Sign #1

February 04, 2025 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

John 2:6-12

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

Details matter. John has provided us with specific detail about the amount of water present in the stone jars—between 120–180 gallons. That is a HUGE amount of wine! Obviously, the amount of wine far exceeds what the wedding guests could possibly drink. In addition, it is wine of the highest possible quality.

Why does John want us to know these details? Because the water-into-wine is a sign. There are seven signs in John’s Gospel, and each sign reveals Jesus’s glory (see 1:14) and thereby enables belief in Him. This is the first sign.

What does the sign at the wedding teach us? The Old Testament prophets foretold a time when a person called the Messiah would come and everything would be renewed and made right. In the Old Testament prophecies, wine is an important sign of the messianic kingdom. For example, here is the Old Testament prophet Joel:

18a “And in that day
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water” [Joel 3:18a].

As the Messiah, what Jesus has to offer far exceeds anything the world can offer—He offers life and offers it in abundance (see 10:10).

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Of all the things Jesus could have done, why do you think His first sign was at a wedding?

"Do Whatever He Tells You"

February 03, 2025 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

John is upfront about the reason why he wrote his Gospel:

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name [John 20:30–31].

Now through the end of February we will cover chapters 2–5 of John’s Gospel, and what we will see as we read is that Jesus is slowly but surely revealing Himself more clearly to the people He encounters.

The reason why I write and put together these Scripture reading guides is the same reason John wrote his Gospel, and my prayer is that, over the next month, you’ll come to know Jesus better and thereby receive more of the life that only He can offer.

Let’s go.

John 2:1-5

2 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

For the next several chapters, Jesus will interact with important Jewish institutions or themes (a wedding, the temple, the Jewish leadership, a sacred well). In each interaction, He will say something cryptic that requires the listener to lean in and wonder what Jesus means. Then, He will do or say something that shows that His ministry is new (compared to the Old Covenant of Israel) and what He offers far exceeds what the Old Covenant can offer. People either then turn toward Jesus in faith and believe or turn away from Jesus in unbelief.

Here, the Jewish institution is a wedding. I think the interaction between Jesus and Mary is meant to be funny, as her response indicates. I can imagine her rolling her eyes and half-smiling as she says to the servants:

“Do whatever he tells you.”

P.S. “The hour” Jesus refers to is His death (see 13:1), but of course no one in the story could yet know that. This is one of the many cryptic statements Jesus makes that only becomes clear in retrospect.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
“Do whatever He tells you.” What is the next obedient action Jesus is asking you to take today?

What Does the Water-into-Wine Miracle Mean?

April 20, 2022 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Today’s Reading: John 2:1-25

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for cere- monial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs
through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and broth- ers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
Jesus Clears the Temple Courts
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spo- ken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many peo- ple saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

John gives us a clue to the meaning of this strange story at the end of his account:

“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”
John 2:11

In John’s Gospel, there aren’t “miracles”; rather, there are “signs.” Each miracle that Jesus does is meant to point to a larger purpose.

So, what is the point of the miracle/sign at Cana, the water into wine?

When the Messiah comes, he will prepare a messianic banquet of abundance. Jesus doesn’t just turn water into wine; he turns lots of water into really good wine.

No matter how high our expectations are, our future life in the Kingdom of God will exceed our expectations.

Water Into Wine

October 31, 2019 by Andrew Forrest in Gospels 2019