John 2

John Chapter 2 10/8/20 thru John 2:1-11 (NASB) 1  On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2  and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3  When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, "They have no wine." 4  And Jesus *said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come." 5  His mother *said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." 6  Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. 7  Jesus *said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. 8  And He *said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. 9  When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the bridegroom, 10  and *said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." 11  This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. Day one (Jn 1.29) is the baptism of Jesus. On day two Jesus gathering some disciples, Jn 1.35, Jn 1.43. By this time, He must have had at least Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael. John may also have been with Him. It is now the third day and there is a wedding in Cana of Galilee. From the Jordan River to Cana was quite a distance, maybe as much at 30 miles. So, Jesus was on the move after His baptism. In three days, Jesus has traveled about 30 miles. His mother was in Cana for a wedding. Cana was a small town very near Nazarath where Jesus was raised. It is thought that a person could see Cana while in Nazarath. Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding. While at the wedding, the wine ran out.

Mary came to Jesus and told Him that they have no more wine. This is very interesting. The fact that she went to Jesus about the problem reveals something she knew about Jesus. She obviously knew that Jesus could solve problems. She must have seen Him solve many problems before. As soon as she knew there was a problem, she went right to Jesus. Mary knew Jesus well enough to know that she could go to Him with a problem and He was good at solving them. This is something for me to remember. When I have a problem that I cannot handle, I need to immediately take it to Jesus. Jesus obviously had creative power. Jesus used His creative power to meet man's need. He can also use His creative power to meet my needs as well. However, if I don't ask or go to Him, I may not see that creative power being used for me. So, prayer is a very critical thing for me.

As a side note, only Mary is mentioned at the wedding. Joseph, Jesus' step dad was not mentioned. It is thought that Joseph had been dead for a few years at that time. It is important for the to see that Jesus knew what it was to grieve the loss of a family member. He experienced that loss with the loss of His step dad. Secondly, this would indicate that Jesus probably took care of the family after the dead of Joseph. He was the oldest Son and He would have had to help provide. Jesus also knew what it was like to be a child in a single parent family. So Jesus knew a lot about what it would be like living in the world today.

A marriage at that time was a very big event. It was a very social event and it sometimes lasted for days. The fact that Jesus was there shows that He was a social person. He was not too busy to be social. This is a good lesson for me because I tend to not be social. Sometimes I think it is because I'm afraid to look bad in other people's eyes. Unfortunately, I am way too concerned about what people think of me. I'm afraid that I will look foolish or that I will not please people. I don't remember being this way when I was in high school. It is something that I have learned along the way and I need to get rid of it.

Since Cana was so close to Nazareth, the thought is that Mary likely had something to do with the wedding. She knew what was going on and so she felt responsible for the wine running out. She is one of the leaders of the wedding and its festival. In addition, she had enough authority over the servants to be able to tell them to do what ever Jesus told them. Some of the later gospels which never got into the New Testament add certain details to this story. One of the Coptic gospels tells us that Mary was a sister of the bridegroom’s mother. There is an early set of Prefaces to the books of the New Testament called the Monarchian Prefaces which tell us that the bridegroom was no other than John himself, and that his mother was Salome, the sister of Mary. We do not know whether these extra details are true or not, but the story is so vividly told that it is clearly an eye-witness account.

The scene is a village wedding feast. In Palestine a wedding was a really notable occasion. It was the Jewish law that the wedding of a virgin should take place on a Wednesday. This is interesting because it gives us a date from which to work back; and if this wedding took place on a Wednesday it must have been the Sabbath day when Jesus first met Andrew and John and they stayed the whole day with him. The wedding festivities lasted far more than one day. The wedding ceremony itself took place late in the evening, after a feast. After the ceremony the young couple were conducted to their new home. By that time it was dark and they were conducted through the village streets by the light of flaming torches and with a canopy over their heads. They were taken by as long a route as possible so that as many people as possible would have the opportunity to wish them well. But a newly married couple did not go away for their honeymoon; they stayed at home; and for a week they kept open house. They wore crowns and dressed in their bridal robes. They were treated like a king and queen, were actually addressed as king and queen, and their word was law. In a life where there was much poverty and constant hard work, this week of festivity and joy was one of the supreme occasions. For a Jewish feast wine was essential. "Without wine," said the Rabbis, "there is no joy." It was not that people were drunken, but in the East wine was an essential. Drunkenness was in fact a great disgrace, and they actually drank their wine in a mixture composed of two parts of wine to three parts of water. At any time the failure of provisions would have been a problem, for hospitality in the East is a sacred duty; but for the provisions to fail at a wedding would be a terrible humiliation for the bride and the bridegroom.

In John 2.4, Jesus responds to Mary's request. On the surface, it seems that His response is a little curt. To His mother, Jesus said, woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come. Barclay says the phrase, "What have I to do with thee?" was a common conversational phrase. When it was uttered angrily and sharply it did indicate complete disagreement and reproach, but when it was spoken gently it indicated not so much reproach but misunderstanding. It means: "Don’t worry; you don’t quite understand what is going on; leave things to me, and I will settle them in my own way." Jesus was simply telling Mary to leave things to him, that he would have his own way of dealing with the situation.

The word Woman (gunai) is also misleading. It sounds to us very rough and abrupt. But it is the same word as Jesus used on the Cross to address Mary as he left her to the care of John (John 19:26). In Homer it is the title by which Odysseus addresses Penelope, his well-loved wife. It is the title by which Augustus, the Roman Emperor, addressed Cleopatra, the famous Egyptian queen. So far from being a rough and discourteous way of address, it was a title of respect. We have no way of speaking in English which exactly renders it; but it is better to translate it Lady which gives at least the courtesy in it. It is very obvious that Mary was not upset with Jesus' answer and she did not take offense at it. She told the servants to do what ever He asked them to do. She had great confidence in her Son. She knew Him better than any other human and she had seen His goodness and kindness many times. She knew she could expect Him to do something good. The question for me is do I know that I can always expect Jesus to do something good? Am I that confident in Him? What if His good is different than my good? What if Mary thought Jesus would go out and purchase more wine? Would she have been disappointed if He didn't do that? Apparently, Mary knew that she could just present the need to Him and then go along with what ever He chose to do. I can sure learn from this. I can learn to just present the need to Him and then go along with whatever He wants to do.

In Jn 2.6, I can see that there were some waterpots there. Each of those pots held 20 to 30 gallons. So, there was somewhere between 120 gallons and 180 gallons available. Jesus told them to fill each of the pots up to the brim with water. So, the servants did as He told them. One thought that comes to my mind is the abundance that Jesus provided. He did not just give some wine, He gave an abundance of wine. He did not fill just one pot, He had them fill all six pots. Jesus gives in abundance. He does not give sparingly, He gives abundantly, Jn 10.10.

In John 2.8, Jesus instructs the servants to draw some out and take it to the headwaiter. The servants did as Jesus instructed them. The water had become wine. Jesus did not touch the water or even speak to the water, yet it was turned into wine. This again shows the amazing power and strength of Jesus. All He had to do was think thoughts that turned the water into wine and that is what happened. The