We don't realise but this situation is a potential social humiliation for the bridegroom the shame of which will follow him all his days. His marriage feast will always be characterised as the one that ran out of wine!
Jesus takes the opportunity to meet this situation by providing a mighty sign, a superabundance of wine out of water and reveals his GLORY.
My key verse is Jn 2:11, 'This beginning of miracles [signs] did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested [revealed] his glory; and his disciples believed on him.' Let's focus on--
The Revelation of Christ's Glory
When we look back in the gospel to John 1.14 it says, 'And the Word became flesh and dwelt [or 'tabernacled'] among us and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth'.What does 'glory' mean to you? It's not easy to define. Honour, renown, esteem, fame, importance, eminence, celebrity, dignity, distinction, exaltation, grandeur, greatness, honor, illustriousness, immortality, kudos, magnificence, majesty, nobility, praise, prestige, renown, reputation, splendor, sublimity, triumph are some of the words suggested by it. CS Lewis, the great Christian academic and writer said that 'glory' suggests 'luminosity'.
But the glory of God in Jesus Christ is of such a character that it can cause people to fall down (e.g., Rev 1.17; 2 Chron 5.14) because of its 'weight' (2 Cor 4.17) or just because the people realise in Whose presence they are.
David Wilkerson, author of the famous The Cross and the Switchblade (who died last year incidentally) said that the glory of God is indefinable because it is 'the fullness of God'.
So the glory theme is found looking back to Jn 1.14 but also looking forward to John 17, a whole chapter framed around glory. In chapter 17 we find Jesus praying, 'O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was' (v5, words in italics mine).
1. The Revelation of Christ's Glory Changes the Ordinary
Jesus was The Sign of an Open Heaven (Jn 1.32, 51). When the heavens are open the extraordinary appears, the glory appears; and when the glory appears the ordinary is changed.
In the first four chapters of John's account, ordinary water gets changed in Wine; the Temple gets a makeover in Christ's Resurrection; ordinary birth becomes new birth and ordinary water by New Water or Living Water (Jn 4).
The glory was first revealed with creation 'the heavens declare the glory of God' (Ps 19.1). The glory was then seen in the glory cloud that led the people of Israel to the Promised Land. The glory was seen by the priests in the Tabernacle and then in Solomon's temple. After that, nothing is said about the temple and glory.
Do we realise that we ordinary people are going to share in Christ's glory one day too?
In one sense we already do because are we not already seated with him in 'heavenly places'?
But we are going to be gloried in a far greater sense when he comes in his glory with all his angels (Matt 25.31).
2. The Revelation of Christ's Glory Calls For A Response
The disciples believed on him when they saw this mighty sign of the water changed into wine. Does that strike you as being slightly odd?
It's the disciples on whom John focuses. I would have thought they had already believed on Jesus, wouldn't you?
What do you think?
Well, perhaps their faith as followers of Jesus was as yet ill-formed and indefinite; yet in seeing this sign their faith was raised to a new level.
This is no idle speculation because in the next pericope (Jn 2.13-22), the cleansing of the temple, Jesus' words about raising up the temple (his body) in three days John says of the disciples that after the resurrection, 'they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had said'.
What is John telling us by saying this?
It's the case that we followers, disciples of Christ Messiah, must deepen our faith in our Lord Jesus because he is the only way to the Father (Jn 14.6).
Listen to A Wonderful Song From The Salvation Army! Glory!
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