One of the first miracles that we see Jesus do in the gospel of John (John 2:1-10) is changing water to wine at a wedding. If we look closely to the details it will reveal more to us about the character of Jesus that we should try to reflect, what His intentions are, and how to follow Him.
The first thing we notice is the location. It happens at a wedding, a happy event. This shows us that God cares about and can improve on our happy times, and wants them to be even better. He doesn’t just help us in our tough times.
The Second thing we see is that He tells his mother “My hour has not yet come”. This tells us that God has a time for things and they may not be when we want it.
The Third thing we see is His mother tells the servants “Whatever He says to you, do it.” We notice from this that when we are obedient to God’s will good things happen. This is great advice. Whatever Jesus says, do it!
The Fourth thing we see is there are six water pots of stone containing water. These were used for a Jewish purification ritual. What does this represent to us? The number six is used in the bible to represent man. They are stone and not clay. Stone is harder than clay. The water represents the laws and rituals the Jewish people had developed. The water pots represented men that had become hardened by following the laws and rituals.
The Fifth thing we see is Jesus says to the servants “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. This tells us that the pots were not full and Jesus filled them. This represents Jesus has come to fulfill the law, represented by the water pots, and replace it with his blood represented by the wine. The water purification rituals of the Jews were used to make them”clean”. These purification laws and sacrifices could never completely “clean” us of our sin, but Jesus can. Nothing that we can do (no amount of scrubbing and cleansing or sacrifices) can take away our sins. Only the blood of Jesus can clean us so we can stand before God
The Sixth thing revealed to us is that the water was transformed to wine. Jesus is in the business of transformation. He takes stony hearts filled with legalistic law and fills them with the blood of salvation. He takes sadness and fills us with joy. Wine represents joy as in Psalm 104:15. He changes us. He took Saul a persecutor of Christians and turned him into Paul the apostle. He took Peter with a hot temper and transformed him into an apostle with love for others. He took Mary a demon possessed harlot and turned her into a saint. He will change anyone who chooses to follow Him. He has and is still changing me and He will do the same you.
The Seventh thing we see is Jesus tells the servants to “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. This shows us true faith and obedience by the servants. They didn’t taste it first. They just believed Jesus and did what they were told. They took water from a cleaning jar not drinking water and served it to the master in front of everyone and expected good results. Notice also that Jesus did this work through others. Gods work is done through people who are willing and obedient. In Luke 5:4-6 Jesus tells Simon Peter a professional fisherman how to fish. Simon Peter had caught nothing after fishing all night. He said “nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.” The results were so many fish that it took two boats to carry them. This tells us that in spite of what worldly knowledge we have “nevertheless” we should follow His instructions
The Eighth thing we see is the master tasted the water turned to wine and did not know where it came from, but the servants knew. This tells us if you are a servant who follows God’s will you will be given inside information that others may not know.
We find in John 15:15 with Jesus his servants are considered His friends, and He shares knowledge of the Father with his friends.
The Ninth thing revealed to us is from this statement spoken by the master of the feast. “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 shows us that with Jesus it is always getting better and He saves the best for last. While with the things of the world it is not that way. With sin it tastes good at first but then is bitter at the end. Life without Jesus is best when you are young and then gets tough as you go along; middle age is a battle and the end without Jesus, well its hell.
Life with Jesus the end is the best. The Bible tells us how the story ends. Jesus will return and we will be in heaven with Him forever. The sequel to the wedding where he changes water into wine is still to come. Jesus will come for his bride, the church body. And the wine of joy will run freely at the wedding that is to come.
Jesus thank you for showing us what you intend to do. We want you to come into our lives and transform us. Lord we ask you to soften our hardened hearts and fill us with the wine of joy. Lord, clean us of our sin so we are presentable to be in God’s presence. We want to follow you with faith and obedience. Lord thank you for showing us that joyful times and good things will happen when we follow the advice “Whatever Jesus says, do it
