(REFLECTIONS ON John 2:1-12)

The first miracle of Jesus, turning water to wine, a miracle where people discuss why Jesus called His mom “Woman,” saying “My hour has not yet come,” and discuss the Jewish custom of purification. There are even jokes told that the participants of the banquet were already so drunk, that they didn’t notice what they were drinking was just water, and not actually wine. However, that is exactly what today’s reflection will focus on.

9 When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, 10 and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” (NASB)

First, we see that it is the headwaiter that tasted the water which had become wine, and not the banquet goers. It is the headwaiter, the one that is responsible for overseeing the banquet and ensuring food and wine quality that proclaims “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

It isn’t someone that is drunk beyond recognition and couldn’t tell the quality of the wine, or whether it was wine at all, but someone that would be the most critical judge, the most aware, and most difficult to impress. The water that Jesus turned to wine led to a proclamation, “You have kept the good wine until now.”

Second, although we call this a miracle, actually the better translation of the Greek, is “sign.” The miracles in the Gospel of John are signs. A miracle emphasizes a supernatural act, power displayed, and suspension of normal physical processes. The focus is on the event itself.

A sign emphasizes something that points beyond itself, a revelation of identity, and meaning behind the act. The focus is on what it reveals about Jesus. And so we read in the NASB translation regarding this sign,

11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

The disciples believed in Jesus, not in an event, but in the Man behind the event. The event, the water to wine, manifested His glory, showing that transformation is available to the world through the Son of God. There is transformation, from water to wine, and not only wine, but good wine.

“You have kept the good wine until now,” reveals to us, and is a sign to us, that there is transformational power in Jesus, and that transformation is seen by God as good. It is the same good that God saw when He created the heavens and earth. This transformation turns us into God’s sons and daughters, and not only sons and daughters, but good sons and daughters.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: John 2