John 2:7

Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. JESUS SAITH UNTO THEM, FILL THE WATER-POTS WITH WATER. AND THEY FILLED THEM UP TO THE BRIM....

7._Fill the water-pots with water. _The servants might be apt to look upon this injunction as absurd; for they had already more than enough of water. But in this way the Lord often acts towards us, that his power may be more illustriously displayed by an unexpected result; though this circumstance is added to magnify the miracle; for when the servants drew wine out of vessels which had been filled with water, no suspicion can remain....

1-11 It is very desirable when there is a marriage, to have Christ own and bless it. Those that would have Christ with them at their marriage, must invite him by prayer, and he will come. While in this world we sometimes find ourselves in straits, even when we think ourselves in fulness. There was want at a marriage feast. Those who are come to care for the things of the world, must look for trouble, and count upon disappointment. In our addresses to Christ, we must humbly spread our case before him, and then refer ourselves to him to do as he pleases. In Christ's reply to his mother there was no disrespect. He used the same word when speaking to her with affection from the cross; yet it is a standing testimony against the idolatry of after-ages, in giving undue honours to his mother. His hour is come when we know not what to do. Delays of mercy are not denials of prayer. Those that exp...

WITH WATER - This was done by the servants employed at the feast. It was done by “them,” so that there might be no opportunity of saying that the disciples of Jesus had filled them with wine to produce the “appearance” of a miracle. In this case there could be no deception. The quantity was very considerable. The servants would know whether the “wine” or “water” had been put in these vessels. It could not be believed that they had either the power or the disposition to impose on others in this manner, and the way was therefore clear for the proof that Jesus had really changed what was known to be water into wine. TO THE BRIM - To the top. So full that no wine could be poured in to give the appearance of a mixture. Further, vessels were used for this miracle in which wine had not been kept. These pots were never used to put wine in, but simply to keep “water” in for the various purposes o...

EXPOSITION VERSES 2:1-3:4 _The testimony of signs to the glory of the Word made flesh._ JOHN 2:1 (1) _The first sign, the beginning of signs, Mastery over the old creation. Sign of love and power. _The description of the preceding narrative, given in John 2:11, is the true key to it. It is impressive on several accounts. Christ had not yet given any "sign" of the invisible and eternal glory which the evangelist in his prologue had claimed for him. He had not in his own person "manifested" the unique majesty of his will, nor revealed the direction in which the power he wielded would most freely move. John, by this statement, (1) puts down a positive disclaimer of the whole cycle of portents which, whe

JESUS SAITH UNTO THEM,.... To the servants that waited at the feast, FILL THE WATER POTS WITH WATER. The Ethiopic version adds, "to their brims", as they did. Christ chose the water pots, and not the vessel, or vessels, or bottles, now empty, out of which they had drank their wine; that it might not be said that there was any left therein, which gave colour and flavour to the water: and he ordered them to be filled with water by the servants, that they might take notice, and be witnesses, that that, and nothing else, was put into them; and up to the brims, so that they could not he capable of having any other liquor infused into them: AND THEY FILLED THEM UP TO THE BRIM; strictly observing the orders of Christ, and the instructions of his mother....

Our Saviour had lived on the earth for thirty years, and had worked no miracle. There was the hiding of his power. He had been subject unto his parents, and had lived in obscurity. Now he has broken through the obscurity, and he begins his public ministry by working a miracle. John 2:1. _And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee;_ «The third day.» John keeps a kind of diary for Christ. In those first days there was something for every day, and they were a specimen of the whole life of the Saviour. He could never say, like Titus, «I have lost a day.» Every day had its deed, glorifying to God, and blessed to men. Let us also try to labour for Christ every day; let there be no day without its mark. May God grant that there may be something to make every day memorable! «And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee.» The first miracle of our Lord was not

CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 2:1-22 _ 1. The Marriage in Cana. (John 2:1 .)_ 2. The Temple Cleansed. (John 2:12 .) The second chapter gives the record of the first miracle reported in this Gospel. He manifested His omniscience in the previous chapter and here, in turning water into wine, He reveals Himself as the omnipotent Creator. What harmony there is between the opening of the first two Chapter s of the Gospel of John. The first chapter speaks of Him as the Creator of all things and in the second chapter He manifests the power of the Creator. He needed no wine, no grapes, no mellowing process, to furnish the best wine. He but commanded and it was so. This is omnipotence. In John 2:17 of the previous chapter there is a

THE MARRIAGE AT CANA. On the third day the promise to Nathanael of greater things to follow is fulfilled. Modern exploration has suggested three sites for Cana, all of them near Nazareth, and to the N. or NE. of that place (p. 29). In Mark 6:3 only the sisters are mentioned by the people of Nazareth as being with us. Zahn suggests that they had married and settled there, the family having moved to Cana. We mayat least notice the independence of the Synoptic narrative which the mention of the place shows. The mother of Jesus calls His attention to the failure of wine at a wedding feast to which He and His disciples had been invited. Jesus answers, in terms in which there is no trace of rebuke or disrespect [82] (_cf. John 19:26_), that the time has not come for Him to interfere. He has not yet received the Father's i

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 bounty in abundance. When the 5,000 were fed there was twelve baskets over....