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.