John 2
2:1. “Third day” here does not refer to the third day of the week, because virgins were married on the fourth day (Wednesday) and widows on the fifth; nor does it seem to fit the count of days in 1:29, 35, 43. But ancient writers often bracketed off segments of their work by starting and ending on the same note (a practice called inclusio); thus John may use this designation to point toward 2:19 and link this story (2:1–11) with the prediction of Jesus’ death and resurrection (see on 2:4).
“Cana” may be Kefar Kanna (over three miles from Nazareth), but most scholars prefer Khirbet Kana (over eight miles from Nazareth). Either site would be close enough to Nazareth to explain how the host knows Jesus’ family.
2:2. Weddings lasted seven days, and hosts invited as many people as possible, especially distinguished guests like prominent teachers.
2:3 the wine An essential part of the diet in the ancient world. Drinking wine symbolized peace and prosperity (see Psa 104:15), but excessive drinking and drunkenness were condemned (see Prov 20:1)
2:3. To run out of wine at a wedding was a social faux pas that would become the subject of jests for years; the host was responsible to provide his guests with adequate wine for seven days.
2:4. “Woman” was a respectful address (like “Ma’am”) but hardly customary for one’s mother. Jesus’ statement here establishes polite distance (though “What have I to do with you” is usually a harsh, not a polite, expression in biblical language). Because Jesus’ “hour” in John refers especially to the cross, here Jesus is saying, “Once I begin doing miracles, I begin the road to the cross.”
2:5. Like many Old Testament seekers of God who would not take no for an answer (Gen 32:26–30; Ex 33:12–34:9; 1 Kings 18:36–37; 2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6, 9; 4:14–28), Mary acts in confidence that Jesus will hear her entreaty. Ancient Jewish readers, who told stories of miracle workers who insisted that God would send rain, would read Mary’s action as demonstrating strong faith.
2:5 Whatever he says to you Mary did not take Jesus’ refusal as a firm negative response and clearly did not understand it as a rebuke. She knew Jesus was able to take care of the problem.
2:7. Using the jars for another purpose would temporarily defile them; Jesus shows more concern for his friend’s wedding than for contemporary ritual.
2:7 they filled them to the brim Making it impossible for the miracle to have been a deception. The use of the jars for a purpose other than ritual purification would have rendered the jars temporarily unclean and unusable for ritual purposes.
2:8. “Master of the banquet” was a position of honor (Ecclus 32:1–2); one of his primary duties was to regulate the distribution of wine to prevent excess that would (especially in a Jewish context) ruin the party. At least in Greek banquets, guests elected this person to preside over the entertainment and to control the level of dilution for the wine; thus some observers might have held him partly responsible for the host’s running out of wine prematurely.
2:9–10. Soon after the grape vintage, all wine would contain some alcohol (neither refrigeration nor hermetic sealing existed). But the alcohol level of the wine was not increased artificially (distillation was not in use); rather, the wine was watered down, with two to three parts water to one part wine. Sometimes at Greek parties drunkenness was induced through less dilution or the addition of herbal toxins, but Jewish teachers disapproved of such practices; that drunkenness is part of the celebration at Cana is unlikely. Yet one would normally serve the better wine first because, drunk or not, guests’ senses would become more dulled as the seven days of banqueting proceeded.
2:11. God had often manifested his glory by doing signs (Ex 16:7; for glory, cf. comment on Jn 1:14). Moses’ first sign was turning water into blood (Ex 7:20; cf. Rev 8:8); Jesus’ first sign is turning water into wine.
All Jews who could attend the Passover in Jerusalem customarily did so; unlike Jewish people in distant lands, Galileans could make the pilgrimage regularly.
2:14. The sheep and doves (and, to a lesser extent, the cattle; cf. Lev 1:3–9; 4:2–21; 8:2; 22:21) were necessary for the people’s sacrifices; moneychangers were needed to standardize foreign and Galilean currencies into coinage useful to the sellers of the sacrificial animals.
2:15–16. Jesus insists on a different priority for activity in the temple; cf. Malachi 3:1–6.
Jesus takes the traditions and applies them to himself. He is the reality to which the Temple itself points. His death and resurrection will be the reality to which the whole Passover celebration points.
2:23–25. Miracle workers were often thought to know some hearts, but only God, who was called “Searcher of hearts,” was thought to know the hearts of all people.