Christ knew the importance of a wedding, the solemn vows, the joy and laughter, the celebration. He used nuptial imagery more than once, and a wedding feast both starts and finishes his ministry.
As a good friend recently pointed out to me, Christ’s first miracle foreshadows the event that all Christians are waiting for: the consummation of our union with Jesus.
A Miracle in Every Sip
The beneficiaries of Jesus’ first miracle didn’t know why their wine was so special, but they appreciated that their hosts “kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10). Why did Jesus start his ministry with this miracle rather than by healing someone of a serious disease or deformity?
My friend was listening to a commentator discussing John 2:1-11, where Christ saved the day at a wedding in Cana. The party was about to be deeply embarrassed by running out of wine for their guests.
But then Jesus stepped in, and they were back in business. The commentator referred to “the wedding feast,” and a lightbulb went on in my friend’s head: “this is foreshadowing — a preview of our feast with Jesus in heaven!”
When she said this, my jaw dropped. Of course, now it was so clear. Here was an imperfect example to precede the perfect — like King David, who would be followed by Christ, the perfect King; Isaac, the imperfect sacrifice pointing to Jesus, the spotless Lamb.
At an earthly wedding dinner, supplies run out, but everyone will be satisfied at the Lord’s nuptial table.
Jesus’ first miracle is portrayed as an accident, where he succumbed to pressure from his mother. “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). That’s what Jesus said to his mother. And it’s true, the hour of his final earthly supper had not arrived. But there are no accidents in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Another Wedding Feast
Perhaps we can examine the Last Supper as another wedding feast? In Luke 22:20, we heard Jesus saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
He raised a glass and told them to drink the wine, which symbolized his blood. At the wedding banquet in John 2, Jesus provided the wine. At that final supper, Jesus was saying, “I will provide the blood sacrifice.”
Our union with Jesus is just like a marriage. “The climactic realization of this covenantal bond between the Triune God and his people centers in union with Christ,” explained Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.
Our union with him as believers is foreshadowed in the union between man and woman, where they become one flesh. “Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man’” (Genesis 2:23).
Who Is Invited?
“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless” (Matthew 22:11-12).
Johnathon Bowers explained this parable — it’s not about clothing or exterior shallow things. When we see someone who loves Jesus, that person looks different from the unbelievers around him or her.
He or she is set apart by Christ, and only Christ can “clothe” that person to start resembling him. “The wedding feast is an open invitation, but there is a dress code. Everyone is welcome at the table, but the table changes us. Or, to keep with the imagery of the parable, it changes our clothes. If it doesn’t, then we aren’t truly guests. We’re wedding crashers, and our lot lies outside of the laughter and light.”
While Christians can’t understand why anyone would reject Jesus, it’s true that many did. John 6:56-57 records this difficult statement: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.” A minute later, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (v.66).
In a sense, they weren’t “clothed” right. These individuals were not changed by what they heard and witnessed. They were entertained for a period of time.
Perhaps they received a little of what they needed, such as a good meal when they were hungry or the comfort of society when they were lonely. But they refused the call to worship, salvation, and sanctification. They turned their noses up at a new wardrobe — Christ’s blood.
Wine and Blood
When Jesus turned the water into wine, he said, I will provide — I will do it. When he saved sinners from eternal condemnation, he provided the blood. He said I will provide — I will do it. And marriage, in turn, is a covenant bond involving a type of sacrifice.
Ephesians 5 lays out a picture of sacrifice, one where the man gives his life. The woman submits to this, not out of duty or under compulsion but out of love for the one who would love her as himself (v. 28).
In Cana, Jesus provided the wine. No one helped him. The wine he produced was the best wine, and the result was a relief, happiness, and even joy.
God loves to do kind things for us, which make us happy, but I resist the idea that turning the water into wine was a frivolous beginning, a soft entry into the business of making miracles.
Nothing is more important in our faith than understanding this — Christ paid the cost for our sins. In fact, this passage — in retrospect — is suggestive of the horrible but necessary and beautiful gift of grace and mercy, which was Calvary.
But the wedding — this should remind us that Jesus did so for the joy set before him and so that we could also partake in that joy.
The Best Wedding
Forget what you know about celebrity weddings, lavish nuptials, and modern ideas of marriage. The wedding at Cana looks ahead to the ultimate wedding, the eternal bond between Jesus and his people, which was bought with his blood.
A single earthly bride and groom in their fancy clothes will not be the center of attention. We who are clothed in his blood will see Jesus’ face and gaze into it with uninterrupted love, free from sin. We will worship him forever.
For further reading:
What Is the Significance of the Parable of the Ten Virgins?
The Church Is the Bride of Christ — What Does that Mean?
What Is the Significance of Jesus Turning Water into Wine?
What Is the Parable of the Wedding Feast?
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