"Heaven Meets Earth At The Wedding In Cana”

In Jesus Holy Name January 19, 2025

Text: John 2:1-3 Redeemer

“Heaven Meets Earth at the Wedding in Cana”

With the waters of the Jordan dripping from His clothes Jesus hears the voice of John proclaim: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”.

The Kingdom of God, the “rule of God” in Jesus will now be on display for all to see. He is about to physically enter into the Cosmic battle against Satan just as God had promised Adam and Eve. The time has arrived

Jesus has returned to Galilee, about a two-day walk. The setting in John chapter 2 is a wedding in Cana, located four miles northeast of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. John writes: “On the third day a wedding took place in Cana. Jesus and His disciples had been invited.

How did we get from divinity at the Jordan River to a line dance at a wedding in Cana? Jesus and His disciples are not out healing the sick or raising the dead. They are at a party. Food is on the table. Wine is flowing. Everyone is dancing. We do not know who was getting married. The fact that Jesus’ mother, Mary, is concerned with the lack of wine (John 2:3) suggests that she was involved in the planning and organization of the wedding.

The fact that after the wedding Jesus’ brothers travel with Him to Capernaum (John 2:13) indicates that Jesus’ whole family was present for the wedding. It could have been one of the brothers of Jesus but we do not know. During the wedding, Mary comes to Him and says: “They are out of wine.” Is that really a life threatening situation?

This is an Eastern wedding. Eastern weddings are very different from Western affairs. In Western weddings the bride is the prominent figure. When she enters, clad in all her glory, the whole congregation stands and the organ thunders, "Here comes the bride; in Eastern weddings it is the groom that is prominent. He is the featured one; the bride merely shows up for the wedding. weddings went on for two or three days -- some for as long as a week -- with all the relatives of both sides of the family joining together for a big celebration. This is the kind of wedding John is talking about here. Food and wine are constantly filling the tables.

Wine at a wedding is about joy and celebration. Running out of wine would cause the family to carry a stigma of shame. The memory of the happy couple would be marred by the event that ran out of food or wine. Jesus tells the servants to fill the stone jars with water. These stone jars contain water for the Jewish rites of purification. That is all they can be used for. Each stone jar holds 20 to 30 gallons, when full to the brim. When the head waiter tasted the water now become wine he gave it 10 points.

The Wedding at Cana is only recorded in the Gospel of John. This is the first miracle John records in his gospel. In Chapter 3 John records a nice interview with Nicodemus, an important Pharisee. Again, only in John. John chapter 4 tells us that Jesus visited the well in Samaria and talks to a woman there. Again, only in John. There are only 7 miracles recorded in the Gospel of John. John does not even call them miracles. He calls them “signs”.

So, What’s going on? Why signs instead of miracles? A “sign” provides a message. “Stop”, “Right turn only” and so on. When we began the month of January I encouraged myself and all of us to read more in the bible this year than last. In January we are reading Proverbs, 31 chapters, one chapter a day. In February we will be reading the Gospel of John. 21 chapters. That will give you 6 extra days to finish Proverbs in case you fell behind.

Each of the “signs” in the gospel of John point to His identity. In one form of another the sign proclaims that heaven, the divine, has come to earth in the person of Jesus. Water is simply H20. Wine is a complicated mixtures of various compounds that changes grape juice into wine. When Jesus changes water into wine it is a statement about “who He is.” Only God has that power. That’s why John calls this the first “sign” pointing to true identity of Jesus.

Jesus has come to replace the temple with Himself. This is critical to understand when we begin to read the Gospel of John next month. The Temple is where people received forgiveness of sins. The Temple was the dwelling place of God. Jesus is where Heaven and earth meet. “He was in the world, and though the world was made by Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own (people) but they did not receive Him. (John1:10-11)