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In the second chapter of the Gospel of John, we read about the first miracle Jesus performed at a wedding He attended in Cana of Galilee. Cana was a town about fourteen kilometers north of Nazareth, and the hometown of Nathanael, one of the first disciples of Jesus (John 21:2). Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at the wedding, and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited (John 2:1–2).
The custom of the day was for wedding celebrations to last up to seven days, and many friends of the bride and groom remained for the full period. Well in advance of the wedding celebration, the couple would have been betrothed—a legally binding commitment that could only be broken through divorce proceedings. The wedding day was the day the groom took the bride to his home or his parents’ home.
Jewish writings spoke of the importance of wine at festive occasions such as weddings. People in the ancient Mediterranean would mix water with the wine served with meals, often two to four parts of water per every part wine. Wedding guests often drank late into the night, and it was socially unacceptable to not fully discharge the duties of hospitality by supplying sufficient food and drink for the festivities. To run out of wine would have been a social stigma, something people would have gossiped about for years to come.1 Yet that is exactly what happened at the wedding Jesus attended:
“When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine’” (John 2:3). Upon hearing His mother’s statement, Jesus said to her: “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4).
This could be seen as a mild rebuff, similar to the rebuff Jesus would give to the official whose son was at the point of death. In that case, Jesus said, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe” (John 4:48), and yet He went on to heal the child. Likewise, Jesus’ response to His mother was not a refusal to act.
Bible scholar Craig Keener proposes: “The primary reason for the rebuff must be that his mother does not understand what this sign will cost Jesus; it starts him on the road to his hour, the cross.”2 Philip Yancey wrote: “A clock would start ticking that would not stop until Calvary.”
Jesus’ referring to His mother as woman was not customary, but it was not disrespectful. He addressed women at other times with the same word, and it was always in a respectful manner.3 This usage may have been meant to indicate that Jesus was putting a little distance between Himself and His mother, and their relationship was changing as He entered His public ministry. It is somewhat similar to the public statement He made: “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:34–35).
Jesus’ response to His mother that “His hour” has not yet come most likely refers to the time of His death, His messianic calling, as it does in most of the times He speaks of His death or of matters in relation to His death.
After Jesus spoke to Mary, she said to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). She showed expectation that Jesus would act, that He could and would do something to help remedy the situation. Mary acted in faith, and in doing so modeled prayer by presenting the need and trusting God to respond as He wills.
“Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim” (John 2:6–7).
The purpose of the water jars was for the rites of purification. The Gospel of Mark refers to this, saying, “For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash” (Mark 7:3–4).
The jars were large containers used to hold the water needed for the regular cleansing required for individuals to be ritually clean. Both the water and the jars had to be ritually clean. If either became contaminated in some way, it made both the water and the jar ritually unclean. When this happened, if the jar was made of clay, it had to be destroyed. If the jars were stone, they could be cleaned and used again (Leviticus 11:32). Generally a home would have one or two such water jars, so on an occasion like this, some of the jars were probably borrowed from others in the village.
As can be seen throughout the Gospels, Jesus, who normally kept the Jewish law, often gave priority to someone’s needs over the keeping of the law.4 On this occasion, Jesus clearly felt that it was more important to spare the bridegroom the humiliation of running out of wine, and the guests the dissatisfaction, than it was to keep the tradition of purification by water.
Jesus’ instructions to fill the jars was easier said than done. Six jars each holding 20 or 30 gallons (75–113 liters) of water means 120 to 180 gallons (454–682 liters) of water altogether, weighing 1,000–1,500 pounds (454–682 kilos). Presumably all the jars weren’t completely empty, but nevertheless, whatever water was needed to completely fill them likely had to be drawn and carried from the village well. When the task was completed, the miracle took place in a manner that did not draw any attention.
Jesus then told the servants to “draw some out and take it to the master of the feast,” which they proceeded to do (John 2:8). The master of the feast probably would have been the best man or someone close to the bridegroom who would have the responsibility to preside over the entertainment and music, and as a part of his duties, would determine the degree to which the wine would be diluted. This banquet master would have been watching the guests drinking and would know that guests tend to drink more at the beginning of the feast and that their senses would be somewhat dulled as the evening went on, meaning that inferior wine could then be served without the lowering of the quality being noticed.
“When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now’” (John 2:9–10).
Unbeknownst to the banquet master, he was verifying the miracle that Jesus had performed. He had no idea that the wine was drawn from the water jars; he only knew that its quality was better than the wine that had been served until this point. The servants who drew the water would by this time know that it was a miracle, but there’s no indication that others were aware, with perhaps the exception of Mary. We find out later that the disciples became aware of it.
In this account, Jesus performed the amazing miracle of altering the molecular composition of the water, thereby changing it into wine. In today’s terms, Jesus provided between 605 and 910 bottles of good wine. Quite the wedding gift! He miraculously and generously supplied when there was a need, as He will do when He feeds the multitudes.
The Gospel writer ends with: “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). John’s Gospel refers to the acts or miracles Jesus did as “signs.” The Greek word translated as sign in this context means a sign of “miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the men sent by Him.”
Another example of how Jesus’ signs were seen as authentication from God was when Nicodemus said: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Jesus’ signs pointed to the fact that God was working through Him; the signs came from God and pointed to God and therefore resulted in faith. In this instance, the disciples who were with Him “believed in him.”
The signs also manifested Jesus’ glory. Earlier in this Gospel we’re told that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). John’s account of Jesus’ first sign of turning water into wine speaks of manifesting glory. So does the last miracle recorded in his Gospel—the raising of Lazarus from the dead, where Jesus said to Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40).
With this first miracle, we get a glimpse of what Jesus meant when He said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51).
Originally published April 2015. Adapted and republished July 2026. Read by Reuben Ruchevsky.
1 Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Baker Academic, 2003), 501–502.
2 Keener, The Gospel of John, 504.
3 See John 4:21, 20:13–15; Matthew 15:28; Luke 13:12.
4 See, for example, Matthew 12:1–8; Mark 3:1–5; Luke 13:10–17; John 5:1–18.
