2:5
Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus commands them. So what are we to make of this? We tend to get so involved in the here and now, in the day-to-day matters of life. We need to have an eternal perspective, but this does not mean that the day-to-day things are irrelevant, nor that God has no concern for them. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all our daily needs would be taken care of (Matt 6:33). So Mary is content to leave things in Jesus’ hands.
2:6-8
There were six stone water jars nearby, each holding between eighty and a hundred and twenty litres (NIV). ESV has twenty or thirty gallons. Of course, the original Greek used neither litres nor gallons! It says each held two or three “measures”, with the NIV and ESV giving the metric and imperial equivalents.
Mary had instructed the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do, and He now tells them to fill the jars with water, right to the brim. This they did, and then Jesus told them to “draw some water out and take it to the master of the banquet”, and this they did. Some have suggested that the water was drawn from the well, not the stone jars. This is based on the fact that the word used for “draw” here is usually used in connection with drawing water from a well. On this understanding the significance of filling the stone jars “to the brim” is that the requirement of purification is more than fully met, and then this is followed by abundance. While such an interpretation has a certain attractiveness, it does seem to be somewhat making a meal of things. The emphasis of the passage is that water is turned into wine.
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