1. After all those years of quiet and obscurity Jesus manifested Himself not as the Son of Mary, but as the Son of God.

2. He showed His power not to a hermit of the desert, but to a social gathering, teaching us the sanctity and blessedness of domestic life.

3. He commenced His ministerial life not as a stem preacher of righteousness beside the sea which covered the sins of Sodom, but as a helper of innocent rejoicings at a marriage feast. While we love our sins our place is by the Dead Sea; but if we heed the call to repentance, we pass from the desert to the feast. The narrative teaches us important lessons.

I. NEVER ACCEPT A FORM OF RELIGION WHICH MAKES PEOPLE GLOOMY AND MOROSE. The people who would shut all the sunshine out of life and stifle its innocent laugh, and hush the happy song, have not read the gospel of Jesus aright. There are times for separation, but as a rule it is in the midst of our daily round that Jesus works His miracles of mercy.

II. THE SANCTITY OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE. No marriage can be blessed unless Jesus and His disciples are invited. It is quite possible to go through a form of marriage which is quite legal, but which is a mere contract, and has no mark of holy matrimony about it. When we see marriage contracts for money, or position, or to hide the results of sin, we may be sure that Jesus has not been invited, and that there can be no blessing.

III. JESUS IS EVER WORKING THE SAME WONDERFUL CHANGE AND IS SHOWING FORTH HIS POWER. All nature is a miracle lesson.

1. The seed sown in weakness is raised in power, and we learn that as God gives us our daily bread so He gives us the True Bread from heaven.

2. Every growing vine with its clustering grapes shows us the miracle of water made wine, telling us that Jesus is the True Vine, and that we are the branches, and that without Him we cannot live.

3. The them receives the rains of winter and returns them glorified in the rose of summer; the helpless chrysalis takes unto itself wings, and flies as the beautiful butterfly. And the same miracle is shown in our Lord's dealings with men. He came to raise and put new strength into fallen humanity. The miracle was wrought on the first disciples — on Peter who denied his Master, but was changed into a pillar of the Church, etc.

(H. J. W. Buxton, M. A.)

In three points of view this miracle seems strange.

1. It has not that visible stamp of Divinity which is the peculiar glory of most of Christ's miracles. They do not disturb, but restore the true order of nature. In these we see the victims of disorder emancipated, and disorderly forces remedied. They show the Son of God engaged in a conflict with physical as well as moral disorder, and exhibit on a small scale what the cross exhibits on a large.

2. Christ's treatment of His mother seems contrary to the tender spirit we should have expected.

3. The other miracles recorded by John were in connection with discourses to which they led and revealed the inner glory of His grace and troth. But the fact that it was wrought in connection with a domestic scene will help us to clear up these difficulties. It was fitting —(1) That He should here break away from His mere earthly relationship to mother and home.(2) That He should here inaugurate that ministry which differed from His wilderness experience and the habits of the Baptist. His object was to hallow the legitimate enjoyments of life, and conquer the world, not turn His back upon it.

4. The particular form of the miracle illustrates —(1) The enriching power of Christ, His power to improve and perfect the sources of human gratification. Though not repeated in form, the miracle is constantly repeated in spirit in the greater sweetness of the poor man's morsel and the poor man's .life when flavoured with God's blessing.(2) The generosity of Christ who giveth liberally and upbraideth not: afterwards shown in the miracle of the loaves and fishes, and foreshadowed in prophecy (Isaiah 4:1).

5. It is in thorough harmony with the Johannine miracles. Of the eight, three bear on the elements of bodily nourishment, and spiritually on the nourishment of the soul. It is also in harmony with Christ's teaching in John: the parable of the living bread and of the vine: the vision of heavenly refreshment through Christ in the Apocalypse.

(W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)

I. THE PLACE WHICH THIS MIRACLE HOLDS AMONG THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. The first.

1. As indicative of the general character of those which followed. The product of Christ's omnipotence and good will.

2. As the beginning of those wonders which had as their object to manifest forth Christ's glory.

II. THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THE MIRACLE WAS WROUGHT.

1. The failure of the wine perhaps through the unexpected advent of Jesus and His disciples.

2. Mary's appeal based upon her anxiety for the credit of the entertainers and comfort of the guests.

3. Mary's faith in Jesus not merely as her Son, but as the Son of God.

4. Mary's modesty and humility: she demands nothing, and prescribes nothing.

5. The displeasure of Jesus tenderly teaching Mary —(1) That her relationship was no ground on which she might make application, and that her former claims on this ground had passed away.(2) That in all matters connected with His great work she was no more to Him than other believers.(3) That as He was David's Lord so was He hers.(4) That what He was about to do was not to be done for the reason for which she desired it.

6. Christ's announcement of His hour: His, not Mary's; the time of the total failure of the wine.

III. THE MIRACLE ITSELF.

1. Expected by Mary.

2. The preparation and co-operation of the servants.

3. The arrival of the hour.

4. The drawing forth of the water made wine.

5. The surprise of the governor.

IV. THE THINGS IN WHICH WE ARE INSTRUCTED BY THE MIRACLE.

1. The anticipation of ecclesiastical corruptions.(1) The Roman depreciation of marriage..(2) The Romish distinction of meats; that a man is holier for what he eats or from what he abstains.(3) Mariolatry.

2. The duty of temperance and self-denial amidst the profusion of temporal mercy. The great abundance tested self-restraint. The same principle applies to all enjoyments — dress, furniture, reading.

3. The superior excellency of the Gospel's dispensation.(1) As contrasted with Moses' first miracle turning water into blood.(2) The kingdom of god is not meat and drink.

4. The sanctifying influence of Christ's presence.

(A. Beith, D. D.)

Notice —

I. THAT RELIGION ENLARGES THE PLEASURES OF SOCIAL LIFE. Christ's presence did not interfere with the ordinary proceedings. There was no look on His face that chilled the company. He made no protest against the glad music of the nuptial chant. No one expressed the wish that Jesus had stayed at home. The wedding feast would have been a wretched failure had He stayed away. And religion is misunderstood if it is supposed to lessen the happiness of life. A good deal of worldly pleasure is feverish, delirium which religion condemns, but it rules out no innocent pleasure. It commands men to rejoice always. What untold miseries it has swept away. There is more happiness in the Christian cottage than there was in Caesar's Palace.

II. THAT SOCIAL LIFE IS THE MOST PROMISING SPHERE FOR RELIGIOUS USEFULNESS. Christ did not feel out of place here, although a careless observer might think it better for Him to be in the Temple teaching. He was here because of His perfect sympathy and to do good. Social life furnishes the Christian with his great opportunities, Faithfulness in religious exercise not the whole of duty. The Christian in society is the foremost preacher. He is there to bear witness to the sympathy of religion with everything that is wholesome, and to protest against everything that is pernicious.

(Sermons by the Monday Club.)

I. Our Lord had passed through the conflict of the wilderness and the initial stages of His work as the caller of men, and had, moreover, come off a long journey. He therefore NEEDED RELAXATION and found it at a wedding feast, and in the company of his friends. Showing us that no man can or ought to be incessantly engaged in strife or labour. If he does he will prematurely wear out or break down. Time for rest and unbending is urgently required after any severe strain to body or mind.

II. The previous work and conflict was PROFOUNDLY RELIGIOUS; So was the relaxation. The danger in our relaxations is to accumulate other burdens by forgetfulness of self or God. "Whether therefore ye eat or drink do all to the glory of God."

III. CHRIST UTILIZED THE HOURS AND MEANS OF RELAXATION FOR DISTINCTLY RELIGIOUS ENDS. His aim is ever to leaven society religiously.

1. By the manifestation of His glory, so that —

2. His disciples may believe on Him.

IV. CHRIST EMPLOYED IN HIS RELAXATION THOSE INFINITE RESOURCES OF HIS FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS, which even in the wilderness He could not be induced to exert on His own behalf. He declared to Nicodemus that He could do exceeding abundantly above all he could ask or think; here He fulfilled the declaration.

(J. W. Burn.)

Learn:

I. HOW HONOURABLE IN THE SIGHT OF CHRIST IS THE ESTATE OF MATRIMONY.

1. Society is never in a healthy condition, and true religion never flourishes where marriage is lightly esteemed.

2. Christ's blessing and presence are essential to a happy wedding.

II. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN IT IS LAWFUL TO BE MERRY AND REJOICE.

1. True religion was never meant to make men melancholy, but the contrary. The Christian has no place at races, balls, theatres, etc., but he has no right to hand over to the devil innocent recreations.

2. It is not easy to hit the mean between the lawful and the unlawful. But the golden rule is Luke 2:49.

3. While we should take our gladness into religion we should take our religion into the world.

III. THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF JESUS CHRIST.

1. An act of will without any visible means.

2. The same power is at the disposal of His people.

(Bp. Ryle.)

I. ATTENDED BY CHRIST'S FRIENDS; those connected through blood and by grace. Marriage though not a Christian sacrament is a religious ordinance (Genesis 2:24; .Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7; Ephesians 5:31); honourable in all (Hebrews 13:5), and when the parties are well matched by affection and religion, a matter for hearty congratulation. Ordained for the happiness of the individual and the development of the race, it is calculated, when undertaken "solemnly, advisedly, and in the fear of God," to promote the welfare of husband and wife, and to secure a home for godly upbringing of children (Malachi 2:15).

II. GRACED BY CHRIST'S PRESENCE. The first wedding on earth attended by God (Genesis 2:25). Not strange, therefore, that Christ should have set a mark of honour on His Father's institution; while it was peculiarly appropriate that He should inaugurate His mission by placing His hand on the springs of humanity, lifting up this holy ordinance which perhaps had suffered more than any other by the fall and restoring it to its pristine dignity and beauty.

(T. Whitelaw, D. D.)

t: —

I. CHRIST'S MINISTRY OPENS ON A SCENE OF HUMAN HAPPINESS

1. God Himself is essential happiness and would have us happy.

2. We are disposed to make God the sharer of our sorrows; He here teaches us to make Him the partner of our joys.

II. CHRIST'S FIRST APPEARANCE TO THE WORLD WAS AT A WEDDING. A standing protest against the tendency to make it a virtue to abstain from marriage. This tendency was denounced by Paul as one of the most pernicious doctrines of false teachers.

III. OUR LORD'S FIRST MIRACLE WAS WROUGHT IN CONNECTION WITH AN EVENT, THE BRIGHTEST AND MOST INNOCENT IN HUMAN LIFE. It was not to the sinful outcasts of society that He gave His first and special manifestation of Himself, but to those who were keeping His laws and exercising aright the natural affections He had given them. Heaven always comes nearest to the purest home. The gospel prefers to receive men at their best, not at their worst, and to gather into its treasury of grace, not the wrecks of human life, but the rich spoils of its youth and strength.

IV. THE MIRACLE TOOK PLACE AT THE VILLAGE OF THE ISRAELITE, INDEED IN WHOM THERE WAS NO GUILE. This disciple had the blessedness of the pure in heart who see God. He who manifested Himself to the sleeping patriarch in a dream at the top of the ladder, revealed Himself to Nathanael in waking reality at the foot, as a servant ministering to the necessities of others, and enriching the enjoyments of human life by His blessing. He who appeared to Jacob in a fleeting vision for the purpose of establishing a covenant relationship with a particular family and nation, has opened up by His Incarnation a free intercourse between God and man.

(H. Macmillan, LL. D.)

I. WHAT THEY ARE BY NATURE.

II. WHAT THEY BECOME BY SIN.

III. WHAT THEY AGAIN BECOME ONLY BY THE GRACE OF CHRIST.

(J. P. Lange, D. D.)

I. THAT CHRIST GIVES US THE MOST PRECIOUS FOR NOTHING.

II. MAKES A GLORIOUS THING OUT OF COMMON.

III. GIVES THE BEST LAST.

IV. GIVES ACCORDING TO HIS OWN TIME, NOT ACCORDING TO OUR IDEAS.

(Harless.)

I. THE PATHETIC VALUE THERE IS IN THE SIMPLEST FORMS OF HUMAN LIFE. A little village mentioned four times in the Bible, and then only by one writer, now extinct, and yet having a sweet, bright fame throughout Christendom, so that Pilgrims go to look up its ruins. A common wedding has made it immortal, while the names of great cities have perished.

1. A most significant sanction of the marriage relation. The New Testament scheme of faith and practice was inaugurated in direct sympathy with human hearts and established in the centre of the family institutions.

II. JESUS OUR LORD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS, or if of any of the poor. Jesus is present at every true marriage.

III. JESUS NEVER SET HIS MOTHER UP TO BE A MADONNA. He deeply respected her, but did not allow her to dictate to Him. In "Woman" there is no reproach. It is the same word as that addressed to her on the cross. But in "What is there now which is common to you and me," He intends to suggest His independence.

IV. A NOBLE MOTTO FOR EVERY SINCERE CHRISTIAN (ver. 5). Mary was neither humbled nor discouraged.

V. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SON OF GOD OVER NATURE. Three characteristics of this miracle: its mystery, its magnitude, its morality.

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Christ here at the outset exemplifies one great rule of His self-manifestation, "The Son of man came eating and drinking," regardless if cavillers say, "Behold a man gluttenous and a wine bibber." His very miracle was a multiplication of the materials of feasting, acting Himself on what afterwards became the law of the gospel. "Use hospitality one to another without judging," etc. Christ came not to take a few out of the world, but to transform the world itself; and presented Himself at a marriage feast to redeem things "which should be for our health" from being turned, through godless abuse into "occasions of falling."

I. Observe how RELIGION BEFORE AND WITHOUT CHRIST HAS DEALT WITH SOCIETY. Its effort and prayer has been to be "taken out" of it to save itself, But this instinct, right in itself, has been shown in ways suicidal. Selfishness bad in nature, is worse in religion. Christ's Epiphany to society was an original idea among the religious. The dream of every religion but the Christian was celebrate monasticism. Even Christianity has relapsed into it literally, and also morally in the selfishness which marks out certain persons, phrases, recreations as signs of a world lying in wickedness. Far less difficult would Christian duty be if we might quit the world and have done with it, but we cannot and dare not. This parable of our Master's life shows us this.

II. How CHRIST DEALS WITH SOCIETY. He finds in the world homes beautiful with natural affection, and tables spread with God's bounties. Into this, with the treacherous ashes above and the latent fires below, Christ comes and says, "Use this world as not abusing it," and by His presence helps us to obey His precept. Realize, then, this sanctifying presence in business, e.g., or pleasure, and we shall realize that which will quicken both with Divine life. We shall then be there to exert the same helpfulness to others through Christ, as Christ exerted at this feast.

1. Jesus was there with His disciples, not a solitary Messiah.

2. Let the disciples now take the Master with them. For some, alas I this would be irksome, and so they either go without Christ, or else stay away. The former is sinful, the latter faithless.

(Dean Vaughan.)

Some people think that the age of miracles has passed; everybody knows that that of marriages has not.

I. JESUS NOT ONLY TOLERATES THE SOCIAL USAGES OF LIFE — its festivities among the rest — BUT ENCOURAGES AND SANCTIFIES THEM. Some gloomy people frown upon the common signs of cheerfulness, but for this habit we have here the eternal antidote.

II. WE NEED CHRIST AT SEASONS OF SOCIAL FESTIVITY AS MUCH, OR EVEN MORE, THAN AT OTHER TIMES. Pure religion is never unseasonable. If we think we give our worship to God, and stop the devil's mouth by an occasional indulgence, the devil will soon get our worship too. There is no more fatal mistake than to think that if we pay our dues in the House of God, we may please ourselves in the house of man. Jesus should be always bidden at our seasons of joy; for be sure that if we do not send Him our invitation, the devil will come without one.

III. THERE IS AN EXQUISITE TENDERNESS IN OUR LORD'S BINDING HIS DISCIPLES TO HIM at this marriage feast. He does not speak to them of the cross as yet. He speaks as they are able to bear it. Coming after His long fast in the wilderness, He breathes no asceticism. He who had been so hardly pressed for bread, turns water into wine. He will train us as we need to be trained.

IV. IF CHRIST IS SHUT OUT FROM THE HOUSE OF FEASTING, WE MUST NOT WONDER AT HIS ABSENCE FROM THE HOUSE OF MOURNING.

(Harry Jones, M. A.)The ministry began at a marriage festival which ended on Calvary, and its glory was manifested by both.

I. THE FUNDAMENTAL, ORIGINAL, AND ULTIMATE CONDITION OF LIFE IS BLESSING. Life begins in Eden, passes by Gethsemane and Calvary, and ends in heaven. It is God's will that man should be everywhere and always blessed. Misery lies not in God's making, but in the devil's marring.

II. OUR LORD SOUGHT TO SEVER HIMSELF AT ONCE AND ABSOLUTELY FROM THE ASCETIC SPIRIT. He came to add to the mirth of all feasts, the brightness of all homes, the gladness of all songs. He was absolutely free from the monkish idolatry of sorrow. He simply went about His Father's work in whatever direction it might be.

III. CHRIST REVERSED THE DEVIL'S UNIFORM METHOD AT FESTIVALS. Did ever any one get the best of the world's wine, or the devil's, at the end of the banquet? But whatever He gives has an infinite store behind it. Hence we are saved by hope. The pain and toil are for the moment, the joy grows into eternity

IV. CHRIST SHOWED THE TRUE SPIRIT OF SELF-SACRIFICE. The joy sympathetic with the joy of the Lord.

(J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.)

1. Temperance amidst plenty.

2. The profusion of Divine gifts.

3. Christ's presence changes the circumstances of His people.

4. Christ turns the lower into the higher; the common to the valuable.

5. Christ does not work till the necessity is felt.

6. Christ works according to His own will, without human interference.

(Family Churchman.)

The company at this wedding may represent the Church of Christ, which is often represented as the guests called together to a marriage feast. Jesus, and His mother, and His disciples were there; thus it is in the Church. The former circumstances of the marriage, wherein they wanted wine, represent the state of the Church before Christ came; or rather, before the evangelical dispensation was established. The latter circumstances of the wedding, wherein they had plenty of wine, represent the latter state of the Church, after the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, and especially after the fall of Antichrist. The wine represents the spiritual supplies of His Church, the grace and comforts of the Holy Spirit, which are often represented by wine in Scripture. Their wine ran low, and was just out; so formerly the Old Testament Church had a supply of wine; but when Christ came into the world it was just out — they had in a manner no wine. But when Christ came and ascended up to heaven, He soon gave His Church plenty of wine, and much better wine than ever the Jewish Church had enjoyed; as it is said, "Thou hast kept the good wine until now." So again, before the glorious times of the Church commence, the Church's wine runs very low, and is almost out; what they alloy with is water — human learning, sapless speculations and disputations, and dead morality. Formerly the Christian Church had wine, as in the times of the primitive Church, and in the times of the Reformation; but now their wine is almost gone. But after the beginning of these glorious times their water shall be turned into wine, and much better wine than ever they had before. The mother of Jesus may represent the more eminent ministers of the gospel, or the public eccleslastical authority, as exercised in synods, public schools, etc. They, in a dark and dead time of the Church, complain to Christ of their unsuecessfulness, of the want of wine in the Church, and look to Him for a supply. But they must not expect an answer till Christ's time is come; their prayers are not answered till then, and then they shall be fully answered; their prayers are not rejected, they are offered up with incense. The cries of the souls under the altar, that cry, "How long, Lord, holy and true?" are not rejected; but yet it is said to them that they should wail till God's time comes. The servants represent gospel ministers; they have a command from Jesus' mother, i.e, from the Church in her public authority, to do whatsoever Jesus commands. Whence we may note, that the way to have a plentiful effusion of the Spirit with His Word and ordinances, is for ministers to be faithful in their work. They are to fill up the water-pots of purification with water; that is all they can do. They can, in the use of the ordinances of God's house, and the appointed means of grace and purification, he instant in season and out of season; they can fill the water-pots up to the brim; they can be abundant in preaching the Word — which, as it comes from them, is only water — a dead letter, a sapless, tasteless, spiritless thing — but this is what Christ will bless for the supplying of His Church with wine.

(Jonathan Edwards.)

From a very early period the Church has recognized the importance and significance of the miracle. Of the fifty-two marble sarcophagi originally found in the catacombs of Rome, and now preserved in the Museum of St. John Lateran, no less than sixteen have carved upon them a rude representation of Jesus touching with a rod two, three, four, five, or six water-pots standing on the ground — the number varying according to the skill of the artist, or the space at his disposal. In the frescoes and mosaics of numerous churches and consecrated buildings, the incident has been depicted in a great variety of ways; and Tintoretto exhausted his genius, in giving expression to its wonderful beauty, in his great picture in the church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice. With commentators in all ages, the miracle of Cana has been a favourite and fertile theme for exposition. No miracle will more thoroughly reward a careful study than that which meets the inquirer at the very threshold. It is the "gate beautiful" by which he enters the sacred temple of Divine truth. It is the illuminated initial which represents, in a pictorial form, the nature and design of the kingdom of heaven as revealed unto men. It is an acted parable of the whole gospel; a type and image of all the work of Jesus, opening up a vista of light far into the ways of God.

(H. Macmillan, LL. D.)

An Oriental wedding is very different from an Occidental one; and there is as much variety of usage in the accompaniments of this ceremony in the East as in the West. In all cases, however, the marriage ceremonies are among the most prominent ceremonies of private life, as much display being made as the circumstances of the contracting parties will allow. Among the wealthy inhabitants of towns, however, the ceremonies of marriage are both protracted and complicated. Six or seven days after the conclusion of the betrothal contract, the well-to-do bridegroom begins to illuminate the street in which he lives with swinging lamps and flying flags in token of the coming festivities. During the evenings of these days festivals are held at the bridegroom's house. The chief entertainment is given by the bridegroom the evening before the marriage. On the day of the marriage the bride goes in procession to the bridegroom's house, preceded by music, dancers, mountebanks, and walking beneath a canopy. The procession seeks a circuitous route, and takes several hours before it reaches the bridegroom's house. Here the party is entertained with a repast. At sunset the bridegroom leaves the house, and goes in procession to a mosque to say the proper ceremonial prayers. Then the procession returns slowly, preceded by music and lanterns. When the procession reaches the house, pipes, coffee, and sherbert (sweetened water, for the Mohammedans do not drink wine) are set before the company. The bridegroom then visits his bride, whose face he now sees for the first time. Upon his announcement that he is satisfied with his bride, the women without raise the zaghareet, or shrill cries of joy, which announce the happy event to the whole neighbourhood. The bridegroom then returns, for a little while, to his friends who are feasting below, to receive their felicitations on the completion of the marriage.

(S. S. Times.)

When Philip Henry was settled at Worthenburv, he sought the hand of the only daughter and heiress of Mr. Matthews, of Broad Oak. The father demurred, saying that, though Mr. Henry was an excellent preacher and a gentleman, yet he did not know from whence he came. "True," said the daughter; "but I know where he is going, and I should like to go with him." Mr. Henry records in his diary long after the happiness of the union, which was soon after consummated: "April 26th, 1680. This day we have been married twenty years, in which time we have received of the Lord twenty thousand mercies — to God be glory!" Sometimes he writes, "We have been so long married, and never reconciled, i.e, there never was any occasion for it." His advice to his children with respect to their marriage was, "Please God, and please yourselves, and you will please me"; and his usual compliment to his newly-married friends, "Others wish you all happiness. I wish you all holiness, and then there is no doubt but you will have all happiness."

(Life of Philip Henry.)

That is the great blessing of marriage, that it delivers us from the tyranny of Meum and Tuum. Converting each into the other, it endears them both, and turns a slavish, deadening drudgery, into a free and joyous service. And by bringing home to every one's heart that he is something better than a mere self, that he is the part of a higher and more precious whole, it becomes a type of the union between the Church and her Lord.

(J G. Hare)

Religion is just as necessary for prosperity as for adversity. There is no happiness so happy but His presence can make it happier; and they who seek to have Him at their bridals can count more confidently on Him in their sufferings and at their death-beds.

(J. A. Seiss, D. D.)

He that made wine on that day at the marriage feast in those six water-pots, which He commanded to be filled with water, the same does every year the like in vines. For as what the servants put into the water-pots was changed into wine by the operation of the Lord, just so what the clouds pour forth is changed into wine by the operation of the same Lord. But at the latter we do not marvel, because it happens every year; by constant use it hath lost its wonder. And yet it suggests a greater consideration. But since men, intent on a different matter, have lost the consideration of the works of God by which they should daily praise Him as the Creator, God has reserved to Himself the doing of certain extraordinary actions, that, by striking them with wonder, He might rouse men as from sleep to worship Him. A dead man rises again; men marvel: so many are born daily, and none marvel. If we reflect more considerately, it is a matter of greater wonder for one to be who was not before, than for one who was to come to life again.

( Augustine.)

He made wine of water; not wine without water. It is not the nature of His work to make a new order of creatures for saints, or a new order of faculties for religion, or a new planet for that future world wherein dwelleth righteousness; but it is His office to take the common man as he is, and the heavens and earth which now are, and by a new and supernatural putting forth of power upon them, to evolve from the one a pure, holy, and royal being, and for the other a fitting home and dominion for him for ever. Precious as are those living jewels of His which the Saviour eventually gathers into the glorious cabinet of the world to come, they are in their origin mere men and women, of like passions with ourselves — ordinary humanity ennobled and transformed by supernatural grace into eternal kings and priests. Christianity, in its highest achievements and results, is simply the miraculous power of Jesus made effective in and upon the common elements of nature — the gladdening transfiguration of the common into the noble, the sinful into the holy, the earthly into the heavenly.

(J. A. Seiss, D. D.)

Jesus, DisciplesCana, Capernaum, Galilee, JerusalemCana, Galilee, Later, Marriage, Married, Third, Wedding1. Jesus turns water into wine;
12. departs into Capernaum,
13. and to Jerusalem,
14. where he purges the temple of buyers and sellers.
18. He foretells his death and resurrection.
23. Many believe because of his miracles, but he will not trust himself with them.

John 2:1

     2535   Christ, family of

John 2:1-2

     7328   ceremonies

John 2:1-5

     5720   mothers, examples

John 2:1-10

     4366   stones
     4435   drinking
     4476   meals
     5312   feasting
     5699   guests
     5742   wedding

John 2:1-11

     1416   miracles, nature of
     4544   wine

Grace and Glory
Chapel Royal, Whitehall. 1865. For the consumptive hospital. St John ii. 11. "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory." This word glory, whether in its Greek or its Roman shape, had a very definite meaning in the days of the Apostles. It meant the admiration of men. The Greek word, as every scholar knows, is derived from a root signifying to seem, and expresses that which a man seems, and appears to his fellow men. The Latin word glory is …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

March 13 Morning
There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.--I TIM. 2:5. Forasmuch . . . as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.--In Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace.--By his own blood he entered …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 6 Morning
He ever liveth to make intercession.--HEB. 7:25. Who is he that condemneth? it is Christ that died . . . who also maketh intercession for us.--Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.--There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Seeing . . . that we have a great …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 9 Evening
My feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.--PSA. 73:2. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. The Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.--Although he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. Rejoice not against me, O my enemy: when I fall, I shall arise: when …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 25 Morning
Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins--MATT. 1:21. Ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins.--That we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.--He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.--Thus it behoved …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

July 8 Morning
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.--I JOHN 1:9. I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.--I have blotted out as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 17 Evening
In all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.--HEB. 4:15. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food (the lust of the flesh), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (the lust of the eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (the pride of life), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. When the tempter came to [Jesus], he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread (the lust of the flesh). …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 27 Morning
Brethren, the time is short.--I COR. 7:29. Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.--The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.--As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Death is swallowed up in victory.--Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 17 Evening
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place therof shall know it no more.--PSA. 103:15,16. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.--What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.--The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

October 13 Evening
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.--MATT. 6:10. Understanding what the will of the Lord is. It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. This is the will of God, even your sanctification.--That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.--Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth: wherefore lay apart all filthiness. Be ye holy; for I am holy.--[Jesus] said, Whosoever …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 5 Evening
The fashion of this world passeth away.--I COR. 7:31. All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning beat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.--For …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 17 Evening
The things which are.--REV. 1:19. Now we see through a glass, darkly.--Now we see not yet all things put under him. We have . . . a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.--Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 5 Morning
Take thou also unto thee principal spices, and thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment.--EXO. 30:23,25. Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.--One Spirit.--Diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. Thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.--God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.--God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 30 Morning
Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.--I JOHN 2:5. The God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.--If a man love me, he will keep my …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 1 Morning
The fruit of the Spirit is . . . faith.--GAL. 5:22. By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.--Without faith it is impossible to please him.--He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.--Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.--Faith …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 10 Evening
All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.--II TIM. 3:12. I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.--Whosoever . . . will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.--Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 11 Morning
Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.--ROM. 12:2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 11 Morning
Awake to righteousness, and sin not.--I COR. 15:34. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.--Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 17 Morning
I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them.--EZEK. 20:19. As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.--He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.--Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.--Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 17 Evening
O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.--PSA. 34:8. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: he saith, . . . Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. The ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. --I believed, and therefore have I spoken.--I know whom I have believed.--I sat down under his …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The First Miracle in Cana --The Water Made Wine
'This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory.'--JOHN ii. 11. The keynote of this Gospel was struck in the earlier verses of the first chapter in the great words, 'The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, full of grace and truth.' To these words there is an evident reference in this language. The Evangelist regards Christ's first miracle as the first ray of that forth-flashing glory of the Incarnate Word. To this Evangelist all …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ Cleansing the Temple
'Take these things hence; make not My Father's house an house of merchandise.'--JOHN ii. 16. The other Evangelists do not record this cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of Christ's ministry, but, as we all know, tell of a similar act at its very close. John, on the other hand, has no notice of the latter incident. The question, then, naturally arises, are these diverse narratives accounts of the same event? The answer seems to me to be in the negative, because John's Gospel is evidently intended …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Destroyers and the Restorer
'Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'--JOHN ii. 19. This is our Lord's answer to the Jewish request for a sign which should warrant His action in cleansing the Temple. There are two such cleansings recorded in the Gospels; this one His first public act, and another, omitted by John, but recorded in the other Gospels, which was almost His last public act. It has been suggested that these are but two versions of one incident; and although there …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Jesus the Joy-Bringer
'And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2. And both Jesus was called, and His disciples, to the marriage. 3. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine. 4. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. 5. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it. 6. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

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