(The Wedding at Cana)
Hello, my name is Danny and I was a Latter-day Saint for 60 years.
This is part 3 of The Bridegroom Messiah series – and I am subtitling it, The Wedding at Cana. In part 2, I demonstrated how when it was finally time for the arrival of the mortal Messiah – John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the Bridegroom Messiah to His Israel Bride. Thus, tying Old Testament prophecy in Jeremiah 33 to its fulfillment in John 3.
At the beginning of Christ’s mortal ministry, He is invited to attend a wedding in the small town of Cana – along with His mother and His disciples. Besides this being the location of Jesus’ first miracle – it will prove to have deep significant meaning in the interpretation of Jesus turning water into wine. There is more than meets the eye upon casual first reading. So please join me, as I read this famous miracle and the words Jesus speaks. Remember, this is a bookend event to start His public ministry along with the Last Supper which will be at the conclusion of His ministry. Both illustrating that Jesus came to bring the miraculous wine of salvation to the wedding banquet of God and His Bride.
Let’s look carefully at this famous account of Jesus’ words and His miracle at the wedding in Cana. John 2:1-11 “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom. And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”
Okay, this raises several questions: Why does Mary, His mother, bring the lack of wine to Jesus’ attention - given the fact that He is clearly an invited guest at the wedding? Why not take the problem to the host or wedding planner? And then, why does Jesus respond to His mother in the way that He does? At first, Jesus’ addressing Mary as “Woman” comes off as being kind of disrespectful. Furthermore, His declaration that His “hour has not yet come” is a strange way to react to Mary’s observation that the wine has run out. All she said is “They have no wine.” And what has that to do with Jesus’ “hour?” Then why does Jesus turn around and solve the problem of the lack of wine by performing a miracle? Clearly, we will see there is much more going on here than at first meets the eye.
Let’s be clear about this - Jesus isn’t being disrespectful to Mary when he addresses her as “Woman.” It sounds that way to modern ears - but in the language and context of the time, it really wasn’t. Jesus uses “Woman” on several occasions to address other women – the Samaritan woman, Mary Magdalene, the Canaanite woman, and the woman who was bent over for eighteen years – all without a hint of disrespect. Most important, He uses the same form of address to His mother, while He is hanging on the cross. John 19:26 “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!” Jesus was perfect in His keeping the Ten Commandments, one of which is to “honor your father and your mother.”
Jesus was saying to Mary, “What is that to you and to me, that they are out of wine?” At first glance, He might seem to be unwilling to solve the problem of the lack of wine. But that can’t be the answer, because He goes on to do just that. When He instructs the servants to fill the jars with water and then He miraculously changes the water into wine. So, what exactly is He objecting to at this moment?
In an ancient Jewish context, it was customary for a wedding celebration to last an entire week – seven days (Genesis 29:22-27; Judges 14:17). And wine was the celebratory drink. Any mother of a bride knows that providing enough food and drink to keep people satisfied for just a few hours is a major undertaking. Imagine a whole week. And at this wedding in Cana the wine had run out. Mary brings the situation to Jesus’ attention as a request for Him to fix the problem. She knows her son is also the Son of God. It’s important to note that Mary’s words “they have no wine” appear to be a strong reference to a prophesy in the Hebrew Scripture - which describes the people of Israel’s desire for the wine of salvation. We read in Isaiah 7, 9, 11 “The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.”
Mary is alluding to this Old Testament passage – but the prophesy does not end with Israel running out of wine. In response to the people’s lack of wine, Isaiah also prophesies that the Lord Himself will respond by giving Israel at some point in the future - a very special feast of wine. Listen to this:
Isaiah 25:6-8 “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.”
This prophecy is the most famous description in the Hebrew Scripture of what would later come to be known as “the messianic banquet.” But notice that the Messiah is not actually mentioned in Isaiah – it is the Lord (YHWH) who gives the wine of the banquet. It will be a sacrificial banquet of wine, to include both Israel and the Gentiles. Finally, it will be a banquet that will undo the effects of the Fall of Adam and Eve - for by means of God’s banquet - death itself will be “swallowed up,” and the sins of all the world will be taken away. To be sure, Mary is asking Jesus to perform a miracle. But she doesn’t realize it’s not just any miracle she is asking for. She is asking that Jesus provide the sacrificial wine of salvation spoken by the prophet Isaiah and long awaited by the Jewish people. Obviously, Mary was not yet fully aware how her son would provide that sacrificial wine of salvation. That it would come through the actual blood sacrifice of her son.
I imagine that Jesus up to the age of 30 before starting His ministry, was taking care of His mother - since we never hear of Joseph after Jesus’ was 12 years old. Jesus probably shared with Mary many wonderful insights as to what He was about to accomplish as the Messiah. So, Mary was anxiously anticipating that Her son’s “hour” was at hand.
Thus, Jesus’ response “My hour has not yet come” in which He appears to refuse her request – suddenly begins to make sense in a few ways: First, by performing a miracle in which He provides miraculous wine - Jesus is beginning to reveal His identity as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. But Jesus goes far beyond just solving the problem of the lack of wine for the wedding guests at Cana. He specifically instructs the servants to fill to the brim “six stone jars” used for Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. That’s a total of 120 to 180 gallons of wine. We can see that in providing hundreds of gallons of wine for this small country wedding at Cana - Jesus is signaling to those who have eyes to see – particularly His new disciples, who are with Him - that the ancient Jewish wine of the age of salvation is just beginning to be fulfilled in Himself.
Also, by agreeing to provide wine for the wedding - Jesus also began to reveal that He is not just the Messiah – He is also the Bridegroom. As a guest, Jesus isn’t the one responsible for providing the food and drink for the wedding party. This would have been the duty of the bridegroom of Cana and his family. That was another reason Mary’s request to Jesus was odd – since the logical person to solve the problem would be the bridegroom himself. But she turns to Jesus and He solves it. And because He does it secretly without being noticed - He leads the steward of the feast to react to the miracle in a way that reveals its deeper meaning. John 2:9-10 “When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom (of that wedding), And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.” In other words, good wine is usually served first to impress the guests. Then as the celebration draws on - the weaker wine is served without notice.
The steward was like a modern-day headwaiter or caterer. His responsibility was to oversee the quality and purity of the food and drink. When he tastes the water that has become wine, he does not call Jesus over to thank HIM - because he has no idea the wine was provided by Jesus. Instead, the steward calls the bridegroom, whose name is never given – to praise him for having saved the “good wine” – the best wine, for last.
When Mary asks Jesus to provide wine for the wedding - she is not just asking Him to solve a potentially embarrassing family problem. She is also asking Him to intervene and assume the role of the bridegroom Messiah. Mary’s request is not just about the wine at Cana - but also about the wine of Jewish prophecy. We have already seen in Hebrew Scripture - it is God Himself who provides the wine for the banquet of salvation. And it is God who is referred to as the “the Bridegroom” of His entire people. Isaiah 62:4-5 “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land anymore be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.”
Yeshua’s actions at Cana lead us to conclude that by transforming the water into wine and assuming the role of the Jewish bridegroom – Jesus is also beginning to suggest that the prophecies of the divine bridegroom are being fulfilled in Him. This miracle was a sign to His disciples to illustrate that He was accepting the role of the Messianic bridegroom. In other words, by means of the miracle at Cana - Yeshua is beginning to reveal the mystery of His divine identity. I hope this teaching was helpful.
Thanks for listening. Stay tuned for part 4 of the Bridegroom Messiah, where we will see Jesus the Bridegroom at the Last Supper.
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God Bless!