Sep 18 2024 19 mins 1
Jesus turns Water into Wine (John 2:1-12)
Only the disciples and a few servants saw Jesus turn water into wine at the wedding at Cana. John highlights how this quiet miracle confirmed their belief that Jesus is the Christ.
Review
The thesis of John’s gospel is the only way to gain eternal life in the kingdom of heaven is to believe Jesus is the Christ. John chose certain aspects of the ministry of Jesus to highlight certain themes.
* Theme 1: The importance of testimony. Why should we believe what we haven’t seen for ourselves? We believe because of the testimony of those who saw it.
* Theme 2: The only way to receive eternal life is to believe in Jesus. What’s the point of all this testimony? That we believe in Jesus. Why is believing in Jesus so important? Because he’s the only one who can grant us eternal life.
* Theme 3: Those who believe do so because of the activity of the Spirit of God. We don’t manufacture belief. The Spirit gives it to us.
Social Context
* Imagine a week-long celebration where joy is abundant until an unforeseen mishap threatens to tarnish the entire event.
* In this culture, running out of wine at a wedding is a catastrophic event.
* Hospitality was very important in their culture and not having any wine to give the guests was cause for shame.
* Mary has compassion for the host (the bridegroom) and turns to Jesus for help.
* The address Jesus uses (Woman) is a title of respect, similar to addressing someone as Rabbi.
* He uses an idiom that means: "what is this to you and to me?"
Jesus turns Water into Wine Quietly
* Jesus says, "My hour has not yet come” because it is not yet time for his public ministry to begin.
* He performs this miracle in the background such that only a few servants and his disciples even know it happened.
* The master of the feast provides independent testimony that the miracle happened.
* Even though this miracle may have symbolic value, John highlights the fact that the disciples believe in Jesus as a result.
Jesus turns Water into Wine Significance
* In this brief space of time, the men who will become the apostles have either heard or been told about John the Baptist's testimony that this is the Messiah.
* They began following Jesus.
* They saw or heard about the miracle Jesus did with Nathanael.
* They attended a wedding as guests and saw Jesus turn water into wine.
It’s important for us to know why they were so confident in their belief because we need to know they are reliable witnesses.
Glimpses of Jesus
John also gives us our first glimpses into the man, Jesus himself.
* He authoritatively gathers disciples like an important rabbi would.
* He renames Peter.
* He makes the cryptic comment about how the heavens will open and the angels of God descend on the Son of Man.
* He says “his hour has not yet come,” implying one day his hour will come. He will be glorified as the Messiah.
* He speaks respectfully to his mother.
* He solves a problem that was not his responsibility to solve.
