Support for Christianity
1. And on the third day there was a wedding at Cana-in-Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. 1. The ‘And’ here already appearing at the beginning of the first verse of the second chapter proves that these two chapters are closely connected. Hence it appears that this wedding in a family who is on very friendly terms with the house of Joseph takes place already on the mentioned third day, namely, counting from the day when I left Bethabara with my so far only four disciples and together with them spent a full day at the house of Joseph - who was no longer alive at that time - with the mother of My body who, helped by My other brothers, made every effort to show us the best possible hospitality. 2. In her heart Mary did realise that now the time had come for Me to begin My mission as the promised Messiah. However, wherein My work would consist she did not know either. At this stage she, too, believed in the complete expulsion of the Romans and the restoration of the mighty throne of David and its stable and invincible divinely glorious dignity which would never end. 3. The good Mary and all My earthly relatives still imagined the Messiah as a conqueror of the Romans and other enemies of the promised land. Indeed, the best of them had a similar idea concerning the promised Messiah, just as at the present time many otherwise honest people have quite a false notion about he millennium. But the time had not yet come to give them a different conception. 4. Thus, since My own house, beginning with Mary, had this notion about the coming Messiah, it can rightly be assumed that other friendly families could not have a better one. 5. This is also the reason why many families paid much attention to Me and, of course, to those whom I called My disciples. As a result also James and John decided to become My disciples, in order to rule the nations of the earth together with Me, for they had already forgotten many a thing I had rather clearly predicted to them in My childhood. 2. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
6. In all the better houses in the neighbourhood of Nazareth, practically in all of Galilee, I was considered to be a soon-to-emerge liberator from the Roman yoke, although this had been the case only for the few months since I had begun to make certain preparations thanks to which - like many a thing that had sunk into oblivion during the past 18 years - also certain prophecies concerning My person were beginning to come to life again in the houses of friends. Therefore I was invited with My disciples, My mother Mary and many other relatives and friends even to quite a notable wedding in Cana, a little old town in Galilee not very far from Nazareth, where there was much gaiety, so that the four disciples from Bethabara remarked to Me: 7. ‘Lord! Things are much more pleasant here than at Bethabara. Poor John, too, might be very glad if for once in his life he could partake of a meal like this here, instead of his desperately poor fare, which consists mainly of slightly scaled locusts and the honey of wild bees.’ (There exists in this region, as also in Arabia, a species of pigeon-sized locusts which are prepared and eaten similar to crabs in this country - Austria.) 8. To this I replied, ‘At this stage you cannot understand as yet why John has to live in this way; he has to live thus, otherwise the Scripture would not be fulfilled. But soon he will have a better life. Jerusalem will not allow him to continue his in the desert much longer. From now on he will grow less, so that another one may grow greater. 9. But what about the disciple who came to Me first with you, Andrew? Will he follow or will he stay at Bethabara?’ Says Andrew, ‘Look, he will come, but he had to make some arrangements first.’ - Say I, ‘That is good! For where there is a Cephas, there must also be a Thomas.’ Says Andrew, ‘Yes, that is his name. An honest soul, but always full of scruples and doubts. However, once he as grasped something he will never let it go, although he has an extremely generous heart. Because of his generosity he has been given this nickname. - He is coming, Lord, shall I call him in, this Twin?’ Say I, ‘Yes, do that, - for whoever comes in My name, shall be invited to the wedding.’ 3. And as the wine gave out, Mary said to Jesus: ‘They have no wine left!’ 10. According to the custom of that time, every guest arriving had to be welcomed with a cup of wine. Mary had already noticed for some time that the supply of wine had given out and she realised that the newly arrived guest could not be received properly according to custom. Therefore she said secretly to Me, ‘My dear son, that will be embarrassing. The wine has given out. They have none left. You could create some (at least for the newly arrived).’ 4. Jesus answered: “Your concern, mother, is not mine. My hour has not yet come.” 11. Whereupon I gave a most ambiguous answer in front of all the guest, but, of course, in a very gently way, saying to her because of the custom of those days, especially around Nazareth, ‘Woman(mother), that is none of our concern. - It is not yet my turn as an invited guest to supply wine; My time has not come yet.’ - (At that time and in that region every invited male wedding guest had to make a voluntary gift of wine. However, a certain order had to be observed according to which the gifts of the closest relatives had to be consumed first. Once these had been used up also the gifts of the guests who were no bleed relations were used in order of precedence.) But Mary knew that the available wine had given out. So she turned to Me and, as it were, suggested that I skip the customary order, especially since a new guest was arriving for whose welcome not a drop of wine was left. The mother was very particular in observing the good old custom on such occasions. Although I did not appear too cooperative in this matter, My mother knew Me and that I never refused to fulfill any of her wishes. 5. His Mother said to the servants: “Do whatever He tells you.” 12. And so, fully relying on Me, she turned to the servants and said, ‘Do whatever my Son will tell you.’ 13. This is as far as the historical part of this verse in the second chapter is concerned. But contained in this historical event or, as it were beyond it, a spiritual and therefore prophetic meaning is also present which with the help of an inner reasoning power is very easy to discover. 14. Who can fail to observe that there exists one of the most striking correspondences between this wedding, which took place on the third day after My return from the desert Bethabara, and My resurrection which occurred also on the third day after My crucifixion? 15. Thus through this wedding an indication was prophetically given as to what would happen to Me after three years; and - in a somewhat wider concept - that after three years I would certainly and surely, as an eternal bridegroom, be holding a true wedding with all My followers and those who truly love Me in their rebirth into eternal life. 16. In its general practical sense, however, this story of the wedding which - this must be understood, - took place three days after My return from the desert, points to the three stages through which everyone has to pass in order to attain to the rebirth of the spirit or the eternal-life-wedding in the great Cana of the heavenly Galilee. 17. These three stages comprise: First the mastering of the flesh, then the cleansing of the soul through the living faith which has, of course, to prove itself as alive through works of love, as it would otherwise be dead, and finally the awakening of the spirit from the grave of judgement, for which in the raising of Lazarus from the dead surely the clearest analogy is given. Whoever will ponder a little on this little explanation will find what follows easy to understand. 18. After here having unfolded the spiritual meaning of this wedding story, that is, what is in general meant by it, let us now return to the wedding and look at the different correspondences in this story. (GGJ Book 1, Chap. 10) 6. There were six stone water jars, placed in accordance with the Jewish rites of purification: each of these jars held from 20 to 30 gallons. [1] AFTER Mary had told the servants: ‘Do whatever He will tell you.’ I told the servants to fill up with water these 6 stone water jars intended for the Jews’ purification which, however, was no longer observed much by the Nazarenes and Canaanites. Thus these jars, each of which held from 20 to 30 gallons, were placed here on display rather than for a specific purpose. 7. Jesus said: “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim. [2] The servants complied promptly, but rather in the belief that the newly arrived guest might wash and cleanse himself in accordance with the old custom. The guest entered and was placed at the table without having cleansed his hands beforehand. Having noticed this, the servants discuss this with each other, wondering: ‘Why did we have to fill these heavy jars with water? This guest did not use it and only caused us unnecessary work.’ Hereupon I say to them: ‘Why did you not query this earlier, but now grumble about this work? Did you not hear what Mary told Me, namely, that there is no more wine for the guests? Although My time has not quite come yet, neither according to the customary order nor spiritually, I have still – in order to reveal the glory of Him whom they call their God, but have never recognized as yet – changed the water in the jars into wine, not through some kind of magic, but solely through the power of God within Me.’ 8. And Jesus continued saying to the servants: “Draw some off and take it to the steward of the feast.” And the servants did so. [3] ‘Now fill a cup and take it first to the steward of the feast (the cook) to try. Let him give his opinion about it.’ The servants, quite bewildered at the transformation of the water, immediately take this wine to the cook to try. 9. When the steward had tasted the wine which had been water, not knowing, as did the servants, where it came from, he called the bridegroom. [4] The cook is quite astonished, sends immediately for the bridegroom and says to him: ‘You probably do not know the customary order?’ 10. And says to him: “Everyone serves the best wine first and only when the guests have drunk freely he serves the poorer sort but you have kept the best wine till now.” [5] ‘Does not everyone serve the best twine to the guests first and only when they have drunk freely and their palate has become somewhat dulled the poorer sort? But you have done just the opposite.’ [6] But the Bridegroom replied: ‘You talk like a blind man about color. Look, this wine was not pressed anywhere on Earth but, as once the manna, it came to our table from the Heavens. Therefore, it must surely be better than any other wine on Earth.’ [7] Says the Cook: ‘Do you take me for a fool or are you one yourself? How can a wine come to your table from the Heavens? Jehovah Himself or His servant Moses would have to be sitting at the table.’ [8] Said the Bridegroom: ‘Come and see for yourself.’ [9] The Cook follows the bridegroom into the dining hall and looks at the 6 jars seeing that they are filled with the best wine. Thus having convinced himself of the miracle he says: ‘Lord, forgive me my sins. Only God can do a thing like this, and He must be here among us, for such a thing is impossible to a human being.’ [10] Now this wine was served to the guests and having tasted it they all said: ‘Such a wine is not pressed in our lands. This is truly a heavenly wine. Glory to Him whom God has given such might.’ [11] Thereupon they toasted Me and the newly arrived guest Thomas and welcomed us. [12] Now all the people present at this wedding believed without a doubt that I was surely the promised Messiah. [13] But Peter says to Me secretly: ‘Lord, let me go away again. For You are Jehovah Himself as was prophesied by Your servant David in his Psalms, but I am a poor sinner and absolutely unworthy of You.’ [14] Say I to him: ‘If you feel unworthy of walking at My side, whom do you consider worthy of it? See, I have not come to the strong assuming such could be found anywhere, but I came to the weak and sick. One who is healthy does not need a doctor. Only the sick and weak one does. So stay with me and be of good cheer, for I have forgiven you your sins long ago, and even when you will be sinning at My side, I will forgive you that, too, for, because you have recognized Me and are already a rock in your faith, you shall be perfected – not in your strength, but in your weakness – solely through grace from on high. [15] These My words brought tears to his eyes and Peter says with great enthusiasm: ‘Lord, if all should leave You, I shall not leave You, for Your holy words are truth and life.’ [16] Having said this Peter rises, takes the cup and speaks: ‘Blessed are you, Israel, and three times blessed are we, for we are witnesses to the fulfilled promise. God has visited His people. That which was hard to believe, is now fulfilled before our senses. Now we must no longer cry from the depth to Heaven, for the Highest has descended to us into the very depths of our misery. Therefore all glory be to Him who is among us and has provided this wine thanks to His might and grace that we may believe in Him and from now on shall honor God in Him.’ Thereupon Peter drinks the wine and all drink to him, saying: ‘This is a righteous man.’ [17] But I say to Peter secretly: ‘This was not given you by your flesh, but the Father who is within Me has revealed it to your spirit. But from now on keep silent still, a time will come, however, when you shall shout so that the whole world may hear you.’ Then quiet reigned once more among the guests and because of this act they now all believed in Me and regarded Me as the true Messiah who had come to liberate them from all enemies. 11. This deed at Cana in Galilee is the first of the signs by which Jesus revealed His glory. And His disciples now firmly believed in Him. [18] This was the first remarkable sign which I gave before the eyes of many at the outset of My great work of salvation, and in this sign I showed – through veiled – the great work that was to follow. However, not a single one of the entire company comprehended this, for, as my fasting in the desert prophetically pointed to the persecution I would be suffering from the temple in Jerusalem and the baptism by John to My death on the cross, thus this wedding pointed to My resurrection and the sign became a model of the rebirth of the spirit to everlasting life. [19] Just as I transformed the water into wine, also man his natural being ruled by the senses shall be transformed to spirit through My Word, provided he lives according to it. [20] But everyone should in his heart follow the advice Mary gave the servants when she said: ‘Do whatever He tells you’, then I shall do to each one what I did at Cana in Galilee, namely a proper sign by which everyone who lives according to My Word will find it easier to recognize the rebirth of the spirit within himself. (GGJ Book 1, Chap. 10)
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