from her. “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
(John 2:6 NASB) Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.
(John 2:7 NASB) Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
John 2:7: Those waterpots were used for “Jewish purification.” What is meant by this? We are told it is baptism, or the taval (John 3:24-26).
Keep in mind that this would be between 120-180 gallons of wine that would be made here. However, we don’t know how big the party was. Some have claimed that Mary was a relative of the bridal party, but that is not certain. We do know that Yeshua and all His disciples were invited. It could have involved all of the town and the surrounding areas. This should not necessarily be considered an excessive amount of wine.
Regardless, when Elohim provides and blesses, it is in abundance.
(John 2:8 NASB) And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the headwaiter.” And they took it to him.
(John 2:9 NASB) And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom,
(John 2:10 NASB) and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when men have drunk freely, then that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now.”
John 2:10: This comment by the guest of honor verifies the fact of the intoxicant nature of the wine. Any wine drinker will confirm the fact that after people have been drinking a while, the importance of the quality of the wine diminishes.
This is another fact that points to Yeshua being “the Prophet like Moses” spoken of in Deuteronomy 18. Moses turned water into blood. Yeshua turned water into the blood of the grape.
(John 2:11 NASB) This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
John 2:11: Most consider this to be the first miracle of Yeshua. However, we are only told that this was the beginnings of signs Yeshua did in Cana of Galilee, not that this was His first miracle.
It would seem that Yeshua telling Nathanael where he was and what he was thinking is also a miracle, or sign.
(John 2:12 NASB) After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother, and His brothers, and His disciples; and there they stayed a few days.
John 2:12: This is probably referring to the time when His hometown did not accept Him and tried to throw Him over the cliff (Luke 4:22-31). Yeshua probably decided to move His headquarters to Capernaum at this time. It appears as though Capernaum was the main meeting place for His teaching from then on.
(John 2:13 NASB) And the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
John 2:13: Here is another key location for the ministry of Yeshua, Jerusalem. He started out in Cana, then went to Capernaum, then went to Jerusalem.
All males were required to to go to Jerusalem three times a year: at the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of the Pentecost, and at the Feast of Tabernacles. He went up for the Feast of the Unleavened Bread which is in March or April.
Yeshua is now going to cleanse the temple. He did this twice. Once at the beginning of His time of teaching and once at the end.
(John 2:14 NASB) And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers seated.
John 2:14: They were selling animals and doves and changing money. The business of changing money was something similar to what we do when we go to a foreign country. The exchange rates tend to vary depending on where you go. The moneychangers here were exchanging Roman coins with Caesars picture on them for Jewish coinage that could be used in the temple. Plus one could purchase “nothing but the finest of sacrificial animals” for a price. Yeshua does not think much of religious rackets.
(John 2:15 NASB) And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the moneychangers, and overturned their tables;
(John 2:16 NASB) and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise.”
(John 2:17 NASB) His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR THY HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”
John 2:17: Yeshua was not a sweet little anemic pushover like we often see in Christian art. He was a rough man, not the blue-eyed, long haired, hippie we see in Christian paintings. The artists don’t seem to know who He really was when they paint His pictures.
The disciples quote Psalm 69:9 and it is also a reference to Psalm 119:139.
It would appear that man is not to make profit from the things of Elohim.
(John 2:18 NASB) The Jews therefore answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, seeing that You do these things?”
(John 2:19 NASB) Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
(John 2:20 NASB) The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
John 2:20: The temple at this time was Herod’s temple and it was still under construction. It had been under construction for 46 years.
In verses 14 & 15, the word used for temple was “hieron” which means “the entire temple” which was what Messiah cleansed. Here in verses 19 and 20, the Greek word for temple is “naos” which refers to the inner sanctuary of the temple.
Why did Yeshua refer to His body as the Temple? Because He was filled with the Spirit of His Father (1 Corinthians 6:19).
(John 2:21 NASB) But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
John 2:21: When Yeshua referred to the temple and said He would “raise it up,” the greek word “egeiro” was used. This word actually means “to wake up.” This word is used four other times in this Book of John and it always refers to a waking up from the dead.
(John 2:22 NASB) When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken.
John 2:22: What “Scripture” did the disciples remember? Probably Psalm 16:10 and possibly also Isaiah 25:8-9 among others. His disciples only figured this out after His death and resurrection.
(John 2:23 NASB) Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing.
John 2:23: Why were these people believing? What were they believing? They saw the signs and they were believing in His name because of them. This is not a description of faith or faithfulness. They were applauding the miracles He did.
(John 2:24 NASB) But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men,
(John 2:25 NASB) and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man.
John 2:25: The language here is stating that Yeshua did not believe in them. They believed in His miracles, but He did not believe in their hearts. Their faith was in that of a miraculous man and one who supplies the wine..
Yeshua knows that the heart is desperately wicked. It is not according to a man’s heart that He is judged, but according to His works (Jer. 17:9-10, 1 Sam. 16:7, 1 Chron. 28:9).
Yeshua is like Moses again in that he performed signs and wonders in order for the people to know Elohim. Yeshua knows the heart of man and He knows that what a man is judged by is his ways and the fruit of His deeds (Jer. 32:18-20).
Patrick McGuire
Copyright 2014 Patrick McGuire and Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly All rights reserved, no portion of this Lesson may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly Fort Smith, Arkansas