John 2

I the third day. That is, the third day after the transactions related in i. 43-51.

Cana. Cana (now Kena-d-Jelil), Nathanael’s city (xxi. 2), was about eight miles nearly due north of Nazareth. There was another Cana in the tribe of Asher (Josh. xix. 28).

the mother of Jesus was there. Mary seems to have been connected in some way with this family, who were evidently not poor people (5). The disciples, having been gathered during the past few days, would be just at last included in the invitation. Perhaps it was this addition to the guests which caused “wine to be wanting” (or to fail).

2. Jesus (also) was called, etc.** (bidden, i.e., insited). Our Lord’s presence at this festival shows that He does not expect His followers to shrink from social intercourse. They should rather improve it by the influence of Christian example.

3 the mother of Jesus saith, etc. (The name of Mary is never mentioned by John.) Appealing to her Son to help out of the difficulty. There is no evidence that she asked for, or expected, a miracle. Only, trusting in Him fully, and recognising His wisdom and greatness, she naturally turns to Him.

4. Woman.** “The address is that of courteous respect, even of tenderness” (Westcott in Speaker’s Commentary). Our Lord used the same word to His mother in His tender parting on the cross (xix. 26).

what have I to do with thee? etc. Lit., “what is there to me and thee?”

mine hour. The time for showing my power.

5. His mother saith, etc.** Mary still feels assured that Jesus will interpose.

6 six waterpots of stone. The detail is that of an eye-witness.

2. D

8 governor of the feast. Manager or steward. (“Governor” and “ruler” are the same word in the original; so R.V.)

10 have well drunk. Or, as R.V., “have drunk freely”: not implying that it was so in this case; the remark is general.

11 of miracles (“of His signs,” R.V.). John almost invariably uses a word which means “signs” rather than “miracles” or wonders; keeping before his readers’ minds the significance of our Lord’s works. The best wine kept until the last is typical of Messiah’s kingdom. It is noteworthy that both at the beginning and at the end of His ministry our Lord used wine at a feast to symbolise the value of His redemptive work—“His glory.”

believed on Him. That is, their faith in Him was strengthened and confirmed: see xi. 15.

12 went down to Capernaum. A visit of which no particulars are given. Cp. Matt. iv. 13; John vi. 24.

13 the Passover (“the Jews” added for the sake of Gentile readers). This, our Lord’s first Passover during His public ministry, is mentioned by John alone, though the language of the other evangelists implies that He had gone to Judæa soon after the beginning of His ministry (Matt. iv. 12; Mark i. 14). John connects with this first Passover the cleansing of the Temple and the casting out of the traders; while the other evangelists describe a like transaction at His last Passover (Matt. xxi. 12, 13; Mark xi. 15-17; Luke xix. 45, 46). The two transactions resemble each other so much, that some (e.g., R. H. Hutton, Theological Essays) have thought them to be the same. But our Lord’s actions, as well as His words (see note on Matt. v. 1), might well be repeated if occasion arose. And, besides the difference in the language employed on the two occasions, and in other particulars recorded, there is every probability that the act would need to be repeated, for a single reproof would hardly altogether put a stop to a custom which some found so profitable, and many so convenient. See notes on Matt. xxi. 12, 13; Mark xi. 15-17.

14 the Temple. The Temple enclosure (hieron), not the Sanctuary, which is expressed by another word (naos), ver. 19.

15 small cords. Made, as the Greek word suggests, of the rushes strewn for the cattle to lie on, and used for driving them out. The R.V. reads, “cast all out of the Temple, both the sheep and the oxen.” The traffickers, conscious of the unlawfulness of their proceedings, and awed by the authority of our Lord, had fled at once.

16 my Father’s house. A phrase similar to that used by Him eighteen years before, Luke ii. 49, and involving a claim to Messiahship.

17 the zeal of Thine house, etc. That is, “zeal for Thy house—for its purity and honour.” “The disciples remembered”: a personal reminiscence by the evangelist.

18. What sign showest thou, etc.? It was rather for the authoritative mode in which our Lord did this, than for the act itself, that “the Jews” (see on i. 19) required a warrant.

19. Destroy this temple, etc. Neither our Lord’s disciples nor the Jews appear to have understood this saying, which was purposely enigmatical, as He had not yet begun to speak openly of His death. It was afterwards employed in a perverted form against Him (see Matt. xxvi. 61, and note). That one evangelist alone records the saying, and two others (see also Mark xiv. 58) relate the malicious use made of it, is a striking case of “undesigned coincidence.”

20. Forty and six years, etc. The Temple had already been so long in building; for it was then just forty-six years from the commencement of the work by Herod, in the fifteenth year of his reign: Joseph. Wars, i. 21, § 1. It was not completed till about A.D. 63, seven years before its destruction by the Romans, A.D. 70.

22 the Scripture. That is, the Old Testament, which in several passages foretells the resurrection of Christ: see Psa. xvi. 9, 10, and note; cp. also xx. 9; and Luke xxiv. 26, 27.

23 in the feast [day]. Rather, “at” or “during the festival”: see note on Matt. xxvi. 5.

miracles (signs). These miracles are not recorded, but they were evidently remarkable: see iii. 2.

24. But Jesus did not commit (entrust) Himself, etc. He did not entrust Himself and the full meaning of His Messiahship to them, for He knew how imperfect their ideas about Him were.

which I speak incredible because you cannot understand the way in which it is brought to pass. Powerful effects, which all can see, are produced by unseen causes beyond human control in the natural world: well, therefore, may the like be expected in the spiritual world (8). The beauty and aptitude of this illustration are still more apparent in Hebrew and Greek, in both of which “wind” and “spirit” are expressed by the same word. The Vulgate (Latin) has: “Spiritus ubi vult spirat . . . sic est omnis qui natus est ex Spiritu.”

unto thee, Ye must, etc. Our Lord, in changing his address from the singular to the plural, suggests that the error of Nicodemus was that of his class.