The Village of Cana
Where Jesus performed His First Miracle
Usually on my private tours to explore the Sea of Galilee, I pass via the Village of Cana. Furthermore, it is where the Gospel according to John narrates:
On the third day of that week, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out […] Now standing there were six stone water jars used for the Jewish rites of purification […] Jesus told the servants “Fill the Jars with water” […] “Now draw some out and take it to the man in charge of the banquet” so they did. When the man in charge of the banquet tasted the water that had become wine […] Jesus did this, the first of his signs in Cana of Galilee. (John 2: 1-11)
In Cana Jesus officially began his public missionary and here he performed the first miracle, turning water into wine. Now even though it was a Jewish wedding, Christian tradition sees it as the prototype for the first Christian wedding and the foundation for the marriage institution. On our route through the modern town; we will pass just next to the ancient freshwater spring that is no longer active. But probably from there, the water was filled.
Village of Cana: Where Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
Also in Cana, it’s told Jesus heals an official’s son: “[…] so Jesus returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned water into wine. Meanwhile, in Capernaum, there was a government official whose son was ill. […] he went to him and asked him repeatedly to come down and heal his son because he was about to die. […] Jesus told him: “go home. Your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus told him and started back home. (John 4: 46-54)
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathaniel
It is in the Village of Cana where one of the disciples of Jesus lived, none other but Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee:
“Philip found Nathaniel and told him, “we have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote – Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” Nathaniel asked him, “From Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?” Philip told him, “Come and see!” Jesus saw Nathaniel coming towards him and said to him, “Look a genuine Israeli, in. Whom there is no deceit!” Nathaniel asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, while were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathaniel replied to him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:45-49)
The Church of St. Bartholomew (Nathaniel) is placed today in the very heart of the Village of Cana. Tradition points to this location where Philip met with Nathaniel. Nearby there is also the Church of the Wedding that Christian tradition points to as the crypt of the church; where two out of the six jars that were used for the miracle are placed there.
