John 2

Chapter 2

The Joseph Smith Translation makes much more sense of verse 4. I can't imagine the Savior being so disrespectful of his mother as to say "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" This sounds like a harsh rebuke. He would have loved his mother with a perfect love and respect and wanted others to know how they should treat their parents. The JST changes it to "Woman, what wilt thou have me do for thee?" This makes sense because Mary is asking the Savior what they should do to get more wine for the marriage feast.

The marriage feast was evidently hosted by his mother. The wine they used for these feasts was a grape juice, not the fermented juice. A firkin is about nine gallons so with the water pots holding two to three firkins each, the Savior created between 108 and 162 gallons, a huge amount. This miracle is the first that Jesus did and is only recorded in John.

I like the way verse 12 is worded, "he, and his mother, and his brethren and his disciples." I think this hints at his relationship with his mother and how she was a priority in his life.

When the Savior overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple, the people were changing the Roman coins into temple coins so the sacrificial animals could be bought. The money changers did this for a profit to themselves. The people also had to pay a half shekel tax. This enterprise of merchandising desecrated the temple and it's purpose of looking forward to the atonement of Christ.

Elder McConkie says that the Savior's driving the money changers and animals out of the temple shows three things:

1. The Savior was meek and lowly, but he was also a dynamic, forceful being, a man of courage and physical strength.

2. God was his father.

3. The temple was still his Father's house, even though those who worshipped there did so in darkness and great apostasy.

Verse 24 basically says that Jesus knows all things.