Jesus Works His First Miracle at Cana in Galilee.

  6 Now there were six waterpots of stone set there after the Jews' manner of purifying [The details of the account suggest that John was an eye-witness. The Jews regarded themselves as ceremonially unclean if they did not wash their hands before eating-- Matthew 15:2 ; Mark 7:3 Mark 7:4 ], containing two or three firkins apiece. [At Kefr-Kenna an old, one-story house near the lower edge of the village is regarded by the Greeks as the one in which this wedding feast was held. The room is a rude chapel, and at one side stand two old stone mortars, one holding about eight gallons and the other about ten, now used for immersing infants, but said by the attending priest to be two of the identical waterpots here mentioned. The simple-minded old man was not aware that the six waterpots held each two or three firkins apiece--between eighteen and twenty-seven gallons, a firkin being nine gallons--or double the quantity of his mortars. If he had known this, he might have chiseled out his mortars a little deeper!]

  7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. [The jars had been partially emptied by the ablutions of the company.] And they filled them up to the brim. [This statement serves two purposes. 1. It emphasizes the great quantity. 2. It shows there was no room to add anything whatever to the contents of the jars. As to the quantity, it was between 106 and 162 gallons. As we do not know the number of guests nor the duration of the feast, we can not accurately measure the Lord's bounty. But as twelve basketfuls were left after feeding the five thousand, there was doubtless here a like sufficiency, and the surplus would serve as an acceptable gift to the married couple.]

  8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now [the word "now" seems to indicate the turning-point when the water became wine], and bear unto the ruler of the feast. [According to the custom of that age, one of the guests was usually he was called the ruler. Our modern toastmaster is probably a relic of this ancient custom.] And they bare it.

  9 And when the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants that had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom,

  10 and saith unto him, Every man setteth on first

[when the taste is sharpest, and most critical] the good wine [the adjective "good" refers rather to flavor than to strength]; and when men have drunk freely [The ruler was no disciple of Jesus, and he speaks in the merry spirit of the world. He gives his own experience as to the habits of feasts, and his words give no indication that those present indulged to excess], then that which is worse: thou hast kept the good wine until now. [It is part of Christ's system to reserve the best until the last. Sin's first cup is always the sweetest, but with God that which follows is ever superior to that which has preceded it. As to the bearing of this miracle upon the question of temperance, the New Testament elsewhere clearly condemns the immoderate use of wine, and as these condemnations proceed from Christ we may rightly conceive of him, as in this instance, doing nothing contrary thereto. The liquors of this land in the strength of their intoxicating properties differ so widely from the light wines of Palestine that even the most moderate use of them seems immoderate in comparison. In creating wine Jesus did no more than as Creator and Renewer of the earth he had always done. From the beginning God has always so created or replenished the earth as to allow the possibility of excess.]

  9 And when the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants that had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom,

  10 and saith unto him, Every man setteth on first

  11 This beginning of his signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory [This was the beginning or first of the miracles, and John's statement brands as false all the Catholic traditions which tell of miracles performed by Christ in his childhood. We should note also that it was a sign. The value of the miracle was in what it signified, not in what it wrought. It manifested the glory of Christ, part of which glory is his power to change the worse into the better, the simpler glory of Christ that he can transform sinners into his own likeness-- 1 John 3:2 ; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 ; Philippians 3:20 Philippians 3:21 ]; and his disciples believed on him. [In this chapter John as a disciple three times gives us a disciple's point of view as to Christ's miracles; here, and at verse 17 and at verse 22. They implanted faith in those whose hearts were right before God ( John 5:38 ). The miracles of Christ created widespread excitement. There had been none of a notorious nature since Daniel had been cast to the lions, and had read the writing on Belshazzar's wall some five hundred and eighty years before.]