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Morning Meditation
November 21, 2025
Reading: John 2: The Wedding at Cana
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so, they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
Meditation by Glenn Beamer
This Sunday, the church school kids and teachers will shift from learning about Old Testament prophets to the Gospels and Jesus life among us. Because 85 percent of us are under 21, we will forego wine and conduct a couple of experiments involving milk and food coloring to witness liquids transformed.
The Wedding at Cana is typically referred to as “Jesus’ First Miracle,” but John’s gospel identifies the wine as his first “Sign.” I infer from this that the wine is an indication, with more to come, of the suffering, death, and resurrection Jesus will experience. In one sense, understanding the transformed water as a mere sign and not an ecclesiastical miracle might diminish the import of Jesus grace at this wedding. But that inference does not hold once we think about the import and magnitude of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. Jesus will have a limited number of opportunities to share God’s grace on earth. Those opportunities commenced at Cana.
Beyond the water’s transformation, two aspects of the John’s gospel bring into relief who Jesus was among his people. Jesus does as Mary requests. He asks the servants to fill six jugs with water. We don’t know what Jesus physically did next, but Jesus offered his grace not only to his family and friends, but to the wedding party and all the guests. Jesus’ grace was indiscriminate.
The second aspect of the scripture that can easily go unnoticed is the abundance Jesus commanded for the wedding. The jugs Jesus ordered filled with water likely held between 20 and 30 gallons of water; they were more akin to modern oil drums than cider jugs. Together, the servants brought about 125 gallons of wine to the wedding feast. In his first sign Jesus’ hospitality and grace were abundant.
This past week Redeemer experienced much activity. Between 6PM Friday and 6PM Sunday, our parish revealed the breadth of our abundance and God’s grace among us. For months, parishioner volunteers and Christmas Village committee members planned, recruited, acquired, put together and organized all the many elements for the Church of the Redeemer’s Christmas Village. On Friday night parishioners joined together for a feast that was substantial but not ostentatious. God’s grace was abundant among us.
Within hours the elegance of Friday gave way to the Saturday Christmas Village at which we invite the community to come to Redeemer with joy to commence the holiday season. One of the things I most appreciate about the Friday dinner and Saturday “village” is that it reflects the breadth of our ages, genders, ethnicities, experience and talents not only in our congregation but across our broader community. One couldn’t help but be impressed by the woodworking displays that St James School students had worked for months to create, refine and present. I arrived early and one of the St James people took appropriate pride in walking me through design and building of the “Rodger McKinney General Store,” The thought and meticulous commitment that students had put into Rodger’s store was the grace of our larger community being brought to us with evident care much as Jesus had brought God’s grace to Cana. The St James woodworking projects will remain a poignant testament that grace is contagious.
By Sunday, Christmas Village had calmed. The Sunday Evensong was beautiful music and readings that motivated peace and contemplation. Following Evensong Jeremy conducted an Instructed Eucharist. Fifteen children and adults remained as Jeremy walked us through the traditions and elements of the Eucharist. There was neither music nor art at this Eucharist; just fifteen parishioners and a priest celebrating the Eucharistic feast. In the wake of the weekend, we had come to a place where the simple meal of bread and wine would transform to Jesus Christ’s body and blood – a simple yet majestically and amazingly profound sacrament.
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