Jesus First Public Miracle : Cana

There are four possible locations for the town of Cana according to archeologists. 

There is one Scripture in the Hebrew Testament that is very interesting. Cana is mentioned once. It is:
"Kanah (קנה) is the name of a stream between the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joshua 16:8) and of a town of Asher near Sidon" (Joshua 19:28).

Ephraim and Manasseh are the two sons of Joseph of Egypt fame. Joseph is an amazing type of Jesus Christ.

So this stream comes from between Ephraim and Manasseh.

So just looking at the name as a 'type', Jesus and his first five disciples have been asked to come to a marriage in Cana.  A marriage.

https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Cana.html

Ephraim: Summary  Meaning     Two-fold Increase, Doubly Fruitful     Exhausted, Ashes
Manasseh: Summary  Meaning     Forgetting, Evaporating
Cana : meaning Reed : is also the home of Nathanael who Jesus found under the fig tree (John 21:2, 1:48)

Another interesting thought is "In the Exodus narrative, Yam Suph (Hebrew: יַם-סוּף, romanized: Yam-Sup̄, lit. 'Reed Sea') or Red Sea, sometimes translated as Sea of Reeds, is the body of water which the Israelites are said to have crossed in the story of their exodus from Egypt." wiki

The word "reed" occurs 33 times in 27 verses in the KJV. 

1King 14:15 "For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger."
.. This sounds very familiar to when General Titus surrounded Jerusalem in 70 AD or CE (common era).

Ezekiel 40:3 "And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate."

Matthew 11:7 "And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?"

Matthew 12:20 "A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory."

Matthew 27:29 "And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!   30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head."

Matthew 27:48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

Revelation 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 21:15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
Rev 21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

I guess all this could be pondered and expounded on in creative ways. For now I will say that Cana was not a coincidance for Jesus' first public miracle.

Additionally it was not a 'by chance' thing that Jesus and his five disciples were invited to a marriage.
John 2:2 "And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage."
hmm.. "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come.." Revelation 22:17 

So, Jesus and his first five disciples (Andrew, maybe John, Simon Peter - Andrew's brother, Philip, Nathanael : John 1:37-51) have come to a marriage that has no wine. (Philip Andrew and Peter were from Bethsaida, which means Place Of Fishing, Place Of Hunting)

Jesus has not made himself public yet and is low key about doing a 'sign' or miracle. He faces the dilemma or decision. As we will learn later in the Scripture.. what does the Father want the man Jesus to do?
John 2:4 "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come."

He didn't say "Mommmmm..". Funny. He said "Woman".  Interesting. I'm sure it was polite though.

Let's ponder. His Mother represented Woman. Woman represents 'church' or 'believers' in the New Testament. So it could be said that the unbirthed church was saying, "We have no wine. We don't have your blood. We don't have your Life. Please make yourself known and birth us into the Kingdom."

Just a thought.

So, there stood Jesus with five disciples. It was time. You can't 'marry' the 'Bride of Christ' if you don't step from your natural position into your spiritual position. 

Then he spotted the limestone pots used to keep ceremonial water clean for purification purposes. Which by the way was an added thing by the Pharisees and not in the Torah Laws.

Jesus, the man, is made of around 60% water. A human is a walking water cooler. We are vessels of water. 

But wine is something completely different. Jesus states this just before Calvary :
Luk 22:17 "And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:"
Luk 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come."
Luk 22:20 "Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."

Leviticus 17:11 "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."
Genesis 9:4 "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."

"The wine symbolized His blood, thus, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood." A covenant is an agreement, a contract, between two parties. It is a device to bring people into a binding relationship to accomplish some undertaking. This particular covenant is unusual in that it is in His blood." Bibletools org

"Water represents primal existence. Even before Creation, God's spirit hovered over the water. Water is the most basic necessity for man and for all life; it therefore expresses naturalness." etzion.org.il
"The analogy drives home the point that Torah to Jews is as vital as water to humans." myjewishlearning.com/article/torah-like-water/

For Jesus to do a miracle at the wedding moves him out from the silence of being like all other humans into the position that would make him the spiritual bridegroom later. But at this moment it would mean privacy was over and the paparazzi life style was about to begin. 

Six water pots of stone. Six is the number of human. It was the sixth day that God created humans. This might represent the same concept of Jesus as the last Adam, a human. 

For Jesus, doing this miracle meant the party was over; privacy that is.  

I ponder if he thought in his flesh, "Do I really want to show myself as the Father, Elohim, in flesh?" 

It was time.

Those stone water pots could hold 20 to 30 gallons of water. Times 6 = 120 to 180 gallons! Interesting he filled them all ! .. for a bunch of drunk people !! Figure that one out. 

But, the Bridegroom would have been highly ashamed if he couldn't produce the goods.
THAT sounds like how God feels.  But God always wins.  If God makes a Promise, it will be done. God will have a Gentile Bride and God will restore Israel and God will have a Marriage Banquet and God does have a City that descends like a Bride to Her Groom.  Sweet. 

Next move : "Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it." John 2:8
"ruler of the feast had tasted the water"
"knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew"
"the governor of the feast called the bridegroom" John 2:9
"And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." John 2:10

Law then Grace?  maybe.

It has been said that the law puts us in prison with no way out. But Grace of the HolySpirit coming into humans is the best wine of all. Is this the first wine and then the best wine?
Jesus did say, "Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." Matthew 9:17

Is this a 'type' of the wine running out? The last Prophet Israel had was Malachi. The Jews say the Spirit of God left the prophetic then. It had been 400 years with no Spirit of God coming down into the Temple or Prophets. It seems like it had run out.
Then John the Baptist appeared. Then Jesus, the Prophet of All Prophets. The best wine.

Maybe so. 

John 2:11 "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. 
Miracle + Manifest Glory = Disciples Believe.  They knew the one God had arrived in flesh.

John 2:12 "After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days." 

That was quite a wedding.

This is what I believe.. comma,

T.H.Tatman
GodComma.com

tbc.. 

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