John 2: The Wedding at Cana

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.

Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

John 2:1-11

The story is a familiar one, but what does it mean? What can we take away from it? Why did Jesus turn water into wine at a wedding?  Surely food would have been more useful?

Well, the answer to that question could make a whole thesis, and I cannot possibly cover that level of exegesis in a simple daily blog.  However, here are a few brief points:

1) The 'miracle' or 'supernatural' angle

On one level, this and Jesus' other miraculous signs serve to demonstrate that he is Lord of over all creation.  Here we see him turning water into wine, later we see that he has the power to calm storms, to drive out disease, and to raise the dead.  Just as God provided manna and water in the desert, here is God providing.  He is not an ordinary man, but one who has power over matter.

2) The allegorical or teaching angle

However, Jesus' signs were not random.  They served to teach about God's plans through imagery.  This is not new in God's interactions with his people.  From the instruction to create the tabernacle and the associated rituals of sacrifice and purity set out in Exodus and Leviticus, to the commands to the prophets to carry out seemingly odd actions in order to demonstrate a point to the people (Jeremiah had to buy a belt and hide it in a crevice in the Euphrates - see Jeremiah 13), God has long instructed his people through allegorical signs.

In this sign, the ceremonial water jars refer specifically to the Jewish Law.  More generally, we can also bring to mind the continuous need for cleansing that is ubiquitous in all human attempts to seek peace and wholeness, regardless of religious background.  The wine signifies Jesus' blood (as it does later, in the last supper).  The key teaching point is that while water provided a superficial cleansing, Jesus has come to cleanse us once and for all with his blood - through shedding it in his death on the cross.

3) The relational or social angle

Finally, the way Jesus' miraculous signs exist within a social context and the individuals impacted by them give us a context of God's lovingkindness in which to place the theological lessons they teach us.  In this passage, we have a bridegroom who narrowly avoids social shame (for that is what running out of wine at a wedding would have amounted to in the Jewish culture of hospitality), but Jesus turns that shame into glory of the best wine yet.

In some ways, the why and wherefore of Jesus' signs and wonders is something to grapple, but in other ways they point powerfully to simple truths about God.  But the real point is, what are we going to do about it?  Are we going to trust that Jesus is Lord over all creation - including hydrogen, oxygen and carbon molecules?  Are we going to carry on going back to the things that make us superficially clean, but ignore the deep cleansing power of Jesus' death and resurrection?  And are we going to remember that at the centre of the entire Bible, and indeed at the centre of all life, is a God of eternal and powerful love that surpasses all human powers?  Those are the important questions.