John 2:1-12 says,...

Today's verses are John chapter 2 and verses 1 through 12, which read,

v.1-3 - On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee.  Jesus's mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding as well.  When the wine ran out, Jesus's mother told Him, "They don't have any wine."

This event is referred to as the First Sign given of Jesus to pronounce that He is the Messiah.  The Apostle John will give us seven of them.  It is the turning of water into wine.  Jesus is at a family type gathering, a wedding.  He is there with His mother and some of His disciples.  They have traveled from the Jordan River area to a small town named Cana.  Wedding were very big events, as they are today, but they went on for days. 

If I read this right, it is a Tuesday.  The Sabbath, or Saturday was the 7th day of the week.  Sunday is the 1st day of the week and so we are on the 3rd day and therefore a Tuesday.  Food and the common beverage of wine were plentiful at these events but a problem has arose in this celebration.  They were out of wine and Jesus's mother Mary finds out about it.  Mary already knows a lot about Jesus through the angel's announcement and the things she has been pondering since His birth.  She brings dilemma to Jesus as one who could do something about it.  Note that there is no mention of Joseph here.  It could be that Joseph, who was thought to be much older than Mary, had passed away by this time.  He also would have been there and Mary's natural and cultural response would have been to take this information to him if he were available.

The question is, "What will Jesus do with this information from His mother?" 

v.4 - "What does that have to do with you and Me, woman?"  Jesus asked.  "My hour has not yet come."

It seems a little harsh.  He doesn't call her "mother."  The statements are short and abrupt.  This is not His wedding and He is not in charge of how much wine they have.  That is the responsibility of the groom's family, the wine and the food.  We have flipped this over with the bride's family providing the reception after the wedding.  In the big picture of everything, Jesus is the groom and the church is His bride.  Jesus is the One who will provide the bread and wine, His very life, for the church.  Is Jesus thinking ahead and not about the wedding itself?  Is His response in relationship to a wedding to come in which He will be the One who will provide all that is needed?  In relationship to that wedding, His hour has not yet come.  

v.5-8 - "Do whatever He tells you," his mother told the servants.  Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification.  Each contained twenty or thirty gallons.  "Fill the jars with water,"  Jesus told them.  So they filled them to the brim.  Then He said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter."  And they did.

Good ole Mom steps right into action and pushes her Son to respond to this present situation.  It was a big wedding to have that many jars there for purification purposes.  They would hold from 120 gallons to 180 gallons of liquid.  The purification laws came out of the Old Covenant.  These jars could represent the Old Covenant and something new was going to come out of them.  Jesus gives the order to fill them with what is usually in them, water.  He is also dealing with the servants of the household and they obey His every command.  The servants are witnessing what is going to take place.  They, like the shepherds in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night, get the first scoop on who Jesus is.  The servants will tell the real story about what happened.  Water went in but wine was scooped out by the servants and taken to the man in charge of the celebration.

v.9, 10 - When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from -- though the servants who had drawn the water knew.  He called the groom and told him, "Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior.  But you have kept the fine wine until now."

The headwaiter was in the dark but not the servants.  The headwaiter gives the normal practice at weddings such as these.  You start with the good stuff, the "A" wine, and then after they have had a few then you give them the "B" wine because they really can't tell the difference.  The headwaiter pulls aside the groom and says what is happening here is just the opposite.  This wine is better than the first.  

Something new has come out of the old and it is better.  Jesus comes out of the Old Covenant as the New Covenant.  Jesus the groom providing for His Bride, the Church, a new wine that is better than what they had before.  There would be a time in the future when this would be realized on a cross and the evidence of an empty tomb.  All this imagery that we add but the present reality was a miracle that the servants witnessed and it was tied to this man named Jesus.  Jesus turned the water, massive amounts of it, into some great wine.  

v.11, 12 - Jesus did this, the first of His signs, in Cana of Galilee.  He revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.  After this, He went down to Capernaum, together with His mother, His brothers, and His disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.

The Apostle John calls this the first sign so there are more to come.  We are given the location again, Cana of Galilee.  We are also given why this sign was done by Jesus.  It was to reveal who He really was.  His disciples responded with belief.  Jesus is in the party of His disciples, His mother and His brothers.  Yes, Jesus had brothers, ones born after Him to Mary and Joseph.  These are set apart here from His disciples who were also following Him.  At this point Jesus is in the north of Israel and on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  We are also told that He stayed there at this time only a few days before departing to somewhere but that is for next time.

Reading and studying the Bible helps you to connect the dots with a story behind the story like this one.  You go back to a children's book or lesson in Sunday School class with pictures to color and now see what else is going on.  You become the servants who have been doing what Jesus has said to do by being people of the Word.  You are obedient to go back to His words over and over again, reading, listening, and applying and now this story comes to life because Jesus is woven more into the fabric of the event.  This is why the Bible is the book for your lifetime and each time through brings to light more of who He is.  Let us pray.

"Heavenly Father, thank You for the revealing of Your Son, Jesus Christ, to us over and over again.  Thank You for providing the bread and the wine for the wedding that is to come for Your Bride, the Church.  You have brought Someone better for us to drink in.  Amen."

Pastor Adam