The gospel of John, regarded as one of the greatest literary works ever written yet accessible to any reader, portrays the life and ministry of Jesus in a very intentional way. Recognition of its literary genius need not in any challenge the belief in the divine inspiration of the gospel or challenge the essential historical truth of the narrative. Rather, appreciation of the way the story is told adds to the meaning of the message.
John constructs the narrative of Jesus’ ministry around seven great signs. John makes it clear that Jesus did many more things than are conveyed in the gospel (see 20:25) and that Jesus did many more miracles than are included in this account (e.g. 2:23. 6:2). But John chose seven miracles of special significance, and we can only assume careful analysis will be instructive.
The first of these miracles took place at a wedding celebration. The host ran out of wine, and Jesus miraculously changed six large pots of water into wine. I’ll not attempt a deep analysis of this event except to observe a few obvious points. First, Jesus attended and therefore honored the wedding, one of the most universal human celebrations. He helped the host avert a social disaster by providing wine when the wine had run out. The wine provided by Jesus was “the best wine.” What about the symbolism of the water and the wine and the six stone pots? Many think of Jesus as the new wine, and we recall Jesus teaching that new wine requires fresh wineskins (Matthew 9:17), part of Jesus’ effort to help his followers reconsider the appropriate role of their religious practices and traditions. Perhaps the most important thing to say about the wedding miracle is that Jesus was sharing in this happy event, and when he was asked to help, he solved the problem and kept the happiness going.
John gives us a clue to his narrative method by commenting .. “This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in him.” (2:11) The progression of the seven miracles helps establish key truths including that Jesus is always attentive to and completely obedient to his father’s will, and thereby he is always has a sense of confidence and control concerning the circumstances around him. When the situation calls for it, he demonstrates miraculous power in fulfilling the Father’s will for his work among us. That Jesus is the Son of God operating in the power of God is the central message that John seems to be conveying through these events. Jesus demonstrates power over nature (walking on the sea; calming the storm), over organic elements in creating food or drink, power over human sickness, and ultimately, in the last and greatest miracle, power over death itself in raising from the dead a man who had been in the tomb for several days. Of course this last miracle foreshadows the greatest miracle of all, which was Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead by the power of God, keeping in mind that Lazarus was restored in his earthly life for a season, presumably to die again while Jesus’ resurrection was not followed by another earthly death. Thus, Jesus was the “firstborn among many brethren,” never to die again. (Romans 8:29, also 1 Corinthians 15).
John constructs the narrative of Jesus’ ministry around seven great signs. John makes it clear that Jesus did many more things than are conveyed in the gospel (see 20:25) and that Jesus did many more miracles than are included in this account (e.g. 2:23. 6:2). But John chose seven miracles of special significance, and we can only assume careful analysis will be instructive.
The first of these miracles took place at a wedding celebration. The host ran out of wine, and Jesus miraculously changed six large pots of water into wine. I’ll not attempt a deep analysis of this event except to observe a few obvious points. First, Jesus attended and therefore honored the wedding, one of the most universal human celebrations. He helped the host avert a social disaster by providing wine when the wine had run out. The wine provided by Jesus was “the best wine.” What about the symbolism of the water and the wine and the six stone pots? Many think of Jesus as the new wine, and we recall Jesus teaching that new wine requires fresh wineskins (Matthew 9:17), part of Jesus’ effort to help his followers reconsider the appropriate role of their religious practices and traditions. Perhaps the most important thing to say about the wedding miracle is that Jesus was sharing in this happy event, and when he was asked to help, he solved the problem and kept the happiness going.
John gives us a clue to his narrative method by commenting .. “This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in him.” (2:11) The progression of the seven miracles helps establish key truths including that Jesus is always attentive to and completely obedient to his father’s will, and thereby he is always has a sense of confidence and control concerning the circumstances around him. When the situation calls for it, he demonstrates miraculous power in fulfilling the Father’s will for his work among us. That Jesus is the Son of God operating in the power of God is the central message that John seems to be conveying through these events. Jesus demonstrates power over nature (walking on the sea; calming the storm), over organic elements in creating food or drink, power over human sickness, and ultimately, in the last and greatest miracle, power over death itself in raising from the dead a man who had been in the tomb for several days. Of course this last miracle foreshadows the greatest miracle of all, which was Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead by the power of God, keeping in mind that Lazarus was restored in his earthly life for a season, presumably to die again while Jesus’ resurrection was not followed by another earthly death. Thus, Jesus was the “firstborn among many brethren,” never to die again. (Romans 8:29, also 1 Corinthians 15).