John 2 Verses 1-11 

John 2:1 “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 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, 10 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. 11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”

This is one of several passages in the New Testament that teaches us lessons concerning the marriage between Christ and his bride, the Church.  Those verses pertaining to the church are as follows: 

1. John 3:29 “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”  Here John is referring to Christ as the bridegroom and the church as the bride. 

2. Rev. 21:2 “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”  The holy city is the church. 

3. Rev. 21:9 “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.” 

4. Rev. 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” 

5. Eph. 5:24 “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” Marriage between a husband and a wife is to mirror the marriage between Christ and the church.

Other passages pertaining to the marriage, wedding, and wedding feast are as follows: Matt. 22.1-14; Matt. 25.1-13; Rev. 19.7-9;  

Our text centers on Christ turning water into wine.  Certainly, this was a great miracle that Christ had power over the elements so that he could turn water into wine.  He is the only one who has ever had the power to do this.  However, there are other lessons to be learned in the above text.  When the mother of Jesus said unto him, they have no wine, he answered her with the statement: “Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.”  Thus, Christ equated the wine unto “his hour.”  The following verses teach us what Christ hour was:

1. Matt. 26:45 “Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” 

2. Mark 14:35 “And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.” 

3. Mark 14:41 “And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” 

4. Luke 22:53 “When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” 

5. John 7:30 “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.” 

6. John 8:20 “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.” 

7. John 12:23 “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. 27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” 

8. John 13:1 “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.” 

9. John 16:32 “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” 

10. John 17:1 “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:” 

Clearly, the hour to which Christ called “his hour” was the hour of his suffering and death on the cross.   

Next, we consider the significance and symbolism of wine.  In the Old Testament wine is used as one of the seven offerings the children of Israel were commanded to make.  The wine is the Old Testament drink offering: Ex. 29:39 “The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: 40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.”  Wine as the drink offering was offered every day with the lamb sacrificed in the morning and with the lamb sacrificed in the evening.  The daily sacrifices pointed to Christ as the Lamb of God and are symbolized in the New Testament communion service as taught by Christ: Matt. 26:26 “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”  From this we conclude that the wine is used as a symbol of the atoning blood of Christ. 

Moreover, “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.”  The only other time Jesus referred to his mother as “Woman” was at the cross: John 19:26 “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!”  Again, this serves to identify his hour and the wine representing his atoning blood.   

Next, we take note what the mother of Jesus said unto the servants: “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”  As servants of Jesus Christ this is the soundest advice we can receive.  Whatsoever he says unto us we are to do it! 

Now the servants did not turn the water into wine, Jesus did that, but the servant were to drew out and bear to the governor of the feast.  In a marriage feast, the governor of the feast is usually the father of the bride.  The bridegroom is the one responsible for providing the wine for the guests.  This teaches us that Christ as the bridegroom in the marriage to the Church, his bride, was the one who provided the wine for the marriage feast.  This he did on the cross of Calvary as he poured out his blood for the redemption of the sins of his elect family.   

In turning water into wine, this event mirrors an event in the Old Testament when the children of Israel had gone three days journey in the wilderness and had no water and they came to the waters of Marah, but they were bitter (poison water) and they could not drink it.  Here God showed Moses a tree which when he cast into the water it was made sweet.  Likewise, when the blood sacrifice of Christ is cast into the sin-polluted waters of our lives, the sin is removed.   

Upon tasting the water that was turned into wine, the governor of the feast proclaimed to the bridegroom: “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.”  The blood of Christ is the best of wine for the sin-sick child of God.  As servants of the Lord we have the opportunity to serve his people the wine of the gospel message that Christ came into the world to save his people from their sins and he has finished the task he came to do, so that by his grace we have been saved from our sins.