Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 3
June 18, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
Thesis: Jesus went along with His mother because of the impacts that are involved in any "denial" of her indiscretion, and that are involved in His "going along".
Introduction: When we read Author-John's account of the details of the "beginning of signs" Jesus did in Cana, we note the major significance of the account: Jesus' ability to turn 50 to 180 gallons of water into wine. But we also note that there was an undercurrent in the setting that is also significant: that undercurrent was Jesus' mother's placing of her view of what needed to be done ahead of that of Jesus.
The text is not "unclear": Jesus is walking towards "His hour" (17:1) and Jesus' mother has her own agenda.
But, the text is also clear about the "issue at hand": whether His disciples will make any progress in the development of their own "faith". Everything that Jesus did was an adaptation of Himself and His works to the setting and its impact upon others. If He had refused His mother's misguided imposition, there would have not been the impact upon His disciples that they "believed", and, in fact, may well have had the opposite impact: disbelief; not mere "no development", but a negative as in 11:36-37.
- I. The Details.
- A. This event occurred "on the third day" (measured from His arrival in Galilee; 1:43).
- B. The event was a wedding; so typically a time of significant "joy" (for the most part; John 3:29) that Author-John decided to use it as a "foil" (The Sage: "Anything that serves by contrast to call attention to another thing's good qualities") for his thesis that Jesus is the maximizer of the experience of "Eternal Life" (I am come that they might have Life, and they might have it more abundantly"; John 10:10).
- 1. The mother of Jesus was there.
- a. At this point, before Jesus set up in Capernaum, Jesus' mother and family were, apparently, living in Nazareth.
- b. The fact that Mary was at this wedding signifies that she had been invited, so that there was Interest on her part regarding how the wedding was going (extended family; dear friend; otherwise important to the ones getting married???).
- c. As a "mother", she had a special status in the eyes and responsibilities of her "Firstborn" (19:26-27) and she, naturally, had made it a habit of life to try to influence her Son to do what she thought was "best".
- 2. And also The Jesus was called, and the disciples of Him, into the wedding.
- a. According to the larger context, 21:2, Nathanael was from Cana, and the fact that Philip "is finding" (Present Indicative) him signifies that he (and, likely, Jesus and the other disciples) had all gone to Cana where Nathanael was sitting "under the fig tree".
- 1) That Jesus and His disciples were there "on the third day" indicates their presence.
- 2) That Jesus, and others, had been "called" into the wedding may well have been the reason that they had gone to Cana.
- a) The only other use of "called" (kaleo) in John's record is found in 1:42 where Jesus told "Simon, son of John" that he was going "to be called" Cephas, or, as it is translated/interpreted to be, "Peter" (Petros). The "son of John" phrase is not "Barjona" (as in Matthew 16:17).
- b) There are 32 texts in this Gospel where the word "Peter" is used; there are 19 texts where "Simon" is used along with "Peter". There are some serious negative overtones in some of the "Simon" texts of the New Testament. Judas was a son of Simon Iscariot. There seems to be some legitimate reasons for "Simon" to have his name changed to "Peter".
- 3) That Philip used this opportunity to "find" Nathanael seems likely indeed.
- b. It is possible, however, that Jesus and the others were "called" because He was "in town" for the reason that Philip "is finding Nathanael".
- 3. The wine ran out.
- a. It is not likely that this occurred on the first day of wedding feast. This means that "on the third day" is the onset of the event that would be "the beginning of the signs of Jesus" and that would serve to "cement" the "faith" of the disciples, and set the stage for them to be "filled with joy" on that most significant "third day" (16:20-24; 16:25-27 and 17:13).
- b. This embarrassing development sponsored Mary's speaking to Jesus about this "problem".
- c. Jesus was reluctant, but went ahead and did this "beginning of signs".
- 1) Why did He go ahead when He knew "My hour has not yet come"?
- 2) It would have been a-typical if He had not gone ahead: Jesus seldom turned people away (Note who came to Him at the second "Cana/faith" event; 4:46-54).
- 3) And it would have had a deleterious impact upon the future as this second "Cana/faith" event might not have occurred.
