Jesus did not commit himself unto them,— Did not discover himself to be the Messiah. He did not trust to those who believed merely on account of his miracles.—Because he knew all men. He had perfect knowledge of their dispositions, and was assured, on the present occasion, that the belief of many was not yet grown up to a full conviction; and foresaw that they would quickly fall off, when they found that he was rejected by the great men, and did not erect a secular empire. From the caution which Jesus used, we may learn, not rashly to put ourselves and our usefulness into the power of others; but to study a wise and happy medium between that universal prejudice and suspicion, which, while it wrongs the best and most worthy characters, would deprive us of all the pleasures of an intimate friendship; and an undistinguishing easiness and openness of temper, which might make us the property of every hypocritical pretender to kindness and respect.
Inferences drawn from the marriage in Cana, John 2:1-11. Was this then the first public miracle, O Saviour, that thou wroughtest? And could there be a greater miracle than this, that, having been thirty years upon earth, thou didst no miracle till now? That thy Divinity did hide itself thus long in flesh? That so long thou wouldst lie obscure in a corner of Galilee, unknown to that world which thou camest to redeem? That so long thou wouldst strain the patient expectation of those, who ever since the appearance of thy star waited for the revelation of a Messiah? We, silly creatures, if we have but a grain of virtue, are ready to set it out to the best appearance. Thou who receivedst not the Spirit by measure, wouldst content thyself with a willing obscurity, and concealedst that power which made the world—under the roof of a human breast, in a cottage of Nazareth! O Saviour, no one of thy miracles is more worthy of astonishment than thy not doing of miracles!
Thy first public miracle graceth a marriage. It is an antient and laudable institution. That the rites of matrimony should not want a solemn celebration, the Son of the Virgin, and the mother of that Son are both at the wedding. He that made the first marriage in Paradise, bestows his first miracle upon a Galilean marriage. He that was the author of matrimony, and sanctifies it, doth, by his holy presence, honour the resemblance of his eternal union with his church of the faithful. How boldly may be contemned all the impure adversaries of wedlock, when the Son of God pleases thus to honour it!
Happy is that wedding, where Christ is a guest! O Saviour, there is no holy marriage whereat thou art not; however invisible, yet truly present by thy Spirit and gracious benediction. Thou who hast betrothed thy believing people to thyself in truth and righteousness, do thou consummate that happy marriage of ours in the highest heavens.
It was no rich or sumptuous bridal to which Christ, and his mother, and his disciples, vouchsafed to come. We find him not at the magnificent feasts or triumphs of the great. The proud pomp of the world did not agree with the state of a servant: this Galilean bridegroom, before the expiration of his festival, wants drink for the accommodation of his guests.
The blessed Virgin feels a charitable compassion; and, from a friendly desire to maintain the decency of a hospitable entertainment, inquires into the wants of her host, pities them, and seeks anxiously to redress them. How well does it become the eyes of piety and Christian love to look into the necessities of others!
To whom should we complain of any want, but to the Maker and Giver of all things? When they wanted wine, The mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine. The blessed Virgin certainly, in some degree, knew to whom she sued. It would have been hard if some of the neighbour-guests, when duly solicited, had not been able to furnish the bridegroom with so much wine as might suffice for the remainder of the feast: but Mary evidently thought it best not to lade at the shallow channel, but rather to go to the fountain-head, where she might dip and fill the firkins at once with ease. It may be she saw that the train of Christ might help forward that defect; and therefore she justly solicits Jesus for a supply. Whether we want bread, or water, or wine, necessaries or comforts, whither should we run, O Saviour, but to that infinite munificence of thine, which neither denieth nor upbraideth? We cannot want if we cleave to thee: we cannot abound but from thee: give us what thou wilt, so thou give us contentment with what thou givest.
But what is this we hear?—A sharp answer to the suit of a mother.—Woman, what have I to do with thee? He, whose sweet mildness and mercy never sent away any supplicant discontented,—doth he only frown upon her who bare him?—He that commands us to honour father and mother, doth he disdain her, whose flesh he assumed? God forbid! But love and duty do not exempt parents from due admonition: she solicited Christ as a mother; he answers her as a woman: if she was the mother of his flesh, his Deity was eternal. She might not so remember herself to be a mother, that she should forget she was a woman; nor so look upon him as a son, that she should not regard him as a God: he was so obedient to her as a mother, that withal she might obey him as her God. Neither is it for us, in the holy affairs of God, to know any faces; yea, if we have known Christ heretofore according to the flesh, henceforth know we him so no more; much less do we substitute a woman as a mediator between God and man.
Yet even in this rough answer, as it may seem, doth the blessed Virgin descry cause of hope. If his hour was not yet come, it was therefore coming: when the expectation of the guests and the necessity of the occasion have made fit room for the miracle, it shall come forth and challenge their wonder. Faithfully therefore and observantly does she turn her speech from Jesus to the attendants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
However, she that had said of herself, Be it unto me according to thy word, now humbly says to others, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. This is the way to have miracles wrought for us, and in us,—obedience to his word. The power of Christ did not depend on the officiousness of these servants: he could have wrought wonders equally without their contribution; but their perverse refusal of his commands might have rendered them incapable of the favour of a miraculous exertion.
This scanty house was yet furnished with many and large vessels for outward purification, as if iniquity had dwelt upon the skin. Alas! it is the soul which needs scouring; and nothing can wash that, but the Blood which they desperately wished upon themselves and their children, for guilt, not for expiation. Purge thou us, O Lord, with hyssop, and we shall be clean; wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow.
The waiters could not but think so unseasonable a command, as we read in John 2:7.—Fill the water-pots with water, to be very strange. "It is wine that we want; why do we go to fetch water? If there be no other remedy, we could have sought this supply unbidden:" and yet so far has the command prevailed, that instead of talking of carrying flaggons of wine to the table, they go to fetch water in their vessels from their cisterns. There is no pleading of improbabilities against the command of an Almighty power.
How liberal are the provisions of Christ! If he had but turned the water in one of those vessels into wine, it had been a just proof of his power. But the abundance magnifies at once both his power and mercy. The munificent hand of God regards not our wants only, but our honest affluence; it is our sin and our shame if we turn his favours into wantonness.
There must be first a filling, ere there can be a drawing out. Thus in our vessels, the first care must be of our receipt, the next of our expence: God would have us to be first cisterns, and then channels. Our Saviour would not be his own taster, but he sends the first draught to the governor of the feast. He knew his own power, they did not; neither would he bear witness of himself, but draw it out of the mouths of others. They who knew not the original of that wine, yet praised the taste, John 2:10. Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, &c. but thou hast kept the good wine until now. The same bounty which expressed itself in the quantity of the wine, shews itself no less in the excellence: nothing can fall from that Divine hand which is not exquisite: that liberality would not provide mean accommodation for its guests. It was fit that the miraculous effects of Christ, which came from his immediate hand, should be more perfect than the natural. O blessed Saviour, how delicate is that new wine which we shall one day drink with thee in thy Father's kingdom! Yes, gracious Lord, thou shalt turn this water of our earthly afflictions into that wine of gladness, wherewith our souls shall be richly replenished for ever and ever! Make haste, my beloved; and be thou like to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, The first miracle of Jesus was wrought at a marriage-feast in Cana of Galilee. It was probably a marriage of some near relation of his mother Mary's, who seemed not to be there merely as a guest, but as one of the family. Christ was invited, and refused not the invitation given him on this occasion, but went with his disciples to grace the bridal feast with his presence and company, and put an honour upon the institution. Note; (1.) Our marriages can only then be expected to issue happily, when Jesus with his benediction crowns the indissoluble union. (2.) Religion teaches none to be unsocial or uncivil, but commands us to rejoice with those that rejoice. We are told,
1. The concern expressed by the mother of Jesus to her Son on account of the deficiency of the wine at this entertainment. The number of the guests, perhaps more than were expected, consumed the small quantity which these persons, who were probably in mean circumstances, had provided, and they might not be able to afford more. It seems she expected that he would soon begin to display his glorious power, and intimated that the present necessity afforded an opportunity for his miraculous assistance. Note; A genuine Christian interests himself in the distresses of his friends; and, when he can do no more to relieve them, fails not to commend their case to the kind Saviour's notice.
2. Our Lord gives her a reprimand for interfering in matters which did not belong to her. Though he was her son after the flesh, yet in the exercise of his miraculous powers he acted as the Son of God, and owed her no obedience. What a direct condemnation of the horrid idolatry of that church, which prays to the mother to command her Son! Besides, he adds, My hour is not yet come: the time for the public manifestation of his glory, by his openly performing miracles, was not yet come.
3. Though his mother silently submitted to his pleasure, she entertained hopes that he would grant her request, and take the matter into his consideration; and therefore privately bade the servants obey whatever orders he should give them. Note; (1.) We must not be discouraged in our faith, if our prayers are not immediately answered. (2.) Christ's commands are implicitly to be obeyed, without reasoning or hesitation.
4. Christ performs the miracle; and with circumstances which eminently displayed his glory. Six water-pots of stone were placed there, containing about two or three firkins each (see the annotations.). These water-pots Christ bids the servants fill with water to the brim, that there might be no suspicion of fraud in the miracle. They obeyed, and instantly the strange conversion was wrought. He orders them hereupon to draw out and carry this liquor to the governor of the feast, the person who was master of the ceremonies, or sat in the most honourable place on that occasion. No sooner had he tasted the wine which had been water, than he was struck with the delicious flavour, and, unacquainted whence it came, he observed to the bridegroom with surprize his unusual method of procedure. Others usually produced their best wine first, and afterwards, when men had well drank, that which was worse; but he had kept the good wine to the last, as the grace-cup, to conclude the entertainment. Note; (1.) God's creatures, and wine among the rest, are given for the good of man, and may be used with moderation; only we must be very careful that we do not, by intemperance, abuse our mercies and turn our blessings into curses by excess. (2.) Feasts need a governor to restrain the irregularities of those, who else perhaps, to their shame, would have no government over themselves. (3.) Whatever consolations believers here enjoy, the greatest are reserved for them at last, when, at the marriage-supper of the Lamb, they shall drink the new wine in the kingdom of God.
5. At the conclusion of this miracle the evangelist observes, that this was the first which Jesus performed after his entrance on his ministry; wherein he manifested forth his glory in such displays of his power and grace, wrought by his authoritative word, as exalted his own great name, and proved his own eternal Godhead and glory; and his disciples believed on him, confirmed in their assurance of the truth of that high character which he assumed. Note; The more we become acquainted with Christ in his word, the more shall we be convinced that this is he who should come, and shall be engaged to rest our souls on him for life and salvation.
2nd, Capernaum was the place where Christ usually resided, Matthew 4:13. Hither he came with his mother, brethren, and disciples, who, struck with what they had seen, attended him to observe the further manifestations of his divine power and glory which he should make. His abode at this time at Capernaum was not many days, the Passover being at hand, which called him up to Jerusalem. Where we find him,
1. Purging the temple of those intruders who had defiled that holy place. Under pretence of accommodating with sacrifices, and change of money, those who came up to worship, a market was kept in the temple by the connivance of the priests, who probably made some considerable advantage by permitting such a profanation. But Christ, beholding with indignation such corruptions in the house of God, immediately began to vindicate the honour of that sacred inclosure, and, having made a scourge of cords, he drove out the traders with their beasts, overturned the tables of the money-changers, and bade those who sold doves to take them away; remonstrating with them on the wickedness of their conduct, Make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. Note; (1.) The love of filthy lucre is generally at the root of the corruptions which creep into the church of God. (2.) If God is our Father, we cannot but be grieved to see him dishonoured, and should zealously appear in his cause. (3.) They who are bold and faithful for God, will often see that one can chase a thousand; and that, if we dare stand up in his name, the consciences of sinners will cover them with confusion.
2. The disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. And this still more confirmed their faith, as they observed the scripture prophesies accomplished in him.
3. Being questioned by the Jews concerning the authority on which he acted, and required to give a sign in proof of the mission to which he pretended, He answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Since they refused to be convinced by other miracles, he refers them to the last sign which should be wrought, even his resurrection from the dead by his own divine power, after they had destroyed the temple of his body. As he had now cleansed his house from their profanations, so would he raise his own body which they should slay, and not suffer it to see corruption. They understood him as if he meant the material temple where he then was, which had now been forty-fix years building and beautifying (see the annotations): and they looked upon it as the most absurd of pretensions, for a mere man, as they presumed him to be, to assert that he could do that in three days, which had employed thousands of workmen so many years. Thus they ridiculed his assertion, though it appears they understood not his meaning. Note; (1.) It is just with God to give those up to their vain imaginations, who have no love of the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness. (2.) The grossest mistakes have been entertained by understanding literally what the scriptures have spoken figuratively, as in the doctrine of transubstantiation, drawn from the words of Christ, This is my body. (3.) The body of Jesus was the true temple, in which the fulness of the Godhead dwelt; and of him the temple at Jerusalem was but the type and figure. (4.) As the temple was the medium of worship, and they who prayed turned their faces thitherward, so is it through Christ Jesus alone that we can have access to and acceptance with God.
4. His disciples, though they, no more than the Jews, understood his meaning at that time, yet afterwards, when the events verified the prediction, and the Spirit poured out from on high opened their minds to understand the scriptures, reflected on this prophesy, and seeing the accomplishment of it in his resurrection, were the more deeply confirmed in their faith of the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. Note; The truths of scripture which we learn in younger years, though not understood at that time, yet are frequently of singular use when, at any future period, our souls are converted, and the eyes of our minds are opened, through the grace of God.
3rdly, During the seven days of the feast Christ preached openly the doctrines of his kingdom, and wrought mighty miracles in confirmation of the truths that he taught. In consequence of which,
1. Many believed in his name; at least, for the time, they were so struck with his miracles as to give their assent to his doctrine, and own him as the Messiah. But,
2. Jesus did not commit himself unto them, did not trust himself with them, or repose any confidence upon them; because he knew all men; the wickedness of some who would play the hypocrite in order to betray him; and the weakness of others, who in a time of danger might, through timidity, be tempted to desert him, or, through mistake and indiscretion, raise some disturbance through their vain imaginations that his kingdom was temporal, and his throne to be established by arms. And, being thus all-wise, he needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man, was acquainted with his inmost thoughts, yea, knew them before they were formed. Note; (1.) We should be cautious in whom we confide, and try before we trust. (2.) Christ knows the secrets of all hearts; he sees the devices of his subtle enemies, and the faults of his pretended friends; and he will bring every sinner to judgment, and every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.