John 2:1-11 NRSVue
1On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to me and to you? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the person in charge of the banquet.” So they took it. 9When the person in charge tasted the water that had become wine and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), that person called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
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Some thoughts on this scripture
Reflection
John's Gospel speaks of Jesus' miracles as ‘signs' because they always
point to something deeper than the merely miraculous. They inform us about
who Jesus is, and about the purpose of his mission. So in the Cana story, for
example, Jesus replaces the water prescribed for Jewish purifications with
more than one hundred and twenty gallons of wine! According to the Jewish
Scriptures, when the Messiah comes there shall be an abundance of new wine, a
symbol for God's abundant goodness towards his people. That Jesus turns so
much water into the best of wines is a ‘sign' that he is in fact the long
awaited Messiah.