Friday 27 June 2014
- Bible Book:
- John
“Jesus did this, the first of his signs, at Cana in Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” (v. 11)
Background
John describes the wedding at Cana as "the first of his signs",which speak about who Jesus is. In these "signs" Jesus shows howGod breaks into ordinary everyday events and makes themextraordinary. The "signs" give Jesus' followers - then and now - aglimpse of how God wants creation to be. The stories happen in reallife but they point us to a heavenly reality and speak about how"the Word became flesh" (
The story of the wedding at Cana is about transformation. Ittells a very ordinary story of a wedding party, but the presence ofJesus as one of the guests makes what happened extraordinary. Marytells Jesus that the wine has run out and she fully expects thatJesus will be able to do something about that. Mary does not badgerJesus, she simply tells him what has happened and then tells theservants to, "Do whatever he tells you" (v. 5).
To run out of wine at a wedding was a real disgrace for thehost, which would bring lasting shame on the host family. Rather than send someone out to buy more wine, Jesus takes thelarge, clay water jars used for Jewish purification rites like footwashing and asks the servants to fill them with fresh water. Hethen sends a sample of the water to the steward of the feast. Thewater, drawn from the family's well, has become the finest wine.There is no fuss and perhaps only Mary and the servants witnessedwhat Jesus did.
The obvious transformation is the water becoming wine, but thisis not what John wants his readers to focus on. This "sign" pointsto the effect that Jesus has on the lives of ordinary men and womenwhen we take seriously the words spoken by Mary, "Do whatever hetells you". Jesus came that we all might have life in all itsfullness (John 10:10) and in this first sign Jesus givesus a glimpse of what God will do to transform the life of theworld.
To Ponder
- What strikes you about this story as you read it today? Whatare you noticing for the first time?
- Reflect on times when you have been aware of God taking anordinary life experience and transforming it in a way that gave youa glimpse of heaven. What have these experiences taught you aboutGod?