Jesus performed this, the first of His signs,
This phrase marks the beginning of Jesus' public ministry through miraculous signs. The term "signs" is significant as it indicates miracles with a purpose beyond the act itself, pointing to Jesus' divine authority and identity. This first sign, turning water into wine, sets the stage for the subsequent miracles that reveal His power and mission. The concept of "first" also implies a new beginning, echoing the creation narrative where God first revealed His power.

at Cana in Galilee.
Cana is a small village in Galilee, a region in northern Israel. This location is significant as it highlights Jesus' ministry beginning in a humble, rural setting rather than in the religious center of Jerusalem. Galilee was a diverse area, often looked down upon by Judeans, which underscores the inclusive nature of Jesus' mission. Archaeological evidence suggests Cana was a modest town, aligning with the biblical narrative of Jesus' preference for the humble and lowly.

He thus revealed His glory,
The revelation of Jesus' glory through this miracle is a key theme in the Gospel of John. Glory in this context refers to the divine nature and majesty of Jesus, which is made manifest through His actions. This revelation is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies that spoke of the coming Messiah who would display God's glory (e.g., Isaiah 40:5). The miracle at Cana is a foretaste of the ultimate revelation of glory through Jesus' death and resurrection.

and His disciples believed in Him.
The belief of the disciples is a central theme in John's Gospel, where faith is often a response to witnessing Jesus' signs. This belief is not merely intellectual assent but a deep trust and commitment to Jesus as the Messiah. The disciples' faith here is the beginning of their journey with Jesus, which will be tested and deepened throughout His ministry. This moment also reflects the purpose of John's Gospel, as stated in John 20:31, to inspire belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.

1. Jesus
The central figure of the New Testament, the Son of God, who performs His first miracle in this passage.

2. Cana in Galilee
A small town in Galilee where Jesus performed His first miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding feast.

3. Disciples
The followers of Jesus who witnessed the miracle and whose faith in Him was strengthened as a result.

4. Wedding Feast
The event where Jesus performed His first miracle, symbolizing joy and celebration.

5. Miracle (Sign)
The transformation of water into wine, which served as a sign revealing Jesus' divine glory.Revelation of Glory
Jesus' miracles are not just acts of compassion but revelations of His divine nature and authority. Believers are called to recognize and respond to His glory in their lives.

Faith and Belief
The disciples' belief was strengthened by witnessing Jesus' miracle. Our faith can grow as we witness God's work in our lives and the lives of others.

Symbolism of Wine
Wine in the Bible often symbolizes joy, abundance, and the new covenant. Jesus' miracle at Cana points to the joy and abundance found in Him.

Obedience and Trust
The servants at the wedding obeyed Jesus' instructions without fully understanding the outcome. Believers are encouraged to trust and obey God's guidance even when the path is unclear.

Transformation
Just as Jesus transformed water into wine, He can transform our lives. We are called to allow His transformative power to work within us.(11) This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, or, more exactly, This did Jesus in Cana of Galilee as the beginning of His signs. The form of the sentence makes it certain that it is the absolutely first and not the first in Cana which is meant.

It is important to note here that St. John uses only once, and that in our Lord's test of the courtier, and connected with "sign" (John 4:48), the word which represents "miracle," "wonder," "portent," and that he nowhere uses the word which represents "powers" or "mighty works." For him they are simply "works," and these "works" are "signs." He thinks of our Lord as the agent in all creation, and the source of all life (John 1:2-3); but this being so, no display of power impresses him, and no wonder startles him. All is the natural "work" of the divine worker; but like Himself, every work is also a word. It speaks to him who hath ears to hear. It is a "sign" to him who can spiritually interpret. That at His will water became wine, is as natural as that, by that will, the rain passing through earth and vine and grape should become wine. From his point of view both are equally explicable; from any other, both are in ultimate analysis equally inexplicable. "Voici le vin qui tombe du ciel!" is the French peasant's expression for the one (comp. Trench's note).

"The conscious water saw its God, and blushed,"

["Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit"]

is the English poet's expression for the other.

This gives the key, then, to the selection of "miracles" by St. John, and to their interpretation. He gives those which mark stages of fuller teaching. They are "signs" of a new revelation, and lead to a higher faith. What was the fuller teaching in this first sign? The heart must seek to read it. Words can only seek to guide. Would not those Jews remember the first miracle of Moses, and later, if not then, see here the contrast between the Law which came by Moses, and the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17)? Would not those exact observers of traditional rites see a living principle growing out of the rite practised at every meal (comp. Mark 7:3, Note), and feel that it is the letter which killeth, it is the Spirit which giveth life? Would not those who thought of Him as the Messianic King of Israel read in His presence at the festal tide of family life the meaning of the claim to be Son of Humanity? Would not the followers of the hermit John learn that Christianity's message is not for the wilderness, but for the hearts of men; and that its life is not one of seclusion from the world, but of moral power in it (John 17:15)? Would not those who had heard the Baptist's record, and had felt and uttered their own convictions, hear now the secret voice of Nature joining in the witness? Some such thoughts as these came to them in a fulness of power they had not known before. It was to them as a new manifestation of His glory, and the disciples again believed. . . .

Verse 11. - Jesus made this beginning of signs in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory. The beginning, the earliest of the tokens which he gave of his higher nature and lofty claims and faculties. The word σημεῖα, corresponding with the Hebrew אות, is generally, in the Acts as well as in the LXX., associated with τέρατα, or "portents;" when it occurs in the synoptists it is translated "signs." The word by itself does not connote miraculous energies, but any event, natural or human, which becomes a token or witness to unseen or Divine energies. When Christ's wonderful actions (often called δυνάμεις by the synoptists) are referred to by John, he calls them simply ἔργα; so that operations which, if wrought by other persons, might have been portents, miracles, or marvels, are to him perfectly normal, and are called simply "works." Weiss leaves the question of the manner in which this supply of wine was provided entirely unsettled, but declares that, whether by some fortunate providential opportunity, by the forecast of the mother, or by concealed methods of meeting the exigency, this great gift was brought about by the Son of Mary, the effect was the same as if it had been wrought by the Creator's hand. The glory of his power and love and sympathy was manifested. This appears to us utterly inconsistent with the intention or idea of tim evangelist. The impression previously made upon John the Baptist was of his supreme submission to the Divine will, his sacrificial yielding to that will for the taking away of sin; further, that in some sense he was Son of God, and Minister and Organ for the dispensation of the Spirit of God. The few disciples admitted that, by his penetration of their character and hidden inner life, his wisdom was of a different kind from that of men. Now, however, they see a manifestation of his glory as power. He has unlimited resources at his disposal, and his disciples believed on him to that extent. This expression asserts the truth of the selective and discriminating force of the mission of Christ, and the negative fact that the company assembled received no religious impression beyond the most superficial one. "The disciples" who came with him "believed" more than they had done before. It may be that they, especially John and Nathanael of Cana, were among the honorary διάκονοι who were alone fully conscious of what happened on the occasion. They apprehend the "glory," and entirely trust themselves εἰς αὐτόν, to him, and follow him with an added momentum. There are new and wonderful suggestions made in this passage which unveil the glory of the Divine love and power now wrought in man. A point of connection with the synoptic Gospels is that they too record Christ's own description of the contrast between the austere prophet and the Son of man (Matthew 11:18, 19) in terms almost taken from this very scene. Compare also the mode in which Christ vindicated his own social freedom from Pharisaic exclusiveness, and the conduct of his own disciples from that of John the Baptist's disciples in the matter of ceremonial purifications, by his parable of the old wine skins bursting with the new and potent fluid put into them (Matthew 9:14-17 and parallel passages). John gives here a deeper apprehension of the mystery, a keynote to a whole cycle of instructions, on the "glory" of his love. By manifesting his Divine sympathy with marriage, with human life and fellowship, with innocent gladness, he proves himself to be the same Christ of whom the synoptic tradition speaks, the same Jesus who took the children to his arms, and constituted a "marriage supper" the great type of the eternal union between God and man in the gospel of his love (cf. Matthew 22:2, etc.). But this same evangelist is filled with the same imagery dating back to experiences of Cana, when he describes the final victory of the "Lamb of God" (Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Jesus
Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2424: Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites.

performed
ἐποίησεν (epoiēsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

this,
Ταύτην (Tautēn)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

the first
ἀρχὴν (archēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 746: From archomai; a commencement, or chief.

of His
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

signs,
σημείων (sēmeiōn)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 4592: Neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of semaino; an indication, especially ceremonially or supernaturally.

at
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

Cana
Κανὰ (Kana)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2580: Cana, a town in Galilee. Of Hebrew origin; Cana, a place in Palestine.

in Galilee.
Γαλιλαίας (Galilaias)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1056: Of Hebrew origin; Galiloea, a region of Palestine.

He thus
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

revealed
ἐφανέρωσεν (ephanerōsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 5319: To make clear (visible, manifest), make known. From phaneros; to render apparent.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

glory,
δόξαν (doxan)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1391: From the base of dokeo; glory, in a wide application.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

disciples
μαθηταὶ (mathētai)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3101: A learner, disciple, pupil. From manthano; a learner, i.e. Pupil.

believed
ἐπίστευσαν (episteusan)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 4100: From pistis; to have faith, i.e. Credit; by implication, to entrust.

in
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

Him.
αὐτὸν (auton)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.


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NT Gospels: John 2:11 This beginning of his signs Jesus did (Jhn Jo Jn)