1.
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
Verse 1
Cana of Galilee; not far from Capernaum.
2.
And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
Verse 2
Called; invited.
3.
And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
Verse 3
When they wanted wine; that is, after exhausting the supply which had been provided. The deficiency in the supply indicated that the scene of the occurrence was in humble life; and yet, when all the circumstances of the invitation to this wedding are considered, they show that Mary's condition was not one of absolute poverty and destitution, as is sometimes supposed.
4.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
Verse 4
Woman. According to the usage of those times, this was a respectful and proper mode of address.
5.
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
Verse 5
Whatsoever, &c. The mother of Jesus appears to have been in expectation of some extraordinary interposition from her Son on this occasion; but what were the particular grounds of this expectation does not appear, for no previous instance of the exercise of his miraculous powers had occurred.
6.
And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Verse 6
After the manner, &c. The ceremonial ablutions enjoined by Jewish laws and usages, required, in an entertainment to which many guests were invited, a large quantity of water. These vases seem to have been used as reservoirs, furnishing, when filled, a sufficient supply at hand. Clauses of explanation, like this, occurring frequently in John's Gospel, corroborate the supposition that it was written, or at least intended to be read, beyond the limits of Judea.
7.
Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8.
And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
Verse 8
The governor of the feast; the person who presided at the table.
9.
When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10.
And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
Verse 10
Have well drunk; have drunk sufficiently.
11.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
12.
After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
Verse 12
Capernaum; a large town upon the shores of the Lake of Galilee.--His brethren. This expression is used to designate some near relatives of Jesus, particularly James the Less and Joses.
13.
And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
14.
And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Verse 14
In the temple; in one of the courts, or outer enclosures of the temple. The oxen, sheep, and doves, were for sacrifices. The changers of money were men who furnished the kind of coin necessary for offerings. (Exodus 30:13.)
15.
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
Verse 15
A scourge of small cords; as an emblem, not an instrument, of authority. Such a scourge, as a weapon of offence against numbers, would be useless; so that the buyers and sellers are to be understood as yielding, not to force, but to the authority which Jesus assumed as a prophet--an authority always held by the Jews in the highest veneration.
16.
And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
Verse 16
An expulsion of the buyers and sellers from the temple, very similar to this, is described by the other evangelists as taking place near the close of our Savior's ministry. (Matthew 21:12; Luke 19:45,Luke 19:46.) It is perhaps not quite certain whether Jesus repeatedly performed this work, or whether this is the same transaction, related, as is often the case in St. John's history, out of the order of time.
17.
And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Verse 17
Hath eaten me up; consumed me; meaning that he was wholly absorbed in zeal for the honor of the house of God.
18.
Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Verse 18
What sign; what proof that you are entitled to the authority of a prophet, which you assume.
19.
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20.
Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Verse 20
Some have supposed that Jesus indicated by a gesture that he referred to his own body, and that the Jews wilfully perverted his meaning. But this is a conjecture, which, instead of improving, destroys the force and beauty of the reply. It was undoubtedly intended as an enigma which time was to explain; for it is clear, from John 2:22, that even his disciples did not understand him.
21.
But he spake of the temple of his body.
22.
When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
23.
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
24.
But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
25.
And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.