In certain circles, the transformation of water into wine is regularly "reminded" of believers as the Lord's first miracle; this is particularly done by those who believe the Lord performed this miracle early, perhaps to please his mother, but also by those who feel condemned by some believers who have chosen to remain sober. Our aim here is not to refute this assertion in a scholarly or confrontational manner, but rather to reveal that it contributes to maintaining a veiled mystery surrounding this miracle, which undeniably holds critical importance and carries a powerful symbolism. However, this is not for the reasons commonly suggested, but rather for a completely different one, which we hope to make clear by the end of this article.
Before delving into the subject at length, it would be wise to first note that the Lord Jesus Christ, throughout his ministry, regularly spoke of physical realities to refer to spiritual matters. The Gospel of John perfectly highlights this fact, and the Encounter of the woman of Samaria with Christ is arguably the most illustrative example. Therefore, a preliminary reading of the first part of the article, which we dedicate to that encounter, might help to better understand this tendency of the Lord and, consequently, facilitate a deeper comprehension of the present article.
"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him."
Without going into criticisms of interpretations, we will note here two undeniable observations: firstly, according to this Gospel of John, the transformation of the wine was not the first manifestation of the supernatural character of Christ, secondly, even if it does not refer to the very first miracle of the works of Christ, the adjective "first" used here, refers at least to the very first miracle performed in Galilee.
Throughout our reading of the Gospels, we realize that the supernatural nature of Christ was not manifested only through "miracles," which generally include the healing of the sick, the resurrection of the dead, and commands given to nature (calming the storm, withering the tree, etc.); but it was also demonstrated through his knowledge of the hidden lives of interlocutors. We see this, among other things, in the Encounter of the woman of Samaria with Christ, during which He told her that she had had five husbands, and that the one she was with was not her husband (John 4:16-19); in His encounter with Mary Magdalene, during which He demonstrated to his host Simon, who was beginning to doubt the Lord's authenticity, that He knew He was in the presence of a sinner (Luke 7:39-48); but without going any further, we will return to the very first case, that of the encounter between Nathanael and Christ, which we will discuss more fully in the article Christ's encounter with his very first disciples.
"Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
The least we can observe here is that the Lord, without ever having met Nathanael, knew him and was fully aware that there was no guile in him. Furthermore, He knew exactly where Nathanael was just before he was invited to meet Him. Thus, Christ, even before the transformation of water into wine, had already manifested his divine anointing.
Contrary to what is often claimed, the transformation of water into wine was not a sudden event, but rather foretold by the Lord when He revealed to his first disciples that they would henceforth see the full power of God manifested through Him. And as if to show that the miracle at Cana was indeed a fulfillment of this announcement by the Lord, the apostle John introduces the next account with the phrase “And the third day” as if to indicate that it began to manifest itself almost as soon as the Lord had announced it. The transformation of water into wine was indeed the first of the miracles that began the Lord's public ministry (after its announcement); it did not precede it. Thus, just as Moses manifested divine power in a small gathering among the elders (Exodus 3:16-18; 4:29-31) before doing so publicly, we similarly see the Lord manifesting a small part of his power among his first disciples before doing so publicly.
Let us now return to the terms used by the Lord to announce the beginning of his ministry; we will note that they actually indicate a fulfillment of the vision that the patriarch Jacob had at Bethel. We will examine in particular certain excerpts: “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. … And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:12-17)
The patriarch realized that he was standing precisely at the point where contact was established between heaven and earth, a place where a ladder allowed God's angels to ascend and descend to earth to accomplish God's holy will. Overwhelmed by this dream, he named this city, formerly called Luz, Beth–el. (Genesis 28:19).
Thus, the Lord, echoing the words describing this dream, revealed to his disciples, and also to us today, that He is the Beth-el of God, He is the Temple of God, He is the gate of heaven, He is the one God established as the place of communion between heaven and earth. It is in His name and through His ministry that every angel must descend to earth to accomplish every divine work. This dove from Noah's ark, flying in the sky and seeing no tree on earth to land on, finally found the tree of life, on which to rest.
We will conclude this first chapter by emphasizing that, for reasons that are not yet fully revealed to us personally, the apostle John explicitly listed the miracles performed in Galilee; at least the first and second. (As a reminder, Galilee was a territory including among others the following localities: that of Cana systematically referenced and even mentioned from Galilee [John 2:1,11; John 4:46; John 21:2], the city of Capernaum [John 4:46,54; Luke 4:31] and the city of Nazareth [Matthew 2:22-23; Luke 1:26]) Indeed, the author took care to specify that this first miracle was precisely the first miracle performed by the Lord at Cana in Galilee. Later, after the Lord had performed several other miracles elsewhere (John 2:23), returning to Cana, the narrator took pains to note that the second miracle was performed in Galilee, more precisely at Capernaum (John 4:46-54); Capernaum being presumably at the foot of Cana, since it was necessary to descend to go from the first (locality) to the second (city): John 2:11-12; John 4:46,49.
Having established that the transformation of water into wine was not the first divine manifestation of Christ, but rather his first public manifestation, or better yet, his first miracle in the territory of Galilee; let us now examine in what way this first miracle truly possesses an undeniable particularity.
As this story reveals, and as we still see in various traditions, it was customary at that time for the groom to give wine to his guests at his marriage. But the Lord Jesus, as announced at the beginning of this article, often using physical realities and circumstances to speak of spiritual realities, told his mother, who had asked him to give wine for another man's marriage, that his time had not yet come—his time to give wine (for his marriage), his time to be married.
Unlike the three so-called synoptic gospels, the Gospel of John refers to the hour of the Lord Jesus, using the possessive adjective "mine" or "his" as appropriate.
• “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.” (John 2:4)
• “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.” (John 7:30) “These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.” (John 8:20) : The apostle explains why, despite certain circumstances, Christ was not seized by his adversaries.
• “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” (John 13:1) : John explains to us the precise context in which the Lord prepared the disciples for his departure.
The apostle John therefore consistently speaks of the hour of the Lord Jesus to refer to the hour when, out of love for humanity, he would give his life for them. This allows us to understand the sense in which the Lord Jesus used this expression, which we find not only during this first miracle at Cana, but also, and this time more clearly, when the Lord spoke of the sorrow that his disciples would experience for a short time on that same occasion, likening it to that felt by a woman giving birth "because her hour is come" (John 16:21), the hour of experiencing agony in order to give life, the hour of transmitting life in suffering and pain.
Through two details of this miracle, the Lord illustrated the fact that his ministry was marking a change of dispensation.
• Waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews (John 2:6)
By having waterpots intended for purification filled with water, the Lord Jesus Christ announced that his calling was not to offer water for the purification of the flesh, but rather his blood for the purification of the conscience.
• A better wine than the previous one (John 2:10)
“For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:13-14)
The wine that the Lord Jesus Christ offered was incomparably better than that which the guests had drunk until then. The Blood that the Lord Jesus Christ brings for his marriage is incomparably better than that of the old covenant.
Through these two elements which appear as details, the Lord Jesus reveals that the Jews who had until then the means to purify their flesh, who until then had blood at their disposal, would now be invited to a new covenant, this time founded on his own blood graciously offered; a blood beyond comparison with the previous one.
If the Lord left his message veiled at the marriage in Cana, it was primarily because its full significance would only become apparent after his departure, after he had drunk the cup the Father would give him. However, on the eve of his departure, he had to make things more explicit by personally washing his disciples' feet (recalling the waterpots of stone filled with water), and then giving them the blood of the new covenant to drink—the blood he was about to shed once and for all. We are instructed to take it in remembrance of Him. (See the Synoptic Gospels). Finally, it should be noted that the Gospel of John does not describe the Lord's Supper, as this is already amply covered by the other Gospels. Instead, it describes a scene not mentioned by the others: the washing of the disciples' feet by the Lord. In other words, the Gospel of John alone recounts the marriage in Cana, and it alone also speaks of the Lord washing the disciples' feet on the eve of Passover. It is important to note that this is not to set the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John in opposition, as they complement each other quite perfectly. Rather, we observe a correlation between the marriage in Cana, as recounted by John, and the "detail" he carefully provides concerning the Lord's Last Supper with his disciples.
The beginning as well as the end of the Lord's ministry were therefore marked by the question not actually of wine, but of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ offered for the purification of His Church, for His marriage.
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.»
The story of the Creation of the world (Genesis), like that of its end (Revelation), is marked by a marriage. Indeed, God created the world for Christ, as Paul reminds us in his letter to the Colossians (1:15-17). Unfortunately, because Adam and Eve did not partake of the Tree of Life, we were unable to experience a manifestation of Christ, the abundant Life of God, from Genesis onward. Thankfully, God has not given up on giving us this Life; however, it would now require an act of redemption because we had defiled ourselves. Thus, humanity, created for Christ, would now be given to him as his Bride, as the Church—at least, those who would accept his sacrifice of Redemption. Let us beware of being without oil like the foolish virgins, but let us take care to always have the oil of the Holy Spirit in our lamps, as our Illustrious Bridegroom warns us (Matthew 25:1-13).
Add comment