JOHN 2:11-12 PODCAST
To donate to BYM, click here
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. ~ John 2:11-12
Turning the water into wine was a sign, a miracle. When the Lord Jesus chose to change the water into wine, He was saying I am here to bring joy into your lives. In performing this sign, the Lord Jesus was extending thier celebration. In Isaiah 25:9, we read, "In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.'” This one verse describes this purpose. There will come a day when we will rejoice at our ultimate redemption.
The purpose of turning the water into wine was to reveal Jesus' glory. His glory is the expression of His essence, it is the expression of His person. And the effect of said revelation is to bring us to the point of believing in Him. This relationship renders joy, a joy that is foreign to us. This joy is rendered by Him to the one who is believing. This is why He came.
In John 20:31, the Apostle tells us the reason he wrote this Gospel: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Belief happens when through our story with the Lord Jesus, He manifests His glory to us. This will happen again and again in our lives today. The variable to it all is our willingness to believe.
Man can fill water jars, but only God can turn the water into wine, the best wine! Men do the ordinary, but God touches it, and brings it to life. We must not lose sight of the fact that Jesus used water jars which had as its purpose purification. In their religious culture cleansing was a must. This is why the Lord Jesus came: to be the Purifying One. That is the meaning of this sign. It gives us a peek into what the Lord Jesus can do for those who have run out of their own resources.
Now, notice v.11 again, it reads, "What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory..." Through this sign, "he revealed his glory." This is the purpose of His signs and miracles. There are times when He pulls back the curtain and reveals in a special way His divinity.
As a result of revealing His glory, "his disciples believed in him." They believed, here is One who could take the ordinary, and make of it something special. This belief places the spotlight on the One whom we are trusting. All other objects of our trust are like the fig leaves that Adam and Eve placed on themselves after disbelieving in God in the Garden, lacking. The revelation of His glory is God trying to persuade us to believe in Him.
According to v.12, after the miracle in Cana, the Lord Jesus and His mother and brothers and disciples walked seventeen miles to Capernaum. I see a subtle message here. God performs miracles in order to reveal Himself to us, so that we would believe in Him more intimately. The result to all of this? A deeper and more intimate relationship with Him. This group who traveled with the Lord Jesus illustrates His desire for revealing His glory to you and me: an intimate personal relationship with Him, like the relationship these family members and disciples had with Him.
