Lessons are more readily learned when they can be visualized. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a miracle must be worth many times more. The miracles of the Lord Jesus were not just designed to meet the need of the moment, but to also impart timeless truths. The Lord told stories in parable form. These parables were earthly stories with a heavenly or spiritual meaning. Miracles were action parables designed to impart lessons to those who would take the time to observe and consider. In John’s Gospel, the miracles are referred to as signs since they attest to the deity of Jesus as the Son of God.
This miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana is the first, as well as one of the best known, of the miracles of Jesus. It helps to frame the public ministry of the Lord. This first sign occurs at a wedding, His last at the graveside of Lazarus. This scene also gives validity and sanctity to marriage and emphasizes the value of having the Lord Jesus as a guest at our weddings.
This event takes place on the “third day,” though the text does not tell us what to use as a framework to identify this day. Was it the third day the Lord was in Cana or was it the third day from the day mentioned in John 1:43? If the latter were the case, this would be the seventh day mentioned in the first two chapters. Fittingly, a wedding with the Lord present on the seventh day would symbolize a feast yet to come.
Involved in this narrative are people who by their conversation and conduct provide lessons for us. Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, was there at the feast. Her concern for the plight of the host might suggest this was the wedding of a relative. In first century Jewish society, the social consequences of running out of food or wine were considerable and could involve financial ruin and great embarrassment. The presence of Mary on this occasion also serves to provide contrast to her next appearance in John’s Gospel. She is here at a wedding feast at the beginning of the Lord’s ministry and appears next at the end of that ministry, at the foot of the cross.
Mary’s only words in John’s Gospel occur in this passage. She told the Lord Jesus there was no wine and then said to the servants, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5). These are words of timeless value that all would do well to heed. There was no exaltation of self but a call to submission to her Lord and ours.
Also of note in the narrative are the servants and the Saviour Himself. As to the servants, their task was to simply obey. They were obedient to the Lord, filling the waterpots to the brim. They were definite participants and, in a sense, without them the miracle would not have happened. On the other hand, they could claim no credit for what was done. They merely did what was required of them; the Lord did the miraculous. He caused the water to become a finer wine than had been offered at the beginning. There is no appeal to human logic in seeking to explain the change. Water became wine with no fruit present or time allowed for fermentation.
Key to interpreting the parables and miracles of the Lord is to keep in mind that they generally have one main point or lesson. This sign demonstrates that Jesus is Lord of creation, God manifest in flesh, affirming to His own that He was the Son of God.
There are, however, devotional thoughts that can be derived from this miracle that can feed our minds, fill our hearts, and cause praise to flow from our lips.
The waterpots were used for external cleansing, but in light of the Lord’s command to fill them, it would seem they were empty. This speaks to the emptiness of the Jewish religion and its inability to change the heart of man. The Lord produced in the waterpots wine that fed the inner man. The inner, unseen work caused a transformation that external ceremonial washing could never accomplish. The waterpots are reminders of the void within man that only Christ can fill.
The servants were charged with the task of filling the vessels. They participated in the miraculous by complete obedience. They could not boast of doing the miraculous, but they were workers together and thus involved in a great work.
Water is often a symbol of the Word of God, as seen in Ephesians 5:26 and Titus 3:5. Like the servants, our task is to proclaim the Word so that empty vessels can receive it. The invisible work is left to the Lord. No man can effect change in the heart of another. All over the world this miracle is replicated when the washing of regeneration takes place and souls are born again through the cleansing of the Word of God. Wine speaks of joy and the presence of the Holy Spirit and this is true in the lives of those empty vessels that the Lord transforms through His Word.
John records that the Lord Jesus had personal encounters with six individuals between the performance of this sign and His death on the cross. All six were empty vessels for which religion and ceremony had no answer. Considering them in couplets, they express the heartfelt need of mankind. Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman met the Saviour and they represent the past and its failure to give meaning to life. These two speak to the inability of religion and of relationships to fill the void within. The next two, the impotent man and the adulterous woman, speak to the present and the search for meaning in life. They show the inability of mankind to effect a change within that could alter their condition. They represent the helplessness and hopelessness that exist until the Saviour touched their lives. The last two, the blind man and the dead man, Lazarus, speak to the prospect of what is ahead and the lack of hope apart from Christ. They are reminders of the absence of light and life, both of which are provided by the Lord Jesus. All six are empty vessels that are transformed by an encounter with the Word that was made flesh.
Verse 11 gives the reason for our service and the purpose of the inner work of salvation. It is all to His glory. He alone has the power to cause empty vessels to be transformed into vessels full of joy. Salvation is of the Lord and the process is designed by God so that all the glory flows to Him. Like John, we can see the Lord Jesus, as He is presented in the Word, in His moral glory—“full of grace and truth.” We continue to see the glory of His work today in the lives of sinners saved by grace. Every time someone is saved there is an ongoing display of His glory manifested in the work of salvation.
A number of years ago this outline was given to me and I have found it helpful both for study and sermons. It can also be applied to all the miracles and parables of the Bible. There are three points to consider: the context, the contents, and the conclusions.
The Context
Look at what precedes and follows the story or event. That will give light on what the story or event is meant to illustrate. The Lord Jesus was the master teacher and used visual and verbal illustrations to convey truth.
The Contents
Look at the elements of the parable or the particulars of a miracle. Seek to understand the issues in light of the culture and customs of the day.
The Conclusions
Remember that each miracle and parable seeks to teach only one primary truth. That means that not every detail has a meaning or is significant in determining the message. However, although Scripture must only have one interpretation, there may be a number of applications. Devotional thoughts from meditation can be very heart-warming. The interpretation and applications are what make the teaching relevant for today.