The Wedding in Cana

John 2:1-12

¹On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. ⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. ¹²After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days.

This familiar passage usually evokes several questions. Weddings were well-planned and wine was an important part, so why did the wedding planners not have sufficient wine? Why was Jesus’ mother concerned about the wine running out? As Jesus states, it really is not their concern. Why did Mary ask Jesus to do something about it? Obviously, she must have been convinced that Jesus could do something to remedy the situation. Why does Jesus turn His mother’s request down, saying that His hour has not yet come, and yet, He goes ahead and turns the water into wine? At which point did the water turn into wine – Did Jesus turn all the water in the jars at once right after they were filled with water? Or was it when the water was drawn from the jar? Or did it happen when the water was being carried to the steward?

We can conject all we want to do with these questions, but there really is no way to know the answers for sure. Nor is it important to answer them, since these details are not of interest to John, the gospel writer.

What the writer tells us is that this was the first of Jesus’ signs. He also tells us why Jesus performed this sign – So that His glory would be revealed to His disciples and that they would believe. We will see two kinds of signs in this gospel. The sign in Cana was so that the faith of the disciples, who believed that Jesus is the Messiah, would be strengthened. We also see the second type of sign later in verse 23, where it says, “. . . many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing.”

In between, He also spoke about a sign that people will remember after His death and resurrection. When Jesus overturned the tables and drove out the merchants from the temple, He was asked by the Jews, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Jesus was talking about His resurrection, and the disciples will remember and will believe that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah that was prophesied from long ago.

 Often, when John refers to what Jesus did as a “sign”, there is symbolism involved which guides us to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah. In the previous chapter, Nathanael believes that Jesus is the Son of God, just by the words Jesus spoke. In this narrative, Jesus goes beyond just words and works a miracle.

The narrative starts with the words, “On the third day”, which brings to mind Jesus’ resurrection. Even though the time of Jesus’ death, which forgives humanity’s sins, has not come, Jesus starting His ministry is already inaugurating a new age. Today, when we think of “the end times”, we think about the return of Jesus. However, that is the end of “the end times”.  The end times started with the arrival of Jesus. We are living in “the end times”.

The steward declares that the new wine is better than the old. The old way God’s people tried to attain righteousness was by trying to follow the Law. The new way, which Jesus will inaugurate with His death on the cross and resurrection is better. Rather than trying to obey the Law, the new way to become righteous is by faith in Jesus Christ. By believing what Jesus did and accepting Him as Lord and Savior, we become righteous in God’s eyes.

The wedding in Cana is a reminder to us that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of the world. In a small private way, we are introduced to the immense power that Jesus has. This was done to strengthen the faith of the disciples as well as our own faith.

It is also a reminder that we are living in the end times – Jesus could come back at any time. And when He does come back and the whole world sees Him, it is no longer possible to believe by faith. So, when He comes back, the chance to accept Him by faith ends.

There are many around us who have not accepted Jesus. Before it is too late, we have a responsibility to share Christ with them and to be good witnesses.

In the letter to the Romans, Paul writes that he is a debtor to those who do not know Christ. There are two ways to become a debtor. One is to borrow money from someone – one is in debt until the loan is paid off. The second is to be given money for someone by a third person – until the money is delivered to that person, one is in debt to that person. That’s how Paul felt about the gospel – It was given to him by God to give to others. Until Paul gives the gospel to others, he is indebted to them.

This is the same with us. God has given us the gospel. We have believed and accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Now we have the task to tell others. Until we do, we are in debt to them.

So, let the miracle that Jesus performed at the wedding at Cana be a sign to us that strengthens our faith, in order for us to go do the Kingdom work that the Lord has given us.  

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano at our worship of May 11, 2025.)