Wedding at Cana

Continuing to follow Jesus’ footsteps we find that according to John, Jesus’ first miracle was changing water into wine at a marriage feast in Cana. When His mother tells Him the wine has run out, Jesus says something strange, “My hour is not yet come.” And then He goes ahead and changes the water in six large pots to wine, pots that were for ceremonial washing and purification. Naturally this wine is superior to the wine the host had been serving all day. Still, on the face of it, it seems like a small, almost insignificant “first miracle.” But when you dig deeper it is both beautiful and stunning, and so in keeping with who Jesus is and why He came.

Genesis 49:8-11 gives us our first clue. Jacob is blessing his sons and has come to Judah who Jacob calls a lion and who holds the scepter. Jacob also tells Judah that his brothers will bow before him, thus establishing Judah as the tribe from which Jesus, the Messiah, would come. Then verse 11 is the clincher, “Binding his foal unto the vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.”

Isaiah 63:3 adds to the picture. It’s talking about the day of the Lord, the tribulation, when Jesus will return to rule the earth. “I (Jesus) have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garment, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.”

Zechariah 9:9 adds to our understanding. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy King cometh unto thee; he is just and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

And finally, Revelation 19:11-16 completes the picture, “And behold I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True . . . and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood . . . and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

The bible always explains itself, and what it’s saying here is this: That the first time Jesus’ garments are stained with blood it would be His blood when He comes, meek and lowly, riding on an ass just before His crucifixion. Six is the number of man, indicating imperfection, as opposed to the number seven which stands for God’s perfection. So the water pots represent mankind who are in need of cleansing and purification, and Jesus’ wine, His blood, is the means of that cleansing. At the last supper, didn’t Jesus tell His disciples that the cup of wine represented His blood that would be shed for them for the remission of sins?

Now, as for the second time Jesus comes, He will be riding a horse and His garments will be stained with the blood of those who will experience the winepress of His wrath, those water pots not filled and cleansed by Him.

In addition, it will be those represented by the six pots filled with wine that will be part of another marriage feast, the marriage feast of the Lamb and His bride, the church.

So what Jesus was saying in Cana was that it wasn’t time yet for Him to ride the ass or the horse, though incorporated in the message is the promise of this two-fold ministry as Lamb and Lion. And there’s another promise, too. It’s the promise of that other wedding feast which our wonderful Bridegroom and we, the bride, will celebrate together, only made possible by Jesus changing our imperfect means of cleansing with His perfect means, i.e. His blood.

Oh, how wonderful God’s word is!

Until next time,

Sylvia