Cana, The Town Where Jesus Turned Water Into Wine And Healed The Royal Official's Son

In John chapter 2 we read that Jesus went to a wedding in Cana and he miraculously turned water into wine. Later, in John chapter 4, he returned to Cana and he healed a Royal official’s son.

Today we will look at 2 things:

The meaning of the name Cana and the historical significance and how it is significant to us today.

The geographical location and how this reminded the people in it of their part in the 12 tribes of Israel, and how is that significant to us today

Cana, in the New Testament, may have been in the area called Galilee which was mainly a non-Jewish region. It may have been a non-Jewish area because Solomon gave an area that included 20 towns to Hiram king of Tyre as payment for his work in conveying timber from Lebanon to Jerusalem in the building of the Temple. (There is some discussion that Hiram gave back the towns to Solomon!!!) What we do know is that Cana was a town located on the River or stream Kanah which flowed towards the Mediterranean Sea. In the Book of Joshua, it is recorded that south of the river or stream was the area of Ephraim, and north of the river was the area of Manasseh

The stream was part of a wady; a sandy area that normally remains dry until it was the rainy season. The name Cana is the Hebrew word for reeds so we can visualise that the stream would have reeds on either side of the stream.

If we go back to the Book of Exodus we will remember that Moses was born when the Egyptians held the Israelites in slavery. Moses was born and out of fear for his life, his mother put the baby boy into a papyrus basket and put the basket into the River Nile. The basket ended up among some reeds and the Pharaoh's daughter picked up the basket and took the baby home and he lived in the palace. For 40 years Moses was brought up as an Egyptian prince. However, after murdering an Egyptian slave driver he fled and lived for 40 years in Midian. Moses obeyed God’s call to go back and free his countryman. So at the age of 80 years old, Moses took the Israelites into the wilderness so that they could cross into the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Without the reeds, Moses’ basket could have sailed down to the Mediterranean Sea and he would have died. The reeds allowed Moses to live instead of dying by drowning in the River Nile or the Mediterranean Sea.

Cana, the town on the river Kanah, “full of reeds”, where Jesus’’ first miracle happened, many people would have followed Jesus and heard the words of life. After Jesus' first miracle, he returned to the town of Cana where “a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him. Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.” At Cana, Jesus overcame sickness and prevented the son from dying. Jesus gives us life.

Thousands of people followed Jesus and heard him speak. John records that Jesus said “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” In response, Simon Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”. Jesus spoke and people believed and received eternal life. Today, the Bible, the Word of God still gives life. Do you want to have life, life to the full? Then we should be reading and studying the Word of God, the Bible.

As I said, Cana is located on the river Kanah, and south of the river or stream was the area of Ephraim, and north of the river was the area of Manasseh. In the Book of Genesis, we read “Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”