Jesus’ Gift to Us: John 2:1-12

As we continue moving into John’s gospel, looking at the events John included, our attention is turned onto the first miracle Jesus did. Many things about this event are fascinating, especially the faith involved in this event, but faith isn’t the only big factor that amazes me. In this miracle are several layers of foreshadowing that I suspect many people miss when they read it.

So with that said, let’s read what happened, and discover some amazing things hidden within Jesus’ first miracle. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 2, and we will read from the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Three days later a wedding took place in the city of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. ² Jesus and his disciples had been invited too.

³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They’re out of wine.”

⁴ Jesus said to her, “Why did you come to me? My time has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Six stone water jars were there. They were used for Jewish purification rituals. Each jar held 18 to 27 gallons.

⁷ Jesus told the servers, “Fill the jars with water.” The servers filled the jars to the brim. ⁸ Jesus said to them, “Pour some, and take it to the person in charge.” The servers did as they were told.

⁹ The person in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it had come from, although the servers who had poured the water knew. The person in charge called the groom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the best wine first. When people are drunk, the host serves cheap wine. But you have saved the best wine for now.”

¹¹ Cana in Galilee was the place where Jesus began to perform miracles. He made his glory public there, and his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this, Jesus, his mother, brothers, and disciples went to the city of Capernaum and stayed there for a few days.

Every time I read this event, I am amazed that the disciples and the servants were the only ones who knew a miracle took place. In other words, Jesus’ mother, who made the request didn’t know what happened, and the host and groom both didn’t know what happened. To the majority of the guests, this event appeared to temporarily run out of wine, but then more wine showed up. There was a problem, and the problem was resolved.

This miracle is prompted because the servants had enough faith to obey Jesus’ ridiculous sounding request to serve the host water. The servants’ faith in Jesus, not knowing who Jesus even was, opened the door for this miracle!

We could also look at the disciples and the servants and picture them as the least important people at this event. Since this was a wedding Jesus’ mother was involved in, it was likely that it was a wedding of one of Jesus’ family members. In this event, we have no idea who the bride or groom was, but they were connected in some way with Jesus’ family. This would make the only people present who were not family members Jesus’ disciples and the servants. Those outside of the family saw the miracle, while those within the family remained somewhat oblivious.

This is interesting to note, because often times we don’t see God working in our hearts or our lives, but other people do. Other people are likely to see a greater change in our lives when we come to God or begin moving towards Him than we do. This isn’t bad, it is just something we should be aware of.

Another thing that stood out to me while reading this event is that the water pots were used for purification rituals. Since John chose to include this detail, I suspect he believed it to be significant for us to know. Part of me wonders if this detail helps draw our attention onto Jesus’ gift purifying us as believers and followers of Him. When Jesus gave Himself for us, His life purifies ours and we are able to stand before God because of what Jesus accomplished for us.

This detail leads us into two amazing layers of foreshadowing I believe this miracle and event includes.

The first layer of foreshadowing is looking forward to what would happen at another significant meal Jesus and His disciples ate together. On the night Jesus was arrested leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus ate what Christians around the world call the Last Supper on Passover weekend. During this Passover meal, Jesus takes bread and wine and connects these things symbolically with His body and His blood.

Jesus’ blood, represented by the wine, represents Jesus’ life. Drawing this connection back to our event for this episode, we see that Jesus supplies His life to solve a problem we are unable to solve. The wine in this event had run out, which symbolically represents that we had done everything we knew to do without being able to solve our big problem (in this context, our biggest problem is sin). To step in with a solution, Jesus provides wine, which represents His life, and it is a wine that is better than either the host or groom had experienced before. Jesus’ life defeated sin, solving the biggest problem we face, and when we accept Jesus’ life in exchange for ours, we get to experience eternal life when we deserved eternal death because of our sin.

The second layer of foreshadowing looks towards the great “wedding” feast we will experience following Jesus’ return. After Jesus returns, we will get to enjoy the wedding supper between Jesus and His bride, which represents His church.

Whenever I see a wedding event in the Bible, I look to see if there is any connection with the wedding feast that all God’s people will experience when Jesus returns to bring us home. In this miracle, I see a profound connection. The only way this future wedding will happen is because of Jesus supplying the wine, which represents His life, for His bride. Without Jesus’ life, there would be no future wedding. The amazing, subtle foreshadowing in this first miracle is that Jesus supplies His life in order for His people to be able to experience the wedding God has been looking forward to since the beginning of time.

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection solved the sin problem. Jesus supplied His life in exchange for ours. It is now up to us to accept Jesus’ gift and His invitation to substitute His life for ours.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue seeking God first in your life and choose to accept the gift He offers to you through Jesus’ life and sacrifice. Jesus supplied what we need to solve the sin problem in our own lives, and it is up to us to lean on Jesus’ life for strength to overcome sin in this life. We do this best by focusing on Jesus and intentionally growing towards Him.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and mature towards God. Through prayer and Bible study, discover just how much God loves us through what Jesus did for all of us. Discover how sin is something we never asked for personally, but it is something God was willing to solve for us because He loves us more than we might realize!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!