05 Jesus turns Water into Wine (John 2:1-12)

Krisan Marotta: Welcome back to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. Today is the fifth talk in my series on the Gospel of John. We will be studying John chapter 2, verses 1 through 12. I'm so glad you joined us. In this study on the Gospel of John, we are tackling large sections at a time, looking at the big themes and the overarching structure. My goal is to model for you how you put all the details that you observe into the big picture and the flow of the thought of the book. The picture we've been building is that the fundamental assertion in the book of John is that those who believe the testimony that Jesus is the Messiah will find eternal life. The Gospel of John explores the issues surrounding belief. So far we've seen John focus on three related themes. First, the importance of testimony. We believe because of the testimony of those who saw, those who were there and saw the events of the life of Jesus. The second theme is believing in Jesus is the only way to receive eternal life. The point of the testimony is that we believe in Jesus, and it's important we believe because Jesus is the only one who can grant us eternal life. The third theme we've seen is the necessity of being born again or baptized with the Spirit. John contrasts those who believe with those who do not believe, and the difference between them is the activity of the Spirit of God. John's prologues set up those themes. Then we saw the testimony of the prophet John the Baptist. Last week we looked at how the first disciples came to believe. Today we're looking at the second of three stories that involve the disciples of Jesus who will eventually become his apostles. The disciples play an important part in these themes of testimony and belief. Last week we looked at how Jesus called his first disciples. Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathaniel, and probably John came to believe first through the testimony of John the Baptist and then through Jesus' miraculous knowledge of Nathaniel. These events brought these men to an initial acceptance of the idea that Jesus is the Messiah. How their understanding develops is important because they're the ones who explain to us what this gospel is all about. The apostles serve as ears and eyes for all believers throughout church history. John wants us to know how they became convinced that Jesus is the Christ. John himself is one of these original disciples that became the twelve apostles. He's telling us these stories as an eyewitness. He was there. He's convinced that Jesus is the Christ, and it's important for us to know why he's so convinced that the gospel is true and Jesus is the Messiah. As I said, I think last week's story, this week's story, and the one we'll look at in the next podcast are tied together by this common theme of how the disciples come to believe. Let's look at the second story. This is John chapter two verses one through twelve. On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine, and Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water, and they filled them to the brim. And he said to them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom, and said to him, Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine, but you have kept the good wine until now. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. Well let's start with the background. In the ancient world a wedding feast could last as long as a week. Based on what we're told about the water pots, this wedding feast must have been a large and lengthy event. Jesus, his mother, and his disciples were all invited. Most scholars assume that Jesus' father Joseph must have passed away by this point because he's not mentioned in any of the gospels as being present during Jesus' public ministry. Now in this culture, running out of wine at a wedding is a catastrophic event. Maybe the host failed to make enough provisions, or maybe more people showed up than he was expecting, or maybe they drank more freely than he was expecting. We're not told what went wrong, but we do know this is a humiliating experience for the bridegroom, who is the host of the feast. Hospitality was very important in that culture, and not having any wine to give the guest was a cause for great shame. Mary sees this problem, she has compassion on the host, and she comes to Jesus. Let's read chapter two three and four again. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine, and Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. Jesus addresses his mother as woman, which sounds rude to our modern ears. However, in his day this was a title of respect. This is like saying Madame or ma'am. This is the equivalent of people calling Jesus rabbi. It's an expression of respect for her role and position. When Mary tells Jesus that the wine has run out, Jesus makes a very cryptic statement to her. It's difficult to translate in English, and if you consult several different translations, you'll probably find a variety of wordings. He says, What does this have to do with me? Now he's using a common idiom here. Literally the idiom is what is this to me and to you? That's the phrase, what is it to me and to you? I don't think the translations bring out the meaning of this idiom. It's used several times in the Old Testament and we see it a couple of times in the New Testament. I think the sense is pretty clear, but the translation isn't always clear. Here's the kind of place you'd find this expression in. Say King A is planning to attack his northern neighbor, King B. He sends a bunch of troops over to his southern neighbor, King C. Southern King C might use this phrase to reply and say, What is it to you and me? The idea is why are you coming to me? Northern King B is your enemy. He's the one you have a problem with, so why are you coming to me about this? This is not a problem for us. Essentially, Jesus is saying, Why are you coming to me? I'm not the host, you're not the host, we're guests at the wedding, and this is not our problem to solve. And he adds, It's not yet my time to make myself publicly known as the Messiah. I think that's what he means by my hour has not yet come. The time is coming when he will begin his public ministry and perform many signs and wonders, but that time is not yet. It's not yet time for him to step into the public eye. Right now he's gathering some disciples together, but this is not his time to go public. Now notice, even though he performs a miracle at this wedding, Jesus does not really go public. He does not step forward and proclaim to everyone assembled at the celebration, Hey, watch me, I'm the Christ, I'm going to turn water into wine. He doesn't do that, he doesn't announce himself as the king of Israel. He doesn't say something like I'm the bringer of the harvest, and here's an abundant harvest of wine. There is a time when he will make his actions public, but not yet. Instead, he does a quiet little miracle. The guests, the host, the head servant have no idea that anything unusual has happened. John tells us only his disciples and the servants know what happened. This event happens in the back with only a small number of people watching. And notice how John highlights the evidence of what has happened. Let's look at John two, six through eleven again. Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. We stop for a minute. Every Jew who came to the wedding celebration would be expected to go through a purification rite before entering. If nothing else he had to wash his hands and his feet when he arrived for the wedding feast, and these large stone jars were there for that purpose. Going on, Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water, and they filled them to the brim, and he said to them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom, and said to him, Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely then the poor wine, but you have kept the good wine until now. This is the first of his signs Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Notice the details John includes. The head steward has just been told, Hey, we've run out of wine. Then the servants bring him this stuff that was in the water pot, and he drinks it. He rushes to the bridegroom and says You've got this all wrong. You're supposed to serve the good wine first. Then when everyone is merry and drunk on the good wine you can bring out the mediocre stuff, but you've kept the good wine for last. The master of the feast did not know where the good wine came from. The master of the feast calls the bridegroom, who's the host, who is also unaware of what happened. Only the disciples and the servants saw the whole thing. The head steward doesn't know anything unusual has happened, but he provides independent testimony that a miracle occurred, because when he tastes the wine, he remarks on how good it is, even though he has no idea where it came from. So John includes his speech as independent testimony that a miracle happened. Now, the fact that Jesus' wine is better than the wine they served first is interesting, but it's a side issue for our purposes in this study. If we were going to go into the details, we could ask questions like does this particular miracle have some symbolic value? Did Jesus mean to communicate something in this idea that plain water has been turned into the best wine? It could show that the Messiah will bring abundance. It could symbolically indicate that the Messiah will usher in a life that is far superior to the life we live now. It could symbolically show that the Messiah, the real bridegroom, has come, so it's time for the party to start. Maybe it suggests the very biblical idea that the Messiah is in fact the ultimate bridegroom. This event could be a symbolic picture of the superior wine that will be served at the ultimate messianic wedding feast. It's not time for that celebration yet, but here's a foretaste of it. That's another possibility. Maybe the fact that the new wine is in the old ritual pots symbolizes the end of the old religious system. The old pots were for ritual cleansing according to the old covenant, but we don't need them anymore because the Messiah has come to inaugurate a new covenant. Now we can repurpose those pots for holding wine for the celebration. That's another possible idea. And if we were doing a detailed study, we'd explore all those options, we'd probably add in details from the other gospel accounts, and we'd try to sort out what did Jesus intend to communicate. But John's focus is on what he explicitly says. Whatever other conclusions and metaphors we may draw about the symbolism of this event, we don't want to neglect what John highlights, because John breaks out the point he wanted to bring out in verse eleven. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Canaan in Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. What's significant about this miracle? The main significance is the person the disciples believe to be the Messiah performed it. Jesus has done a great miracle. It's the first of his signs. It manifests his glory. It is a sign from God that Jesus is the Messiah because He and He alone perform this miracle. Now the disciples have further proof that Jesus is the Messiah and they believe. Every miracle Jesus performs is a sign from God. These miracles are God's way of saying, Yes, this is the one, he is my Messiah. As we go through this gospel, we'll see the idea of signs is very important in the Gospel of John. Primarily, John is interested in the fact that these signs are miraculous testimony that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus has performed his first significant sign. It may have teaching value in terms of the symbolism of the wine, that's great. But what's of fundamental importance to Author John is what he says. God has performed a miracle as a sign that Jesus is who he claims to be. As John is telling this story, the most important part about this sign is that his disciples believed in him. In this short space of time, the men who will become the apostles have either heard or been told about John the Baptist's testimony that Jesus is the Messiah, they begin following Jesus, they saw or heard about the little miracle Jesus did with Nathaniel, and now they have gone to a wedding as guests and have seen Jesus turn water into wine. And their response is, we're following the right guy. This really is the Messiah. At every step, their appropriate response has been to believe that Jesus is who he says he is. Now why is that so important to John? As we talked about last week, the original disciples serve as our eyes and ears. In fact, they are the eyes and ears of all believers throughout church history. John wants us to understand how they became completely convinced Jesus is the Christ. He's tracing the path of how their understanding progressed. It's important for us to know why they were so confident in their belief because we need to know they are reliable witnesses. We understand the gospel of Jesus because they explained it to us. They wrote the books and letters that form the New Testament, or they dictated their experiences to others who wrote them down. They taught those who have taught us. We believe because they believe. Last week we saw Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathaniel, and author John believe through the testimony of John the Baptist. Then their belief is bolstered through the miraculous knowledge Jesus had about Nathaniel. Now a few days later, these disciples see Jesus turn water into wine. This is a great sign. If the incident with Nathaniel is a minor miracle, then this is a major miracle done by God to signify Jesus is the Messiah. And again, John's interested in the fact that they believe as a result. We're also getting our first glimpse into the man Jesus himself. We have seen that he authoritatively gathers disciples like an important rabbi would. We see him renamed Peter. He makes these cryptic comments about the heavens will open and the angels of God descend on the Son of Man, which we saw in last week's podcast. This week we saw him say his hour had not yet come, implying that one day his hour will come. It's not here yet, but it's coming, the hour when he's glorified as the Messiah. We see him talk to his mother respectfully, and we see him solve a problem that was not his responsibility to solve. He has compassion on the host and he rescues the bridegroom from his humiliation. This is the picture we see so far of this man whom the disciples believe to be the Messiah, and this is their testimony to us. John tells us these things because we have to decide for ourselves whether we will believe their testimony or not. You've been listening to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. My mission is to explain not only what a passage means, but how we figure it out. The blog version of this episode is on the link below the podcast. You can also find it by going to wednesdayintheword.com slash John 5. If you've been blessed by this podcast, please support the show by subscribing to the podcast and leave a positive rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts. But most importantly, please tell a friend what you learned and where you learned it. Our theme music is graciously provided by Reggie Coates. You can find his music on heartfeltmusic.org. If you want to hear all the episodes in this series or find previous seasons of the podcast, please go to wednesdayintheword.com. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Krisan Marotta, and I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the Word.