A Wedding- Part 2

Now that we know more about weddings in Jesus day, let's look more at what John 2 has to say. There was a problem at this wedding. They were out of wine. That wasn't good! They were lacking and in great need, because you didn't want to be known as the family that didn't throw a good party! Our pastor used this to make the great connection that we are also in need and have to admit that need. We need Jesus to fix the problem.

What I love is how Jesus goes about fixing the problem!(I have some questions about his response in vs 3, but that's probably just something to investigate another time!) Jesus tells the servants to fill the jars with water. Those jars were used to contain the water for purification. The Old Covenant or Law required that things be purified by washing them in water. It's these jars, that Jesus has filled with water that is then turned to wine. The servants obeyed, but God's power transformed what was there into what was needed. We needed reconciliation to God. We were separated because of sin. AND God provided the way to be reconciled through Jesus blood. Is it really a coincidence that the miracle is water becoming wine, if wine is a symbol of blood? Jesus offered us the New Covenant, and even from his very first miracle he was announcing it!

When the wine is tasted by the master of ceremonies he comments that usually people share the best wine first and then slip in wine of lesser quality. However, at this wedding, the best wine was now being offered. Isn't that just like our God. He gives us good things, like His Law and his teachings, but then He gives us even better things in His Son!

I have one last little nugget to share. In vs 11 it says that the miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. Turning water into wine was a miracle. It would surely get some attention and make us think that this man wasn't like all the others. But if what I've been thinking and writing about has any truth, than Jesus revealed a whole lot more of who he was than just a miracle worker. He truly did reveal his glory as our Groom and our Bride Price.

Don't you love a good wedding?

Wedding Thoughts- Part One

On Sunday I had the privilege of witnessing a wedding ceremony during our worship service. (Congratulations Steve and Victoria! May God bless both of you in this covenant!) Our pastor has been preaching a series about Jesus called “One Extraordinary Life”. Our text was John 2, which tells us about a wedding that Jesus attended as a guest. Besides the things I learned from our Pastor, some other things jumped out at me in the text.

The first of these was the phrase, “On the third day.” I've heard those words before. Is there significance here? What else has happened on the third day? When Jesus was telling his disciples about the events that would soon be occurring, he told them that he would be killed and on the third day raised to life (Mt. 16:21). Is there a reason that Jesus first miracle and the beginning of his public ministry also occurs on a third day?

Then I pondered why his first miracle was at a wedding. Was this important? As I thought more, tears formed in my eyes. A wedding? Isn’t Jesus whole ministry really about a wedding? Didn’t Jesus come to find his beloved and bring her to Him? Isn’t a wedding a natural place to start? (I still have questions regarding Jesus’s words in vs. 3, but I think I’ll save that for a little later.)


I wanted to know more about weddings in Jesus’s time, so I did a little digging. (I’m beginning to love digging!) At this time when a man found his beloved, he wrote a marriage covenant. He proposed the Ketubah, or marriage covenant, to his beloved and her father. Included in this proposal was a “bride price”, which was intended to cover the cost of raising his beloved. It also spoke of his love for her. Our Savior paid for us with His own blood. Surely we are precious to Him!

Next, the young man poured a cup of wine. If the beloved accepted the offer, she would drink this cup. The covenant was thought of as a blood covenant. The couple was now betrothed and bound by a covenant that can only be broken by divorce. Jesus has offered us a cup of wine. We find this cup being offered at the Last Supper in Mt. 26:27-28. Jesus said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people.” When Jesus offered this cup he was saying, “Will you marry me?”

At this time the young man gave his beloved gifts and left her. The beloved waited for him to return for her. During this time she prepared herself for that day. The young man was also making preparations. He went to his father’s house and prepared a room in it for his bride. He could only return for his bride when the father approved of his preparations. If someone asked him what day he would be bringing her home, he replied, “Only the father knows.” Are there some tingles in your toes as you read this? Our groom has gone to prepare a place for us. He told us so in John 14:2. Jesus has gone to His Father’s house and is busy preparing a place for us. Can you imagine what He’s up to? And he will return for us. He’ll return when the place is approved by his father. Only the Father knows when that will be, but we can be sure it will happen!


Finally the day came for the groom to bring his bride to his father’s house. The bride and groom went to their room for a honeymoon that lasted seven days. It was at this time that the covenant was consummated. The guests in the house celebrated for those seven days. Talk about a party! At the end of the seven days, the husband and wife would join the guests for a wedding supper. What a time it will be when Jesus returns for His bride!

We'll return back to John 2 and the wedding Jesus was attending in the next post.