And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
The time of this section is clearly expressed in the opening verse; and here, again, let the reader note the chronological precision of this Gospel.
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. It would take two days to travel from the Judean valley of the Jordan, where He parted with John-never to meet again, so far as we are informed-to Cana; and this marriage-day was the day following, or the third. It is not called Cana in Galilee to distinguish it, as Eusebius and Jerome thought, from Kaneh in the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19:28), for that also would be reckoned to Galilee, according to the New Testament division of the country-but merely to note its geographical locality, and to let the reader know that Jesus had now returned to His own region, which He left in order to be baptized of John in Jordan. No remains of the village of Cana now exist; but the most probable site of it was a spot about three hours northward of Nazareth. Nathanael belonged to this village (John 21:2).
And the mother of Jesus was there - whether as a relative or as an intimate acquaintance we have no means of knowing. Our Evangelist, it will be observed, never names the Virgin, but styles her "the mother of Jesus," from that reverence, probably, with which he had learnt to look up to her, especially since he "took her to his own home."