John 2
New Catholic Bible
The First Sign Worked by Jesus
Chapter 2
The Wedding Feast at Cana.[a] 1 On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana[b] in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. 3 When the wine was exhausted, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus responded, “Woman,[c] what concern is this to us? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Now standing nearby there were six stone water jars, of the type used for Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus instructed the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When they had filled them to the brim, 8 he ordered them, “Now draw some out and take it to the chief steward,” and they did so.
9 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
- 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).
- John 2:1 Cana was five miles northeast of Nazareth.
- 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.
- John 2:10 The first wine represents the first Covenant, the second better wine represents the New Covenant. Jesus is prefiguring the Messianic banquet.
- 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).
- John 2:12 Brethren: that is, his close relatives. See notes on Mt 12:46-50 and 12:47.
- 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. - 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. - 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.
Juan 2
Nueva Biblia Viva
Jesús transforma el agua en vino
2 Tres días más tarde hubo una boda en el pueblo de Caná de Galilea, y la madre de Jesús estaba allí. 2 También Jesús y sus discípulos habían sido invitados a la boda. 3 El vino se acabó y entonces la madre de Jesús le dijo:
―Ya no tienen vino.
4 Jesús le respondió:
―Mujer, ¿acaso es mi problema? Todavía no ha llegado mi hora.
5 Su madre dijo a los sirvientes:
―Hagan lo que él les ordene.
6 Había allí seis tinajas de piedra de unos cien litros de capacidad cada una. Eran tinajas de las que usaban los judíos en sus ceremonias de purificación. 7 Jesús ordenó a los sirvientes:
―Llenen de agua estas tinajas.
Los sirvientes las llenaron casi hasta rebosar.
8 Jesús volvió a ordenarles:
―Ahora, saquen un poco y llévenselo al encargado de la fiesta.
Así lo hicieron. 9 El encargado de la fiesta probó el agua convertida en vino. Él no sabía de dónde había salido ese vino, pero los sirvientes sí lo sabían pues ellos habían sacado el agua. Entonces el encargado se acercó al novio 10 y le dijo:
―Todos sirven el mejor vino primero, y después, cuando los invitados ya han bebido mucho, les sirven el vino barato. Pero tú has guardado el mejor vino hasta el final.
11 Jesús hizo esta señal, que fue la primera, en Caná de Galilea. Así dio a conocer su gloria; y sus discípulos creyeron en él.
12 Después de esto, Jesús fue al pueblo de Capernaúm con su madre, sus hermanos y sus discípulos, y allí se quedaron unos días.
Jesús purifica el templo
13 Luego, como se acercaba la Pascua, que es una fiesta de los judíos, Jesús se fue a Jerusalén.
14 Dentro del templo encontró a los que vendían bueyes, ovejas y palomas, y a los que cambiaban dinero sentados a sus mesas. 15 Entonces, hizo un látigo con algunas cuerdas y echó a todos del templo. También echó junto con ellos a sus ovejas y bueyes; arrojó al suelo las monedas de los que cambiaban el dinero y volcó sus mesas. 16 A los que vendían palomas, les dijo:
―¡Saquen esto de aquí! ¡No conviertan la casa de mi Padre en un mercado!
17 Sus discípulos entonces recordaron que la Escritura dice: «El celo que tengo por tu casa me está consumiendo».
18 Frente a esto, los judíos le preguntaron:
―¿Qué señal nos puedes mostrar de que tienes derecho de hacer esto?
19 Jesús les contestó:
―Destruyan este templo y en tres días lo volveré a levantar.
20 Los judíos dijeron:
―¡Les llevó cuarenta y seis años construir este templo, ¿y tú dices que en tres días lo puedes volver a construir?
21 Pero el templo del que él hablaba era su propio cuerpo. 22 Por eso, después que resucitó, sus discípulos se acordaron de estas palabras que él había dicho. Entonces creyeron en la Escritura y en lo que Jesús había dicho.
23 Mientras Jesús estaba en Jerusalén durante la fiesta de la Pascua, muchos creyeron en él porque vieron las señales milagrosas que hacía. 24 Pero Jesús no confiaba en ellos, porque los conocía a todos. 25 No necesitaba que nadie le dijera nada acerca de los demás, porque él conocía los pensamientos del ser humano.
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