Miracle of Jesus at Cana Wedding – John 2:1-11 | Bible Study
11 October 2008
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Email This Bible Study
Bible Study Lesson:
- John 2:1-11:
- Miracle of Water Into Wine
Q. What was the wedding like in an eastern culture? Who were invited? How long can it go?
- In Eastern cultures, wedding was like a social event, family, friends, distant relatives, neighbors are all invited. (Parable of Great Banquet)
- Wedding celebration can go upto 2-3, even 7 days.
Q. The passage starts with ‘On the third day’, So was is it referring to? How was Jesus’ Schedule like?
Let us trace back Jesus’ schedule for this week.
- 1st Day – John spoke about Messiah (John 1:26-28)
- 2nd Day – John testifies about Jesus (John 1: 29)
- 3rd Day – Jesus’ first disciples – Andrew and Simon Peter (John 1:35)
- 4th Day – More disciples – Philip and Nathaniel (John 1:43)
- 7th Day – Jesus at the Wedding (John 2:1)
It seems like John is giving account of major event on every day of the week. This is quite fascinating. In some ways, this gives us idea of what happened during first few days of Jesus’ public ministry.
Q. Where was Cana?
- Small town in Galilee (you can locate Cana in your bible map). It is this place where Jesus performed his first miraculous sign, in his public ministry. (John 2:11)
- Jesus also performed another miracle in Cana. (John 4:46 – “Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.”)
- Cana is also mentioned in John 21:2 as a Nathanael’s home town.
Q. What does it mean to run out of food in the Wedding in that culture?
- Public disgrace, shame for the family
- In some eastern cultures, legal actions can also be taken against it.
Q. Why did Mary tell Jesus about the problem?
- To report, or just to inform, or may be to do something about it.
- Her anticipation is clear from her instruction to servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
- (Mary may seem like a meddler! But it is quite common for the elders to help out in some critical situation during wedding)
Q. What do you think about Jesus’ address to his mother?
- “Dear Woman”, sounds strange! Nonetheless, it was a respected term.
- (Jesus used similar words on the cross, John 19:26 -”When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son..”)
Q. Why did Jesus tell, “My time has not yet come”?
- Jesus implies that the time has not yet fully come to publicly reveal his true identity.
- Compare it with John 12:23, John 12:27, John 13:1, John 16:25 and John 17:1.
- (Jn 17:1 – “After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you”.)
Q. What were those six stone jars for?
- They were for the purpose of Jews washing their hands before they begin to eat and for other purification purposes.
- Each stone jars, can approximately contain 20 gallons of water. So, its about 120 gallons of water (~450 liters). (Total number of wine bottles, click here)
Q. Who was the master of banquet?
- Wedding planner.
Q. What does wine represent in the bible?
- Wine is often considered a symbol of Joy. (Isaiah 55:1)
Q. How many people knew that Jesus performed this miracle? What can we learn from this passage?
- His mother, his disciples, and the servants.
- This was the first miracle Jesus performed. It was very low profile. Very few people knew about it. It was at the wedding, in very insignificant town, in front of the servants.
- Jesus cares for the insignificant.
- He can turn our ordinary life into exceptional for his Glory (John 2:11)
- There is a wonderful poetic expression of miracle of water into wine: “The conscious water saw its God and blushed.”
More Bible Study Lessons:
- Joseph in the Gospel of Matthew – Matthew 1:18-25 | Bible Study
- Feeding the 5000 | Bible Study
- The Parable of the Great Feast | Luke 14:15-24 | Bible Study
- Jesus Calming the Storm – Bible Lesson
- How to Do Quiet Time – Time Alone with God
I just found this from a twitter post. Great site and I will be back to learn more.
MarketPipeline, Thanks. The world is a small place, I studied at western michigan in kalamazoo!
Great information here. I have always had the same take away as you’ve drawn here but recently our pastor preached on this miracle and revealed what it spoke to him. So much more than simply investing in the normal and making much out of the insignificant. He focused on the end of the passage where it says this is how he revealed his glory and they believed him.
Our pastor sited several spots in the Old Testament where an abundance of wine is a sign of the time that the Lord has come. This was a miracle that many of the Jews would recognize and understand the significance of who is in their presence.
It was real interesting.
Not sure if my first post will allow me to put a link in here so let me know if you’d like a reference.
Great stuff here!
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im samara from cana
.. thank for sharing this information
Your presentation is very nice:
It blessed me and it is a good material for teaching others too.
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O Jesus de Aquarius…
Jesus sempre foi superestimado, considerado por uns como o FILHO DE DEUS, ou subestimado por outros como, o profeta de 3 anos de serviço.
……
This passage has so much more greater meaning. First, the third day. That should not be passed over lightly. The third day is when Jesus raised up from the grave and gave us “LIFE”. When Jesus gives us life that is the New birth. That is the true marriage. We are the bride and he is the groom. So much more to that, but I will go on. The wine is significant in that the first wine was not the best that represents Adam and the best wine represents “Jesus”. Remember the governor asked why did you leave the best for last? The next important notation on this scripture is that it was brought out that it was the first miracle. That is important because when you are born again that is the first miracle God does in your life. Marriage in the bible is a coming together.
Be Blessed, something to mediatate on.
Thanks Edwina, for your insight. I agree there is much more to this passage.
[...] out of hot water due to not having enough wine for everyone. (to know why that matters – check this out) So from the earliest days we see that Jesus was willing to do miraculous things to get people out [...]
Very helpful and handy. It is really appreciable that such great details are made easily available. It helps us to save a lot of time too.
Just wanted to let everyone know, who is interested in learning a deeper, symbolic signifance of this miracle, that they are welcome to read an indepth study of Jn 2 at the following website: http://estradablog.wordpress.com/.
Thanks for taking a look.
[...] Miracle of Jesus at Cana Wedding: Water into wine – John 2:1-11 [...]
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