CHAPTER II. THE FIRST MIRACLE (John 2:1-11) "On the third day" after the events narrated in the closing portion of the last chapter there occurred the first exercise of miraculous power on the part of the Savior. The scene was Cana of Galilee, the northern district of Palestine, to which he had re... [ Continue Reading ]
BOTH JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES WERE INVITED. He now had disciples, those called in the few days before, John, Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael. As the invitation of Jesus is named apart from that of Mary it was probably sent after he and his disciples had returned to Galilee.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY WANTED WINE. The Revision says, "When the wine failed." From some cause, perhaps from. larger number of guests than was expected, the wine gave out. "None but those who know how sacred in the East is the duty of lavish hospitality, and how passionately the obligation to exercise to th... [ Continue Reading ]
WOMAN, WHAT HAVE. TO DO WITH THEE? These words in our language sound harsh and almost rude, but the term rendered _woman_ was so respectful that it might be addressed to the queenliest, and so gentle that it might be spoken to those most tenderly loved. It is used by servants to queens, and Christ u... [ Continue Reading ]
WHATSOEVER HE SAITH UNTO YOU, DO IT. The words of Mary to the servants show: 1. That the family where the wedding took place were in comfortable circumstances; 2. That Mary had some right to direct, being probably. relative; 3. That she understood from the manner of the reply, more than from the... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE WERE SET THERE SIX WATER-POTS OF STONE. These water-pots were to supply water for the washings usual at feasts (see Mark 7:4). The Jews were regarded ceremonially _unclean_ if they did not wash both before and after eating. This was done in. formal manner, and was, with the washing of cups, p... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS SAID, FILL THE WATER-POTS WITH WATER. Some have commented on the amount of wine made by Jesus. 1. There is no proof that he made more than was needed for the number of guests and the length of the feast, where wine was the common beverage of the people. 2. It is God's way to pour out his bo... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SAID, DRAW OUT NOW, AND BEAR UNTO THE GOVERNOR OF THE FEAST. They had poured in water and they took out wine. "He that had made wine that day in those six water-pots does the same every year in the vines. For as what the servants put in the water-pots was changed into wine by the operation of th... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE RULER OF THE FEAST HAD TASTED. The ruler of the feast, and the _governor_ of verse 8th, are the same. It was customary to choose, sometimes by lot,. president who regulated the whole order of festivities. The ruler of the feast on this occasion was. guest, chosen to this honorary office. A... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERY MAN AT THE BEGINNING DOTH SET FORTH GOOD WINE. The language of the ruler is sportive, but still he states. custom. The best wine was offered when the appetite of the guests was sharpest and most critical. After they were well filled and had entered fully into the spirit of the feast, poorer w... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS BEGINNING OF MIRACLES. This was the first miracle of Christ. The stories told in Catholic fables and in the Apocryphal New Testament are baseless. He had refused to make bread to feed his own hunger in the wilderness, but he was ready to supply the needs of others.. miracle is. supernatural ac... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BRETHREN OF THE LORD. After this he went down to Capernaum. Capernaum was situated on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and the road thence was "down" from the hill country where Cana was located. His mother and brethren according to the flesh went with him, and this city became his fa... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE. The Gospels are silent concerning any visit of Jesus after his twelfth year until the first Passover after his ministry began. The Lord, after his baptism, the temptation, and the witness of John, had begun his work rather quietly in Galilee, but when the Passover seaso... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE FOUND IN THE TEMPLE. The Jewish worship centered in the temple. There the nation gathered at the great religious festivals; there all sacrifices were offered and the priesthood were consecrated. First there was the Tabernacle, the movable temple of the wilderness; then the temple of Solomon,... [ Continue Reading ]
MADE. SCOURGE OF SMALL CORDS. The original implies that it was made of rushes, which were carried in as bedding for cattle. It was not. formidable weapon of itself; was chosen more as. symbol, and was probably not laid in violence upon any one. DROVE THEM ALL OUT OF THE TEMPLE. His indignation was... [ Continue Reading ]
SAID UNTO THEM THAT SOLD DOVES. Cattle could be driven out, the money overturned, but the doves were in cages and could only be carried out, or released and lost. Christ's object was to cleanse the temple, not to destroy any one's property. Hence, he commands them to carry them out. MAKE NOT MY FA... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS DISCIPLES REMEMBERED. As they beheld his flaming zeal and thought of the wrath that it would bring down upon him, they thought of the words in Psalms 69:9, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ANSWERED THE JEWS. I suppose that "the Jews" has an official signification as in John 1:19. As soon as they have time to recover from their surprise, the officials demand his authority for these acts. They are evidently full of resentment. The enmity that grew more and more bitter until its ob... [ Continue Reading ]
DESTROY THIS TEMPLE, AND IN THREE DAYS. WILL RAISE IT UP. To the demand for. sign, made more than once during his ministry, this was his constant answer. Unbelief would do its work in destroying the temple of his body, and its argument would be overthrown by his resurrection from the dead. The temp... [ Continue Reading ]
FORTY AND SIX YEARS WAS THIS TEMPLE IN BUILDING. It had been forty-six years since Herod the Great had begun his work. At this time the work was not fully completed and workmen were still engaged on some of its parts. It was eighty years from the time it was begun before it was fully completed by H... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEREFORE HE WAS RISEN FROM THE DEED HIS DISCIPLES REMEMBERED. They remembered and understood his words then; they did not now. Then "they believed the Scripture" which foretold his death and resurrection, though they had never understood it before.... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY BELIEVED IN HIS NAME WHEN THEY SAW THE MIRACLES. The miracles that he worked at this Passover season are not recorded, but this passage affirms them, as well as John 3:2. Their belief was rather an intellectual assent that he was. divine teacher than an obedient trust in him as the Savior.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DID NOT COMMIT HIMSELF TO THEM. He knew too well that theirs was not. heartfelt trust to reveal himself unreservedly to them.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE KNEW WHAT WAS IN MAN. He knew their hearts, because he possessed the divine omniscience that could fathom the depths of every heart. PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 1. The Master still looks with indignation upon the conversion of the Temple into. house of merchandise. It is still done by. corrupt pri... [ Continue Reading ]