John 2:1-13 (The marriage at Cana), (The Sojourn at Capernaum), (The first journey to Jerusalem)

Rachel Workman: 2 The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”

4 “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”  I think what he was telling his mother is the Father had not commanded him to do anything yet. His  time to perform miracles had not yet come.

5 But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Mary obviously knew what Jesus was capable of. And she knew that commanding or arguing would get her nothing. Jesus would obey what the father commanded him to. I think Mary knew that. Her simple statement leads me to believe she left the decision to God to lay upon Jesus' heart. In other words you see her faith in play again.

6 Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, 8 he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.

9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”

11 This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

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John Burnett:  2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Woman,^[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”  Here is another example of Jesus’s extremely difficult task of remaining perfect.  His hour had not come yet but if he would have dishonored his mother if he had not done as she had asked he would of broke commandment number 5 and would no longer be the spotless lamb of God.

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.^[b]

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.  John wrote about the signs Jesus performed being too numerous for books to hold and this was his first.  Nobody but his mother and the disciples knew about this sign but He performed many signs for people to see and yet they did not believe.

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

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Mike Grimm:  2 The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. ³ The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.” The normal wedding reception in those days usually lasted a week so I guess it’s no big surprise they ran out of wine.

Mary seized the occasion to say, very significantly to Jesus, "They have no wine." She does not ask him to do anything about it; she merely tells him, "They have no wine." Being as this was Christ’s first miracle was she really expecting Jesus to turn the water to wine or was she suggesting that He go get more? There are even those who believe that because Christ showed up with 5 disciples that Mary was asking Jesus and His disciples to leave the celebration.

⁴ “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” The fact that Jesus clearly understood her can be seen from his answer: "Dear woman, that’s not our problem" That answer was not rude or disrespectful, though it may sound that way to us. Here Jesus was using a common title of respect. (He addresses Mary from the cross in the same way, "Woman, behold your son!" (John 19:26 RSV)

⁵ But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus told the servants “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, ⁸ he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.

⁹ When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. ¹⁰ “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”

In his very helpful book Miracles, C. S. Lewis has pointed out that every miracle of Jesus is simply a kind of short-circuiting of a natural process; a doing instantly something which in general takes a longer period of time. Lewis says, "Each miracle writes for us in small letters something that God has already written, or will write, in letters almost too large to be noticed, across the whole canvas of nature." That is what Jesus is doing: he is overleaping the elements of time, of growth, gathering, crushing and fermenting. He takes water -- an inorganic, non-living, commonplace substance -- and without a word, without a gesture, without any laying on of hands, in utter simplicity, the water becomes wine, an organic liquid, a product of fermentation, belonging to the realm of life. Thus he demonstrated his marvelous ability to master the processes of nature.

¹¹ This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him. This was just the first of Jesus’ many miracles.

¹² After the wedding he went to Capernaum for a few days with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples.