SCRIPTURE JOHN 2:1-
the wedding at cana.
On the third day there was a wedding* in Cana* in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” [And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”*
So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him. After this, he and his mother, [his] brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there only a few days.*
REFLECTION
My first thoughts are our trip to the Holy Land back in 2010 and our Mass and exchanging marriage vows in the Wedding Church at Cana. Marriage as covenant invaded my consciousness. My love exchange for my spouse grew and I knew it was God’s will we spend our time on earth mirroring God’s relational love.
What a great God to create man and woman in His image. “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female* he created them. God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply…” Genesis 1:27-28 This image is for now and all eternity, when we see God face to face.
In Scripture, the kingdom of heaven is often compared to a wedding feast, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. Matthew 22:1; “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.” Matthew 25:1
I know now why there are so many references in Scripture to Marriage and Wedding feasts. Marriage is an imitation of the relationship of the Most Holy Trinity, the Father the lover, the Son the beloved, and the Most Holy Spirit the love between them.
In the Last Book of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation, we find a conclusion to the metaphor of the wedding feast. “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride( The Church) has made herself ready…. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”Revelation 19:7-9
WEDDING CHURCH AT CANA WITH SIX WATER JARS
The Gospel of John is often referred to as a “Book of Signs,” where “the Word reveals himself to the world and to his own in seven signs. The first sign is the changing of water into wine at the Marriage Feast at Cana.
The seven signs are:
Changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11);
Healing the royal official’s son (Jn 4:46-54);
Healing the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (Jn 5:1-15);
Feeding the 5,000 (Jn 6:5-14);
Walking on water (Jn 6:16-21);
Healing the man born blind (Jn 9:1-7); and
Raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-45).
His Mother, Mary tells her son, Jesus, they are out of wine. It could have just been a comment anyone might make, but Jesus did not let it go unnoticed. He tests his mother, is she asking him to intervene? Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.
A strange response from a son, addressing Mary as woman, not mother or Mary. Perhaps Jesus foreshadowed Mary was more than his Mother but Mother of us all and intercedes on behalf of us all.
“My hour has not yet come.” What hour is he waiting for??? Is it too early to make wine available? Waiting for more guests to arrive or leave? No, His hour is when He reveals the kingdom of God is at hand.
Mary understands through divine revelation that her Son will act when it is the Father’s will so she tells the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
SCRIPTURE JOHN 3:22-30
final witness of the baptist.
After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, for John had not yet been imprisoned.
Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew* about ceremonial washings. So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”
John answered and said, “No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven.t You yourselves can testify that I said, I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him.
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.”
HE MUST INCREASE, I MUST DECREASE
REFLECTION
Jesus and John are both baptizing. We don’t know what Jesus’ disciples thought but we do know John’s disciples complained about Jesus baptizing. I am going to take a guess if Jesus was confronted about John baptizing, he would say something like good for him. He is preparing the people for conversion and pointing the way.
John rebuffs his disciples, No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven. John again affirms his role and Jesus’ role. Do we accept our roles in the salvation plan? Is it God’s will or ours?
John further advises us, “He must increase; I must decrease.” Jesus tells us as much in Matthew 10:39The one who has found his life will lose it, and the one who has lost his life on My account will find it. Which is more precious your things on earth or eternal bliss in heaven? God never disappoints. His promises are guaranteed by an all loving God who knows no deceit!