The first miracle Jesus did was turn water into wine (John 2). This miracle is significant because it’s the first recorded miracle of Jesus in the Bible. And like the other miracles of Jesus, it has far-reaching effects and implications.
This miracle happened at a wedding. This points to the fact that Jesus came to redeem the church and prepare her for the marriage supper of the Lamb. This final wedding of all time will happen at the end of the age.
This miracle happened after three days (John 2:1). Three days represents resurrection, for Christ was raised on the third day by the glory of the Father (Hos. 6:2). Jesus was about to reveal his glory to all the people at this wedding.
At this wedding, Jesus’ mother asked him to help them get wine when they ran out. Jesus gently rebuked her, calling her “woman.” He also told her it wasn’t time yet for him to do a miracle. Jesus wanted everyone to know that they should look directly to him and not look to his mother. We don’t need to pray to Mary. We need to go directly to Jesus, because he is the only mediator between God and man.
At this wedding, there were 6 big waterpots of stone. These water pots were for religious washings (John 2:6), not for drinking. When guests came to the wedding, they washed their hands and probably feet in this water. The Jews believed that such washings would purify them spiritually. Cultures around the world try to wash away their sins with water. Hindus bathe in the Ganges, and the Jews tried to wash away their sins with these ceremonial washings.
There were 6 pots for ceremonial washings. 6 is a number that in the Bible often represents man. God never told the Jews to do these ceremonial washings. Such practices are not found in the Torah. Such washings were a man-made ritual promoted by the Pharisees (Matt. 15:2). Washing with water can’t cleanse us from sin. Only God can take away sin.
The 6 water pots were made of stone. This shows the hardness of people’s hearts. People often want to do things in their own way. They ignore God’s way. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for the hardness of their hearts which spawned such man-made religious practices: “in vain do you worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
God said that he would take the stony hearts out from people and give them soft hearts that could hear his word and submit to it (Ezek. 36:25-27). This heart-transformation happens through Jesus, not dead religion.
By the middle of the wedding, these pots were full of dirty water. Dirt from the hands and feet of all the people who had come to the feast would have been in these pots. Much of the water had probably sloshed out of these pots as everyone washed.
Jesus told them to fill these pots to the brim with water. As more water was dumped into these pots, the dirt and sediments at the bottom of would have been stirred up. This muddy water would have been very unappealing. No one would have thought of drinking this water. It was filthy.
Jesus told them to take some of this water out and give it to the leader of the feast to drink. Someone tentatively reached down and scooped some of it up. He brought it to the leader of the feast.
The leader of the feast drank it. He was astounded. It had become grape juice, probably unfermented – a miracle in that climate. Unfermented grape juice was the best “wine” in those days. (“Wine” is a broad term in the New Testament that refers to both juice and alcoholic wine.)
The leader of the feast told the bridegroom at the wedding that he had saved the best wine for last.
Jesus is the true bridegroom. He is the one who made the new wine at this wedding, and he is the one who supplies the new wine of the Holy Spirit to our hearts. God saved the best wine for last: the glories of the New Covenant far surpass the fading glory of the Old Covenant. God was going to bless humanity abundantly through Jesus.
These 6 pots of stone were now full of new wine, so they couldn’t be used for ritual washings anymore. If anyone came to the feast and wanted to wash at these pots, he would have been unable to. You can’t wash yourself in juice. All you can do is drink it.
A very religious person might have been angry with Jesus for preventing him from ceremonially washing.
The first miracle Jesus did demolished man-made religion.
Jesus destroys man-made religion because it only brings bondage. It can never cleanse us from sin. We can wash and wash in the stony pots of religion, but our sins will remain. It will just be a bunch of muddy water. Only Jesus can take away our sins and give us new life.
Jesus turned this dirty religious water into grape juice. Grape juice is healthy. It gives energy and strength. The new wine of the Holy Spirit will empower us to live for God. The Holy Spirit is poured into vessels (people) who believe in him. Jesus takes away our sins and fills us with the new wine of the Holy Spirit.
This was the first miracle of Jesus.
He turned dirty ceremonial water into wine at a wedding. This foreshadows many things about his ministry. Jesus was going to take away the sins of the people. He was going to negate man-made religious rituals. He was going to provide new life and strength to people by the Holy Spirit. And it shows that Jesus is the true bridegroom who will supply new wine of the Holy Spirit to those he invites to his wedding.
Praise Jesus that he sets us free from dead religion, takes away our sins, and freely gives us the new wine of the Holy Spirit. He calls us to prepare, so that someday soon Christ’s own wedding can happen. We will get ready as we glut ourselves on the new wine of the Spirit that he provides.
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