08/13/2026
This week in Temple Kids Children’s Church
Jesus' First Sign
👨🏫Lesson Focus-
Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding in Cana, turning water into wine. Then he traveled to Jerusalem, where he found merchants and moneychangers in the temple. He became angry and drove them out with a whip. When asked for a sign of his authority, he foretold of his crucifixion and resurrection.
📖Key Passages-
Grades 2-3: John 2:6-11, 2:14-17
Grades 4-5: John 2:5-11, 2:13-17
👂What You Heard in the Word-
• Jesus waited for the Father's timing to do his first miracle at a wedding in Cana when he turned water into wine.
• Jesus cleansed the temple in Jerusalem by driving out the animals and merchants and overturning the tables of the moneychangers because they were misusing God's house to make money.
🗣️OutWord For Family Discussion-
What if your friend says that she doesn't apologize for losing her temper anymore because she read that Jesus got angry when he cleansed the temple? What could you say?
It's true that Jesus was angry when he saw people buying and selling and trying to make money in God's house.
But Jesus' anger is different from ours because his anger was directed at sin against God's name and house of wor-ship. Jesus could be angry and not sin because he was just and holy in his actions against those who were abusing the temple's purpose. What was the reason you got angry last time? It probably wasn't because you were upset at sin against God. We usually get angry for selfish reasons, like not getting what we want when we want it. That kind of anger is sin we need to confess to God and to others. With the Holy Spirit to guide us, we can have a righteous an-
ger against sin and use it to bring glory to God.
🏠HomeWord For Parents-
About a week after John declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God (John 1:24), Jesus and his new disciples went to Cana in Galilee. There they attended a wedding, along with Jesus' mother (John 2:1-2).
When the wine ran out, Mary told Jesus. Jesus was not there to do miraculous signs for the benefit of
people; he was there to fulfill the will of his Father in the Father's time (John 2:4). His reply must not have been meant as a refusal because Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus instructed (John 2:5). Obeying his words, the servants filled six large stone waterpots with water. Then they drew some out and took it to the governor of the feast. When he tasted it, it was wine that was better quality than what had already been served (John 2:9-10).
The servants and the disciples had witnessed the sign Jesus had just done.
He had shown his glory, proving himself to be the Son of God, and the disciples believed (John 2:11).
Not long after the wedding in Cana, Jesus and his disciples traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Pass-over. Jesus entered the temple where he encountered moneychangers and merchants selling animals (John 2:14). These animal sellers and moneychangers were likely overcharging the visiting Jews and extracting a hefty profit.
Jesus was enraged at what he saw. God's house, his temple, should have been a house of prayer, worship, and devotion, but they had made it into a house of buying and selling. Jesus made a whip of cords and drove them out of the temple, overturning their tables and pouring out their coins. He also verbally rebuked them for the way they were dishonoring God and his temple (John 2:15-16). Jesus showed zeal for his Father's house and for restoring it to its true purpose.
