New Testament Commentary - John

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 2 Jesus turns water into wine in Cana—He attends the passover, cleanses the temple, foretells his death and resurrection, and performs miracles.
1 AND the ^athird day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
4 Jesus saith unto her, ^aWoman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the ^apurifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 11 This ^abeginning of ^bmiracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
Jesus' Marriage Now some have speculated that this was Jesus' own marrige, that he was the bridegroom. There is some logic used to support this. First the fact that it was of a major concern to Mary, the mother of Jesus that the wedding's wine had run out. Why was it her concern to deal with? Second Jesus was 'called' to the wedding feast after the order and tradition of the Jews. Third, all 'Rabbi masters' were of a tradition properly married rather than single men and Jesus following the ways of the Jews, now of the proper age would also need to have been married in order to correctly begin his ministry. Fourth, as a matter of eternal province, the highest order of the kingdom of heaven is but obtained by those who have entered into the marriage covenant. That Jesus was married cannot be gathered or proven from the New Testament scriptures. That this particular wedding was that of his own can not either be so determined. In one respect, the next almost oddly placed paragraph but adds to the speculation. The wedding feast was in Cana, the next town just a few miles from the small village of Nazareth. After the wedding feast, Jesus is stated to have 'removed' to Capernaum, and it would be called 'his own city' meaning that he lived there and from the beginning of his ministry. Thus one might further speculate that Jesus' move to Capernaum was possibly linked to the marriage, perhaps the dowry or dowered home of his wife. And that the following verse does not mention his wife in particular would also be but part of the Jewish tradition, for she would now be one with him and called after his name only. And that he spents but a 'few' days there is also seemingly particularly mentioned, perhaps in relation to the notion of the 'honeymoon' and that its duration was but for a few days prior to his departure to Jerusalem, where and when in fact he would formally begin his ministry. Now as to who the bride would have been, John's gospel adds fuel to that consideration when he but accounts for Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb and being the only one to be visited by the Lord even before he ascents to his Father 'and her Father'. Certainly Mary Magdalene was not the only woman of the troop who came to the tomb that morning as confirmed in the other gospels. But John speaks of the occasion only from Mary's particular personal perspective, purposefully removing all the other women from the event and making of it Mary's particular experience. But Luke's account of the seven devils being cast out of her but seems to dampen this notion (Luke 8:2).
12 ¶ After this he went down to Capernaum^a, he, and his mother, and his ^abrethren^b, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.	12^a he went down to Capernaum Capernaum is were Jesus lived from the beginning of his ministry (See the Bible Dictionary ~ Capernaum). It is called 'his own city' (Matthew 9:1 with Mark 2:1). As this is also the home of Peter, Andrew and Matthew, it comes a point as to whether of various events Christ is visiting one of their homes or is actually at his own abode. Being his primary residence, it is not without understanding that many of the Lord's miracles and ministry events do seem to center about Capernaum. 12^b his mother, and his brethren Now some religious scholars in protecting the concept of the 'Virgin Mary' forever a virgin, discount that Jesus had brothers and sisters, but it is well established that he did (Matthew 13:55; Matthew 27:56 (were the dead son out of respect for the dead is not here mentioned); Mark 6:3; Mark 15:40 & 47 (Again out of repect for the dead mentioning only the living children; Galatians 1:19). James in particular was the later Apostle James the Less or James the Just mentioned also in Acts 12:17, 15:13 and Galatians 2:9, as well as being the author of the book of James. But of a particular interest here is that Mary and her children, daughters assumed present but also not mentioned, do follow after Jesus the eldest son to his primary place of residence in Capernaum without mention of Joseph, who presumably is deceased by this juncture in time.
13 ¶ And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of ^amoney^a sitting:	14^a changers of money Now the legal currency of all the nations of the Empire were not acceptable in the temple. Only the 'Temple Coinage' (or half shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary Exodus 30:13) was acceptable. Thus travelers would come in with their various monies of the realm used in their daily transactions. Now the coin of the temple offering was that which was specifically minted of the Jews and was specifically used for the temple offering. It was not permitted that the temple offering be anything but the authorized 'coin of the temple'. Thus an exchange would be made. The temple attenders would 'buy' the temple coin at a 'surcharge service rate' and then be able to donate it back to the temple in their temple offerings. Those who would provide this exhange 'service' were the 'money changers', who with the sanction of and in conjunction with those of the temple, would make their high living by the charging of the usurious rates of exchange at the money tables in the temple.
Bookend Temple Cleansings Jesus' ministry begins and ends with his cleansings of the temple. In John, this is the first time the Savior has come to Jerusalem for the passover in the official capacity of fulfilling his ministry. One of the primary events of his attendance is the cleansing of the Temple. This event will be repeated at the end of his ministry at the last passover and last week of his life before the curcifixion. John's recorded verbalization at this first cleansing has Jesus in repect to being 'His Father's' representative, is that this was his 'Father's House'. But Luke and the other gospels record the Lord stating at the second cleansing, "My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves." (Luke 19:46; Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17).
15 And when he had made a ^ascourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The ^azeal of thine house hath ^beaten me up.
18 ¶ Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What ^asign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this ^atemple, and in three days I will ^braise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this ^atemple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
23 ¶ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the ^apassover, in the feast day, many believed in his ^bname, when they saw the ^cmiracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not ^acommit himself unto them, because he ^bknew ^call men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he ^aknew what was in ^bman.