¹ On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.   ² Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

The very sparse opening of this narrative calls a host of questions to mind. Who is getting married? Why is it that Mary, Jesus, and the disciples are all there? How is it that the wine runs short? All questions of importance to the modern mind, but John is interested in the sign (semieon) of the story: water miraculously transformed into wine. Continue reading →