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There are countless ways a religious person like Jesus could have launched his ministry. There are dozens of miracles that John could have recorded. Why this one? The passage tells us that through this miracle he revealed his glory and the disciples put their faith in him (v11). What does this teach us about Jesus and the character of his ministry? Could our surprise indicate more about ourselves and our misunderstandings of holiness than it does about Christ?
Jesus was given a humble request and he responded with lavish generosity. The master of the banquet was surprised because the custom of the day was to serve the best wine first and then offer the cheaper wine later. The Jews may have thought that the revelation through Moses was the finest wine of God’s truth (wine is a symbol of truth throughout scripture). The arrival of Jesus declares that there is a new and greater truth that fulfills all the truth that came before. Jesus was the better wine.
The Jews will come to be just as surprised by this as was the master of the banquet.
How does the lavish generosity Jesus shows at the wedding and the anger at the temple shape your understanding of who Jesus really is?
Study notes:
The first of seven sign of the gospel of John occurs here. There will be seven miracles in the gospel of John to verify Jesus claims about himself.
The photo in the upper right is a picture of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple. It was painted in 1750 by Giovanni Paolo Pannini
3 comments:
It is crazy to me that he chose this as his first miracle, which clearly is no accident. I think the win at the party is reflective of the incredible joy that Christ came to bring to this earth.
I know I get focused on the tasks of the day and the things that have to get done, but who had more to accomplish than Jesus? He came to redeem the world. Yet here he is at a celebration, living life with others. With all he came to do he always had time for people.
I need to not lose sight of people as I try to accomplish the tasks of the day.
I am slow to figure out this blogging thing. Hopefully I am doing it correctly. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts as to why John would put the story of Jesus clearing the temple at the beginning of his ministry instead of at the end as in the other gospels. Also, as for the miracle at Cana, I never could see much significance in this story until recently when I read a commentary about it. I tend to read very literally and often miss the sybolism in the story. For example - water (used in purifacation ritual-but our rituals are never quite enough are they?) is changed to wine by the bridegroom (Christ) in a foretaste of the feast to come - it is the BEST wine. In verse 1, John says "on the 3rd day" (announces an appearance of God)
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