John Study 3: 2:1-25

Dear Student of the Word,

Here is the long awaited (well, two weeks wait anyway) third study from our John gospel series.  This week we read about Jesus and His travels, first to Cana for the wedding feast, then home to Capernaum and then on to Jerusalem for the Passover feast.  During that itinerary, Jesus turned water into wine and took a whip to those doing business in the Temple. 

The water-to-wine story has always puzzled me a bit, for it seems like a strange start to Jesus' public ministry.  About that event, I wrote this week:

v. 6 – Those were big jars holding many gallons of water used to wash and cleanse before eating as prescribed by Jewish tradition. Jesus used these jars, symbolic of the current Jewish system, and used them to do something new.  Now I am beginning to see the meaning of the miracle, if not the events leading up to it.  Let’s “play” with this account and think of it this way:

1.  A wedding feast is a place of joy and hope.  Israel had lost those in their legalistic service to God.
2.  Israel had run out of wine, often symbolizing joy.
3.  Jesus had come to do God’s will in God’s time, but He came to meet specific needs, just like He did at the wedding.
4.  Jesus turned their water for cleansing into wine of rejoicing.  Once they were clean in Jesus, the Jews would be free from rituals that had no power to do a permanent job of making them clean before God.

v. 7 – The servants did what Mary commanded, doing what Jesus told them to do!  That is still good advice to anyone.  Do what Jesus tells you to do!  Are you doing that?  If not, why not?  If so, how can you do it more effectively?

v. 8 – This command would not make any sense. Why would they take a sample of water that they had just poured into those jars? Jesus was confident that the water had changed to wine and wanted the maitre d' to know it as well.  Jesus did not have to touch the water or speak to the water.  He simply had to will the water to wine.  This is an act that only a prophet could perform, just like when Elisha caused the axe head to float (see 2 Kings 6:5-7). 

vs. 9&10 – The maitre d' didn’t know where the wine had come from,, he just knew that the wine was fine.  I would imagine that the maitre d' knew that supplies were low and then assumed that the hosts had some wine hidden away that he didn’t know about.  This would have been highly irregular, so he was surprised not only that there was more wine but that it was of such high quality.  God is full of surprises. When was the last time He surprised you?  If it’s been a while, why do you think that is?  When I read through Mark’s gospel, I see how many times the people who encountered Jesus were astonished, shocked, amazed and fearful.  The same dynamic should also be present in your relationship with Jesus.

v. 11 – Jesus performed His miracles in real places and met real needs through what He did.  Jesus did not come to put on a show, but He did come to allow God’s power to engage man’s need, ultimately on the cross.  John reported that Jesus performed works to reveal His glory, which here translated into bailing out a family who was about to be embarrassed at a special family social occasion. 

His disciples saw these things and the manner and which He performed them and put their trust or faith in Him.  What have you watched Jesus do that has caused you to put your faith in Him?  Do you believe that God is interested in and performs things like you read here, that are so practical and personal?  Can you see the more complete picture that this story is a microcosm of what Jesus did for the Church in turning the water of the Law into the joyful wine of grace?

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. You can write them or find the studies to Corinthians, Colossians, First Timothy, and Matthew's and Mark's gospels on the site where this week's entry is posted. You can also go there to sign up to receive each week's study.

Plus my website archives contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse Bible studies from Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1&2 Peter, Hebrews and Revelation, along with the unpublished Faith Files.

Download John Study 3

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The most recent posted entry about The Sophia Fund is here.

Comments

[Winni]

The study has found me at such a timely time when I'm trying to understand some things and hold on to God's word against all odds. God bless and increase you.