The Wedding at Cana
John 2:1-11
30/05/2010
John 2:1a
Let’s familiarise ourselves with what is involved in a first-century Jewish wedding so we can imagine the story as it is described to us. To get the most out of the information, keep in mind that the Church is described as the Bride of Christ. It will bring a fresh appreciation to you of what that means. If you also keep in mind Joseph’s engagement to Mary it will also give you good insight into the story of Jesus’ birth.
Jewish Weddings First-Century Style
When a Jewish young man wished to marry a particular young woman, it was customary for the prospective groom's father first to approach the girl's father with the proposal of marriage. The two men would discuss this possible union including the price offered by the groom for the bride. If the girl's father agreed to the suggested amount, the two men sealed the agreement with a toast of wine. The potential bride then entered the room whereupon the prospective groom proclaimed his love and asked her to be his bride. If the young woman wished to be his wife, she accepted his proposal at this time. The validation of the agreement made by the engaged couple was the presentation of a gift by the groom. He offered it in the presence of at least two witnesses. As he gave the gift, usually a ring, he said to his intended bride, "Behold you are consecrated unto me with this ring according to the laws of Moses and
Arrangements were also made right then concerning the terms of the marriage. A written contract recorded the dowry and terms of the marriage. This binding document called a "ketubah" was kept in the bride's possession until the consummation of the marriage. Finally, this first part of a two-part ceremony was concluded by the toast of a glass of wine. The whole ceremony was called the "Shiddukhin," or engagement.
The Bible refers to the status of the prospective bride and groom as "espousal" or "betrothal." It meant that the two people were committed to each other as much as a married couple would be. The only parts of the marriage not yet completed were the formal "nissuin" ceremony followed by their physical union. This betrothal was considered so binding that the only way to break it was by an actual bill of divorcement.
The groom then departed, but not before he assured his bride with the promises of building a home for her and returning to complete the marriage ceremony. He usually took a year to prepare her new home which often consisted of an addition built onto his own father's house.
The bride was expected to remain true to her groom as she prepared herself and her trousseau. She lived for the day of his return for her which would be heralded by a shout from the members of the wedding party and the loud blowing of a trumpet. The impending return of her groom was to influence the bride's behavior during this interim espousal period.
The typical Jewish wedding took place at night. As soon as any members of the wedding spotted the moving torches signaling the groom's approach, their cry echoed through the streets, "The bridegroom is coming." The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia tells us, "Mirth and gladness announced their approach to townspeople waiting in houses along the route to the bride's house." Upon hearing the announcement, the excited bride would drop everything in order to slip into her wedding dress and complete her final personal preparations for marriage.
Rather than the groom entering the bride's house, the bride came out to meet him. The two, accompanied by their wedding party, returned together to the groom's home for the marriage ceremony. Following the public ceremony, the newlyweds entered their bridal chamber to be intimate with each other for the first time. After this union, the groom came out and announced to the wedding guests, "Our marriage is consummated."
Upon receiving the glad news, the wedding party began a "festive" seven-day celebration. The celebration lasted seven days only if this was the first marriage of a virgin girl. During this time the bride and the groom stayed with each other in seclusion. At the end of this time of privacy, the groom would present his unveiled bride to everyone in attendance. The newlyweds then joined in the wedding feast with the guests. [i]
So that sets the scene for what has been going on up to this point. Let’s continue the story.
Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
Mary, Jesus and his disciples were there, probably other members of Jesus’ family were there also and members of at least some of the disciples’ families as well. Cana was the hometown of the disciple Nat hanael, so you would imagine his family at least may have been present.
So you have this wonderful celebration and social occasion happening, where people are spending time together enjoying the festivities. It’s probably been going on for over a week now, since we read later on in the story that the bridegroom has rejoined the party after the period of seclusion which would normally be seven days. The fact that they have run out of wine is actually a huge social embarrassment for the couple and their families. It’s more than an embarrassment, it’s a scandal – it says that they did not value the marriage celebration highly enough to cater adequately for it. They could even be fined in a Jewish court for the offense.
We don’t know why they ran out of wine – perhaps they were poor and just didn’t have the means to provide enough. Perhaps they simply miscalculated the demand. Perhaps Jesus and His disciples surprised them by being in the area and they were invited out of politeness. (To say “Jesus you can come, but please don’t bring your followers with you” would not have been OK in that culture!)
Whatever the reason was, there was a definite problem here that needed a solution.
4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Is Mary being manipulative here? It sounds like Jesus has said “No”, but Mary acts like Jesus has said “Yes”!
I don’t think it’s manipulation or bossiness coming through here. I think Mary simply knows who Jesus is – she knows His heart and she knows His power.
Jesus has honestly said “Look mum, doing a miracle here doesn’t fit with my timeline of how I want to go about things.” The gospels make it clear that Jesus had a very good understanding of how things needed to unfold in His ministry moving toward His death and resurrection.
But despite that, I think Mary understood that Jesus’ love for people was such that he was interested in the plight of this family and this newly married couple. It seems like such a small thing to us, but Jesus knew the significance for them and decided to do what no-one else could.
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
We have six stone jars, each holding about 100 litres of water.
Mark 7:1-7
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. a )
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”
So we have these stone jars are for holding the water used in ceremonial washing. Normally there would be one of these in the kitchen or somewhere convenient so that people could wash their hands at the appropriate times. The practice of hand-washing changed over the centuries and it is hard to say exactly how it was being carried out in Cana at this point in time. We can assume that the people at this wedding would wash before and after each meal – this involved using a special cup to pour water from the stone jars over each hand in turn 3 times, making sure the hands did not touch one another and transfer any ritual impurity during the process. Hands would be washed after ablutions, after sleeping for 20 minutes or more, after going to the marketplace or having any sort of contact with anyone or anything ritually unclean. Having a houseful of guests for a week meant lots of handwashing going on, so the bridegroom had accumulated 6 of these great big stone jars in order to hold enough water.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee . He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
There’s a couple of things that I think are worth us thinking about together this morning as we look at these verses:
1. Jesus revealed His glory in serving others well
We read in verse 11 that in this first miraculous sign that He performed, Jesus revealed His glory – His true divine nature. His disciples saw this and put their faith in him.
Jesus wasn’t out to glorify Himself. He wasn’t attempting to further His own agenda. As we’ve seen in His comments to Mary, this wasn’t the best time for Him to be doing that. But He revealed His glory in serving others. Not only did He reveal His divine power to change water into wine, but He revealed His character of love for others in the reason that he changed water into wine. It wasn’t just to make a good party better, but to rescue a family from stigma and even legal reprisals. It was the best wedding present that couple received!
When Jesus serves, He serves well. The wine He makes isn’t just passable. It’s more than good enough to get the bridegroom off the hook. It is first class. I think this says something about the quality of service that we should offer also.
I believe we glorify God when we put our own agendas aside and serve others to the best of our ability out of a heart of love just like Jesus did.
Back in New Testament times many Christians were slaves. Slaves were very often treated poorly, and so it was difficult to serve out of love rather than out of fear. When you serve out of love, you do your best for the people you serve. When you serve out of fear, you only care about what they see or don’t see, and how well you get treated as a result. Sadly, many of us fall into that mode of service also, more concerned about what others expect of us and what others see us doing.
This is what Paul writes to slaves in Colossians 3:22-24…
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
So whether you serve because you want to or because you have to, serve as though it is Jesus Christ you are serving. Serve with all your heart knowing that God knows all that you do even if no-one else does.
Whether it’s your parents telling you what to do, or teachers, or your boss, or your customers, or the laws of our country or whatever & whoever else, do whatever you do with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for people. Give your best every time, even when it doesn’t fit your plans. Jesus did.
2. Jesus turned ritual into rejoicing!
Faced with the situation of needing to provide wine for the party, what does Jesus do? He has the servants fill up the jars, and then turns the water for ceremonial washing into wine for joyful consumption!
As we’ve heard, ceremonial handwashing was a big deal for these people. They felt it was important to maintain their personal holiness. It was important in maintaining their identity as God’s people – not like those “unclean” Gentiles.
Is it a good idea to wash hands regularly and thoroughly? Of course it is! But Jesus is no respecter of our cultural sensitivities – even our religious ones. Sometimes we need to be challenged as to whether our own religious habits are the commands of God or the traditions of men to borrow Jesus’ words from Mark 7:8. We need to be continually coming back to the commands of God and asking Him to show us how to best obey them in the situations that we find ourselves in today, not just doing what people before us have done.
God has the right to transform our traditions! We have traditions for good reasons, and it is foolish to discard them for no reason. But when Jesus decides to change how things are done, we need to be willing to accept that change.
Some time after this celebration in Cana we read of Jesus attending another party. This time the people in attendance were less reputable.
Luke 5:27-39
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus isn’t fitting the mould of what a religious leader should be like. He has disciples, much like the other rabbi’s going around – many who belonged to the part of the Pharisees. But Jesus and His disciples act differently, and many religious people don’t like it.
33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”
34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
The parable of the wineskins contains a lot of practical wisdom. Wineskins were made from animal skins sewn together that retained a lot of elasticity. Grapes were harvested then trodden down in a winepress, then the grape juice was left to sit for 7 days or so to allow the sediment to settle on the bottom. Then the juice was drawn out and poured into jars or wineskins to ferment. Once a wineskin had been used several times it would become dry and stiff, and if it was filled with new wine it would burst when that wine fermented – it simply was not flexible and pliable enough to contain the growth that fermentation produces.
I have seen many churches blown apart by trying to fit new growth into old vessels. I have seen people choose to be inflexible, and I’ve seen people try to force issues despite that inflexibility, and the result is that both the existing church and the new work are ruined.
Jesus is doing a new work and he recognises that most people won’t like it! His new work won’t fit into the existing traditions and structures.
At the wedding feast in Cana Jesus turns the water for ceremonial washing into wine for drinking. I’m sure plenty of people were upset by that – I don’t know if they found another source or ritually pure water to wash with or whether they left the party because they didn’t like what it had become. If I was there, I would have been upset by this turn of events too. But I hope that I would have been receptive to what Jesus was doing and been able to join in with that.
What are the new things that Jesus is doing here?
What adjustments do we need to make in order to be receptive to what He is doing?
Will we be like a new wineskin with the flexibility to contain this new work, or will we decide to be inflexible?
Old wineskins were used for many purposes in Jesus’ day, just not for holding new wine. Similarly God does entrust His new works to churches that will not be able to handle them.
I don’t know about you, but I want to see revival. I want to see God bring renewal in people’s lives and in homes and in this city and our nation.
But if we want to experience it we have to be willing to be stretched by it! It’s starting even now, and it’s only going to increase.
The Action Plan!
So there’s two things to work on this week:
1. Serve wholeheartedly in all you do. Remember it is Jesus you are serving.
2. Decide to be someone who will embrace and be stretched by God’s new work and not be someone trapped by inflexibility and a preference for the past.
