God Saved His Best for Last
John 2:1-12,
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.
I had not experienced the Joe Rogan podcast until last month — with its three-hour conversations. But I heard he hosted a Christian apologist from Canada named Wes Huff.
At one point early on, they were talking about the beginning, whether creation, or “the Big Bang”:
Rogan: However many billions of years ago there was nothing. And then all of a sudden there was something. . . science requires one miracle.
Huff: When people ask me about . . . the miracles in the Bible . . . I say “Well . . . if the first miracle happened, if everything you know [came from] nothing [then] Jesus turning water into wine . . .
Rogan: That’s an easy one.
Huff: Well, yeah. That’s a party trick.
Rogan: Yeah, exactly. It really is nothing compared to the birth of the universe. But [people today are] convinced at the creation of the universe, and we’re very skeptical at other miracles.
Huff: Yeah, very odd.
Rogan: Yes, it’s very odd.
This morning we come to that “party trick.” And the Rogan and Huff conversation might help us put a piece of it in perspective.
The fundamental miracle is that we’re here. The world exists. You exist; you are alive. Once there was nothing, and now, everything you know! And if that original miracle happened, which it obviously did, then multiplying loaves, giving sight to the blind, turning water into wine, and even raising the dead — those are not the real issues.
Life, existence, the world as it is, that’s the original miracle, which clearly happened — and these other lesser miracles are secondary — important but secondary. And in that light, such miracles are not as imponderable as your average unbelieving person today might first think.
Not Just Water and Wine
But how does that help us this morning with “water into wine”? Well, perhaps like this: the most shocking reality in John 2 isn’t that water became wine. What’s most stunning is this person named Jesus. This story is not finally about water and wine. That’s secondary. The story is about Jesus. It’s not about science and whether this can happen; it’s not about alchemy and whether we might be able to repeat it. The point is what the miracle points to — that is, whom the miracle points to.
Which is why John calls this a “sign.” See that in verse 11:
“This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
A sign is something that points beyond itself. It signifies. And what does this miraculous episode signify in John 2? John says it “manifested [Jesus’s] glory.” That echoes what we saw a few weeks ago in John 1:14:
“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.”
In this Gospel, John is giving us glimpses of the glory. John has seen Jesus’s glory and believed in him. And so he carefully writes what he’s seen, that we can see it too, with the eyes of faith.
Verse 11 says that in doing this miracle, and revealing his glory, Jesus’s “disciples believed in him.” That, John says, in 20:31, is the purpose of the book, chapter 20, verse 31,
“that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
The Gospel of John was written to give us life (now and forever) in the name of Jesus by presenting him to us in his glory that we might find him compelling and believe in him.
So, let’s ask this morning: How does this story breed faith in Jesus? I’ll highlight three in particular.
Three Glories of Jesus
Let me give you a word ahead of time about where we’re going at the end: I want to invite you to consider Jesus this morning like maybe you never have. I’m not going to ask you to raise a hand or walk to the front, but I am going to ask you not to get in the way of this Jesus decisively changing your heart and your life.
I’m not asking you to make a decision today, as much as not get in the way. If you came here not believing in Jesus, or not quite sure what to think about Jesus, I’m asking you to let your guard down for a few minutes, and look with me at these three glories. See if Jesus presents himself to your soul as compelling, and whether he evokes your trust.
1. Jesus Is the Good Son (verses 1–5)
First, he’s a human son to Mary, his earthly mother. Verses 1–3:
“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.’”
Put yourself in Mary’s shoes. She has raised this amazing boy, now a man. And while his sheer holiness must have been frustrating to her sin at times, can you imagine what it must have been like to have the sinless, eternal Son of God, in full humanity, as her earthly son? Just think of the ingenuity of Jesus.
Somewhere along the way, her husband, Joseph, had died. We don’t know when or how. But now Jesus is in his thirties, and for years he has provided for his mother. She has leaned on him as her man, and what a good son he must have been.
So, Mary’s helping with this wedding, perhaps for extended family, and they run out of wine (which is a huge disgrace at a wedding!). She comes to her son, who seems to always fix her problems.
Just recently he left carpentry behind to take disciples and travel around as a teacher, and he’s there at the wedding with his disciples. So Mary tells him, “They have no wine.” Jesus, help. You always know what to do, my good son.
Then comes verses 4–5 and Jesus’s surprising response:
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.”
Jesus’s response is abrupt. It puts distance between this good son and his earthly mother. Instead of calling her Mother, or something more endearing, he calls her “Woman.” Which is not disrespectful; it’s true. But it’s a stiff arm. And a surprise.
As we move through the Gospel of John, we will see how Jesus’s mind and awareness is often operating at a different level than the person he is speaking with. Mary states the practical problem at hand: “They have no wine.” Jesus hears wine, and he thinks of his calling. The Old Testament has promised a coming messianic age in which, says Amos 9:13–14,
“the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
[God] will restore the fortunes of [his] people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine.”
Jesus hears whispers of the coming age, which he has come to bring in, but there will be a price, and he says, “My hour has not yet come.”
What will become very clear in the Gospel of John is that Jesus’s “hour” is the time of his death and resurrection — the moment of his glorification, when he’s lifted up on the cross to die for sins of his people, and then lifted up from the grave in the new life of the resurrection.
And this hour that Jesus has coming will not come from any human initiative. No human will suggest the time and the way Jesus will bring in the new age. Not even his dear mother.
Jesus will take his cues from his heavenly Father, not his earthly mother. And how does Mary, who could have been offended, respond? She responds humbly, in faith. She trusts him.
This is an awesome moment for Mary. Jesus has just distanced her (his own family, his own mother), which is necessary but surely unpleasant for her. Yet she responds in faith, and gives the wedding servants the timeless advice “Do whatever he tells you.” Which is what she would tell us still today.
So, in verses 1–5, we see that Jesus is the good son. He is the earthly son of Mary, the one she has relied on for years, and she trusts in him even when he gives her this necessary pushback. And even more than Mary’s good son, he is the Son of his heavenly Father, and does his Father’s will, as we will see.
2. Jesus Provides the Good Wine (verses 6–10)
What does Jesus do next? Verses 6–8:
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.
Verse 6 mentions the six stone jars used for Jewish rites of purification (key detail). To fill these, the servants must draw from a well about 150 gallons of water. This is no small job. It likely took some time. Mary has said, do whatever he tells you, and the servants do it, as much work as it is. Then, once they’ve completed the job, he says, “Draw now and carry to the master of the feast.” This is like the emcee today, the guy on the mic.
What is Jesus doing with these six jars? Remember, Jesus already has in mind his “hour.” The coming hour of his death and resurrection, when he will usher in the new age, is not here yet, but in the meantime, he’s going to give this modest wedding, and these servants, and his disciples a glimpse of his coming glory. A taste of the glory.
The stone jars were used for Jewish purification rites, for various washings according to old-covenant laws and traditions. And Jesus wants the servants to fill up these six stone jars to show that the old way, the old covenant, is coming to its fulfillment. Then Jesus will do something new.
Jesus brings with him a new covenant, a new era, a new age, one dripping in sweet wine, rather than endless washings and ritual cleansings. The old was grace (huge water jars, filled to the brim); the new is grace in place of grace (1:16), the dawning age that drips with wine.
Now look at verses 9–10:
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.”
Like Mary speaks even better than she knows in verse 5 (“Do whatever he tells you”), now the master of the feast speaks even better than he knows: “you have kept the good wine until now.”
The master of the feast thinks it was the bridegroom who provided the good wine, but the servants know it’s Jesus. It’s Jesus who kept the good wine till now. And it’s Jesus’s Father who in his perfect timing and plan has kept his good wine for now.
Ultimately, what the master of the feast says is true about God, and about the way he works in the world and in history, and in particular in the old covenant with Moses and now the coming new covenant in Jesus: God has kept the good wine until now.
By “now,” John means the church age — from the first coming of Christ until his second. We live now in the era of the new covenant; membership for God’s people is not by birth, but new birth; not by family, but faith; and so the new covenant rituals, baptism and the Lord’s Table, are based on faith, not family. The church is not a group of people born into Christian families; the church is a born-again people.
What about the significance of wine here? The wine of the new covenant has multiple meanings. First is the Old Testament imagery: wine is associated with joy and celebrations, feasts and weddings. God’s Messiah will come to rescue his people and bring them into joy, gladness, celebration, song.
And yet, what else does wine represent (especially in these jars of purification)? It’s red, like blood. And if you drink too much of it, it makes you stagger. Which is why a cup of wine can represent blessing or curse, depending on the context and use.
The wine of this new covenant is rich with meaning. On the one hand, it’s the joy and celebration of God’s people finally united to him and near to him, living with him in final bliss. And on the other hand, the cup also represents the curse we deserve, which Jesus drinks to the bottom as he sheds his blood for us. At the cross, Jesus drinks the cup of our sin, that we might drink his cup of joy.
(You might ask, whether this use of wine in John 2 has practical significance for us today, in whether we choose to partake, or not, in alcohol. It’s a good question, but not the main point here. Let me save that for the article in the church email this Friday.)
The point in the Old Testament prophecies and the point here is the glory of Jesus. He brings such blessing and joy and celebration, that wine, among other pointers, signifies the riches and abundance of his goodness and glory for his people.
So, Jesus is the good Son, and he provides the good wine of a new-covenant relationship with God in him. And finally . . .
3. Jesus Embodies the Good Groom (verse 9)
Verse 9 mentions the bridegroom: “the master of the feast called the bridegroom.” This is the man whose wedding it was — and he was responsible for the feast. And when it is discovered that the wine has run out, he’s the one on the hook. This is his oversight, his failure. So, by turning the well water into wine, Jesus is getting the bridegroom off the hook, and in doing so he’s showing that he himself is a superior bridegroom.
In the next chapter, just a few hundred words away, in John 3:29, John the Baptist will talk about Jesus as the bridegroom and himself as the bridegroom’s friend. John says,
I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. 29 The one who has the bride [the people, the church] is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
(Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus portrays himself as the bridegroom in Matthew 9:15; 25:1, 5, 6, 10; Mark 2:19–20; Luke 5:34–35.)
So, what’s the bridegroom image mean, related to Jesus? He came, as the divine Son of God, to care for his people, the church, like a good husband. To save all who believe in him from their sins. And to love and lead and protect and provide for his bride, the church. To be our ever-strong, ever-providing, ever-reliable, ever-loving husband. Not just individually, but especially together as the church.
This good Son, who provides the good wine, embodies the good groom. In Jesus, God himself has taken on our flesh and blood, that he might give his flesh for us, and shed his blood for us — which brings us to the Table, and with it, the invitation I mentioned at the beginning.
Take the Next Step
Okay, I’m not asking anyone to raise a hand or walk to the front, but I am asking you: Are you seeing any glory? Is this Jesus moving on your soul, in any compelling way? Is he opening your eyes? Is he stirring in your soul? If he is, I want to encourage you to welcome his work. Receive him. Embrace him. A miracle is in progress. Let it happen; don’t try to stop it.
What’s next? You could start with a very simple conversation with someone you came with, or with Jonathan or me. We’ll be here at the front after the service if you want to speak with a pastor.
And for any here who would say that you believe, but have not yet been baptized, to identify publicly with Jesus, we have a baptism on March 2.
And for the kids among us, say, ages 8-12, including teenagers too. Maybe you’ve grown up in the church, and you believe in Jesus, and it can be tough to know when to take the step to move toward baptism. We want to help with that this spring. Pastor Mike Schumann and I will be doing a two-week baptism class for kids during Sunday School on April 6 and 13. Sign up online.
For the rest, who have believed in Jesus, and been baptized in his name, we come to this Table to drink his cup of blessing. Jesus drank the cup of our curse and shed his own blood, that through faith in him, we might have the good Son as our all-supplying bridegroom.
