Worldview in the Book of John

To better comprehend the reasoning behind God’s word in the bible, the historical-cultural context must be considered to provide the necessary insight to grasp the intended message. The first background to investigate would be the writer. Understanding the writer’s faith would tell a lot about why he is writing and under what circumstance(s). Secondly, the historical setting would provide some insight into the definitions and types of wording and sentence structures used. This would significantly allow the reader to “convert” into modern day literary styles. Thirdly, the culture during the times of the writings will significantly provide insight into the why the message is being given. Including these aspects into your study of God’s Word, as written during ancient times, will provide you a correct understanding of the message and application today.
John 2:1-21 documents Jesus’ first documented miracle. The historical reference that I feel needs to be understood is that Mary’s relationship with Jesus. She is well aware of His origin as God’s son before His birth as well as the events surrounding His birth. This accounts for her statement to the servants in John 2:5 “His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it””. Based on this historical background, she knew who He truly was and He could provide. The first cultural reference to be investigated would be the wedding itself. Is it the same ceremony as practiced today? The Jewish weddings during this time were longer and since Mary, Jesus, and His disciples were invited, it meant that they, at least Mary, must have been close to the wedding couple. Also, since Mary was aware of the running out of wine and was concerned, would indicate that she was probably part of the preparers of the ceremony. Jesus probably knew this and why he performed the miracle although “His hour has not yet come” so that dishonor would not be placed on His Earthly Mother. The other cultural reference would be the wine and the water containers themselves. These stone containers were used for ceremonial washing and Jesus directed the servants to fill with water and provide to the head waiter. The head waiter was expecting a lower grade of wine as the better wine was normally served first. How amazed he was when the wine he was serving was of the highest quality, although he was unaware of the miracle that had taken place. Knowing all of this background information, the reader can then make reference on Jesus’ first miracle and how He can fill our lives (stone vessels) with His spirit (water) and give us a new life (purest wine) to serve Him and bring Glory to God.
An action step I would suggest to someone who neglects to include historical-cultural studies would be to recommend one of the commentaries recommended by Duvall and Hays. I would stress that this would not take much more time and may actually cut time down by making the message clearer. The steps one could take would be to ask the questions: 1) What did God want to say to the people in ancient days, 2) Why it needed to be said, and 2) How does that apply to me today? A follow-up discussion on the message without Historical-Cultural studies compared to what is gained from doing the additional research would be a great tool to illustrate the gain of knowledge.