Introduction

Authority.

* beautiful word to those who have or demand it.

* an ugly word to those who don’t have or resist it.

authority

* Correctly administered, governs peoples’ lives, ensures justice, and promotes righteousness.

* God-ordained authority, brings tranquility, equity, and conformity.

* Defiance usually brings negative consequences to the violator.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate expression of God’s authoritative Word.

1. OBEY JESUS

(John 2:1-5 HCSB)

1 On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and

2 Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding as well.

3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother told Him,

“They don’t have any wine.”

4 “What has this concern of yours to do with Me, woman?”

Jesus asked.

“My hour has not yet come.”

5 “Do whatever He tells you,”

His mother told the servants.

Verse 1. Cana of Galilee was a small town located about 9 miles northeast of Nazareth.

Sketches of Jewish Social Life

by Alfred Edersheim

Cana lay about three hours to the north-north-east of Nazareth.

The ceremony itself consisted in leading the bride into the house of the bridegroom, with certain formalities, mostly dating from very ancient times.

* Marriage with a maiden was commonly celebrated on a Wednesday afternoon,

Note: The 3rd day is actually Tuesday.

which allowed the first days of the week for preparation, and enabled the husband, if he had a charge to prefer against the previous chastity of his bride, to make immediate complaint before the local Sanhedrim, which sat every Thursday.

* On the other hand, the marriage of a widow was celebrated on Thursday afternoon,

Note: The 4th day is actually Wednesday.

which left three days of the week for "rejoicing with her."

Of course, there was a "marriage-feast," as on all these occasions.

* For this reason, marriages were not celebrated either on the Sabbath, or on the day before or after it, lest the Sabbath-rest should be endangered.

* Nor was it lawful to wed on any of the three annual festivals,

The phrase the third day has received much scholarly attention.

* Some Bible students take the phrase as referring to the amount of time Jesus and His disciples took to travel to Cana from Judea.

* Others see in the third day a reference to a post-resurrection perspective.

* Still others note that the Jews numbered rather than named the weekdays. In this reckoning, the third day would be equated to Tuesday of our week.

The main emphasis was on a wedding.

John indicated that Jesus’ mother was there.

John’s Gospel never includes her name. Nevertheless, Jesus’ mother figured prominently in two stories in John’s Gospel: the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-5) and the scene at the cross (19:25-27).

Verse 2. Both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding in Cana as well.

* At this point in the Gospel, His disciples consisted of Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathanael, James and John.

* Possibly Jesus’ family was related to the wedding couple or were friends of the family.

Sketches of Jewish Social Life

by Alfred Edersheim

It deserves notice, that at the marriage in Cana there is no mention of "the friends of the bridegroom," or, as we would call them, the groomsmen.

groomsmen were customary in Judaea, but not in Galilee

Before marriage, they acted as a kind of intermediaries between the couple; at the wedding the...