Bible Study Part 8 The Book of John
The Wedding at Cana
John 2:1-12
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
In the wake of Mother’s Day, we get a chance to see a glimpse of the mother and son relationship of Mary and Jesus.
The Wedding
Jesus, His family, and the disciples have been invited to a wedding in the nearby town of Cana, which is about 5-6 miles from Nazareth where Jesus grew up. We don’t get much information other than Jesus had just received His first few disciples.
When Mary sees that the wedding feast had ran out of wine, she mentions it to Jesus. This is, honestly, a sweet moment between a mother and Son, demonstrating Mary’s faith that her Son was able to provide. She may have known what was coming. I wonder if He might have explained His baptism and interaction with His cousin John on the walk from Nazareth to Cana. He would have also introduced His followers to Her, seeing that they were invited to the wedding as well.
The Greek word John used when he wrote, “the wine ran out,” is the word “hysterēsantos.” It means to be deficient or to come up short. This word shares the same root word that Paul uses in Romans 3:23 when he writes, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
I think this can be used as a great analogy of grace in abundance and we’ll see this in a minute.
My Lady
When Jesus responds to Mary, the English translation doesn’t really do justice to the sentence. It almost sounds cold. “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not come yet.”
The word used for woman in the Greek, “gynai,” is better translated as “my lady,” a respectable approach to addressing a woman. The Louzeaux Brothers Exposition of the Book of John words this interaction beautifully by saying,
“The term He really used was one that any woman might glory in. He said to her, ‘My lady, what have I to do with thee?’ or really, ‘What is there between thee and Me?’ That is, “What is it that you would have of me? What is the thing that you have in your heart?’”
It’s less of a harsh or cold moment between Deity and a mere human and more of a tender moment between a son and mother.
Temptations
Now, Jesus says, “My hour has not come yet.” This “hour” He is speaking of is His glorification (John 17). Many times throughout the gospels, Jesus asks His disciples or people He healed to not speak of who He was. We will see a glimpse of the reason why at the end of this chapter and in the coming, subsequent chapters.
John 2:24 says that, “…Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people… He Himself knew what was in man.” As we discussed in previous studies, the Jews were seeking their Messiah. They wanted to place a king in power who would rule over them. But in Christ’s humility, He also shows reservation and subjection to the will of God who had a plan for Him.
Any man who might be a vessel for good has the possibility of becoming prideful in power.
But not Jesus in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9).
We have seen this timelessly in the greater body of the church. Many such cases has been brought to light in the past year with men like Robert Morris of Gateway Church, Steve Lawson of Grace Family Baptist Church, Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church a few years back, or Dino Rizzo who is currently executive director over ARC Church Planting Ministries. All these men allowed their power and position to take precedence rather than God.
From hyper charismatic leaders being exposed as sexual predators and thieves, to conservative reformed leaders being exposed as liars and hypocrites. When power is given to self-centered men, we see such abuses.
Proverbs 25:28
A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.
Full of Grace
Mary, in full faith, tells the servants of the wedding to “do whatever He tells you.” Some Catholics have said that Jesus was in subjection to her at this time, believing that Mary initiated Jesus’ ministry. This is what’s known as “eisegesis,” or reading into the text what’s not there. It supposes that Mary initiated Jesus’ ministry by telling Him to produce the wine, but as we see, Jesus’ “hour” was not the start of His ministry, but His glorification at the end of His life.
In all truth, His ministry began when He was a child and was fulfilled as a man.
Jesus instructs the servants to fill six water jugs that were used for purification rituals. This would rightly be seen as overkill by the amount of wine that was about to be produced—well over one-hundred gallons of wine! But as the text says, Jesus manifested His glory by this sign to those who saw it, in order that they believe who He was.
Wine is a great analogy for grace. Wine is usually paired with celebration and joy. In this case, it is bountiful and most excellent, or as the master of feast puts it, “Everyone serves the good wine first…But you have kept the good wine until now.”
But like wine, grace given from God can be abused. Just because it is in abundance does not mean we are free to exploit its goodness. Paul, when addressing the church in Galatia on the topic of freedom in Christ, says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh… (Galatians 5:13)”
Like we saw in the previous section, men abused their freedom in Christ to take advantage of innocent people.
By revisiting Romans 3:23, it is true by all accounts that we’ve all sinned and fallen short, “hysterēsantos,” of God’s glory. But God has made a way, by His grace, to forgive broken people and fill us full of His love if we cling to Him, repent of our sins, and believe in Him, as the scripture concludes.
As the great hymn “Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery” says,
“See the price of our redemption; See the Father’s plan unfold, Bringing many sons to glory, Grace unmeasured, love untold!”
God’s grace is full to the brim, perfect, and good. But, like any good thing, man has potential for abuse.
Be wise in Christ and use your freedom in Him for His glory.
I hope this study has been a blessing and as always, Be Encouraged!