Jesus Attends a Wedding at Cana 

When Jesus returned from the forty days in February 26 CE, he immediately proceeded to choose his first six apostles. And they all planned to attend the wedding of Naomi in Cana on the following Wednesday. His mother and his brothers James and Jude were also to attend the wedding. Jesus sent his apostles to Cana by themselves, and he followed the next day with his family.

By midday on Wednesday, nearly a thousand guests had arrived in Cana; this was more than four times the number of guests that had been invited. Following the Jewish tradition of holding weddings on Wednesdays, the wedding invitations had been dispatched a month earlier to various locations. During the morning and early afternoon, the atmosphere resembled a public gathering in honor of Jesus rather than a typical wedding. People from all walks of life eagerly sought to greet the renowned Galilean, and he warmly reciprocated the attention, being cordial and friendly to both young and old, Jews and non-Jews alike. The crowd was absolutely delighted when Jesus graciously accepted the role of leading the preliminary wedding procession.

In the early afternoon of the wedding, Mary called for James, and together they decided to approach Jesus. Their intention was to ask him if he would trust them with his plans regarding the timing and manner in which he intended to reveal his supernatural abilities during the wedding festivities. However, as soon as they broached the subject with Jesus, they realized they had made a mistake. Jesus responded with a hint of displeasure, saying, "If you truly love me, then be willing to be patient with me while I wait upon the will of my heavenly Father." But more than his words, the look on his face as he answered them was a decided rebuke of their request.

This exchange threw Mary into a depression that lasted a few hours. She told James that she could not understand Jesus; that his conduct was so strange that she felt confused by all of it. Jesus had gone off by himself by that time, so James and Jude tried their best to comfort their mother. But soon, Jesus returned to the party and seemed to be his old self. He was once more lighthearted and joyous.

Near the end of the wedding supper, Mary came to Jesus and said that the mother of the bridegroom told her that they were running out of wine. He asked her why she was telling him about that; he told her again that his hour had not yet come. She told him that she had promised the bridegroom’s mother that her son would help and when he scolded her for making such promises, she began to cry.

The human heart of Jesus was moved to see his beloved mother crying. He said to her, “Now, now, Mother Mary, grieve not over my apparently hard sayings, for have I not many times told you that I have come only to do the will of my heavenly Father? Most gladly would I do what you ask of me if it were a part of the Father’s will—” And just then, he stopped speaking, as if aware that he had said too much.

Mary was thrilled; she sensed that she had persuaded Jesus to act as she wished. She rushed over to where the servants were stationed and told them to do whatever her son directed them to do. But Jesus said nothing. In the next few minutes, when he saw that there was activity going on between his mother and the servants, Jesus walked over and observed the servants drawing pitchers full of wine out of six large pots that had previously contained water.

When the servants carried the wine to the best man, he tasted it and called to the bridegroom, saying: “It is the custom to set out first the good wine and, when the guests have had plenty of that, to bring forth the inferior fruit of the vine; but you have kept the best of the wine until the last of the feast.”

On this occasion, all of the unseen celestial and spiritual personalities that attended Jesus gathered near the water and other necessary elements, and because of the expressed wish of the Universe Creator Son, Jesus of Nazareth, there was no avoiding the instantaneous appearance of wine.

During this event at Cana, the celestial beings did the bidding of their Master by producing wine in a manner similar to the regular natural processes, except that they operated beyond the constraints of time.

Everyone was surprised, but no one was more surprised than Jesus himself. This was precisely what he had wished not to do. But then he remembered his recent experiences during his forty-day sojourn in the wilderness when he had made certain decisions about his future mission to the world and how he would conduct himself. He had decided at that time not to perform miracles, but he also had decided that in all things, he would abide by the will of his heavenly Father. The enactment of this so-called miracle was evidently not contrary to his Father’s will, because he had said to Mary: “If it were a part of the Father’s will…”

Jesus now understood that he would have to be on guard to prevent repeated episodes of this sort. He had to keep watch on his human emotions of sympathy and pity. But even so, many similar events took place before Jesus finally left this earth. And we know that all were in accordance with the Father’s will or they would not have happened.