Epiphany – the wedding at Cana
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The third of a series of three sessions to pick up the three events we associate with the season of Epiphany.
On your marks
Here is the third of a series of three sessions to pick up the three events we associate with the season of Epiphany: three ‘manifestations’, ‘signs’ or ‘clues’ as to who Jesus is.
Get set
The mini series is based around creating a wall display of a piratical treasure map with the three clues on. For details of how to start, see the first of these three sessions, Epiphany – the wise men.
Go!
1 Very briefly remind the group what Epiphany is: a time of signs or clues as to who Jesus is. What was last week’s clue? What did it tell us about Jesus?
2 Say that this week’s clue is the very first miracle that Jesus did.
Does anyone know what it might be?
If they don’t know, find a picture of the wedding at Cana or simply of wine, and using pieces of cardbord, slowly uncover the picture a little at a time so that they can guess what you are revealing.
3 Tell the story, using the children as actors and using wine glasses, a table and six large pots, washing up bowls, big saucepans or similar as props. You might want to take photos for your display if you have permission from primary carers.
There is a funny rhyming version from the point of view of the person in charge of the catering in The Gospels Unplugged.
4 Hot-seat Mary, a wedding guest, the bride and a disciple to find out what they thought of the miracle. Try to establish how disastrous it would have been if there had been no wine for the party. (For how to hot-seat, see Hot-seating.)
5 Prayer: have a focal point of a glass of water and a glass of wine. Say that Jesus loves to change disasters into miracles, to change really bad times into really good times. Ask the children to pray now for people or places who are going through a bad time, asking Jesus to turn those situations into great times.
Ask what this clue tells us about who Jesus is.
6 Craft: make the pictures for the final clue on your display. You might want to use digital photos of the scene the children acted out earlier, or choose a masterpiece painting of the marriage at Cana, dvide it into squares and ask each child to copy that square onto a piece of card or paper, then reassemble them all on your display as your own version of the picture.
