WATER TURNED TO WINE

John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.”And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

Copyright © 2015 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software

This tells of the first miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ. This account is special in so many ways, and there are deeper truths embedded on this than just the miraculous turning of water into wine. This is one of the seven signs in John's Gospel. Dr. Bailey (in his book, The Gospel of John) writes that a sign can be either a miracle or healing, but it is distinctly set apart in that it's purpose is to reveal a spiritual truth. There are truths hidden in the signs.

The Seven Signs are as follows :
The Turning of Water into Wine
Healing of the Nobleman's Son (4:46-54)
The Healing of the Lame Man (5:1-9)
Feeding of the Multitudes (6:1-14)
Walking on the Water (6:15-21)
Christ Heals the Man Born Blind (9:1-41)
Christ Raises Lazarus (11:1-44)

Verses 1-2

John 2:1-2  On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.

John begins by telling of a wedding to which the Lord Jesus Himself, His disciples, and His mother were invited. From this we can know that marriage is precious in the sight of our Lord, and that His agreeing to attend at this wedding means that He honors it. In every wedding/marriage, it is the PRESENCE OF GOD that matters. Nowadays, a lot of people get drowned into the extensiveness of preparations, that they tend to forget the most important thing : The Presence of the One who ordained marriage.

I remember during the time that we were preparing for our wedding. The Lord has purposely dealt with our hearts the issue of contentment. We know we would not have a grand wedding, and we will not have our wishlists granted. It was quite funny that we married the same year as Prince William and Kate did. I saw how elaborate a wedding can be, with distinguished guests and all. Then the Lord begin to impress in my heart that what I should covet is His presence in my wedding. And so I instructed my groomsmen to do a fast for my wedding, we were praying for the presence of GOD to come! And He did! There was such a sweet Presence of God in our wedding. His presence made such a big difference, and He made everything beautiful. We invited Him, and He came!!

Scholars believe that this might have been Jesus' relative who married, and that is why Mary was there as well. It is probable that since Mary and Jesus came from a poor family, this might have been a low-budget wedding as well, hence the wine ran out! But even so, the most important thing in this wedding is that Jesus was there!

All these happening on the "third day" and "THIRD DAY" speaking of Jesus' resurrection implies that this is a sign concerning His death and resurrection.

Verses 3-5

John 2:3-5
And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."

A lot of misconceptions have rose from these passaages. Some use this as a means to justify their doctrine of Mary as the mediator, and that she can move God to do things even prematurely because she is His mother.

Marriage feasts will usually last about 7 days and wine is required for the event. Lack of wine will usually be humiliating for the groom and bride. Hence the dilemma of Mary when she found out that there is no wine left. Some interpret her informing of Jesus as Mary wanting Jesus to use this occasion to do a miracle and present Himself as the Messiah, but it can also mean that Mary is just asking Jesus for His help through natural means, after all, this might be their relative's wedding.

"Woman" is actually a title of respect. Jesus was not disrespecting Mary by calling her "Woman" instead of "Mother" but He is clearly delineating that there is now a change of relationship, and that Mary has no authority over Jesus. Jesus is in command and Mary recognizes it by saying "Whatever He says to you, do it..."

"My hour has not yet come"... Jesus uses this several times in the book of John (cf 7:6,8). What is this time? It is the time of His death.

He was conscious of the fact that He has an appointed time to die. John 17:1, He said "The hour is come" just before He got betrayed. By saying this, He is linking this sign with His death and resurrection. God has ordained times and seasons for us, and we should know it, so that we do not act prematurely "to help God out."

"Whatever He says to you, do it." Mary discerns God is about to do something and gives out the simplest yet hardest admonition of all. WHATEVER means NOT selecting out the favorable parts, and choosing only those that we would be willing to obey. We obey wholeheartedly, whatever God asks us to do. We need to learn submission to do well in this life. It was an instruction to the "servants"... it is a servant-Master relationship.

Verses 6-7

John 2:6-7
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim.

It is customary to Jews, because of their dusty streets, to wash their hands and feet before every meal. And since this is a wedding feast, they have prepared lots of water to accommodate the number of guests that will arrive in the wedding banquet.

We can learn from some of the symbolism that is seen here. Six is the number of man, for it was in the sixth day that man was created. Furthermore, we read in 2 Corinthians 4:7 that "we have the treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us". While it was 20 or 30 gallons here, in the KJV and in the Greek, it is "2 to 3 firkins" and "2 to 3" speaks of the number of witnesses to establish a word of testimony. Water is a type of the Word of God as in Ephesians 5:26 when it says "That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word". Water is also the symbol of the Holy Spirit, as it was said in John 7:37-39:

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus commands to fill the waterpots with water and it was filled to the brim. Knowing that these waterpots represent man, this is admonition for us to be filled with the Word and the Holy Spirit and be filled to the brim. We need to read, study, and meditate on the Scriptures and enable it to wash our hearts thoroughly. We also need fresh rhema from the Lord everyday and we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit as well.

Verses 8-9

John 2:8-9
And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

And so Jesus turned water into wine. Jesus altered the chemistry of the water molecules and changed them to wine. In reality, Jesus Christ is the Word of God typified here as water. By performing this first miracle, He is the Water that was poured out and became wine representing that He will pour out His life for us, and wine speaking of His death, His shed blood on the cross. His first sign, as a beginning of signs, He was proclaiming His purpose on earth, that He is the sacrifice that will purchase the lost with His blood.

Just like in the wine-making process, the Word of God can water our hearts, and cause the fruit of the Holy Spirit to grow. And as we obey Him, we continue to bear fruit. Then He brings us to crushing and further purging and the sweetness of His fruit in our lives is released. We become like the One we serve by dying daily to our own selves.

Verses 10-11

John 2:10-11
And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

The Bible tells us that this is the beginning of signs that Jesus did, meaning, He did not do any other miracles prior to this as opposed to what some Apocryphal books and the Quran teach.

God keeps the "good wine" until now. In other words, He reserves the best for last. This is what God is going to do in the last days! There will be a great outpouring of the power of God in the days we are living in! It will be soon!

"Having a believing attitude - that all things are possible with God- is a necessary ingredient for us to see Him move in His power. We must have faith to bring to pass His will. We must not limit God as did the people of His own country. Because thet limited Him through unbelief, He could do no mighty work there (Mk 6:5) We need to have a climate of faith in our individual lives and in our churches!" (THE GLORY, Dr. Brian Bailey p. 205)

We ought to get ourselves equipped for revival is coming. There are no shortcuts, but God can certainly do a quick work in us!

Haggai 2:9
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

Lord, prepare us to be the Bride that will be clothed in robes of righteousness, without spot or blemish!

References:
Bailey, Brian. The Gospel of John, New York: Zion Christian Publishers, (1997). E-copy.
Bailey, Brian. The Glory, New York: Zion Christian Publishers, (2012).