Reflection on John 2:1-12

Monday, July 4, 2016

It is beautiful to me that the first of the seven signs of Jesus is somewhat...insignificant. Not that it was truly insignificant; A wedding couple could be quite embarrassed at their lack of planning to run out of wine at their big celebration! But, when we put this miracle next to other miracles of Jesus: raising a man from the dead, healing a girl from a fatal disease, rescuing a woman out of a life of suffering or demon possession, it doesn't look quite as necessary. And yet, JESUS CARES about even the little things. This is a sweet piece of truth to me. We can come to God about the BIG and the SMALL. He cares. This is beautiful.

I also love how the apostle John is the only gospel writer to record this miracle. I am reminded how later he is the very one to point us all toward the marriage supper of the Lamb in the book of Revelation. I think there is a wondrous foreshadowing happening at this human wedding. This sweet celebration is meant to point us toward the ultimate celebration. Reflect with me for a moment on this truly significant celebration in Revelation 19 that is to come:

⁶Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
⁷Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
⁸it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
⁹And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

The husband is Christ. The wife is the church. It will be a beautiful celebration. And this wine that Jesus made? This wine that was the BEST. WINE. EVER. It points us forward to this future wedding celebration where we can gladly anticipate that the best is yet to come!

2 comments

UnknownJuly 4, 2016 at 9:57 AM
This foreshadowing of the wedding supper of the Lamb is wondrous! I keep coming back again and again to when John the Baptist sees Jesus and proclaims "Look, the Lamb of God"(John 1:29). It seems to echo the proclaiming in Revelation, "Worthy is the Lamb" (Rev. 5:12). Jesus was and is identified in many ways, but when John's eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit, he calls Jesus the Lamb. Later, when Jesus is again identified by John as a lamb and Jesus tells the disciples who follow him that they will see heaven open, describing himself as a ladder to heaven (1:50). It is so wondrous that John the author is not only referencing Christ's impending crucifixion as the Lamb (isa 5:12) but also beautifully pointing to His resurrection and our future glory with Him! The lamb, heaven open, the wedding feast are all present in just the first few chapters of John, pointing towards God's ultimate plan for his bride.

Reflection on John 2:1-12

2 comments

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