A Study of John's Gospel

John 2:1-5: Woman, My Hour Has Not Yet Come

Woman, My Hour Has Not Yet Come

A study of John 2:1-5

"On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you.""

‭‭John‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-A Wedding: "gamos", "γάμος"; masculine noun - a wedding or marriage festival.

-Cana: "Kana", "Κανά"; proper locative noun - Cana = "place of reeds", a village in Galilee about 5 miles (8 km) NW from Nazareth.

-Disciples: "mathētēs", "μαθητής"; masculine noun - a learner, pupil, disciple; but especially the 12 apostles.

-Were Invited: "kaleō", "καλέω"; verb - equivalent to to invite.

-The Wine: "oinos", "οἶνος"; masculine noun - wine.

-Ran Out: "hystereō", "ὑστερέω"; verb - to fail, be lacking.

-Woman: "gynē", "γυνή"; feminine noun - as a form of address, may be used either in admiration (Matt. 15:28) or indignation (Luke 22:57), or in kindness or favor (Luke 13:12), or in respect (John 2:4).

-Hour: "ōra", "ὥρα"; feminine noun - any definite point of time, moment; the fit or opportune time for one.

-Not Yet: "oupō", "οὔπω"; adverb - not yet; in a negation.

-Come: "ēkō", "ἥκω"; verb - to come upon one; of time and events.

-Servants: "diakonos", "διάκονος"; masculine/feminine noun - a waiter, one who serves food and drink.

-Do (It): "poieō", "ποιέω"; verb - to do; to act rightly, do well; to follow one and the same mind (purpose) in acting.

Observation/Summary(short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

Two days after Nathanael began to follow Jesus, Jesus and the other disciples were invited to a wedding celebration at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus' mother was invited as well. They ran out of wine during the wedding celebrations and Jesus' mother told Him about it. Jesus responded to her implied request for Him to do something about it by respectfully addressing her as "Woman" instead of "Mother", and told her His "hour has not yet come." In response to this, Mary, the mother of Jesus, told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do.

Implication (what does this mean to us):

Here we begin to read John's account of the first miracle or "sign" Jesus will perform in later verses at the beginning of His earthly ministry. The "third day" mentioned in verse 1 is counted from the last event in chapter one, the conversion of Nathanael. This wedding Jesus, His disciples and His mother were invited to, took place two days after the events with Nathanael, hence John identifies it as "the third day." And this wedding took place in Cana in Galilee. Cana was a village located in Galilee about 5 miles from Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus. The fact that Jesus and His disciples were invited to this wedding indicates the presence of Jesus was desired by others at joyous occasions. Weddings in Israel were the most joyous parties of all, and they wanted Jesus there. He did not spoil their good time, He enhanced it.

There is some controversy concerning certain details of this wedding. There is an old and incorrect tradition that believes this was the wedding of John the apostle, and that he left his wife at the altar to follow Jesus. This is a dramatic, but totally unfounded story. There is no evidence to support it whatsoever, and from John 1:35-39 we have good reason to believe John was already following Jesus at the time of this wedding. There is also a belief, primarily among some Mormons and other New Age types, that this was the wedding of Jesus Himself. This is also an erroneous belief that is in no way supported by this passage or any others. It is an entirely false and unsupported understanding of these events. Jesus never married. The fact that he was "invited" to this wedding is evidence enough that it was not His own. Why would anyone ever be mentioned as being "invited" to their own wedding? It makes no sense. What is noteworthy though, is that with the knowledge of the bloody cross looming large over Him, Jesus still was able to set that and His ministry work aside to rejoice and celebrate with other people. The work of bearing the sin of the whole world that lay before Him, did not stop Him from taking the time to celebrate with others at a small country wedding.