John Chapter 2

John Chapter 2

On the third day (counting from when, I’m not sure. Maybe he just means Wednesday, I can’t say) there was a marriage in Cana, a little town in Galilee. Mary happened to be there with JC. Jesus’ disciples and they were all invited to the wedding.

Everyone in the wedding really wanted wine, but Mary pointed out that the people have none. Jesus said, “Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.” OMG! If anyone ever talked to their mother that way in front of me I might backhand them. Well, I don’t really get into violence, but I’d give him a stern talking to about honoring his mother and father, isn’t that one of his big things? Jesus control yourself.

I guess it was a different time because Mary was unperturbed, she told the servants to do whatever her precious boy asked. There were six waterpots of stone (he explains that this is the way Jews purify things), each of these contained two or three firkins (this is some unit of volume apparently equal to nine imperial gallons).

JC tells these guys to fill these pots with water and they filled them to the brim! Yeay! I like to fill things all the way to the brim too, but then I usually spill them. Oops! Anyway, after they’re all filled, he has them bring some of the water to the governor of the feast.

Well, when the governor tastes it… you’ll never guess… lo and behold it was turned to wine and no one knew what it was (except the folks who brought it, of course). The governor of the feast called the bridegroom and told him that normally people give out the good wine first then when everyone is drunk they put out the bad, but you seemed to have kept the good wine until last. (Ahhh, I see, it wasn’t that they never had any wine, it was that they had run out… interesting.)

This began the miracles that Jesus did in Galilee to show what a glorious fellow he was and convince his disciples of his divinity. Woo hoo! Water into wine, now that’s good use of supernatural powers, I say! So, why do some Christians believe you shouldn’t drink any alcohol, when JC clearly enjoys the stuff? Hmmm, a question for another time I suppose.

Now he heads on down to Capernaum with mom and bro’s and sissy’s and of course his faithful disciples where they stayed for just a few days. When the Jew’s (of which Jesus was one, let’s not forget) Passover was at hand, our friend JC headed over to Jerusalem.

He found in the temple people selling oxen, sheep, and doves and even the changers of money all hanging out. (Wow! I didn’t know the economic system of the time was refined enough to have exchangers, I wonder how they determine the exchange rate! Interesting.) Being the sweet and understanding guy that we’ve all come to know and love, he made a wonderful “scourge of small cords” which he used to drive all the sellers out. He then poured out the money from the changer’s and threw over their tables. Nice! Now all their families will probably starve, but I supposed that’s their just desserts, right JC?

He tells the folks selling doves (you recall these birds, in whom the Holy Spirit occasionally resides) that they need to get the heck out of their because his father’s house is not one of merchandise. That’s fine, but did you have to whip them with your homemade cat-o-nine tail.

This cause the disciples to remember somewhere (I know not where), it was written, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” Hmm, okay.

The folks hanging about asked him to show them a sign to give him some authority to do these things. We recall from Mark and Matthew that JC really only likes to show signs at his convenience, not on demand. But John tells the story a bit differently. In this case he tells these people to destroy the temple and in three days he’ll raise it up.

What? Impossible they say. It took forty six years to build this beast (a bit longer if you take it to metaphorically mean the Jewish religion), how are you going to rebuild it in three days.

John explains to us, “But he spake of the temple of his body.”

Okay, everybody with me so far. So the temple is Judaism, he rebuilds it after three days with his resurrection. John supposes we must already know this story, unlike Matthew and Mark who seem intent on telling it to us. This must be why this gospel is the last of them. You have to get through the other three first to understand it.

Back to the story, when Jesus did rise from the dead, his disciples remembered him talking about that whole temple thing and they finally understood what I just explained to you. (Okay John, that’s jumping ahead quite a bit, but I guess we’re with you).

When JC was in Jerusalem tons of people believed in him, especially when they saw his miracles (so far only that one about the wine, unless John forgot to tell us something… which, uh, I think he did). Jesus did not commit himself to these guys though, because he know everything. Okay, I thought JC was big on committing himself to humanity, but maybe not.

According to John, he didn’t need any man to testify for him, because he knew what was in man. I would guess darkness and evil, but according to the other gospels JC DID want people to testify for him, that’s why he kept sending them hither and thither to tell everyone how awesome he was and to go around converting everyone they saw.

Well, we’ll find out more tomorrow in John Chapter 3.