Letters from Adina - #13

Letter XIII. The Miracle at Cana

The Wedding at Cana

My Dear Father,

Since I last wrote you, my faith has been confirmed by the testimony which in one of your letters you demanded. You said, ‘‘Let me hear that he has wrought an acknowledged miracle in attestation of the divinity of his mission,- a miracle as was prophesied Messias shall do,  healing the sick by a word, restoring the blind to sight, and raising the dead, and I will prepare to believe in him,’’

A miracle He has performed, dear father, and one whereof the truth is not disputed by anyone.

I can the tale best by extracting from a letter written by John to Mary, a few days after his departure to join Jesus at Nazareth; for John has joined himself to him, and is become his disciple.  

“Upon reaching, Nazareth,’’ saith the letter, “I was guided to the humble dwelling occupied by the mother of, Jesus, by seeing a large concourse of people gathered about it; of whom inquiring, I learned that they had thus assembled to see the new prophet.

When He beheld me, He extended His hand, and received me graciously and said, pointing to five men who stood near Him, regarding Him with mingled love and reverence – “These are thy brethren, who have also given up the world to follow me.”

These four, Andrew and Peter, Philip and Nathaniel, were then present in the house with him; and with wonder and joy, I beheld standing with them my own brother James, whom Jesus had seen on the lake in his boat, and had called; when James also left all and followed him.Thus we were six disciples in all, bound to him by ties of faith and love.

The next day James and I went to the Sea of Tiberias but two hours distant, to see our father Zebedee, and give up to him all we had or expected to receive.

During the afternoon, Jesus passed near the shore on his way to Cana.  His mother and many of her kinsfolk were of the company. They were all going to a marriage of a cousin of the family.

He called us, and we for ever left our ships and our father, and joined him.

Upon our arrival at Cana, we were brought into the guest-chamber, and Jesus, in particular, was received with marked respect by the Hebrew master of the house, an officer in the service of the Romans.

We here met Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The meeting between them was very touching.

“How blessed art thou, O Mary,”  said the mother of John the prophet, as she looked upon Jesus, who was talking with the governor of the feast, “How blessed art thou, to have thy son ever with thee; while I am a mother, and yet no mother.

The son whom God gave me He hath taken from me to be His prophet, and he is to me as one that is dead!

Since his twelfth year he has been a dweller in the wilderness, consorting with no man, until six months ago he came forth to proclaim the advent of thy holy Son!’’

‘‘The marriage feast at length began. The wine which should have come from Damascus had not arrived, the caravan had been delayed by the rising near Cesarea.

The guests had, therefore, but little wine, and the chief ruler of the town - the master of the feast, seeing that there was no wine, bade the servants to place more upon the board.

The mother of Jesus, who knew that there was no more to bring, turning to him, said, ‘They have no wine!’ for it seems that she knew of the mighty power that was within him, though he had not yet manifested it openly.

I sat next to Him, and heard her when she whispered to Jesus.

The holy Prophet of God looked grave, and said with a slight tone of respectful reproof, and applying to her that title, which we in Judea hold more honorable of all others.

“Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour for manifesting my glory to the world is not yet come; nevertheless, I will do what I perceive thou desirest me to do."

“She then thanked him with deep and grateful emotion, and turning to the servants, beckoned to them, while her cheek borrowed a rich color from her hidden joy, and her eyes, kindled with the feelings of a mother about to see her son display, powers such as only come by the peculiar gift of God - powers which were to seal Him as a mighty Prophet before the eyes of Jew and Gentile.

For myself, not anticipating, or suspecting what was to take place, I regarded the nervous emotions of, the joyful mother with marvel. When two or three of the servants approached, she said to them, “Whatsoever He saith to you, do it.”

They then stood and looked upon the Prophet awaiting his commands, as little suspecting what these would be as I myself. The face of Jesus, ever calm and dignified, now seemed to assume a look of majesty inexpressible, and his eyes express a certain inward consciousness of power, that awed me.

Casting his glance upon several stone vases, which stood by the door, empty, he said to the servants:

“Fill the water-pots with water,”

In the court, in full sight from the table was a well, to which the servants forthwith went with jars, which I saw them fill with water, then bearing it in upon their heads, they poured it out into the water-pots, until they had filled them all, six in number, to the brim.

While this was going on, the governor of the feast was relating to the guests, who listened attentively to him, how Herod and Pontius Pilate had recently become enemies. “It will be long,” added the governor, as the last water-pot was filled, “before this quarrel will be made up between them. But we talk, my friends, and forget our wine.”

“Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast,’ said Jesus to the servants.

“They obeyed: rich, blood-red wine flowed from the jars which I and others had seen filled up with water from the well, and the amazed servants bore it to the chief of the feast.

He had no sooner filled his goblet and tasted its contents than he called to the bridegroom, who sat at the table, and said:

“Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”

“Who hath brought this wine?” asked the bridegroom, drinking of the water that was made wine. “Whence it came, sir, I know not.”

Then the servants and others told that they had filled the six water-pots with water to the brim, at the command of Jesus the Prophet, and that when they drew out, behold, wine flowed forth instead of water.

Upon this there was a general exclamation of surprise; and the governor of the feast cried out, “A great Prophet indeed hath been among us, and we knew it not,’ and he rose to approach and do honor to Jesus; but Jesus had already conveyed himself away, rising at once and passing out through the door, and seeking the solitude of the gardens.

Thither I followed Him, and worshiping Him, sat at his feet and listened to Him, while he unfolded to me wonderful things concerning Himself, showing that He is truly the Son of God, and the very Christ.

“Doubt not,’’ concludes the letter to Mary, ‘‘doubt not that Jesus is the Christ. His miracle at Cana, the turning of water into wine, is a public display of His divine power. All men at the feast have believed on Him, and His fame is noised abroad throughout Galilee and Samaria. He has told me privately that He must soon visit Jerusalem, and He will there openly proclaim His mission as the Christ of God."

As for my uncle, the good and learned Rabbi Amos, he is more than half the disciple of this great Prophet; and I have no doubt that when Jesus shall present Himself in Jerusalem, and Rabbi Amos can see Him, and hear His divine teachings, he will cast off all doubt and become His open follower.

The rumor of the miracle at Cana has reached Jerusalem since I began this letter, and I hear that it has produced no little stir in the market-places and courts of the Temple.

Rabbi Amos, on his return from sacrifice a few minutes ago, said that he saw in the court of the Temple more than thirty priests, with rolls of the prophets in their hands, engaged in searching for the prophecies of Christ.

So, my dear father, you see that the young man ‘‘who came,” as you remarked, ‘‘no one knew whence, and went no one knew whither,” is already taking hold on the attention of Israel, and stirring up the minds of all men to investigate His claims to the title of the Christ.

Your loving daughter,

Adina

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The new Lady Donna Immersion in Spirituality, Academics and Citizenship @ the "I AM" School will study abridged excerpts of the Letters from Adina taken from Reverend Ingraham's original edited version of 'The Prince of the House of David', published by Cassell & Co. Ltd (1903), that reveal remarkable insights into the Living Etheric Record left by Beloved Jesus's Ministry in the Holy Land.