John 2

— mine hour is not yet come.] My time for manifesting My glory by My miracles is not yet come. Dr. Whitby.

John 2:2

2. And both Jesus was called.] On this occasion, as on many others, our Lord shewed that His religion was not morose and unsocial; and He discountenanced by His example that course of rigid abstinence and mortification, by which some, who would be thought His most perfect disciples, have disgraced the Gospel. Abp. Newcome.

— to the marriage.] To the marriage feast.

John 2:4

4. — Woman, what have I to do with thee?] The expression of “woman,” in the ancient languages, conveys no idea of disrespect, but is used to females of the first rank. Our Saviour replies to her, This is an affair in which you are no way concerned; leave it therefore to Me, and I will choose a proper time for it. Bp. Mann. He signifies that this was not a matter proper for her authority to interpose in; and that miracles were not to be wrought for gratifying the requests of friends, but

the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

John 2:5

5. His mother saith unto the servants.] This shews that she did not consider His word as an absolute denial, but only as an intimation that He would reserve Himself for the proper opportunity. Dean Stanhope.

John 2:6

6. — after the manner of the purifying &c.] The waterpots were placed there, that the guests might wash their hands before they made their meal, which is still the constant practice of the Jews. The Syrian firkin, (or metretes, as it is called in Bp. Cumberland’s tables,) held somewhat more than seven pints of our measure. Bp. Mann.

John 2:8

8. — the governor of the feast.] It was usual for the governor of the feast to bless what was prepared in the cup, and, having drunk of it thus blessed, to send it about to the whole company; on which account it is that our Saviour desires the servants to bear to the governor of the feast. Dr. Whitby. This governor was a person, whose business it was to see the entertainment managed in an orderly manner. Dean Stanhope.

John 2:10

10. — when men have well drunk.] Towards the end of the feast, when the guests have drunk a good deal. Dr. S. Clarke.

Anno DOMINI 36. Christ purgeth the temple, and foretelleth his death and resurrection. Anno DOMINI 30.

drunk, then that which is worse : but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

John 2:11

11. This beginning of miracles &c.] This was the first instance which Jesus gave of His Divine power; and it produced its intended effect, by confirming the faith of those disciples who had lately come to Him, chap. i. By the expression, “manifested forth His glory,” we are to understand that Christ, by the miracle which He performed, plainly proved His power to be Divine. And who indeed less than God could have the creatures of this lower world so absolutely at His disposal, as to make them start from their fixed laws of being, and change their natures and qualities in an instant? He only could repeal the laws of nature, who made them. He only could alter their forms who at first appointed them. And, when this was done without invoking the aid of any higher power, it shewed that the authority by which He did it was supreme, as well as that the creatures, on which the authority was exercised, were entirely his own. Dean Stanhope.

As our Lord’s conversation was on all occasions free and familiar, open and undisguised, sober and rational, His carriage free from all rigid and unnatural severity, so His miraculous works were no less evident signs of mercy, goodness, generosity, than of power; and equally adapted to convince men’s understandings and engage their affections, as to remove their maladies or relieve their wants. This His first public miracle was nothing more than a becoming act of kindness and humanity, in preventing the confusion of a poor relation, by a very seasonable supply of what was wanting in his entertainment; which want perhaps could not have been otherwise supplied, and was probably occasioned by the extraordinary concourse He Himself drew thither: and His last miracle (Luke xxii. 51,) was nothing less than an instance of the highest and most undeserved compassion in healing the wound of one who came to take away His life. Bp. Lax.

John 2:13

13.—the Jews’ passover] As St. John was writing for the use of the Gentile converts, he calls it the passover of the Jews. Grotius.

—and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.] In obedience to the Law of Moses, which enjoined that every male should appear before the Lord at this season, Exod. xxiii. 17; Deut. xvi. 16. Dr. Doddridge.

John 2:14

14. And found in the temple &c.] It appears that Christ twice drove the buyers from the temple; once at

the beginning, and once again, Matt. xxi. 12, towards the close, of His ministry. The other three Evangelists say nothing of this present incident. It is related by St. John chiefly as giving occasion to the words respecting the destroying of the temple, ver. 19, which were afterwards brought as matter of accusation against Him; and it therefore throws much light on the history of His passion, Matt. xxvi. 61; xxvii. 40. Grotius.

John 2:16

16.—my Father’s house] Thus indirectly calling Himself the Son of God, or the Messiah. Abp. Newcome.

John 2:17

17. And his disciples remembered &c.] They called to mind the words of the Psalmist at Ps. lxix. 9, which mean, I am as tender of any dishonour done to Thy house or to Thee, as if it were done to myself, (Rom. xv. 3,) and so am stirred with zeal to vindicate it. Dr. Hammond.

John 2:18

18.—What sign shewest thou &c.] What evidence dost Thou bring, or what miracles dost Thou perform, to shew that Thou art really invested with such authority as these Thine acts pretend to? Dr. Hammond.

There had been no miracle performed in Israel, nor had any Prophet appeared for 400 years, from the time when the Holy Spirit had departed from that nation, and the prophecies had ceased. It is therefore not to be wondered that the Jews were suspicious of Christ’s assuming the prophetic office, and that they required a sign. Dr. Lightfoot.

John 2:19

19.—Destroy this temple, &c.] Meaning that, whereas they would shortly destroy His body, (a more holy temple than that which they had then profaned,) He, by His Divine power, would within three days raise it up again. Dr. S. Clarke. The sign which He here gives is the same as “the sign of the Prophet Jonas,” at Matt. xii. 39, 40.

John 2:20

20.—Forty and six years &c.] They speak of the temple, as it was repaired or new built by Herod. Josephus relates, that Herod began this work in the eighteenth year of his reign, which was about sixteen years before the birth of Christ. And, as Christ was at this time thirty years of age, they rightly state that it had been forty and six years in building. Herod, it appears, finished it so as to be fit for use in about nine years, and it continued long after, increasing in splendour and magnificence, through the pious donations of the people, till the time of Nero. Drs. Lightfoot and Whitby.

He teacheth Nicodemus the necessity of regeneration: Anno DOMINI 30.

John 2:22

22. When therefore he was risen &c.] Though this prediction was for the present dark and hard to be understood; yet afterwards, when the accomplishment made it clear in the event, it proved a great confirmation of the disciples’ faith. Dr. S. Clarke.

This verse seems to be added by the Evangelist, on purpose to shew that this answer of our Lord, although at the time obscure, was no unprofitable or lost saying. Dr. Clagett.

John 2:23

23. — in the feast day.] Rather, ‘at the time of the feast.’ Dr. Whitby.

— many believed—when they saw the miracles which he did.] Thus the faith of our Lord’s followers was originally founded, not on blind credulity, but on rational conviction; not on internal persuasion alone, but on clear and stupendous miracles; proofs submitted to their senses and approved by their reason, which enthusiasm could not have counterfeited, and never would have required; and, at every step of its progress, as their faith was called to signalise itself by new exertions, and to sustain new trials, it was fortified by new proofs. Dr. Graves.

John 2:24

24. — did not commit himself unto them.] Did not confide in them, as His sincere disciples, because He knew the hearts of all men. This is an ample proof of the Divinity of Christ, since the knowledge of the secrets of men’s hearts is declared to be the property of God alone, 1 Kings viii. 39; Ps. xxxiii. 15. Dr. Whitby.

John 2:25

25. And needed not that any should testify] He needed no information what men were, either from themselves or others, since He immediately knew the very hearts and thoughts of all men. Dr. Clagett.

Chap. III. ver. 1. There was—a ruler of the Jews: There was at Jerusalem “a ruler of the Jews;” meaning, a member of the great council, the Sanhedrin, Luke viii. 41; xviii. 18; John vii. 50. Beausole.