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Chapter 3—Jesus’ Ministry Begins with a Party
On the third day there was a marriage in Cana in Galilee, and
the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage,
with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to
him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what
have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother
said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone
jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each
holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars
with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them,
“Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast.” So they
took it. When the steward 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 steward of the feast called the
bridegroom and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first;
and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have
kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at
Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed
in him.
John 2:1-11
, RSV
.
About age 30 Jesus began His public ministry, but not at the reli-
gious headquarters in Jerusalem. He started at a wedding reception
in a small village in Galilee. Jesus showed from the start that He
wanted people to be happy. In Cana, a village close to Nazareth,
some relatives of Joseph and Mary invited them to the party. Jesus,
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who had been away from home for some weeks, joined them and
brought His recently called disciples with Him
A quiet anticipation and excitement filled the air as small groups
of guests discussed Jesus. Mary was proud of her Son. While they
had been separated, she had heard reports of His baptism in the
Jordan River by John the Baptist, and it brought back to her mind
many memories. From the day she heard the angel’s announcement
of Jesus’ birth in her home at Nazareth, she had treasured each
evidence that Jesus was the Messiah. His continuously unselfish life
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