With close examination of the First Sign at Cana and the Cleansing of the Temple show how, at the

beginning of his Gospel, John has begun to develop one of his main themes, which is that Jesus fulfils Judaism

Within Chapter 2 of the Gospel of John it describes the transforming of water into wine and the halting of trade in the Temple. In many ways these acts are completely different as one is a miracle and is festive whereas the other is in no way a miracle but in fact quite violent. Yet they are both linked through utilizing Jewish institutions to reveal something about the purpose and person of Jesus or in other words The Ministry and teaching of Jesus. It is only in Johns Gospel that Jesus is portrayed as not ignoring the t raditions of Judaism but fulfilling them. John alters the chronology of his Gospel and adds symbolism and clues to enable him to link the whole chain of events together and eventually help uncover the meaning and teachings behind Jesus actions. Water is an important metaphor in Johns Gospel and it is pre-eminently the Holy Spirit that gives life. It proceeds from the side of the crucified Jesus and is the fountain of life which forever springs within Christians, maintaining their divine life. John uses this symbolism as it aptly conveys what he wishes to say and through its double meaning it relates to both Jewish and Greek backgrounds. The scholar Koester believes that for Jews the turning of the water into wine suggests that instead of only accomplishing ritual purification through water you may now achieve this through revelation. Throughout this Gospel you notice that John perceives sin as deep-seated human antipathy towards God which is expressed through one s manner of life. God removals hatred at the root of sin through the death of his only Son and therefore reveals his glory and love for the world. It is through this revelation that God cleanses sin and transforms it into faith. By doing so God does not ignore the Jewish traditions but si mply updates the previous system of ritual purification. The water of Jewish ritual purification becomes the wine of the new Messianic Age; therefore only adding to the Judaism not trying to replace it. However , Greeks would not understand the Messianic significance of the sign but would grasp the miraculous gift of wine as revealing the presence of deity. Throughout the Mediterranean wine was associated with the God Dionysus who was said to have been the first to cultivate the vine and ferment its fruit. The widespread association between the miraculous gift of wine and the presence of divinity would have helped many readers understand the presence of God within Jesus. This would therefore enable Johns Gospel to be understood by the wider G reco- Roman world and provide it with the opportunity of gaining more followers. In 2:4 Jesus replies by saying My time has not yet come which similarly links to when the Greeks pressed to see Jesus at the end of his Ministry and he announced The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. A literacy connection between the miracle at Cana and the Greeks is another indication that John wanted to draw a connection between Jesus to attract a broader spectrum of believers. This is also referred to in the Revised Standard Version as it clarifies that the coming of the Messiah cannot be hurried or moved in time He knows what his hour will bring. John is depicting Jesus as the embodiment of the Jewish Temple and this combination of beliefs suggests that the Evangelist wanted to show Jesus as being part of the Jewish faith not separate. It is significant that the First Sign took place at a wedding as in Judaism it is believed that Israel was the bride of God. The marriage feast was the place where the covenant was sealed between the bride and groom. For Israel to look forward to the marriage feast of God is to look forward to the new covenant and being restored to the righ tful position as God s bride. The action is set in the context of a wedding; in the Old Testament this is used to

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symbolize the messianic days, and both the wedding and the banquet are symbols on which Jesus drew his teachings. The wedding appears to be a symbol of messianic fulfilment as in Mk 19 we find Jesus using the symbolism of new wine in old wine shins to compare his new teaching with the customs of the Pharisees. Thus making the steward s statement at the end of the scene You have kept the choice wine until now to be understood as the proclamation of the coming of messianic days. This is connected to the Old Testaments consistent descriptions for the joy of the final days and its abundance of wine: the earth shall yield fruit ten thousand fold and each grape about 120 gallons of wine. This shows a link between the first Sign foreshadowing the final days and eventual death of Jesus. This is concept is further cemented by the presence of Mary only appearing at Cana and at her sons crucifixion. This reinforces the idea that the glory of Jesus manifested in t he wine and in his death must be understood together: the divine flavour revealed by his gift of wine was a prelude to the gift of his own life. According to the Levitical code the animals mentioned in 2:14 were used for sacrifices relating to atonement and purification. These both link to the two incidents that take place in chapter 2: Jesus use of the ceremonial washing jars in his miracle and cleanses the Temple of those who should atone for turning his Father s house into a market. By temporarily disrupting the trade necessary for sacrifice, Jesus foreshadowed the end of sacrificial worship in Jerusalem with the replacement of his own death. This action took place during the Feast of Passover when lambs were slain to commemorate Israel s deliverance from death to oppression; ironically just as Jesus would be crucified at Passover two years later as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The scholar Barrett believes that John means to show Jerusalem as the proper scene for the Messiahs Ministry as it was the only place where Jesus taught, performed signs and ultimately died. This is another significant association between Jesus and Judaism as Jerusalem is believed to be the spiritual homeland for Jews but also seen to be where Jesus hoped to base his Ministry. The Messianic banquet is a vision still applied to Passover today. The Passover is seen as looking in three directions: the past, present and most importantly the future. A hope that Israel will one day gather with the Messiah and again celebrate their deliverance from cruelty to the latest oppressor when the new covenant will be sealed. Even today the Passover Seder is closed with Next year in Jerusalem as Jews still seek the Messianic banquet. In both the cl eansing of the Temple and the story of the First Sign John is making a link to this Passover meal. He establishes that Jesus goes to the Temple when it was almost time for the Jewish Passover during his visit to Jerusalem. This makes it clear that John wants Jesus to be seen as the Messiah by the Jewish people mainly because it states in the Jewish scriptures that He will open his Ministry at Passover in Jerusalem. Barrett feels that the description of the First Sign marks the start of the d evelopment of John s main theme: that in Jesus the eternal purposes of God find fulfilment. The historic Ministry of Jesus was set in the context of Judaism and John is trying to show that Jesus was set forth to fulfil this religion- the religion of the Jews. By revealing his authority in the Temple, Jesus is there forth allowing himself to be seen as the place where God and human nature are joined as one. This allows the destroying of the Temple to be seen positively since it marks the moment when old Jewish methods of worship were updated to allow more people to join the religion. However, it is clear that the religion was meant mainly for Jews as in 10:16 it reads The Church is the new People of God which includes Gentiles as well as Jews. John makes this point clear that the original followers were Jewish and this is how Jesus always intended it to be.

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In chapter 2 John is continuously making this link between Jews recognising and experiencing the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah. He states that it is the Jews who demanded to see a sign and the Jews who at first doubted him. Towards the end it talks of the disciples and how they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. Here they are referring to the Jewish scripture and it shows that by combining both Jesus spoken teachings and the Jewish texts you will experience the full power and revelation Jesus intended. At the end it says that in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. It is clear that John is referring to Jews believing in the glory of Jesus as the Son of God as no other people would be celebrating the Passover festival. In his Gospel John often highlights the theme of Jesus fulfilling Judaism and this is apparent in the First Sign and the cleansing of the Temple. John frequently makes a connection between Jesus and to the Jewish faith; he presents Jerusalem as the spiritual homeland for Jews and Christians alike and shows how Jesus draw his teachings from the Jewish texts. John regularly uses symbolism of water to help make his Gospel more understandable for a wider audience and portrays Jesus as the Lamb of God so it is clear he is the ultimate sacrifice. By showing Jesus is open to the Jewish religion and obviously drawing connections between the teachings in both faiths John helps the reader understand that Jesus is in fact fulfilling Judaism not ignoring it.

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