The story of the wedding in Cana begins by mentioning that the Mother of Jesus was there, and that Jesus Himself and His disciples were also among the guests. From this, and also from the fact that Mary gives instructions during the wedding, one can conclude that this was a celebration of close relatives, where She acted as one of the main organizers with the right to give household instructions. Therefore She told the servants to do whatever Her Son would tell them.

The words Jesus spoke to His Mother sound at first glance like a refusal of the request, but their meaning can also be understood differently: do not worry, everything will be all right. Of course, the meaning of His words is not limited to this; they are much deeper, and much can be read in them about His mission in the world. But it is precisely after these words that Mary passes the authority to Her Son.

Christ is only beginning His preaching. He has not yet been recognized by His relatives, and on this basis some conclude that His Mother did not always understand Him either. But this is not so: She who kept the words about Him in Her heart saw everything much more deeply. It seems that Her words spoken during the wedding, "Do whatever He tells you," refer not only to household concerns.

John describes the wedding at Cana of Galilee using the messianic wedding-feast symbolism traditional for his time. This symbolism has roots in deep antiquity. Even before the Babylonian captivity, among the pre-exilic prophets, especially Hosea, descriptions of God's relationship with His people began to appear using family and marital symbolism: God is the husband, Israel the faithful, or more often unfaithful, wife (the word "Israel" is feminine in Hebrew, so this image caused no surprise among those who heard the prophet). Later, with the development of the messianic tradition, the image of the wedding hall and solemn wedding feast appears, with the Messiah as the bridegroom. Here too Israel becomes the bride, and at the table are the chosen ones from the people of God, those whom the Messiah Himself chooses for His feast as invited, honored guests.

There are many parables in the Gospel that play in one form or another on the image of the messianic wedding feast. Jesus often used this image in conversations with His disciples and in public preaching. John, however, turns the familiar plot in an unconventional way. He treats an ordinary wedding in an ordinary Galilean house, where Jesus is present incognito, as a messianic feast. He does not announce His messiahship (just as He does not announce it aloud in other cases), and who He is is known only to those who trust Him and who have been initiated into His mystery at least to a small degree.

One of those initiated was His Mother. She always knew that Her Son was not an ordinary man, even when He had not yet manifested Himself in any way as the Messiah. She understood this when She turned to Him during the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee. Perhaps She thought that it would cost Her Son nothing to perform a miracle at any moment He Himself wished. But He answers Her: what is that to Me and to You, Woman? My hour has not yet come.

God has His own plan, and the life of the Kingdom has its own logic. The breath of the Kingdom is always near, but its action cannot be used by a person at any moment, as if by the wave of a magic wand. Jesus will nevertheless turn the water into wine. An ordinary wedding feast with His participation will become a messianic feast. But not when it is convenient for people; rather when the moment determined by Him Himself and by His Heavenly Father arrives. For it is His feast and His Kingdom.

John testifies that not every sin is a sin unto death. One could object to him that every sin carries within itself deadly poison, but there is no contradiction here: the apostle does not deny this, but speaks of the degree of poisoning. A brother who sins must not be condemned; rather, one must pray about his fall and grieve over him. If everyone born of God does not sin, then it follows that if I cannot help sinning, I cannot be counted among those born of Him. But then what relation do these words have to us, the many sinners who constantly stumble?

These words give us hope that if we continue to follow Christ, He will free us from all sinful inclinations and dependencies.