1On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2And both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3And running out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine. 4Jesus said to her, Woman, of what concern is that to Me and you? My hour has not yet come. 5His mother said to the servants, Whatever He says to you, do it. 6Now there were set there six stone waterpots, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing two or three measures each. 7Jesus said to them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8And He said to them, Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast. And they brought it. 9When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom, 10and he said to him, Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now. 11This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. 12After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they stayed there not many days. 13Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers sitting. 15And when He had made a whip out of rope, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. 16And He said to those who sold doves, Take these things away from here! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise! 17And His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for Your house has consumed Me. 18Then the Jews answered and said to Him, What sign do You show to us, since You do these things? 19Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20Then the Jews said, It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days? 21But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22Therefore, when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the Word which Jesus had said. 23Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew everyone, 25and had no need that anyone should bear witness of man, for He knew what was in man.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 FIRST MIRACLE, WATER MADE WINE--BRIEF VISIT TO CAPERNAUM. (
John 2:1-
John 2:12)
third day--He would take two days to reach Galilee, and this was the third.
mother there--it being probably some relative's marriage. John never names her [BENGEL].
3 no wine--evidently expecting some display of His glory, and hinting that now was His time.
4 Woman--no term of disrespect in the language of that day (
John 19:26).
what . . . to do with thee--that is, "In my Father's business I have to do with Him only." It was a gentle rebuke for officious interference, entering a region from which all creatures were excluded (compare
Acts 4:19-
Acts 4:20).
mine hour, &c.--hinting that He would do something, but at His own time; and so she understood it (
John 2:5).
6 firkins--about seven and a half gallons in Jewish, or nine in Attic measure; each of these huge water jars, therefore, holding some twenty or more gallons, for washings at such feasts (
Mark 7:4).
7 Fill . . . draw . . . bear--directing all, but Himself touching nothing, to prevent all appearance of collusion.
9 well drunk--"drunk abundantly" (as
Song 5:1), speaking of the general practice.
10 the good wine . . . until now--thus testifying, while ignorant of the source of supply, not only that it was real wine, but better than any at the feast.
11 manifested forth his glory--Nothing in the least like this is said of the miracles of prophet or apostle, nor could without manifest blasphemy be said of any mere creature. Observe, (1) At a marriage Christ made His first public appearance in any company, and at a marriage He wrought His first miracle--the noblest sanction that could be given to that God-given institution. (2) As the miracle did not make bad good, but good better, so Christianity only redeems, sanctifies, and ennobles the beneficent but abused institution of marriage; and Christ's whole work only turns the water of earth into the wine of heaven. Thus "this beginning of miracles" exhibited the character and "manifested forth the glory" of His entire Mission. (3) As Christ countenanced our seasons of festivity, so also that greater fulness which befits such; so far was He from encouraging that asceticism which has since been so often put for all religion. (4) The character and authority ascribed by Romanists to the Virgin is directly in the teeth of this and other scriptures.
12 Capernaum--on the Sea of Galilee. (See on
Matt 9:1).
his mother and his brethren--(See on
Luke 2:51, and
Matt 13:54-
Matt 13:56).
14 CHRIST'S FIRST PASSOVER--FIRST CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE. (
John 2:13-
John 2:25)
in the temple--not the temple itself, as
John 2:19-
John 2:21, but the temple-court.
sold oxen, &c.--for the convenience of those who had to offer them in sacrifice.
changers of money--of Roman into Jewish money, in which the temple dues (see on
Matt 17:24) had to be paid.
15 small cords--likely some of the rushes spread for bedding, and when twisted used to tie up the cattle there collected. "Not by this slender whip but by divine majesty was the ejection accomplished, the whip being but a sign of the scourge of divine anger" [GROTIUS].
poured out . . . overthrew--thus expressing the mingled indignation and authority of the impulse.
16 my Father's house--How close the resemblance of these remarkable words to
Luke 2:49; the same consciousness of intrinsic relation to the temple--as the seat of His Father's most august worship, and so the symbol of all that is due to Him on earth--dictating both speeches. Only, when but a youth, with no authority, He was simply "a SON IN His own house"; now He was "a SON OVER His own house" (
Heb 3:6), the proper Representative, and in flesh "the Heir," of his Father's rights.
house of merchandise--There was nothing wrong in the merchandise; but to bring it, for their own and others' convenience, into that most sacred place, was a high-handed profanation which the eye of Jesus could not endure.
17 eaten me up--a glorious feature in the predicted character of the suffering Messiah (
Ps 69:9), and rising high even in some not worthy to loose the latchet of His shoes. (
Exod 32:19, &c.).
18 What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?--Though the act and the words of Christ, taken together, were sign enough, they were unconvinced: yet they were awed, and though at His very next appearance at Jerusalem they "sought to kill Him" for speaking of "His Father" just as He did now (
John 5:18), they, at this early stage, only ask a sign.
19 Destroy this temple, &c.--(See on
Mark 14:58-
Mark 14:59).
20 Forty and six years--From the eighteenth year of Herod till then was just forty-six years [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 15.11.1].
21 temple of his body--in which was enshrined the glory of the eternal Word. (See on
John 1:14). By its resurrection the true Temple of God upon earth was reared up, of which the stone one was but a shadow; so that the allusion is not quite exclusively to Himself, but takes in that Temple of which He is the foundation, and all believers are the "lively stones." (
1Pet 2:4-5).
22 believed the scripture--on this subject; that is, what was meant, which was hid from them till then. Mark (1) The act by which Christ signalized His first public appearance in the Temple. Taking "His fan in His hand, He purges His floor," not thoroughly indeed, but enough to foreshadow His last act towards that faithless people--to sweep them out of God's house. (2) The sign of His authority to do this is the announcement, at this first outset of His ministry, of that coming death by their hands, and resurrection by His own, which were to pave the way for their judicial ejection.
23 in the feast day--the foregoing things occurring probably before the feast began.
many believed--superficially, struck merely by "the miracles He did." Of these we have no record.
24 did not commit--"entrust," or let Himself down familiarly to them, as to His genuine disciples.
25 knew what was in man--It is impossible for language more clearly to assert of Christ what in
Jer 17:9-
Jer 17:10, and elsewhere, is denied of all mere creatures.