变水为酒

第三天,在加利利的迦拿有人举办婚宴,耶稣的母亲在那里。 耶稣和门徒也被邀请去赴宴。 酒喝完了,耶稣的母亲就对祂说:“他们没有酒了。” 耶稣说:“妇人,这跟你我有什么相干[a]?我的时候还没有到。” 祂母亲对仆人说:“祂叫你们做什么,你们就做什么。” 那里有六口犹太人用来行洁净礼仪的石缸,每口可以盛约一百升水。

耶稣对仆人说:“把缸倒满水!”他们就往缸里倒水,一直满到缸口。 耶稣又说:“现在可以舀些出来,送给宴席总管。”他们就送了去。 那些仆人知道这酒是怎样来的,宴席总管却不知道。他尝过那水变的酒后,便把新郎叫来, 10 对他说:“人们都是先拿好酒款待客人,等客人喝够了,才把次等的拿出来,你却把好酒留到现在!” 11 这是耶稣第一次行神迹,是在加利利的迦拿行的,彰显了祂的荣耀,门徒都信了祂。

12 这事以后,耶稣和祂的母亲、弟弟并门徒一起去迦百农住了几天。

洁净圣殿

13 犹太人的逾越节快到了,耶稣便上耶路撒冷去。 14 祂看见圣殿区有人在卖牛羊和鸽子,还有人在兑换银币, 15 就用绳索做成鞭子把牛羊赶出去,倒掉钱商的银币,推翻他们的桌子, 16 又对卖鸽子的说:“把这些东西拿出去!不要把我父的殿当作市场。” 17 祂的门徒想起圣经上说:“我对你的殿充满炙热的爱。”

18 当时,犹太人质问祂:“你给我们显什么神迹来证明你有权这样做?”

19 耶稣回答说:“你们拆毁这座殿,我三天之内会把它重建起来。”

20 他们说:“这座殿用了四十六年才建成,你三天之内就要把它重建起来吗?” 21 其实耶稣说的殿是指自己的身体, 22 所以等到祂从死里复活以后,祂的门徒想起这句话,就相信了圣经和耶稣所传的道。

23 耶稣在耶路撒冷过逾越节期间,许多人看见祂行的神迹,就信了祂。 24 耶稣却不信任他们,因为祂洞悉万人。 25 不用别人告诉祂,祂也深知人的内心。

Footnotes

  1. 2:4 这跟你我有什么相干”或译“我与你有什么相干”。

The First Sign Worked by Jesus

Chapter 2

The Wedding Feast at Cana.[a] On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana[b] in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When the wine was exhausted, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus responded, “Woman,[c] what concern is this to us? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Now standing nearby there were six stone water jars, of the type used for Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus instructed the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When they had filled them to the brim, he ordered them, “Now draw some out and take it to the chief steward,” and they did so.

When the chief steward tasted the water that had become wine, he did not know where it came from, although the servants who had drawn the water knew. The chief steward called over the bridegroom 10 and said, “Everyone serves the choice wine first, and then an inferior vintage when the guests have been drinking for a while. However, you have saved the best wine until now.”[d]

11 Jesus performed this, the first of his signs,[e] at Cana in Galilee, thereby revealing his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this, he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brethren,[f] and his disciples, and they remained there for a few days.

Worship of the Father in Spirit and Truth[g]

The Mystery of the New Temple

Jesus Casts the Merchants Out of the Temple.[h]13 When the time of the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, as well as money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, including the sheep and the cattle. He also overturned the tables of the money changers, scattering their coins, 16 and to those who were selling the doves he ordered, “Take them out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” 17 His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 The Jews then challenged him, “What sign can you show us to justify your doing this?” 19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews responded, “This temple has taken forty-six years to build, and you are going to raise it up in three days!” 21 But the temple he was talking about was the temple of his body. 22 After he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

The Mystery of the New Covenant

23 Jesus in Jerusalem.[i]While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many people saw the signs he was performing and came to believe in his name. 24 However, Jesus would not entrust himself to them because he fully understood them all. 25 He did not need evidence from others about man, for he clearly understood men.

Footnotes

  1. John 2:1 The evangelist calls special attention to the presence of the Mother of Jesus. Her role is to call Jesus to the cross and then stand by him in his Passion (Jn 19:25-26).
  2. John 2:1 Cana was five miles northeast of Nazareth.
  3. John 2:4 Woman: a universal address from son to mother; it is used again in Jn 19:26, where its meaning becomes evident: Mary is the new Eve, mother of the living (Gen 3:15, 20). My hour has not yet come: the hour is that of Jesus’ glorification and return to the Father (see Jn 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1; 19:27). It is determined by the Father and cannot be anticipated. The miracle worked at Mary’s intercession is a prophetic symbol of it.
  4. John 2:10 The first wine represents the first Covenant, the second better wine represents the New Covenant. Jesus is prefiguring the Messianic banquet.
  5. John 2:11 Signs: a term used by John to indicate Jesus’ miracles, emphasizing the significance rather than the marvelous character of the event (see Jn 4:54; 6:14; 9:16; 11:47). These signs reveal Jesus’ glory (Jn 1:14, Isa 35:1-2; Joel 4:18; Am 9:13).
  6. John 2:12 Brethren: that is, his close relatives. See notes on Mt 12:46-50 and 12:47.
  7. John 2:13 The author of the fourth Gospel brings us from one Jewish feast to another; he seems to want to make them the points of reference with which to link the discourses of Jesus.
    The incidents that follow are therefore connected with the feast of Passover. They attest that Jesus has come to establish a new and spiritual worship that is no longer reserved to a single people or to a place.
  8. John 2:13 Passover is the feast of Unleavened Bread, a sign of renewal (see Ex 12:15). Jesus knows, better than the Prophets (Isa 1:11; Jer 7:4; Am 5:21), that his Father has nothing to do with this traffic in sacrifices and offerings, if the interior gift of the heart is lacking.
    In fact, in the evangelist’s view, this temple of stone has already lost its function, and the true dwelling of the Father among human beings will be the humanity of the risen Jesus, who is the focal point of all worship. The construction of the new temple in Jerusalem had been begun by Herod the Great in 20–19 B.C. According to v. 20, then, we are in the year A.D. 27–28.
  9. John 2:23 To be filled with wonder at what Jesus can do, as was Nicodemus, is not yet faith. Faith is acceptance of the testimony of Jesus about God and about the plan of Jesus. Faith is another life, a transformed existence. The flesh—i.e., we with our material and intellectual possibilities—does not have the power to transform our life.
    This transformation comes like the wind—mysterious and surprising—the same word in Hebrew and Greek expressing spirit and wind. The idea here is to bring to mind an event (rebirth) in which God alone has the initiative. Only those who open themselves to the Spirit, those who want to be reborn in Baptism and transformed as children of God, can believe in the new life that Jesus reveals and whose source is the Spirit—for they live it as by a gift.

Chapter 2

The Wedding at Cana. [a]On the third day there was a wedding[b] in Cana[c] in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.(A) Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” [d][And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”(B) His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”(C) [e]Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,(D) each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”[f] So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs[g] in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.(E)

12 [h]After this, he and his mother, [his] brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there only a few days.[i]

Cleansing of the Temple. 13 [j]Since the Passover[k] of the Jews was near,(F) Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 [l]He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,[m] as well as the money-changers seated there.(G) 15 He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, 16 and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”(H) 17 [n]His disciples recalled the words of scripture,(I) “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?”(J) 19 Jesus answered and said to them,[o](K) “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,[p] and you will raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.(L)

23 While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing.(M) 24 But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, 25 and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.(N)

Footnotes

  1. 2:1–6:71 Signs revealing Jesus as the Messiah to all Israel. “Sign” (sēmeion) is John’s symbolic term for Jesus’ wondrous deeds (see Introduction). The Old Testament background lies in the Exodus story (cf. Dt 11:3; 29:2). John is interested primarily in what the sēmeia signify: God’s intervention in human history in a new way through Jesus.
  2. 2:1–11 The first sign. This story of replacement of Jewish ceremonial washings (Jn 2:6) presents the initial revelation about Jesus at the outset of his ministry. He manifests his glory; the disciples believe. There is no synoptic parallel.
  3. 2:1 Cana: unknown from the Old Testament. The mother of Jesus: she is never named in John.
  4. 2:4 This verse may seek to show that Jesus did not work miracles to help his family and friends, as in the apocryphal gospels. Woman: a normal, polite form of address, but unattested in reference to one’s mother. Cf. also Jn 19:26. How does your concern affect me?: literally, “What is this to me and to you?”—a Hebrew expression of either hostility (Jgs 11:12; 2 Chr 35:21; 1 Kgs 17:18) or denial of common interest (Hos 14:9; 2 Kgs 3:13). Cf. Mk 1:24; 5:7 used by demons to Jesus. My hour has not yet come: the translation as a question (“Has not my hour now come?”), while preferable grammatically and supported by Greek Fathers, seems unlikely from a comparison with Jn 7:6, 30. The “hour” is that of Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection, and ascension (Jn 13:1).
  5. 2:6 Twenty to thirty gallons: literally, “two or three measures”; the Attic liquid measure contained 39.39 liters. The vast quantity recalls prophecies of abundance in the last days; cf. Am 9:13–14; Hos 14:7; Jer 31:12.
  6. 2:8 Headwaiter: used of the official who managed a banquet, but there is no evidence of such a functionary in Palestine. Perhaps here a friend of the family acted as master of ceremonies; cf. Sir 32:1.
  7. 2:11 The beginning of his signs: the first of seven (see Introduction).
  8. 2:12–3:21 The next three episodes take place in Jerusalem. Only the first is paralleled in the synoptic gospels.
  9. 2:12 This transitional verse may be a harmonization with the synoptic tradition in Lk 4:31 and Mt 4:13. There are many textual variants. John depicts no extended ministry in Capernaum as do the synoptics.
  10. 2:13–22 This episode indicates the post-resurrectional replacement of the temple by the person of Jesus.
  11. 2:13 Passover: this is the first Passover mentioned in John; a second is mentioned in Jn 6:4; a third in Jn 13:1. Taken literally, they point to a ministry of at least two years.
  12. 2:14–22 The other gospels place the cleansing of the temple in the last days of Jesus’ life (Matthew, on the day Jesus entered Jerusalem; Mark, on the next day). The order of events in the gospel narratives is often determined by theological motives rather than by chronological data.
  13. 2:14 Oxen, sheep, and doves: intended for sacrifice. The doves were the offerings of the poor (Lv 5:7). Money-changers: for a temple tax paid by every male Jew more than nineteen years of age, with a half-shekel coin (Ex 30:11–16), in Syrian currency. See note on Mt 17:24.
  14. 2:17 Ps 69:10, changed to future tense to apply to Jesus.
  15. 2:19 This saying about the destruction of the temple occurs in various forms (Mt 24:2; 27:40; Mk 13:2; 15:29; Lk 21:6; cf. Acts 6:14). Mt 26:61 has: “I can destroy the temple of God…”; see note there. In Mk 14:58, there is a metaphorical contrast with a new temple: “I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build another not made with hands.” Here it is symbolic of Jesus’ resurrection and the resulting community (see Jn 2:21 and Rev 21:2). In three days: an Old Testament expression for a short, indefinite period of time; cf. Hos 6:2.
  16. 2:20 Forty-six years: based on references in Josephus (Jewish Wars 1:401; Antiquities 15:380), possibly the spring of A.D. 28. Cf. note on Lk 3:1.

On Yom HaShelishi, there was a Chasunoh (Wedding Feast) in Kanah in the Galil; and the Em (Mother) of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was there.

He and his talmidim were also invited to the Chasunoh (Wedding Feast).

And when yayin (wine) was lacking, the Em of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to him, They do not have yayin.

And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to her, Mah lanu valach, Isha? [BERESHIS 3:15] My sha’ah (hour, time) has not yet come. [Mt 26:18, 27-28]

The Em of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to the mesharetim, Asher yomar lakhem ta’asu (Do whatever he tells you). [BERESHIS 41:55]

Now there were shesh (six) stone water jars lying there. These were for the Jewish tohorot, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.

Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to them, Fill with mayim. And they filled them up to the top.

And he says to them, Draw now and bring to the Rosh HaMesibba (Head of the Reception, Feast). And they brought it.

And when the Rosh HaMesibba tasted the mayim having become yayin, and when he did not have da’as of where it came from‖but the mesharetim had da’as, the ones having drawn the water‖the Rosh HaMesibba summoned the Choson (Bridegroom).

10 And the Rosh HaMesibba says to him, Everyone sets out the yayin hatov first, and when they have become drunk, he sets out the inferior; you have kept the yayin hatov until now.

11 This was the reshit (beginning) of the otot (miraculous signs) Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach accomplished in Kana of the Galil, and he manifested the kavod (glory) of him, v’ya’aminu bo (and they put their faith in him) [SHEMOT 14:31].

12 After this he went down to K’far-Nachum and the Em of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach and the achim and his talmidim also, and there they remained not many yamim (days).

13 And Pesach was fast approaching, and Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach went up to Yerushalayim [DEVARIM 16:1-6].

14 And he found in the Beis Hamikdash the ones selling oxen and sheep and doves [VAYIKRA 1:14; DEVARIM 14:26] and the coin-dealers sitting [DEVARIM 14:25].

15 And having made a shot (whip) out of ropes Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach drove all of them out of the Beis Hamikdash, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the machalifei hakesafim (money-changers) and overturned their tishen (tables).

16 And to the ones selling doves, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said, Take these things from here. Do not make the Bais Avi a bais hasokharim (house of merchants). [ZECHARYAH 14:21]

17 The talmidim of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach remembered that it had been written, KINAT BETECHA AKHALATNI (The zeal for Your bais will devour me [TEHILLIM 69:9].

18 In reply, those of Yehudah then said to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, What ot (miraculous sign) do you show us for these things you do?

19 In reply, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to them, Bring churban to this heikhal and in shloshah yamim [YONAH 1:17; HOSHEA 6:2] I will raise it.

20 Those of Yehudah then said, In forty and six years this Heikhal was built and you in shloshah yamim will raise it?

21 But that one was speaking about the heikhal of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach’s basar. [Gn 47:18; Ps 16:9-10; Job 19:25-27; Isa 53:10-11]

22 Therefore, when he underwent the Techiyas HaMoshiach (Resurrection of the Moshiach), his talmidim remembered that this he was saying and v’ya’aminu (and they put their faith SHEMOT 14:31) in the Kitvei Hakodesh [TEHILLIM 16:9-10] and the dvar which Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said.

23 And when Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was in Yerushalayim during Pesach at the Chag (Feast), many from Yehudah had emunah (faith) in ha-Shem of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, seeing his otot (miraculous signs) which he was doing.

24 But Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was not entrusting himself to them, because he had da’as of kol Bnei Adam.

25 And he had no need that anyone should give solemn edut (testimony) about them [YESHAYAH 11:3], for he knew what was in Bnei Adam [Dt 31:21; 1Kg 8:39].