A Wedding in Cana

January 24, 2016 Background Scripture: John 2:1 – 12 Lesson Passage: John 2:1 – 12 The wedding celebration and subsequent miracle described in our lesson text is only recorded by John in his account of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some biblical historians believe that John’s account of the gospel was written after the other three accounts. As John states later in his account, Jesus performed many miracles in the presence of his disciples and if all of them were recorded, there would not be enough room in the world to contain the books. But John recorded a select number of the miracles so that his readers might believe that Jesus is the anointed Son of God and as a result of believing, have eternal life. Jesus lived the most purposeful life ever. He knew exactly what he was born to do in this world. Before the ultimate sacrifice of his life as a ransom for many, he lived a life that was dedicated to unselfishly serving others. He spent three to three and a half years preparing eleven men to be his witnesses and evangelize the world for God. At the beginning of this preparation time, Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding to which they responded by attending the celebration. It was there that he performed his first recorded miracle. I am always amazed that such a one as Jesus who had the most incredible mission in life that anyone could have would take time to be a guest at a wedding. With all of the training he needed to provide his disciples, it hardly seem that he would have time for such a leisure moment. I like to think of Jesus’ schedule as being divided between two great activities: ministering to a group or being off to himself praying. For Jesus to take time to attend a wedding as a guest and not to officiate seems too ordinary based on my thoughts about him. Jesus’ presence at a wedding at such a crucial time in his life speaks volumes about God’s view of the institution of marriage he ordained in the Garden of Eden. It is worth noting that John wrote that it was at this wedding that Jesus performed his first miracle. Jesus’ first public miracle was not an act of healing or resurrection but rather an act that kept the wedding host from being embarrassed because he ran out of wine which he needed to entertain his guests. Other than the location of the wedding ceremony, we are given very little information about the wedding. We are not given the names of the bride and groom or the name of the host. However, we do know that Jesus’ mother, Mary, was there and she turned to him when she became aware that the wine had run out. Further, we know that it was Mary who instructed the servants to follow Jesus’ directions to remedy the situation. This was all that was needed to set everything else in motion. From that point, Jesus gave instructions to the servants and they responded in kind. It was the host of the wedding feast who first tasted the miraculous wine and addressed the groom as to whether proper protocol had been followed seeing that the wine was superior to that offered in the beginning. John notes in his gospel account that this first miracle caused Jesus’ disciples to believe in him because this miracle was a demonstration of Jesus’ greatness. It happened because Jesus chose to attend a wedding in Cana. Robert C. Hudson December 23, 2015