This is Jesus’ second sign in Cana. His first sign was turning water into wine. We are told the Galilean's welcomed Jesus because they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem. In other words, news was spreading and people were talking about Jesus. This man had heard stories, and decided to ask Jesus to heal his son.

This is an encounter between Jesus and a woman from Samaria. Women usually collected water early in the day, before the sun rose, in order to avoid the heat. Despite this woman being an outcast, Jesus steps over racial, gender and moral barriers in order to engage her in a conversation.

This is an encounter between Jesus and a Pharisee, named Nicodemus. The trouble with this encounter is that Nicodemus doesn’t fit the usual stereotypes associated with religious people. He is a member of the Sanhedrin; a disciplined, wealthy, and powerful man. He is a man who respectfully addressed Jesus as ‘Rabbi,’ despite Jesus being an outsider.

Towards the end of the first chapter, John identified Jesus as ‘the Lamb of God’ (v.36), ‘the Messiah’ (v.41), ‘the Son of God’ and ‘the King of Israel’ (v.49). In the second chapter John continues to point us towards Jesus’ messianic character through a series of ‘signs.’ Rather than simply being a display of power, these signs identify who Jesus is and what he came to do.