Reading for June 20: John 2:9-11

9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"

11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. John 2:9-11 (NKJV)

Discussion Question:

• In what ways has Jesus "turned water into wine" in your life? – taken the common and ordinary and made it into something special? (from page 27 of our book)
  

Comment:

So far for this miracle from Jesus we have seen the setting, the situation, and the solution; now we are going to see the results. We pick up today with the servants taking water out of the large pots to the head waiter. The verses today say that the head waiter after tasting called for the bride-groom to ask why they waited to serve the good wine after the poorer wine. He was confused because the custom was to serve the best wine first, then the lesser; but when he tasted the new, it was likely the best wine he had ever tasted (since it was created perfectly by Christ Himself) so he wanted to know why it wasn't served first. The chosen wine had ran out, it did not perform as it was suppose to, so Jesus used what was remaining (the water) to supernaturally produce a wonderful product, that would bring glory to Him. The water could not give any glory because it was just water, plan ineffective water. The water's "goodness" came from what was done TO it, not what it was in essence.

You have probably picked up on the fact that I'm not just talking about water and wine here. This event is a perfect picture of our own transformation as Christians. The old wine represents the Jews, they were ineffective at glorifying God, and their usefulness had "run out." The water is us prior to conversion, raw material for God's use. The new wine is us converted, made perfect by Christ, even better than the previously chosen. As the new wine God receives all the glory because it is His righteousness that is in us that makes us acceptable, nothing in our own essence. In fact, our own essence is rejected (no one wanted just water).

God's word is amazing with levels of complexity that I don't think we can ever fully understand, but it is important to remember that this recorded miracle is not just a parable it was an actual event. It occurred, and its occurrence amazed those that witnessed it. That is why in v11 it says this was the beginning of signs that manifested His glory. However, the use of the word "signs" indicates that this display was more than just a show of power, but also that the acts themselves had a deeper meaning (one example discussed above). The disciples were able to see that deeper meaning, which led to a deeper faith and a closer following.

So what are the results? Jesus is glorified and the disciples' faith grew stronger.