John 2

Introduction

John 2 contains two events that John places at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, both functioning as programmatic revelations of who Jesus is: the wedding at Cana (vv. 1–11) and the cleansing of the temple (vv. 12–22). In the Synoptic Gospels, the temple cleansing comes near the end of Jesus' ministry during Passion Week. John's placement of it here — early, bold, and unprovoked — is a theological statement: from the very start, Jesus has come to transform Israel's religious life from the inside out.

Both events involve replacement and revelation. At Cana, stone purification jars are filled not with water for washing but with wine for feasting — the forms of religious observance are superseded by abundance. At the temple, the commercial apparatus serving the sacrificial system is swept out, and Jesus points to a new temple: his own body. In both cases, the disciples understand later, not in the moment (John 2:17, John 2:22). The chapter ends with an important qualification: many believed because of signs, but Jesus "did not entrust himself to them" — because genuine faith must rest not on miraculous spectacle but on who Jesus truly is.

The Wedding at Cana (vv. 1–11)

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 ran out, Jesus' mother said to Him, "They have no more wine."

⁴ "Woman, what is that to you and to Me?" Jesus replied. "My hour has not yet come."

⁵ His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you."

⁶ Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus told the servants, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim. ⁸ "Now draw some out," He said, "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 know where it was from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, "Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the guests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!"

¹¹ Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

¹ On the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there. ² Jesus also had been invited to the wedding, along with his disciples. ³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."

⁴ Jesus said to her, "Woman, what is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come."

⁵ His mother said to the servants, "Whatever he tells you, do it."

⁶ Now six stone water jars were standing there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them to the brim. ⁸ Then he said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the master of the feast." So they took it. ⁹ When the master of the feast tasted the water that had become wine — and he did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew — the master of the feast called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, "Everyone puts out the good wine first, and the inferior wine when people have had their fill. But you have kept the good wine until now."

¹¹ Jesus did this, the beginning of his signs, at Cana of Galilee, and he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Notes

"The third day" (τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ) is John's way of counting from the events of chapter 1 — the third day after Jesus called Philip and Nathanael. But many readers hear a deeper resonance: the resurrection will happen "on the third day," and John frequently embeds such typological echoes.

Jesus' response to his mother — "Woman, what is that to you and to me?" — is not rude but formal and distancing. The address γύναι, "Woman," is respectful (it was how one would address a queen), but it creates a deliberate distance. The phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί — literally "what to me and to you?" — is a Semitic idiom that means roughly "our concerns are different here" or "this is not our problem to address." Jesus is not refusing his mother but signaling that his actions are governed by a higher timetable.

The key phrase is ἡ ὥρα μου — "my hour." The ὥρα, "hour") is one of John's most loaded theological terms. It refers to the hour of Jesus' death and glorification — the cross and resurrection. This phrase recurs throughout the Gospel: "his hour had not yet come" (John 7:30, John 8:20), until finally "the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified" (John 12:23). Everything Jesus does before that hour is anticipatory. By acting at Cana despite saying his hour has not come, Jesus performs a proleptic sign — an advance glimpse of the glory that will be fully revealed at the cross.

The six stone jars were used for Jewish καθαρισμός, "purification/cleansing" — ritual handwashing before meals and religious ceremonies. Their transformation from vessels of ritual water into containers of superabundant wine is a controlled symbol: Jesus does not abolish the forms of Jewish piety but fills them to overflowing with something new. The quantity — 120 to 180 gallons of premium wine — is extravagant, a feature that should not be missed. This is the abundance of the messianic age.

The narrator's summary in v. 11 uses two key Johannine terms: ἐφανέρωσεν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ — "he revealed/manifested his glory." φανερόω, "to make visible, to bring to light," is a key word in John (appearing 9 times). δόξα, "glory," connects back to John 1:14: "We have seen his glory." And σημεῖον, "sign" — this is John's characteristic word for Jesus' miracles. Unlike the Synoptics' δύναμις ("powerful works"), σημεῖον emphasizes the pointing function: a sign is something that points beyond itself to a deeper reality.

The Cleansing of the Temple (vv. 12–22)

¹² After this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples, and they stayed there a few days.

¹³ When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵ So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those selling doves He said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father's house into a marketplace!"

¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for Your house will consume Me."

¹⁸ On account of this, the Jews demanded, "What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?"

¹⁹ Jesus answered, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again."

²⁰ "This temple took forty-six years to build," the Jews replied, "and You are going to raise it up in three days?"

²¹ But Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body. ²² After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

¹³ The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple he found those selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting there. ¹⁵ And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple — both the sheep and the oxen — and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ And to those who sold doves he said, "Take these things away from here; do not make my Father's house a house of trade."

¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will devour me."

¹⁸ So the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?"

¹⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

²⁰ The Jews said, "This temple was built in forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?"

²¹ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. ²² So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Notes

John's placement of the temple cleansing at the beginning of the ministry (compared to the Synoptics' Passion Week location) reflects his theological structure. Some scholars propose Jesus cleansed the temple twice; others see this as John's characteristic rearrangement for theological purposes. What is certain is that John uses the event to introduce themes that will dominate the Gospel: the replacement of Jewish religious institutions, the "hour," the disciples' post-resurrection understanding, and the temple-body typology.

The word for Jesus' whip — φραγέλλιον — is a Latin loanword (flagellum), which adds a note of Roman authority to the act. The distinction between ἱερόν and ναός in these verses is theologically significant: ἱερόν is the whole temple complex (courts and all), while ναός is the inner sanctuary, the dwelling place of God. Jesus drives the traders from the ἱερόν (vv. 14–15) but in v. 19 speaks about the ναός of his body — the place where God truly dwells.

His accusation in v. 16 — "a house of trade/marketplace" (οἶκον ἐμπορίου) — is milder than the Synoptic "den of robbers." John's Jesus does not charge extortion; he charges category confusion. The temple courts are meant for prayer and worship; turning them into a commercial space is a category error about what the house of the Father is for.

The disciples' memory of Psalm 69:9 — "Zeal for your house will consume/devour me" — uses καταφάγεταί, a future tense in the psalm. The disciples hear it as a word about Jesus, but the future tense carries ominous weight: this zeal will consume him — pointing toward the cross.

The "destroy this temple" saying (v. 19) is the most contested statement in the chapter. At Jesus' trial, it is cited as evidence against him (Matthew 26:61), suggesting his opponents heard it as a threat to demolish the building. But John immediately provides the interpretive key: ἔλεγεν περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ — he was speaking about the ναός of his body. The resurrection is the raising of the true temple. Jesus' body, not Herod's building, is where God dwells in the fullest sense.

Belief Based on Signs, and Jesus' Discernment (vv. 23–25)

²³ While He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the signs He was doing and believed in His name. ²⁴ But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. ²⁴ But Jesus himself did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, ²⁵ and because he had no need that anyone should testify about a person, for he himself knew what was in a person.

Notes

This brief closing section functions as a hinge between the temple cleansing and the Nicodemus episode. Many people "believed in his name" (ἐπίστευσαν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ) on the basis of seeing signs — but this is not the same as the disciples' belief in v. 11, which followed from recognizing the sign's meaning. Sign-based belief is a beginning, but it is fragile.

The wordplay in v. 24 is notable in Greek: "many believed (ἐπίστευσαν) in him, but Jesus did not believe/entrust (ἐπίστευεν) himself to them." The same verb πιστεύω governs both clauses. Their belief was real but incomplete; his withholding of trust was not cynicism but knowledge.

γινώσκειν — "to know" — appears twice: "he knew all people" and "he knew what was in a person." This is divine, penetrating knowledge. John will develop this omniscience of Jesus throughout the Gospel: he knows Nathanael under the fig tree, knows the Samaritan woman's history, knows Lazarus before being told he is dead. The contrast with Nicodemus is immediate: a teacher of Israel "knows" the signs point to God, but does not know what Jesus means by being born ἄνωθεν.