Understanding: There are a sequence of 7 days in the opening chapters of John's gospel that hint at a link with the opening chapters of Genesis.
The first 'celebration' recorded in the Bible was when Adam and Eve married ... before the Fall of humanity. Theologically speaking, this was a 'Day 7' event.
The first miraculous act of Jesus' earthly ministry was to rescue a marriage and to ensure the celebrations were not interrupted. According to John this happened on the 7th day of Jesus ministry once he had returned from being tempted in the wilderness. John's gospel makes much of the number 7 ... the Jewish number representing completeness or perfection.
The first celebration we will encounter in glory will be the wedding supper of the lamb. A far bigger celebration than happened either in the Garden of Eden or in the village of Cana!
In those days, weddings were very different occasions than we have now. Couples were ususally betrothed many years before they married, often from childhood. Their chioce of marriage partner was settled between families usually without reference to the couple. They were unlikely to meet ahead of the wedding unless they lived in the same place, and even then would always have others with them. Wedding celebrations could last anything up to a week, and were paid for by the bridegroom ... at the end of which the couple would consumate the marriage. To run out of food or drink was to dishonour the bride and her family ... such disasters could cause the brides family to take legal action!!
Jesus was there with five named disciples, invited as a friend of the family ... it is possible that Mary (Jesus mother) was there in an organisational capacity. Until this point, Jesus had performed no miracles. Transforming water into wine can be understood as changing the Old Covenant provision for cleanness and replacing it with wine of the New Covenant. The staggering thing is the amount of wine involved. If the wine was in the stone jars (the traditional understanding), then about 160 gallons were produced. That's nearly 600 litres, or 800 bottles! If, instead, the wine was in the well (a very possible alternative understanding), then there was an inexhuastible supply ... presumably available for the duration of the party. Either way, there was a lot of wine!
Application: John refers to miracles using the word 'signs'. A sign points somewhere. For John, the miracles demonstrated the nature of the Kingdom and pointed to the character of the King. John is careful to select only 7 'signs' in his gospel (that number again!).
QWhat do you think is the significance of Jesus frist miracle being at a wedding? This appears to be a deliberate choice underlining the importance of men and women being united together, the importance of family, God's delight in celebrating with us and God's compassion for the poor (the most likely reason for the wine running out was financial).
Q What do you think this 'sign' points to regarding the nature of the Kingdom or the character of the King? The large quantities of wine suggest an expansive, generous and overflowing compassionate kindness.
Q How do we help each other to take this 'on board', either for new Christians who just don't 'get' the enormity of God ... or for struggling Christians who don't feel that God is for them in this sort of way? Jesus said it is truth that will set us free [John 8:31-32] and that we should speak the truth in love [Ephesians 4:14-16]. To be honest this can take a long time, especially if people have established some strong patterns of belief in their thinking that God is less than truely generous in their experience. The Freedom in Christ materials can be of considereable use to follow up with people in this sort of place.
