1The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. 2On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
4This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. 5No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, 6but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 11The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. 25The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
Jesus Saw a Need and Filled It
The Wedding Feast at Cana
There is much to say about the Wedding in Cana. This was the first miracle of Jesus’ ministry. That’s a big deal. It tells us that marriage and our joy are important to God. Marriage was instituted in the Garden of Eden because it was not good for man to be alone, and God created Eve, a suitable helper for Adam. There in the Garden, God performed the first wedding ceremony when He said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24 NKJV) In entering into marriage, a man and a woman become “one flesh.” The man must selflessly leave part of who he is behind. The woman does likewise. It is the most intimate, selfless human act as two persons naked before each other become “one”. God loves commitment. God loves selflessness. God loves marriage. And, human beings need one another. Marriage is the backbone of human existence.
There at the wedding, the wine ran out. The exchange between Mother Mary and Jesus is odd. The dialogue seems strange and harsh. We’ve heard it preached in a dozen different ways. I think the important takeaway is that Jesus saw a need and He met it. He was concerned about the joy of the wedding banquet. Jesus turned the water into wine only in the presence of the servants. They knew what had happened. No one else saw it. They had seen God at work. When the ruler of the feast was brought the wine to taste, he was drinking wine that God had instantly made, and it was probably the best wine that he had ever drunk in his life. His comment was that the “good stuff” is usually brought out first so that those drinking can’t tell the difference when the lower quality stuff is brought out later. Jesus saw a need. Jesus filled the need. Jesus filled the need beyond anyone’s expectation. And, He does the same thing in our lives.
God began his spiritual walk with men and women at a wedding in the Garden of Eden. In the fullness of time, He chose to be born as a man and entered His human ministry to mankind at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. God met every need that Adam and Eve had. They then rebelled, and sin entered the world. In the fullness of time, God sent His Son, Jesus, who came and met our need for redemption. The first interaction with men and women was in the Garden of Eden, and then, thousands of years later, at the wedding in Cana. Scripture tells us that the Church, the worldwide Body of Believers, is and will be the bride of the Messiah forever. It will be an intimate relationship of commitment between God and His people. And we will all dine together again at the great Marriage Feast of the Lamb.