John 2:1-5 - The Wedding at Cana

John 2:1-5

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

Message: The Wedding at Cana

Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."

What the Lord is Saying: I continue each day to be guided in my study of Scripture by the ministry of Ligonier and their publication Tabletalk (although I am behind in these lessons and do not do it on the same schedule as the ministry). Their goal for 2018, the year I am following is to study the book of John. I'm thrilled with this as it is good for me to study another Gospel. But it is interesting the way they choose lessons. This passage does not have a lot of nugget of information, and yet it is interesting to sort of analyze and dissect what it is saying. 

I do agree with the separation of John 1 and John 2. John 1 had a clear focus and now after John has somewhat established Jesus throughout history and started showing us the many names of Jesus and the bridge he is to us between heaven and earth to God, we will also start to see the focus of Jesus on this earth in doing miracles. 

This passage begins with Jesus attending a wedding with his mother and the disciples present with him (v. 1, 2). And his mother, Mary, let's Jesus know that there is not enough wine for the wedding (v. 3). In reading this I think it is hard to read too much into this statement Mary makes. It could simply be an innocent comment in which Jesus is being asked to figure out a way to get more wine and his mother has no expectation for him to do anything miraculous in providing more wine. But others may think that she knew something about Jesus. 

Either way, Jesus responds and states that, if he is expected to do a miracle, it is for him to decide and ultimately now is not the time (v. 4). I think it is difficult to conjecture too much about what He states. He could mean His hour of being revealed as the messiah. He could mean the hour has not come for the need of more wine and that is isn't yet out yet. And yet what follows is Jesus performing a miracle and delivering wine. And so possibly He is saying that in Him providing a miracle and wine, He will decide. 

And in her response she remarks that whatever Jesus says, people are to follow and do what He asks (v. 5). Therefore, she clearly has a confidence in Him and remarks that He is to be followed when He makes a decision. 

Summary: Jesus, His mother Mary, and the disciples attend a wedding at Cana and more wine is needed and Jesus responds that is not His hour yet. 

Promise: We are to submit and surrender to God and accept what He provides. 

Prayer: Oh Heavenly Father, thank you for the time to be in Your Word. I don't always understand what it says but thank you for the time to look at it and even ask questions. Give me wisdom and further understanding into what Your word says and what you want to teach me from these texts.