John 2 brings us into the messianic, divine ministry of Jesus as he preforms his first miracle in turning water into wine. Something that is often forgotten or even misunderstood is that, this wasn’t a cup or glass of water but instead it was a whole 20-30 gallons! Imagine yourself there at the wedding at Cana in Galilee. There is all of this water there and the Son of God turns it all into wine! How neat would that be?

It is important to note that John 2 is split up into two sections (verses 1-12) (verses 13-25). The transformation of water into wine is told in the first section while the story of Jesus cleansing the temple is told in the second half.  This second section beings during the Passover celebration which commemorates the Hebrew people and their departure of Egypt and back into the Promise land which is told in the book of Exodus. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus allude back to the book of Isaiah where it is written “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Mark 11:17) (Isaiah 56:7). This sentence uttered by Jesus in the synoptic gospels tells us his intent for the cleansing of the temple. Tasker writes “the old system of worship had to be destroyed only that a new one might take its place” (Tasker, 63). Jesus also said that had “not come to abolish the law but to fulfil them” (Matthew 5:17). In this moment in John 2 of Jesus cleansing the Temple, we can see Jesus’s true understanding of His Father and his will. When the Jewish people asked for a sign to prove his authority. “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” (John 2:19). Jesus is alluding to of course his death and resurrection that would happen in the near future.

The divine power and authority that Jesus reveled in John 2 is still something that can touch our lives today if we let it.