A wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. During the celebration, the wine ran out.
When Jesus’ mother learned about the shortage, she brought that need directly to Jesus. Her brief statement placed the missing wine before him without proposing how it should be supplied.
Jesus’ mother told him that they had no wine. Jesus replied that his hour had not yet come. Still, his mother told the servants to do whatever he said.
She did not explain to the servants what Jesus might do or give instructions of her own. They were to wait for Jesus’ words and carry them out, whatever those words required.
Six stone jars stood nearby for Jewish purification rites. Each could hold two or three measures. Jesus told the servants to fill the jars with water, and they filled them to the brim.
The vessels had not been wine jars but large stone containers used for purification water. Filling all six required a substantial amount. The servants did not stop partway; they brought the water to the very top.
Then Jesus told them to draw some out and take it to the person in charge of the banquet. They did so. The master of the banquet tasted the water that had become wine. He did not know where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
Jesus told the same servants who had filled the jars to draw from them and carry the result to the banquet manager. Knowing what they had poured in, the servants still obeyed and delivered it. The manager received wine from the jars they had filled with water.
The manager tasted wine, not the water the servants had handled. He called the bridegroom rather than the servants because he did not know its source. The servants, however, knew exactly where they had drawn it.
He called the bridegroom and said that people normally serve the good wine first and the poorer wine later, after guests have drunk freely. Yet the bridegroom had kept the good wine until then.
His reaction concerned the quality as well as the surprising timing. This was wine he expected to have been served first, not an inferior supply brought out after the guests had drunk. The shortage was answered with wine the banquet manager praised as good.
The manager tasted the result without knowing its origin. The servants knew the jars had held water. Jesus’ disciples saw the sign and responded by placing their faith in him.
Jesus did this as the first of his signs at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Afterward he went down to Capernaum with his mother, brothers, and disciples, but they did not stay many days.