The point

¹¹ 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 never refers to Jesus miracles as miracles, rather signs of His revealed glory
  • The miracle, therefore, acts as a sign for His glory
  • His glory is referred to as the hour
  • His hour of glorification is the cross
  • Hence, the sign Jesus provides here is a sign as to what the cross will accomplish

The Setting

 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. 

• John structures the beginning of his gospel to match creation week.
  • John is trying to convey the new reality and new creation that Christ ushers in
  • Ultimately, John is assigning Christ as the Creator…his divine nature
• Here, the third day corresponds to the third day of creation (separation of water and land and producing fruit)
  • Most weddings started on the third day of the week because it was also the day of double blessing (only creation day God blesses twice)
  • The wedding started on the third day of the week because it surrounded maximum blessing
  • Wine has biblically been symbolized as blessing and joy
    • Amos 9:11-15
    • Joel 3:18
    • Rabbinnical tradition heavily emphasizes wine as representative of blessing
• 3^rd day of creation was also the first mention of a Mikveh
  • • Mikveh in Hebrew = Baptismo in Greek = Baptism in English
      • Mikveh literally means: Gathering of water
    • And like creation, there is a separation from ones family or parents and new fruit produced from it (Genesis 2:24) in marriage
    • And like creation, Jesus conducts a mikveh in the mikveh purification jars (gathering of water) that produced fruit from the vine i.e. the wine

The problem

Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

• • In this time, because a wedding occurred on the day of double blessing and wine represented blessing, to run out of would have been vastly embarrassing and shameful and would assign a stigma on the marriage
    • Running out of wine at a wedding would have created a cultural shame on the couple forever
    • In the time of the Maccabees, you could be fined for such an offense

How did they run out of wine on the first day?

• • • Vastly poor (improbable)
      • This wedding has hired servants
      • The wedding possesses six, very expensive stone jars
    • Vast over-indulgence (improbable)
    • Vastly more people attended than expected (probable)
      • Vs. 2 states Jesus and His newly founded disciples were invited…hence, Jesus company may have contributed to this problem
      • Jesus inherited many of John the Baptists disciples who may have joined him at the wedding
    • Jesus mother is being culturally polite by not commanding her full-grown son to do anything, but she is certainly imploring help by raising the issue to Him

How did Mary know the wine was gone?

• • Because of the shame aspect, if she was merely a guest she would not have been made aware
  • Her knowledge implies she bears some responsibility for the hospitality
    • Further, she seems to have authority over the servants (vs. 5)
    • Only Jesus, His disciples, Mary, and the servants seem aware of this miracle…not the groom, master of banquet, etc.
  • The party responsible for the hospitality and providing the wine was the groom, but more practically the family of the groom
    • Jesus brother getting married:
      • 13^th century Greek scholar Nicephorus Callistus attributed it to Jesus brother Jude using library sources no longer available to us
      • What’s odd, however, is that the wedding is in Cana, not Nazareth or Bethlehem where Jesus family is rooted and where culturally, the wedding would take place if Mary was the mother of the groom. Possible explanations:
        • Joseph is dead, so father of bride hosted
        • Jesus family home could not host such a large party
        • Jesus would assume responsibility in ketubah as first-born, and has relinquished that responsibility for ministry
        • Jesus brother was grown and hosted the party himself
    • Jesus himself
      • Recent scholars have posited this view, but it ignores Vs. 2 that says Jesus was invited to the wedding
    • The author of the gospel itself
      • John doesn’t name himself, or too many others as to not take away from the glory of Christ.
      • Thomas Aquinas and the Dominican Order held it was Johns wedding
    • Jesus sister (My view):
      • The grooms family would have certainly bore responsibility, but the brides family would also have been intimately involved as they cared about the shame and honor of the bride too.
      • Mary would have held authority as mother of the bride, but would not necessarily bore responsibility

The Ask for Help

• • Mary brings the issue to Jesus because:
    • Option A: His disciples contributed to the problem
    • Option B: Heart of Mary paired with her knowing the heart and identity of Jesus
    • Option C: Jesus bore cultural responsibility as head of household
  • Ultimately, Mary does not expect Jesus to perform a miracle, rather, Mary is asking him to help figure it out in a practical way

The Family

• What we know about the stone jars:
  • In 2017, a stone jar quarry was found in lower-Galilee.
  • The quarry required the same tools to make the great pillars for Rome
  • They also found the Jerusalem house that was destroyed during the siege of 70 AD. In it they found 6 large stone jars in a rich, priestly family’s home
  • They were fine crafted and very expensive
• From what we know, we could make a couple assumptions:
  • The groom family could have been rich
    • To afford one stone jar for a wedding let alone six required wealth
  • The grooms family could have been priestly (jars supplied by the temple tax) to allow for continuous, ritual cleansing
    • 1 Chronicles 24:19- names Eliashib as of the priestly Cohanim order as from Cana
    • Leviticus 11:33-36- Only a spring or stone jar will remain clean, other vessels must be broken after use (Also see Leviticus 15:12)

Jesus Response

⁴ “Woman,^[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

• The term woman is not disrespectful, similar to madam or maam in modern terms, but it is meant to be negative as He is resisting His mothers request
• Why do you involve me?
  • The human element of this story makes this seem very obvious answer, but Jesus is revealing something here
  • He separates Himself from his identity to His family…she is not mother, but maam. His family affair does not concern Him because He is now focused on HIS Family…Israel
• My Hour has not come yet
  • His mother is essentially asking Him, save them of their shame and dishonor. Jesus says, I will save them of their shame and dishonor but my time to do that has not happened yet i.e. the cross

Mary’s Confident Response

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

• What a beautiful and simple charge to servants: Do whatever Jesus tells you!
• Despite Jesus response, Mary knows Jesus will act. Why the confidence?
  • Mommas know their children
  • Jesus did not start becoming Jesus at the time of His public ministry, but had always been who Jesus is
  • Mary KNEW Jesus, treasured every little bit of it in her heart
    • The angel, the prophet and prophetess, Jesus life

*Mary was confident Jesus would act because of her relationship with Jesus. Knowing His character and knowing how He acted in the past gave her confidence in the present

*Most behavior follows a continuity of action (Ex: babies in an orphanage, woman at food4life, my children and snacks)

The Sign

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons

• Nearby stood SIX….
  • In Hebraic thought, six is represented of man as man was created on the sixth day of creation
  • Six was viewed as good, but incomplete. Gods rest is what brings completeness

*Here, John subliminally hints that the ritual purification was good, but incomplete and needed God to make it complete

• 20-30 gallons
  • Greek metric is 2-3 metretas
    • Equal to about 600-900 modern bottles of wine
    • Psalm 104:15- God gave man wine to gladden the heart
      • Ancient fermented wine only about 1/3 the same potency as modern wine
      • If 100 people (very conservative assumption) attended this wedding, that means each person would receive 9 bottles of wine (very liberal assumption) for the duration of the 5-days remaining in the week-long feast equaling 1.8 bottles a day. Using modern alcohol %, that means just over ½ bottle of wine a day equivelent per person as a VERY LIBERAL estimate
• However, the STONE Jars gives us more
  • Leviticus 11:33-36- Only a spring or stone jar will remain clean, other vessels must be broken after use (Also see Leviticus 15:12)
  • Stone jar represents the required purification rites that could be reused
    • In other words, six jars held 20-30 gallons each, but in reality, the stone jars could be reused over and over i.e. they would NEVER run out of wine
    • Later, Jesus uses the wine that represented blessing to now represent THE blessing….His blood poured out for the forgiveness and purification of sin (Luke 22, Matthew 26)

*The purification rites (jars and water) used to act as a means of making you clean…now, they act as the means to produce blessing (wine) as satisfied and made complete by Christ

The Trust

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”They did so, ⁹ 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.

• Notice, to see, experience, and receive the miracle blessing:
  • They had to trust Jesus
    • It was water up until the point they delivered it to the master of the banquet. At any point in the process, if the servant became disobedient or lost trust, the miracle would not happen
  • They played an active role in participating through obedience
    • Jesus commanded, instilled by Mary’s confidence, and the servants executed

The Honor

¹⁰ 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.”

• Jesus says, the best of something usually comes first (The Law) and gets cheapened once everyone has their fill; however, He says what was first (The Law) is not as good as what is here now…JESUS!
• Mary’s initial request was to SAVE the groom from shame and dishonor….but the groom was not simply saved from shame and dishonor, but he was HONORED by providing better wine!

*Jesus doesn’t simply SAVE us from our shame, guilt, dishonor, and sin, but HONORS us as HIS BRIDE!

Questions for Guided Discussion

1. John makes the point that the old life was good, but not good enough and incomplete. Only Jesus makes us good enough and complete. Share how your old life compares to your new life in Christ. How is it better? How is it more complete? How is it harder?
2. Mary possessed a confidence when talking with Jesus because she intimately knew Him. How does an intimate relationship with Christ give you confidence in your situation now? How does it change the way you pray?
3. Mary possessed a confidence because she remembered all Jesus did in the past and applied it in the present. Why are we so quick to forget all God has done for us in the past? How can you become more deliberate in remembering the faithfulness of God?
4. Reflect on your own continuity of action. What do people ask of you? What do people NOT ask of you? How does that reflect what historically, you have or have not been willing to do?
5. Mary instructed the servants to do whatever Jesus said. The servants had to trust Jesus without an understanding or knowledge of outcome. At any point in the miracle process, if a servant lost trust and disobeyed the instruction Jesus gave then the miracle would have failed, or they would have missed out of the blessed experience. How many blessings do we miss because we lose faith or trust in Gods process? How can our disobedience hinder the blessings of God? How can our obedience and trust magnify them?
6. Jesus performed the miracle, but the servants played an active role in its process. If you are wanting to see a miracle or receive a blessing in your life, are you willing to trust God and play an active role?
7. Jesus does not simply save us from our shame and dishonor, but wants to bless us to the point of honor. In what situations or relationships can we apply this same character of love?

This Weeks Challenge: Start a prayer log/board. Provide resolutions as prayers are answered. Reflect on prayer log in times of need.