Celebration of a New Covenant

Our Marriage to Christ

Or better put we can say welcome to the new covenant. In this passage we are studying tonight we see a lot of symbolism in what is going on. Their is really a lot of significance on why this is the first of Jesus miracles or signs. The first of seven that John mentions in his gospel. First of all let us start off with discussing what the old covenant is verses the new covenant.

Old Covenant

Blood of animals (Leviticus 1-8)

Law of Moses (Malachi 4:4)

Brings condemnation (Romans 7:7-12)

Many sacrifices (Leviticus 16, Leviticus 18)

New Covenant

Blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7)

Law of Christ (Mark 12:28-31, Galatians 6:2)

Brings Salvation (Romans 10:5-21)

One Sacrifice (1 Peter 3:18)

So when we see Jesus ministry beginning we are seeing the Old Covenant coming to an end and the New Covenant is being ushered in. I believe tat is one reason we will see such a big emphasis on the third day starting with this passage and continuing on through chapter 4.

Jesus performing this miracle on the third day in a sense is foreshadowing his death and resurrection.

What is a wedding? It is the joining of two to become one. Really it is a cerebration of that joining. So what does this got to do with Jesus ministry. How is our relationship with Christ described? as a marriage. He is the bridegroom and we are the bride. in a few weeks we will study this more deeply, but you see this picture painted in several spots, John 3:28-30, 2 Corinthians 11:2, and Revelation 19:7-9. And what Christ did here on this earth was and is definitely worth celebrating. Jesus perfect life and ministry and death is what makes our spiritual marriage to Him possible. In a sense.

This wedding miracle was a celebration of Jesus bringing the new covenant in.

Marriage is a vow not to be broken, so with our relationship with Christ being symbolized by marriage, Jesus is saying I will always be true to you and will never abandon you. Even though we are at times unfaithful when we cheat on God with false gods full of false promises.

The Timing of Christ

in verse 4 Jesus did not mean “woman” in a harsh way, within his culture this was not seen as harsh. And Mary here was not asking Jesus to do anything, but simply made a statement of the wedding was out of wine. Jesus knew what he was about to do but, was setting the tone with his statement to his mother so things would not be taken out of context.

So as we have seen this is a celebration of the new covenant to be coming, it was not quiet time for the final state to be initiated that would bring the New Covenant in.

Jesus timing does not depend on worldly circumstances or on the words of people, but on His good and perfect will.

Jesus’ words also make it evident all our actions impact more than just the now.

Jesus’ miracle wasn’t about keeping the party alive, but pointing to the goodness of the works He was about to accomplish.

The Abundance of God’s Blessings

Also you have got to understand the vats were empty. They were empty of man’s work (old covenant). They had no means of meeting any need. They were completely reliant on the work of Christ.

If we want to be in the heavenly celebration we must be empty of ourselves and be filled with the overflowing goodness of Christ.

As life abundantly roles out of us we must pour into others. And let the abundance of God’s blessing be evident in our lives.

Jesus turned approximately 120-180 gallons of water to wine. So it was not just a small act. You cannot just pull off a trick with that much liquid. Jesus truly changed the structure of the water to make it wine. Their is a lot of debate on what the alcohol level of the wine or if it was grape juice. We are not going to focus on that debate. Scripture warns against drunkenness (Ephesians 5:18, Proverbs 20:1, Proverbs 23:20-21). Scripture says not to be a stumbling box and to many alcohol is (1 Corinthians 8:9). So I highly support abstaining from alcohol like John the Baptist (Luke 1:14-15).

So regardless of what wine was in the Bible days it often symbolized God’s blessing throughout the OT. One passage is Proverbs 3:9-10:

Proverbs 3:9–10 ESV

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

So this wine of high quality and vast amounts was symbolic of the overflowing goodness and abundance found in the New Covenant Jesus was beginning to usher in.

The master of the feast was baffled by the goodness. Well the world will be baffled about the way God’s goodness is evident in our lives. Even if we are in chains the world will be baffled by our boldness and peace despite the persecution.

And imagine the the servants and all the thoughts they must have been having. They just filled those containers to the brim with water and Jesus had not even touched the vats and had told them to go draw from them. I know me personally, I would have been terrified to take the master some to try. Then i would have a look of straight shock at he amazement of the guys reaction. God always amazes. And like the servants we got to trust the master even when we don’t know the end results. God is always victorious in the end.

The master of the feast called the bridegroom and talked about the goodness. People are gonna talk about what God is doing in your life. They may not be as cheery here as the master of the feast but they will be talking, Even if it is them talking about how crazy you appear to them, but the important part will be they are talking about God. And God can move in the conversation no matter their intentions.