Literally, ‘Divine Reading’. Has anyone else used this method of bible study? We have started using it at our church and I went to the third of 3 introductory sessions last night (we are going to do it again later in the year). The reading was the Wedding at Cana in John’s gospel. It was amazing how much we got from the text and having other people to discuss it with enabled me to work ideas through, discard some and focus on others.
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.
9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.
10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.
Some of the parts we discussed…
-Transition from the ‘water’ of the old faith to the ‘wine’ of the new
-Jesus is concerned with the everyday social interaction of mankind, e.g. the maintenance of the wedding celebrations.
-Verse 3-5, the interaction between Jesus and Mary. At first it appears almost as if she is pestering him and that he doesn’t want to know. However, we noticed that there is a similarity between this and many of Jesus’ later miracles, in that he asks a question/initially seems to disagree in order to illicit faith in the person he is talking to. He already knows what is going on but wants Mary to react in the correct manner. Notice that she doesn’t withdraw or try to argue. Her next response is to tell the servants to do ‘whatever he tells you’, a perfect understanding of faith.
-With the point above in mind, it is interesting that Mary is the first to draw a miracle from Jesus and to perfectly understand faith (which if elaborated on further would lead to many different standpoints on the Blessed Virgin).
-The idea of filling the large water jars to the brim (allowing enough for all) could echo the sacrifice of Christ ‘for all’. (Although it could be argued - not by me - that the wedding guests were not all but merely the elect).
-The analogy of the servants as the Church, taking the new wine of Christ to the guests/world. They are the few who see his true splendor and then must spread it to the many. This is a model for the disciples, who were present, to follow (although whether or not this was meant at the time, it is a useful point to dwell on).
I really enjoyed this method and just wanted to share.
It is always nice to have our Priest there to stop us from making ridiculous conclusions as well!
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.
9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.
10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.
Some of the parts we discussed…
-Transition from the ‘water’ of the old faith to the ‘wine’ of the new
-Jesus is concerned with the everyday social interaction of mankind, e.g. the maintenance of the wedding celebrations.
-Verse 3-5, the interaction between Jesus and Mary. At first it appears almost as if she is pestering him and that he doesn’t want to know. However, we noticed that there is a similarity between this and many of Jesus’ later miracles, in that he asks a question/initially seems to disagree in order to illicit faith in the person he is talking to. He already knows what is going on but wants Mary to react in the correct manner. Notice that she doesn’t withdraw or try to argue. Her next response is to tell the servants to do ‘whatever he tells you’, a perfect understanding of faith.
-With the point above in mind, it is interesting that Mary is the first to draw a miracle from Jesus and to perfectly understand faith (which if elaborated on further would lead to many different standpoints on the Blessed Virgin).
-The idea of filling the large water jars to the brim (allowing enough for all) could echo the sacrifice of Christ ‘for all’. (Although it could be argued - not by me - that the wedding guests were not all but merely the elect).
-The analogy of the servants as the Church, taking the new wine of Christ to the guests/world. They are the few who see his true splendor and then must spread it to the many. This is a model for the disciples, who were present, to follow (although whether or not this was meant at the time, it is a useful point to dwell on).
I really enjoyed this method and just wanted to share.
It is always nice to have our Priest there to stop us from making ridiculous conclusions as well!
