The Wedding at
John 2:1-11
22/02/09
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in
Let’s familiarise ourselves with what is involved in a first-century Jewish wedding so we can imagine the story as it is described to us…
Jewish Weddings First-Century Style
When a Jewish young man wished to marry a particular young woman, it was customary for the prospective groom's father first to approach the girl's father with the proposal of marriage. The two men would discuss this possible union including the price offered by the groom for the bride. If the girl's father agreed to the suggested amount, the two men sealed the agreement with a toast of wine.
The potential bride then entered the room whereupon the prospective groom proclaimed his love and asked her to be his bride. If the young woman wished to be his wife, she accepted his proposal at this time. The validation of the agreement made by the engaged couple was the presentation of a gift by the groom. He offered it in the presence of at least two witnesses. As he gave the gift, usually a ring, he said to his intended bride, "Behold you are consecrated unto me with this ring according to the laws of Moses and
Arrangements were also made right then concerning the terms of the marriage. A written contract listed the time, place, and size of the wedding as well as recording the dowry and terms of maintenance of the marriage. This binding document called a "ketubah" was kept in the bride's possession until the consummation of the marriage. Finally, this first part of a two-part ceremony was concluded by the toast of a glass of wine. The whole ceremony was called the "Shiddukhin," or engagement.
The Bible refers to the status of the prospective bride and groom as "espousal" or "betrothal." It meant that the two people were committed to each other as much as a married couple would be. The only parts of the marriage not yet completed were the formal "huppah" ceremony followed by their physical union. This betrothal was considered so binding that the only way to break it was by an actual bill of divorcement.
The groom then departed, but not before he assured his bride with the promises of building a home for her and returning to complete the marriage ceremony. He usually took a year to prepare her new home which often consisted of an addition built onto his own father's house.
The bride was expected to remain true to her groom as she prepared herself and her trousseau. She lived for the day of his return for her which would be heralded by a shout from the members of the wedding party. The impending return of her groom was to influence the bride's behavior during this interim espousal period.
The typical Jewish wedding took place at night. As soon as any members of the wedding spotted the moving torches signaling the groom's approach, their cry echoed through the streets, "The bridegroom is coming." The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia tells us, "Mirth and gladness announced their approach to townspeople waiting in houses along the route to the bride's house." Upon hearing the announcement, the excited bride would drop everything in order to slip into her wedding dress and complete her final personal preparations for marriage.
Rather than the groom entering the bride's house, the bride came out to meet him. The two, accompanied by their wedding party, returned together to the groom's home for the marriage ceremony. Following the public ceremony, the newlyweds entered their bridal chamber to be intimate with each other for the first time. After this union, the groom came out and announced to the wedding guests, "Our marriage is consummated."
Upon receiving the glad news, the wedding party began a "festive" seven-day celebration. The celebration lasted seven days only if this was the first marriage of a virgin girl. During this time the bride and the groom stayed with each other in seclusion. At the end of this time of privacy, the groom would present his unveiled bride to everyone in attendance. The newlyweds then joined in the wedding feast with the guests. [i]
This information will help us picture what is happening as we read the story, but I want to zoom out for a minute and remember the symbolism with which the Bible talks about our relationship with Jesus as being like His Bride.
There is a lot of symbolism evident here when we think of Jesus as the groom and the Church as His bride. Some that I would like to comment briefly on this morning include:
§ The gift that was given in front of witnesses with the words: “Behold you are consecrated unto me with this ring [for example] according to the laws of Moses and
§ Upon this betrothal a document was signed that guaranteed the legal status of the relationship. The Bride held on to that document to reassure her that the groom would in fact return for her when he was ready to take her to her new home. When the Groom’s father judged that the Groom had built a suitable home, he gave the Groom permission to go and fetch his Bride. In a similar way Jesus is preparing a home for us, the Father has already set a time for when Jesus will come and claim us, and we have been given a guarantee in the form of the Spirit who lives within us, and the promises of Scripture which remind us of God’s plans for us and the sureness of our salvation. Jesus will return and take us to be with Him forever. The betrothal period of commitment but separation will be over.
§ In the meantime we are to prepare ourselves to receive Him well. We are to be ready for His call and be faithful to Him while we wait.
Communion
(We partake of the Bread and the Wine to remember our glorious Husband who has purchased us to be His Bride, and who will return to take us to our eternal home).
The Story Continues
Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. a
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in
2 Things to Take From the Story:
(There are lots of things that we could take the time to comment on, but here are 2 for today!)
1. Jesus’ Heart for Service
There was nothing in it for Jesus. He did not want to reveal His power yet, He had a clear sense of timing (which we discover elsewhere in the gospels) and this was not yet the time for miraculous displays. Yet even though it was not in His own interests, He still helped out.
The bridegroom faced serious social stigma for failing to adequately cater for his guests, and could even be fined for the offence. Jesus, perhaps repaying the generosity of the groom in inviting both Jesus and His disciples, relieves the tension of this situation. He could have very easily told those servants to hitch up the cart and go to the market in Sepphoris for wine (remember we talked about Sepphoris a few weeks ago?), and told the master of the banquet to distract everyone for a few hours until they got back, but Jesus sacrificed His own agenda for the sake of serving others, and in doing so set an example for us to follow. When Jesus serves, He serves well. The wine isn’t passable. It’s more than good enough to get the bridegroom off the hook. It is first class. I think this says something about the quality of service that we should offer also.
2. Jesus’ rejection of current religious culture
Mark 7:1-7
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. a)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ b 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”
These stone jars are for holding the water used in ceremonial washing. Normally there would be one of these in the kitchen or somewhere convenient so that people could wash their hands at the appropriate times. The practice of hand-washing changed over the centuries and it is hard to say exactly how it was being carried out in
Now faced with the situation of needing to provide wine for the party, what does Jesus do? He has the servants fill up these jars, and then turns the water for ceremonial washing into wine for joyful consumption!
Is it a good idea to wash hands regularly and thoroughly? Of course it is! But Jesus is no respecter of our cultural sensitivities – even our religious ones. Sometimes we need to be challenged as to whether our own religious habits are the commands of God or the traditions of men to borrow Jesus’ words from Mark 7:8. We need to be continually coming back to the commands of God and asking Him to show us how to best obey them in the situations that we find ourselves in today, not just doing what people before us have done.
a Greek two to three metretes (probably about 75 to 115 liters)
a Some early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches
b 6,7 Isaiah 29:13
[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Mk 7:1).
[i] http://www.oasistradepost.com/Weddings_/weddings_.html
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