At this point we will begin to look at Jesus’ public ministry in a somewhat loose chronological order, stopping to look at some of the more interesting or important points in some detail. I’ll not try to follow Him and record every event, but rather will concentrate on the larger passages found in red-letter editions. I’m most interested in the words of Jesus, as opposed to the record of events; the earliest of which are found in John’s Gospel. Following His baptism by John and temptation by Satan we find Jesus in Bethany (John 1:28) where His first three disciples join Him (John 1:35-42). The first disciples were Andrew and his brother Simon. The third disciple is not named, but believed to be John, as he never called himself by name in his Gospel. Then Jesus travels to Galilee where He finds two more disciples, Philip and Nathanael (John 1:43-51).
The next day Jesus attends a marriage feast in Cana (John 2:1-11). We’ll stop and look at this in a little detail. First, this was not a reception dinner following a wedding ceremony, like you might see today. This was a marriage feast that, depending on the family’s ability, could last up to a week. Jesus’ mother was there and His disciples (probably only the five that have been named thus far). John’s narrative is interesting. In verse 3 they run out of wine and Jesus’ mother tells Him, “They have no wine.”
In verse 4 Jesus answers, “What does this have to do with Me or you, woman? My time has not yet come.” It must be understood that “woman” here is from gune, a term of endearment and respect. The reference to “My time” has to do with Him being revealed as the Messiah and sacrificial Lamb that was to be crucified (compare John 7:6). What He seems to be saying to her is that neither of them had any obligation to see to it that there was more wine, and His time to be fully revealed was not yet. He must have understood that she wanted Him to miraculously supply the needed wine. And His mother’s next statement shows that she understood from His gentle response that He was ready to acquiesce to her implied request. This must be true as we see her statement to the servants in verse 5, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
What follows is Jesus’ first public miracle (see verse 11). I know that the last lesson was on the purpose of miracles in Jesus’ public ministry. And just so there is no misunderstanding, in the chronology of events, this is the first. It also tells us the accounts found in the apocryphal books describing His childhood miracles are probably false. To reinforce the statement above about marriage feasts lasting as long as a week, Jesus told the servants to bring six water pots that held two or three “firkins” apiece. A firkin is about 9 gallons. Three firkins would be 27 gallons, and six water pots that size would be about 162 gallons total. We would assume that Jesus knew this was the amount needed to supply the marriage feast to its conclusion.
The other notable aspect of this event is found in verse 10, “Everyone serves his best wine at the beginning, then when people have partaken of it freely, he serves that which is not as good; but you have kept the best wine until now!” There are two things here we should look at. First, “wine” is oinos. The mention of “oinos” bursting the wineskins (Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37) implies fermentation, leading to alcoholic content. There are some who go to great lengths to try to explain why this “wine” had no alcohol. However, serving non-alcoholic grape juice at marriage feasts was certainly not customary.
In fact it is difficult to find any definitive reference to a non-alcoholic wine. The sweet wine (gleukos) of Acts 2:13 is obviously intoxicating. The “strong drink” (sikera) of Luke 1:15 is joined with “wine” (oinos), both implied to be alcoholic. Even the reference to “the fruit of the vine” by Jesus in Matthew 26:29 (gennema, fruit, found with ampelos, vine, or literally, produce from the vine) does not draw a distinction between alcoholic and non-alcoholic. In classical Greek the word used for non-alcoholic grape juice is trux, a word not found in the Scriptures in either the Old or New Testament. So, first let’s establish that Jesus actually turned the water into alcoholic wine.
The other thing I noticed was that the wine was of a better quality than what had been previously served at this feast. I was reminded of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 26:29 when He tells the disciples that He would “not drink again of this fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” The word “new” here is from kainos, not new in time or recent, but new in form or quality. Here Jesus is saying the wine we’ll drink together in the eternal kingdom will be much better than this. So, let me offer this observation, one that can be applied to a great number of circumstances and events in the Scriptures: what the grace and mercy of God supplies will always be superior to anything the efforts of man can produce.
Then John 2:12 tells us Jesus went down to Capernaum (“down” because it is 700 ft. lower in elevation than Cana and on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee), where He stayed with “His mother, His brethren, and His disciples for several days.” As we go through this chronology, we’ll see Jesus’ mother, brothers and sisters mentioned several times and will have more to say about them then.
The next significant event is Jesus’ first Passover of His public ministry. John 2:13 says, “When it was time for the Jew’s Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.” It is interesting to note that John calls it “the Jew’s Passover” (compare John 6:4, 11:55). In the Old Testament it was called “the Lord’s Passover” (Exodus 12:11, 27; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 28:16). This is an example of how the commandments of God are nullified and replaced by the traditions of men. In the Old Testament Passover was a solemn observance of God’s deliverance, but now it was an empty ritual that had become a commercial enterprise.
Verses 14-17 have the account of Jesus cleansing the temple enclosure of those who sold animals and the moneychangers. During Passover week this was a lucrative opportunity. The priests sold licenses to the vendors and Josephus in his Antiquities tells us there were over 250,000 animals sacrificed during this week. Both the sellers of animals and the moneychangers were despised, as their extortions were well known. And as they took advantage of the thousands of pilgrims who came to participate, they were profaning the temple.
Verse 17 says as the disciples watched this scene, they remembered Psalm 69:9 that says, “Passion for your house has consumed me.” As we progress through the approximately 3 years of Jesus’ public ministry, we will see how Jesus used this passion to not only oppose the religious establishment, but also foment their hatred of Him to the point they wanted to kill Him.
The Jews responded to Jesus in verse 18 in a way that will become familiar, “What miracle can you show us as evidence that you have the authority to act like this?” You may remember a previous discussion in the lesson on Jesus’ childhood regarding what He knew and when He knew it. This is the earliest mention of Him understanding His eventual death and resurrection. “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” (Verse 19) Of course they didn’t understand what He was talking about, as evidenced by their response in verse 20. They knew it had taken Herod 46 years to tear down Zerubbabel’s temple and rebuild it and make it larger.