John 2
2
The Wedding at Cana
1Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there. 2Jesus and his followers were also invited. 3At the wedding there was not enough wine, so Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4Jesus answered, “Dear woman, why are you telling me this? It is not yet time for me to begin my work.”
5His mother said to the servants, “Do what he tells you.”
6There were six large stone waterpots there that were used by the Jews in their washing ceremonies.#2:6 washing ceremonies The Jews had religious rules about washing in special ways before eating, before worshiping in the Temple, and at other special times. Each one held about 20 or 30 gallons.#2:6 20 or 30 gallons Literally, “2 or 3 metretas,” about 80 to 120 liters.
7Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them to the top.
8Then he said to them, “Now dip out some water and take it to the man in charge of the feast.”
So they did what he said. 9Then the man in charge tasted it, but the water had become wine. He did not know where the wine had come from, but the servants who brought the water knew. He called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “People always serve the best wine first. Later, when the guests are drunk, they serve the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best wine until now.”
11This was the first of all the miraculous signs Jesus did. He did it in the town of Cana in Galilee. By this he showed his divine greatness, and his followers believed in him.
12Then Jesus went to the town of Capernaum. His mother and brothers and his followers went with him. They all stayed there a few days.
Jesus at the Temple
(Mt. 21:12–13; Mk. 11:15–17; Lk. 19:45–46)
13It was almost time for the Jewish Passover, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14There in the Temple area he saw men selling cattle, sheep, and doves. He saw others sitting at tables, exchanging and trading people’s money. 15Jesus made a whip with some pieces of rope. Then he forced all these men and the sheep and cattle to leave the Temple area. He turned over the tables of the money traders and scattered their money. 16Then he said to those who were selling pigeons, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place for buying and selling!”
17When this happened, his followers remembered what was written in the Scriptures:
“My strong devotion to your Temple will destroy me.” Psalm 69:9
18Some Jews said to Jesus, “Show us a miracle as a sign from God. Prove that you have the right to do these things.”
19Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple and I will build it again in three days.”
20They answered, “People worked 46 years to build this Temple! Do you really believe you can build it again in three days?”
21But the temple Jesus meant was his own body. 22After he was raised from death, his followers remembered that he had said this. So they believed the Scriptures, and they believed the words Jesus said.
23Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Many people believed in him because they saw the miraculous signs he did. 24But Jesus did not trust them, because he knew how all people think. 25He did not need anyone to tell him what a person was like. He already knew.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
John 2
2
From Water to Wine
1-3Three days later there was a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and his disciples were guests also. When they started running low on wine at the wedding banquet, Jesus’ mother told him, “They’re just about out of wine.”
4Jesus said, “Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine? This isn’t my time. Don’t push me.”
5She went ahead anyway, telling the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”
6-7Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus ordered the servants, “Fill the pots with water.” And they filled them to the brim.
8“Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host,” Jesus said, and they did.
9-10When the host tasted the water that had become wine (he didn’t know what had just happened but the servants, of course, knew), he called out to the bridegroom, “Everybody I know begins with their finest wines and after the guests have had their fill brings in the cheap stuff. But you’ve saved the best till now!”
11This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
12After this he went down to Capernaum along with his mother, brothers, and disciples, and stayed several days.
Tear Down This Temple . . .
13-14When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.
15-17Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!” That’s when his disciples remembered the Scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”
18-19But the Jews were upset. They asked, “What credentials can you present to justify this?” Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.”
20-22They were indignant: “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you’re going to rebuild it in three days?” But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.
23-25During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. But Jesus didn’t entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn’t need any help in seeing right through them.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.