Bead Seven - A Wedding in Cana
B7 - E1 New Friends
After the long ordeal in the desert, Jesus made his weary way back to the Jordan riverside. John caught sight of him as he approached and exclaimed to the people around him, “Look, there is the man God has chosen to be the Messiah. I baptised him myself, here in the river, and I saw God’s Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven!”
The cousins greeted one another and sat down together as Jesus recounted his experiences, many of which were familiar to John, having spent a large part of his adult life treading the same path. Tired out from the journey, Jesus left him and went to find somewhere to lay his head for the night.
The next day, John was talking to two of his followers when he noticed Jesus approaching and told them all about him. This aroused their curiosity and they decided to follow after him. When Jesus turned round and saw them, he asked them what they were looking for. Feeling rather foolish and embarrassed, they muttered something about wondering where he was staying to which Jesus replied, “Come and see.”
The two friends, named Philip and Andrew, introduced themselves and explained that they had come with a group of friends from Bethsaida in Galilee to hear John preaching. They spent the whole day together, listening, talking and laughing, loving every minute, remaining with him till late afternoon when they finally stood up to leave.
Andrew went straight away to find his brother, Simon, who had also come with the group, and told him excitedly, “We’ve found the Messiah!” The two of them set off immediately to look for Jesus and as soon as Andrew introduced his brother, Jesus, looking long and hard at him, said, “I shall call you Peter.” The name meant rock and he came to be known as Simon Peter and eventually, as Peter.
The brothers spent a long time with Jesus before leaving to rejoin their friends. They couldn’t wait to tell the whole group everything they had heard about him from John and as much as they could remember from all they had talked about during the day.
Simon, Andrew and Philip were already convinced that Jesus was the Messiah but Philip’s friend, Nathaniel, hadn't been with the group as they told them about Jesus so Philip went to find him. As soon as he spotted him, the words came tumbling out. “You must come with me to meet this man called Jesus. He’s from Nazareth. He’s the son of Joseph who used to be the carpenter there. We think he’s the Messiah.!”
Nathaniel was unimpressed. “Nazareth!’’ he said. ‘’Can anything good come from that place!” Philip just said, “Come and see for yourself,” so, although unconvinced, Nathaniel went with him. The rest of the group had gone ahead with Simon and Andrew to look for Jesus and were sitting with him as the two of them approached. Jesus looked up and said to them, “Now here is a man with no guile.” Nathaniel overheard the comment and said to him, “How do you know me,” to which Jesus replied, “I saw you sitting under the fig tree before Philip came to find you.”
For some reason which no one else understood, this answer must have been very significant to Nathaniel because he replied immediately, “Master, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel!” Jesus responded to him by saying, “You believe in me because I told you that I saw you sitting under the fig tree. I’m telling you now that you will see many greater things than that. You will see heaven opening and angels ascending and descending on me.”
Although as a group, these simple men didn’t understand everything Jesus said and talked about with them, they all knew that they had found what they were looking for in life. Jesus recognised that these were the men God was giving him to become the companions of his new life, the men he would invite to be his followers.
By this time, he had regained strength after his long sojourn in the wilderness and was happy to travel back to Galilee with them. As they walked along enjoying each other’s company, they had many very interesting discussions. The group included two brothers, James and John, who were partners with Simon and Andrew in their fishing business.
In the evenings when they made their overnight stops, Jesus had long conversations with them all and they were deeply impressed by everything he said. Although they couldn’t possibly have known how Jesus was to change their lives, they were happy to put their trust in this man whose words and actions had affected them so deeply.
Jesus was conscious of an invitation that he and his mother had been given to a wedding in the nearby town of Cana which was to take place within the week of his return. He asked his new companions if they wished to consider coming to Nazareth with him to rest for a while and join the wedding party before travelling on to Bethsaida, an invitation which they were more than happy to accept. With anticipation and joy, Jesus neared his home, full of all he wanted to tell his mother.
The homecoming had been long awaited and the welcome extended to them all was warm and heartfelt, with family, friends and neighbours happy to accommodate the group. Mary was overjoyed to have her son home and to meet his new friends. She and Jesus spent a great deal of time together as Jesus shared with her everything that had happened in, what had been for Mary, the long weeks of his absence. The plans were made for the wedding they were about to attend - next stop, Cana.
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