Then we saw in the remainder of chapter one that John
brought forth witnesses to corroborate his claim. The first witness was John the Baptist who declared Jesus is
the Son of God and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And then John brought another group of men forward as witnesses, that
being the Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael. Andrew called Him the Messiah, Philip said of Him that He
was the One of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote, and Nathanael called Him the
Son of God, the King of Israel.
Now beginning in chapter 2, John provides illustrations from
the works of Christ which attest to His divinity and His purpose; that He is
the Son of God, and the Messiah, that is the Savior of the world. And to do this, John begins with what
he calls a sign, or what we would call a miracle. John says in vs.11, that this was the beginning of signs
that Jesus did, and they manifested His glory, and because of this sign, His
disciples believed in Him.
Now I would point out that His disciples already believed in
Him as attested to in chapter one.
But this sign increased and strengthened their faith. And that fulfills a spiritual principle
found in Luke 19:26, "I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be
given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be
taken away.” In other words, God will build your faith as you follow Him in
faith.
Now before we get into the event in detail, I just want to
be sure you understand the purpose of signs or miracles in the gospels. Many people mistakenly look at the
miracles recorded in scripture and think they are a blueprint for what we can
expect to accomplish in our lives.
But as we look at the gospels, we see that the miracles are not simply
exhibitions of our Lord’s power but they are designed to teach us certain
spiritual truth. I have stated
before on numerous occasions that all miracles in the gospels are given as a
parable to teach a spiritual principle.
And we would do well to remember that as we study the scriptures. No where is it taught that Jesus healed
everyone, or performed miracles in order to make His life easier or just to remove
some difficulty. But miracles serve to illustrate a spiritual principle by
means of an earthly parable.
And I like the word John uses rather than using the word
miracle. He uses the word
sign. We all know what signs are,
don’t we? You are driving down the
road at night and you see a yellow diamond shaped sign with an image of a
leaping deer, you know what that means don’t you? I know what some of you think. “Target practice.”
But seriously, we all know it warns us that deer might be on the road
ahead. And in the same way a sign
as used in this passage points to a person, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God. It points ahead to a time
when Christ will be manifested to the world, but for now we see a sign
signifying that He is Lord.
So we know then that the following miracle is not merely presented
as just a happy circumstance that happened 2000 years ago, but that it points
to something that will be revealed fully later, it points to a truth about
Christ. So as we unpack this
account, let’s focus on the principles that God is teaching us through this
sign. And there are a number of
them here. But first let’s fill in
a little background information in order to be able to understand it fully.
The third day establishes the chronology of John as he gives
this historical account, after the day mentioned at the end of chapter one when
he saw Philip and Philip called Nathanael. There have been two days intervening, when Jesus and the
disciples traveled to Cana of Galilee, which was the hometown of
Nathanael. So not only Nathanael would have known the groom
who was being married in this tiny village, but obviously Jesus did as well, as
it says in vs.2 that He and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And it’s likely that since Cana is only
about 6 miles from Nazareth, and Jesus’ mother was in attendance and she seems
to have direction over the wine and servants, that there is a good possibility
that this is the marriage of one of Jesus’ brothers. That is speculation of course, but it accounts for the fact
that His mother is in a supervisory role in the marriage over the wine and the
servants.
But I would point out that John has deliberately left out
such details. They are not really
germane to the story or the principle of the story. Many people have read way too much in between the lines of
this account and as a result have come up with all sorts of false doctrines,
such as the worship of Mary and the intercession of Mary, so that they teach
the need to pray to Mary to intercede on their behalf. And nothing could be further from the
truth. In fact, the event proves
that Mary is in need of a Savior just as everyone else is. She is not in a preferred status as
evidenced in Jesus addressing her as “woman” rather than mother.
Now just a word about weddings in general in those
times. Weddings were the social
events of the year in that culture. When people came to a marriage celebration,
they came because there had been a betrothal, an engagement period. About a
year earlier, the couple had been engaged. That was a legal, binding, contract
that could only be broken by divorce. But the marriage wasn’t consummated at
this point. It was consummated at the
end of the celebration which sometimes lasted for up to a week.
Ancient Jewish weddings were very different from our modern
affairs. In western weddings the bride is the prominent figure. When the bride
enters, clothed in all her glory, the whole congregation stands and the organ
plays, "Here comes the bride! " and every eye is focused on her. But
in ancient Jewish weddings it was the groom that was prominent. He was the one
whose coming was anticipated.
So for a year the husband has been preparing a place for his
bride. He would have purchased or built a house for his bride and prepared it
for them to live in. And during
this time he would have been working to pay for the cost of the wedding feast. The bridegroom had full responsibility
for all the cost of the wedding which lasted for up to a week and involved the
whole village. His job was to get
everything ready, and then when everything was ready and the house was built
and the house was furnished and all preparations were made and he had demonstrated
that he had what it took to care for his bride and to provide for her, he would
come take his bride to his house and the celebrations began.
Now I cannot help but see a correlation here in this account
of the marriage in Cana to the marriage of Christ and the church as His
bride. In Ephesians 5 Paul talks
about the church being the bride of Christ and compares His relationship to the
human institution of marriage between a man and a woman. Listen to this; Eph. 5:23-32, “For the
husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He
Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ,
so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love
your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with
the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having
no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who
loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but
nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are
members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER
AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This
mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” Notice that a man shall leave his
father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one
flesh. Is that not an echo of what
we read at the beginning of chapter one, that the Word was with God, but the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
He became one of us, that He might be joined to us, so that we might
become one with God.
So in the marriage of Christ and the church Jesus is the
bridegroom and we are the bride of Christ. Jesus calls Himself the bridegroom in Matt. 9:15 “And Jesus
said to them, "The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as
the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the
bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
So as we understand the symbolism of marriage, Christ became
flesh to seek a bride which is His church. He betrothed Himself to her. He has made promises to come again and take us to His home
which He said He is preparing for us.
And when He comes again, we will join in the celebration of the marriage supper of the Lamb and then we
will be like Him and join Him on the throne in His glory to rule and reign and
live with Him forever.
Now as we understand that, it helps us to know what Jesus is
saying when He responds to His mother’s complaint that they had run out of
wine. This was a major faux paus
on the part of the bridegroom. He
somehow either did not have the means to buy enough wine, or they had more
people show up than they had planned for or the party ran a few days
longer. And the fact is they couldn’t
just run down to the store and pick up a few more bottles. So if one of Jesus’ brothers were
getting married, and Mary was the matron of honor so to speak, then the family
of Jesus was responsible for getting more wine. Jesus as the eldest son would have had the headship of the
family. It is generally agreed
upon by most scholars that Joseph was dead by this time and so Jesus would have
taken on the responsibility as head of the family.
So Mary says to Jesus, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what do
I have to do with you? My hour is not yet come.” Now there is a lot of commentary on that phrase, “what do I
have to do with you,” as well as the fact that He called His mother Woman. First of all, Woman was not a term of
disrespect, but a word which signaled a change in relationship between Jesus
and Mary. As Jesus began His
earthly ministry, He would no longer be bound by familial restraints as head of
the household, and as a consequence she would have no more hold over Him in the
usual way a mother might have over her son. But even more to the point, as I
said earlier, it indicates that
she does not have any special privilege as His mother. She would have to come to Christ the
same way every other person must come; as a sinner, saved by grace. Even on the cross, as He is obviously
full of concern for His mother, He calls her Woman, even as He passes on
responsibility for her well being to the Apostle John. So it’s not a disparaging title, but a
term designating a change of position, from Son to Savior.
And then to the question of what He said. A better reading might be; “What is
that to you and to Me?” In other words, the fact that they don’t have wine,
what is that to us? My hour is not
yet come.”
Now keep in mind the picture presented here is Christ coming
for His church, His bride. He is
saying I am not ready to provide the wine at this point of my ministry, because
my hour is not yet come. So what
is does the wine symbolize? Well, in a few minutes we will be celebrating another
supper, the Lord’s Supper. And as
you know there are two elements in communion, the wine and the bread. And Jesus quoted by Paul in 1Cor. 11:25
says, “In the same way He took the
cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood;
do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Now when Jesus said that, obviously it
could not be His own blood as the Catholics would have us believe, because He
had not yet shed His blood. So
what was it? It was wine. Wine symbolizes then the blood of
Christ which washes away our sins, in which we have forgiveness of our
sins. This is the token of the new
covenant which Hebrews 9:15 speaks of, which is better than the old covenant
which featured the blood of bulls and goats which could never take away
sins. But the new covenant in His
blood takes away sins and purchases the right to an eternal inheritance.
So Jesus is saying, My hour to die on the cross and shed My
blood for the remission of sins is not yet come. He will say the same thing in John 7:30 “So they were
seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not
yet come.” He speaks of His hour
in another half a dozen places in John’s gospel. And finally in His priestly
prayer before His crucifixion in chapter 17 He prays, “Father, the hour has
come, glorify your Son.” Amazing
isn’t it? That He equates
crucifixion with glory. And why
would He say that? Because at that
time He purchases the redemption and sanctification of His bride. In that act God destroys the power of
sin and death and crushes the head of the serpent, Satan. His death achieves the glory of
God. It manifests the glory of
Christ and it makes possible the glory of the church, His bride. So then His
hour He speaks of is the time when He offers up His life as a sacrifice on the
cross for sin, purchasing with His blood the remission of sins for all who
believe on Him.
So Jesus says, “I am not ready to be glorified at this
point. I am not ready to shed my
blood which will be the wine of the new covenant at this hour. That hour is coming, but it is not now.
But somehow Mary understands that He isn’t speaking a rebuke
to her, He is speaking metaphorically of His glorification which had been
promised her by the angels before His birth. And so she turns to the servants and says “Whatever He says
to you, do it.” Mary doesn’t speak
much on record in the scriptures, and so we should find what she says very
instructive. Our emphasis is not
on the words of Mary, or the actions of Mary as an intercessor, but on the Word
made flesh. Our obedience and
obeisance should be to the words of Christ. The preference is not given to Mary but to Jesus and her
instructions indicate that.
So Jesus knowing the need, supplies the abundance. He said He came to give life and that
more abundantly. And that is a
principle we see here in this sign as well in other places, particularly at the
feeding of the multitudes. Jesus
does not just supply barely enough, or not quite enough, but supplies grace
upon grace. John 1:16 “for of His
fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” This is speaking of His grace of righteousness to cover our
sins. We cannot spend all the
grace of Christ. Not that we
should desire to presume upon the grace of God through licentiousness in
continuing to sin, but that regardless of the greatness of our sin, the
greatness of our separation from God, He has provided more grace than enough to
reconcile us to God.
So Jesus orders the servants to take the six empty water pots
and fill them with water. And the
servants fill them to the brim.
The Bible scholars tell us that this would have been about 120 to 150
gallons of water. That would have provided well over 3000 servings of
wine. The significance of that is
a measure of His grace; of His fullness, of the abundant supply of
righteousness. And then when the servant drew out the water and presented it to
the head waiter he was astonished that the bridegroom had saved the best wine
for last.
I used to train wine stewards when I was in the hotel
restaurant business. And I can
assure you that if the wine steward knew it was wine, it was indeed wine. Now it is well known that they watered
wine down in those days three parts water to one part wine, so that it was very
difficult to get drunk from normal table wine. But it was wine, and furthermore, it was very good wine.
Now a note about the water pots. John says that they were used for ceremonial washings; for
the Jewish custom of purification. The Levitical law required certain ceremonial washings in
regard to sacrifices and various modes of daily life. But over time the Jews had added customs to the law that far
exceeded the intent of the law to imply that the physical cleanliness was a
means of spiritual cleanness. As
you will remember, the Pharisees condemned the disciples at one point to Jesus
because they had not ceremoniously washed their hands before eating. And later on Jesus condemns that sort
of external ceremony that does not cleanse the heart of sin. Matt. 23:25 "Woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the
dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind
Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside
of it may become clean also.” So
Jesus condemns the ceremonial washings which could never take away spiritual
uncleanness.
So as we already alluded to, the old covenant could not take
away sins by the blood of bulls and goats, nor could the customs and traditions
imposed by the religious leaders take away sins. And let me be even more clear, the ceremony of baptism
cannot wash away sins. All of
those things are just signs as well, pointing to the blood of Christ which is
the only thing that can take away sin.
So what are the principles that we learn from this parable
illustrated by a sign? One is that
when Christ bestows a blessing it is usually preceded by a command. Secondly, Christ’s commands are not to
be questioned, but obeyed.
Thirdly, that Christ is the bridegroom that has purchased the redemption
of His bride with His blood, for the forgiveness of their sins and to give them
an inheritance prepared in heaven. Fourth, that as the wine was more than
enough to meet the needs of the party, His grace is more than sufficient for
all our sins, that we have received His fullness and grace upon grace. Fifth, that only His blood is
sufficient to cleanse us from sin, but that no ceremony has the power to do
more than point to Christ. Sixth,
that the new covenant is a better covenant, enacted on better promises. And seventh, that He has saved the best
for last.
As Heb. 11:39-40 says concerning the patriarchs and heroes
of the faith of old, “And all these, having gained approval through their faith,
did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better
for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.” We are living in the last days. And God has saved the best for
last. We have the complete,
perfect revelation of Christ. We
have His death, burial, resurrection of Christ and He now stands at the
Father’s right hand to make intercession for us. We have all the promises of
God made more sure by the written scripture. We have the immeasurable benefit of the Holy Spirit living
in us, even as wine in stone water pots. Even as 2Cor. 4:7 says, that “we have
this treasure in earthen vessels.” So that by the power of the Spirit within us
we might live to the glory of Christ.
Our redeemed, transformed lives are able to bring about glory to Christ
through His death which is
symbolized in the wine of His blood which was shed for us.
Our Lord is able to take the person who recognizes that they
fall short of the righteousness required and with his touch make them full of
abundant life; to turn their mourning into joy. He will do this with any who
will call upon Him, follow Him, and believe in Him. That is why John highlights
for us in vs.11, that seeing this sign,
“the disciples believed in Him." I pray that your faith in Christ
has been strengthened as well as we understand the significance of this sign;
what Christ has done for us and what His purpose is for us as we follow Him.
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