Stoeckhardt feels that Jesus was thinking of that hour when through death Jesus would be glorified. Look at John 12:23; 17:1. But others disagree with him.
Kretzmann: The Lord's hour for bringing relief, for revealing His glory, had not yet come.
Lenski: Jesus' hour is the one appointed for him by the Father; it may be the hour for this or for that in his messianic work. When it comes, he acts, and not until it comes. . . Here the hour is the one arranged for the first miraculous manifestation of his glory.
Ylvisaker: These words of Jesus to Mary are the first recorded in the Gospel as addressed to His mother after His baptism. He has now entered upon the work of His office, and Mary must understand from the first that she is not His mother in matters pertaining to His calling.
Luther: Though there is no greater power on earth than that of father and mother, yet it is nothing when the word and work of God are concerned.
WHATEVER - No matter what. Mary recognizes her son for what He is.
This is parenthetical yet not unimportant.
FOR CEREMONIAL WASHING - John is writing for a Gentile audience.
The host is stating an axiomatic truth. He does not say that there was drunkenness at this wedding. Again, this is parenthetical, yet not unimportant.
The miracle was not just a physical blessing, but also proof that this man is divine. The divine nature gave this man the power to perform the miracle.
SIGN - This is the first occurrence of a key word in this Gospel. It occurs seventeen times.
Kittel: John uses the word in the sense of 'sign' 'pointer' 'mark' and 'proof.' Something that one can and basically should see, as in 2:23. In John's Gospel it is almost exclusively applied to the person of Jesus. The signs reveal His true nature, as in 2:11. The miracles at the wedding of Cana in 2:11, the second miracle at Cana in 4:54, the feeding of the multitude in 6:14, and the rising of Lazarus in 12:18 all are explicitly called signs. Also in the appearance to the disciples in 20:24ff and 20:30ff.
Lenski: John's Gospel naturally uses this term in the sense of the strongest and the most tangible testimony for Jesus' divinity, always counting those guilty who meet the sign with unbelief.
Hendriksen: It indicates a miracle viewed as a proof of divine authority and majesty. Hence, it leads the attention of the spectator away from the deed itself to the divine doer.
With reference to "sign" in this chapter, we have three groups of people