The Signs Gospel is a hypothetical text believed by many scholars to predate the canonical gospels and is thought to be embedded in the Gospel of John. It records Jesus’ deeds, almost all of them miracles, and contains very little of the speeches found in those parts of John that are not drawn from the Signs Gospel.
The passages below contain a scholarly re-creation of the wedding at Cana as it might have been described in the Signs Gospel, and the same scene as found in John. There are subtle differences. Note that the Signs Gospel does not say of the six stone water-jars—as does John—that they were “for use in the Jewish rite of purification.” Its Christian-Jewish audience, unlike John’s, would not need to be told that. Also, in the last sentence, the Signs Gospel describes the events at Cana as the first of Jesus’ signs and understands that sign as the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. In John, Jesus’ wondrous deeds are better termed “miracles.” At times they merely astound (as in John 4:48) or may even have no effect (John 2:18; 6:26). In the Signs Gospel, they show who Jesus was.
Now on a Tuesday there was a wedding at Cana [in Galilee]. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding, along with his disciples. When the wine had run out, Jesus’ mother says to the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”
Six stone water-jars were standing there, and each could hold twenty or thirty gallons.
“Fill the jars with water,” Jesus tells them. “Now dip some out and take it to the caterer.” And they did so.
When the caterer tasted the water, now changed into wine, he calls the groom aside and says to him, “Everyone serves the best wine first and only later, when people are drunk, the cheaper wine.
But you’ve held back the good wine till now.”
This was the beginning of the signs Jesus did, and he showed himself, and his disciples believed in him.
Signs Gospel 2:1–11
Three days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding along with his disciples. When the wine had run out, Jesus’ mother says to him, “They’re out of wine.” Jesus replies to her, “Woman, what is it with you and me? It’s not my time yet.” His mother says to the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.” Six stone water-jars were standing there—for use in the Jewish rite of purification—and each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus tells them. So they filled them to the brim. Then he tells them, “Now dip some out and take it to the caterer.” And they did so. When the caterer tasted the water, now changed into wine—he had no idea where it had come from, even though the servants who had taken the water out knew—he calls the groom aside and says to him, “Everyone serves the best wine first and only later, when people are drunk, the cheaper wine. But you’ve held back the good wine till now.” Jesus performed this miracle, the first, at Cana in Galilee; it displayed his majesty, and his disciples believed in him.
