John 2:1, The Wedding at Cana

1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

Chapter 2 of John begins a new section, with verse 1 serving as a transition. Out of this verse there are four important things to unpack. First, John mentions “on the third day.” Bible commentators disagree as to its exact meaning. Without getting into the other theories, I believe it links the narrative back to Jesus’ meeting with Nathanael. Nathanael is from Cana (21:2) and Jesus has promised that he will see greater things, and the first great miracle he will perform is in Cana three days later.

Second, there is a wedding. Interestingly, there is little information about weddings in the Bible. What we do know about God’s intention for marriage comes from Genesis 1:27-28 and 2:22-24. Taking this into account, The Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal) states in The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage: “The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in Creation (Genesis), and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee (John).” Marriage clearly matters to Jesus, or he would not have selected a wedding to be the occasion of his first miracle.

Third, we are now in Cana. In the original Hebrew, Cana means “place of reeds.” The exact location of the village is contested, but it was somewhere in the hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee.

Finally, Jesus’ mother is introduced. Most assume she is related to the family hosting the wedding as she takes on the role of wedding coordinator by directing Jesus to take care of the wine shortage. John tells us very little about her. We have to look to Matthew and Luke to find out who she is and where she comes from. John simply drops her into his narrative. This is one of the reasons we need all four gospels – to help us get a full picture of the story of Jesus’ life.

Give God thanks today that we have four gospels to read!