John 2:1-12

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:1-11

Jesus and social life. Public men are sometimes anxious with regard to a first appearance, that it should be upon a scene, in society, and with accompaniments worthy of themselves or of their own conceptions of themselves. Jesus proved his superiority to human vanity and weakness in performing his first "sign" in a lowly home at a villager's wedding. His conduct in this was just like himself. I. THE LORD JESUS WAS OPPOSED TO ASCETICISM . Religion and asceticism are often... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:1-11

Jesus and the marriage state. Of the services which our Lord Christ has rendered to human society, none is more conspicuous and undeniable than the honour which he has put upon marriage. Of all institutions and relations existing among men, there is none which has met with so much slander, hate, and scorn, as matrimony. The sinful and the selfish, not content with avoiding marriage themselves, overwhelm those who honour and enter upon wedded life with ridicule and contempt. This is not to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:1-11

Jesus and nature. In recording this incident, the evangelist tells his story with beautiful simplicity, and as if scarcely conscious that it contains what is marvellous and supernatural. It doubtless seemed to him so natural that Jesus should have acted as he did, that he wrote without drawing any especial attention to what in the narrative was evidently miraculous. John had himself seen so many instances of the superhuman authority of his Master, that he could not think of that mighty and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:1-11

The marriage feast at Cana a pledge of the marriage supper of the Lamb. This first "sign" of our Lord's public ministry may be taken as an emblem and an earnest of a vaster gathering, a more sacred festivity, an eternal fellowship. Observe the elements of heavenly bliss here anticipated upon earth. I. DIVINE ESPOUSALS . Then shall it be proclaimed, "The marriage of the Lamb is come." II. CONGENIAL SOCIETY . The mother and brethren of the Lord, the disciples, the happy pair,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:1-12

(1) The first sign, the beginning of signs, Mastery over the old creation. Sign of love and power. The description of the preceding narrative, given in John 2:11 , is the true key to it. It is impressive on several accounts. Christ had not yet given any "sign" of the invisible and eternal glory which the evangelist in his prologue had claimed for him. He had not in his own person "manifested" the unique majesty of his will, nor revealed the direction in which the power he wielded would... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:2

And both Jesus was called ( ἐκλήθη , aorist, not pluperfect, and contrasted with the ἦν of John 2:1 )—after his return from Bethany— and his disciples to the marriage. Jesus had no disciples before the events recorded in the previous chapter. These men may have been friends of each other and of the bridal party, and received such an invitation before their visit to the banks of the Jordan; but it is far more probable that these individuals already mentioned, or that some of them,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:3

A large accession of guests in such a humble home might easily be supposed to make a famine in the provisions, and so we read, And when the wine failed £ —either from this cause, or from the poverty of the hosts, whose willingness and welcome were larger than their means, or by reason of an advanced stage in the festival— the mother of Jesus saith to him, They have no wine . £ The simple presence of the Lord and of his mother, of such guests as these. at a wedding feast, is a Divine... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:3

"They have no wine." Just as the scarcity of provisions in the wilderness gave Jesus an opportunity to supply the need of a multitude; just as it was permitted that a man should be born blind, "that the works of God should be manifest in him;" so the falling short of the supply of wine at Cans gave an opportunity for the performance by Christ of a beneficent and instructive miracle. And the lesson is one widely impressive and helpful which is thus conveyed concerning human need and Divine... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:4

With this thought, the reply of Jesus to the premature suggestion of the mother becomes perfectly comprehensible. What is there to me and thee, O woman? Mine hour has not yet come. The appellation "woman" was used by him upon the cross, when he was concerned most humanly and tenderly with her great grief and desolation, and therefore had no breath of unfilial harshness in it. But the proverbial τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί ; wheresoever the words occur, imply, if net personal estrangement, yet... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 2:4

"Mine hour is not yet come." God has his own times for all his works. His Son, Christ Jesus, knew no haste; he laboured sometimes to exhaustion; he shrank from no suffering or privation. Yet he was thirty years of age before he began his ministry; and now and again in the course of that ministry he withdrew from the public gaze. When the time came for conflict and death, he was ready for the encounter. But until the time came he was not to be forced into the position which he knew he was... read more

Grupo de Marcas