John 2 (TNIV)

John 2
1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
4 "Woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My hour has not yet come."
5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." 11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples put their faith in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a market!" 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
18 The Jews then responded to him, "What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
20 They replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need human testimony about them, for he knew what was in them.

John 2: 1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." 4 "Woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied (The phrase “woman, why do you involve me,” is of Semitic origin, and the equivalent Hebrew meaning is probably seen best in 1 Kings 2:13 and Hosea 14:8 – in other words, this phrase was usually used when someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” Meaning, “that is your business, how am I involved in this?” In other words this was not a phrase of disrespect, but of disengagement.). "My hour has not yet come."

5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons (This is where the intentionality of the Jesus’ miracle takes place – I believe this was a miracle of pure provision, but he even used this miracle as an analogy of his ministry on earth – The water jars it says were the jars used for the Jews ceremonial washing, this was considered Holy, religious, a passed down tradition from the elders, and was used by the Jews to purify themselves.) 7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now (We need to understand this would have offended the religious fundamentalist of the day [Matthew 15:1-3 & 10-20; Matthew 23:25-26]. This was a religious practice, that the religious elite believed if you used these jars and the water in these jars [uncontaminated], then you were purifying yourself however, in order to use these jars, you must be a good law keeper, a very strict religious elite—in short perfectly qualified to do so. Nothing was to go into these jars except purification water – then Jesus comes along, and not only goes against the religious tradition, a tradition that symbolically stood for man being good enough to clean himself, but places wine in them as a miracle that only He could do. Then he offers this wine to all at the party, not just those who have earned the right. The other thing different in the idea of water purification and wine, is that wine affects your outside, after it is in you, where as the way they used the water, only cleans the outside. This was symbolic of Jesus ministry in that, (1) Only he can provide it. (2) It is something that begins within you, but when you get your fill of it, it will intoxicate you, and it will be better than any human can provide. (3) From this point on, the majority of Jesus parables and miracles point away from the traditions that the Pharisees burdened the common man with and believed they were able to purify one’s self.)." 11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples put their faith in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

SIDE NOTE: The first take away here is that we must understand that Jesus' top priority is not human provision--his role is not to primarily make us healthy, wealthy, and successful or full of wine. That is not to say that he is against any of that either, but Jesus' top priority is that the Trinitarian God is glorified, and in this simple act of provision, something like wine for a wedding banquet, he still uses this occasion, to point people to himself. This is how we need to see answered or unanswered prayers, and that is, first and foremost God will allow or grant whatever is needed or necessary for the glory of his name—FIRST! The second take away is a practical example: as one shares life and experiences [partying at the wedding feast] with all sorts of people namely new disciples [first time we read of the disciples coming together as one group to hangout with people from all varieties of life] the hope is that as we live a Chrstocentric life in front of the people we are trying to disciple, so that in that, they too will have the same results of the disciples in Cana – "...and his disciples put their faith in him." The third take away, is the working of Christ on humanity - in church today, we expect the outside to conform first, [ceremonial washing], but Jesus starts on the inside [wine], and the result is seen on the outside, but it doesn't always happen in the fashion or order that many 'religious' people would hope for.

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple (this was not the first temple, built by Solomon [1 Kings 6-7], nor the second temple, rebuilt by the Jews returning from their Babylonian captivity [Ezra 6:15]. It was the third temple, known as “Herod’s Temple.” This temple was built by Herod, not so much to facilitate Israel’s worship, but as an attempt to bribe the religious elite among the Jews to be loyal to Herod who was only partially Jewish, yet Herod was never fully accepted by the Jews as their king. To overcome this he married Mariamne, a Maccabbean princess and built the Jews a new temple in attempt to gain favor with the people. This is the third time we read of Jesus at this temple – the first being in Luke 2:21-38 when he was brought to the temple as an infant, and the second is when Jesus taught at the temple as a child in Luke 2:41-51. A worthy note is that in this second passage in Luke, Jesus makes his first claim about his ‘Father’s work/house’ and the condition was a place of prayer, much different than the current condition he now found it in.) courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle (The Jewish Religious leaders of the day used to pray, “God, thank you for your generosity for you have not made me a gentile, nor have you made me a woman.” This prayer alone shows the disregard that the religious authority had for women and gentiles, part of God’s creation, which is obviously not God’s view: On Gentiles— we find that according to the Abrahamic Covenant the ‘nations’ would be blessed through Israel not taken advantage of. On Women—all we have to do is look at how Jesus treated women and the very creation of Eve to see how God viewed women. What does this have to do with the temple courts? The outer court was the farthest women were allowed to go, and the gentile court was outside of that, yet these were places of worship for women and gentiles, so in setting up shop in these courts, the Jewish elite were (1) showing contempt for God’s creation by replacing the place for women and gentiles with their 'equal' - sheep and cattle, (2) contempt to his very covenant with Abraham as Israel being a blessing and light to the rest of the world, (3) and a belief that they were superior to all, which is pride, the idolatry of self, and when this is the key motivation, injustice is always the outcome!); he scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables (Jesus drove out the money changers because they were taking advantage of those poor who had to travel to get there and followed the law on buying their offering upon arrival...but now the price was elevated due to religious greed). 16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a market!" (One of the important issues is abuse of the poor. Doves were the least expensive sacrifice, and it seems that they were targeting the poor by exchanging their money at a profitable rate and then perhaps marking up the cost of the sacrifice. We know based off of Old Testament literature that God’s heart broke for the poor, the oppressed, and those who suffered at the hands of injustice, we know God raged when they poor, the oppressed, and broken suffered injustice at the hands of his people, much less at a place that was seen as a place where they came to seek or join with God.) 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me (Psalm 69:9)." 18 The Jews then responded to him, "What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"

19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days (The Synoptic gospels refer to this as the sign of Jonah – Matthew 12:39.40 & Luke 11:29-32)."
20 They replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days (Obviously the Pharisees were mathematical geniuses, but not so good on the prophetic stuff)?" 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body (Jesus is speaking about the temple of his body. According to John, whom he claims, according to Jesus, the temple is not the building, it is Jesus’ resurrected body. Compare this with what Jesus says in John 4:21-23, and John says in Revelation 21:22 [there won’t be a temple in the New Jerusalem; the Lord and the Lamb are the temple]. John basically is stating that the place where humanity goes in order to meet God, is Jesus—John 1:18 and 14:6) 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name (Their trust in him was not that they put their faith in Jesus as the Messianic Son of God, but rather like we see in our healing/prosperity Gospel. We love him for what he can do for us, not for who he is and who I become in and through Him. We can confidently state this based off of the following two verses. On top of that, we read nowhere in scripture where the miracles Jesus did brought lasting change – with possible exceptions being the woman and the issue of blood, and Lazarus, but even using Lazarus as an example of this is a stretch, as it seems they already believed in him prior to this.). 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need human testimony about them, for he knew what was in them.