What the Wedding Surprise at Cana says about Jesus

Several years ago, I attended a standing room only, public reading with the American author Annie Dillard. She read new writing that left us in awe. When she invited questions, people asked what inspired this book, what else she was working on, etc. Until one woman in the back blurted out, “Annie, what sign are you? Cancer, Leo, Gemini?”

We turned to see who’d ask such a question. Without skipping a beat, Annie answered, “What sign am I? Slippery When Wet.” Then she thanked us for coming and walked off the stage.

The sheer surprise—and brilliance—of her response, turning a question about astrology into a reference to a road sign, still makes me laugh, especially when I see a “Slippery when Wet” sign.

And it showed me how uniquely people perceive, well, signs. Whether on the road, a signature trait, or something to come, like signs of a storm, signs can reveal important truths, if we’ll pay attention.

The same was true in Jesus’ days. Religious leaders believed certain signs would reveal the promised Messiah. Crowds saw his signs differently too—some fell at his feet, others expected him to do whatever they asked, many loved him one day but drove him out of town the next. 

Though John records only seven ‘official’ signs in his Gospel, he tells us at the end of his book that, ‘Jesus did many miraculous signs which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing, you may have life in his name.’  In other words, we’re given just enough to move forward in our faith and understanding of who God is. To have ‘life in his name.’

The first sign, then, must have been a whopper, something so spectacular it’d catch the entire world’s attention before the other six miracles are even mentioned. Instead, it takes place at a neighbourhood wedding. Rather than some mind-boggling display of God’s hand, Jesus quietly uses a few massive jars of water to showcase his first sign—and his heart.

What happens at the wedding in Cana (John 2) when Jesus turns six jugs of water into award-winning wine could seem almost frivolous. But it introduces us to something far deeper. Against the backdrop of religious conflict and broken relationships, Jesus signals the menu has changed.

But really, did wedding guests need more . . . wine? What practical purpose could that serve?

Afterall, the Gospel writers show us staggering miracles/signs that Jesus performed, addressing serious needs. Like feeding over 5,000 hungry people with only a few fish and bread loaves. Or giving a blind man his sight. Or bringing the dead to life. Even the rest of this chapter, where Jesus overturns the money changers at the temple seems about righting the wrongs of the culture and restoring the world as God intended it. That was Christ’s mission, right? To restore the broken world to how God made it?

So why wine? There’s no apparent felt need or brokenness here; sure, the bridegroom ran out of wine for his guests. But folks were already . . . happy. This seems impractical and ridiculous.

The clue is in how John refers to Jesus throughout his Gospel: light, life, grace, themes that define his character, including John 10:10, “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly”.

As the inaugural sign of God’s presence in the world through Jesus, new wine says he wants the best for us. He has come to give us that which he wanted from the beginning: fullness of life. It’s not about frivolity; it’s about flourishing.

When Jesus’s mother steps into help, she knows the family’s reputation is at risk. She tells the servants to “do whatever he (Jesus) tells you”. Jesus spots the jars, used for ceremonial washing, each holding about 30 gallons, and instructs the servants to fill them ‘to the brim’.

When the host takes his first sip, he’s stunned. So, too, probably are the servants who’ve brought the water that now is not water! (Just think of that couple’s wedding story to their kids?!) The host asks the bridegroom why he saved the best till now.

Because the best has arrived, better than we hoped or expected: surprisingly full of flavour, overflowing, abundant. Better than any other drink or longing we’d ever have. This sign is an amazing visual aid and lesson for us on how the Maker of the universe can transform something so innocuous as water into a beverage that ‘gladdens the heart’. 

It’s a sign that symbolises how once empty lives can be filled to the brim; circumstances can be changed, and we can celebrate even when things seem dim. Each detail points to the real bridegroom, who has now appeared, bringing God’s abundant life into the world in ways few imagined. New Testament Scholar Dorothy Lee of Melbourne said Jesus came to a wedding because “weddings are symbolic of joy, fertility, community and new life pointing toward the final banquet.”

The amount of wine Jesus produced may seem exaggerated, but I think it’s exactly why John introduces Jesus’ seven signs with this story. To show us that God wants our best so much that Jesus will go on to endure the worst for us, on the cross.

This first sign invites us to ask Jesus to overflow from the brim of our lives with the same grace we’ve received. May we be a sign of his kindness in bringing the surprising taste of God’s goodness to others all our days on earth, even on days that seem, ‘slippery when wet’. 

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Jo Kadlecek is a teacher and award-winning author who lives in Sydney with her husband and their dog, Lois Lane. She has written and published multiple devotionals, articles and books on Christian living. She blogs at https://asunburntfaith.wordpress.com/ and also writes a regular column for Sight Magazine called ‘Unfamiliar Roads.’