My own literal translation from the Greek:

And on the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there. And Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.  And the wine having run out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine”.  And Jesus said to her, “What is that to me and you, woman?  My hour has not yet come.”  His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he says to you.”  And there were in that place six stone water vessels, being there according to the cleansing practices of the Jews, each one holding two or three measures [ a measure =45 – 65 litres]  Jesus said to them, “Fill the water vessels with water.”  And they filled them.  And he said to them, “Now draw and carry it to the head waiter [ the maitre d’ !!]; and they carried it.  And as the head waiter tasted the water it became wine, and he did not know where it came from, but the servants knew they had drawn water, the head waiter called the bridegroom and he said to him, “All men set out the good wine first, and the lesser when they have drunk freely; you have held the good wine until the end.”  This thing Jesus did, the beginning of the signs, in Cana in Galilee and he made known his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

vs.1, 2

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

 

John places this story for us in the first week of Jesus’ ministry.  It may have been the end of a busy week.  If we count up the days that John describes, Jesus’ first week on the job might look like this:

Day 1:  John the Baptist announces the imminent arrival of someone greater than himself.

Day 2:  Jesus arrives and is baptised.                                 [Orientation day?]

Day 3:  Jesus calls the first disciples: Andrew and friend, and Simon, brought along by Andrew.

Day 4:  Jesus calls Philip, who brings along Nathanael           [Collecting the  

 team?]                                                                   

Day 5:  ?  Calling more disciples?  Or a getting-to-know-each-other time for Jesus and the new disciples?

Day 6:  ?  Ditto?   Or travelling to the wedding?  [Who knows?  And as far as John was concerned, was it important what Jesus did on this day?]                                                                             [Team building?]

Day 7:  Three days later Jesus and his disciples join his mother at a wedding in Cana.

 

On the other hand, John’s mention of ‘the third day’ here might be a reminder to us who know the story of Jesus of the third day on which the resurrection occurred.

 

A wedding seems to me to be a good setting for this beginning time in Jesus’ ministry.  A wedding is a celebration of a new beginning in the lives of the bride and groom – and a change for other members of the family as well.  Bride and groom are leaving behind their old family and setting up their own.  Relationships with their parents and other family members change.  They have changed priorities and loyalties.

 

This story seems like a ‘bridge’ between Jesus’ old life and his new life.  Perhaps this was the wedding of family members or close friends and Jesus’ mother is there.  This is Jesus’ earthly family.  No doubt there had been many similar occasions when Jesus and his mother had been to family gatherings and celebrations together.  This was the ordinary human life that Jesus had been leading. The disciples are also at this wedding with Jesus.  They are representative of his ‘new’ life.  So here Jesus has both the old and the new with him at the wedding.  Things are changing for both Jesus and his family.  Jesus’ ‘family’ is changing from that of Mary and his brothers and sisters to the broader ‘family’ of believers [In Mark 3:35, Jesus is reported as saying that everyone who does God’s will is his family.]

v.3

When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."

 

Mary is concerned that the bridegroom will be embarrassed because he has not provided enough wine to last for the whole wedding celebration.  She tells Jesus about the problem, which seems to me to have been a very natural thing to do.  It may have meant that she initially expected him to do something about it, but it also may not.  I suspect he hadn’t spent his life to that date in running around performing miracles.  He may have been good at taking charge and thinking of creative solutions to problems of daily life. Perhaps she thought he might have been able to think of something the host could do about the lack of wine.  Or, maybe this is John’s way of telling us that Jesus had authority and that when there are problems, he is the person to go to.

v.4

And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come."

 

Although John does not include in his gospel the stories about Jesus’ conception and birth, this suggests that Mary may have had some understanding of who Jesus was and that he had a special task in life.  Jesus reminds her – and us – that his mission is much broader than the provision of wine for a wedding.  It was not yet the right time for him to give signs as to his identity and purpose.  We might wonder why, when John the Baptist has already announced his coming and his status as Son of God has been confirmed through his baptism and the declaration of God.

 

New Bible Commentary, p 1029.  The theme of Jesus’ ‘hour’ runs through the whole gospel, culminating in the passion story.  The way in which Jesus spoke to his mother … may seem strange, but his intention clearly was to correct any misunderstanding that he might take orders from anyone other than the Father  [see also Luke 5:30; 8:29].  The connection between Mary’s remark and Jesus’ comment is probably to be found in the view that Jesus was looking beyond the present wedding to the coming Messianic feast.  Jesus also distinguished between the human view of time and God’s.  The words suggest an awareness of impending crisis and climax.  It is intended that the readers should, at an early stage, get a glimpse of this, although they must wait until later to realize the full significance.

 

If there is an intention in this story to show that Jesus was no longer under Mary’s authority, here is another aspect of the ‘bridging’ function of the story.

 

Quest Study Bible note, p 1468.  My time refers to Jesus’ coming death.  Both here and later in John, Jesus clearly states that his time to be revealed as the Messiah and crucified as the sacrificial Lamb has not yet arrived.  Completely in tune with the will of God, Jesus was waiting for the right moment to fulfil the purpose for which God had sent him into the world.

v.5

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

 

Typical mother!  She knew best!  She ignored what her son said and assumed he’d do what she thought was right.  Perhaps this indicates the kind of relationship that Jesus had with his mother.  But even that close relationship would not stand in the way of his doing the will of God.  Mary had no doubt that he would be as concerned as he was about whether or not their host was embarrassed.  She tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them.  She delegates to her son whatever authority she has over the servants.  In this way, Luke lets us know that Jesus has the full authority over all, greater than that of anyone else.  Mary can hand things over to Jesus because she trusts him implicitly.  We can do the same.

v.6

Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. [ a measure =45 – 65 litres]

 

Water prepared for the rites of the Jewish law – this is the ‘old law’ that Jesus has come to supersede. The jars were ceremonial jars made of stone so the water used for ritual washing would not be polluted.  These laws were concerned with outward purity – with ‘works’ as a means of salvation.  Remaining ritually clean also meant being able to retain access to the temple worship and to remain as part of the community, so in that way it kept the person in contact with God.  God was not seen so much as for the individual as the God of Israel, so to be estranged from the community and the temple meant to be estranged from God.  Therefore the ritual cleansing was important.  Jesus was to challenge many of the laws as means of being ‘right’ in the sight of God and the coming of the Holy Spirit to be available for all people meant that God is the God of each person as well as the God of the temple and the church.

 

My vision of the jars in this story has always been simply jars of the kind I am used to in my own culture.  It was a shock to find how big they were and how much water was turned into wine by Jesus.  He certainly was no ‘party-pooper’.  He made very sure the party would go on.

v.7,8

Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.  He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it.

 

The servant obeyed Jesus’ instructions. They were used to obeying without question.  But when he told them to draw some of the water and take it to the chief steward, they must have had some curiosity about it.  They did it anyway.  How often do we question what we are asked to do by God or by those to whom God has given authority?  And how often are we so busy asking questions that the job doesn’t get done? 

vs.9, 10

When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now."

 

What a surprise those servant must have had when the steward tasted the water and they realised that it had become wine.  This would have made a good yarn to tell for many weeks – if not many years.  Not only was it wine, but it was top quality.  The steward could not understand why this wine had been kept until this late in the wedding celebrations when most of the guests would hve been past noticing or caring about the quality of the wine they were drinking.  I wonder if he was a little annoyed because it would have done his reputation good to be the steward who provided such superb wine for his master’s guests and now the guest wouldn’t know the difference.  What a waste!  When we try to do a good job in our work for God, are we worrying most about our own looking good?

 

The wine that Jesus produced from the water was the best quality.  God does not create inferior quality.  It is human meddling that spoils what God has created. 

 

This story may also be about changes.  Jesus changed the plain water into good wine.  He can change people into the best that God planned them to be.  He can make changes in our lives that we may not expect or understand and our lives can be improved and made more enjoyable.  In this story, Jesus’ action enhanced the celebration.  He can turn our lives into celebrations.

 

We can also consider the jars that the water came from and remember that they were jars of water whose purpose was for the rituals of Jewish law.  Jesus changed the water, meant for observing ‘rules’ as means of salvation, into wine for celebration.   When we follow Jesus, we know it is not keeping the rules that brings our salvation, but knowing God through faith in Jesus Christ – and that is a matter for celebration.

v.11

Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

 

John’s gospel does not talk of ‘miracles’, but of ‘signs’.  Jesus performed signs that point us to who he is and to God.  The gospel tells us that, as a result of this sign, the disciples believed in Jesus.  I suspect those servants would have believed as well.  As usual with Jesus, good news does not come first to the high-and-mighty, but to ‘ordinary’ people.  It may not have been time for Jesus to declare himself to the world, but it was time for him to show himself to his disciples.  Turning water into wine might seem to us to be trivial, but bringing about belief in Jesus is never trivial.