Video Lessons with Transcript
Commentary
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,
- Weddings were major, joyous feasts (see Song of Songs for more on the topic). The presence of Jesus and his disciples implies they were joyful, welcomed guests who enhanced celebrations.
2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
- The shortage threatened severe social embarrassment for the hosts: in a culture where weddings were grand, hospitality was important, and emotions ran high, guests could feel insulted if provisions fell short, harming the young couple’s social relationships and reputation.
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
- Jesus calls Mary “woman,” rather than “mom.” There’s some distance here that’s appropriate for his public ministry. He’s not about to do a chore for his mom! He’s acting by the will of his heavenly Father.
- Jesus frames his timing (“my hour”) as divinely set. The miracle will proceed on God’s terms, not anyone else’s.
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
- Mary tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you,” showing her absolute confidence that Jesus will act. It’s also good advice for discipleship today: do whatever Jesus tells you.
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
- Notice that Jesus offers no explanation for what he’s asking for, but the servants still fill the jars to the brim! Their faith is impressive, given that what Jesus is asking for appears to make no sense.
- Jesus involves the servants and water in this miracle, rather than producing wine ex nihilo (out of nothing) for spectacle; their actions and resources become the ordinary material he transforms into the extraordinary. For the disciple, any action can be a part of the miraculous work of God. Many are, if we pay attention.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
- There is no singular “alakazam” moment where the water miraculously changes in a puff of smoke. Instead, the miracle just happens without anyone quite being able to pinpoint the exact moment, much like the mercy of God is not always clear at first when it enters into our life, but it is not long before it is recognized.
- The first person to notice is the master of the banquet. He is not a follower of Jesus, nor is he someone that Jesus seems to be particularly familiar yet, and yet he can verify the goodness of the miracle. Real miracles don’t need to be hidden, nor do they require believers to see their goodness. Their goodness is evidenced by all.
- Jesus ensures that joy does not run out. As Fyodor Dostoevsky puts it in The Brothers Karamazov, “He has made himself like one of us and shares our joy and turns our water into wine, so that the joy of the guests shall not cease.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
- Wedding as metaphor for the soul’s relationship to God
- Throughout Scripture, weddings symbolize preparation, purity, and lifelong union with God; Cana’s setting connects Jesus’s mission to restoring and binding souls to God.
- Banquet as eschatological celebration
- Jesus often uses banquet imagery in parables to depict the grand celebration at the end of time when the faithful rejoice with God.
- Cana anticipates this eschatological joy: not dour or harsh, but celebratory.
- Wine as joy and Jesus’s gift
- Wine frequently symbolizes joy (Psalm 104:15; Judges 9:13). At Cana, Jesus ensures joy where circumstances were turning shameful.
- Jesus’s first miracle establishes him as the bringer of joy, transforming scarcity into abundance and elevating ordinary water into superior wine.
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Classic Theology 