Jesus was revealing his glory

JESUS WAS REVEALING HIS GLORY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 2:11 11WhatJesus did here in Cana of Galilee
was the first of the signs through which he revealedhis
glory; and his disciplesbelievedin him.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
"this Beginning Of His Signs."
John 2:11
J.R. Thomson
All that a man does may be regardedas significant of his characterand aims
in life. How far more obviously and instructively is this the case with the
actions of the Son of God! Yet, though whateverJesus did may be regarded
thus, there are certain works of his which the evangelistnotes especiallyas
being signs. Of these works, the deed performed at Cana is remarkedto be the
first in point of time.
I. WHAT THESE SIGNS WERE IN THEMSELVES.
1. They were works, and mighty works;such as implied greatpower on the
part of the Worker;such as were not wrought by ordinary men.

2. They were wonders, or miracles, fitted to arrestthe attention, awakenthe
inquiry, excite the surprise, of beholders.
3. As in this instance, they were deeds authoritative over nature, its elements,
processes,and laws.
II. OF WHAT THESE SIGNS WERE SIGNIFICANT. Thatthey did speak to
the minds and hearts of those who beheld them, is clear;they compelled the
inquiry, "Whatmanner of man is this?" The works led the witnesses to ask
concerning the Worker; for they testified of him.
1. Of a Divine presence and poweramong men. The signs were as the cry of a
herald, as a trumpet callsummoning the attention of all who were capable of
understanding. They spake in plainest language, and their voice and utterance
was this: "The King of nature and the Lord of man is here!"
2. Of Divine compassionandmercy. Observe the contrastbetweenthe
mediators of the old covenantand the new. The first sign which Moses
wrought was to turn waterinto blood; the first which Jesus presentedto men
was to turn waterinto wine. We see pity in its varying grades excitedby
human want and. misery, manifesting itself in the exercise of authority
prompted and guided by love.
3. Of Divine adaptationto specialneeds of men. There was vastvariety in the
miraculous ministrations of Immanuel. The first signproves that the same
Lord who supplies the most urgent wants is not unmindful of the social
pleasures and comforts of men. There is delicate discrimination and
thoughtful adaptation and suitability in the marvels which Jesus wrought.

Breadfor the hungry, healing for the sick;yet also wine for the joyful and the
festive.
III. TO WHOM THESE SIGNS APPEALED.
1. Notprimarily to unbelievers. Whether there were any such in the happy
circle in whose midst and for whose benefit the first of the signs was exhibited,
we do not know; probably all were friendly and receptive, and none more
than partially enlightened. Jesus did not go into public and perform a wonder
to amaze a multitude.
2. But to his disciples. There was no sign from heaven for the unspiritual, but
for the believing and affectionate there were proofs given that their confidence
and love were not misplaced. "His disciples believed on him," i.e. all the more
as they saw more of the might of his word and the tenderness of his heart. - T.

Biblical Illustrator
This beginning of miracles.
John 2:11
The miracles of Christ
W. H. King.
Miracles are not only a proof but a part of revelation, and carry their own
weight of truth quite independent of their testimony to the authority of the
whole. Christ's miracles —
I. IDENTIFYTHE GOD OF NATURE WITH THE CHRIST OF THE
GOSPEL, and show that the Word was God, and that all things were made by
Him. Believers in Christ do not need their witness, but should follow up their
teaching, and study in nature the wisdom and powerand goodness ofChrist.
II. ILLUSTRATE THE WIDE BENEFICENCE OF THE GOSPEL. They
would have been equally cogentas proofs of His Divine authority if there had
been no element of mercy in them; and it is humiliating to reflectthat had
they been miracles of judgment the people would have been more willing to
listen to His words. As it was, they were the outcome of the wealth of
compassionthat filled His heart, and teachus something of the present range
of His love.
III. PROVE THE ILLIMITABLE POWER BYWHICH EVERY GOSPEL
PURPOSE WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED. The words, the promise, and the
powerthat performs are eternally linked together. No power, therefore, can
prevent the accomplishment of the greatpurposes of salvation. All fears, then,
should be banished. There is no danger that the miracles of Christ do not
prove to be under His control.

IV. SHOW THE DIVINE EARNESTNESSWITHWHICH GOD PRESSES
UPON THE ATTENTION OF SINFULMEN THE CLAIMS AND MERCY
OF HIS GOSPEL.
(W. H. King.)
The miracles of nature
J. C. Jones, D. D.
Men cry out for signs, but we may see miracles enough every day. I read that
Aaron's rod budded, and I am astonished. But lastspring I saw a cause of
greaterastonishment — thousands of bare rods budding and blooming
blossoms in the hedges. I saw no one do it, and yet the trees were being daily
clothed with thickerfoliage. Was not that wonderful? I read that the manna
came down daily from heavento the wilderness, and I am amazed. But I see a
cause ofgreateramazement every year: I see your bread coming, not down
from heaven, but up from the earth, a much more unlikely place, every day in
the spring. Is not that wonderful? I read that Elijah, hiding by the brook
Cherith, was daily fed by two carnivorous ravens, and I am filled with
wonder. But there is a cause ofmuch greaterwonderment in the fact that
millions upon millions are daily fed with abundance of bread and meat,
without a single raven under God's sun to caterfor them. I read that Jesus
Christ multiplied the loaves and fishes, and that the fragments that remained
filled twelve baskets full — there was more at the end of the meal than at the
beginning. But this year I witnesseda greatermiracle: I saw the barley and
the wheatincreasing, "some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred fold";
and the loaves and the fishes, notwithstanding the enormous consumption, are
more numerous to-day than they have ever been before. Nature is a standing
miracle.
(J. C. Jones, D. D.)

The beginning of miracles
Lightfoot., BishopWestcott.
There are five reasons whythis should be the first.
1. As marriage was the first institution ordained by God, so at a marriage was
Christ's first miracle.
2. As Christ had showedHimself miraculous a little while ago by a fast, so He
cloth now by an extraordinary provision at a feast. When He would not makes
stones bread, it was not because He could not.
3. He would not make stones into bread to satisfy Satan, but He was willing to
turn waterinto wine to show forth His glory.
4. The first miracle wrought in the world by man was transformation (Exodus
7:9), and the first miracle wrought by the Sonof Man was of the same nature.
5. The first time you hear of John the Baptist, you hear of his strict diet, and
so the first time you hear of Christ in His public ministry, you hear of Him at
a marriage feast.
(Lightfoot.)This miracle cannotbut have a representative character. We may
observe —
I. ITS ESSENTIALCHARACTER. A sign of sovereignpowerwrought on
inorganic nature, not on a living body.

II. ITS CIRCUMSTANTIALCHARACTER. The change of the simpler to the
richer element. In this respectit may be contrastedwith the first public
miracle of Moses,which commences the record of Old Testamentmiracles.
III. ITS MORAL CHARACTER.
1. The answerof love to faith.
2. Ministering to human joy in one of its simplest and most natural forms (cf.
Matthew 11:18, 19).In eachrespectthe characterof the sign answers to the
generalcharacterofChrist as —
1. A new creation.
2. A transfiguration of the ceremoniallaw into a spiritual gospel.
3. An ennobling of the whole life. In addition, notice that the scene ofthe sign
— a marriage feast — is that under which the accomplishment of Christ's
work is most characteristicallyprefigured (John 3:29; Matthew 22:2;
Matthew 25:1; Revelation19:7; Revelation21:2).
(Bishop Westcott.)
The watermade wine

J. Laidlaw, D. D.
Let us now look at the FACT, the mode, and the motive of this miraculous act.
That it was a miracle, a creation-miracle, the turning of waterinto wine,
stands on the face of the record. Every attempt to reconcile beliefin the
record with an evasionof the creative act implied in it has been a failure. Such
suppositions as that the spiritual elevationof the guests under the powerof the
Lord's discourse made them think that to be wine which was only water
(Ewald), or that He gave to that which still remained waterthe force and sap
of wine (Neander) or even that this was a supply of wine produced in the
ordinary way and providentially arriving in the nick of time at the believing
prayer or omniscient foresightof the Saviour (Weiss), will not satisfy the fact,
nor the plain and honest meaning of the recording Evangelist, an eye-witness
of the wonder. Some of those who rest in the fact of the miracle and regard it
as creative have vainly attempted to conceive and describe the MODE in
which it was wrought. It has long been usual to suggestthat this actmay be
thought of on the analogyof nature's work; that what was done here in a
moment was the same thing which is done in countless vineyards year by year.
"The essenceofthe miracle," says Olshausen, "consistsin divinely effecting
the accelerationofthe natural process."So also long ago. The analogyis
tempting, but we gain nothing by it as an explanation. Indeed, it is impossible,
and after all inept. There is no real parallel. We can trace these processesin
nature; but here we can trace no process. We should have to imagine not only
acceleratedprocesses ofnature, but also those artificial changes, anticipated
and condensed, by which the fruit of the vine becomes a beverage — the
ripening of the wine as well as of the grape. There are no natural laws by
which water in a well or in a jar will change into wine. Nature never would do
this, howeverlong time you gave her. Finally, for the PURPOSE. One ofthe
main difficulties, according to some expositors, is the absence ofsufficient
motive. This is a miracle, they say, without a moral end. It is placed at the
outsetof the Fourth Gospel, with the evident intention of showing —
1. That Jesus struck a key-note to His ministry so entirely contrastedwith that
of the Baptist, whose disciples these first followers ofJesus had originally
been.

2. Norcan the objectionabout the triviality of the occasionjustify itself, as if it
were the mere relieving of a dinner-table dilemma. Rather the reverse is the
true inference. The gracious Lord has sympathy with all needs, the finer as
well as the commoner. He who multiplied the loaves for the relief of a hungry
congregationmight increase the store of wine for the resolving of a social
perplexity. The minor graces and courtesies oflife are takenaccountof, in
Christianity, as well as the stern realities.
3. But, indeed, to searchfor an exactnecessityas motive here is to miss the
whole point. These wedding guests couldhave done without more and better
wine. It is a miracle of superfluity if you will. The well-spring of grace and
truth in Jesus Christ overflows at the first onset. He is come to give life, and
more abundant. It is placedin the front of the miracle-recordnot merely to
point a contrastbetweenthe Saviour's ministry and that of the Baptist, but to
show how the new economy surpassesthe old. This whole transactionreveals
His glory as the Bringer of the final and highest dispensation. In Jesus Christ,
God " has kept His best till last." In fine, it is plainly meant that we should see
in this work an epitome of the Lord's entire miraculous activity. In it, all His
glory is His grace and love. In the Nature miracles we are to note how always
He is "not ministered unto, but ministers."
(J. Laidlaw, D. D.)
The beginning of miracles
H. Macmillan, D. D.
All beginnings have a wonderful interest to us. There is a peculiar pleasure in
tracing a broad deep river, that bears upon its bosom the commerce ofa
nation, to its source far up among the mountains, in a little well whose
overflowing waters a child's hand could stop; or in going back to the origin of

a mighty nation like the Roman, in the drifting ashore, atthe footof the
Palatine Hill, of the ark that containedthe infant founders. Institutions, social
or benevolent, that have been establishedfor ages, derive a fresh charm from
the considerationoftheir first feeble commencement, and the contrast
betweenwhat they were then and what they are now. There is a mystery
about a cloud coming all at once into the blue sky, a starappearing suddenly
amid the twilight shades, a spring welling up in the midst of a sandy plain. It
seems as if something new were being createdbefore our eyes. A sense ofawe
comes overus, as if brought into contactwith another world. I have had this
curious feeling when coming unexpectedly upon the habitat of a very rare
plant. This peculiar charm of novelty belongs especiallyto the origin of sacred
institutions-to the beginning of the gospelofJesus Christ, the performance of
the first miracle, the formation of the Christian Church, and the production
of the New Testamentwritings. The thought that there was a time when these
things had no existence, thatfor thirty years Jesus wrought no miracle, that
the first believers in the gospelin Judea, Corinth, and Rome had no New
Testament, gives a vividness to the feelings with which we regard them, brings
back the freshness that has evaporatedwith long familiarity. The miracle of
Cana comes into the midst of the previous natural life of Jesus like a star out
of the blue profound, like a wellout of the dry mountain side, like a rare,
unknown flower appearing among the common indigenous plants of a spot. It
brings us out of the narrow wall that hems us round, to the verge of God's
infinity, where we can look over into the fathomless gulf. It is the first act of
the new creation, in which a new life-potency enteredinto what at the time
existed, and calledforth a new development. It gave to the stream of the
world's course a new motion and a new direction, without which it would have
become a stagnantbog — a dead sea. It is the base of that wonderful miracle
structure of the gospel, ofwhich the resurrection is the pinnacle.
(H. Macmillan, D. D.)
The first miracle
F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.

How well fitted this miracle is, in its character, to introduce the train which
succeededit; to open the wonderful order of instructions, doctrines, and
works which was afterwards developed;to be, as it was, the first miracle. The
glory of the natural day is not manifested forth in the morning by a blaze of
meridian splendour. The light is mild and soft which first peeps from behind
the hill-tops, or flushes from the bed of ocean. So it was with "the glorious
gospelof the blessedGod." Its first manifestation by miracle was like the
spreading dawn. It blended with the joyous accompaniments ofa festive
occasionand the kind sympathies of domestic life: It came like a nuptial
blessing to a young pair who were just commencing the journey of life
together. By-and-by we shall see it among the sick, the maimed, and the blind,
healing infirmities, and restoring the lostfaculties of sense. By-and-by we shall
see it in the dark death chamber and the darker tomb, dispelling the darkness
and raising the dead. Then we shall find no want of elevation. Then our minds
will be filled and overpoweredby its sublimity. But now let us do justice to its
loveliness, and admire its first approachto the children of men.
(F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.)
Christ's first miracle
H. Macmillan, LL. D.
The first of a series gives the keyto the whole. The first animals or plants have
been combining types, i.e, have united in themselves the characters ofseveral
familes now widely separated. So the earliesthuman lives were typical. The
first notes of a song suggestallthat is necessaryto make the harmony. And
the first miracle enters into all the other miracles that Jesus did, and combines
in itself the elements of them all.
1. It is a work of mercy.
2. It is an emblem of a higher spiritual blessing.

3. It is a prophecy of the new genesis.Likeanilluminated initial letter, which
contains in itself an illustrated epitome of the contents of the whole chronicle,
it appropiately begins the series ofChrist's beneficent works by a beautiful
picture of the nature and designof them all.
I. IT LINKS THE WORK OF THE SECOND ADAM WITH THAT OF THE
FIRST. Adam's disobedience turned paradise into a wilderness. Christ's
obedience turns the wilderness into paradise.
II. IT SHOWS THE RESTORATION OF NATURE AS WELL AS
HUMANITY. Man's sin brought barrenness:Christ's work restores
fruitfulness. And as nature shared the effects ofthe fall with man, it will
participate also in the effects of redemption. This miracle is the first step in
the process.
III. IT COMBINESTHE GOSPELWITH THE PRECEDING
DISPENSATIONS. Moses couldonly sweetenthe waters of Marsh — only
ameliorate the bitter spring of human sin, and reform men. Jesus turns the
waterinto wine and regeneratesmen.
IV. THE OCCASION WAS ONE OF TRANSCENDENTIMPORTANCE. In
this respectit is the first in order of rank as well as time.
1. As a human institution marriage stands at the head of all others, originating
in paradise and surviving the wreck of .the fall.
2. As a type of heavenly mystery it stands first in importance and
significance.(1)The union of those attributes of love and power in God, from

which creationhad its birth and has its continuance.(2)The union of Divine
influences and human experiences in the soul which forms the kingdom of
heaven within.(3) The union of the Saviour and the Church.
V. THE MIRACLE WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT OF ALL, if any
gradationcan be allowed. There was here no co-operationoffaith. It was not
the purification and assistanceofa natural function, but a creationde novo.
(H. Macmillan, LL. D.)
The miracle as a sign
G. T. Purves.
I. OF CHRIST'S MISSION. It was none the less significantbecause wrought
for a temporary purpose. Man's need of Christ appears in trifling as well as
conspicuous ways. Foodis common. place, but it is an universal need.
1. The act was significantof the joyous and abundant feastHe was about to
spread for all people.
2. The moment in which it was wrought, when the wine had failed, is a sign of
the factthat Christ waits till man's own powers are exhaustedbefore giving
His grace. Hence He delayed His advent till the world was exhaustedwith its
efforts to find peace and holiness. The pagan religions were exhausted.
Philosophy had failed to solve the problems of life. So we do not receive the
fuiness of Christ till convincedof our helplessness andready to depend on
Divine grace.
3. The nature of the miracle, the creationof the wine out of water, not out of
nothing, is a sign that —(1) He had come not to create a new world, but to

transform the old;(2) Notto establisha new religion, but to transform
Judaism;(3) Not to produce new characters, but to regenerate stoners. He has
poor material to work upon. Human nature is as weak and cold as water. But
as He made goodand warming wine, so He will strengthen our humanity and
fill it with the love of God.
II. OF THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST.
1. Of His grace and glory (John 1:14, 17).
2. Of His naturalness. He was thoroughly at home, and revealed the natural
union of a pure humanity with a Divine life; sympathizing with human joys,
as at Bethany with human griefs. Religiondoes not break the sweetties which
God has formed betweenman and man.
3. Of His mindfulness of His greatobject. We see this in His conversationwith
His mother, which shows us to remember in societythat the chief end of man
is to glorify God, and that no earthly joy or work must be allowedto unfit us
for that.
(G. T. Purves.)
The miracle as a sign
J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.
In respectof —
I. NATURE.

1. It was a miracle in itself, apart from all surrounding circumstances. Whatis
an everyday occurrence in one climate may be a rare wonder in another. To
an inhabitant of the tropic the freezing of waterwould be a miracle. The feats
of a chemist would pass for supernatural in the first, but be put down as
strictly natural in the nineteenth century. But Christ's miracles are miracles
all the world over and all the ages through.
2. The miracle was not performed till nature was exhausted. His hour did not
come till the wine had actually failed. This always characterizesHis
interpositions. All He cured were incurable. This is a sign that we may
calculate on His presence in extremity. When your earthly wine is all gone, He
will come to your relief.
3. This miracle in its results is repeatedevery year. Miracles are explanatory
notes revealing the secretprocessesofmaterial phenomena, signs of the power
that is everywhere and always at work. He turned the waterinto wine once;
He does so still.
II. SOCIETY.
1. It was performed in a wedding. John the Baptist was an ascetic;will Christ
be one? The Jews lookedfora king; will Christ then claim the throne? Christ
was not an ascetic,for He went to a wedding. He was not a dignitary, for it
was a wedding of ordinary people. This was a sign then that He belonged to
Society.

2. The miracle was performed at the feast. Jesus was alwaysthe .antagonistof
suffering and the source ofjoy. The thing here signified is that if there is a
time to weepthere is also a time to rejoice.
3. It was performed at a marriage feastfor the purpose of beneficence, to
point out the difference betweenthe Old Testamentmiracles and those of the
New, and to show the different characterof the two dispensations.
4. It was a miracle of luxury. Wine was not needful to maintain life; loaves
and fishes were. This is a sign then that man does not live by bread alone, but
is permitted to go after the beautiful in every form. Is it sinful to have pictures
whilst the heathen be unreclaimed? There is no reasonwhy Englishmen
should be half-civilized because Kaffirs are altogetherbarbarous. Becausethe
potato is the more useful plant of the two, that is not to say that the rose is
unnecessary.
5. The miracle is a sign that self-restraintshould be practiced in the midst of
abundance.
III. CHRIST'S PERSON.
1. He had not to acquire glory, bat only to manifest it. He manifestedit here as
the Sovereignofnature.
2. As a consequence His disciples believed in Him. They did so before. This
confirmed them. Miracles cannotconvince unbelievers. It was the disciples,
not the guests, who believed.

(J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)
The first miracle of Christ the sneaking expressionofHis life and work
J. P. Lange.
I. OF HIS PERSON,in which the earthly human nature becomes a heavenly:
the essential, genuine Vine (John 15:1).
II. OF THE POWER OF HIS LOVE which transformed the waterof earthly
need into the wine of heavenly joy: brings forth judgment unto victory, makes
blessednessout of Divine sorrow.
III. OF HIS DIVINE WORKS, in which is everywhere reflected His main
work of bringing to pass the new birth of mankind from the earthly kingdom
into the heavenly.
IV. OF HIS LAST WORK The glorificationof the world.
(J. P. Lange.)
The beginning of signs
E. L. Hull, B. A.
I. CHRIST'S SYMPATHY WITH THE RELATIONSHIPS AND
GLADNESS OF MAN'S LIFE. That was a new thing in the world, the sign of
a new spirit that was to pervade mankind. There is a strong tendency in
human nature to associatelofty morality with rigorous sternness oflife: the
prophets; John the Baptist; monks. But here Christ mingles with the gladness
of a wedding feast, and exerts His supernatural power to supply a festive need.
This implied —

1. That earthly life was to be glorified by the heavenly.
2. That human love is not to be carnalized, but made Divine.
3. That human relationships do not clashwith the love of God, but are to
become powerful instruments for aiding it.
4. That no sphere is too common for Christ to sanctify.
II. CHRIST BESTOWEDON COMMON THINGS A HIGHER POWER IN
ORDER TO AWAKEN HUMAN GLADNESS. This signifies the elevation by
Him of the natural into the Divine, of the common into the uncommon. Here
againwas a new thing to the world. To Christ's eye nothing was
commonplace;not the lowestman nor the plainest life. His mission was to
glorify the old and familiar.
III. Combining these two features, we see that LIFE IN ALL ITS COMMON
RELATIONSHIPS AND COMMON TOILS IS TO BE A MANIFESTATION
AND SERVICE OF CHRIST. In human friendship we are to serve Christ,
and in our daily work to glorify Him. Life throughout, with its joys and
sorrows, is to be transformed. How is this to be done? Notice —
1. That the characterof a man's deeds is determined by their inner motive,
not by their outward form.
2. This sanctity is attained through the power of Christ's love.

IV. THE RESULTS WHICH WOULD FLOW FROM THE ATTAINMENT
OF THIS.
1. Life would become a constantmanifestationof Christ.
2. Life would be a constanteducation for the heavenly.
3. It would give us the assurance ofeternalfellowship.
(E. L. Hull, B. A.)
Miracles as signs
W. M. Taylor, D. D.
The term "sign" denotes in its simplest usage —
1. A means of identification (Luke 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 3:17).
2. A proof or evidence furnished by one setof facts to the reality and
genuineness ofanother (2 Corinthians 12:12).
3. A symbol or emblem (Ezekiel4:3). Now the miracles of Christ were signs in
all these three senses. They identified Him as the Messiahforetoldin
prophecy; they authenticated Him as the Son of God, and furnished evidence
of the truth of the claims which He put forth; and they were emblems in the
material sphere of the blessings which He came to bestow in the spiritual, and

of the manner in which they were to be receivedby those whom He designed
to benefit.
(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Manifestedforth His glory
The first miracle an Epiphany of Christ
Canon Liddon.
This glory is undoubtedly Christ's Divine glory" full of grace and truth"; the
effulgence of His perfections translated so as to bring them within the reachof
sense. And when John says that Christ manifested forth His glory he implies
that although it had been almost entirely hidden for years, yet, like the sun
behind the clouds, it had all along been lying below the surface. The miracle
rolled away the clouds from the face of the sun.
I. CHRIST'S GLORY WAS SEEN IN HIS ENTIRE CONTROLOVER
NATURE. Powerover nature always excites our admiration. But why is it
that the man of science,whose genius cantame or discipline steam or
electricity, wins so deep and universal an enthusiasm? Not because the feat
has the charm of novelty, nor because it is an enrichment of man's life and an
addition to his comfort, but because there is in him, at an immeasurable
distance, an approximation to God. And yet we canexplain it by natural
causes whichfall within the range of experience. But a miracle passes that
line. And since we know that order is a principle which belongs to the very life
of the Creatoras well as to His administration, we conclude that He will not
depart from His ordinary rules without some reason, and that no one but
Himself can dispense with them. And thus in a miracle God is actively present,
not as authorizing anarchy, but suspending some lower law to give play to
some higher. The outward miracle arrests man's reasonand imagination to
behold in it the manifestedglory of the Lord of Nature. Had we witnessedit,
should we have recognizedit as what it was? Yes, if we can say with the Te

Deum that earth as well as heavenis full of the majesty of God's glory. No, if
we see in nature only the operation of self-existentlaws.
II. THE GLORY OF SPIRITUAL TRUTH, an unveiling of the laws whereby
the King of the new spiritual empire would governHis subjects.
1. Nature is ever being silently changedinto something higher and better than
when Christ found it. What is Holy Scripture but the waterof what might
have been a human literature changedby the Spirit of Christ into the inspired
Word of God? That which was mere good-nature becomes Divine charity by
grace:that which was only well-exercisedreasonorfarsightedjudgment
becomes faith: all the natural virtues are transformed into the spiritual. So it
was at the first. The Sanhedrim were perplexed at the intellectual and moral
powerof the illiterate apostles. The Roman proconsuls were bewilderedat the
majestic constancyof poor men and weak womenand children. And so it is
now.
2. The law of continuous improvement from goodto better and from better to
best. The real Giver of the goodwine does not fascinate by the charm of His
earliestgifts and then give to the jaded faculties His poorer graces. In His
service the spiritual senses do not follow the law of bodily decay, they gain
with advancing years, and require and receive higher nutriment.
III. THE GLORY OF HIS CONDESCENDING AND TENDER CHARITY.
1. Christ here began that life of condescensionbefore men which was involved
in His incarnation, and which He followedheedless of slanderand
misconstruction.

2. Christ here shot forth a ray of that glorious love which redeemedthe world.
His whole actionis markedwith tender consideration;He saves this poor
couple from the disappointment of being unable to entertain their friends; He
adds to their store, but in such a manner as to lay them under no
embarrassing obligationto Himself. So God bestows His blessings so
unobtrusively that we forgetthe Giver, but here, as ever, would teach us to
imitate Him when we bestow ours.
(Canon Liddon.)
The lessonofEpiphany
Bp. Magee.
Considerthis miracle in the light of the service for the SecondSunday in
Epiphany.
I. THE COLLECT, which is a prayer for peace. The Collects are supposedto
collectthe subject of the Gospeland Epistle. But the gospelis a miracle of
plenty, a contrastedidea to that of peace. There may be lavish plenty when
there is no peace — there may be deep peace whenthere is little plenty. And
yet in the deepest, truest sense of the terms they are one. Their separationis
only temporary and accidental. Forwhat is peace? Perfectlysatisfieddesire.
Disquiet is want of satisfaction. But in spiritual and intelligent creatures there
must be the satisfactionofthe whole nature. If man be body, spirit, and soul,
if any one of these be unsatisfied, he cannot be at rest. In vain you satisfy
animal appetite and intellectual craving, if the hunger of the spirit be
unappeased. And men are not at peace, becauseofthe first greatmistake that
man made in his first sin when he withdrew the food for his soul. This food is
God. Man's sin was the determination to have the feastof body and mind
without this spiritual element, and the sin and misery of man ever since has
been to sit down to a banquet from which he has banished God. And God
forbid that without Him there should ever be peace:because it is the lack of

this plenty disquieting his soulthat leads him to God. God teaches this truth in
—
1. His Word.
2. His providence. Lest man should lose himself in sensualdelights God drove
him from Eden. Sometimes Godshows us how poor the gift is without the
Giver; sometimes how blessedthe Giver is without the gift, and better by
giving Himself with the gift. This is the highest of all states, evenheaven itself.
This the true peace and plenty our Fathermeant us to have. It is our sin that
has setthem in antagonism.
II. Now turn to the Gospel. We see Christ giving back to men the lacking
plenty of their feasts. The wine had run low. He renews it in lavish abundance
that He may tell as in symbol that for the renovatedman the amplest
enjoyment of God's gift is consistentwith perfectpeace. Christ has come to
tell us that we need Him and may have Him in all our joys.
III. THE EPISTLE teaches us that there is an Epiphany amongstmen as
there was once an Epiphany to men. In the GospelChrist gave Himself and
His bestgift to us. In the Epistle Christ calls upon us to show Him forth to
men by giving ourselves and our gifts to others. That is the very reasonHe
gave Himself to us. "Freelyye have received;freely gird"; fill to the brim the
means of helping another's need: your material, intellectual, and spiritual
wealth.
(Bp. Magee.)

The glory of the Virgin Mother
F. W. Robertson, M. A.
1. Forthirty years Christ had done no miracle: which is itself worthy to be
calleda miracle. He was content to live in obscurity till His hour was come.
This is true greatness.In all the works of God there is a conspicuous absence
of haste. Six slow days and nights of creative force before man was made. Two
thousand years to discipline and form a Jewishpeople:four thousand years of
darkness, ignorance,and crime before the fulness of the time. Whatever
contradicts the Divine plan must pay the price of haste — brief duration.
2. St. Paul speaks ofthe glory of woman as distinct from that of man. Their
provinces are not the same, and the qualities which are prominent and
beautiful in the one are the reverse in the other. The glory of her who was
highly favoured among women was different from that of her Son in degree —
the one was human, the other was more: in order the one manifesting the
grace ofwomanhood, the other the majesty and wisdom of manhood in which
God dwelt. The glory of the Virgin consistedin —
I. HER CONSIDERATENESS. There is gentle womanly tact in the words
"They have no wine." Unselfish thoughtfulness about other's comforts;
delicate anxiety to save a straitenedfamily from the exposure of their poverty.
So in old times, with thoughtful hospitality, Rebekahofferedwaterto
Abraham's waywornservant. So Martha showedher devotion even to excess.
So the women ministered of their substance.
II. SUBMISSION. "WhatsoeverHe saith unto you, do it." Here is the true
spirit of obedience. Notslavishness, but loyalty to and trust in a person whom
we reverence. Submission at the outset of the Bible is revealedas woman's lot
and destiny. The curse of obedience, as that of labour, transformed by Christ
into a blessing. This blessing twofold.

1. Freedomfrom doubt. Mary felt no perplexity at the rebuke. A more
masculine mind would have been made sullen and sceptical. Marycould not
understand, but she could trust and wait. So with the Syro-Phoenician
woman, Mental doubt rarely touches women. Soldiers and sailors do not
doubt. Prompt, unquestioning obedience is the soilfor faith.
2. Prevailing power with God. The Saviour's look promised, probably, more
than His words. Prayeris a deep mystery to the masculine intellect. "How,"
says Logic, "canman's will modify the will of God? Where, then, lies the use
of it?" But there is something mightier than intellect, truer than logic — the
faith that works by love.
III. PURITY OF HEART AND LIFE.
1. Gradually the recognitionof this became idolatry. Why? Before Christ the
qualities honoured as Divine were probably masculine — Courage, Wisdom,
Truth, Strength. But Christ proclaimed Meekness, Obedience, Affection,
Purity — graces distinctly feminine. Mensought to give these new ideas
embodiment, and they found them embodied in the Virgin Mother.
2. The only corrective for this idolatry is the perfecthumanity of Jesus Christ.
His heart had in it the blended qualities of both sexes, andwhen we have
learned that in Christ there is all that is manly and all that is womanly, we are
safe from Mariolatry.
(F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The glory of the Divine Son

F. W. Robertson, M. A.
I. THIS GLORY DID NOT BEGIN WITH THE MIRACLE, THE,
MIRACLE ONLY MANIFESTEDIT. And if instead of rousing men to see
the glory of Christ the miracle merely fastened attention on itself, the whole
intention of a miracle is lost. To the wise man the lightning only manifests the
electric force which is everywhere, and which for one moment has become
visible. As often as he sees it it reminds him that the lightning Slumbers in the
dew-drop, in the mist, and in the cloud, and binds togetherevery atom of
waterthat he uses in daily life. But to the vulgar mind the lightning is unique,
a something which has no existence until it appears. So to the half-believer a
miracle is the one solitary evidence of God. But to the true disciple a miracle
only manifests the powerand love which are at work everywhere. It is not
more glory, but only glory more manifested when waterat His bidding passes
at once into wine. And if you do not feel as David felt, God's presence in the
annual miracle, and that it is God which in the vintage causethwine to make
glad the heart of man, this miracle would not have given you conviction of His
presence. "Ifyou hear not Moses and the prophets," etc. This deep truth of
miracles most men miss. They believe that Jesus was Divine because He
workedmiracles. But it is by powerless Divine that the same Being bears
witness to truth, forgives His enemies, makes it His meat and drink to do His
Father's will?
II. IT WAS THE GLORY OF CHRIST TO DECLARE THE SACREDNESS
OF ALL THINGS NATURAL.
1. All natural relationships. John the Baptist's was the highest form of
religious life knownto Israel. His was a life of solitariness. Christgoes to a
marriage to declare the sacrednessoffeelings which had been reckonedcarnal
and low. For it is through our human affections that the soul first yearns after
God, and it is to them that the Infinite reveals Himself: and by an earthly
relationship God has typified to us the only true espousal — the marriage of
the soulto her eternal Lord.

2. The sacredness ofall natural enjoyments. To saythat this was a religious
ceremonyis sophistry; and to say that although Christ was there it would not
be safe for us to go, is to overlook the fact that His disciples were there. No!
the temptation was past, the ministry of John was over; and now the
Bridegroomcomes into She world in the true glory of the Messiah — not in a
life of asceticism, but in a life of godliness;not separating from life, but
consecrating it. The ascetic life is more striking, easier, add more reputable.
But the life of Him who was called"a man gluttonous and a wine bibber, a
friend of publicans and sinners" was far harder, but it was heavenlier.
(F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The manifestationof Christ's glory
Bishop Barry.
I. The manifestation of Jesus Christ is the only true essence ofour
Christianity.
II. The manifestationof Jesus Christis the true evidence of our Christianity.
III. The manifestation of Christ to others is the one greatevangelistic duty of
the Christian and of the Church.
(Bishop Barry.)
The peculiar glory of Christ
J. Fawcett, M. A.
Moses was notsaid to manifest his glory when he turned waterinto blood; nor
Paul, nor Peter, nor any of the apostles, to manifest their glory in the miracles

which they wrought. Why this peculiarity of language in the ease ofChrist?
Was it not from the peculiarity of His person — God as well as man?
(J. Fawcett, M. A.)
The glory of conquest
G. T. Purves.
As the first ray of the morning reveals the glorious light which is soonto flood
heaven and earth, so the first miracle of Jesus revealedthe glory of Him who
had come to subdue all things unto Himself.
(G. T. Purves.)
Christ at a wedding
J. C. Jones.
You nowhere read of His being at a funeral. Why? Because marriage belongs
to the primeval order of creation, but funerals do not. Marriage is a part of
the originalprogramme of the universe, but death is an intrusion. He,
therefore, went to a marriage to vindicate the Divine order; He did not attend
funerals because they are incursions upon that order. He was the Everlasting
Life, and consequently could not join in the processionofdeath. Indeed, each
time He met death in His sojourn through the world, He could not but grapple
with him and compelhim to give up his prey.
(J. C. Jones.)
COMMENTARIES

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(11) This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, or, more exactly,
This did Jesus in Cana of Galilee as the beginning of His signs. The form of
the sentence makesit certain that it is the absolutelyfirst and not the first in
Cana which is meant.
It is important to note here that St. John uses only once, and that in our
Lord’s testof the courtier, and connectedwith “sign” (John 4:48), the word
which represents “miracle,” “wonder,” “portent,” andthat he nowhere uses
the word which represents “powers” or“mighty works.”Forhim they are
simply “works,” andthese “works” are “signs.” He thinks of our Lord as the
agentin all creation, and the source of all life (John 1:2-3); but this being so,
no display of power impresses him, and no wonder startles him. All is the
natural “work” ofthe divine worker;but like Himself, every work is also a
word. It speaks to him who hath ears to hear. It is a “sign” to him who can
spiritually interpret. That at His will water became wine, is as natural as that,
by that will, the rain passing through earth and vine and grape should become
wine. From his point of view both are equally explicable; from any other, both
are in ultimate analysis equally inexplicable. “Voici le vin qui tombe du ciel!”
is the Frenchpeasant’s expressionfor the one (comp. Trench’s note).
“The conscious watersaw its God, and blushed,”
[“Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit”]
is the English poet’s expressionfor the other.
This gives the key, then, to the selectionof “miracles” by St. John, and to their
interpretation. He gives those which mark stagesoffuller teaching. They are
“signs” ofa new revelation, and lead to a higher faith. What was the fuller

teaching in this first sign? The heart must seek to read it. Words canonly seek
to guide. Would not those Jews rememberthe first miracle of Moses, and
later, if not then, see here the contrastbetweenthe Law which came by Moses,
and the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17)? Would not
those exactobservers of traditional rites see a living principle growing out of
the rite practised at every meal (comp. Mark 7:3, Note), and feel that it is the
letter which killeth, it is the Spirit which giveth life? Would not those who
thought of Him as the Messianic King of Israelread in His presence atthe
festaltide of family life the meaning of the claim to be Sonof Humanity?
Would not the followers ofthe hermit John learn that Christianity’s message
is not for the wilderness, but for the hearts of men; and that its life is not one
of seclusionfrom the world, but of moral power in it (John 17:15)? Would not
those who had heard the Baptist’s record, and had felt and uttered their own
convictions, hear now the secretvoice of Nature joining in the witness? Some
such thoughts as these came to them in a fulness of power they had not known
before. It was to them as a new manifestationof His glory, and the disciples
againbelieved.
The other signs recordedin this Gospelare, the Healing of the ruler’s son
(John 4:46-54); and of the impotent man at Bethesda (John5:1-9); the
Feeding of the five thousand (John 6:5-59); the Walking on the sea (John 6:15-
21); the Giving of sight to the man born blind (John 9:1-7); the Raising of
Lazarus (John 11); the Draught of Fishes (John 21:1-8) See Notes onthese
passages, and on John 20:30.
[(3) JESUS MANIFESTSHIMSELF PUBLICLY (John 2:12 to John 4:54):
(a)In Jerusalem—the Temple (John 2:12-22);
(b)In Jerusalem—the city (John 2:23 to John 3:21);

Nicodemus:The new birth (John 2:1-8);
Belief(John 2:9-15);
Judgment (John 2:16-21);
(c)In Judœa (John 3:22-36). The Baptist.]
MacLaren's Expositions
John
JESUS THE JOY-BRINGER
THE FIRST MIRACLE IN CANA - THE WATER MADE WINE
John 2:11.
The keynote of this Gospelwas struck in the earlier verses of the first chapter
in the greatwords, ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we
beheld His glory, full of grace and truth.’ To these words there is an evident
reference in this language. The Evangelistregards Christ’s first miracle as the
first ray of that forth-flashing glory of the Incarnate Word. To this Evangelist
all miracles are especiallyimportant as being signs, which is the word he
generallyemploys to designate them. They are not mere portents, but

significant revelations as well as wonders. It is not, I think, accidentalthat
there are just seven miracles of our Lord’s, before His crucifixion, recorded
by John, and one of the Risen Lord.
These signs are all set forth by the Evangelistas manifestations of various
aspects ofthat one white light, of uncreatedglory which rays from Christ.
They are, if I may so say, the sevenfold colours into which the one beam is
analysed. Eachof them might be lookedat in turn as presenting some fresh
thought of what the ‘glory . . . full of grace and truth’ is.
I begin with the first of the series. What, then, is the ‘glory of the only
BegottenSon’which flashes forth upon us from the miracle? My object is
simply to try to answerthat question for you.
I. First, then, we see here the revelation of His creative power.
It is very noteworthy that the miraculous fact is veiled entirely in the
narrative. Not a word is said of the method of operation, it is not even said
that the miracle was wrought; we are only told what precededit, and what
followedit. Itself is shrouded in deep silence. The servants fill the water-pots.-
’Draw out now,’ and they draw, ‘and bear it to the governor of the feast.’
Where the miraculous act comes in we do not know;what was its nature we
cannot tell. How far it extended is left obscure. Was all the large quantity of
waterin these six greatvessels ofstone transformed into wine, or was the
change effectedin the moment when the portion that was wantedwas drawn
from them and on that portion only? We cannot answerthe question.
Probably, I think, the latter; but at all events a veil is dropped overthe fact.

Only this, we see that in this miracle, even more conspicuouslythan in any
other of our Lord’s, there are no means at all employed. Sometimes He used
material vehicles, anointing a man’s eyes with clay, or moistening the earwith
the spittle; sometimes sending a man to bathe in the Poolof Siloam;
sometimes laying His hand on the sick;sometimes healing from a distance by
the mere utterance of His word. But here there is not even a word; no means
of any kind employed, but the silent forth-putting of His will, which, without
token, without visible audible indication of any sort, passes with sovereign
powerinto the midst of material things and there works according to His own
purpose. Is not this the signature of divinity, that without means the mere
forth-putting of the will is all that is wanted to mould matter as plastic to His
command? It is not even, ‘He spake and it was done,’ but silently He willed,
and ‘the consciouswaterknew its Lord, and blushed.’ This is the glory of the
Incarnate Word.
Now that was no interruption of the order of things establishedin the
Creation. There was no suspensionof natural laws here. What happened was
only this, that the powerwhich generallyworks through mediating links came
into immediate connectionwith the effect. What does it matter whether your
engine transmits its powers through half a dozen cranks, or two or three less?
What does it matter whether the chain be longer or shorter? Some
parentheticallinks are dropped here, that is all that is unusual. For in all
ordinary natural operations, as we call them, the profound prologue of this
Gospelteaches us to believe that Christ, the Eternal Word, works according
to His will. He was the Agent of creation. He is the Agent of that preservation
which is only a continual creation. In Him is life, and all living things live
because ofthe continual presence and operationupon them of His divine
power. And againI say, what is phenomenal and unusual in this miracle is but
the suppressionof two or three of the connecting links betweenthe continual
cause ofall creaturalexistences, andits effect. So let us learn that whether
through a long chain of so-calledcauses, orwhether close up againstthe
effect, without the intervention of these parentheticaland transmitting media,
the divine powerworks. The power is one, and the reasonfor the effect is one,
that Christ ever works in the world, and is that Eternal Word, ‘without whom

was not anything made that was made.’ ‘This beginning of miracles did Christ
. . . and manifested His glory.’
II. Then, again, we see here, I think, the revelationof one greatpurpose of our
Lord’s coming, to hallow all common, and especiallyall family, life.
What a strange contrastthere is betweenthe simple gladness ofthe rustic
village wedding and the tremendous scene of the Temptation in the
wilderness, which precededit only by a few days! What a strange contrast
there is betweenthe sublime heights of the first chapter and the homely
incident which opens the ministry! What a contrastbetweenthe rigid
asceticismof the Forerunner, ‘who came neither eating nor drinking,’ and the
Son of Man, who enters thus freely and cheerfully into the common joys and
relationships of human nature! How unlike the scene at the marriage-feast
must have been to the anticipations of the half-dozen disciples that had
gatheredround Him, all a-tingling with expectationas to what would be the
first manifestationof His Messianic power!The last thing they would have
dreamed of would have been to find Him in the humble home in Cana of
Galilee. Some people say ‘this miracle is unworthy of Him, for it was wrought
upon such a trivial occasion.’And was it a trivial occasionthat prompted Him
thus to commence His career, not by some high and strained and remote
exhibition of more than human saintliness or power, but by entering like a
Brother into the midst of common, homespun, earthly joys, and showing how
His presence ennobledand sanctifiedthese? Surely the world has gained from
Him, among the many gifts that He has given to it, few that have been the
fountain of more sacredsweetnessandblessedness thanis opened in that fact
that the first manifestation of His glory had for its result the hallowing of the
marriage tie.
And is it not in accordancewith the whole meaning and spirit of His works
that ‘forasmuch as the brethren were partakers of’ anything, ‘He Himself

likewise should take part of the same,’and sanctify every incident of life by
His sharing of it? So He protests againstthat faithless and wickeddivision of
life into sacredand secular, whichhas wrought such harm both in the sacred
and in the secularregions. So He protests againstthe notion that religion has
to do with anotherworld rather than with this. So He protests againstthe
narrowing conceptionof His work which would remove from its influence
anything that interests humanity. So He says, as it were, at the very beginning
of His career, ‘I am a Man, and nothing that is human do I reckonforeignto
Myself.’
Brethren! let us learn the lessonthat all life is the regionof His Kingdom; that
the sphere of His rule is everything which a man can do or feel or think. Let
us learn that where His footsteps have trod is hallowedground. If a prince
shares for a few moments in the festivities of his gatheredpeople on some
greatoccasion, how ennobled the feastseems!If he joins in their sports or in
their occupations for a while as an actof condescension, how they return to
them with renewedvigour! And so we. We have had our King in the midst of
all our family life, in the midst of all our common duties; therefore are they
consecrated. Letus learn that all things done with the consciousnessofHis
presence are sacred. He has hallowedevery cornerof human life by His
presence;and the consecration, like some pungent and perennial perfume,
lingers for us yet in the else scentlessairof daily life, if we follow His footsteps.
Sanctity is not singularity. There is no need to withdraw from any regionof
human activity and human interest in order to developthe whitest saintliness,
the most Christlike purity. The saint is to be in the world, but not of it; like
the Master, who went straight from the wilderness and its temptations to the
homely gladness ofthe rustic marriage.
III. Still further, we have here a symbol of Christ’s glory as the ennobler and
heightener of all earthly joys.

That may be taken with perhaps a permissible play of fancy as one meaning,
at any rate, of the transformation of water into wine; the less savoury and
fragrant and powerful liquid into the more so. Wine, in the Old Testament
especially, is the symbol of gladness, andthough it receiveda deeper and a
sacredermeaning in the New Testament as being the emblem of His blood
shed for us, it is the Old Testamentpoint of view that prevails here. And
therefore, I say, we may readin the incident the symbol of His transforming
power. He comes, the Man of Sorrows, withthe gift of joy in His hand. It is
not an unworthy object-notunworthy, I mean, of a divine sacrifice-to make
men glad. It is worth His while to come from Heaven to agonise andto die, in
order that He may sprinkle some drops of incorruptible and everlasting joy
over the weary and sorrowfulhearts of earth. We do not always give its true
importance to gladness in the economyof our lives, because we are so
accustomedto draw our joys from ignoble sources thatin most of our joys
there is something not altogethercreditable or lofty. But Christ came to bring
gladness, and to transform its earthly sources into heavenly fountains; and so
to change all the less sweet, satisfying, andpotent draughts which we take
from earth’s cisterns into the wine of the Kingdom; the new wine, strong and
invigorating, ‘making glad the heart of man.’
Our commonestblessings, ourcommonestjoys, if only they be not foul and
filthy, are capable of this transformation. Link them with Christ; be glad in
Him. Bring Him into your mirth, and it will change its character. Like a taper
plunged into a jar of oxygen, it will blaze up more brightly. Earth, at its best
and highest, without Him is like some fair landscape lying in the shadow;and
when He comes to it, it is like the same scene whenthe sun blazes out upon it,
flashes from every bend of the rippling river, brings beauty into many a shady
corner, opens all the flowering petals and sets all the birds singing in the sky.
The whole scene changes whena beam of light from Him falls upon earthly
joys. He will transform them and ennoble them and make them perpetual. Do
not meddle with mirth over which you cannotmake the sign of the Cross and

ask Him to bless it; and do not keepHim out of your gladness, orit will leave
bitterness on your lips, howsoeversweetit tastes at first.
Ay! and not only can this Mastertransform the water at the marriage feast
into the wine of gladness, but the cups that we all carry, into which our tears
have dropped-upon these too He can lay His hand and change them into cups
of blessing and of salvation.
‘Blessedare they . . . who, passing through the valley of weeping, gathertheir
tears into a well; the rain also coverethit with blessings.’ So the old Psalmput
the thought that sorrow may be turned into a solemnjoy, and may lie at the
foundation of our most flowery fruitfulness. And the same lessonwe may
learn from this symbol. The Christ who transforms the waterof earthly
gladness into the wine of heavenly blessedness, cando the same thing for the
bitter waters of sorrow, and can make them the occasionsofsolemn joy.
When the leaves drop we see through the bare branches. Shivering and cold
they may look, but we see the stars beyond, and that is better. ‘This beginning
of miracles’ will Jesus repeatin every sad heart that trusts itself to Him.
IV. And last of all, we have here a token of His glory as supplying the
deficiencies ofearthly sources.
‘His mother saith unto Him, “They have no wine.”‘The world’s banquet runs
out, Christ supplies an infinite gift. These greatwater-pots that stood there, if
the whole contents of them were changed, as is possible, containedfar more
than sufficient for the modest wants of the little company. The waterthat
flowed from eachof them, in obedience to the touch of the servant’s hand, if
the change were effectedthen, as is possible, would flow on so long as any
thirsted or any asked. And Christ gives to eachof us, if we choose, a fountain
that will spring unto life eternal. And when the world’s platters are empty,

and the world’s cups are all drained dry, He will feed and satisfy the immortal
hunger and the blessedthirst of every spirit that longs for Him.
The rude speechof the governorof the feastmay lend itself to another aspect
of this same thought. He said, in jesting surprise, ‘Thou hast kept the good
wine until now,’ whereas the world gives its best first, and when the palate is
dulled and the appetite diminished, then ‘that which is worse.’How true that
is; how tragically true in some of our lives! In the individual the early days of
hope and vigour, when all things were fresh and wondrous, when everything
was apparelled in the glory of a dream, contrastmiserably with the bitter
experiences oflife that most of us have made. Habit comes, and takes the edge
off everything. We drag remembrance, like a lengthening chain, through all
our life; and with remembrance come remorse and regret. ‘The vision
splendid’ no more attends men, as they plod on their way through the
weariness ofmiddle life, or pass down into the deepening shadows of
advancing and solitary old age. The best comes first, for the men who have no
goodbut this world’s. And some of you have got nothing in your cups but
dregs that you scarcelycare to drink.
But Jesus Christkeeps the best till the last. His gifts become sweeterevery
day. No time cancloy them. Advancing years make them more precious and
more necessary. The end is better in this course than the beginning. And when
life is over, and we pass into the heavens, the word will come to our lips, with
surprise and with thankfulness, as we find how much better it all is than we
had ever dreamed it should be: ‘Thou hastkept the goodwine until now.’
Oh, my brother! do not touch that cup that is offeredto you by the harlot
world, spiced and fragrant and foaming; ‘at the last it biteth like a serpent,
and stingeth like an adder.’ But take the pure joys which the Christ, loved,
trusted, obeyed, summoned to your feastand welcomedin your heart, will

bring to you; and these shall grow and greatenuntil the perfectionof the
Heavens.
BensonCommentary
John 2:11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus, &c. — Grotius supposes the
meaning to be, that this was the first miracle wrought at Cana, another being
afterward mentioned, John 4:46. But it is plain there must have been a long
series ofmiracles wrought here to justify such a manner of speaking, which
doth not at all appear to have been the case. The sense ofthe expressionseems
much rather to be, that this was the first of Christ’s public miracles; for
probably the necessitiesofthe family might sometimes have engagedhim to
have done something miraculous in private for its relief. And manifested forth
his glory — And that in such an illustrious manner, that his fame was spread
over all the neighbouring country; and his disciples believed on him —
Namely, more steadfastlythan before. Being the first miracle they had ever
seenJesus perform, it tended not a little to the confirmation of their faith.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:1-11 It is very desirable when there is a marriage, to have Christ own and
bless it. Those that would have Christ with them at their marriage, must invite
him by prayer, and he will come. While in this world we sometimes find
ourselves in straits, even when we think ourselves in fulness. There was want
at a marriage feast. Those who are come to care for the things of the world,
must look for trouble, and count upon disappointment. In our addresses to
Christ, we must humbly spreadour case before him, and then refer ourselves
to him to do as he pleases. In Christ's reply to his mother there was no
disrespect. He used the same word when speaking to her with affectionfrom
the cross;yet it is a standing testimony againstthe idolatry of after-ages,in
giving undue honours to his mother. His hour is come when we know not what
to do. Delays of mercy are not denials of prayer. Those that expect Christ's
favours, must observe his orders with ready obedience. The way of duty is the
way to mercy; and Christ's methods must not be objectedagainst. The
beginning of Moses'miracles was turning waterinto blood, Ex 7:20; the
beginning of Christ's miracles was turning water into wine; which may

remind us of the difference betweenthe law of Moses andthe gospelofChrist.
He showedthat he improves creature-comforts to all true believers, and make
them comforts indeed. And Christ's works are all for use. Has he turned thy
waterinto wine, given thee knowledge andgrace? it is to profit withal;
therefore draw out now, and use it. It was the best wine. Christ's works
commend themselves even to those who know not their Author. What was
produced by miracles, always was the bestin its kind. Though Christ hereby
allows a right use of wine, he does not in the leastdo awayhis own caution,
which is, that our hearts be not at any time overchargedwith surfeiting and
drunkenness, Lu 21:34. Thoughwe need not scruple to feastwith our friends
on proper occasions,yet every socialinterview should be so conducted, that
we might invite the Redeemerto join with us, if he were now on earth; and all
levity, luxury, and excess offendhim.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
This beginning of miracles - This his first public miracle. This is declaredby
the sacredwriter to be a "miracle" - that is, an exertion of divine power,
producing a change of the substance of waterinto wine, which no human
powercould do.
Manifestedforth - Showed;exhibited.
His glory - His power, and proper characteras the Messiah;showedthat he
had divine power, and that God had certainly commissionedhim. This is
shown to be a real miracle by the following considerations:
1. Realwaterwas placedin the vessels. This the servants believed, and there
was no possibility of deception.
2. The water was placedwhere it was not customary to keepwine. It could not
be pretended that it was merely a mixture of water and wine.

3. It was judged to be wine without knowing whence it came. There was no
agreementbetweenJesus and the governor of the feastto impose on the
guests.
4. It was a change which nothing but divine powercould effect. He that can
change waterinto a substance like the juice of the grape must be clothed with
divine power.
Believedon him - This does not mean that they did not believe on him
beforehand, but that their faith was confirmed or strengthened. They saw a
miracle, and it satisfiedthem that he was the Messiah. "Before this" they
"believed" on the testimony of John, and from conversationwith Jesus John
1:35-51;now they saw that he was invested with almighty power, and their
faith was established.
From this narrative we may learn:
1. That marriage is honorable, and that Jesus, if sought, will not refuse his
presence and blessing on such an occasion.
2. On such an occasionthe presence and approbation of Christ should be
sought. No compactformed on earth is more important; none enters so deeply
into our comfort in this world; perhaps none will so much affect our destiny in
the world to come. It should be entered into, then, in the fear of God.
3. On all such occasions, ourconduct should be such that the presence ofJesus
would be no interruption or disturbance. He is holy. He is always present in

every place; and on all festival occasions ourdeportment should be such as
that we should welcome the presence ofthe Lord Jesus Christ. "Thatis not a
proper stale of feeling or employment which would be interrupted by the
presence ofthe Saviour."
4. Jesus delightedto do good. In the very beginning of his ministry he worked
a miracle to show his benevolence. This was the appropriate commencement
of a life in which he was to go about doing good. He seizedevery opportunity
of doing it; and at a marriage feast, as well as among the sick and poor, he
showedthe characterwhich he always sustained - that of a benefactorof
mankind.
5. An argument cannotbe drawn from this instance in favor of intemperate
drinking. There is no evidence that any who were present on that occasion
drank too freely.
continued...
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
11. manifested forth his glory—Nothing in the leastlike 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 sanctionthat could be given to that God-given
institution. (2) As the miracle did not make bad good, but goodbetter, 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
characterand "manifestedforth the glory" of His entire Mission. (3) As
Christ countenancedour seasons offestivity, so also that greaterfulness which

befits such; so far was He from encouraging that asceticismwhich has since
been so often put for all religion. (4) The characterand authority ascribedby
Romanists to the Virgin is directly in the teeth of this and other scriptures.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
The sense is not, that this was the first miracle which Christ wrought in Cana
of Galilee;but this was the first miracle which Christ wrought after he was
entered upon the public ministry, and it was wrought in that Cana which is
within the confines of Galilee, either in the lot of Zebulun or Asher: yet there
are some who would not have it the first miracle which Christ wrought, but
the first which he wrought in that place; but there is no reasonfor such an
interpretation; for then there had been no reasonfor the following words, for
Christ did not manifest his glory there only; though some objectthose
wonderful or miraculous things happening at our Saviour’s birth, of which we
read, Matthew 2:9 Luke 2:9. Yet as some distinguish betweenmira and
miracula, so others give a more plain and satisfactoryanswer, telling us those
were miraculous operations more proper to the Father and the Spirit, thereby
attesting the Deity of Christ, than to Christ consideredas God man. This was
the first of those miraculous operations which were wrought by Christ Jesus
as God man, by which he manifested his glory, the glory mentioned in John
1:14, as of the only begottenof the Father; his Divine majesty and power.
And his disciples, who before believed on him, John 1:41,45, now more firmly
believed on him, John 14:1, as Mediator. In Scripture that is often said to be,
which doth not commence, but increase from that time and occasion.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
This beginning of miracles,.... This miracle of turning waterinto wine, was the
first miracle Christ ever wrought, either in public or private; for as for what
miracles he is saidto do in his infancy, there is no reasonto give credit to
them: and this he
did in Cana of Galilee;not that this was only the first he did in that place;he
afterwards working another there, namely, the cure of a nobleman's son, John

4:46, but the first he did any where, and it was in this place;and which the
Syriac and Persic versions againcall Kotne of Galilee;See Gill on John 2:1;
and manifested forth his glory; the glory of his deity and divine sonship,
which was hid by his assumption of human nature, but broke forth and
showeditself in his miraculous operations, and particularly in this:
and his disciples believed on him; the above five disciples; see John2:2; whom
he had called, and who were with him at this marriage, and were made
acquainted with this miracle: and though they believed in him before, and had
declared, and professedhim to be the Messiah, Mosesand the prophets spoke
of, and the Son of God, and King of Israel;yet they were, by this miracle,
more and more confirmed in the faith of these things: besides, others might be
made his disciples at this time, and be hereby brought to believe in him.
Geneva Study Bible
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth
his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
John 2:11. The τὴν before ἀρχήν being spurious (see critical notes), we must
translate:This, as beginning of His miracles, did Jesus at Cana. See on John
4:54, and Bernhardy, p. 319;Stallbaum, ad Plat. Gorg. p. 510 D. From this it
is clearthat it is the first miracle in general, and not merely the first of those
that were wrought in Cana (John 4:46 sqq.), that is meant (so already τινές in
Chrysostomand Paulus). This concluding remark of John’s simply serves to
express, on occasionofthe first of them, the teleologicalnature of the miracles
of Jesus generally.

τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ]not “His excellenthumanity” (Paulus), but His divine
Messianic majesty, as in John 1:14. The miracles of Jesus, as He Himself
testified, had for their objectnot only the δόξα of the Father, but also His own,
John 11:4 (in opposition to Weizsäcker, Jahrb. f. Deutsche Theol. 1857, p.
165). The former is really the latter, and the latter the former. Observe how in
John (as wellas in the Synoptics)Jesus begins His Messianicministry in
Galilee, evenin this His first miracle.
καὶ ἐπίστευσαν, κ.τ.λ.]and His disciples became believers in Him. The faith
which they already had (John 1:35-51)was only introductory, belonging to the
commencementof their connectionwith Jesus;now, upon the basis of this
manifestation of His glory (John 1:14), came the more advancedand fuller
decision, a new epochin their faith, which, moreover, still continued
susceptible of and requiring fresh additions even to the end (John 11:15, John
14:11). There is no hint here of any contrastwith the unbelief afterwards
manifested by the people (Brückner), nor canthis be inferred from John 2:12
ff. Comp. Weiss, Lehrbegriff, p. 102.
Note.
This turning of the waterinto wine must be regardedas an actual miracle, for
John as an eye-witness (see onJohn 1:41-42), in the most simple and definite
manner (comp. John 4:46), represents it as such, and as the first manifestation
of the divine glory dwelling in Christ in the direction of miraculous working
(not as portraying beforehand the heavenly marriage supper, Revelation19:8,
Matthew 26:29, as Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, II. 2, p. 407, and Baumgarten, p.
99, take it). Every exposition which explains awaythe miraculous element
contradicts the words and the purpose of St. John, infringes on his credibility
and capacityfor simple observation, and places even the characterof Jesus in
an ambiguous light. The physical inconceivability, which nevertheless is not
identical with absolute impossibility (againstScholten, p. 215), pertains to this

work in common only with every miracle;[137]and hence the appealmade to
a supposedacceleratedprocessofnature (Olshausen, comp. already
Augustine and Chrysostom), which must have been at the same time an
artificial process, is only a superfluous crutch on which the representationis
made to lean, inapplicable to the other miracles, and as arbitrary as it is (in
the absence ofa vine) inadequate. Its inconceivablenessin a telic point of view
John himself removes in John 2:11; and remembering its design as there
stated, the miracle was not an act of luxury (De Wette), but of abounding
human kindness in blessing (see on John 2:6). To suppose another design, viz.
that Jesus wishedto show how opposedHe was to the strict asceticismofthe
Baptist (Flatt, Olshausen), is pure and arbitrary invention, in opposition to
John 2:11. Further, the fact that the Synoptics have not the narrative really
amounts to nothing, because Johnselectedand wrote independently of the
synoptical series ofnarrations; and as they have not the first, so neither have
they the last and greatestmiracle. We must, after all, abide by the simple
statementthat there was a change of substance (John 2:9), effectedby the
powerof Jesus overthe sphere of nature, in conformity with a higher law of
causation. Granting this power, which the whole range of the Gospelmiracles
demands, there is no ground whatever for contenting oneself(againstJohn
2:9) with the assumption of a change ofattributes merely in the water,
whereby (after the analogyof mineral waters)it may have receivedthe colour
and taste of wine (Neander). It is levity of an equally objectionable kind, and a
wronging of a writer so serious as John, to explain what occurredas a
wedding joke, as Paulus (Jesus had a quantity of wine brought into the house,
and had it mixed with waterout of the pitchers and put upon the tables, John
2:4 having been spokenjestingly) and Gfrörer (Mary brought the wine with
her as a wedding present, and during the feast, atthe right moment, she gave
her sona sign to bring out and distribute the gift) have agreedto do. Thus,
instead of the transmutation of the water, we have a frivolous transmutation
of the history.[138]Lastly, the mythical explanation contradicts the
trustworthiness and genuineness ofthe Gospel. According to it, fact is
resolvedinto legend—a legendderived from the analogies ofthe histories of
Moses (Exodus 15:23 sqq.) and Elisha (2 Kings 2:19), as Strauss will have it,
or from a misunderstood parable, as Weisse thinks; while De Wette—without,
however, adopting the mythical view, but not fully recognising the historic

characterof the narrative—regards the dispensing of the wine as an act
corresponding with the dispensing of the bread, and both as answering to the
bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper. This he holds to be the most
appropriate explanation; but it is all the more inept, because there is not the
leasthint of it in the narrative, and because the Lord’s Supper is not once
mentioned in John. According to Schweizerand Weisse, the paragraph is to
be reckonedamong certain interpolations which have been added to the
genuine Johanneannucleus,—anarbitrary assertion;whereas Baur, whose
criticism rejects the whole Gospel, transforms the narrative into an allegory,
wherein wateris the symbol of the Baptist, wine of the Messiah’s dignity (i.e.
the bridegroom’s), and the transformation typifies the transition from the
preparatory stage of the Baptist to the epochof Messianic activityand glory
(comp. BaumgartenCrusius, p. 82); while Hilgenfeld (Evang. p. 248)looks
upon the turning of the water into wine as intended as a counterpart to the
synoptical narrative of the temptation, and to illustrate how Jesus was raised
above all narrow asceticism. Thus, too, some of the Fathers (Cyril, Augustine,
and many others) allegorize the miracle, without, however, surrendering its
objective and historicalcharacteras a fact; whereas Ewald, while renouncing
any investigationinto the historic probability of the narrative, regards it as
the gilding of the idea of the beneficentpower of the Messianicspirit, whereby
even now waterought to become wine. Luthardt holds, indeed, the objective
historicalreality, but regards the manifestationof the δόξα to have been in
contrastwith that given in the O. T.,—the gift of Godoccupying the place of
the command, and the higher life, which Jesus the bridegroom makes known
in this miracle, the place of outward purification. Similarly Scholten, p. 164.
But while the representationof Christ as bridegroom is quite remote from the
narrative, John gives no support or sanctionto the idea that the miracle was
symbolical, either in the remark of John 2:6 (κατὰ τ. καθαρ. τ. Ἰουδ.)or in
that of John 2:11 (ἘΦΑΝΈΡ. Τ. ΔΌΞ. ΑὐΤΟῦ).
The miracle at Cana is, finally, the only one to which the Synoptics have no
one that corresponds. Thereforethe miracles in John are all the less to be used
in support of the assertionthat, in John, Christ, after the manner of the
Gnostics, announces anotherand higher God than the God of the O. T.

(Hilgenfeld, Lehrbegr. 281). According to Keim, the marriage in Cana, the
first greatbeaming forth of the divine glory, stands in John as “a loving
portrait” of Christ, and designedly in place of the painful temptation in the
wilderness. But this glory beamed forth still more grandly and more
significantly in its bearing upon the Saviour’s whole ministry in the threefold
triumph over Satan.
[137]It does not become more conceivable by Lange’s fiction (L. J. II. p. 479),
which is quite unsupported by the text, viz. that the company were elevatedto
a higher tone of feeling, as the disciples were at a later time upon the mount of
transfiguration, and that Christ, from the full spring of His highest life-power,
made them drink creatively“in the element of the higher feeling.”
[138]Ammon also, L. J. I., falls back upon an erroneous idea and
representationon the part of John: “What took place in the intervening time,
when the water-pitchers were empty, and soonafter were filled to the brim, is
unknown to us.” The miracle is thus reduced into a natural event behind the
scenes.Schenkelsimply enough removes every miraculous element from the
history, as being legendaryadornments.
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 2:11. No answerof the bridegroom is recorded, nor any detail of the
impression made, but John notes the incident as “the beginning of signs”.—
ταύτηνεποίησεν ἀρχήν, deleting the article with Tisch[34]and W.H[35], and
rendering “This as a beginning of signs did Jesus,”from which it can scarcely
be gathered that no insight mentioned in the first chapter was considered by
John to be supernatural. It is characteristic ofthis Gospelthat the miracles
are viewedas signs, or objectlessons. The feeding of the five thousand
presents Jesus as the bread of God; the strengthening of the impotent man
exhibits Him as the giver of spiritual life; and so forth. So that when John
here says that by this miracle Jesus ἐφανέρωσε τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, we are
prompted to ask what particular aspectof His glory was manifestedhere.

What was there in it to elicit the faith and reverence of the disciples? (1) He
appears as King in physical nature. He can use it for the furtherance of His
purposes and man’s good. He is, as declaredin the Prologue, thatOne in
whom is life. (2) A hint is given of the ends for which this creative poweris to
be used. It is, that human joy may be full. These disciples ofthe Baptist
perceive a new kind of power in their new Master, whose goodnessirradiates
the natural joys and domestic incidents of human life. (3) When John
recordedthis miracle he saw how fitly it stoodas the first rehearsing as it did
the entire work of Christ, who came that human happiness might not
untimely close in shame. Wine had become the symbol of that blood which
brought reconcilementand renewal. Seeing this sign and the glory manifested
in it ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸνοἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ. “Testimony(John 1:36) directs
those who were ready to welcome Christto Him. Personalintercourse
converts followers into disciples (John 2:2). A manifestation of power, as a
sign of divine grace, converts discipleshipinto personal faith” (Westcott).
“Crediderunt amplius” (Bengel). The different grades, kinds, and types of
faith alluded to in this Gospelare a study. Sanday remarks on the
unlikelihood of a forgermaking such constantallusion to the disciples. That
they believed would seema truism. If they had not, they would not have been
disciples. It would have been more to the point to tell us the effecton the
guests, and a forgerwould hardly have failed to do so. But John writes from
the disciples’point of view. Not happy are the attempts to interpret this
seeming miracle as a cleverly prepared wedding jest and gift (Paulus); or as a
parable (Weisse), oras a hastenednatural process (Augustine, Olshausen).
Holtzmann finds here an artistic Lehrdichtung, an allegoryrich in suggestion.
Waterrepresents all that is mere symbol as contrastedwith spirit and reality.
The period of symbolism is represented by the water baptism of John: this
was to find its realisationin Jesus. The jars which had servedfor the outward
washings of Judaism were by Jesus filled with heart-strengthening wine. The
O.T. gift of waterfrom the rock is supersededby the gift of wine. Wine
becomes the symbol of the spiritual life and joy of the new kingdom. With this
central idea the details of the incident agree:the helplessness ofthe old
oeconomy, “theyhave no wine”;the mother of the Messiahis the O.T.
community; and so forth. The historicaltruth consists simply in the joyful
characterascribedto the beginning of Christ’s ministry. (1) Against all these

attempts it is the obvious intention of John to relate a miracle, a surprising
and extraordinary manifestation of power. (2) Where allegoryexists he directs
attention to it; as in this chapter, John 2:21; also in chapters 10, 15, etc. (3)
That the incident canbe allegorisedis no proof that it is only allegoryand not
history. All incidents and histories may be allegorised. The life and death of
Caesarhave been interpreted as a sun myth.
[34] Tischendorf.
[35] Westcottand Hort.
Few, if any, incidents in the life of Jesus give us an equal impression of the
width of His nature and its imperturbable serenity. He was at this juncture
fresh from the most disturbing personalconflict, His work awaitedHim, a
work full of intense strife, hazard, and pain; yet in a mind occupiedwith these
things the marriage joy of a country couple finds a fit place.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
11. This beginning, &c.] Better, this, as a beginning of His signs, did Jesus in
Cana;i.e. it is the first miracle of all, not merely the first at Cana. Thus S.
John agrees with the Synoptists in representing the Messianic careeras
beginning in Galilee. This verse is conclusive againstthe miracles of Christ’s
childhood recordedin the Aprocryphal Gospels. See onJohn 4:48. Our
translators often in this Gospel, though very rarely in the other three, turn
‘signs’ into ‘miracles.’
manifested] The same Greek word occurs in connexion with His lastmiracle,
John 21:1; John 21:14, and the same English word should be used in all the
passages. Comp. John 7:4 and see on John 1:31.

his glory] This is the final cause ofChrist’s ‘signs,’His own and His Father’s
glory (John 11:4), and these two are one.
and his disciples believed on him] What a strange remark for a writer in the
secondcentury to make!His disciples believed on Him? Of course they did.
Assume that a disciple himself is the writer, and all is explained: he well
remembers how his own imperfect faith was confirmed by the miracle. A
forgerwould rather have given us the effect on the guests. Three times in this
chapter does S. John give us the disciples’ point of view, here, John 2:17 and
John 2:22; very natural in a disciple, not natural in a later writer. See on John
11:15 and John 21:12.
Two objections have been made to this miracle (1) on rationalistic, (2) on
‘Temperance’grounds. (1) It is said that it is a wastefulmiracle, a parade of
power, unworthy of a Divine Agent: a tenth of the quantity of wine would
have been ample. But the surplus was not wastedany more than the twelve
baskets offragments (John 6:13); it would be a valuable present to a bridal
pair. (2) It is urged that Christ would not have supplied the means for gross
excess;and to avoid this supposeddifficulty it is suggestedthat the wine made
was not intoxicating, i.e. was not wine at all. But in all His dealings with men
God allows the possibility of a temptation to excess.All His gifts may be thus
abused. The 5000 might have been gluttonous over the loaves and fishes.
Christ’s honouring a marriage-feastwith His first miracle gives His sanction
(1) to marriage, (2) to times of festivity.
Four hundred years had elapsedsince the Jews had seena miracle. The era of
Daniel was the last age ofJewishmiracles. Since the three children walkedin
the burning fiery furnace, and Danielhad remained unhurt in the lions’ den,
and had read the hand-writing on the wall, no miracle is recorded in the

history of the Jews until Jesus made this beginning of His ‘signs’ at Cana of
Galilee. No wonder therefore, that the almost simultaneous appearance ofa
Prophet like John and a workerof miracles like Jesus attractedthe attention
of all classes.
Bengel's Gnomen
John 2:11. Ταύτην, this) The early miracles of Christ are put before us in
singular abundance; because the beginnings of faith restedon them. [And
indeed the first miracles, in this place, and ch. John 5:8, “Rise, take up thy
bed and walk” (Jesus to the impotent man); Matthew 8:13, “Jesussaidto the
centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee,” He
did not perform by His hand, but by words: in order that it might be manifest,
His healing power teas divine. A natural force is sometimes in men, so that
even rather severe infirmities of body yield to their hands. But Jesus’healing
powerwas of a different character;since, when subsequently He stretchedout
His hands, or employed other ceremonials, in miraculous healings, He did so
for the sake ofthose on whom the benefit was conferred: Mark 7:33, etc. (The
deaf mute; whom Jesus “took aside,put His fingers into his ears, spit, and
touched His tongue”);ch. John 8:23 (The blind man; whom Jesus “ledout of
the town, spit upon his eyes, and put His hands upon him”), etc.—Harm., p.
159, etc.]—ἀρχήν, beginning) Whence now it might be supposed, that more
[miracles] would follow.—καὶ ἐφανέρωσε, and manifested) And thus began to
manifest His glory. PreviouslyHe had not wrought miracles. [He, it seems,
gave [præmisit] doctrine before signs. When He made this beginning of signs,
the beginning of His doctrine had been previously made with His disciples,
who became confirmed in their faith by this very miracle, as also with others,
through John the Baptist, and also through Jesus Himself. John 1.—Harm., p.
160.]—ἐπίστευσαν)Theybelieved the more fully [comp. ch. John 1:50, a
“Because Isaid, etc., believestthou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.”
Even in a marriage-feasta progress in faith is to be sought after. Thenceforth
the disciples were prepared to embrace whatever their Lord was about to do
and say.—μαθηταί, the disciples)His mother had previously believed: Luke
1:45, “Blessedis she that believed, for there shall be a performance,” etc.
Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - Jesus made this beginning of signs in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested his glory. The beginning, the earliestof the tokens which he gave
of his higher nature and lofty claims and faculties. The word σημεῖα,
corresponding with the Hebrew ‫,תוא‬ is generally, in the Acts as well as in the
LXX., associatedwith τέρατα, or "portents;" when it occurs in the synoptists
it is translated "signs." The wordby itself does not connote miraculous
energies, but any event, natural or human, which becomes a tokenor witness
to unseen or Divine energies. WhenChrist's wonderful actions (often called
δυνάμεις by the synoptists) are referred to by John, he calls them simply ἔργα;
so that operations which, if wrought by other persons, might have been
portents, miracles, or marvels, are to him perfectly normal, and are called
simply "works." Weissleaves the question of the manner in which this supply
of wine was provided entirely unsettled, but declares that, whether by some
fortunate providential opportunity, by the forecastofthe mother, or by
concealedmethods of meeting the exigency, this greatgift was brought about
by the Son of Mary, the effect was the same as if it had been wrought by the
Creator's hand. The glory of his powerand love and sympathy was
manifested. This appears to us utterly inconsistentwith the intention or idea
of tim evangelist. The impression previously made upon John the Baptist was
of his supreme submission to the Divine will, his sacrificialyielding to that will
for the taking awayof sin; further, that in some sense he was Sonof God, and
Minister and Organfor the dispensationof the Spirit of God. The few
disciples admitted that, by his penetration of their characterand hidden inner
life, his wisdom was of a different kind from that of men. Now, however, they
see a manifestationof his glory as power. He has unlimited resources athis
disposal, and his disciples believed on him to that extent. This expression
asserts the truth of the selective and discriminating force of the mission of
Christ, and the negative factthat the company assembledreceivedno
religious impression beyond the most superficial one. "The disciples" who
came with him "believed" more than they had done before. It may be that
they, especiallyJohnand Nathanaelof Cana, were among the honorary
διάκονοι who were alone fully conscious ofwhat happened on the occasion.
They apprehend the "glory," and entirely trust themselves εἰς αὐτόν, to him,
and follow him with an added momentum. There are new and wonderful
suggestionsmade in this passagewhichunveil the glory of the Divine love and

powernow wrought in man. A point of connectionwith the synoptic Gospels
is that they too record Christ's own description of the contrastbetweenthe
austere prophet and the Son of man (Matthew 11:18, 19) in terms almost
takenfrom this very scene. Compare also the mode in which Christ vindicated
his ownsocialfreedom from Pharisaic exclusiveness, andthe conduct of his
own disciples from that of John the Baptist's disciples in the matter of
ceremonialpurifications, by his parable of the old wine skins bursting with
the new and potent fluid put into them (Matthew 9:14-17 and parallel
passages). Johngives here a deeper apprehensionof the mystery, a keynote to
a whole cycle of instructions, on the "glory" of his love. By manifesting his
Divine sympathy with marriage, with human life and fellowship, with
innocent gladness, he proves himself to be the same Christ of whom the
synoptic tradition speaks, the same Jesus who took the children to his arms,
and constituted a "marriage supper" the greattype of the eternalunion
betweenGod and man in the gospelof his love (cf. Matthew 22:2, etc.). But
this same evangelistis filled with the same imagery dating back to experiences
of Cana, when he describes the final victory of the "Lamb of God"
(Revelation19:7; Revelation21:2).
Vincent's Word Studies
This beginning
Or, more strictly, this as a beginning.
Of miracles (σημείων)
Rev., correctly, signs. See on Matthew 11:20;see on Matthew 24:24. This act
was not merely a prodigy (τέρας), nor a wonderful thing (θαυμάσιον), nor a
power(δύναμις), but distinctively a sign, a mark of the doer's power and
grace, and divine character. Hence it falls in perfectly with the words
manifested His glory.

Believedon Him (ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸν)
See on John 1:12. Literally, believed into. Canon Westcottmostaptly says that
it conveys the idea of "the absolute transference oftrust from one's self to
another."
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
This beginning of miracles - It was probably the first he ever wrought: - at
any rate, it was the first he wrought after his baptism, and the first he
wrought publicly.
His glory - His supreme Divinity: John 1:14.
His disciples believed on him - Were more abundantly confirmed in their
faith, that he was either the promised Messiah, ora most extraordinary
prophet, in the fullest intercourse with the ever blessedGod.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.

Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on John 2:11". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/john-
2.html. 1832.
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Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
This beginning of miracles - This his first public miracle. This is declaredby
the sacredwriter to be a “miracle” - that is, an exertion of divine power,
producing a change of the substance of waterinto wine, which no human
powercould do.
Manifestedforth - Showed;exhibited.
His glory - His power, and proper characteras the Messiah;showedthat he
had divine power, and that God had certainly commissionedhim. This is
shown to be a real miracle by the following considerations:
1.Realwaterwas placedin the vessels. This the servants believed, and there
was no possibility of deception.
2.The waterwas placedwhere it was not customary to keepwine. It could not
be pretended that it was merely a mixture of water and wine.
3.It was judged to be wine without knowing whence it came. There was no
agreementbetweenJesus and the governor of the feastto impose on the
guests.

4.It was a change which nothing but divine power could effect. He that can
change waterinto a substance like the juice of the grape must be clothed with
divine power.
Believedon him - This does not mean that they did not believe on him
beforehand, but that their faith was confirmed or strengthened. They saw a
miracle, and it satisfiedthem that he was the Messiah. “Before this” they
“believed” on the testimony of John, and from conversationwith Jesus John
1:35-51;now they saw that he was invested with almighty power, and their
faith was established.
From this narrative we may learn:
1. That marriage is honorable, and that Jesus, if sought, will not refuse his
presence and blessing on such an occasion.
2. On such an occasionthe presence and approbation of Christ should be
sought. No compactformed on earth is more important; none enters so deeply
into our comfort in this world; perhaps none will so much affect our destiny in
the world to come. It should be entered into, then, in the fear of God.
3. On all such occasions, ourconduct should be such that the presence ofJesus
would be no interruption or disturbance. He is holy. He is always present in
every place; and on all festival occasions ourdeportment should be such as
that we should welcome the presence ofthe Lord Jesus Christ. “Thatis not a
proper stale of feeling or employment which would be interrupted by the
presence ofthe Saviour.”

4. Jesus delightedto do good. In the very beginning of his ministry he worked
a miracle to show his benevolence. This was the appropriate commencement
of a life in which he was to go about doing good. He seizedevery opportunity
of doing it; and at a marriage feast, as well as among the sick and poor, he
showedthe characterwhich he always sustained - that of a benefactorof
mankind.
5. An argument cannotbe drawn from this instance in favor of intemperate
drinking. There is no evidence that any who were present on that occasion
drank too freely.
6. Norcan an argument be drawn from this case in favor even of drinking
wine such as we have. The common wine of Judea was the pure juice of the
grape, without any mixture of alcohol, and was harmless. It was the common
drink of the people, and did not tend to produce intoxication. “Our” wines are
a “mixture” of the juice of the grape and of brandy, and often of infusions of
various substances to give it colorand taste, and the appearance ofwine.
Those wines are little less injurious than brandy, and the habit of drinking
them should be classedwith the drinking of all other liquid fires.
The following table will show the dangerof drinking the “wines” that are in
common use:
d WineAlcoholContent
d

d Brandy has fifty-three parts and 39 hundredths in a hundred of alcohol,
or5339 percent
d
d Rum5368 percent
d
d Whisky Scotch..5432 percent
d
d Holland Gin.5160 percent
d
d Port Wine, highest kind583 percent
d
d Port Wine, lowestkind140 percent

d
d Madeira, highest kind2942 percent
d
d Madeira, lowestkind934 percent
d
d Lisbon894 percent
d
d Malaga726percent
d
d Red Champagne130percent
d
d White280 percent

d
d Currant Wine2025 percent
d
d
It follows that a man who drinks two glasses ofmost of the wines used has
takenas much alcoholas if he had takenone glass ofbrandy or whisky, and
why should he not as well drink the alcoholin the brandy as in the wine?
What difference canit make in morals? What difference in its effects on his
system? The experience of the world has shown that water, pure water, is the
most wholesome, safe,and invigorating drink for man.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentaryon John 2:11". "Barnes'Notes onthe Whole
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/john-2.html.
1870.
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The Biblical Illustrator
John 2:11
This beginning of miracles
The miracles of Christ
Miracles are not only a proof but a part of revelation, and carry their own
weight of truth quite independent of their testimony to the authority of the
whole.
Christ’s miracles
I. IDENTIFYTHE GOD OF NATURE WITH THE CHRIST OF THE
GOSPEL, and show that the Word was God, and that all things were made by
Him. Believers in Christ do not need their witness, but should follow up their
teaching, and study in nature the wisdom and powerand goodness ofChrist.
II. ILLUSTRATE THE WIDE BENEFICENCE OF THE GOSPEL. They
would have been equally cogentas proofs of His Divine authority if there had
been no element of mercy in them; and it is humiliating to reflectthat had
they been miracles of judgment the people would have been more willing to
listen to His words. As it was, they were the outcome of the wealth of
compassionthat filled His heart, and teachus something of the present range
of His love.

III. PROVE THE ILLIMITABLE POWER BYWHICH EVERY GOSPEL
PURPOSE WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED. The words, the promise, and the
powerthat performs are eternally linked together. No power, therefore, can
prevent the accomplishment of the greatpurposes of salvation. All fears, then,
should be banished. There is no danger that the miracles of Christ do not
prove to be under His control.
IV. SHOW THE DIVINE EARNESTNESSWITHWHICH GOD PRESSES
UPON THE ATTENTION OF SINFULMEN THE CLAIMS AND MERCY
OF HIS GOSPEL. (W. H. King.)
The miracles of nature
Men cry out for signs, but we may see miracles enough every day. I read that
Aaron’s rod budded, and I am astonished. But lastspring I saw a cause of
greaterastonishment--thousands of bare rods budding and blooming
blossoms in the hedges. I saw no one do it, and yet the trees were being daily
clothed with thickerfoliage. Was not that wonderful? I read that the manna
came down daily from heavento the wilderness, and I am amazed. But I see a
cause ofgreateramazement every year: I see your bread coming, not down
from heaven, but up from the earth, a much more unlikely place, every day in
the spring. Is not that wonderful? I read that Elijah, hiding by the brook
Cherith, was daily fed by two carnivorous ravens, and I am filled with
wonder. But there is a cause ofmuch greaterwonderment in the fact that
millions upon millions are daily fed with abundance of bread and meat,
without a single raven under God’s sun to caterfor them. I read that Jesus
Christ multiplied the loaves and fishes, and that the fragments that remained
filled twelve baskets full--there was more at the end of the meal than at the

Jesus was revealing his glory

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