The First Sign: Turning Water Into Wine
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[SLIDE 1] Introduction
If you have your Bible, then please turn to John 2:1-12. We are continuing in our series in the gospel of John. We have come to an exciting passage in John’s gospel.
1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 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 10 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.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
Illustration
I cannot remember exactly when I participated in this event, but I love to attending weddings.
I had the privilege of doing a premarital counselling with a couple and eventually officiating their wedding.
It is an exciting time where a man and a woman will commit themselves to each other by making a vow of covenant.
The significance of the wedding or the ordinance of marriage was intrinsic to the creation account.
Marriage was God’s design in the creation order, not a social human construct.
God designed marriage to be exclusively between one man and one woman according to Genesis 2 and according to the words of Jesus in Matthew 19.
In the story that we read, Jesus attended the wedding in Cana. He participated in this matrimony or celebration.
In the ancient world, their wedding is not the same as our western culture.
When the Jews had a wedding, it was a party and celebration.
The wedding would have been a 7-day celebration.
Even Middle Eastern cultures would have a similar duration in the wedding celebration.
One commentary states that “Jewish weddings were community events, a time of special focus not just on bride and groom but also on their extended families.”
If that cultural context were true, then we cannot know for certain if Jesus went to this wedding on the 1st day, middle of the week, or the final day.
However, I don’t think that’s important.
What is important for the Apostle John was that this wedding event was uniquely in his gospel.
In the synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke - Jesus told parables that had connections to a wedding, but none of them mention this event where Jesus literally attended the wedding at Cana.
Some critics or liberal scholars argued that John 2 was a non-historical event. John fabricated this story merely to communicate a symbolic, allegorical, or theological message
However, just because this story was absent from the Synoptic gospels does not definitively prove its inauthenticity.
As an eyewitness to the resurrected Christ, John had a purpose for including this story right here in this section.
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Notice in verse 30 that Jesus did many other signs.
In John’s gospel, he recorded a total of 7 signs.
But, John also said that there were more than 7 signs that Jesus did in front of His disciples, which are NOT included in this gospel.
John’s purpose was not to write an exhaustive story of Jesus’ life.
John’s overall purpose for writing this Gospel is to convince the readers like us to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in His name.
But, how does John use this wedding to convince us that Jesus is the Son of God?
This wedding is also the place where our Lord Jesus famously turned water into wine. After doing so, John says in verse 11:
11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
This can be understood that this was Jesus’ first sign in John’s gospel.
And, it can also be understood that this was Jesus’ first sign that He ever performed in His earthly ministry.
So, as we unfold this wonderful text of Scripture, I want to offer you one concise and practical lesson to keep in mind: God can transform our troubles into trust and testimony,
In just a moment, I’m going to walk you through four scenes.
Context
To begin, we are given the context that connects us back to the previous chapter.
John begins the narrative for noting, “On the third day.”
From John 1:19 to John 2:1, it all happened during Jesus’ first week of ministry.
John clues us in by noting the sequence of days in verses 19, 29, 35, and 43 when he writes, “The next day.”
So, about 3 days after Jesus met Philip and Nathanael in Bethsaida, He goes to Cana.
If you trace Jesus’ journey thus far, you notice that He doesn’t stay in one place for that long.
The place where Jesus performs His sign is known as Cana of Galilee. It was west of the Sea of Galilee, and north of Nazareth.
We remember Nathanael in the previous passage. His hometown was in Cana according to John 21:2.
Cana would be the first place where Jesus performs His first sign. Plus, it would also be the place where Jesus performs His second sign (John 4:46-54).
Biblical Theology
Exposition
Now, let’s look at the text. In verses 1-5, we encounter the first scene in the wedding: The Trouble.
At the wedding, the mother of Jesus - whom we know is called Mary - was there.
She was invited to the wedding.
We cannot 100% verify this.
She may have played a role in facilitating the supply of wine in the background.
It is possible that Mary may have been a friend or relative of the married couple.
Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples.
And with any wedding, there is bound to be a problem or two that occurs.
This scene shows us the interaction between Jesus and his mother.
So, what’s the problem at the wedding?
The problem is that the wine ran out. And the mother of Jesus said to Jesus, “they have no wine.”
As I mentioned, it is possible that Mary played a role in supplying the wine.
However, since they’re out of wine, she’s anxious about this matter.
To us, it might not be a big deal. If the wine ran out, just get more wine!
However, you have to understand the historical and cultural context of wine.
When you understand the context, it is actually quite significant.
There are two reasons why running out of wine is serious:
First Reason: Running out of wine is a huge deal because it is not easy to reproduce wine.
In our culture, if we run out of wine, then it is easy to get more because there are companies that can easily produce alcohol.
In Jesus’ day, however, producing wine does not come easily. It takes a long time to produce.
Wine is produced by harvesting a large quantity of grapes, which are then crushed to extract the juice.
Traditionally, this was done by people treading on the grapes with their feet in a container, allowing the juice to flow into a receptacle.
The extracted juice is then fermented to produce wine.
Overall, it takes at least 2 weeks to get the wine ready. By the time the wine is ready, the wedding is already over!
Second Reason: Running out of wine is a huge deal because it causes social disgrace or an embarrassment to the newly married couple.
It is humiliating not to have enough wine to drink.
Such an event would be unforgettable for the bride and groom.
Additionally, wine often symbolized joy. Psalm 104:15 says, “wine to gladden the heart of man…”
To run out of wine equals to making the guests and the married couple unhappy, and unjoyful.
In our modern weddings, perhaps running out of wine is not the biggest embarrassment.
Perhaps, it is running out of food or coffee.
Or, running out of your favourite cheesecake or dessert.
Or, the wedding cake was ruined.
Or, the bride or the groom accidentally slip and fall into the lake as you may see on social media.
Or, other oversights.
Mary says to Jesus, “They [the couple] have no wine.” Why would Mary approach Jesus about this concern?
Maybe, Mary knew the uniqueness about Jesus before she gave birth to Him.
Mary would have known from the angel that Jesus will be called holy - the Son of God.
He got baptized. He was tempted in the wilderness. He came back with his disciples.
So, Mary wanted Jesus to reveal Himself publicly as the Messiah.
But, Jesus responds to her in verse 4, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Woah, did Jesus say that to His mom?
To us, it may sound like Jesus is being harsh and rude towards His own mother.
There are two possible explanations:
First, during that time, it was probably an affectionate and respectful way to address a woman.
In Britain or in the UK, the waiters would address the woman as “madam” or “lady.”
The second possible explanation is that there was a change and distancing of Jesus’ relationship with his mother as He enters His public ministry.
He calls her, “woman,” instead of “mother.”
In Jesus’ earthly ministry, Jesus - in a sense - no longer recognizes Mary as His mother.
There is a new relationship between them.
46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus is focused on the kingdom of God and the will of His Father, not the will of Mary.
The ones whom He’ll acknowledge as His family members are those who do the will of the Father.
In John’s gospel, we learn that Jesus does and says everything that completely aligns with His Father’s will.
Here are a couple of samplings from this gospel.
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
In a mild rebuke, Jesus responds to Mary, “What does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Running out of wine was none of Jesus’ business.
It was not will of His Father to solve the wine problem (at this moment).
That’s because His hour has not yet come.
This is a particular phrase Jesus uses in John’s gospel.
It means that it is not time for Jesus to be glorified.
Specifically, Jesus’ glorification is pointing to His death.
We do know, however, that Jesus did provide a solution to the lack of wine.
But, we should remember that Jesus did not do it out of His compassion for His mother.
He did not do it just to save host from the embarrassment.
He did not do it in response to human urgency.
Jesus did it because it was the will of the Father.
It was not God’s will for Jesus to provide a solution yet in verse 4.
It will be God’s will for Jesus to act quietly in verse 6.
This does not mean that God changed His mind and will spontaneously.
This means that it was the Father's will for Jesus to act at the appropriate time so that the glory of Jesus would be revealed.
So, even though Mary recognized that it was not Jesus’ hour yet, she still hoped that Jesus would do something.
She told the servants in verse 5:“Do whatever he tells you.”
Isn’t that a good instruction from Mary?
If Jesus tells you to do something, then it’s a good idea to do it.
So, Mary may have held on to hope and in faith that Jesus would do something in the hour of trouble.
Carson: “In short, in 2:3 Mary approaches Jesus as his mother, and is reproached; in 2:5, she responds as a believer, and her faith is honoured. She still does not know what he would do; but she has committed the matter to him, and trusts him.”
Brothers and sisters, I do not know what “trouble” you are facing in this season.
I pray and hope that you will learn from Mary’s example.
Even though you do not know what God is doing in your life, you can wait upon His appropriate timing by entrusting your concerns and matters to Him.
Your circumstances and troubles should not excuse you from doing what He tells you to do.
If you do not know what He wants you to do, then come back reading and listening to His word because His will is revealed to you in Scripture.
Having learning the 1st scene, “The Trouble,” we approach the 2nd scene, “The Transformation,” found in verses 6-10.
John transitions the dialogue between Jesus and Mary to the actual sign.
In verse 6, there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification.
What were these jars used for?
They were mainly reserved for ritual purposes and sacred uses.
For example, these jars can contain enough water to fill a Jewish immersion pool for ceremonial purification.
Or, the Jews would draw water from the jars so that they use it to purify or wash their hands and utensils before meal.
Such purification and custom would have been appropriate for a wedding feast.
However, using the water for non-ritual purposes would have violated the Jewish custom.
Certainly, what Jesus did with the stone water jars could have been sacriligious.
DA Carson, however, offers a deeper insight to Jesus’ use of the water jars: “Their purpose provides a clue to one of the meanings of the story: the water represents the old order of Jewish law and custom, which Jesus was to replace with something better.”
If you recall John’s prologue in 1:1-18, he gives a concise summary and overview of the person and life of Jesus.
So, in this specific instance, Jesus lives out John 1:16-17
16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Jesus introduces a better way than human traditions or works of righteousness.
This new way is characterized by grace, forgiveness, truth, joy, and satisfaction, which are found in Him.
Additionally, John tells us that each jar held 20-30 gallons.
It is almost 70 or 105 litres!
Imagine filling 35-50 2-litre bottles of Coke or Sprite into one jar.
And, six jars would have been 120 to 180 gallons OR 420 or 630 litres in total.
Jesus gave the servants this instruction...
“Fill the water jars with water.”
But, an interesting question we should ask is this, “couldn’t He have just done it Himself?”
God does not need you. His sovereign purpose will be accomplished.
Certainly, He could have just snapped His finger and say “abracadabra.”
He’s God, of course.
However, He does get people involved, doesn’t He?
It’s the same as the feeding of 5000.
He could have just multiplied loaves and fishes from an empty basket, but He does ask the kid to bring the 5 loaves and 2 fishes.
So, the servants filled the jars with water up to the brim.
Notice, Jesus did not specifically say to fill it up to the brim, but the servants went above and beyond.
What I think we could draw out from this text is that we are to obey Jesus and give it our all in serving Him, and watch what He does.
Charles Spurgeon: “When you are bidden to believe in him, believe in him up to the brim. When you are told to love him, love him up to the brim. When you are commanded to serve him, serve him up to the brim.”
So, the jars are filled with a lot of water.
So, Jesus couldn’t even add wine into the mix.
In fact, He was not planning to add anything to the water.
Rather, He’s planning to transform it.
What would have taken at least two weeks for wine production was miraculously accomplished in just a moment or a split second.
We know that the transformation happened in a split second is because of some of the words that John uses.
In verse 8, notice that after the servants filled the jars up to the brim, Jesus says to them, “NOW.”
In other words, Jesus gave the servants an immediate instruction without delay. “Now, it is the time.”
Time for what? Draw some out.
This word, “draw,” is used again in the context of John 4 where the Samaritan woman went to DRAW water from the well.
Just as fresh water was drawn from the well, so the wine was freshly drawn from the jars.
And Jesus instructs the servants to draw some out and take liquid to the master of the feast, who would have been the headwaiter responsible for managing this wedding banquet.
In verse 9, the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine.
He did not know where it came from except the servants.
Notice that the sign of Jesus was done privately. Jesus did not perform this sign publicly.
It was a subtle display of God’s power that even the master of the feast did not even know where it came from.
Brothers and sisters, when there are troubles in our life, and even when we pray, it seems that God is not there.
It seems that God does not care or love me in my crisis. The key phrase is “it seems”.
In actual reality, God is working mysteriously behind the scenes. We may not see the hands of God working in our lives.
But the Bible contains story after story of God working behind the scenes, such as the story of Ruth, Joseph, Esther, and Job.
And when we look back in our lives, we can probably see the invisible hands of God were at work.
His sovereign power can transform our troubles into trust and testimony.
In verse 10, the master of the feast speaks to the bridegroom.
He compliments the bridegroom.
In that culture, it is important to serve good wine first and then the poor wine.
To much of the headwaiter’s surprise (and surely the groom’s surprise), the best wine was kept until the last.
In this story, he makes a comment that the bridegroom has kept the “good wine” until now.
It must have been the best wine ever because it was produced perfectly by the God of the Universe.
Now, when he says, “when people have drunk freely,” his comment is not meant to encourage alcoholism and intoxication. He’s merely speaking from his own experience.
The Scripture is clear that drunkenness and addiction to alcohol is a sin.
In fact, the next Sunday, I plan to do a separate message on what the Bible teaches about alcohol and our response to it as Christians, so you want to come back for it.
But let me address this question that you might have…if alcoholism and drunkenness are sins, “Why did Jesus make more wine for people?”
There are three possible views to answer that question, and I’ll let you figure it out:
First, Craig Keener, a scholar in Bible culture and background, argues that Jesus made more wine to celebrate the 7-day wedding, but it’s not like wine in our day that usually has high alcohol content.
The wine in that culture was watered down, with (on average) two to three parts water to one part wine.
And since this was a Jewish wedding, Jewish teachers who most likely would have been at the wedding would have disapproved drunkenness.
That’s a possible view.
Second, however, D.A. Carson, one of my favourite NT scholars of John’s gospel, would argue for a theological point in that the wine that Jesus produced was far more superior as this event is connected to the introduction of the Messianic Age.
That’s also a possible view.
Third, William Barclay and Leon Morris would make a similar argument that it is impossible for the wedding party to consume that amount of wine.
So, Jesus made so much wine so that it can become a wedding gift to the married couple.
This third view also communicates a theological point in that Christ abundantly supplies all the need of His people.
Regardless of which view may be the most likely one, all three views would agree that drunkenness is sinful and Jesus forbids it.
We have seen “The Trouble” and “The Transformation” in this passage.
Finally, there are two more things to consider.
We will consider “The Trust.”
In verse 11, it says that turning water into wine was the first of Jesus’ signs.
Some translations would say, “miraculous signs.”
What is the difference beteween sign and miracle?
A miracle is a divine intervention where God does something that is outside the law of nature.
Certainly, turning water into wine was a supernatural work of God. It does not make sense.
The wine came into being or existence.
A sign is a miracle, but it is deeper in a sense that what Jesus did in this story points to something more significant than just a mere miracle.
So, what is the significance of this sign?
This sign manifested the glory of Christ.
Of course, I don’t think Jesus revealed EVERYTHING about Himself in this story, but only aspects of His glory.
John does not want us to just focus on the transformation of water into wine.
John wants us to focus more on what the sign tells us about Christ.
Jesus shows an aspect of His glory by revealing Himself as the Creator God of all things.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Christ brings into being what was not there.
Just as God created the heavens and earth out of nothing immediately by His word, so God transformed this water into wine without using grapes or adding grapes into the water.
Not only that, this sign of Jesus points to a greater miracle.
You may think turning water into wine is a great miracle.
But, our salvation is a miracle.
Christ can also bring into being what is not in you in the first place.
Jesus does not need any ingredients in you or from you to transform you.
There is nothing we can bring, but ourselves.
No religion. No ceremonial purification. No good works. No good deeds.
He can transform your heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
He can transform your lack of faith into active faith in Him.
He can transform and cause you to go from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive.
His disciples believed in Him. They saw a glimpse of His glory.
However, signs and miracles did not always convince people to believe in Jesus and the gospel.
The text does not tell us if the master of the feast believed in Jesus. It also does not tell us if the servants believed.
The ones who did believe were His disciples. Their trust and faith in Jesus would eventually lead to the last lesson: “The Testimony.”
Every time someone believes in Jesus, they go to their friends and family members and testify to them about Jesus, in hopes of inviting them to trust Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
This speaks to John 1:14 where the followers of Jesus testified about seeing His glory.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
So, our passage concludes in verse 12 where Jesus, His family members, and His disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there for a few days.
Application / Conclusion
There is so much more we can say about the wedding at Cana. Time does not permit me to talk about:
The foreshadowing of marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19 between Christ and the church.
Jesus’ glorious messianic kingdom where wine - the symbol of joy and gladness - will abound.
So, in conclusion, we have considered this main point: God can transform our troubles into trust and testimony. We saw four scenes:
The Trouble
The Transformation
The Trust
The Testimony
As you begin another week, you might face more troubles than last week.
Or perhaps you’re not facing troubles. Either way, my encouragement for you is to trust in Jesus because He is infinitely greater than all our troubles.
Our troubles are incomparable to what Jesus have to do on the cross for our sins.
If He can take care of our sins, then how much more can He take care of your troubles?