upbeat… I wasn’t trying to be smarmy by the italicized inclusion of one of my favorite lines from Scripture…nor was i trying to be cryptic in not elaborating…Forgive me if it read that way!
Rather, I feel wholly inadequate to elaborate! But i will try:
Jesus did not institute marriage (obviously), rather, His presence at Cana AND the fact that His Ministry began at the wedding there elevated marriage to the level of a Sacrament.
Indeed, we may look at the entirety of Holy Scripture and see that it “begins” in Genesis with a marriage (Adam and Eve) and ends with a marriage (Revelation…Christ the bridegroom marries His Church). The marriage described in Revelation is the ulitimate expression of God’s love for his people (church)…and that ALL marriages should “point” us to that ultimate union…
It is no accident, I think that the NEW Adam (Jesus) and the NEW Eve (Mary) are together at Cana to RESTORE what has been lost as a consequence of The Fall (metaphorically speaking, the wine was lost…Jesus, restores the wine at Cana foreshadowing the Eucharist). Taking the new Adam/Eve symbolism further, we note that when Mary tells Jesus that they have run out of wine, He calls her what???
“woman”… (Eve)
which is echoed from the cross when He addresses Mary again “woman, behold your son…”
so we see at Cana that the what was lost in the Garden is restored by Jesus through Mary, or perhaps more accurately, that Jesus’ mission to Complete that restoration BEGINS at Cana and ends on the cross (“it is finished”)…
I lack the ability to articulate it all well, so I would refer you to more learned men and women who can do so much better than I can… notably, to Christopher West and John Paul the Great
hope that is a start, anyway…