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. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
John 2:1-11, NKJV
Last month, I participated in one of the most wonderful events of a father’s life – the marriage of his daughter. It is a difficult thing, giving your daughter to another man. There are many emotions involved, and tremendous trust is required. It is a milestone in many relationships; the cutting of certain ties, and the binding of others. It is the oldest ritual in scripture, dating from the time of Adam:
And Adam said:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Gen 2:23-24, NKJV
It should not, then, be surprising that I have been contemplating the whole subject of weddings and marriage recently. So; as things settle down and life gets back to normal in our household, I am finally returning to my blog with a series on weddings and marriage. Did you know that there are over one hundred references to marriage and the wedding ceremony in scripture? In fact, some of the most powerful word pictures in the New Testament are built around the wedding ceremony. And did you know that a wedding ceremony formed the backdrop of Jesus’ entry into public ministry? It’s here that we will start our study. At a typical wedding in Cana of Galilee.
During the first set of blogs in this series, we will examine this special Cana wedding. If the reader is careful in his or her study, many questions will come to mind in their reading. Questions like:
- Why was a wedding chosen as the setting for Jesus’ first miracle?
- Why Cana?
- What is the significance of the wedding occurring on the “third day”?
- Why did Jesus seem to “waste” His debut miracle on the act of turning water to wine?
- What did Jesus mean when He said, “My hour has not yet come”, and what does “His hour” have to do with wine and a wedding?
- What is the importance of stone waterpots? And why six?
- And most importantly, how did this miracle – turning water into wine at a wedding – manifest His glory?
We will tackle each of these questions, and likely more, in the coming blogs. So before we rush into the study, my request is that my reader prayerfully focus on the subject passage, asking the Lord to speak His Word into your heart in a special way during this study. I believe that you will find the coming study to be a very rewarding learning experience!
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. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
John 2:1-11, NKJV
God’s blessings to you as you prepare your heart for this study!
In Christ,
YouJi