Great Wine
In John 2:1-11 we have the first miracle recorded that Jesus did. Whether or not there were others is a matter of some debate. Certainly His mother had an expectation that He could fix anything, so there is some anecdotal evidence that He may have been making her life easier as He grew up. However, this is complete speculation on my part. All we have is the reality that she had confidence in His abilities.
Anyway, in the story presented here, His mother was at a marriage celebration in Cana. We don't know how she knew the families involved. Whether they were related or not isn't stated. But she was present, and caused Jesus and His disciples to come as well. When they wanted some wine to drink, Mary told them that they didn't have any wine. Since the ruler of the feast made the comment that normally good wine was served first and then poorer blends after everyone had had some, it would appear that they had run out of wine.
But Mary didn't let that stop her. She probably gave a shrug of exasperation that they hadn't estimated the crowds very well and indicated her son should just fix it, although this isn't explicitly stated. At any rate, Jesus tries to tell her that it isn't His time to start doing miracles for all to see. Mary dismissed everything He said and just told the servants "Just do whatever He tells you to do."
Jesus might not have been ready, but He still listened to His mom. All mom's everywhere today probably say or think the same things about their adult son's - "If only he would do what I need him to do without my having to ask...". I'm sure my mom thought the same thoughts often. "I hate to be a bother, but..." was heard many times later in my mom's life as she had technology problems that were beyond her. Hopefully at the rate of change we have today, I'll have kids who can help me out in another couple of decades.
Jesus ordered the servants to fill the six water pots with water to the brim and take them to the governor of the feast and they did so. The governor though the wine was excellent, not knowing it was water just a few minutes before. The servants were, to say the least, mightily relieved that they hadn't served the governor water when he was expecting wine.
This miracle cemented the belief of the disciples in Christ further.
Purifying the Temple
John 2:12-17 recounts Jesus experience at the temple of Jerusalem. They went there to celebrate the Passover time, as the Jewish people did. When He got there, he found Jewish people selling oxen, sheep, and doves for sacrifices and others exchanging currency of foreigners for coin of the realm to use in buying the sacrifices. There could well have been corruption that went along with their actions - either doing unfair currency exchanges or selling sacrifices that were substandard - that Christ opposed in addition to the location where it was being done.
He could have done nothing. But He chose to act. He made His own small whip and drove all the merchants and their wares from the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers. God's house was not to be a place of buying and selling merchandise. He wasn't opposed to the commerce itself. Clearly those who came to celebrate Passover from far away wouldn't be able to bring sacrifices with them easily. So there was a need for the service. But there was also a place for the service to be provided and the church wasn't it.
I think the church leaders could learn from this today. Preach your message. Let people support you or not. God will take care of you if He is pleased with you. That much is certain. Pushing beyond that, as many travelling evangelists and missionaries do with their books and goods that they sell to help their ministry would be a case in point. Other sales designed to help particular ministries would be another. Let people contribute to the ministries if God leads their hearts that way. But if not, then don't try to give them an incentive by selling them something.
Regardless of what merchandise may occasionally or routinely be sold in our churches today, we need to take Jesus example to heart. He saw something that the Holy Spirit told Him was wrong. He had to make a choice of letting it slide and staying out of the wrath of the religious leaders and the people, or to speak out and fix the problem (by actively forcing a change). There was clearly an easy path and a hard path. There was a wrong path and a right path. He chose the right, but hard path.
God doesn't call for each of His people to die on every hill. He doesn't as us to all be crucified for the same cross. But if the Holy Spirit tells you to speak out or to take some action, then that is what we must do. Much of the commentary on awmach.com isn't popular. There are a few answers to questions on the awmach.net site that aren't popular with some folks either. But if God asks you to speak out, you must. Maybe God will just call you to pray for the people He calls to act. Maybe He'll tell you that it isn't the time to act. After all, the Israelites were stuck in Egypt for centuries because the time wasn't right for Him to deal with the people inhabiting the promised land. But when He tells you to act or speak, then you must.
Foreshadowing
In the last portion of the chapter (John 2:18-25), the Jewish leaders sought a sign after they watched Jesus clear the temple of mammon. He told them that when they destroyed the temple, He would raise it up again in three days. They replied that it had taken 46 years to build the temple and were incredulous that He would claim He could put it back together in three days.
Of course, Jesus was speaking of His eventual death and resurrection, but at this point, neither the Jewish people or the disciples understood that. I'm sure that as they thought back when writing down their accounts of the life of Christ, that they realized just how many times He had predicted His death. But at this point, they were pretty clueless.
The miracles didn't stop after the wine at Cana. He continued to do miracles in Jerusalem at the Passover, and as the Jewish people listened to His message and saw the miracles He was doing, even more people believed. He let His words and actions speak for themselves. He didn't need the accolades of man to validate Him or promote His ministry. What He said and did was enough. He was completely in tune with the Holy Spirit, and that gave Him all the insight He needed to guide His path and direct His actions day by day.