Morning Light – John 2: Jesus Turns Water into Wine

[John 2] Jesus Turns Water into Wine: In chapter 2, Jesus attends a wedding in Cana and solves a hospitality problem by turning water into wine. In this act, His first miracle there is a type and shadow of a Third Day promise for us that there is an outpouring of New Wine of God’s Spirit promised us that is yet to come, however, to be experienced by those that follow Him in years to come.

[Jhn 2:1-25 KJV] 1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do [it]. 6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare [it]. 9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: [but] thou hast kept the good wine until now. 11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast [day], many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all [men], 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

In chapter 2 of John, we find Jesus attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It is called Cana “of Galilee” to distinguish it from Cana of Asher, another location known to John’s contemporary readers. The reason for Jesus attending this wedding is only implied in the statement that His mother Mary was there, and he was “called” or invited to the wedding along with His disciples. Cana was nearby to where Jesus grew up and it is very possible that there were families and friends here to whom He would have had a connection. The mention of the “third” day is because the events in chapter 1 took place beyond Jordan, and it would have taken three days to journey to Cana. In addition, there is a more profound significance to the third day because it is mentioned throughout scripture as pointing to events in the prophetic timeline. References to the “Third Day” in scripture include:

1. Matt. 12:39-40 Jesus predicted as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days so that He would be in the bowels of the earth three days between His death and resurrection.

2. In creation, the earth was separated from the waters on the third day.

3. There are three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

4. After the Flood, mankind descended from 3 men, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

5. In Isa. 6:3 and Rev. 4:8 the Seraphim cry Holy, Holy, Holy.

6. In Gen. 18:14, the Lord appeared as three men to announce to Abraham that Sarah would give birth soon.

7. Ge. 22:1-4 Abraham took Isaac on a three-day journey to offer him up to God on the mountain.

8. The tabernacle and temple were divided by the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the Outer Court.

9. Man is made up of Body, Soul, and Spirit.

10. God appeared on Sinai at the giving of the Law after three days of encampment there by the refugees from Egypt.

11. Jesus’ earthly ministry covered 3 Passovers.

12. Mary stayed with the pregnant Elizabeth for three months.

13. Jesus was missing for three days when He was 12.

14. Saul was blinded on the road to Damascus for three days.

15. In Hosea 6:1-2 predicts the coming of a third day season when after He revives us on the third day, we will walk in His sight.

The third-day reference speaks of the 3rd 1000-year period from the resurrection when Christ will come to the earth as He did to Cana of Galilee on the third day to claim His own bride, the bride of Christ. At this wedding, there was a want of wine. Wine speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. In the day we live in – if you understand the history of the church and the outpourings of God, you can only conclude there is a want of wine, an absence of a robust and sovereign move of God, such as the Azusa Street Outpouring 120 years ago. Mary, Jesus’ mother (although she is never once mentioned by name in this gospel), Mary must have been responsible for the wedding arrangements or at least felt responsible. She goes to Jesus saying, “They have no wine…” We likewise can say the wedding feast draws near but there is want of wine. Jesus tells His mother His hour is not yet come, prefacing His statement with “woman what have I to do with thee,” implying a bit of frustration perhaps, as a son responding to a mother’s insistence, an insight into their relationship. Either Mary was only thinking of her son and the beginning of miracles she wants to encourage or she was only thinking of the needs of the wedding party, or both. Perhaps she didn’t expect a miracle but thought her son had means and resources to procure wine locally, whereas the family hosting the wedding may have exhausted their budget.

Whatever the case may be, Jesus looks around and commands six waterpots set there for ritual cleansing of feet and hands to be filled with water. It would be equivalent to saying “fill the bathtub with water” in our day. There are six water pots and six is a multiple of three speaking of double portion. Six is also the number of man. Water represents the word of God (Eph. 5:6). The “vav” is the Hebrew glyph for six was depicted with the symbol of a tent stake. The Jews believed the firmament of heaven above was actually a tent or wedding Hoopa above them, and the vav or tent stake was that point (representing man) where heaven and earth come together. For us, where does heaven and earth come together? In the man (6) who is filled to the brim with the water of the word, of whom Christ is the example. When you are filled with the water of the word you are ready for a miracle. Full of God’s word and God’s truth, you are ready for the word to be made into the wine of the Spirit of God on the inside of you! The number 6 also speaks of 6 millennia from creation before we enter into the 7th millennia, which is God’s Sabbath. This points to the culmination of God’s plan for man. After six millennia of pouring out His word into the earth, God is going to do a miracle, an outpouring, a turning of the water of His word into the new vintage of His spirit at which time He will draw out from humanity something of which to bear to the Governor of the Feast who sits on the throne, presiding over the affairs of men. The idea of connecting this wedding to a type and shadow of end-time events may seem contrary but notice that the pronouncement is (v. 10) that He saved the best for last. We don’t always have to look back to bible days or days gone by; we are living in an age when we shall witness an outpouring of the new wine of the Spirit of God better than that which has ever been poured out upon the earth – not as the END of things that God is doing but as verse 11 implies the BEGINNING OF MIRACLES for us of the things of God to be known in the timeline of history yet to unfold. Our better days are ahead.

Leaving Cana, Jesus goes down with His mother and His disciples to Capernaum and on to Jerusalem for the Passover. While there, He drives out the money changers from the temple. Scholars believe this was an earlier event separate from the cleansing of the temple during Jesus’ passion week before His crucifixion. He declares that His Father’s house is not a house of merchandise, and the disciples interpret His zeal at this moment as having prophetic significance connected to the fulfillment of Psalm 69:9. The Pharisees challenge Jesus for a sign and He declares that if the temple was destroyed He would raise it up in three days. Again, a reference to three days in our chapter. He is, of course, not speaking of Herod’s temple but of the temple of His body, which in fact will be raised on the third day. How many times do we hear from God and think it is going to be one way that things happen when, in fact, God is connecting what He is saying with something much more profound. We need to learn not to presume on what we think God is promising and discern what He is actually saying to us, lest like the Pharisees we are scandalized by the fact that God doesn’t act in the manner that is in accordance with our own personal expectations. Jesus waits in Jerusalem through the feast days of Passover that would have included Passover itself, the observance of the feast of Unleavened Bread, and the feasts of First Fruits. In Passover, the lamb was sacrificed for the deliverance of the nation, followed by the observance of Unleavened Bread, which was an extension of Passover out to seven days altogether – prophetically signifying the seven days of God’s process and seven millennia of God’s dealings with man. The first fruits entailed the morning after Sabbath when a sheaf of firstfruits of the wheat harvest was waved before the Lord in the Temple, a type of Jesus, raised from the grave, the first fruits from the dead. In this time of Passover, when Jesus would have gotten the attention of many by the cleansing of the temple, nonetheless (v. 24) He did not commit Himself to men because He knew what was in man. The word commit here means that Jesus didn’t put His trust in men. Neither should we. Most offense and misdirected destiny comes when we trust men and love God rather than trusting God and loving men. We need to be conservative about the depth to which we put our expectations on those around us. Men are just men, no matter what their opinion of themselves might be. Trusting in men, we can get offended, wounded, hurt deeply but before we vilify those who have injured us, let us first receive correction for looking to man for what we should have in reality been looking to God for. Jesus’ trust was not in man, and He wasn’t dependent upon man to get anything done regarding His own destiny. His trust and our trust must be in God alone.