ACC ~ John 2 v5 - 11

OVERVIEW:

Jesus grants his mother’s request in order to show both that he honors his mother (BEDE) and that he was not governed by fate. The jars used were for purification which meant they would have been thoroughly cleaned; there could be no deception in how the miracle was accomplished (CHRYSOSTOM). These jars also symbolize the womb of the virgin in which Jesus had been conceived and that had also witnessed a transformation of nature. As a king coming to his own banquet, Christ not only brings his own wine but also pours it for his guests as a servant (EPHREM). He makes his own wine of the gospel out of the water of the Law and Prophets which, without Christ, have no taste (AUGUSTINE). The one who created water out of nothing could change that same water into wine (MAXIMUS OF TURIn). The detail the Evangelist John provides proves the genuineness of the miracle (THEODORE) as the miracle gradually unfolds before all those who witness it, culminating in the witness who could best testify to what had happened, that is, the steward in charge of the wedding who judged the wine superior (CHRYSOSTOM). Such superior and abundant wine proved also to be a generous wedding present for the new couple (THEODORE).

Jesus uses his power only for a purpose (EPHREM). Changing water into wine is a miracle that goes beyond the senses and thus manifests the power of God (HILARY). Jesus chose appropriate witnesses who could testify to the miracle and to the quality of the wine (CHRYSOSTOM). The miracle proved Jesus’ sonship (MAXIMUS OF TURIN) and that he was the King of glory prophesied in the Psalms (BEDE). Changing water into wine is no different from changing wine into blood (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM), and so we continue to celebrate the mystery of the changed wine in the church’s banquet today (ROMANUS).

2:5 | Do Whatever He Tells You

JESUS HONORS HIS MOTHER IN DOING WHAT SHE ASKS

CHRYSOSTOM: Why, after he had said, “My hour has not yet come,” and denied his mother’s initial request, did he do what his mother told him to do? The main reason was so that those who opposed him and thought that he was under subjection to the “hour” might have sufficient proof that he was subject to no hour. For if he was, how could he have done this miracle before the hour appointed for it? He also wished to show honor to his mother and let it eventually become evident, in the company of so many, that he had not contradicted the woman who had bore him. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 22.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:77**.

HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER

BEDE: He would not dishonor his mother, since he orders us to honor our father and mother. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 1.14. [1]

[1] CS 110:137.

2:6 | Stone Jars for Purification

JARS FOR PURIFICATION, NOT DECEPTION

CHRYSOSTOM: There was a reason why the Evangelist says, “After the manner of the purifying of the Jews.” [He said this] so that none of the unbelievers might suspect that lees had been left in the vessel and then water was poured upon them and mixed with them in order to make a very weak wine. Therefore he says, “After the manner of the purifying of the Jews,” to show that those vessels were never receptacles for wine. Palestine is an arid country with few fountains or wells. They used to fill water pots with water so that they would not always have to go to the rivers if they became defiled, but rather could have the means of purification readily at hand. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 22.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:77. Caesarius of Arles finds an analogy between the water jars and baptism, Sermon 167.1 (FC 47:402-9).

CHANGED WATER IN JARS SYMBOLIZES CHANGED NATURE IN WOMB

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Why did our Lord change nature at the beginning of his signs, if it was not to show that the divinity that changed nature in the interior of the jars was the same that changed nature in the womb of the virgin? And at the conclusion of the signs, he opened the tomb to show that the insatiable nature of death would not keep hold of him; he confirmed and ratified these two uncertainties of his birth and of his death. As to their nature, these waters were turned into the [fruit of] the vine; their stone vessels were not changed within their own nature. They were a symbol of his body, which was wonderfully conceived in a woman, and in a marvelous way by [the intervention of] no man within the virgin. He thus made wine out of water to teach about the manner of his conception and birth. He called upon the six jars as witness to the one virgin who gave birth to him; for the jars conceived in a unique way that was not customary for them, and they brought forth wine, and then they did not continue to produce [it]. Thus did the virgin conceive and give birth to Immanuel, and then she ceased and did not continue [to give birth]. The offspring of the jars was from smallness to grandeur, and from vileness to excellence, for from water came good wine. In this case [the birth from the virgin], however, it was from grandeur to weakness and from glory to contempt. Yet in the case of these jars, they were for the purification of the Jews, and our Lord poured his instruction into them, to teach that he came in the way [found in] the Law and the Prophets, and he transformed everything by his teaching, just as wine [was made] from water. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 5.6-7. [1]

[1] CB709 add: 40-42.

2:7 | Fill the Jars with Water

THE KING POURS HIS WINE FOR THE GUESTS

EPHREM THE SYRIAN:

Let Cana thank you for gladdening her banquet!

The bridegroom’s crown exalted you for exalting it,

And the bride’s crown belonged to your victory.

In her mirror allegories are expounded and traced,

For you portrayed your church in the bride,

And in her guests, yours are traced,

And in her magnificence she portrays your advent.

Let the feast thank him, for in multiplying his wine

Six miracles were beheld there:

The six wine jugs set aside for water

Into which they invited the King to pour his wine.

HYMNS ON VIRGINITY 33.1-2.

THE WINE OF CHRIST FROM THE WATER OF THE LAW AND PROPHETS

AUGUSTINE: When these words of the Gospel, which are certainly clear, are understood, all those mysteries that lie hidden in this miracle of the Lord will be opened…. He omitted none of the ancient Scriptures, that is, the water, and for that reason they were called senseless by the Lord because they still tasted water, not wine. But how did he make wine from water? When he opened their understanding to them and explained the Scriptures to them, beginning with Moses through all the prophets. Now, intoxicated by this, they said, “Was not our heart burning on the road when he opened to us the Scriptures?” [1] For they understood Christ in these books in which they had not known him.

Therefore our Lord, Jesus Christ, changed water into wine; and what was tasteless acquires taste, what was not intoxicating intoxicates. For if he has ordered the water poured out of them and so himself put in wine from the secret hollows of creation from which he also created the bread when he satisfied so many thousands… thus he could have also, after the water had been poured out, poured in wine. But if he had done this, he would have seemed to have repudiated the old Scripture.

But when he turned the water itself into wine, he showed us that the ancient Scripture comes from him too; for by his order the jars were filled. This Scripture, too, is indeed from the Lord. But it has no taste if Christ is not understood in it. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 9.5.1-3. [2]

[1] Lk 24:32.

[2] FC 78:198-99*. For a similar interpretation, see Caesarius of Arles Sermon 168.4 (FC 47:410-11).

THE TRANSFORMATION TESTIFIES TO THE CREATOR

MAXIMUS OF TURIN: Addressing the expectant servants, he said, “Fill the jars with water.” The servants promptly obeyed, and suddenly in a marvelous way the water began to acquire potency, take on color, emit fragrance and gain flavor—all at once it changed its nature completely! Now this transformation of the water from its own substance into another testified to the powerful presence of the Creator. Only he who had made it out of nothing could change water into something whose use was quite different. Dearly beloved, have no doubt that he who changed water into wine is the same as he who from the beginning has thickened it into snow and hardened it into ice. It is he who changed it into blood for the Egyptians and bade it flow from the dry rock for the thirsty Hebrews—the rock that, newly transformed into a spring, was like a mother’s breast refreshing with its gentle flow a countless multitude of people. SERMON 23. [1]

“UP TO THE BRIM”

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He did not add “up to the brim” without reason, but so that the suspicion might not arise that if there had only been a little bit of water, the wine had been mixed [with it] and that he, by cheating their taste, had just simulated the change of the water into wine. Those who drew the wine [from the jars] also distributed it. [2] COMMENTARY ON JOHN 1.2.6-7. [3]

[1] PL 57:275-76. See also Irenaeus Against Heresies 3.11.5.

[2] Another proof that there was no deception on Jesus’ part.

[3] CSCO 4 3:57.

2:8 | The Wine Taken to the Steward of the Feast

THE MIRACLE GRADUALLY UNFOLDS

CHRYSOSTOM: Our Lord wanted the power of his miracles to be seen gradually, little by little. And, if the servants had related what had happened they would have been thought mad in testifying to something that was done by someone who at the time appeared to be a mere man. Although they knew for certain what they had experienced (for it was unlikely that they would disbelieve their own hands), yet that would have been insufficient to convince anyone else. And so Jesus did not reveal it to everyone but to the one who was best able to understand what had happened, reserving a clearer understanding of what had happened for a later time…. And [he had made] not just any wine, but the best wine. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 22.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:78**.

WINE FOR THE COUPLE’S FUTURE

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: According to the will of the one who gave the command, the water was changed into wine, slaking the thirst of those who drank but also providing wine more abundantly for the couple’s future. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 1.2.6-7. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:57.

2:9 | The Water Now Become Wine

JESUS USES HIS POWER FOR A PURPOSE

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: He who did not want to change stones changed water at Cana. HYMNS ON VIRGINITY 14.11. [1]

[1] ESH 323.

MIRACLE BEYOND THE SENSES MANIFESTS THE POWER OF GOD

HILARY OF POITIERS: On the wedding day in Galilee, water was made wine. Do we have appropriate words or senses to ascertain what methods produced the change by which the tastelessness of water disappeared and was replaced by the full flavor of wine? It was not a mixing; it was a creation, and a creation that was not a beginning but a transformation. A weaker liquid was not obtained by admixture of a stronger element; an existing entity perished, and a new entity came into being. The bridegroom was anxious, the household in confusion, the harmony of the marriage feast imperiled. Jesus is asked for help. He does not get up or busy himself. He does the work without any effort. Water is poured into the vessels, wine drawn out in the cups. The evidence of the senses of the pourer contradicts that of the one who draws it out. Those who poured expect water to be drawn; those who draw out think that wine must have been poured in. The intervening time cannot account for any gain or loss of character in the liquid. The mode of action baffles sight and sense, but the power of God is manifest in the result achieved. ON THE TRINITY 3.5. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 9:63*.

2:10 | The Steward of the Feast Called the Bridegroom

JESUS CHOOSES APPROPRIATE WITNESSES

CHRYSOSTOM: That it was wine then, and the best of wine that had been made, not the servants only, but the bridegroom and the steward of the feast would testify. Those who drew the water would testify that it was made by Christ. Thus, although the miracle was not revealed right at that moment, yet in the end it could not be passed by in silence since so many and such convincing testimonies had been provided by Christ for the future. The servants were witnesses that Jesus had made the water wine. The steward of the feast and the bridegroom [could testify] that the wine that was made was good. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 22.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:78**.

2:11 | The Disciples Believe in Jesus

THE MIRACLE PROVES THE SONSHIP OF JESUS

MAXIMUS OF TURIN: It was not what they saw happening that the disciples believed but what could not be seen by bodily eyes. They did not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of the Virgin—that was something they knew. Rather, they believed that he was the only Son of the Most High, as this miracle proved. And so let us too believe wholeheartedly that he whom we confess to be the Son of man is also the Son of God. Let us believe not only that he shared our nature but also that he was consubstantial with the Father; for as a man he was present at the wedding, and as God he changed the water into wine. If such is our faith, the Lord will give us also to drink of the sobering wine of his grace. SERMON 23. [1]

[1] PL 57:276.

THE MIRACLE MANIFESTS THE KING OF GLORY

BEDE: By this sign he made manifest that he was the King of glory, [1] and so the church’s bridegroom. He came to the marriage as a common human being, but as Lord of heaven and earth he could convert the elements as he wished. How beautifully appropriate it is that when he began the signs that he would show to mortals while he was still mortal he turned water into wine. [But] when he had become immortal through his resurrection, he began the signs that he would show only to those who were pursuing the goal of immortal life…. Therefore, let us love with our whole mind, dearly beloved, the marriage of Christ and the church, which was prefigured then in one city and is now celebrated over the whole earth. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 1.14. [2]

[1] Ps 24:10 (23:10 LXX).

[2] CS 110:145*.

CHANGED WATER, CHANGED WINE

CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: [Jesus] once changed water into wine by a word of command at Cana of Galilee. Should we not believe him when he changes wine into blood? It was when he had been invited to an ordinary bodily marriage that he performed the wonderful miracle at Cana. Should we not be much more ready to acknowledge that to “the sons of the bridal chamber” [1] he has granted the enjoyment of his body and blood? MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 4.2. [2]

THE MIRACLE CONTINUES AT THE CHURCH’S BANQUET

ROMANUS MELODUS:

When Christ, as a sign of His power, clearly changed the water into wine

All the crowd rejoiced, for they considered the taste marvelous.

Now we all partake at the banquet in the church

For Christ’s blood is changed into wine

And we drink it with holy joy,

Praising the great bridegroom,

For he is the true bridegroom, the Son of Mary,

The Word before all time who took the form of a servant,

He who has in wisdom created all things.

KONTAKION ON THE MARRIAGE AT CANA 7.20. [3]

[1] Mt 9:15.

[2] DECT 188; SC 126:136.

[3] KRBM 1:74. Cyprian also has an excursus on the mixing of both water and wine in the chalice of the Eucharist testifying to the unity of Christ and his people (cf. Epistle 62.12-13).