Definition: Miracle of Jesus (The First)

Turning water into wine – by Joseph Tkach:

The Gospel of John recounts an interesting story that took place at the beginning of Jesus Christ's ministry: He went to a wedding and turned water into wine.

Several aspects of this story make it interesting. This miracle seems to have been minor; at first glance, it seems more like a magic trick than the work of a Messiah. Jesus' miraculous intervention saved the wedding host from embarrassment, but this miracle did not really raise the question of human suffering as Jesus' healings did. This miracle was performed on the sly, without the knowledge of its main beneficiary; yet this sign manifested the glory of Jesus (John 2:11). The literary aspect of this story is interesting. Of all the miracles that John knew about (John says that he would have had to write an entire book to recount all of Christ's miracles), he chose this miracle at Cana to begin his Gospel. How does this serve John's purpose? For his purpose is to convince his readers that Jesus is truly the Christ (John 20:30-31). How does this account show us that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, and not just a magician (as the Talmud later claimed)?

The wedding at Cana

This account begins with a wedding in Cana, a small village in Galilee. The location seems to be of little importance; what matters is the wedding. Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding. Weddings were the most important and largest celebrations among the Jews, and weddings that lasted an entire week reflected the social status that the family enjoyed within the community. Weddings were such occasions for rejoicing that people used wedding banquets as a metaphor to describe the blessings of the Messianic age. In a number of His parables, Jesus also used the image of a wedding feast to describe the Kingdom of God. Jesus often used physical miracles to demonstrate spiritual truths. He healed the sick to demonstrate that He had the power to forgive sins. He cursed the fig tree as a sign of the coming judgement that would befall the temple. He performed healings on the Sabbath to show His authority over the Sabbath. He raised people from the dead to show that He was the resurrection and the life. He fed thousands to show that He was the bread of life. And in the story that concerns us, He was the source of abundant blessing at a wedding feast, to show that He will be the host of the messianic banquet in the Kingdom of God. When the wine ran out, Mary spoke to Jesus about it, and He replied, "What have I to do with you?" (John 2:4). In other words, "Why should I get involved?" "My hour has not yet come." And yet, even though His hour had not yet come, Jesus intervened anyway. John thus emphasises that Jesus performed a miracle ahead of His "schedule". The marriage of the Lamb was not yet here, but that did not prevent Jesus from acting. The messianic age had begun long before it existed in its fullness. Mary expected Jesus to do something, since she asked the servants to do whatever Jesus told them. Did she expect Jesus to perform a miracle, or to make a quick trip to the local wine merchant? We do not know.

Ceremonial water turned into wine

Now there were six stone water jars there, which were used for Jewish purification rituals. Each jar held two or three measures (24 to 36 litres) of water, which was far too heavy to lift and pour out. This represented a large amount of water, just for purification. This scene must have taken place in one of the wealthiest properties in Cana. The change of this water into wine seems to be the pivotal point of the story; such a change, in physical state, symbolises a spiritual transformation in Judaism in relation to the symbolism of purification rites. Imagine for a moment what would have happened if the guests at the wedding had wanted to wash their hands again. They would have gone to the purification vases, only to suddenly realise that they were filled with wine. There would have been no water to perform their ritual. Spiritual purification through the blood of Christ superseded the purification rituals. Jesus fulfilled the symbolic meaning of the rituals by substituting Himself for them. Which is much better. The servants filled the jars to the brim, John tells us (verse 7). And how! Jesus completely fulfilled the rituals and made them obsolete. In the messianic age, there is no place for purification rituals. The servants then drew some wine and brought it to the master of ceremonies, who told the bridegroom, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk; but you have kept the good wine until now" (verse 10). Why do you think John reports these words? Is it simply advice for future weddings? Or is it to show that God can produce high-quality wine? No, John wants us to understand the spiritual symbolism attached to this miracle. The Jews were like people who had been "drinking wine" for so long (by performing purification rituals) that they had become unable to recognise superior wine. When Mary said, "They have no wine," it symbolised the fact that the purification rites had become devoid of their spiritual meaning. Jesus was replacing them with something new and better.

Cleansing the temple

In the same vein, John then writes that Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple (John 2:13). Biblical commentators devote several pages to wondering whether this episode is the same as the one recounted by Matthew (chapter 21, verse 12), but who, in his account, places it at the end of Jesus' ministry. Be that as it may, John, unlike Matthew, describes the event at the beginning of his Gospel because of its symbolism. Here again, John places the story in the context of Judaism: "The Jewish Passover was near" (verse 13). Jesus found in the temple those who sold animals (for sin offerings and thanksgiving offerings) and money changers (to pay temple taxes). So Jesus took a whip and drove them out of the temple. It is surprising that one man could drive out so many sellers at once. I think the vendors knew they shouldn't be there, and the people present didn't want them there either. So Jesus acted according to the wishes of the crowd, and the vendors knew they were outnumbered. The historian Flavius Josephus mentions several other cases where Jewish leaders wanted to change the way certain things were done, but met with violent disapproval from the citizens, who forced them to give up. Jesus did not object to the sale of animals for sacrifice or to the exchange of money for temple offerings. He said nothing about the prices charged by the sellers. His objection was simply to the place where they were trading; they were acting in the house of God, turning it into a house of trafficking (verse 16). They had turned religion into a business. So the Jewish leaders did not arrest Jesus, because they knew very well that the crowd supported Him, but they nevertheless asked Him by what authority He had done this (verse 18). Jesus made no reference to what was wrong with the temple, but changed the subject completely, saying: "Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days" (verse 19). Jesus was speaking of His own body, but the Jewish leaders did not understand it that way. Obviously, they considered Jesus' response ridiculous, but they did not arrest Him for it.

Jesus' resurrection shows that He had the authority to purify the temple and that His words were a foreshadowing of its coming destruction. When the Jewish leaders killed Jesus, they destroyed the temple at the same time, because Jesus' death rendered all the sacrifices made there obsolete. And three days later, Jesus rose from the dead and established a new temple, His Church.

Many believed in Jesus because of the miraculous signs He performed, John tells us (John 4:54 recounts the "second" miraculous sign; this makes me think that the episode of the temple sellers is not placed in chronological order; this does not matter because this account is a representation of Jesus' ministry). Jesus was going to put an end to the temple's sacrificial system and its purification rituals; the Jewish leaders were going to help Him do so, without knowing it, by trying to kill Jesus. But three days later, the water would be turned into wine and the lifeless rituals would be transformed into the best drink there is.

Relevance to us

What lessons can we learn from these two stories? First, it would be good for Christians to ask themselves whether some of our traditions are outdated and whether they prevent us from seeing the new paths of growth that Christ would like us to walk. These could be our liturgical feasts or the way we observe them. Perhaps it is the way our churches are organised and run? Perhaps it is unnecessary restrictions on who can do what? It could be attitudes towards evangelism itself. We would do well to ask ourselves whether our traditions have become as obsolete as the purification waters, and whether Jesus would not want to change them into something much more stimulating. We may also question our attitude towards money. Does money occupy a more important place in our lives than our relationship with God? We can ask ourselves this question both in relation to our denomination and to our local church. And we can ask ourselves, from a personal point of view, whether the time we spend shopping or talking about money is more important than the time we devote to the Church. Do materialism and financial concerns take the place of the worship we should devote to God? Are these two questions not worth asking?