Revealing Jesus’ Glory
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee … When the wine was gone Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come”… Jesus said to the servants “Fill the jars with water”… “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet”… They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine …Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first … but you have saved the best till now” John 2:1,3,4,7-10
Why is this story so very special to John that he opens his narrative of Jesus’ ministry miracles with it? The answer is in the very next verse but is easily missed. ‘This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him’ (2:11).
This little verse contains three nuggets of truth:
(1) this was the first of Jesus miraculous signs
In Jesus’ miracles we see heaven opening up and God’s mighty power and love vividly bursting through. His miracles were heaven and earth intersecting, the very claim the religious Jews made about the Temple.
(2) this was a revelation of Jesus’ glory
We tend to think of Jesus’ glory as a blinding light around Him such as happened in His transfiguration, but the biblical word ‘glory’ actually means ‘honour.’ “My time has not yet come” looks on, through many other references to His ‘time,’ until at last the ‘time’ does come and the glory is revealed fully, when Jesus dies on the cross.
(3) his disciples believed in Him
For John, Christ’s death is the ultimate moment when heaven and earth meet and when it takes real faith to see the glory hidden in the shame. But now, three years earlier, the disciples experience a miracle that builds their trust and confidence in the One who called them.
This miracle was a sign that God was doing a new thing from within the old Jewish system, bringing not only purification but also joy to Israel and to the world in a whole new way. The water jars mentioned here would normally be used for Jewish purification rites. The Law could bring an outward cleansing but not a complete inward cleansing. Only Christ’s death could do that.
The wedding was a foretaste of the great heavenly wedding feast in store for God’s people (Revelation 19:7,9; 21:2). That day will come when all the redeemed children of God gather with the heavenly Bridegroom, never to be separated again.
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