The Bible gives us many parables, teachings and stories set in the context of weddings to bring us a deeper revelation of our relationship with the Lord. The story of the Wedding at Cana is only contained in the Gospel of John, penned many years after the other gospels. The Holy Spirit moved on John to record this prophetic foreshadowing of the marriage supper of the Lamb with His church. It’s impossible to overemphasize the significance of God choosing a wedding for this public presentation of Jesus.
The actual miracle consisted of Jesus turning water into wine. Jesus, several of His future disciples and Mary were all gathered at a wedding. Mary approached Jesus and pled with Him to help the wedding party because they had run out of wine. Jesus then instructed the servants to get six large clay jars, fill them with water and take them to the person overseeing the celebration. When it was tasted, the water had become better wine than what had been previously served.
The water jars mentioned in this story were probably at the wedding to be used for purification of the plates and other dishes along with the religious washing of the hands of the guests and bridal party. Judaism later codified a highly developed system of ceremonial cleansing in the Talmud that was already in practice during this period. There are many examples in the New Testament of the religious leaders rebuking Jesus for failing to uphold the traditional Jewish purification rituals. Jesus took the six water pots that had been previously provided for religious washing and turned them into vessels filled with wine for a joyous wedding feast.
There are no accidents in the Bible, and the Lord did not accidentally choose this wedding for the scene of His public introduction through supernatural intervention. A wedding is the perfect setting for the first miracle of Jesus. John tells us that no miracle had ever occurred in the life of Christ prior to this, in clear contradiction to the Quran and false gospels that claim otherwise. “This, the first of His signs” (John 2:11a). This first presentation of power in the context of a wedding prophetically revealed that Jesus’ eternal ministry purpose is related to His ultimate wedding with the church.
This story shows the difference between true and false religion. False religion speaks of rituals and regulations. Christianity celebrates an intimate relationship with the Lord. Jesus came to public view eating and drinking joyfully at a wedding. He knew the ultimate plan of heaven was His wedding with the church. God the Father chose this setting to reveal Jesus as our Messiah because He wants a relationship with us that can only be compared to a marriage. Lasting relationship is the ultimate purpose for His life and ministry. Jesus loves you, and He’s promised to remain with you forever, as in a perfect marriage.
To learn more, listen to this episode of The Whole Word Podcast with Pitts Evans on the Charisma Podcast Network.{eoa}
Pitts and Mary Evans met at the University of South Carolina and have been married since 1981. They have three adult children, a daughter in-law, a son in-law and eight grandchildren. Pitts first attended Whole Word Fellowship with his parents in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was later called to full-time ministry and currently serves as the senior pastor of WWF and the Northern Virginia House of Prayer. He is the voice of our weekday The Whole Word Podcast. Pastor Pitts also directs our international ministry, overseeing humanitarian efforts, combating human trafficking, ministering in pastor’s conferences, Bible schools and seminaries in other nations. His primary calling is for recruiting and equipping the bride of Christ through Bible teaching and preaching. His new book, The Wife of God, is available from Amazon.
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