Cana Wedding Feast in John's Gospel

Ancient Near East Marriage as the Scene of the First Miracle

Mar 28, 2009

Jesus first miracle, performed at a wedding feast, may have highlighted his respect for the institution while demonstrating his Lordship over creation.

Marriage in the ancient Near East was a time of particular celebration and hospitality. Declining an invitation was considered a great insult.

In John’s Gospel (chapter 2), Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding held in Cana of Galilee. After thirty years of relative obscurity, it is here that Jesus would perform his first miracle and it consisted of transforming water into wine.

Symbolically, the miracle highlights the images associated with water, wine, and the act of creation.

John’s story of the miracle unfolds after the actual wedding; the guests were already celebrating at the wedding feast. The Near East wedding began with a procession, the bridegroom and his friends and attendants coming to the home of the bride to take her to his home. Almost always this occurred at night, often around midnight. Members of the procession held torches and lamps, shouting that the bridegroom was coming.

At the bride’s home, she would be waiting with her escort of female maidens. In Matthew 25 (verse 1ff) Jesus describes this in the “Parable of the Ten Virgins.” The term “virgin” generally refers to “maid” or “maiden.” As often happened, the bridegroom in the parable was “delayed” and the virgins fell asleep. Once the cry was heard, however, that the bridegroom was arriving,” five of the virgins found that the oil in their lamps was giving out.

Since the “prudent” five refused to share their oil, the “foolish” maids were forced to go and buy more oil. As it was, when they arrived at the bridegroom’s house, they found that the door was “shut.”

George Eager, professor of Biblical Introduction and Pastoral Theology, relates that the shutting of the doors once the bridegroom’s house had been reached was part of the ritual and even some members of the escort did not enter.

At the Wedding Feast

Immediately after stating that Jesus had been invited, the writer states that “the wine gave out.” This would represent a great embarrassment for the host and deeply affect hospitality. The fact that the wine gave out indicates that resources had been stretched, all the more so since wine was diluted with water and never consumed by itself.

Perhaps one reason Mary approached her son about the dilemma was because Jesus and his party of disciples may not have figured into the initial planning of invited guests.

Jesus replied to his mother with the phrase, “Woman, what do I have to do with you?” Contrary to initial post-modern reaction, the term “woman” was one of endearment; it was used by Jesus to his mother as he was hanging on the cross. Although Jesus had never preformed any miracles before Cana, his mother knew her son and prevailed upon him to help resolve the problem.

The miracle was not a public affair, although from verse 11 it is apparent that his disciples knew. Jesus instructed the servants to fill six water pots with water. As soon as they were filled, he ordered the same servants to draw out the wine, which was then taken to the “headwaiter” or steward of the feast. This man was the “ruler of the feast,” empowered to ensure a successful celebration.

The headwaiter, upon tasting the wine, sought out the bridegroom and wondered why he had saved the “best wine” for last. Customarily, the best wine was served first with “poorer” wine – wine that had not completed the fermentation process adequately or perhaps older, stored wine, served last. This should not indicate inebriation on the part of the guests. To be in an intoxicated state was an insult and a breech of etiquette.

The miracle demonstrated an act of Creation: the Lordship of Jesus over all life. Wine, the fruit of the vine, was one of the oldest beverages. Noah’s first act had been to plant a vineyard after the deluge. Significantly, Moses’ first “miracle” had been to turn Nile water into blood. But Jesus brought his own blood as atonement, later associated with the Last Supper and the daily celebration of the Eucharist or Holy Communion.

The copyright of the article Cana Wedding Feast in John's Gospel in Bible Studies is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish Cana Wedding Feast in John's Gospel in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.