2 to 5.) St. John's mode of alluding to their practice, in this place, reminds us that he wrote his Gospel at a distance from Judæa. He always supposes his readers unaware of the Jewish customs, and unacquainted with the Jewish language h. Consider St. John v. 2.

The firkin' has been thought to contain about five gallons. What an overwhelming supply, therefore, of Wine was here! Surely, in the abundance thus unexpectedly produced, we have a lively image of that Royal bounty, which is wont to shower down upon us more than either

we desire or deserve!"

JESUS saith unto them, Fill the water- 7 pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

To all appearance a very unpromising step towards remedying the want of Wine: but what are appearances worth, when GOD is the Speaker? "Hath He said, and shall He not do it?" Surely, in all cases of doubt or difficulty, His Mother's injunction to the servants, (in ver. 5) is the counsel which the Church addresses to ourselves,-the only course which is sure to lead to Peace at the last! Obedience ever inherits a Blessing.

And He saith unto them, Draw out now, 8

See St. John ii. 13: iv. 9: vi. 4: xi. 55. Consider also vi. 1. h See St. John i. 38, 41, 42; ix. 7: xx. 16.

9

and bear unto the Governor of the Feast. And they bare it.

It was the business of the Governor, or Ruler of the Feast, to provide for the entertainment of the guests, and to taste first what was set before them. Hence our LORD's injunction.

When the Ruler of the Feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew ;) the Governor of the 10 Feast called the Bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

"Good wine," for it came immediately from Him, whose works when they first left His Almighty hands, were pronounced good. The effects of the miracles of CHRIST are better than the productions of Nature.

When the Ruler of the Feast spoke these words to the Bridegroom, he stated a sad truth,-of far wider application than at first sight appears. Men seek to shew their best at first,-whether of property, or sentiment, or feature. They fall away on trial. In each respect they set forth "then, that which is worse." It is not so with Him "whose ways are not Man's ways."

CHRIST always keeps the best things till the end. They who "sow in tears, reap in joy." In life "evil things,"-after death, eternal com"Heaviness may endure for a night, but Joy cometh in the Morning1."

fortk.

This beginning of Miracles did JESUS in 11 Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His Glory;

Unspeakably deep and mysterious, surely, must the teaching of our LORD's first miracle be. Do we not trace therein, symbolically, the purpose with which He came into the World,—namely, to convert the weak and watery ordinances of the Law, into the "new wine" of the Gospel, which "makes glad the heart of man" for ever? Compare St. Matthew ix. 17. Not, observe, to create a new thing: but to convert the old into something better.

For our LORD did not now create something new,—as when, 'in the beginning,' He 'made the Heaven and the Earth m.' Neither did He increase and multiply a thing already existing; as when He fed the four and the five thousand. But He changed a thing which already existed, into a better thing of corresponding bulk. Just as, during the Great Six Days, He had "formed Man-of the dust of the ground""

i Psalm cxxvi. 5.

1 Psalm xxx. 5.

k St. Luke xvi. 25.

m Gen. i. 1.

"Gen. ii. 7: Compare i. 11, 20, 24, &c.

"Now," (as the greatest Father of the Western Church has remarked,) "if He had ordered the Water to be poured out; and had then introduced the Wine, as a new Creation, He would seem to have rejected the Old Testament. But converting, as He did, the Water into Wine, He shewed us that the Old Testament was from Himself: for it was by His order that the waterpots were filled." (See ver. 7.) Aye, filled to the very brim.

And so it is, that when the mind is suffered to dwell attentively on a Miracle like this, fresh points of analogy, and meanings,at first unsuspected, suggest themselves. Thus one is led to observe that, in Scripture, Water and Wine, alike are connected with the mention of spiritual gifts. Moreover, it is obvious to remark that on this occasion, the use of Water was but preparatory to the Feast; whereas the Wine was an essential part of the Feast itself: and this seems to symbolize, in no obscure way, the relation in which the Law stood to the Gospel. See St. Luke v. 37 to 39.

Surely, at "the Marriage of the LAMB," the great features of this marriage Feast will be restored! It will then be confessed, on all hands, that the same Almighty Benefactor hath kept "the good wine until now;" for things which "" eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive,"

• Isaiah xii. 3,-compare St. John vii. 37, 38, 39. Isaiah xxxv. 6, 7: xliv. 3.-Joel ii. 28, 29,-compare Acts ii. 13, 15, 17, 18, &c. Ephes. v. 18, &c.

hath He prepared for those who love Him. "Thou hast kept the good wine until now." Surely that is the cry of Saints in bliss!

Verily, the Author of the Miracle which we have been considering, hath not "left Himself without witness*," even to the Heathen world. For do but consider how, year by year, the same miracle is performed, and under our very eyes; although, by reason of its frequency and regularity, we give no heed to it! What is it less than a miracle that the Rain, falling upon our vineyards, should be "made Wine ?"

And fail not, Reader, to remark, in conclusion, the severe simplicity of the preceding narrative. Not a word is said of the dismay which the failure of the wine occasioned,-nor of the pleasure which attended so unexpected a supply :-nothing, of the surprise of the Servants,-nor of the satisfaction of the guests :-nothing, of the effect which this miracle produced on the Giver of the Feast;-nor of how it came, at last, to his knowledge. Neither is our attention called to the largeness of the miraculous supply which made him henceforth rich. We are left to study the details, and draw the inferences, and feed upon the teaching, of every part of the miracle, for ourselves. . . . . Let it be freely allowed, at least, that the number of particulars withheld, serves to impart interest and dignity, a hundredfold, to every word which is

*Acts xiv. 17.