John 2:1-11 – Getting Started

Someone asked me recently why the wedding at Cana story was placed in John (and really, why it was in the Bible at all)? It is a really good question because here we have this story that doesn’t seem to fit. It’s found in no other Gospel, it seemingly random, and the story seems to break the overall flow of the Gospel. So what’s the deal here? what is the point of this story? Now I’m not a biblical professor, but I think there are a couple keys to understanding the wedding at Cana story

Key number 1: Water, wine, and the cross

Water and wine may just seem like the elements of the miracle in this story, but they are actually incredibly important links in the Gospel of John. Water and wine appear in our story in John 2 where Jesus turns water into wine. Where else in the Gospel of John do we see water and wine together? John 19:28-37 is the story of Jesus dying at his crucifixion and it is the next place that we see water and wine together. Jesus takes a drink from large jars of sour wine proclaims that “it is finished” and dies. Then the soldiers pierce his side and blood and water flow out. Wine and water links the beginning of Jesus ministry to the crucifixion.

You see, the Gospel of John really strongly believes that Jesus’ role as the king of all is truly revealed on the Cross. John is trying to tell us that God’s mission, Jesus’ ministry, and everything else have to be looked at in light of the cross.

So here we have wine and water at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Those elements will link the story to the end of the gospel. Those elements tell us that from the very beginning Jesus is on the road to the cross.

Key Number 2: what does this have to do with me?

There is this interesting exchange in John 2:3- Mary tells Jesus “we have no wine” and Jesus asks “what does this have to do with me?” I don’t think this is just an off hand question. Given that this story is so linked to the crucifixion I think Jesus is saying this: “are sure you really know what you are asking? Because once this gets started it’s not going to stop.” Effectively, Jesus is asking Mary if she really understands that once he does this the road leads to crucifixion

And of course Mary doesn’t really understand that. No one does in the Gospel of John. I think a lot of us are like Mary. We don’t understand at the beginning of our journey what is really happening and at the seeming end of the journey we wonder how we got to this point. I know a lot of people who got to awful place in life because of what seemed at the time to be innocent things at the time. Sometimes we can’t understand our journey.

But the grace is that God doesn’t end the journey on John 19. There is a lot of story left after the crucifixion. If the wedding at Cana gets Jesus’ journey toward the cross going than it also gets the journey toward the resurrection going. We are somewhere in between those two points. Jesus has been raised from the dead, but we haven’t been yet. Maybe, however, we take a little comfort in the idea that God is moving toward that day.