Tags
Bartholomew, Cana, Canaanite woman, Capernaum, Disciples, Exodus, Feast, Genesis, Gospel of John, Gospels, Hour, Isaiah, Jesus, John, Joseph, Luke, Mary, Matthew, Miracles, Mission, Nathanael, Passover, Pharoah, Philip, Revelation, Signs, Water, Wedding at Cana, Weddings, Wine, Woman
- Background
- Story appears in John 2:1-12
- Mary, Jesus, and his disciples had been invited to the wedding.
- The wine gave out.
- Mary mentions this to Jesus, who basically says it’s not his problem because it’s not his time.
- Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.
- Jesus turns six stone jars of water, each holding 20-30 gallons, into wine.
- The steward tells the bridegroom that he is surprised that the best wine has been saved last.
- After the wedding, Jesus, his mother, his brothers, and his disciples go to Capernaum for a few days.
- Cana
- “Cana” means “place of reeds.”
- Cana was a village in Galilee; some say Cana originally belonged to tribe of Asher, but there is some disagreement about that.
- Other appearances in Bible
- Jesus returns to Cana in John 4:46-54 when he heals the son of a royal official in Capernaum.
- Jesus’ disciple Nathanael was from Cana (Commonly thought that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person)
- Distance from Cana to Capernaum is about 16 miles There was a road that connected Cana to several towns, including Capernaum.
- Capernaum was a center of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and according to Matthew 9:1 may have been considered his “own town.”
- Weddings in Ancient Israel (according to Msgr. Charles Pope)
- Marriage took place at a young age – around 18 for males and 13-14 for females.
- Most marriages were arranged by parents, but not forced if two parties showed no interest in or attraction to each other.
- Marriage was about survival and bringing families together in mutual support. A good marriage was also a good alliance.
- After the engagement was accepted, there was a one-year period of betrothal in which terms of the dowry were negotiated.
- Weddings lasted 2 days (in the case of poorer people) to 7 days.
- Typically took place in the fall because the harvest was in and evenings were usually cool and comfortable.
- Typically the entire village was invited to the wedding.
- At the beginning of the wedding feast, in the evening, the bridegroom would go with friends to get his betrothed. Bridegroom wore rich clothing and often wore a crown, and there was much rejoicing.
- The bride was carried in a litter and in procession. She was beautifully dressed and along the way people sang wedding songs that were traditionally known and largely drawn from the Song of Songs
- When the procession reached the bridegroom’s house, his parents bestowed a traditional blessing drawn from scripture and other sources. After the prayers, the evening was passed in games and dancing and the bridegroom took part in the festivities.
- But the bride withdrew with her bridesmaids and friends to another room assigned for her.
- The next day was the wedding feast and once again there was general rejoicing and a sort of holiday in the village. There was a meal toward the end of the day at which the men and women were served separately. This was a time for the giving of presents, etc. The bride, all dressed in white, was surrounded by her bridesmaids, usually ten of them. She sat under a canopy while traditional songs and blessings were sung and recited. During this time, in the evening, the groom arrived. And while the exact ritual words are not certain, there seems to have been a dialogue between bride and groom recorded in the Song of Songs.
- Now that the couple was together, all the other men and women also came together. It would seem that synagogue or other religious leaders imparted blessings to the couple, now together under the canopy. The words of these blessings and rituals are not definitively known and seem to have varied. After these came the evening feast.
- Later on that first evening the couple vanished and the marriage was consummated. The celebrations often went on for several more days. The couple did not going on a “honeymoon,” but remained for the rest of the celebration, sharing in the merriment, the songs, and the dancing under the star-strewn sky.
- Bridegroom and his family may have faced financial liability for failing to provide adequately for their guests.
- Symbolism in story
- Mention of “Third day” in verse 2:1
- Reminder of Exodus 19:11: “and prepare for the third day, because on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”
- Jesus had just called disciples Philip and Nathanael; the walk to Cana would’ve taken two days, so they arrived on the third day. (Most likely, Mary was already there.)
- Mention of “Third day” in verse 2:1
- Reminder of Jesus’ three- year ministry (based on fact that He celebrated three Passover celebrations — John 2:13, John 6:4, and John 11:55)
- Jesus resurrection on 3rd day.
- Wedding and banquet imagery are used to symbolize the messianic era
- Isaiah 54:4-8: Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; / do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace;/for you will forget the shame of your youth,/ and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more./ For your Maker is your husband,/ the Lord of hosts is his name;/the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,/ the God of the whole earth he is called. /For the Lord has called you/ like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, / like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,/ says your God. /For a brief moment I abandoned you, / but with great compassion I will gather you. /In overflowing wrath for a moment/ I hid my face from you, / but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, / says the Lord, your Redeemer.
- Isaiah 62:4-5: You shall no more be termed Forsaken, / and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; / but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; / for the Lord delights in you, / and your land shall be married. /For as a young man marries a young woman, / so shall your builder marry you, /and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, /so shall your God rejoice over you.
- Matthew 22:1-14: The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
- Revelation 19:9: And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’
- By filling 6 jars with 20-30 gallons of the best wine, “God’s grace fills us to the brim.” (See John 1:16)
- Jesus turning water to wine represents the wine that becomes his blood at the Passover meal and the blood and water that spills from his side at the crucifixion.
- Structure of Miracle Stories
- The setting is established (verses 1-2)
- A need arises (verses 3-5)
- A miracle addresses that need (verses 6-8)
- There is a response to that miracle (verses 9-11).
- Jesus reaction to Mary
- Only place in Gospels that Mary is mentioned before Jesus, which suggests that it was one of her relatives being married.
- Interesting that Mary appears to notice wine has run out before the wine steward
- Mary does not specifically ask Jesus to do anything. She simply notes the situation and then tells the servants to do whatever he tells them.
- Jesus doesn’t always do what Mary asks – in Matthew 12:46-50 she asks him to come out and talk to her and he refuses.
- Addressing Mary as “Woman”
- Is not meant disrespectfully
- Is often how men address women in general (see John 4:21, Matthew 15:28, Luke 22:57)
- Is generally thought to be a reference going back to Eve in Genesis 2:23: Then the man said, / ‘This at last is bone of my bones / and flesh of my flesh; / this one shall be called Woman, / for out of Man this one was taken.’
- That Jesus calls her “Woman” instead of “Mother” implies a new relationship between them.
- The phrase “What concern is that to you and me?” is a common Semitic statement that implies disengagement, not hostility.
- Mary’s instruction to do whatever Jesus tells them to do is reminiscent of Pharaoh telling the people in Egypt to listen to Joseph. (Genesis 41:55: When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.’)
- According to Western Catholic Reporter, Mary had faith in Jesus mission before He did – she was ready for him to begin to fulfill His destiny before He was, and perhaps was helping Him overcome His fear about publicly proclaiming who He is.
- Mary pushes Jesus into a new sphere of action in much the way that the Canaanite woman who says that dogs eat scraps from the master’s table pushes Jesus into a larger sphere of ministry.
- Idea of Jesus’s Hour is a big theme in John’s Gospel
- Whenever term “hour” is used, it is in relation to Jesus’ passion and death.
- John 4:21: Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
- John 4:23: But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.
- John 5:25: ‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
- John 5:28: Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice.
- John 7:30: Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.
- John 8:20: He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
- John 12:23: Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
- John 13:1: Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
- John 17:1: After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,
- God alone determines when Jesus’ hour has come
- John 12:27-28: ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’
- John 17:1-5: After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
- Life Expectancy in Ancient Times
- According to followingjesus.org, “Life was hard. The effects of poverty, disease, and violence were probably similar to that of the poor urban and rural areas in Third World countries today. The average life expectancy for a Jewish male in Jewish Palestine was 29 years.
- From Revealed Rome: Have to allow for very high infant mortality rates. Average life expectancy in ancient Rome, for example, was 35, but if you made it past the age of 10 (half of all people died before age 10), then you could reasonably expect to live into your 40s or 50s. If you also discount all those who died in childbirth or military service – in other words, if you survived your 20s and 30s – then you could reasonably expect to live into your 60s or 70s. Those who made it to 60, usually died after age 70. Sixty or 65 was commonly mentioned as threshold of old age.
- Questions for Reflection.
- Did Mary push Jesus into public ministry? If so, why?
- Has there been a time when a parent pushed you to do something you didn’t feel ready to do? If so, what was the outcome? Were you better or worse for it?
- Why did Jesus agree to turn the water into wine?
- How do you think Jesus felt knowing that He was embarking on something momentous?
- Given that Jesus already had followers (his disciples were invited to the wedding) was it really surprising that His public ministry began?
- How do you think Mary reacted or felt when the wine was replenished?
- Do you think Mary would’ve seen this as a change in her relationship to her son?
- Do you think Jesus would’ve seen this as a change in his relationship to his mother?
- In John 1:46-50, Jesus has the following conversation with Nathanael: Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ How do you think Nathanael reacted to this miracle?
- Was Jesus’ decision to turn water into wine directed more toward Nathanael than to his mother?
- How does this story speak to your own life? What response to this story might God be asking from you?
Information gathered from and gratefully acknowledged:
- Archbishop Fulton Sheen
- Bible Hub
- Bible.org
- Bible-History.com
- Catholic Tradition
- Charles Pope
- Christianity Stack Exchange
- Christianmeaningofnames.com
- Community in Mission
- Followingjesus.org
- Gilberto Ruiz
- Glen Argan
- Hall Harris, III
- HolyLandPhotos’ Blog
- Kieran Fenn, FMS
- Marist Messenger
- Oremus Bible Browser
- Revealed Rome
- Western Catholic Reporter
- Working Preacher