DAY 295 - There Was a Marriage in Cana of Galilee

Isaiah 62:5 (NIV) ⁵ As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

John 2:1-11 (RSV) On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Isn’t this a strange way to start a work that will change the world? There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. And the wine failed. In first century Hebrew society, for the wine to run out at a wedding was a sign of a person’s failure, points to a failure brewing on the horizon. Jesus prevents the failure by turning the water into wine, but it is not just any kind of water.  Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification. The water for purification will not meet the need. But the new wine does. And what is wine a symbol of? The blood and life of Jesus.

The meaning of this miracle and sign is obvious. The miracle of turning water into wine announces that Jesus is the new covenant. The old way of entering into relationship with God by keeping the customs and laws has failed. The new way of Jesus produces the wine of abundance that satisfies. To this point, all the wise men of Israel were saying do what the law of Moses says. Do what the law of the prophets say. Do what the law as interpreted by the teachers of the law says. Mary says, do whatever He tells you. Rules fail us. Do whatever He tells you.

We know that this story is of a marriage of a man and woman, but that it also points to our relationship to God, a “covenant relationship,” one that requires wild promises be made to one another that create some pretty extravagant expectations of one another. But this is what is required if we want this kind of relationship with one another and therefore with God.

We can, of course, distort what He tells us. We can do that for a while, but notice what Jesus does in this story. When Mary wants Jesus to rescue the wedding host, Jesus says, O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come. If Jesus would rebuke His own mother will He not also do the same with us when we try to force Him into doing things our way? Do whatever He tells you. There may be some rebukes along the way, but the promise is that Jesus will turn the water into wine.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 15, 1995

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)