1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” 6 Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. 9 When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, 10 and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
John 2: 1-12 Wedding Woman Water Wine
Miracle at Cana
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12 comments:
Every time I read this I can't help but laugh. I can almost hear Jesus saying to his mother in a groaning voice, "Mom-ahh!"
I believe this was told to show us the human side of Jesus. He knew it wasn't time, but the love for his mother is shown. He was a lot like us even today.
I think this also gives us insight in to Mary. What a loving mom! What mother wouldn't take every moment to show and tell their son's or daugther's abilities. But, Jesus knew that his time was not now.
I believe in this story Jesus also hints towards our salvation. In that our salvation is not only dependent on good deed, but faith in not seeing.
I just thought of something else. Was the turning of the water into wine a miracle for those to see and believe? Or, maybe this was Jesus symbolically showing us something more.
Could the water have represented the Law and the wine a new covenant?
I also find the statement made by the head waiter interesting "...Most serve the good wine first...but you have saved the best for last."
Does this statement "good wine until last" represent Jesus comming?
Although this passage is familiar to me, its the first time I considered that Jesus' first miracle of changing water to wine points to our remembrance of Christ by drinking the fruit of the vine in acknowledgment of Him pouring out His blood for us on the cross. I wonder if this miracle was intended to have any connection to Christs' sacrifice?
Scott, It's almost as if we were both given the same understanding at the same time.
The headwaiter compliments the bridegroom on serving the best wine to his guest at the last. The headwaiter did not know about the miracle. I don't know if the bridgegroom knew or not. ( Maybe he was already so drunk he didn't know himself what the man was talking about! Anyway....
Neither Jesus nor his mother nor the servants said,"Wait a minute, Jesus did that!"
They let the honor go to the bridegroom.
It makes me think how often does Jesus do things in my life and I overlook the gift, or maybe think it was due to my own good judgement?
John 2: 1-11
So many interconnecting thoughts, some maybe trivial, others may not be.
For example, whose wedding was it, how well did they know Mary and Jesus, why was Mary concerned about the wine running out and take action to fix it? Did they understand the relationship between Jesus and His disciples or did they think that they were just friends?
While considering relationships, there’s probably a lot to be said about the relationships between moms and sons (and daughters). Children, take note.
Scott’s right about the humor. I can almost see Mary smiling, maybe even with a little wink, as she told the servants to do what Jesus asked of them, knowing that He would respond to the situation. Did Mary know what Jesus would do? Note that Mary did not ask Jesus for help, such as run to the market, or to perform a miracle. She just made the statement that “they have no more wine”. It’s like your mom saying that the trash can is full. Jesus knew that there was a request behind the statement.
Jesus appears to be somewhat incensed by His mothers statement. He essentially said that He would not help, the reason being that “My time has not come”. But He did as she asked because He respected His mother. This parallels the story told about the father who asked two of his sons to do something. One son said that he would do it and didn’t, the other son said he would not do as his father asked, but after giving it some thought, changed his mind and did as his father asked. The main question in that parable was, who was most pleasing to his father?
Would Jesus have performed the miracle had it not been for His mother’s interest? Both Jesus and Mary must have understood that He had the power to remedy the situation. Even though Jesus thought it was not His time, Mary had some insight to God’s will for her son, maybe knowing that this was the time for him to get busy – similar to the mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest. Son, it’s time to fly.
Exactly what did He mean that “My time had not come”. He had already stood out by demonstrating His wisdom while teaching in the temple at the age of 12. The reason He gave His parents at that time was that He had to do the will of His Father.
Thoughts about “Wine”.
Six jars averaging 25 gallons each, equals 150 gallons of wine. A gallon of water weighs a little over 8 pounds, therefore 1 jar would average approximately 200 pounds, for a total of 1200 pounds(+) of fine wine.
We all have probably heard sermons about how the wine in the time of Jesus had no alcohol content, that wine was no more than grape juice of today. I personally have never been able to follow the logic of these arguments, especially in light of scriptures that reference wine such as these. According to the master of the banquet, the practice of the time was to bring out cheaper wine last, “after the guest have had too much to drink”. Otherwise, they were getting, let’s say, tipsy. Don’t misunderstand. The bible does condemn drunkenness. But this is another topic.
Scott, your comment questioning the symbolic nature of the miracle is interesting. There are other scriptures making this comparison to the old and new law . . . putting new wine into old wine skins. This was the first miracle that His disciples saw and vs. 11 states that because of this His disciples put their faith in Him.
Not only is this Bile study blog, but a knowlege forum for new words.
Nice word dad!
Incensed: Angry, irritated, exasperated
Jesus, time had not yet come but
Mary told the deciples to do what Jesus tells them to do. She must have known that He would abide by her wishes. I found it interesting that His deciples had been following Him for awhile but it took this miracle for them to believe in Him.
oops, Mary told the servants to do what Jesus tells them not the deciples as I stated in my last post. Sorry for the mistake.
Em,
I love this blog!! Thank you, Gary and Angie for making it happen.
Sending my love,
Barbara
This first miracle seemingly prompted by Mary surely was not completed because of her request. As Gary & Scott have said the symbolism of the wine and that this is a wedding feast (the church, the bride of Christ)was planned even before Jesus showed up at the wedding. This does show us the heart of Mary, not wanting the family who planned the celebration to be humiliated by running out of wine. Apparently the wedding celebrations could last for several days so hence a need for much wine.
So many wonderful comments and thoughts and insights from Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee & Michigan. All of us focusing on the same scripture. It is encouraging!
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