John 2
LipscombJohn 2:1
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee;—The third day from what time is not very evident. Jesus was where John was baptizing, calling around him certain disciples whom he would teach and fit to be his apostles to teach others the words of wisdom that Jesus taught them. He had been at Bethabara, east of the Jordan; now he is in Cana of Galilee, not a great distance from Nazareth, the home of his mother Mary, and where he was chiefly brought up.
and the mother of Jesus was there:—All the circumstances show that his mother was very much at home at the marriage, and took such a personal interest and direction in the matter as to indicate it was at the home of a close personal friend or relative. The affair shows that Jesus did not even, after the beginning of his ministry, withdraw from all social relations with his friends and acquaintances, but he used the opportunities offered in these to show he was from God.
John 2:2
and Jesus also was bidden, and his disciples, to the marriage.—They all attended. Tradition says, John, the son of Zebedee and supposed relative of Mary and Jesus, married. I know of no ground for the tradition.
John 2:3
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.—They ran short of the accustomed quantity of wine and Mary told Jesus. It would seem that she had confidence in his ability to provide for the deficiency. This could not be because she knew his power to work miracles, for he had wrought none before. Yet her going to him is a comment upon her confidence in his ability to provide in times of difficulty. It indicates that she had learned to rely upon him in times of need and leaves the impression that she had learned to rely upon him to aid in such emergencies. Her statement of the trouble implied a request that he should in some way remedy the deficiency.
John 2:4
And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee?—His response to his mother sounds to us harsh and lacking in respect, but the style of address depends on the customs of the times and place and we cannot judge by this. The response rather shows depths of feeling and earnestness in him. It was the customary style of address. Our customs differ is all.
mine hour is not yet come.—It is generally considered that he means that his hour for manifesting his power had not come. If so, it soon did come.
John 2:5
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.—Her confidence that he would do something to relieve the deficiency is shown in her instructions to the servants to do his bidding.
John 2:6
Now there were six waterpots of stone set there after the Jews’ manner of purifying, containing two or three firkins apiece.—The purification was that they should not eat without washing their hands. (See Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:4). The vessels held about twenty-five gallons each. This was provided that all the guests might wash before eating.
John 2:7
Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.—They had been well nigh emptied by the guests before eating the supper, and he ordered them filled to the brim to remove all doubt as to their containing wine—to show no deception was practiced.
John 2:8
And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the ruler of the feast. And they bare it.—I take it only that which was drawn from the vessels full of water was changed into wine.
John 2:9
And when the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants that had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast calleth the bridegroom,—The bridegroom furnished the banquet; the governor, or friend, and one of the guests, directed the order of it. The governor, it seems, was ignorant of what had been done.
John 2:10
and saith unto him, Every man setteth on first the good wine; and when men have drunk freely, then that which is worse: thou hast kept the good wine until now.—The ruler was to give good wine at the beginning, then, as men got their taste satiated, they gave the inferior. But this wine made by the Savior was pronounced the best. It was pure and of the best quality of wine. There is no intimation that these guests drank to drunkenness. He speaks of the custom and says the order was changed. This was the best wine.
That Jesus would make it good and pure was to be expected. Much has been said of the Savior making wine. Many think it was not intoxicating wine. Even the juice of grapes was recognized leading to intoxication. God did not, under Christ, prohibit evils save as he prepared their hearts to voluntarily turn from the evils. So that all morality and virtue are to be from the heart.
So while not prohibiting the evils, he put in operation principles that would banish all wrongs as men received them into the heart and acted on them. The governor of the feast and the bridegroom were dependent on the servants for their knowledge of this miracle.
John 2:11
This beginning of his signs did Jesus in of Galilee, and manifested his glory;—Cana of Galilee was but a few miles from Nazareth. In Cana Nathanael lived and there Jesus healed the nobleman’s son. (John 4:46). This was the first
miracle wrought by Jesus. In manifesting this power to work miracles, he proclaimed the glory of God that gave such power to men.
and his disciples believed on him.—His disciples had some faith in him at this time, and this sign greatly increased their faith in him. This is called the beginning of miracles. The miracles were performed to show that God was with him and that he was imbued with divine power. The working of the miracle set forth his divinity and declared his glory. By it the disciples had their faith in him greatly strengthened. Miracles were as often wrought to strengthen the faith of his followers as to convince the unbelievers. When their faith was strengthened, they testified of him to the multitudes and caused them to believe.
John 2:12
After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples; and there they abode not many days.—Capernaum was situated on the Sea of Galilee. Although it is said they did not remain many days, he made Capernaum his home after this. It is called his city. The greater number of his apostles were reared in Capernaum and the other cities on the Sea of Galilee.
John 2:13
And the passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.—The Passover was the feast commemorating the passing over or sparing of the first-born of the children of Israel when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain. It was eaten on the fifteenth of the month Abib, the first month of the Jewish year, and corresponds in time to what is popularly known as “Easter.” It is important that we note the Passovers during the public ministry of Jesus, as they afford one of the easiest ways of determining the length of his public ministry from his baptism until his ascension. This was the first
Passover after he began his public ministry and he went to Jerusalem to attend it.
John 2:14
And he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves,—The children of Israel came to Jerusalem to observe the Passover in the temple. The law was that certain animals—oxen, sheep, goats, doves, and pigeons—must be slain at the door of the temple and offerings made on the brazen altar outside the door. Coming from distant parts in Judea, and even from distant lands, they must purchase the animals in Jerusalem. This created a demand for these animals and traders brought them here to supply the demand and they were brought into the court of the temple.
and the changers of money sitting:—They were required to make offerings of money, all in the coin of the sanctuary. This created the demand, and the traffic in these animals and coins was carried on for gain. The Jews were required to contribute the half shekel to the temple expenses. They could not contribute coin with idol images. Money of this character was in general circulation. So the money-changers exchanged with them for profit.
John 2:15
and he made a scourge of cords, and cast all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew their tables;—When Jesus came to the temple to attend this Passover feast, he found this traffic shamelessly carried on within the sacred limits of the temple. Indignant, he made a whip of small cords and drove all the animals out. He poured out the money of the changers and overturned their tables. Jesus was now teaching. His authority, to some extent, was recognized.
John 2:16
and to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.—He now gives his reason for cleansing the temple. On a later occasion he found the same shameless profanation of the temple, and quoted Isaiah 56:7 : “For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” And then adds, “But ye make it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:13). He condemns and denounces their course with severity. It is a worse crime to make merchandise of the gospel of Christ, or to traffic in the privileges of the church of God—that is, to corrupt and defile the spiritual temple of God.
John 2:17
His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for thy house shall eat me up.—This zeal for his house was predicted in Psalms 69:9, and is a little difficult to understand, but seems to apply this consuming zeal for the house of God to Jesus. He desired it kept pure and holy.
John 2:18
The Jews therefore answered and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?—This seemed to use violence more than any other act save a similar one repeated on a similar occasion in his attendance of the last Passover of his ministry. (Matthew 21:12; Luke 19:45). Jesus no doubt in doing it claimed he did it by the authority of God whom he represented. The Jews complained that he should exercise such authority yet work no miracles or give no proof of the authority by which he did these things.
John 2:19
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.—He pointed to his death, burial, and resurrection. Spoke of his body as a temple, which, when they destroyed it, would be restored in three days. They did not understand this reference. He more than once referred those refusing to be convinced by the evidences he gave of his divine mission to his resurrection as the great sign of his being the Son of God. He “was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 1:4).
John 2:20
The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?—The Jews applied it to the temple in Jerusalem, while he applied it to the temple of his body. The temple had been repaired by Herod the Great, and he was forty and six years in rebuilding it.
John 2:21
But he spake of the temple of his body.—He called his body the temple. The misunderstanding of his meaning was the basis of the testimony borne against him in his first trial (Matthew 26:51), and the taunts against him as he hung upon the cross (Matthew 27:40).
John 2:22
When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he spake this; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.—When it came to be understood by his disciples after his resurrection it became the ground of their believing in him more strongly.
John 2:23
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, during the feast, many believed on his name, beholding his signs which he did.—While in Jerusalem at this Passover he wrought signs or miracles and this caused many to believe on him. What the signs were we are not told.
John 2:24
But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men,—Jesus knew their hearts and that their faith was weak and unstable and so while he encouraged their belief, he did not trust himself to them. His infinite wisdom enabled him to know the hearts, the thoughts, and desires of all. There are many degrees of faith. It begins weak and unsteady, and by continued exercise it grows strong and steadfast. At this period Jesus trusted himself to the power of no man. He knew the uncertainty of men. Many, under the first impulse of the wonders wrought, would believe in him, but turn against him when trials and troubles came as they always do. Many in the days of the Savior were carried away by momentary excitement as now that fell away afterward.
John 2:25
and because he needed not that any one should bear witness concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.—He had a divine insight into the hearts of men that enabled him to understand them without others telling of them. He gave an example of this in Nathanael. (John 1:43-47). Then he told where and what Nathanael had been doing, and understood the secret workings of his heart. He was brought to believe in Christ by this. He did the same to the woman of Samaria.