February 22, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“ On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. 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.‘”

(John 2.1-3)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I mention this story of the wedding in Cana in conjunction with the other stories of the beginning of the other gospel narratives. They each have vignettes which lend themselves to the acceptance and rejection Jesus. In the Synoptic Gospels, we are told of either a human conflict as in Nazareth or a spiritual conflict in Capernaum. Both settings are associated with the synagogue. The synagogue is an extension of the Temple. The major difference between the synagogue and the Temple, apart from location in Jerusalem, is the sacred space called The Holy of Holies. In synagogue, that “presence of God” is intimated in the ancient texts of “The Law and the Prophets.” They are collected together and kept in the “holy ark,” the aron ha-kadesh, found along or built into the eastern wall of the synagogue. The sacred ancient texts were preserved in ornate cloth mantles and were protected behind a curtain. The image is clear as it captures the concept of the Temple. The difference is also clear as it captures the message of distinction and the priority of the Temple. The Word of God was easily attainable “behind the veil” of the synagogue. In the Temple, however, only the High Priest was allowed to approach the very “presence of God.” In the days before the Ark of the Covenant was taken or hidden, it would have been found behind the great curtain of the Temple. After that time, with the building of the Second Temple, there was no Ark. What the High Priest sprinkled the blood on is not known. The significance is obvious, however, that the Curtain held the great secret. In my mind, the secret was intended to be a mystery but the message was obvious. The message was that only the High Priest was left to represent God behind and in front of the veil. This was not an enviable position but became one of power and control. Whether it was an inferred or intention aspect, I will not debate nor assume. What is known to us by the witness of Jesus’ crucifixion is that the Veil was torn upon His death. The secret was exposed (like the story of the emperor’s new clothes) that God was not in that place. If God was not “in that place,” as represented by the Ark of the Covenant, then the sacrifices for the sake of Israel must have fallen on “dead ears.” We know that God had declared to the prophets, “I no longer desire your sacrifices because your heart is far from me.” (Psalm 40; Hosea 6; Hebrews 10; John 10 and others) Are we to infer that the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian Exile were the consequences of the lack of a heart for God by the people? Perhaps. We know of the stories of when Israel was vulnerable to attack when the Ark was taken from them. We know of their success when the Ark went before them. Imagine the investment of energy for an army to protect the most sacred evidence of God’s presence. I know that I would fight harder to protect it and to honor the God it represented in spirit and in truth.

In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd came across a cave near Qumran. It contained jars which themselves contained copies of the ancient texts and other important cultural writings from the 3rd century B.C. In due course, eleven caves were searched and over 1000 such scrolls were found. They were written and copied texts, most likely by the residents of the Essene community, a Jewish sect of the 2nd Temple era. Some have considered that John the Baptizer and Jesus may have visited that community and even studied there for a time. Whether they did or not is unimportant. That the jars and the scrolls existed is significant because they tell us of a faith commitment in the coming Messiah. For me, there is another important connection (intentional or otherwise) which the disciple/apostle John brings to the story of Jesus. It happened in Cana at a wedding. What we know is that Mary, the mother of Jesus was there. This means that she was a friend of the family or a member of the family of either the bride or the groom. We also know that Jesus and His disciples were also invited perhaps due to Jesus being the son of Mary or maybe because of His reputation as a man of God. It would have been a blessing to the wedding party to have such a man with them. (Note: if we follow the events to this point, the only “disciples” with Jesus would have been Simon and Andrew as well as Philip and Nathanael.) We know that Jewish weddings can last several days depending on the prominence of the groom within that particular community. Because of the duration of the wedding, it would not have been uncommon for such things as food and wine to begin to dwindle in availability. The wine, especially, would have been kept in and served from large jars from which it was dipped or poured into pitchers. Those jars may have been the approximate size of the ones in which the ancient text of the Essenes in Qumran were contained. We know the story, of course, and what happened when Mary asked Jesus to keep the groom, and by extension the bride, from being dishonored. She asked Him to provide more wine. We know she was asking for a miracle. We know that Jesus knew she was asking for a miracle because He said to her, “Woman, why do you involve Me in such things when you know My Hour has not yet come?” Yet Jesus complied with His mother’s request. Was it because He loved her and couldn’t refuse her? Was it because He understood the gravity of the moment in which they found themselves? If only we could have seen the look between Mary and Jesus in that moment, we would know the real message and intention. Mary tells the servants to do whatever her Son told them to do. What happened next was a miracle. It was also more than a miracle. For John it was a foretaste of what was and is in store for all those find themselves in the presence of Jesus the Christ.

The rest of this story comes tomorrow….

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.