Session 7: Jesus at the wedding in Cana

Jesus and his mother were invited to attend a wedding in the small village of Cana. Here, Jesus performed his first miracle. Read John 2:1-12 and/or watch the following video:

Video: Jesus turns water into wine

Source: Saddleback Kids on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7plJa_qnVug

Discuss:

What is a miracle? What miracle did Jesus perform at the wedding in Cana?

A miracle is something which happens which is not possible to explain through science, but happens through intervention from God. Miracles show the power of God and build faith in people.

Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. He asked the servants to fill the jars with water and to bring a sample to the head steward to taste. They obeyed, and when the steward tasted it, he declared that the wine to be excellent. In this miracle, Jesus used old containers which the Jews used in ceremonial purification, and filled the containers with something totally new and good. The miracle manifested Jesus' glory, and the disciples believed in him.

Another interesting point is that in the miracles Jesus performed, it often involved the faith and cooperation of humans. In this case, the servants obeyed everything he asked them to do. Perhaps this teaches us that we need to have faith and cooperate with God's grace in our lives.

What does this miracle at the wedding in Cana tell us about Mary and her role in our lives?

Mary cared greatly that the hosts would be embarrassed by the wine running out. She highlighted the problem to Jesus and told him about it. She is our intercessor - she is attentive and notices when we need help and intercedes for us. We can bring our worries to Mary, ask her to pray for us or to intercede for us.

Mary also did not tell Jesus what to do. She trusted Jesus to fix the problem, even though he had not performed a public miracle before this. Like her, we need to learn to trust in God, rather than telling him what we want the solution to be.

Finally, Mary brings us closer to God. The last recorded words of Mary in the bible "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5), sums up her purpose - to gently prompt us to follow Jesus and obey him. To remind all of us to do whatever he tells us.

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The wedding in Cana is the first recorded miracle in the Bible that Jesus performed. He would go on from here to perform many more miracles which we will read/learn about in the coming sessions.