And wine being deficient, the mother of Jesus says to him, They have no wine.
A wedding in Cana runs short of wine, and the mother of Jesus brings the problem to her Son. Why did she turn to Him? And why does the Gospel make a failed party the setting for His first miracle?
The failure looks small and social. Commentators read it as a picture of every human joy.
Apart from the teaching about God's future dealings with Israel, the marriage at Cana holds a great moral lesson: all things on earth fail to give lasting joy. Marriage is the greatest occasion in the life of a natural man. He rightly seeks to make it a time of festivity and joy. Sadly, the wine of human joy runs out. Man is incapable of securing his own happiness... In the brightest moment of life, something will spoil complete happiness. The dread of what tomorrow may bring hangs over the joy of the passing day.
One writer traces the failure back to man himself, the first Adam.
The first Adam always fails, and fails most where most is needed. But Jesus will meet every need, though His time is not yet come. Faith, however, never looks to Him in vain.
Her words are not a request in form, only a statement of the lack. One writer weighs what she was hoping for.
Why turn to Him? Surely she hoped He would act. Yet we know of no earlier display of miraculous power to encourage her to expect it. And verse 11 of our chapter seems to show there had been none. But the Lord's answer shows she did have that expectation. He, of course, read her thoughts.
Another writer looks at her character, and at whose need she carries.
The mother of Jesus was there. Her character comes out in this incident: she was observant and compassionate. Things were not going well and she sensed it. There was a great lack at that feast. The young people were beginning to feel embarrassed, and she saw it. For their sakes she speaks to the Lord. It is more than likely that she had often turned to Him in her own need; now she speaks to Him of the need of others.
The Lord's reply in the next verse throws its light back on hers. She may bring the need; she may not set the timing.
When the wine failed, His mother said to Him, "They have no wine." He replied, "Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come." This is written for lasting profit. Anyone who reads disrespect into these words is mistaken. But so are those who fail to learn that the Son of God firmly refuses direction where the divine glory is in question. He was sent to do the will of God His Father, not to please His mother. Here she showed kind concern for a family she was clearly close to, at a moment when their trouble engaged her feelings.
She accepts the correction. What she tells the servants shows where she places herself.
And Mary understood it, saying to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." She was still the humble servant of the Lord, even though others make her the Queen of heaven. That is blasphemy: they falsely claim for her the honour due to the Eternal Son. He, not she, is the One above all to be heard.
One writer reads the empty supply as a picture of Israel's condition, with Mary standing for the nation.
But a marriage still to come for Israel, raised as a nation from the dead, must bring up the thought of her broken vows and the long delay of blessing. The feast, which should have been continuous for her, has failed; the wine has run out. The mother of Jesus stands for the nation in the flesh. She is aware in some sense of her condition, and she appeals to Him vaguely, as we see in this Gospel.
The world's order is best first, then worse. What Christ brings reverses it.
It is a law of nature, so to speak: worldly joy decreases. At the marriage in Cana the master of the feast was astonished. He had to admit that everyone serves the good wine first, and the poor wine after people have drunk freely. The quality of the wine gets worse. By contrast, the joy that the Lord Jesus gives increases more and more.
- Failure — the wine runs out at life's happiest event; man cannot secure his own lasting joy.
- Appeal — Mary saw someone else's need and brought it to Christ, with no earlier miracle to go on.
- Limit — she may tell Him of the lack, but she may not direct Him; He guards His Father's glory.
- Submission — she accepts the correction and points the servants to His word, not her own.
- Supply — the world serves its best first, then worse; the joy Christ gives only increases.
Jesus says to her, What have I to do with thee, woman? mine hour has not yet come.
At the wedding in Cana the wine has run out, and Mary has brought the problem to her Son. His reply sounds like a brush-off, and it ends with a word about an "hour" that has not yet come.
"Woman" sounds cold in English. But the same Gospel has Him use it again at the cross:
Notice His language on the cross, when He spoke to her and said, "Woman, behold, your son!" (19:26). That will clear the reader's mind of the idea that He answered her at the marriage in any insulting way. He addressed the Syrophoenician woman the same way when He commended her faith (Matt. 15:28). The angels used it to Mary at the tomb — "Woman, why are you weeping?" — and so did the Lord (John 20:13, 15). We believe, then, that no one in that house would have thought badly of the way He spoke to His mother. ... He spoke of her as His mother, but never, as far as we remember, addressed her so.
The ESV reads "what does this have to do with me"; older translations keep the more literal "What have I to do with you?" The phrase was ordinary speech in the Greek of the day:
"What is there (in common) between Me and you?" Blass remarks that this was "frequent in colloquial Greek of the time, quite in the meaning of our let me alone."
So why did He not simply act on her word? The answer lies in where His direction came from:
Jesus had already told His mother that He must be about His Father's business. He came to do His Father's will, and He did it at every step in communion with the Father — in timing and in manner... So He could not take a suggestion from Mary about what He should do. By making it, Mary was stepping into ground that belonged to the Father and the Son alone. No one can deny that her words came from kindness, or that they showed her belief in the power of Jesus. But in the sphere of Christ's complete devotedness only one voice could be heard: the voice of Him whose will He had come to do.
Turning down her lead did not mean turning down the need:
We may be sure He rebuked her with great tenderness, in a way that would not humiliate her in front of others. But it was not for her to direct Him... "My hour has not yet come" was a mysterious word that runs through this Gospel... it reached far beyond that marriage feast, but it did not mean that He would not step in for the present need.
Commentators differ on what the hour points to. One traces it through the rest of John:
Chapter 7:30 and 8:20 give us the clue. They speak of "His hour." He said "My hour" to His mother. Should we not conclude that all three point to the same time? It is the hour when He would be subject to men's will, submitting to human control... So at that time He would not allow His mother to direct or control Him.
Another writer reads it from the end of His work on earth:
The Lord's making John the guardian of His mother explains, "what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come." But when His hour had come, and He had done the work, He could turn to recognise the relationship, since He was no longer engaged in serving His Father on earth.
The scene also bears on the place people give Mary:
Nowhere does Scripture speak of her standing between God and sinful men, or praying for them. In the sacred records Mary asks the Lord for a favour only twice. Each time He turned her away as stepping out of her appointed place. See John 2:4; Matt. 12:46-50. Our last view of her is in Acts 1:14, as one of the praying group in Jerusalem who waited for the Holy Spirit after the Lord Jesus went on high. Not praying FOR her fellow believers, but WITH them.
There is a wider reason behind the refusal:
His mother connected the Lord with Israel and the law. By refusing to act at her word, He shows where everything He did in this Gospel came from. It flowed from His relationship as the Son with the Father — not from natural ties to His mother, and not from legal ties to Israel.
- Not scorn. "Woman" is how He also spoke to her at the cross and to others He honoured; no one in the house would have heard an insult.
- Not her call. The words were everyday speech, close in sense to "let me alone."
- Not her province. He acted only in communion with the Father. So even a kind suggestion from Mary entered ground that belonged to Father and Son alone.
- Not yet the hour. Some read the hour as the time He was handed over to men's will. Others read it as the moment His work was finished, when He could own the relationship again and give her into John's care.
- Not delayed help. Turning down her direction was not turning down the need. He would still step in — and Mary is last seen praying with the disciples, not prayed to by them.
His mother says to the servants, Whatever he may say to you, do.
At the wedding in Cana the wine has run out. Mary has told her Son of the lack, and His answer refuses her direction. Her reply is not to Him at all, but to the servants.
She does not argue with His answer. Her silence, and then this instruction, show how she took it.
The words of Jesus to His mother had their intended effect. This is clear from two things. She attempted no reply. And she still counted on Jesus stepping in and showing His power, for she said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." This is very beautiful. Her deep affection may have drawn her out of her proper place, and perhaps her wish to see her Son acknowledged in public. If so, she took her quiet place again the moment the Lord had spoken. She was still looking for some shining out of His more than human glory. And she told the servants to give Him unquestioning obedience.
Why could He not simply act on her word?
Jesus had already told His mother that He must be about His Father's business. He had come to do His Father's will. He did that will at every step in communion with the Father, in timing and in manner alike. As He Himself said, "The Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise." It was impossible, then, for Him to receive a suggestion from Mary about what He should do.
Her sentence points every ear away from herself. It answers those who put her in His place.
And Mary understood it. She said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." She was still the lowly bondservant of the Lord. That stays true even though others blasphemously make her the Queen of heaven, falsely claiming for her the honour due to the Eternal Son. He, not she, is the One above all to be heard, as the Father's voice announced on the holy mountain: "This is my beloved Son; listen to Him." Nothing in fallen nature is more unworthy than to doubt the grace of the One in whom all the fullness dwells. Nothing is more unworthy than to imagine that He, the one Mediator, needs her intercession to stir up or strengthen His love. He Himself is full of grace and truth. She, for her part, could not save anyone, nor intercede for others in that way. She needed to pray herself, since she was a sinner like others, to be saved by faith.
Her words leave the servants one thing to do: obey.
He only looked for a willing obedience to His word; then He would work. His mother's words must have impressed these servants, and their obedience was truly admirable. "Fill the water pots," He said, and they filled them to the brim. "Draw some out now and take it to the master of the feast," He said, and they took it. No doubts or questions entered their minds. It was enough that He commanded, and they obeyed with enthusiasm. This willing and unquestioning obedience is an indispensable condition for blessing.
The servants carried the water. They also gained what the master of the feast never had.
It is the servants, and only they, who are brought into connection with the Lord. They are in His secrets, while even the master of the feast knows nothing about them... It was the servants who were brought nearest to Him in the whole scene. And so with us. Jesus, the Lord of glory, the Heir of all things, was a Servant here. He came "not to be served but to serve," and those who are humblest in service are still cast nearest to Him.
The same words appear much earlier in the Bible. Pharaoh sent hungry people to one man.
When the people cried to Pharaoh for relief, his reply was simple: "Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do." This at once reminds us of the words His mother spoke at His first miracle: "Do whatever He tells you." Does a conscience-stricken sinner cry out today for salvation? The answer in three words is, "Go to Jesus." All God's grace and bounty flows through Him.
- Word. Mary's sentence sends every listener past her to Him. Hear Him, not her. She takes the place of a bondservant, not a mediator.
- Obedience. He asked only for willing obedience to His word. No doubts, no questions. Commentators call this an indispensable condition for blessing.
- Filling. They filled the jars to the brim. Then the One who came to do His Father's will met the lack, in His Father's timing.
- Secret. Only the servants knew where the wine came from. Humble service still puts a person nearest to Him.
- Glory. What began with a lack ended in glory shining out. And three words still answer any sinner in need: "Go to Jesus." All God's grace flows through Him.
Now there were standing there six stone water-vessels, according to the purification of the Jews, holding two or three measures each.
John records a small detail in the middle of a wedding: six stone jars kept for the washings Jewish custom required. Commentators ask what those jars were for, why they were empty, and why the Lord used them for His first sign.
The writer was there himself. He records what the jars were made of, how much they held, and how empty things were when the Lord stepped in.
There were six water-pots of stone, placed there for purifying, after the manner of the Jews. The writer, who was present, not only tells us they were of stone, but also tells us their capacity, holding, when full, two or three measures each. Altogether that comes to about one hundred and twenty-six gallons. The wine was gone, and the water-pots were partly if not entirely empty. That was the state of things when the Lord spoke to the servants.
The jars stood there "for the Jewish rites of purification." That custom said something about the people who kept it.
The Jewish system was a witness that people were unclean. Its ordinances could do no more than make the body clean on the outside.
The scale of the provision shows how seriously people took the practice — and how narrow its aim was.
In essence, this rite was a commandment of men, not of God. Their washings had an outward effect only, not an inward one. The six stone water-pots, each holding about twenty gallons, stood empty during the marriage banquet at Cana of Galilee. They show how ample the usual provision was for the ceremonial purification of the guests. The Jewish elders enforced this ritual with great care. Yet to the all-seeing eye it looked no further than the cleanness of the hands and of household dishes — the outside of the cup and the plate. It ignored the condition of the heart, that ever-flowing and overflowing spring of pollution.
Some writers find meaning in the number itself.
Six: incompleteness, imperfection — one short of the perfect number seven... The Jews at Cana had six water-pots for purification, John 2:6; but they showed that ordinances could not meet man's need.
The wine had run out, and the jars set aside for cleansing had nothing in them either. Commentators see that double emptiness as a picture of religion that is all form.
Those empty water-pots tell the tale. They speak of the manner of the purifying of the Jews, but they are empty, mere forms and ceremonies. That is exactly the condition the Jews were in. They had plenty of forms. They would not eat with unwashed hands. They would not do anything ceremonially wrong. They would strain out a gnat... and then they would swallow a camel, as the Lord says: they had the form without the reality.
The Lord does not discard the jars. His word fills them again, and the water itself carries meaning.
At the word of the Lord Jesus the water is brought in, the water-pots filled. The water itself is a picture of the word of God. Yet that word brings the pure blessing and joy that can fill empty hearts only when Christ Himself is recognised as its living theme. He does what the law could not do.
Water for washing becomes wine. The order matters — cleansing first, then gladness.
He turned the water of purification into the wine of rejoicing. This was the beginning of His miracles or signs, and as a sign it looked on to the final result of His work. There can be no lasting gladness except on the basis of a purification which He brings about. And the gladness that will spring up when the marriage day at last comes for a cleansed Israel will be the best of all.
The jars did not all hold the same amount. One writer turns that into a personal lesson.
The capacity of the vessels may vary, as it did with the vessels holding two or three measures each. It is the state of the vessels, their moral condition, that decides whether the Master will use them. If they are vessels that can be used for purifying, they can be used in the ministry of joy for God's people. And what purifies is what brings joy.
- Six. One short of seven — the jars stand for what falls short, ordinances that could not meet man's need.
- Stone. Real, weighty provision for washing, yet reaching no further than hands and dishes, never the heart.
- Empty. Form without reality; the wine of joy and the water of cleansing had both run out together.
- Filled. The Lord uses the same vessels, filled at His word — doing what the law could not do.
- Poured. Purifying becomes wine: no lasting gladness except on the ground of the cleansing He brings.
Jesus says to them, Fill the water-vessels with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
Six stone jars stood in that house at Cana for the Jewish rites of washing, and they were empty when the wine ran out. His command is not for wine but for water. Everything He does next depends on servants who obey.
The jars belonged to Israel's washing rites. One writer weighs what those rites could and could not do.
The Jewish system was a witness of defilement, and its ordinances could do no more than make people clean on the outside. This was human. Jesus was here for divine purposes, then in testimony, by and by in power.
The wine was not the only thing missing in that house.
Six water jars were there, witnesses to an outward and unprofitable purifying. Yet the jars were as empty as the wine bottles. But He was there — the Creator, full of love and pity for His needy creatures, to supply the lack and more besides.
Christ supplies the power; He looks for obedience. The servants did what He said, and they did it gladly.
He only looked for a willing obedience to His word; then He would work... He said, "Fill the jars with water," and they filled them up to the brim. No doubts nor questions entered their minds. It was enough that He commanded, and they obeyed with enthusiasm. This willing and unquestioning obedience is essential for blessing. How often He would have filled us with all joy and peace in believing, but we did not trust Him enough to simply obey His word.
One writer works out how much these jars held, and why the brim matters.
John, who was present, tells us they were of stone. He also gives their size: two or three measures each when full. The whole has been reckoned at about one hundred and twenty-six gallons. The wine was used up, and the water jars partly if not entirely empty. That was the state of things when the Lord spoke to the servants... "And they filled them up to the brim." Clearly there was nothing in them now but water, and no room for anything else.
The full measure matches the One who set it. And obedience brought the servants into His confidence.
That was the measure, blessed word! It is often repeated in various connections. But no wonder, since it comes from One in whom the fullness itself was pleased to dwell (Col. 1). And who but Himself could give out that fullness? ... Those who do His will are let into the secret of their Lord's mind.
Several writers see meaning in the water itself, and in the number of the jars.
The number now may be that of discipline. We know God will in fact use it to bring His people under the power of His word. His word is His means of purification. "The washing of water" is "by the Word" (Eph. 5:26).
The sequence is not accidental.
Notice the order: the water first and then the wine — holiness and joy, separation to God, and then power in the Spirit. To think of wine first would be folly, a denial of the truth. "Fill the jars with water" was the word, and the servants showed their obedience by filling to the brim... The way to real joy, to what God calls joy, is through sanctification — the Lord Himself being their righteousness.
One writer turns the command on those who teach and serve others.
We shall not be able to fill them with water unless we are first filled with the water of the Word ourselves. If we read worthless books, we must not be surprised when our children turn to folly... Let us, then, be like the servants of John 2, who filled the pots to the brim and then brought them to Jesus. We cannot change the water into wine, nor could they. We must do what they did — we must bring them to Jesus; and that necessitates prayer.
- Empty — The washing jars stood there useless and empty. They picture a religion that could only clean the outside. That lack was where the miracle began.
- Fill — Christ asked for nothing clever, only water. The servants obeyed at once. Writers call such unquestioning obedience the condition for blessing.
- Brim — Filled to the top, the jars held water and nothing else. There was no room for a substitute, and no explanation left but the power of the One giving orders.
- Water then wine — The order is deliberate: cleansing before gladness. Writers link the water to the word of God that purifies, and warn that wanting the wine first is folly.
- Bring — We cannot turn water into wine, and neither could the servants. We can fill the vessel, bring it to Him, and pray.
And he says to them, Draw out now, and carry [it] to the feast-master. And they carried [it].
The servants filled stone jars with water, carried it out at His word, and what reached the table was wine. Who was this Guest at a village wedding, and why did He put the miracle in the hands of the lowest workers?
The whole event turns on two short orders. One writer follows what was in the jars at each step.
The wine was gone, and the water pots were partly if not completely empty. That was the state of things when the Lord spoke to the servants. He gave them just two commands. First, "Fill the jars with water." "And they filled them up to the brim." Clearly there was nothing in them now but water, and no room for anything else. The next command was, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast." The servants obeyed. "So they took it," writes the Apostle. The miracle was done. The water had become wine... The Creator was present, and had made water become wine.
Carrying plain water to the man in charge of the feast could have looked absurd. Yet the record shows no hesitation.
He only looked for a willing obedience to His word; then He would work, and these servants... were most admirable in their obedience. No doubts or questions entered their minds. It was enough that He commanded, and they obeyed with enthusiasm. This willing and unquestioning obedience is an indispensable condition for blessing.
The verse ends with the servants carrying what they drew. The next verse says they knew where the wine came from. Commentators tie that knowledge to their obedience.
"Now draw some out and take it" — another word of power and grace. "The servants who had drawn the water knew." Those who do His will are let into the secret of their Lord's mind.
The guests with status missed what the working staff knew. One writer sees a pattern in that.
It is the servants, and only the servants, whom the Lord brings into connection with Himself. They are in His secrets, while even the master of the feast knows nothing about them... It was the servants whom He brought nearest to Him in the whole scene. And so with us. Jesus, the Lord of glory, the Heir of all things, was a Servant here. He came "not to be served but to serve," and those who are humblest in service are still cast nearest to Him. In the day when He gives the true wine of the kingdom, His servants who have served Him will, as here, hand out the joy under Him, and be marked out as in the secret of His glory.
The wine did not appear out of nowhere. It came from jars that stood there for the washings the Jewish people practised. One commentator finds meaning in that order.
The way the Lord takes to supply the good wine is surely significant. He causes the empty water pots of purification to be filled, and from these water pots the wine is drawn out. Does this not tell us, in a symbol, that the happiness of men will only be secured when holiness is maintained?
The Lord sent the drink to the man in charge of the feast. That put the result in front of a witness who had no idea what had happened.
The servants and the master of the feast became witnesses no one could refute about the work Christ did. So did the bridegroom. For the moment he got the credit for reversing man's way. Instead of serving the worse wine after people have drunk freely, he had kept the good wine till last.
One writer hears in this command a preview of the millennium, the coming age of unhindered joy on earth.
The marriage scene of Cana in Galilee also shows the way our Lord acts in millennial blessing. The water is turned into wine, and every water pot is filled to the brim. What a word that will be! Joy will be unhindered all around Him, He will know it in full, and He Himself will be its cause and source. Then He says, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast."
That reversal is offered as a test of where a person looks for happiness.
Worldly joy diminishes. The astonished master of the feast at the marriage of Cana had to admit: every man serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poorer wine. The quality of the wine gets worse. By contrast, the joy that the Lord Jesus gives increases more and more.
- Command. Two short orders — fill, then draw and carry — and between them the Creator turned the water into wine.
- Obedience. The servants carried water to the head table without objection. Commentators call such obedience a condition for blessing.
- Secret. Those who did His will knew where the wine came from. The master of the feast did not.
- Order. The servants filled the purification jars first, and the wine came out of them. Holiness comes before happiness.
- Proof. The people He sent the wine to became witnesses no one could contradict. His good wine is the wine kept till last.
But when the feast-master had tasted the water which had been made wine (and knew not whence it was, but the servants knew who drew the water), the feast-master calls the bridegroom,
The man in charge of the meal tastes the wine and cannot tell its source. John stops to tell us who knew and who did not, and that gap carries much of the meaning of the sign.
Very few people knew what had happened. Nobody with status at that wedding was among them.
He makes the water wine. He supplies the table as the divine Lord, or Creator, of the feast. But the governor of the feast knew nothing of this. The bridegroom knew nothing of it. The guests knew nothing of it. The mother was not in the secret, and did not see it. It was only the servants who had this secret among them, and the disciples who had this display of glory made to them.
Notice the order here. The servants obey first, and knowledge follows.
"Draw out now, and carry" — another word of power and grace. "The servants who had drawn the water knew." Those who do His will are let into the secret of their Lord's mind.
Another writer turns this into a lesson for us today.
The governor of the feast learns the value of the good wine before he understands where it came from. But the servants who drew the water knew... This has valuable lessons for us today. We are to be "servants" in actual practice, fully obeying the word of God, and so knowing in reality the power and grace of the Lord Jesus. The word becomes "wine," stimulating and gladdening the heart. Notice too that the wine is not merely called "the best wine" but "the good wine," for no other can compare with it in any degree.
The one man who had no idea where the wine came from is exactly the man whose verdict counts.
In the first miracle or sign that Jesus did in our Gospel, we see the power of the Creator at work on lifeless matter... The water is changed into wine so completely that colour, taste and smell announce the fact. The governor of the feast gives powerful testimony to the miracle without knowing what he is saying. Who but the Creator can change the nature of things?
Between them, the staff and the head steward close off every escape route for doubt.
He said, "Fill the pots with water." And this was done to the brim; then He told them, "Draw out now and carry it to the master of the feast." So the servants and the master of the feast became the witnesses who could not be refuted for the work Christ did.
The wording of the verse raises a question. Commentators answer it in different ways, and one writer sets out both options.
When was the miracle worked? Was it while the water was in the stone jars? Or was it worked between the servants drawing out the water and that water reaching the ruler of the feast?... The words in verse 9, "the servants who had drawn the water knew," seem to suggest this: they drew water out of the jars, and it became wine before it reached the ruler of the feast. Writers have put forward both opinions, so we mention them. Whichever it was, the miracle remains the same — water became wine. The jars were filled to the brim. And it was just before Passover, so there could have been no ripe grapes to squeeze into the vessels. Both facts rule out any thought or possibility of a trick. It was not even like multiplying something already there. It was producing what had not existed before.
The master of the feast turns to the bridegroom. By any normal reckoning, the host is responsible for the wine. But he is thanking the wrong man.
The governor sends to the bridegroom who had invited them, as though he were the one. But it was Jesus who provided the joy of the place. He is still keeping "the good wine" for His people until the last — until all other joy is over. Jesus was the true Bridegroom.
The wine came from water kept for washing, and that is part of what the sign means.
He turned the water of purification into the wine of rejoicing. This was the beginning of His miracles or signs, and as a sign it looked on to the final result of His work. There can be no lasting gladness except on the basis of a purification that He brings about. One day the marriage day will come for a cleansed Israel. The gladness then will be the best of all. The "good wine" is kept until that day.
- Hidden. The master of the feast tasted real wine but could not trace it. The source of the blessing stayed hidden from everyone at the top table.
- Known. The servants knew because they had obeyed — those who do His will are let into the secret of His mind.
- Proved. The man who did not know became the strongest witness. Without meaning to, he showed that only the Creator can change the nature of things.
- Misplaced. Thanks went to the bridegroom, but Jesus supplied the joy, and He is still keeping the good wine until the last.
- Purified. The wine came out of jars meant for washing. Lasting gladness rests on a purification He Himself brings about.
and says to him, Every man sets on first the good wine, and when [men] have well drunk, then the inferior; thou hast kept the good wine till now.
The master of the feast tastes what had been water and praises the wrong man for it. His remark exposes how the world runs its feasts — and, without his knowing it, how Christ runs His.
The steward states the ordinary rule of hosting: serve the best first, and bring out the cheaper wine later.
If this steward did not know where the good wine had come from, he knew the ways of men and the character of the world. "Everyone," he said, "serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine." And so it is — "the grass withers, the flower fades." Such is man: he begins in hope and ends in disappointment. How gloomy the words are: "then the poor wine." It is a sad thing for those who have no resources or hopes beyond their own plans and schemes. Those plans stop at the world and its desires, and they all pass away.
The steward can taste quality, but he cannot account for it.
There were two mysteries here for the master of the feast. He did not know where the wine came from. He did not know how the bridegroom had kept the good wine until now. The finger of God was there — no, God Himself. Who but He could have done this? And to keep the good wine until the last is not man's way at all; with him, everything ends when the wine runs out. Man's joy passes away very quickly.
The compliment goes to the bridegroom, who had nothing to do with it. Only the servants could explain it, and what gave them that knowledge was obedience.
The master of the feast learns the value of the good wine before he understands its origin; but the servants who drew the water knew... This has valuable lessons for us now. We are to be "servants" in actual practice, fully obeying the word of God. Then we know in reality the power and grace of the Lord Jesus. The word becomes "wine," stirring and gladdening the heart. Notice too that the wine is not merely called "the best wine," but "the good wine." No other can compare with it in any measure.
Jesus arrived as an invited guest. By the end He is supplying the table, so the steward's praise of the bridegroom lands on Him instead.
Jesus had been invited to this marriage in Cana as a guest; but by the end of it He becomes the host, providing and handing out the wine... The steward sends to the bridegroom who had invited them, as though he were the one. But it was Jesus who provided the joy of the place. And it is He who is still keeping "the good wine" for His people until the last — until all other joy is over. Jesus was the true Bridegroom.
The world's wine gets worse; what Christ gives moves the other way. Believers find this in their own experience of joy.
The joy we get from mere human things runs out. So does the joy we get from God's providential dealings in our favour. But He gives the true joy in fellowship with Himself. We misuse God's natural gifts, so the wine runs out. The Lord keeps the good wine, and He gives it at His own right time. In fellowship with Him we experience it. We often say, "You have kept the good wine until now." We keep finding it so, in practice, along our path here.
The reversal points beyond this wedding to a day still ahead.
So Jesus will do on the richest scale in the day that is coming. He will reverse the sorrowful history of man. The wine will not fail when He reigns. There will be joy for God and man in happy fellowship together... In that day, too, He will be the Bridegroom and the Master of the feast. The joy of that day will have its root in the glory of His Person. It will also have its root in the depth of that work of humiliation He already carried out on the cross. There will be no secrets then. It will not only be the servants who know, but everyone, from the least to the greatest.
- The rule — the world serves its best first and its worst last; man begins in hope and ends in disappointment.
- The reversal — keeping the good wine for last is not man's way. Christ overturns the order, and His joy grows instead of fading.
- The secret — the steward tasted the wine but never traced it. Only the servants who obeyed and drew the water knew its source.
- The Host — the bridegroom took the credit, but Jesus supplied the joy. He is still keeping the good wine for His people until all other joy is over.
- The day — a village wedding points on to a feast where the wine will not fail, and where everyone, from least to greatest, will know.