Jesus Weeding Cana In Galalilee

In John 2: 1-12, we find that on the mother of Jesus has been invited to a weeding Cana in Galilee. Jesus and his disciples were both also invited to the weeding. Jesus and the mother of Jesus are both at the weeding when the wine runs out. This is of course a large issue as every weeding needs wine. The mother of Jesus tells them that there is no more wine and this was her way of telling Jesus to fix this the problem in some way. Jesus then states that his time has not come, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”, however Jesus does end up doing something about the problem and thus he starts his mission on the request of his mother. The mother of Jesus then tells the servants to do anything Jesus says. To Jesus’s

request the servants fill up six massive stone jars with water, which seems very unsanitary as the jars were used for the Jewish rites of purification. The jars where then to be brought to the steward of feast, who is like the head-waiter. But you don’t know the exact time when the wine was actually turned into wine but you know it is sometime between the servants draw the water and bring it to the steward. At this point Jesus has performed his first miracle, as he has turned the water into wine. The Steward then tasted the wine that once was water and then he went to bridegroom. The steward, unlike the servants, does not know where the wine has come from. He tells the bridegroom that every man gives out the good first and then once everyone is drunk then the less quality wine is to be given out. However the steward says that the bridegroom has done the opposite and kept the good wine until that moment, ““Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, and then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”. This was the beginning of Jesus’s mission in which he has manifested his glory and gained the belief of his disciples.
So we know the basic setting is at wedding as the story clearly states “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there…” and we also know the wedding was at Cana in Galilee. We don’t know who is getting married but Jesus and the mother of Jesus were invited. In light of the larger story I think there is a significance to the setting of the story. This is the one first stories in John and is where Jesus preforms his first miracle. As I stated before we don’t whose wedding that Jesus and the mother of Mary are attending but I think there is reason why we don’t know. I’ll go deeper into this in the next paragraph but the weeding symbolizes Jesus’s and his disciple’s marriage to the religion. Once Jesus completes the first miracle. Since the story takes place at a weeding so you can imagine that the event is at a somewhat nice estate. It can be assumed that there was also a lot of guests attending the weeding as the wine ran out so quickly and they required more. There was probably a large table setting for the guests at which the bride and groom sat at the end of the table. And again the place where the wedding was held must have been a big area, as like stated before, many guests attended the wedding. You can also guess that another reason why the wedding ran out of wine is because the couple being wed is poor so they couldn’t afford enough wine for the wedding. So the wedding might not be as elegant or luxurious as many would imagine it to be. There might have been some sort of feast but again because the couple being we might to have a lot of my, they might have had a shortage of food and probably little to no entertainment. However there is one thing that is missing in the setting. We don’t know who is being wed. If we know who was getting wed in the story it would help in the understanding of the details of the setting. However there is not one spot in the story that gives any information of who is being wed.

The main theme of the Weeding at Cana is transformation.

In the story we see a physical transformation which is Jesus turning the water into wine but however there is another transformation which requires a little more deep thinking. When Jesus does turn the water into wine a bigger transformation occurs as a result. Once Jesus’s disciples see him turn the water wine they become believers in Jesus and the religion. This was Jesus’s first miracle and the first time Jesus’s disciples witnesses Jesus’s workings. So in this story we not only witness a transformation of just the water to wine but we also witness a transformation of Jesus’s disciples. Jesus’s disciples witness Jesus’s workings and they are transformed into believers in Jesus and the religion. When Jesus preformed the miracle the disciples believed in the religion and they found their vocation. Before the story we see that the transformation of Jesus’s disciples has not yet come, as we see by this quote at the end of the story, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did in Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”. Like the quote states his disciples had seen has glory but from that point on Jesus’s disciples had been transformed into believers once they saw his glory. The transformation of the water to wine represents the transformation of non-believers into believers. Transformation is what the story is all about. You could also think of the setting, which is a weeding, as a symbol of transformation. So the setting also embodies this larger theme of transformation in the story. Also, Marriage is a transformation in itself as the two being wed are transformed into a married couple. Jesus’s disciples are also getting married at the weeding, as they are marrying the religion. Jesus’s disciples from there on out have wed the religion and transformed into believers. So, as it can be seen in the story Jesus is able transform water into wine but in doing in so another

transformation occurs, which is not physical but spiritual. Jesus’s believers are transformed into believers of the religion and believers in Jesus. The disciples are also wed to the religion and became loyal to Jesus and the religion. It can also be thought that Jesus too is transformed at the weeding and it is ultimately his weeding at which once he performs the miracle he is wed to the church and the religion as well. So there can be multiple transformations seen but they all represent the transformation of people of the religion. When Jesus turns the water into wine it is also a consolation, which we learned from Saint Ignatius, as the disciples have had their faith strengthened by this event.
One of the themes shown in the story is that God is always there for us. You see this theme in the story as Jesus turns water into wine. Obviously running out of wine isn’t a life or death kind of situation. However, there is a theme behind all of this. If you look at the other miracles they are much more serious than running out of wine at weeding as Jesus had saved people’s lives or cured men from blindness. See although turning water into wine for a weeding that ran out of wine isn’t such a big deal God still cares. Jesus turns the water to turn and fixes this small issue. This shows that god cares about even our smallest issues and is always there for us. No matter the significance of the issue God will be there for us no matter what. If Jesus wasn’t there the wedding would have run out of wine and it unfortunate and awkward, but the point is that god is always there for us. Personally, I thought about this same theme when I have prayed to God in the past. I have prayed to god in the past about many different problems of mine. But I always wondered if there was any point to praying to god about my small problems as there peopling praying about much larger issues that I couldn’t imagine having to deal with. But theme of story shows us that we can pray to god about our small issues as he is our god and he is there for us no matter the severity of the problem. This is a great thing to think about when you are sad or you are dealing any problems in your life as God is there for us. God will listen and he will listen no matter how large or small you issue may seem, God cares as it is shown in the story. We have a natural desire for God as we learned in Saint Augustine’s: The Confessions. We are restless until we are with god and we always desire him. This natural desire makes want prayer to god and tell him about our problems as he is there for us.