Pilgrims have long been drawn to visit the site of Jesus’ first public miracle. It took place in the Galilee village of Cana – now called Kefar Kana – just outside Nazareth. Many describe how they drank from the same pure water that Jesus had turned into wine, at the spring to the west of the
town. Excavations unearthed an ancient synagogue, and a later courtyard and mosaic pavement. These show that Cana was a thriving town two thousand years ago. It may be that an early Judeo-Christian community lived here soon after Jesus’ lifetime, perhaps sharing the synagogue as a place of worship until they constructed a church of their own.Later, the Byzantines and the Crusaders built churches here. In 1551 a Greek Orthodox church was erected, replaced in 1886 by the one seen today. The present Franciscan church, completed in 1881, is built over the remains of Cana’s earliest site of veneration.
*When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: … the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, 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. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory. John 2:7-11
This page is part of the book The Holy Land of Jesus
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