John Chapter 2: The Miracle at Cana and the Temple - Biblical Analysis, Exercises of Religious Studies

Download John Chapter 2: The Miracle at Cana and the Temple - Biblical Analysis and more Exercises Religious Studies in PDF only on Docsity! John Chapter 2 The beginning of the Book of Signs BACKGROUND • Wedding festivities usually lasted a week, and may have depended in part in the donations from guests for wine.1 • The expression Jesus responds with to his Mother in v. 4 literally means, “what to me and to you”. It is found in various places in the OT (e.g. Hos 14:8) and was not necessarily rude, meaning in cases like this “that is your business; how am I involved?” Neither was it rude in Jesus’ day to address one’s mother as “woman.” • According to Josephus, the prices for sacrificial animals in the Temple were inflated to 3-4 times normal prices. • Fun fact: Since the improvements to the Temple are said to have taken 46 years to build (v. 20), and is known to have been begun by Herod in 19 B.C., the cleansing of the Temple must have taken place in 28 A.D.2 WARM-UP QUESTIONS 1. When does the wedding at Cana occur (see v. 1)? “The opening events of the gospel therefore are contained within one week almost every day of which is noticed; it culminates in the manifestation of Christ’s glory.”2 2. What time does Jesus refer to in v. 4? See 12:23, 27. 3. What effect did the miracle at Cana have on Jesus’ disciples? What did they think about Jesus before? (See 1:41.) DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 4. According to Helyer3, John’s Gospel, in narrating Jesus’ miracle of changing water to wine, mentions that the water was stored in six large jars, each holding some twenty to thirty gallons of water. These stone water jars – stone was less likely to convey impurity than clay – were probably employed for the ritual washing of the guests’ hands and perhaps for various vessels used in the preparation of food (Jn 2:6). a) Read Mk 7:1-11. What was Jesus’ perspective on ritual washing? Was Jesus’ view a new one? (Note that the size of the Law grew dramatically from Isaiah’s time to Jesus’.) b) John describes eight major “signs” of Jesus that were more than simple demonstrations of power and were meant to point the way, or 1 Raymond Brown, The Anchor Bible Commentary on John. 2 Jerusalem Bible footnote. 3 Larry R. Helyer, Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period (IVP:Downer’s Grove) 2002, p. 473.