Forming Faith Blog

The Divine Word at a Wedding (John 2a)

Posted on December 30 2025 by Gregory Rawn

After gathering his first disciples, Jesus, the Word made flesh… went to a wedding. His first “sign” was to turn water into wine. What signs do we see of Jesus’ presence in our lives?

Pouring wine at a wedding.
Photo by Fotograf Jylland
So Far in John

January 11th, the date of this assigned reading, is the celebration of the Baptism of Our Lord, and so, of course, we are reading about… a wedding? The Gospel of John doesn’t actually mention Jesus’ baptism. Like, at all. John (the baptizer) proclaimed that he saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus like a dove, but he didn’t mention whether this happened at a baptism or not. So, the creators of the Narrative Lectionary just assigned the next story in the narrative, which is John 2:1-11, the Wedding at Cana. We have heard about the Divine Word becoming flesh, the testimony of John, and the gathering of Jesus’ first disciples. Now this Divine Word goes to a party.

The Word Made Flesh

The Gospel of John is quite different in focus than the other three Gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels) focus on how the man—Jesus of Nazareth—is the promised Jewish Messiah. This Messiah is, beyond expectations, the Son of God and Holy One of Israel. But they focus on his humanity.

John the Evangelist (as opposed to the baptizer), on the other hand, focuses on the divinity of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was certainly a man of flesh and blood, but the important thing was that he was the Divine Word made flesh. John the baptizer’s testimony and the testimonies of Jesus’ first disciples likewise identify Jesus as an exalted figure.

Maps Are Useful! / Family Obligations

One thing that struck me as I was doing research for this blog post was the geography involved here (showing the usefulness of Bible maps as Bible resources). From John 1:44-45, we might presume that Jesus was in Bethsaida, where he met Nathanael. Bethsaida was on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Cana was a close neighbor of Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, and presumably where his mother and brothers lived. Cana and Nazareth were a few miles west of the Sea of Galilee, with Nazareth about nine miles south of Cana. Bethsaida was about 15 miles from Cana. All this is to say that it was a bit of a trek for Jesus and his disciples to walk. That he showed up at the wedding along with his mother indicates that he knew of it beforehand. This was a family obligation, which Jesus interrupted his ministry to attend.

Secret Celebrity

It feels incongruous that the Divine Word, the most celebrated figure in Christian history (and likely world history), would attend a mundane wedding. Don’t get me wrong, weddings are extraordinary events, but they are still part of the regular pattern of human life.

It’s possible that Jesus just sat stoically in the back while everyone else celebrated, but I think it’s more likely that God incarnate was partying it up like the rest of the guests. 

And Jesus was attending incognito. Admittedly, his identity was as yet known only to a few people (though most of these were in attendance). But he seemed to want to keep it a secret a little longer, since he wanted to wait to reveal himself until a later time.

The Big Reveal

We don’t know why Jesus didn’t want to reveal his divine power at that time. There were likely many reasons. But I like to think that he didn’t want to outshine the happy couple. As his fame grew, people flocked to him. If he revealed himself at a wedding, that would become the most noteworthy part of the event. And, it was. In this story, we have no clue about the identities of the bride and groom. As far as we are concerned, the only important thing that happened here was Jesus’ first sign that revealed his glory (John 2:11).

I’m not sure whether this was known at the time, though. Jesus could have done the miracle in public for everyone to see. But he was certainly working behind the scenes here. At first, only the servants knew what had happened. They might have told the steward right away (and I’m sure they told the other servants as soon as they had the chance), but perhaps not. 

However, his disciples knew and believed in him. Whatever they thought of Jesus before this, he was so much more.

Faith Formation Connection

What does this story mean for you, me, and your faith formation participants (students, worshippers, small group members, etc.)? As with any Bible passage, there are so many ways you can go with this. But one question you can ask people is: What signs of Jesus’ glory have you seen?

I’m personally skeptical about modern miracle stories. Even if they do happen, they would be extremely rare. So, I would advise participants not to look for miracles around every turn. What we can see, if we are looking, are God’s fingerprints in the world and throughout our lives. We can see them in the amazing universe we live in, but we should also see them in acts of loving service and life-giving fellowship within our faith communities (and beyond).

In God’s Messiah,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

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