1649. The Sign of the Water Turned to Wine

The Sign of the Water Turned to Wine

"Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them, up to the brim" (Joh_2:7).

I. The Sign of the Water Turned to Wine (Joh_2:1-11)

In turning the water into wine, there are four significant facts.

1. The preliminary events.

(1) John the Baptist had been preaching in the wilderness, bearing record of Jesus Christ. He had said:

"This is He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me" (see Joh_1:30).

This record designated Jesus as the Christ.

(2) Philip found Nathanael and said unto him:

"We have found Him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph" (Joh_1:45).

And Nathanael said unto Philip:

"Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (Joh_1:46).

Philip accepted Christ as the Messiah, but he spake of Him as the "Son of Joseph." Nathanael at first doubted, but afterward cried: "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel" (Joh_1:49).

2. Pots without wine. The 2nd chapter of John presents the first sign. It proves John's record, and Nathanael's testimony to be true.

There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. She found that there was no wine, and she spoke to Christ about it.

The Lord replied:

"Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come" (Joh_2:4).

Nevertheless, the mother of Christ said unto the servants:

"Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it" (Joh_2:5).

In the house there were six empty waterpots, holding about nine gallons each.

Wine symbolizes joy, and vigorous life. Water-pots stand for form. These waterpots had no wine. In this they pictured Judaism with its cold, empty formalism and its lifeless ceremonials.

3. Creating the wine. The Lord said:

"Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim" (Joh_2:7). When they were brought unto the governor of the feast, and he had tasted the water that was made wine, he called the bridegroom and said unto him:

"Thou hast kept the good wine until now" (Joh_2:10).

"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory" (Joh_2:11).

This first miracle was a sign of how the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, can supplant the hollowness of the Jew's religion, or of any other "religion," with a life of vital joy and praise.

The aftermath of this miracle is most suggestive.

Immediately, Jesus went up to Jerusalem, drove out the money changers, overthrew their tables, and said: "Make not My Father's House, a house of merchandise" (Joh_2:16).

Thus will the Lord Jesus some day rebuke apostate Israel; but Israel's waterpots shall yet be filled with wine and Christ will be glorified.

4. Setting forth His death. In the creating and pouring forth of this wine, our Lord Jesus prefigured His death; for the new life of His people must come from the death of the Son.

In Joh_13:18, following the story of the miracle in Cana, the Jews said unto Christ:

"What sign shewest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things?" (Joh_13:18).

The Lord told them: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (Joh_13:19).

The sign in Cana of Galilee, and the sign designated in the destroying of the temple, are analogous, for Christ spake of the temple of His body.

Wine is made from grapes that have been in the winepress. The Lord prefigured His death in the "upper room" when He said:

"This is My Blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Mat_26:28, \1911 Bible).

If the wine in the cup, in the upper room, was a testimony of His Blood–so also was the wine in the pots at the marriage in Galilee.

This is the inner meaning of the words which Christ spoke to His mother, at Cana: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come" (Joh_2:4).

The new life and the new joy which the wine symbolized are accomplished and made real through the Blood of the Cross.

The "sign," completed, causes us to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who through death brought life and light to a nation who had a religion without knowing the power thereof.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR