Wedding at Cana
[b] Jesus ordered the servants to fill containers with water and to draw out some and take it to the chief steward (household official, master of the feast).
[3] Although none of the synoptic Gospels mentions the wedding at Cana, Christian tradition based on John 2:11[f] holds that this is the first public miracle of Jesus.
Sheen sees an echo of the Protevangelium of Genesis 3:15 "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers",[h] marking the commencement of Jesus' redemptive ministry.
[9][10] Bishop John Spong suggests in his book Born of a Woman that the event was the wedding of Jesus himself to Mary Magdalene.
[11] In 1854, at a time when polygamy was an element of mainstream practice of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Latter-day Saint elder Orson Hyde made a similar suggestion, arguing that Jesus was a polygamist and that the event at Cana was his wedding to Mary Magdalene, Martha and Mary of Bethany.
[17] Bart Ehrman argues that the idea that the image of Jesus was influenced by ancient pagan mythology is usually dismissed by scholars as a fringe theory.
[18] The view of the valley looking out towards Nazareth, from Khirbet Qana, would have predominantly been of grape vines, as archeologists have found evidence of 1st-century wine production.
[19] The early 6th-century writer Antoninus Placentinus observed about Nazareth in his day: "it excels in wine and oil, fruits and honey.
"[20] So, if a miracle of turning water into wine had actually occurred at the site, it would have likely have had allegorical significance for observers familiar with Greek mythology.
On 21 December 2004, archaeologists reported finding in Kafr Kanna "pieces of large stone jars of the type the Gospel says Jesus used when he turned water into wine".
[30] But American scientists excavating the rival site of Khirbet Qana north of it, also claimed to have found pieces of stone jars from the time of Jesus.
"[30] Several stone jars of the type described by the Gospel of John were found for instance in Jerusalem: "At least six of them stood in the basement kitchen of the [1st-century CE] 'Burnt house'.
[32] However, this has been dismissed by other writers, who pointed out that the Greek oinos always means wine, and that the word sikera was available if the gospel author wanted to refer to barley beer.
Sixth-century Irish missionary Saint Columba of Iona supposedly performed an identical miracle when he served as a deacon in Ireland under Finnian of Movilla, replenishing the supply of sacramental wine for a mass.
