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.”
The Bible indicates that Joseph’s first son was Manasseh. The son was called Manasseh because “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” The Hebrew meaning for the name Manasseh is “causing to forget”. I don't know about you but for me, there are some things that I can never forget. The death of your spouse, the moment when you learn that your spouse has cheated on you, the closing of a business, and you are put on the scrap heap. Joseph had many times of trouble. When he was young, Joseph was his father's favourite. And Jacob, the father made it quite clear that Joseph was his favourite. A good example of Jacob's favouritism was when Joseph gave Joseph a spectacular coat of multiple colours. This was the final straw and the brothers pushed Joseph into a pit. He was there until a band of slavers came by and bought Joseph from the brothers. The slavers then took Joseph to an Egyptian official called Potiphar.
Potiphar bought him and brought him into his household. Potiphar’s wife had it all, status, wealth, closeness to the royal family, and now she wanted Joseph. One day she wanted Joseph badly and she went to Joseph and tried to get him. But Joseph resisted and he fled but not totally successfully. Potiphar’s wife grabbed Joseph’s towel that was around his waist. And he ran away naked. Potiphar’s wife claimed that Joseph tried to rape her. Potiphar didn’t believe Joseph and put Joseph into prison for attempted rape. He rotted in prison for years until Joseph was released by Phaoroh when he heard the testimony of the Royal Household cupbearer.
How low could he go? How bad could things be for Joseph? Well, things did get better, he became the Prime Minister of Egypt and he got married to a woman called Asenath and she gave birth to Manasseh. The next good news was that his family came from Israel and stayed in Egypt. The rawness of the deep hurts must have subsided to some degree, as Joseph was able to say to his brothers, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Joseph may have been a typical teenager when he lived at home and annoyed his brothers. But it wasn’t his fault when he wasn’t thrown into the pit and sold into slavery or put into prison, He was an innocent man but many bad things happened to him.
Think about Job and what happened to him. He had everything. Wife, children, a palatial house, servants, and many livestock. And then within a day, he lost everything, and his children were killed. He lost everything except for his wife. He did nothing to deserve this devastation. but it happened. At the end of the Book of Job, we see that Job and his wife, have more children. Would they forget the children that had died? No, but now he could rejoice when his other children were born, the rawness of the death of their other children could be eased.
Jesus said, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Today we suffer some real issues: deaths in families, divorce, loss of jobs, and these events cause real heartache but God is well aware of the issues. He will allow us to go through these Valley of Death events, He doesn’t want us to be continuously in a raw grieving state. He wants to give us new experiences for us to cherish. He wants us to learn from these Valley of Death experiences but He also wants us to move on, and let us heal from these deeply scarring issues.
Joseph’s second son was called Ephraim, which originally meant “double ash-heap: I shall be doubly fruitful”. The ash heap from a wood fire is carbon which is good for the soil, and hence if put over the ground will generate good crops. Joseph’s son was also blessed by Jacob. Normally the first son gets the blessing but here it is Joseph’s second son who got the blessing, a double blessing. Jacod said, “Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations”. Although Joseph was a son of Jacob, he didn’t become one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Ephraim became one of the tribes of Israel, a populous tribe of Israel.
We can look back right to the beginning of the Bible where God told Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” Later, Noah was then told, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” Later Jacob’s extended family “ The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt” " But then we see that “Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them”. In the Old Testament, God’s chosen ones were always fruitful.
However, in the New Testament, we see a different type of fruitfulness. Jesus “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” This is a personal fruitfulness. It is not a physical fruitfulness where children are born, but it is a personal growth where we become more and more like Jesus. It's a fruitfulness where the Holy Spirit produces the fruit. Paul said, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” We can be going through various Valley of Death experiences yet we can still have peace, We can be tempted but we have self-control so that we can resist the temptation.
Lastly, Jesus also told his disciples to learn from his teaching and be like Jesus in our actions. He gave us the parable of the sower where the good seed fell on good soil and it became fruitful, producing a yield of a crop—a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown. Today God is calling us to be like the seed falling on good soil, where we can produce a yield of a hundred, sixty, or thirty times. Last week I attended a church where the attendance was 12. Can you imagine if we take Jesus at face value? A yield of 30 times would mean a church attendance of 360 people! Jesus said to Peter, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” I fully believe that God wants the church to grow. Do you have the faith to believe that God can give us these numbers in your church? Personally, I am praying that the number of people who attend my church will double in the space of five years. We are already seeing God’s blessing and new people are attending.
