Reading: John 2; Jeremiah 13
Do you ever wished Jesus would have
shown up at your wedding? People might not have noticed the limited
budget when He was finished. I have three daughters—two married,
one engaged—so I know the concerns of balancing budget against
desiring to provide an enjoyable experience for all. So I have an
appreciation for Jesus turning water to wine on a practical level.
Some wrestle with the text
because Jesus is turning water into... well, uh... wine. One time
I heard someone say, “I don't know if I could have a pastor who
drank [alcohol].” I assured them that if they were a Christian
they already did since the great Shepherd admitted to having drank
alcohol (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34).
The miracle of turning water into
wine has never bothered me but it has always puzzled me. I say
puzzled because I have never been able to put a finger on the
message behind it. The miracles or signs in John's Gospel always have
a message behind them. Although I've heard and even thought of
several possible messages behind this sign, none have been fully
satisfying. So allow me to propose one more possibility. Don't
get me wrong, I am okay with Jesus turning water to wine just because
He is cool with weddings and marriage. I just don't think that's why
He did it.
6Nearby
stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial
washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7Jesus
said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they
filled them to the brim. (John 2:6-7)
These are huge water jars. Carrying
them would require two men and would still be difficult, especially
if filled to the brim. The intended use was ceremonial washing which
was a symbolic act representing our cleansing from sin or
uncleanness. Once they were filled with wine, they would
be useless to be used for cleansing. And don't miss the
note that they filled them to the brim. They didn't just fill them.
They didn't just get it most of the way to the top. It was all the way to
the top!
Does the Old Testament
provide any background to this miracle?
"Say
this to them: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Every
jar should be filled with wine.
Then they will respond to you, 'Don't we know that every jar should
be filled with wine?' 13And
you will say to them: This is what the LORD says: I
am about to fill all who live in this land–the kings who reign for
David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents
of Jerusalem–with drunkenness.
(Jeremiah 13:12-13 HCSB)
Through Jeremiah the
Lord tells the people of Jerusalem, “Every wine jar should be
filled with wine,” meaning, “I am about to fill all who
live in this land with drunkenness.” Is it possible that
Jesus is communicating a similar message to the people through the
filling of their huge water pots to the brim with wine?
Of course the obvious
objection is that Jesus didn't come to condemn (judge) the world but
to save the world (John 3:17) and what I am suggesting above is that
the water to wine miracle is essentially a judgment scene.
However, the reason Jesus came to save the world is because the
world was condemned (judged) already (John 3:18; see also John
12:47-48). In the context of the Bible's story line, the Gospel
comes to a nation that has been judged. That is why the Gospel is
such good news (for those with ears to hear). John's Gospel is not a
stranger to this fact and the Gospel hardly starts before pointing
out that Christ came to His own only to be rejected by his own people
(John 1:10-11; 12:48).
Additionally, the
context in John 2 seems to fit the idea of a judgment scene as this
account is immediately followed by the cleansing of the temple (John
2:14-22) which is clearly a judgment scene. In each of the other
Gospels judgment on the unbelieving nation is referenced by quoting
Isaiah 6:10 (Matthew 13:14, Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10). That judgment came
in the form of blindness and inability to hear or understand. Later
Isaiah connects it to a kind of spiritual drunkenness (Isaiah
29:9-10). Is John making a similar point by recounting this
miraculous event in Cana? Drunkenness, or a drunken stupor is a
familiar image of God's judgment on people in the prophets (See
also 63:6; Jeremiah 25:27; 48:26).
Though the text doesn't
say they were drunk, the implication is certainly there (John 2:10)
since the guests already had too much to drink and now the really
good wine has been brought out—and lots of it! Could the message
of this miracle be, “The time for cleansing (through the law) is over and
for drunkenness has begun for all who reject Christ since cleansing
can only be found in Him.”
What does this mean
for us? Judgment or Salvation? That all depends on what you see
when you look at Jesus. Do you see His glory? Do you see
who He is and place your faith in Him? Or do you fail to
recognize Him and therefore reject Him?
What
Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through
which he
revealed his glory;
and his
disciples believed in him.
(John 2:11)
He
was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the
world did not recognize him. 11He
came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
12Yet
to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God...
(John
1:10-12)
If
what I present is the right understanding of the text, it sets up the
account of Nicodemus perfectly in John 3. To look at that more
closely go to Does
Nicodemus Think He is Simon Cowell?
Love the Gospel, Live the Gospel,
Advance the Gospel,
Jerry
