Gospel Conversations Reimagined: A Wedding, Come and See

In a previous post I noted that throughout the summer I am musing on the Gospel of John to refresh and reimagine meaningful gospel conversations in my own heart and hopefully in conversations with people like you. I have always been intrigued by the six signs John includes in his gospel (although there is some question as to whether there are six or seven signs). John makes it clear, near the end of the gospel, the reason behind including these signs, or manifestations of God’s glory:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.… Now there are many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written (John 20:30–31; 21:25).

Intriguingly, each sign is deeply significant and involves rather ordinary people and circumstances like the wedding in Cana recorded in John 2:1–12. Although wedding celebrations are certainly common events, each one is meant to be significant. The day itself marks a new beginning for the couple getting married, the creation of new family, a new life where two people make solemn vows and commit to a lifetime of love and faithfulness.

Fittingly, John records the beginning of Jesus’s sign at an event that marks a beginning. The details, at first, are all very usual. Jesus and his disciples attend the wedding as invited guests and Mary, the mother of Jesus, we learn, is already there, busy behind the scenes.

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you’ (John 2:1–5).

“They have no wine.” Surely Mary had great expectations for Jesus because of the promise God made to her long ago, but I wonder what prompted her, on this particular day, to ask for Jesus to intervene? Perhaps it was because this happy day could end badly—shamefully even—for the bride and groom’s families for not adequately providing for their guests. Yet, even in the face of Jesus’s seemingly curt response, Mary persists and tells the servants to follow his instructions. She knew he would help.

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.’ So they took it’ (John 2:6–8).

Jesus, then, though his hour had not yet come, without hesitation and with authority, instructs the servants to fill the six stone water jars with water. They do so dutifully and without question. These stone jars held twenty-thirty gallons of water reserved specifically for the Jewish rites of purification. The rules were strict. Hands and feet, utensils, pots, and pans must be ceremoniously cleansed before being used, and every endlessly repeated action only temporarily washed away impurity. But, on this day, by the word of Jesus, gallons of ordinary water became the finest wine ever served and marked the beginning of something new.

When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Imagine, Jesus, God in the flesh, back in the kitchen manifesting his glory to the servants and his disciples—nobody else. What a story they had to tell. What strikes me as I reflect on this story, is that the focus is not so much about the wedding or the bride and groom, nor is it really about the wine running out—although that was significant in other ways of course. This wedding signifies a new beginning—a sign that God’s Kingdom is at hand.

The wedding at Cana was most assuredly a new beginning and was about new beginnings—new lives spent together, and a new family birthed. We are the Church, the bride of Christ, all together--poor and rich, brides and grooms, wedding planners, servers and invited guests—part of a new beginning.

 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away’ (Rev. 21:1–4).