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Gospel of John

John 2

The First Miracle

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Before you Read

John 2 begins with a wedding celebration in Cana, where Jesus performs His first recorded sign by turning water into wine. The chapter then moves to Jerusalem, where He clears the temple and speaks about His body as the true temple. As you read, notice how both scenes reveal who Jesus is: the One who brings abundance, restores what has been misused, and points beyond outward signs to something deeper about God's presence.

John Chapter 2Barry Hays
00:00 / 03:20

Read John 2

The Wedding at Cana


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.



Jesus Cleanses the Temple

(Matthew 21:12–17; Mark 11:15–19; Luke 19:45–48)


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.


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.




Footnotes:
2:6 Greek two or three metretae; that is, approximately 20.8 to 31.2 gallons (78.8 to 118.1 liters)
2:14 Literally the temple; also in verse 15
2:17 Psalm 69:9

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A Word Worth Knowing 

Sign — σημεῖον (Sēmeion)


The Greek word sēmeion means “sign.” In John’s Gospel, a miracle is not simply something amazing that Jesus does. It is meant to point beyond itself and reveal something about who He is.


At the wedding in Cana, Jesus turns water into wine. John calls this “the first of His signs” because the miracle reveals Jesus’ glory and leads His disciples to believe in Him.


Throughout John’s Gospel, these signs are like markers along the road. They invite the reader to look past the extraordinary event and ask what it is showing us about Jesus.


So when John calls the miracle at Cana a sign, he is telling us to pay attention. The water becoming wine is not only about what Jesus did—it is pointing us toward who Jesus is.

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Look for This as You Read

The first sign—water turned to wine.


Jesus’ authority in word and action.


The contrast between old and new.


How Jesus reveals His glory.


The disciples’ growing belief.

Take This With You

Reflection:


What does Jesus’ first sign in this chapter reveal to you about who He is and how He responds to people’s needs?

     Step Into Their World

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A wedding was much bigger than a one-day celebration

In Jesus’ world, a wedding feast could continue for several days. Hospitality was a serious responsibility, and the bridegroom’s family was expected to provide generously for everyone who had come to celebrate.


That helps us understand why running out of wine at Cana was more than an inconvenient catering problem. For the family hosting the feast, it would have been a deeply embarrassing failure of hospitality.


John also tells us that six large stone water jars were nearby. These were used for Jewish purification practices. Jesus tells the servants to fill those jars with water—and the water becomes wine.


Knowing their purpose makes the sign even more striking. Jesus does not simply rescue a wedding celebration from embarrassment. John places this first sign in the middle of familiar Jewish practices and uses it to begin revealing that something new is happening through Jesus.

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Berean Standard Bible (BSB) printed 2016, 2020, 2022, 2025 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible.  Produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, unfoldingWord,  Bible Aquifer, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation  Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public  domain. Free downloads and unlimited usage available. See also the Berean Literal Bible and Berean Interlinear Bible.

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