Overview of John 2:1–4:54

TABLE 1.1: Opening and Closing Statements of John 2:1–12 and 4:46–54

Within the brackets created by these opening and closing statements of John 2–4, the concept of the “third day” is a strong theme in this section of the Gospel. In 2:1 the wedding is “on the third day.” In verses 13–22 Jesus says he will rebuild the destroyed temple “in three days.” Then, in 4:40 Jesus stays with the Samaritans “two days,” and in 4:43 we read, “After the two days he departed.” This indicates, implicitly, that the official’s son is raised on the third day (4:46–54; cf. “yesterday” in 4:52). Thus, in John 2–4, water is turned to wine at a wedding, Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection in terms of the destruction and rebuilding of the temple, and he raises a son from the dead, all on the third day. In addition to these “third day” events, Jesus speaks with Nicodemus about the new birth, the Baptist testifies that Jesus is the bridegroom, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman of questionable past at a well, and the Samaritans herald Jesus as the Savior of the world. In these chapters Jesus attends a wedding, is called a bridegroom, and meets a woman at a well, recalling how Abraham’s servant found Rebekah at a well; Jacob and Moses also met their wives at wells (Gen. 24:11–15; 29:1–10; Ex. 2:15–21). The new birth by water and spirit that Jesus describes to Nicodemus points to the fulfillment of Ezekiel 36, and the Samaritans seeing Jesus as the Savior of the world anticipates the ingathering of the Gentiles. These chapters are thus thick with OT fulfillment.

John 2–4 has clear units that seem to match each other thematically, and the direct enumeration of the “first” (2:11) and “second” (4:54) signs provides the outer frame for what appears to be a chiastic structure of this section of the Gospel:

1. (A) 2:1–12: Water to Wine
   1. (B) 2:13–25: Passover/Temple
      1. (C) 3:1–21: Nicodemus
      2. (C') 3:22–36: The Baptist
   2. (B') 4:1–45: The Savior of the World
2. (A') 4:46–54: Healing of a Son

John has built his narrative to herald Jesus as the one who fulfills the old covenant and brings in the new. The fulfillments John depicts are intertwined and multilayered, overlapping and spilling into one another, as though John has too much to write in too little space (cf. 21:25). These themes will be explored more fully as each section is exposited, but the brief comments here will orient the discussion.

The old covenant was understood as a marriage between Yahweh and Israel (e.g., Jer. 31:32, “my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband”). Yahweh promised that the restoration of his people would be like a new marriage between him and his people (e.g., Hos. 2:19, “I will betroth you to me forever”).

Alongside these wedding themes are a number of significant “third days” in the OT:

• Abraham went to sacrifice his beloved son on Mount Moriah on the third day (Gen. 22:4).
• Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai to speak the commandments of the covenant with Israel on the morning of the third day (Ex. 19:11, 15, 16).
• At the end of three days (Josh. 3:2), the Israelites prepared to cross the Jordan on the next day (Josh. 3:5).
• David defeated plunderers, rescued his family, and gave gifts to men on the third day (1 Sam. 30:1, 17–20, 26–31).
• Though sick unto death, Hezekiah heard from Isaiah that Yahweh would raise him up to worship at the temple on the third day (2 Kings 20:1–5).
• Hosea said the exile would be like a lion (Yahweh) striking down a man (Israel), but after two days Yahweh would revive his people, raising them up on the third day (Hos. 5:14; 6:2).
• “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17).
• Esther interceded for the lives of her people after they fasted “three days,” with Esther going before the king “on the third day” (Est. 4:16; 5:1).

These instances shed light on the symbolic fulfillments in John 2–4, as we will see:

(A) 2:1–12: Water to Wine

On the third day Jesus goes to a wedding and turns water into wine. God’s covenant with Israel was a marriage. The new covenant is a new marriage. After buying his bride with his blood on the cross, Jesus will rise from the dead on the third day to claim her triumphantly. The wine from the water “sign-ifies” the new and better covenant about to be brought out of the old.

(B) 2:13–25: Passover/Temple

After bringing something new and better (wine) out of the inferior (water) when the old has run out, Jesus is described as the Passover Lamb of the prophesied new exodus (cf. 1:29, 36). This Passover Lamb drives the animals of sacrifice out of the temple (2:13–17). He is not only the lamb; he is also the one who has become flesh and tabernacled (1:14), replacing the temple as the dwelling place of God, where sacrifice for atonement is made. His death will fulfill the visitation of wrath typified when Solomon’s temple was destroyed; thus he speaks of his death as a destruction of the temple. In three days the Jesus-temple will be rebuilt. He will rise, and the connection with the matching section describing his encounter with the Samaritan woman (B', 4:1–45) teaches that his death and resurrection in fulfillment of the Passover makes him the Savior of the world.

(C) 3:1–21: Nicodemus

To enjoy the new wine of the new covenant, to benefit from the sacrifice of the new Passover Lamb, to worship in the new temple by entering the kingdom Jesus brings, one must be born again. This is what Jeremiah and Ezekiel were referring to when they spoke of circumcision of the heart (e.g., Jer. 6:10; 9:25–26) and the removal of a heart of stone to be replaced by a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26). Nicodemus interacts with Jesus from an unbelieving perspective. Jesus explains that he must be born again.

(C') 3:22–36: The Baptist

John the Baptist testifies about Jesus from a believing perspective. The text picks up the wedding themes from 2:1–12 as John proclaims Jesus to be the bridegroom (3:29). The OT prophets had pointed to a day when God’s people would have a new and fuller experience of the Spirit (e.g., Isa. 32:15; Joel 2:28–32), and the Baptist announces that, to Jesus, God “gives the Spirit without measure” (John 3:34). Those who believe in the Son have eternal life.

(B') 4:1–45: The Savior of the World

Jesus meets this non-Jewish woman at a well, just as Isaac (through his father’s servant), Jacob, and Moses met their wives at wells (Genesis 24; 29:1–10; Ex. 2:16–17). This is in fact Jacob’s well (John 4:5), and the woman asks Jesus if he is greater than Jacob (4:12). There are many OT indications that the Gentiles would be brought into the new covenant (e.g., the nations stream to Zion in Isa. 2:1–4; cf. 49:6), and in this passage the Samaritans come streaming to Jesus (John 4:30), calling him the Savior of the world (4:42).

(A') 4:46–54: Healing of a Son

Having stayed two days with the Samaritans (4:43), Jesus returns to Cana (4:46), where he does “a second sign” (4:54) that, like the first (2:11), prompts faith in those who see (4:53). The prophets had announced that the glorious eschatological restoration would be like resurrection from the dead (e.g., Ezekiel 37; Hos. 5:14–6:2), and Jesus comes with power to roll back the curse of death, healing a son “at the point of death” (John 4:47).

From Cana to Cana: Jesus goes to a wedding on the third day, fills jars used for purification rites when the wine runs out, and brings out a new and better wine. From there he shows himself to be both the new-exodus Passover Lamb and the true temple that will be destroyed under God’s wrath but rebuilt in three days. Then he explains that those who would see and enter the kingdom he brings must be born again, while the Baptist identifies him as the bridegroom who must increase. Jesus then interacts with a Samaritan woman of a speckled past at a well, demonstrating he is greater than Jacob, who also met a woman (Rachel) at a well. After all this, he heals a son at the point of death after two days. The marriage feast of the Lamb will be like resurrection from the dead, like water to wine, like new birth.