Today I read John 2 which contains the miracle of Jesus turning water to wine for the marriage feast. I really like this miracle because it shows the love Jesus had for His mother. Sometimes, it is possible to misinterpret some of the things Jesus says during His ministry as being heartless and uncaring towards His earthly family. There is a story that I believe all 3 Gospels have where He is teaching a multitude and His mother and siblings show up and are not able to get through so they send word to Him that they are trying to see Him. Instead of acknowleding them, He says that whoever doeth the will of His Father is His mother and His brethren, and that's all we hear about it. We never hear if He actually goes and spends time with them or what. From this context it would be very easy to infer that He doesn't care about His mother and siblings.
This chapter and the story of Him turning water to wine disproves that though. As the story goes, Jesus is at a feast for a wedding and they run out of wine. Mary, Jesus' mother, comes to Him with the dilemma. I have often wondered why she comes to Jesus and asks Him for help. There are many theories out there, everything from this wedding is for Jesus Himself, to it's for one of His family members, to she knows He is the son of God and can help out. I really don't know the reason that she comes to Him when the wine runs out and it really does not matter too much in my opinion. What does matter is the fact that she comes to Him and His response. Now, the King James Version of the Bible still makes it sound very harsh. But the Joseph Smith Translation fixes it so that it becomes a very tender and loving conversation between the Savior and His mother. The JST reads, "Woman, what wilt thou have me do for thee? That will I do; for mine hour is not yet come."
So instead of the rebuke that the regular verse makes it out to be, Jesus is showing His compassion and love for His mother by doing what she asks of Him despite the fact that His ministry had not yet begun. It can be assumed from this verse and the way the JST version reads, that Jesus was not performing miracles until His ministry began. And yet, for the love of His mother, He performed a miracle of turning water to wine for her. He has the servants fill up the water pots with water and then draw out a cup for the governor of the feast. The servants do so and take it to the governor who declares it better than the wine that they had drunk at the beginning of the feast, which was contrary to popular custom at the time.
On a side note, it is interesting to me that some critics of the Latter-day Saint church use this story as a reference against us, citing that Jesus drank wine, so why can't we. First and foremost, no where in this story does it actually state that Jesus was drinking anything, let alone wine. So that argument does not hold any weight. Now it is true however that Jesus provided wine for others to drink and so He was certainly condoning the drinking of wine, but He was doing it for love of His mother, not because He wanted people drinking wine. Third, and this is actually the more popular of all the arguments, this was in a day way before purification of water was really being done and it was not always sanitary for them to drink water. There is also the argument that in the scriptures when they say wine they are talking about grape juice that is NOT fermented, and that may be true in other places, but you can rest assured that in this story at least, they are drinking alcohol, but again, nowhere does it say that Jesus did any drinking of said alcohol.
John is also the only one to include the story of the first cleansing of the temple. Jesus, while in Jerusalem, sees how the front part of the temple has become a house of merchandise by those selling sacrificial animals to be used inside the temple. This is not supposed to be and so Jesus makes Himself a whip and proceeds to overthrow the tables and chase out the animals and people. While doing this He refers to the temple as His Father's house. This is significant because 3 years later when He does it again, He refers to it as His house. We can assume that Jesus has not yet started His ministry and so at this point is just Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and Heavenly Father, but after He begins His ministry, He is the Savior, the promised Messiah.
While cleansing the temple, He also states for the first time that if the temple is destroyed, He will raise it up again in just 3 days. The people mock Him stating that the temple took 46 years to build, how can He possibly raise it again in just 3 days? Of course He is referring to the resurrection of His body as John points out, but this is significant because when they condemn Him to death in 3 years, despite the fact that the witnesses don't agree, this is the charge they level against Him, that He said the temple would be rebuilt in 3 days.
This is the beginning of the miracles and His teachings. His fame is already spreading and people are starting to take notice of Him and seeking Him out. As I stated above, I really like this chapter as it shows the softer side of the Messiah and the very real love He had for His mother. He certainly fulfilled the commandment to honor her. Until tomorrow.
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