The Wedding In Cana
THE WEDDING IN CANA
John 2:1-11
• The wedding is an illustration of the relationship between Jesus and the Church. Soon after the creation, God instituted the first marriage. This, the first sign of the ministry of Jesus, took place in a wedding, and the last sign of His ministry will also be a wedding, that of the Church with her Savior. Right from the beginning, Jesus shows the purpose of His ministry: to prepare the Church for His wedding. Between the wedding of Cana and the wedding of the Lamb, the history of the Church unfolds.
• The weddings in the times of Jesus lasted for a few days. In the beginning, there was wine. The first wine is a type of the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It was something extremely important for the Church in order to start her ministry, having to overcome opposition from the religious leaders, from the political powers, from the idolatrous gentiles and from the Greek philosophy which was prevalent in the society of those days.
• After that, there came a period of water only, which is a type of the Word of God, but without a significant presence of the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit was not operating, but as we look back in the history of the Church, we can clearly see that there was a hiatus between the operation of the Spirit in the early church and the revival that started with the renewal of the baptism in the Holy Spirit in the beginning of the last century, and which gave birth to the Assemblies of God and all subsequent similar groups.
• The last wine is then a type of the pouring of the Holy Spirit during our days, and that pouring is the one which precedes the consummation of the wedding, when bride and bridegroom are finally wed. That pouring is also important, because it finds the Church living in days of dense darkness, times described by the expression “midnight”, when unbelief is rampant and materialism and worldliness have invaded even some Christian churches. That is the time that just precedes the return of the Lord, when the wise virgins need oil in their lamps to keep their flames burning (faith).
• The process that took place between the first wine and the second wine at the wedding in Cana is also very illustrative, because it shows the limitations of man. When Mary learns that there is no more wine, she feels that there is a serious problem in the wedding feast. Mary is a type of the faithful church, and when the church perceives that the Spirit is missing, she turns to Jesus and asks for a blessing. That is what Mary did.
• Jesus at first did not do anything, because there was an appropriate time for Him to act. His answer shows that there would be a period without wine, until His time had come (the time of His return). He knows that the time of need is near the end, and He waits for the right moment. Meanwhile, Mary instructs the servants to “do whatever He says” to them. That is the instruction that the faithful church has for its members: obey what the Lord says, act as if “Lord” is not only a title, but a reality to us servants.
• What man can do is to fill 6 water pots of stone. Six is the number of man, and shows our limitations. We always fall short of perfection, and to achieve 7, we need One who is the Lord. All man can do is teach the Word, preach the Gospel, but to produce wine, or to pour the Spirit, only Jesus can do. When the six water pots are brought to Jesus, we have “six plus One”, perfection is present and the wine appears.
• Also interesting is the comment made by the master of the feast, who testifies that the second wine is better than the first. It speaks of a more profound blessing in our days than even in the early church. Today the signs and wonders are spread through the Body, whereas in the days of the early church they were somewhat restricted to the group of Apostles.
