| On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; | |
| and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. | |
| When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, "They have no wine." | |
| And Jesus *said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come." | |
| His mother *said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." | |
| Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. | |
| Jesus *said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. | |
| And He *said to them, "Draw {some} out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it {to him.} | |
| 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, | |
| 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." | |
| This beginning of {His} signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. | |
| After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and {His} brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days. | |
| The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. | |
| And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated {at their tables.} | |
| 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; | |
| and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business." | |
| His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME." | |
| The Jews then said to Him, "What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?" | |
| Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." | |
| The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" | |
| But He was speaking of the temple of His body. | |
| 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. | |
| Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. | |
| But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, | |
| and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. |
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1 comment:
more things that have struck me when studying the Gospel with William Barclay's commentary. All info is paraphrased from the commentary unless stated otherwise.
Wedding at Cana
1.Mary and Jesus must have known the wedding couple. It would have been a supreme embarrassment for the couple if they were to run out of wine at the party.
2. "What have I to do with you." This raises the hackles of many people. There are two ways in which this phrase was used at the time. The first is the when it is used in anger it was meant as a rebuke. The second way, when spoken gently means that there is a misunderstanding. I find it highly doubtful that Jesus would talk to his mother in an angry tone. I agree with Barclay when he says that Jesus is simply telling Mary not to worry and that he will take care of things in his own way.
3. The use of the word "woman" is misleading and again raises the hackles of some. The greek is gunai and is the same form Jesus used while on the cross when he addresses Mary and her in the care of John.
4. Six Stone Jars. The jars used for ritual washing were large. They could hold between 20 and 30 gallons of wine. 180 gallons of wine for a wedding. Holy Cow. Spiritual side of this. God's grace is inexhaustible. There is an overabundance of it.
Cleansing of the Temple
1. Why was Jesus angry? Social injustice of fleecing the poorer pilgrims as they came to the Temple for their Passover Obligation. The money changers made an exorbitant profit on changing Roman coins to coins that could be used only in the Temple.
2. Social injustice at the cost of unblemished animals for sale in the Temple. A pilgrim could bring in their own animal, but if it had any problems with it, they would not be able to use it for the sacrifice AND would have to purchase one in the Temple. At a very high opportunity cost of course!
Why did Jesus Act this way?
1. God's house was being desecrated by the shameless profiteering.
2. Jesus was showing how the cult of ritualistic animal sacrifice was irrelevant.
3. All of the activity of money changing and sale of animals took place in the Court of the Gentiles. How could a Gentile who was interested in the one God come to worship, pray, and touch God with all the racket and distraction. What kind of example was this for those interested in Judaism?
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