You Put The Wine Where?

So you're at a wedding in Cana and the host has the appropriate jars for the ritual cleansing that's done before and after the meals. Six large jars, in fact.  Until now, I've never given much thought to these jars.  While many teachers focus on the place and the reason for the miracle I am fascinated by what I've discovered about the jars.

These jars were huge.  Each one was 2-3 metretes (that's Greek, and each metrete would be 9 gallons, or 40 liters) which means we are talking about 18-27 gallons, or 80 to 120 liters, in each jar. Can you say heavy?

You either had to be one big dude to lift those, or take several fellow servants along to get the job done.  Think about it, those servants had to carry all the jars down to the well then lug them back up to the house where the party was happening.

Now you're probably thinking, "sooo?"

Well, what's interesting about those water pots is the water that initially went into them.  It was used for ceremonial cleansing, covered until it was needed in order to keep it pure, and accessed several times during the whole celebration process.  According to A Visual Guide To Bible Events this water was strictly for the cleansing process. It was not for taking a bath and definitely not for drinking.

Can you picture the expressions on the servants' faces when they saw which pots Jesus asked them to fill?  With well water...possibly impure well water...not clean ceremonial water?  Never the less, they were servants, so they obeyed.

Then, can you imagine what thoughts flitted about when, what they knew to be water was served up as wine?

According to The Bible Knowledge Commentary since the man running the celebration didn't know where the wine came from, the jars had to be positioned away from him.  More than likely they were outside the house. Otherwise, he would not have drunk the wine.  And, that's why in chapter 2, John pointed out that the man was not acting in a sacrilegious way.

Jesus took jars saved for cleansing and purification, filled them with unclean water, and made wine.   Great wine.  How awesome is that?  How unexpected?  He still takes the 'set-apart,' puts them in unusual situations, and comes out with the extraordinaire.