We are considering the Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2) in our present study, and it seems to allude to a greater spiritual truth, than what we first understand in the miracle Jesus did there. What we need to keep in mind about John 2:1-12 is that, according to the Law, when a woman brings forth her son, she is considered unclean for forty days (Luke 2:22; Leviticus 12:1-4), and just as Mary, Jesus’ mother in the flesh, needed to be purified, so, too, must the mother of Christ,[1] whom we see in John 2:1-11. Notice that she commands the servants to obey Jesus, who then commands them to pour water into six jars of stone—the kind used for purification, thus, connecting John 2:6 with Luke 2:22. In so doing, the Gospel narrator connects the Synoptics’ account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness with Jesus’ mother in John 2. In other words, the 40 days of temptation in the Synoptics have become the 40-day purification period in John 2, viz. the mention of the stone water jars.
Later, Jesus would claim he is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Truth comes in three forms: stone (Deuteronomy 9:10), water (Ephesians 5:26) and wine (Ephesians 5:17-19). Stone is solid and cannot be easily molded, while water readily fits the mold of stone, but it also cleanses. Yet, neither stone, nor water is able to change one’s behavior. The first two forms of truth either point to the unclean (sin) or cleanse that which is unclean (sinners). Wine, on the other hand is able to change man’s behavior, and it does so with the consent of the one who has received the wine. Thus, and as it pertains to our allegory, Jesus has changed the water into wine, or that which cleanses (sinners) into that which changes one’s (sinners’) behavior, and this was done without violating the unchangeable word written in stone.
Notice that the wine was then brought to the ruler of the feast, who tastes it and realizes that the water that had been changed into wine was such to be praised over all that came before (John 2:9-10), and admitted this to the Bridegroom (Christ, the husband of the one who is the mother of us all; cp. Galatians 4:6; John 2:1-2).
The ruler of the feast represents he who is in authority over the servants, or members of the body of believers (cp. 1Corinthians 12:27). For the purpose of our allegory, the servants are the citizens of the Kingdom (Psalm 87:5-6) and the ruler of the feast, represents the old man who was in authority over the body (the servants/citizens). Paul mentions the old man as being corrupt, and someone who must be laid aside (Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9). He is that part of us that is crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6, 13), in order that we might serve Christ, the new man (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; Galatians 3:27).
The fact that the servants knew what the ruler of the feast did not know (John 2:9), namely the origin of the wine, shows that the servants/citizens, vis-à-vis Jesus’ disciples, had given themselves over to obey him (cp John 2:5, 7), recognizing in him something greater than was in them. Therefore, they yielded their understanding of truth to his teaching. In other words, they believed on him (John 2:11), before he was in them (John 14:17; cp. Ephesians 3:16-20; 2Corinthians 4:16).
Finally, we need to consider the element of Christ’s mother’s anticipation “They have no wine” (John 2:3). Jesus was expected to do something about this, and the text shows what he did. The fact that these things occurred on the third day (John 2:1),[2] alludes to Moses telling the people to prepare themselves for the appearance of the Almighty on the third day (Exodus 19:10), and, of course, Jesus’ miracle on the third day represents the presence of the Almighty. Additionally, the context of the third day reaches out to what follows, when Jesus cleansed the Temple (six months later) in Jerusalem. When asked for a sign (a miracle) Jesus simply referred to his resurrection: “Destroy this Temple, and I will raise it up in three days! (John 2:19), pointing to new life, the new creation, in other words, the New Covenant of believers in Christ.
So, Jesus returned to Capernaum with his mother, vis-à-vis the whole body of believers, or all who had yielded themselves completely to his teaching (Matthew 12:48-50; Mark 3:33-35; Luke 8:21), together with other disciples, who followed him, but were not in as intimate a relationship with him as his brethren. What the sign of changing water into wine is meant to show is: Jesus has power over substance. No matter what one does to water, it can never become wine. Yet, Jesus changed water into the fruit of the grape. This physical event signifies Jesus’ power to change what is flesh into something that is spirit (John 3:6). He does this to all whom he receives into his Kingdom. It is a spiritual Kingdom, one that cannot be seen, touched, heard, smelled or tasted. In other words, it cannot be detected through the flesh. The five gates of the flesh, through which we acquire all our knowledge of the physical, are powerless to help us detect or understand the things of the Spirit. Questioning Jesus’ authority or integrity yields nothing for those who hesitate to submit to him (cp. John 2:18-21; 3:11-12). Nevertheless, those who believe and yield themselves to him, even when they don’t understand (cp. John 2:11; 4:25-26, 29, 39-42), the same are born again (cp. John 3:7-8) and become the sons of God (John 1:12-13).
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[1] The mother of us all, according to Paul (Galatians 4:6).
[2] That is, the third day after leaving Bethesda, the home of Peter and Andrew, after Jesus had called his three leading disciples (Peter, Philip and James the Less; see The Calling of Jesus’ Leading Apostles).
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