John — Chapter 2

Grace and Truth

Another unique aspect of the gospel of John is that it has a particular “tone” about it.  It is not just a series of events, but more of a personality sketch of Jesus.  From the outset, in Chapter One, John states that while Moses came bringing the law, Jesus came to bring grace and truth.  And this is immediately exhibited in his first public act, the wedding in Cana.

Amongst Christian circles, there is a subset that particularly struggles with alcohol.   To them any consumption of alcohol is akin to, or at least flirting with, the sin of drunkenness.  What they do when they encounter the wedding at Cana is a bit peculiar, bending and twisting the Greek translation so that “wine” really means “grape juice.”  A quick word study, however, soon dispells such as myth.  The Greek word for wine is oianov, and it is used in several places in scripture.  Check out Revelation 14:8 and tell me if it is referring to grape juice!

So here is Jesus, displaying his way of handling “sinners.”  First, he changes water into wine and it is served to people who are well embibed with the beverage.  Second, it is of much higher quality than any previously consumed.  It adds some perspective to how Jesus handles alcoholic consumption.  Some refer to Romans 14 and 15 where Paul teaches that we should be respecting the weakness of faith bestowed in others who may have difficulty handling temptation.  For that reason, I know many pastors who refrain from drinking so as to provide no ground for a person to accuse them of being drunk, nor of causing someone to fall into sin because they struggle with alcoholic consumption or alcoholism.  Yet in this text, Jesus simply creates a lot of good wine to be consumed by people who may not have been sober.  This is the gracious God, knowing that even if provides his very best, not everyone will enjoy it as they should, but some may consume it with no regard to where it came from, and with little regard for how they should responsibly use it.

Another peculiar aspect is of this miracle is the relationship between Jesus and his mother.  I get the impression that even though this was the “first miracle” to John, it wasn’t for Mary.  She knew what Jesus could do, and it is most peculiar that she seemed to know better about “his time” for a miracle than Jesus himself!

The Temple Tantrum

All the other gospels describe such an event near the end of his ministry, during his final week in Jerusalem.  John puts it at the beginning and it aludes to a trip he took to Jerusalem early in his ministry.  It was during this trip that he would encounter Nicodemus (Chapter 3).  I had often thought that the reason this story was early in the gospel of John was because John was not concerned about linear events in time.  But I have since changed my perspective.  All the other gospels are very vague about the length of time between events, especially early in the three year ministry of Jesus.  There is evidence of long gaps between events, leaving plenty of time for Jesus to make a journey to Jerusalem.  Another argument is that it is odd how the religious establishment focused so much of their attention to Jesus early in his ministry while he was in the region of Galilee.  The animosity that the religious leaders held toward Jesus seems irrational given that he had done little to merit such attention.  Yet when you consider the temple event described in John, then it begins to make a lot more sense.  Jesus literally upsets the apple cart (did they have apples in Jerusalem, come to think of it?) and draws the line in the sand early in his ministry.  He makes no secret that the religious leaders of his day had grieved God, and He was angry.  To add to this accusation, Jesus makes two related assertions, one an indirect reference to his diety, the other a riddle that his disciples would later recall with more clarity.

First, “How dare you turn my Father’s house …”   Jewish leaders did not like God spoken of in such intimate terms.

Second, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

This pivotal event would certainly stir up a hornet’s nest of curiosity, rage, and fear.  Jesus was at least crazy, and had spoken blasphemy.  Yet hear was a man who was performing miracles in Jerusalem (v23), his following was growing, and he must be watched. And so it would be for the rest of his life that his steps would be dogged by lawyers , skeptics and priests, seeking to discredit him in some fashion.