Marriage at Cana
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The Marriage at Cana or Wedding at Cana is an event reported by the Gospel of John: John 2:1-11 reports that while Jesus was attending a wedding in Cana with his disciples the hosts ran out of wine. Jesus' mother (unnamed in John's Gospel) told Jesus, "They have no more wine," and Jesus replied, "Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come." Jesus' mother then said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:3-5). Jesus ordered the servants to fill the empty containers with water (see Jars of Cana) and to draw out some and take it to the chief waiter. After tasting the water that had become wine, and not knowing what Jesus had done, he remarked to the bridegroom that he had departed from the custom of serving the best wine first by serving it last (John 2:6-10). John concludes his account by saying: "This was the first miracle of Jesus and it was performed to reveal his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him ,(John 2:11)".
The incident occurs immediately after Jesus has told Nathanael at John 1:50 that he would "see greater things". It is the first of the seven miraculous signs by which John attests Jesus's divine status, around which he structures his Gospel, and the word used by John is the Greek semeion meaning "sign", or ergon meaning "work", instead of the term for miracle which the synoptics normally use: dynamis - meaning "act of power".[1]
This miracle of Jesus is not mentioned by any of the Synoptic Gospels, but does parallel their parable of New Wine into Old Wineskins, which may have formed its origin. It may also be based on supposed prophecies in the Old Testament, such as Amos 9:13-14 and Genesis 49:10-11 about the abundance of wine that there will be in the time of the messiah, and especially on the messianic wedding festivals mentioned in Isaiah 62:4-5.
The story has had considerable importance in the development of Christian pastoral theology, since the gospel account of Jesus being invited to a wedding, attending, and using his divine power to save the celebrations from disaster, are taken as evidence of his approval for marriage and earthly celebrations, in contrast to the more austere views of the Pauline epistles as found, for example, in 1 Corinthians 7. It has also been used as an argument against Christian teetotalism (see Christianity and alcohol). In Roman Catholicism, the Wedding at Cana is one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary.
[edit] References
- ^ Brown 339.
[edit] See also
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Marriage at Cana
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| Preceded by Temptation of Christ |
New Testament Events |
Succeeded by Temple Cleansing of John 2:13–22 |
