Wedding in Cana

A wedding invitations for Jesus and Mary

. . . When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

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

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

7Jesus said to the servants “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.

The wedding in Cana is an interesting story in the bible. The following is not a commentary but just a way of pointing out some peculiarities of this story.

To start with, the story can only be found in John and not in the other gospels, namely the gospel of Matthew, mark, and Luke.

This story is also considered as the first manifestation of the glory of God in Jesus for this is also considered as the first miracle performed by Jesus.

Another point of interest is that Jesus manner when dealing with Mary. Notice how he addressed her. He called her woman rather than mother. He then added why she was asking him to do such of his time has not yet come. What time could be Jesus referring to in this pericope.

And notice Mary’s reaction or non-reaction to Jesus manner of addressing her. So we may ask, is Jesus not being respectful and polite or was suck kind of demeanour is just common during Jesus time? Mary simply told the others to do whatever Jesus say. Here we may also wonder why Mary was taking all these troubles if they were merely some guests in this wedding.

And the main event in this story, the miracle of turning water into wine. While Jesus seem to be objecting to Mary’s request, and yet he proceeded to do the miracles.

Understanding the meaning of a passage in a bible can be aided by paying attention to some elements that appeared to be unusual and then use them as point of departures in the study.