The Gospel of John for Youth
Commentary by Pastor Ron
Beckham
John Chapter
2
(Words in red in the
Scriptures are the words of Jesus)
Verse 1.
"On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and
the mother of Jesus was there."
Jesus attends all weddings - God invented marriage and He loves the happiness
people can find in marriage. This was at a town of northern Galilee called Cana.
Jesus' mother Mary was at the wedding.
Verse 2. "and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the
wedding."
Jesus should be invited (asked in prayer) to be at all weddings, just as He
was invited to this one. His disciples were also asked to be there. We are
blessed when God and His people are in our lives.
Verse 3. "When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him,
‘They have no wine.’"
Jesus' mother was (is) a very good woman, and she did what we should do when
someone needs help. She asked God to help them (Jesus is God).
Verse 4. "And Jesus said to her, ‘
Woman,
what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.’"
Jesus answered His mother. It was not yet time for the doing of His miracles
(wonders), though the time for them was very soon. "Woman" was a term
of respect and He did respect His mother.
Verse 5. "His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you,
do it.’"
Mary knew Jesus loved her and He responded to her requests. He was likely to
do this simply out of love, and she said to the servants, "Get ready and do
whatever He says."
Verse 6. "Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish
custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each."
It was a Jewish custom to wash in a certain way before meals. They kept large
pots of pure water for that purpose. There were six of these "waterpots"
in that house.
Verse 7. "Jesus said to them, ‘
Fill
the waterpots with water.’
So they filled them up to the brim."
Mary had told the servants to do what Jesus said (verse 5), and when Jesus
told them to fill up the water pots, they did it.
Verse 8. "And He said to them, ‘
Draw
some out now and take it to the headwaiter.’ So they took it to Him."
To us, this might sound like a "magic trick", but there is no
trickery here, for an actual miracle happened. When the servants poured out some
of the water, it had turned to wine (see verse 9).
Verse 9.
"When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know
where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the
headwaiter called the bridegroom,"
The waiter in charge of the wedding was surprised, and called to the
bridegroom. He thought they had run out of wine, but the servants knew the truth
- Jesus had turned the water into wine. It was Jesus' first public miracle.
Verse 10.
"and said to him, ‘Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people
have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good
wine until now.’"
The man in charge of the wedding (the headwaiter) was talking to the
bridegroom (the man who was getting married), and was asking him: Where did this
very good wine come from?
Verse 11.
"This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him."
This first miracle of Jesus was done at a wedding in the little town of Cana,
on the north of the Sea (lake) of Galilee. His disciples (students) saw this
miracle and were helped by it to believe in Him.
Verse 12.
"After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and
His disciples; and they stayed there a few days."
Jesus, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples (students) left the town
of Cana, and walked south to the city of Capernaum, along the coast of the Sea
of Galilee.
Verse 13.
"The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem."
There were seven Feasts of the Jews, and "Passover" (the Feast of
Unleavened Bread) was one of them. This Feast was to last for a week and Jesus
went to Jerusalem for the Passover.
Verse 14.
"And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and
the money changers seated at their tables."
The temple in Jerusalem was a building where people in Israel went to worship
God. Men were selling animals that were to be used as sacrifices (substitutes)
for sin. Other men (money changers) were cheating people by charging too much
money for the "temple shekels" (a special kind of money) used to buy
the animals.
Verse 15.
"And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the
sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and
overturned their tables;"
Jesus saw the money changers cheat the people (verse 14). As He stood there,
He made a sort of whip out of ropes or strings. He started swinging it at the
cheaters and drove them out of the temple. Jesus threw the money and the tables
onto the floor. God does not want people to be cheaters and take advantage of
others.
Verse 16. "and to
those who were selling the doves He said, ‘
Take
these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business.’"
We should not be in God's house for money. When we are in God's house (a
church or a temple), we are there to love God and learn about Him. The money
changers (Verses 15 & 16) had turned God's house into some kind of
"business" or "store." Jesus told them to "stop"
doing that.
Verse 17.
"His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house will consume
Me.’"
This verse is a quote of Psalm 69:9, which was written by David the shepherd
boy who became a king. Jesus’ disciples (students) remembered that verse, and
were afraid that Jesus would be hurt because of what He had done in the temple
(see verse 15).
Verse 18.
"So the Jews then said to Him, ‘What sign do You show us as Your authority for
doing these things?’"
They did not need to see a "sign" (miracle). If they belonged to
God, they would have known Jesus is the Son of God. People that demand things
from God, often do not know Him.
Verse 19. "Jesus
answered them
,
‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
This is His answer to them, when they asked for a miracle. As Jesus said
this, He (and the "Jews" – verse 18), were standing in a building
called the "temple". They would not understand these words (see next
verse).
Verse 20. "The Jews then said,
‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three
days?"
God is always "speaking" to us, in one way or another. Often we do
not hear Him right, because we have not learned to "listen" with our
hearts. The building they were standing in was the "temple", which
took 46-years to build, but Jesus was talking of something else (see verse 21).
Verse 21.
"But He was speaking of the temple of His body."
The Jews (see verse 20) thought was Jesus talking about a building made with
human hands, but He actually was speaking of His own body, when He said
"destroy this temple and in 3-days I will raise it up" (verse 19).
Jesus would die and then raise Himself from death, which is a much greater
miracle than rebuilding a building.
Verse 22. "So when He was raised
from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the
Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken."
Jesus’ disciples were standing there while Jesus was talking, but did not
understand anymore than the people Jesus was talking to. But later, when Jesus
was raised from the dead, they remembered His words, and believed in the
Bible and in what He had said.
Verse 23.
"Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed
in His name, observing His signs which He was doing."
Jesus was in Jerusalem during the special feast known as the Passover (Feast
of Unleavened Bread), and He was doing many miracles (healing people from every
kind of sickness). Many believed in Him, because He did the miracles.
Verse 24.
"But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all
men,"
Jesus knew their hearts, just as He knows yours and mine, and He saw that
many only believed because they saw the miracles He did. We are to follow Jesus,
not just because He might do something for us, but because we LOVE Him.
Verse 25. "and
because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He
Himself
knew what was in man."
Jesus did not need anyone to tell Him about
people, for He knew about everyone around Him. And He knows about you. He knows
it when you love Him, and He will watch out for you, all of your life and for
all eternity.
Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
http://www.fridaystudy.org
Ron@fridaystudy.org
