《The Biblical Illustrator – John (Ch.2~3)》(A Compilation)
02 Chapter 2
Verses 1-11
John 2:1-11
The third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee.
The miracle at Cana
I. THE OCCASION ON WHICH THE MIRACLE WAS WROUGHT.
1. The time. The third day after the interview with Nathanael.
2. The place. Cana, about nine miles from Nazareth. Called Cans of Galilee to distinguish it from another town of the same name in Ephraim.
3. The company.
II. THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH LED TO IT.
1. The fact stated “They wanted wine;” Mary called Him aside and told Him so.
2. The manner in which the announcement was received.
3. The appropriate advice that was given. Christ requires universal and prompt obedience.
III. THE FEATURES BY WHICH IT WAS DISTINGUISHED.
1. Nothing could be more simple. There was no pomp or parade.
2. Nothing could be more extraordinary. No means were used.
3. Nothing could be more convincing. Deception was impossible.
IV. THE CONSEQUENCES WHICH ENSUED.
1. The display of Christ’s glory.
2. The confirmation of the disciple’s faith.
(The miracles of the Lord Jesus.)
The miracle at Cana
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.)
The miracle at Cana
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
4. The particular form of the miracle illustrates
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.)
The miracle at Cana
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
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.
(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.
4. The sanctifying influence of Christ’s presence. (A. Beith, D. D.)
The miracle at Cana
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.)
The relaxation of Jesus Christ
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.)
Christ at a feast
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.)
The wedding feast
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.)
The wedding feast
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.)
Human feasts
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.)
Marks of the grace of Christ
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.)
The water, the wine, and the wedding
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 (John 2:5). 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 and society
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.)
Christian festivity
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.