Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.
Gen 1:11-13, NKJV
The third day. A day of new beginnings. The earth brought forth grass. The herb and the fruit trees came forth. Life came to the earth. Never before had vegetation been seen. No seed was planted. No root was buried. It simply came forth. It was new. It was the third day.
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
…
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
John 2:1,2,11, NKJV
A new beginning. On the third day, Jesus attended a wedding. A fitting day for a wedding, the third day. The law of first mention says that it is a time of new beginnings. A fresh start to a new life, made complete by the union of a man and wife.
Now, single life may be celebrated and lived joyfully. Many great things are accomplished through single individuals working by the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Paul encourages this type of ministry:
… I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord — how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world — how he may please his wife.
1 Corinthians 7:32-34, NKJV
But this ministry (singleness) is not for all. For most of us, the union of marriage represents an opportunity to bind ourselves to a partner (our human “completer”) and start a new life together as one. And that’s what we see in the text. On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana. And the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus was there. A new beginning.
Why Cana? There is some small debate regarding the location of Cana, but from the text, we know that it was in Galilee. It’s a small town. It was the home of Nathanael, and it has been described as “a neat village, pleasantly situated on the descent of a hill looking to the southwest, and surrounded by plantations of olive and other fruit-trees.” (from McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2000, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.) Certainly a nice place for a wedding. But let’s look a little deeper…
By now, some of my readers may have begun to think a little differently about their study of the Word. Maybe some have begun to realize that God has chosen His Word(s) very carefully, and every single one is carefully placed in exactly the right location and in the perfect order. So when a proper name is mentioned, it’s worth digging into the meaning and roots. Let’s examine Cana.
While the New Testament is written in Greek, there are certain words that are actually transliterations of words with Hebrew or Aramaic origins (transliterations are spellings of foreign words, especially proper nouns, using the phonetics of the language being written). Cana is one of these words. The Hebrew name is קנה (qaneh), and it means: “a reed (as erect); by resemblance a rod (especially for measuring), shaft, tube, stem, the radius (of the arm), beam (of a steelyard)” (Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
A “reed”? A “measuring rod”? This does not seem to make a lot of sense in a story about marriage. But we have not yet gotten to the root. Qaneh has a root. Let’s take a look…
The root of Qaneh is Q’nah (kaw-naw’), a primitive root which means “to erect, i.e. create; by extension, to procure, especially by purchase (causatively, sell); by implication to own” (from Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Copyright (c) 1980 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. All rights reserved.)
In the King James Version, this root is translated in a number of ways, including: possess, purchase, recover and redeem.
So Cana has a primitive root meaning “to purchase, or to redeem”. A marriage, on the third day, in the place of purchase or redemption. A new beginning; man and wife coming together, becoming one in the place of redemption. And Jesus was there. Do you remember?
For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Eph 5:30–32, NKJV
Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
Acts 20:28, NKJV (italics added for emphasis)
Wow. Here, we, as His bride, see Jesus at a wedding on the day of beginnings, in the place of redemption. Does this connect with your soul? Can you begin to imagine Jesus’ thoughts as He arrived at the wedding?
Our new beginnings:
Come, and let us return to the LORD;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
Hos 6:1-2, NKJV
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Rev 19:7, 8 NKJV
In my next blog, we will examine the seemingly strange reaction that Jesus had when asked by His mother to help with the wine. What was “Jesus’ hour”? Why had it not come, and when would it? And what is the meaning of earthen vessels and water turning to wine?
Oh, by the way – did you see it in the passage? Jesus’ new beginning:
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
John 2:11, NKJV (italics added for emphasis)
So it was that Jesus began His ministry. On the third day, in the place of redemption. Selah.
May the Lord richly bless your study of His Word!
YouJi