Category: The Life of Messiah
Life of the Party
Tags: bride, bridegroom, Jewish eschatology, messianic era, wedding banquet, wine
By D. Thomas Lancaster
The Miracle of Changing Water to Wine
May Messiah, who came and changed water into fine wine, change us from wickedness to goodness. (Syriac Hymn)
In the early days of Yeshua's vocation as a teacher, he miraculously transformed the water of six stone pots into the finest of wine. The water-to-wine incident seems like nothing more than a delightful anecdote from the early memories of the disciples. It happened prior to the arrest of John the Immerser and, therefore, prior to the beginning of the Master's formal ministry.
This obscure incident is more than just a memorable miracle story. The Gospel of John reports that the water-to-wine incident was the first miraculous sign Yeshua performed. The miracle convinced his early disciples that they had found the messiah. John says, "This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him" (John 2:11).
But did the miracle have some greater significance that inspired faith in Yeshua's claim to be the promised messiah of Israel?
Wedding in Cana
A wedding was underway in Cana. The family hosting the wedding had extended an invitation to Miriam of Nazareth and her children; they were probably relatives of the wedding party. John Lightfoot observes that Miriam seemed to have had the "care of preparing and managing the necessaries for the wedding, as having some relation to either the bridegroom or the bride."1
In the small, provincial world of the first-century Jewish Galilee, everyone was related to everyone else in some way or another. Cana was not far from Nazareth, and the two communities were probably intertwined.
Weddings are big events in Judaism. The wedding party always wants a rabbi in attendance. This particular wedding party had specifically invited Miriam's eldest son, Yeshua--an up-and-coming...
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© 2009 First Fruits of Zion. All rights reserved. We encourage you to share this material with your friends for further personal study. However, This material may not be republished, in print, electronically, or any other form without our prior permission.
Adapted from
Messiah Journal #100
.
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