Post by M.R. Hagerty on Feb 26, 2023 18:11:59 GMT -7
John 2:1-12
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. 12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days. (John 2:1-12)
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Commentary
John 2:1-5
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.
Now a change of scene, and the main reason Jesus was going into Galilee. ”On the third day” might sound like a Bible discrepancy if taken to mean the third in the series of days mentioned earlier, ”the next day . .” ‘the next day” . . “the third day . .” This would not give Jesus and his small group time to journey N to Cana, a two to three day journey.
But this really should be taken as according to custom, which would mean ”the third day since the last events mentioned.” If taken this way, ‘on the third day’ would mean after three days since the dialog with Nathaniel. Plenty of time to walk to Cana.
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."
Some have inferred impertinence on Jesus’ part, especially in the KJV, which has: ”Woman what have I to do with thee?” Even in both renderings we pull back from someone addressing their mother as “Woman” which seems impersonal at the very least.
But this was not out of custom at all in these times, as evidenced by Mary not taking offense and simply saying, “do whatever he tells you.”
But why would Mary approach her son to remedy the problem at all? Jesus was not a wine merchant, had no access to stores of wine from which he could remedy the situation. But it is clear from Jesus’ response that Mary was requesting a more extraordinary remedy at her son’s disposal. This certainly means a miracle of some sort.
Despite extra-biblical legends of Jesus performing miracles as a child, there is no indication that Mary was accustomed to miracles in the life of her son and therefore knew He could fix this problem by performing one. This is clear from Jesus’ words that His time had not yet come, which strongly suggests that Jesus specifically avoided supernatural displays until the moment for which He was born had arrived. So our expectation from these words is that Mary would not have a reference to past miracles as the basis for her request.
Nevertheless, she is asking for some sort a miraculous remedy regardless. This can easily be explained in reference to her knowledge of who her son really was. He is now an adult and has obviously left home to begin his ministry. So the miracles attendant with the Son of God would be, in her mind, now enabled, if held in abeyance before.
Jesus’ words are meant to simply say, “what business is the supply of wine to me when my business if of the Kingdom, not entertainment?” And when we understand that the chief object of the devil’s temptations was to get Him to use His powers for personal reasons, we see that this comment is certainly apropos.
”My hour has not yet come.” is an idiomatic phrase that did not mean a task occupying just an hour, but the commencement of an event of any duration. It was timed in the sense of beginning at an appointed time. We see here that Jesus was on a divine schedule, that certain things had to come about at appointed times and this was to be diligently kept. One of those events was the riding into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass. Harold Hoehner in Chronological Aspects Of The Life of Christ, proposes that the precise end of the 69 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy is the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, to the very day, from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
The theory is complicated but has considerable merit. And surprisingly this is corroborated in the statement of Jesus to those who scolded Him to keep the people quiet, ”If these are silenced, even the very stones will cry out . . knowing the Day of thy Visitation.” (Luke 19:40-44.) It is as though Jesus was saying that even nature knew what day this was. But as to Cana, some distance before the rigidly timed Triumphal Entry, we see Mary being a typical Jewish mother, ignoring her son’s words, and proceeding as though her request will be granted – ”do whatever he tells you.”
Now this seems to run counter to everything just said. If it was not Jesus time, as he clearly states, then why did He comply and perform the miracle anyway? Perhaps something in her son’s demeanor helped her know that He was not totally opposed. Or perhaps the Father made it known to His Son that now was the moment to begin his role as Messiah and Son of God before all men. The latter seems problematic since Jesus was not deficient in knowledge of such things, but we also have His statement that the day and the hour of His Second Coming were restricted from Him, known only to the Father.
John 2:6
6 Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each . . .
This has been the source of many bitter arguments – whether Jesus made real wine or merely a sort of grape juice or watered down wine used for normal meals. The problem deals with why Jesus would make any substance so clearly related to human vice – are we not to avoid all associations with evil?
It is true that routine home meals, especially among the poorer folks, used watered down wine, or in some cases a form of juice from grapes. But we have here not a routine meal in a home, but a festive occasion where the real stuff was expected, much like champagne at weddings today. (Back then there were no Shirley Temples.)
The other indicator that this was not grape juice or otherwise non-intoxicating is in the host’s remarks. But you have kept the good wine until now.” As some may have heard in relation to this account, it was the practice of hosts, in order to have some semblance of financial relief in hosting large parties, to put out the best wine first, then when guests were sufficiently inebriated, to bring out the cheaper libation. But this host marvels that the best wine has come at the end. This can only mean that Jesus had actually produced the intoxicating variety that guests expect at the beginning. Despite the horror that fundamentalists try to avoid, the custom cannot be overlooked or distorted to serve one’s theological dispositions.
Still, we do have to ask why, in ethical or moral terms, Jesus would do this, when such drink has been the medium through which so much unhappiness has resulted? We can offer two observations: 1) the view of wine, even for children, was different in NT times. It was a necessary substitute for an often deplorable water and was not axiomatically associated with immorality as we think of it today, and 2) the source of the vice is not in the substance but in the abuse of the substance, which is in the will of the individual not in the molecules of the wine. Even in Jesus day, when wine was viewed differently, drunkenness was a moral sin not contamination from a sinful substance.
Paul tells us to shun the very appearance of evil. We can see this as not having even the opportunity of a bottle of wine in our homes. But if we apply this to other things like the abuse of sexual desire, we must ask: are we to shun our marital relations because they can always lead to some sexual sin if viewed in carnal terms?
We are given the gifts of God in nature and man is always obligated to know how to partake of such things without abusing them or employing them for evil purposes. We are not to use sexual permission in marriage to rape our wives. Neither are we to be drunk with wine.
John 2:11-12
11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. 12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.
Whatever Jesus’ words to Mary as to His time not yet come, Scripture declared this act to be the beginning of His signs of authentication as Messiah and a help to his disciples deepening their belief that He was the Christ. We can delve no deeper nor scrutinize further this declaration than at its simple face value, since the Scripture cannot be broken. Whatever our observations, Scripture declares the nature of the miracle.
”went down to Capernaum”
Capernaum was basically due east from Cana at the very top, center of the Sea of Galilee. It was by no means lower, as toward the S, which is the normal meaning of “going down.” What is meant here is elevation. Capernaum and the shores of Galilee would have been at a lower elevation than Cana, so it is perfectly logical to say one is going down when traveling to Capernaum. The same is the meaning of “going up to Jerusalem” when referring to the walk from Bethany, which was to the west not to the north.