John 2:9, commentary and pictures

At the wedding feast in Cana the master of ceremonies tasted the newly made drink without knowing where it had come from, while the servants who had drawn the water knew, and surprised by its superior quality he called the bridegroom to praise him for keeping the best until last. The drink was of unsurpassed quality yet was pure unfermented juice of the grape, wholesome and harmless, not intoxicating liquor. By performing His first sign there as He began His public ministry Jesus sanctioned marriage as a divine and sacred institution He Himself had ordained. The abundant supply beyond the need of the feast pictures the ample provision of His grace and righteousness and the lasting satisfaction of His gifts. The miracle gives no license for fermented wine but calls for temperance and a clear mind for God's service.

Wedding Feast Setting

This is the account of Jesus' first sign, performed at a marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. Jesus went there on purpose with His newly made disciples as guests, and graced the feast with His presence. The wedding party were relatives of Joseph and Mary, and many influential persons were gathered.

He came after being separated from His widowed mother for about two months since His baptism by John and His temptations in the wilderness of temptation. She had awaited His return with sorrow and troubled forebodings. He met her as the same tender, dutiful son, yet changed in countenance, bearing marks of fierce conflict and evidence of His high mission in holy expression and gentle dignity. He was accompanied by young men who reverently called Him Master and told her of wonderful things witnessed at the baptism and afterward, that He is Jesus of Nazareth of whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote, the long-looked-for Messiah.

During the feast the wine supply ran out, a shortage regarded as a disgraceful failure of hospitality. At first only a few knew of the embarrassment. The ruler of the feast and the guests did not know the supply had failed.

The ruler tasted the water that had been made wine without knowing whence it was. The servants which drew the water knew. Surprised by its superior quality, he gladly found it better than what had been served first and better than any he had tasted. He called the bridegroom and praised him for keeping the good wine until now, saying the best is usually served first. The bridegroom made no reply because he did not know its source.

Manner of Miracle

He changed the water into wine fresh from the cluster without touching the water or going near the jars, simply by looking upon the water and telling the servants to draw out and carry it to the ruler of the feast.

He performed the miracle quietly and left before the guests could find Him, withdrawing unnoticed even by His disciples. The guests did not learn of His work until after He had gone. The company was at first too amazed to focus on Him.

The ruler's tasting without knowing where it came from, while the servants who drew the water knew, and the superior quality of what was served, drew remarks and astonishment from the guests that led to questions. The servants who had drawn the water then told how the water had been changed to wine, and by their account the miracle became known.

Pure Wine Provided

The ruler tasted what had been water turned to wine of unsurpassed quality, the best served at the feast, better than what had gone before and praised as unusually good. That wine was pure, clarified and refined unfermented juice of the grape, fresh from the cluster, a safe, wholesome, refreshing and harmless drink for all. It was not fermented or adulterated intoxicating liquor, and Christ made no intoxicating wine and set no example of drinking it. His care in providing such a safe drink confirmed faith in Him as the world's Redeemer.

To have made intoxicating wine would have been contrary to all His teachings and example. It would have contradicted His speaking of the law from Sinai, His prohibition of wine to those officiating in holy office that they might have clear judgment to distinguish between common and sacred, do justice, teach His statutes and accept no bribes, and His commands of abstinence from wine and strong drink to the wife of Manoah for her Nazarite son and to Zacharias for the unborn John. The false charge that He was a winebibber is denied, for He kept His Father's commandments and His whole life was temperance and self-denial, and had He been a winebibber He could not have been a perfect offering and His blood would avail nothing.

The object of the miracle was to bring the perverted taste of the governor of the feast to a healthy condition by inducing him to acknowledge that this wine was superior in quality to any he had before tasted. Its effect was to bring the taste into harmony with a healthful appetite. This act followed His long fast and suffering in the wilderness to break the power of appetite over man, which had led among other evils to the free use of intoxicating liquor.

The same kind of pure juice with not one particle of fermentation in it is suitable as the symbol of the Saviour's blood and was used by Christ and His disciples at the first communion. As the Passover bread had no leaven, so this wine had no fermentation. Jesus never puts before anyone what would tempt to evil, so He did not provide intoxicating drink, but what He provides is soul-refreshing and life-giving.

The miracle gives no sanction or license for drinking fermented wine or for wine or liquor that confuses the brain. Christ never by word or act sanctioned the use of fermented wine, but set an example of temperance. Unfermented wine is the preferable and only kind to have in the house, and the call is to keep the mind clear to give God the full strength of the powers He created for His honor and glory.

Salvation Pictured Abundantly

The water turned to wine points beyond the feast to salvation itself, the water standing for baptism into Christ's death and the wine standing for His blood shed to cleanse and purify the world from sin. The ruler who tasted did not know where it came from, while the servants who drew the water knew, and his praise of it as better than what had been served first opened the way for that meaning to be seen.

The supply was far more than the feast required, and that abundance pictures the ample, full and abundant provision made for forgiveness. It is the provision of the Saviour's grace and righteousness, so full that those who come to Him for the bread of heaven and the water of salvation will always be supplied. His good gifts do not fade or cloy but remain fresh and satisfying, bringing lasting satisfaction and joy, whereas worldly pleasures end in weariness and bitterness.

As at Cana He turned common water into wine, so He still works with a God-fearing mother closely connected with Him. He joins her in the ordinary work of caring for her children and in the common things of life, transforming them into a loving ministry of heavenly worth and infinite value. By that ministry of love He makes the home a Bethel and a place of heavenly joy, turning the common water of life into the wine of heaven.

Marriage Honored and Blessed

Jesus attended the wedding feast at Cana and performed His first miracle there as He began His public ministry, and by His presence and act He sanctioned marriage and set His blessing upon it. That sanction recognized marriage as a divine and sacred institution which He Himself had formed and ordained at the creation of humanity. It declares marriage worthy of respect and gives it high endorsement and honor.

By adding joy to the gathering and providing the cup of blessing, He honored the relations of human life. His presence and gift showed sympathy with and approval of those at the wedding and His desire to promote their happiness and to turn their attention to God's goodness, love and salvation. He came not to reject marriage or the family but to restore, elevate, purify and ennoble pure affection, so that the earthly family could symbolize the family in heaven. It is therefore right to gather for pleasant occasions.

His active interest proves He came not to put a cloud over the happiness of family and guests but is in full sympathy with pure joy. His presence declares harmony with marriage as a blessed institution, not forbidden by God. He gives sanction to every gathering that is pure and lovely and of good report, enforces celibacy upon no class of men, and came not to destroy the sacred relationship of marriage but to exalt it and restore it to its original sanctity. He looks with pleasure upon the family relationship where sacred and unselfish love bears sway.

Reaching People Socially

Jesus came to the wedding to draw near to ordinary people in ordinary social settings, mingling with all classes to bring them together as one family and to break down social barriers and Jewish prejudice. His presence there shows that innocent happiness and social fellowship pleased Him, and by it He taught His disciples sympathy and humanity. He did not shun ordinary social life but met people where they were in order to reach them and do them good, rather than withdrawing from society.

He awakened interest by going among men as one desiring their good, seeking them at their daily vocations and manifesting unfeigned interest in their temporal affairs. He carried instruction into households and brought whole families in their own homes under the influence of His divine presence, to turn attention to God's goodness, love and salvation. So He is found seeking men in public streets, in private houses, on boats, in the synagogue, by shores of lakes, and at marriage feasts.

This gives a lesson for disciples through all time not to exclude themselves from society, renouncing all social communion and seeking strict seclusion from fellow beings. Those who think to preserve religion by hiding it within stone walls to escape contamination of the world lose golden opportunities to enlighten and benefit humanity. To reach all classes they must meet people where they are, for people will seldom seek them of their own accord, and hearts are touched by divine truth not alone from the pulpit.

His gracious presence and generous conduct at the feast gave those He honored opportunity to know Him and to see the contrast between His life and teaching and the Pharisees' austere seclusion, bigotry, self-righteousness and narrow censorious spirit. Critics used His attendance to accuse Him of worldly conformity, but His participation was not worldly conformity. No shadow of worldly levity marred His conduct as He joined the mixed assembly of the festal gathering and sanctioned the social gathering with His presence. Yet His presence there does not establish that every form of pleasure or entertainment is proper.

Faith and Reception

The turning of the water into wine confirmed the faith of the disciples in Jesus as the world's Redeemer. It served as convincing testimony to them of who He was. It gave them opportunity openly to acknowledge that faith in Him.

The report of the miracle spread through all that surrounding region even to Jerusalem. Priests and elders heard of it with wonder. They searched with new interest the prophecies pointing to the coming of Christ. They were filled with intense anxiety to know the aim and mission of this unassuming new Teacher who did what no other man had ever done.

The sign stands as evidence of Jesus' power to do what seemed impossible. That changing of water into wine at Cana prepared the way for His warm and cordial reception in Galilee. It helped prepare the people of Galilee to receive Him. That display of divine power showed power over disease and gave the Jewish nobleman of Capernaum reason to believe that One who could do such a work could raise his dying son to health even from the brink of the grave. It encouraged him to believe that Jesus could restore his son.

Temperance and Provision

John 2 belongs to true health reform and temperance, setting the duty to live in harmony with the laws of health and to be temperate in all things. Temperance in all things is a duty of conscience, needed to receive the sanctifying influence of truth. God has put knowledge of the laws of health within reach and has made it duty to preserve the physical powers in the best possible condition to render acceptable service to Him. Its principles are to be taught by precept and by quiet, consistent example, and this light promotes spiritual as well as physical life, so that to refuse to improve it is to reject one of the means God has granted for that life.

The providing of wine at the wedding feast shows that God provides for human needs. Jesus there acts as the heavenly Provider of all foods in supplying a necessity. The Lord will not leave His people in ignorance but guides and teaches them in preparing suitable and best foods for different times and all times and occasions. Health foods and the food business are among His own instrumentalities to supply need.