John 2:9-10

John 2:9-10. In these verses we have the testimony borne to the completeness of the miracle. The ruler of the feast, a guest speaking as the representative of the guests, calling the bridegroom (who supplied the feast, and in whose house they were), emphatically recognises the excellence of the wine, not knowing ‘whence it was.' ‘From whatever source this may have come, it is wine, and good wine:' this is his witness. ‘Whatever it may be, it has but now flowed from the spring as water,' is the unexpressed but implied testimony of the servants. The simplicity of the double witness gives it its force; the guests as yet know nothing of the miracle, and thus afford the strongest evidence of its truth. An attempt is sometimes made to soften down an expression used by the ruler of the feast, ‘when men are drunken.' There need, however, be no scruple as to giving the word its ordinary meaning. The remark docs but express his surprise at the bridegroom's departure from the ordinary custom, in bringing in so late wine of such excellence as this. The common maxim was that the best wine should be given first, when it could be appreciated by the guests; the weak and poorer when they had drunk more than enough, and the edge of their taste was blunted. No answer is recorded, a plain proof, were any needed, that the Evangelist values the incident not so much for its own sake as for the lesson it conveys.