You Have Kept the Best Wine Until Now, John 2:1-12

 

Introduction

 

This miracle is not merely a miracle. Verse 11 tells us it is a sign. A sign is something that points to something greater than itself. What Jesus does here is not merely about this wedding; but it’s pointing to something greater. Verse 11 also tells us that in this, Jesus manifested His glory. In other words, in performing this sign, Jesus showed some of His glory; at least to those who saw it – especially the disciples, as it says “his disciples believed in him.” May that be the effect of reading this – that you may believe in Him.

 

The Setting

 

Here we have Jesus and his disciples at this wedding along with Jesus’ mother. It would seem to be some sort of family friend of Jesus’ since Mary seems as if she has some responsibilities in helping out with the wedding being that she tells Jesus they are out of wine and then tells the servants to listen to Jesus. Nevertheless they are all here at this wedding. In those days wedding celebrations were a huge affair. The feasting often lasted multiple days and the food and wine was an important aspect of the celebration.

 

Jesus and Mary’s Interaction

 

So they are at this wedding celebration and Mary tells Jesus that they have no wine in verse 3. They had run out. This would’ve been quite the shameful and embarrassing thing for the bridegroom who was responsible for providing the wine. So Mary voices this concern to her son, and Jesus’ response is a bit puzzling upon an initial reading. In verse 4, Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” This may seem puzzling to us because there is clearly an element of rebuke in Jesus’ response to his mother, who seems innocent enough to us. First, Jesus calls her “woman” which certainly wouldn’t have been disrespectful as it would be in our culture. But it certainly was a distancing term. One commentary called it a term of “polite distance.” So Jesus politely distances Himself from His mother and says, “what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” In this rebuke, Jesus reveals his mother’s intentions. She wanted Jesus to manifest His glory, and take over as Messiah King, likely with misconceptions on what it meant that Jesus was to be King of the Jews. Mary is trying to use her influence as mother to try and get Jesus to do something that it is not yet time for Him to do. Mary seems to respond appropriately to this rebuke from her son, as she essentially lets go of control and leaves the situation in her son’s hands by just telling the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them. No doubt, this was a difficult time for Mary. Having raised her son, and yet now things are out of her hands. Jesus is going to do the Father’s will and eventually be lead to the cross. Mary can do nothing about it, and she is rebuked for trying to influence and overstepping her bounds. Surely parents of older children who have left the home or are nearing that stage can relate.

“My hour has not yet come.” What is this hour Jesus is talking about? That term is frequently used throughout the gospels to refer to the hour of His crucifixion. Most commentators say that that is what Jesus is referring to here. Jesus is essentially saying, “I cannot fully reveal myself yet, or they will want to crucify me.” But then Jesus goes on to perform this miracle anyway. Why is that? The miracle was done in the context of a wedding feast and in discretion. The master of the banquet did not know where the wine came from. It just seems from the text that it was the disciples and the servants who knew what had happened. Thus Jesus performed this sign. He did not give a full revelation to the public at the time, but as a sign it pointed towards who He was that only some saw in faith – namely the disciples.

Having said all that, I can’t help but think that Jesus may have something else in mind when He says, “My hour has not yet come.” Right before He says that, He says, “What does this have to do with me?” I think at least part of what Jesus is saying here is, “Hey, this is not my wedding. My hour hasn’t come. This is not my responsibility to provide the wine.” Honestly, to me that makes a lot of sense with this direct conversation. I was at a wedding once where the pastor was preaching on this passage for the wedding. He implanted this idea into my head and it’s stuck with me ever since. One of the things this pastor said was that when we go to weddings, at some point during the wedding, everyone is always thinking about their own wedding. If you’re married, you think back to your own wedding day. If you’re not, you’re thinking about what yours is going to be like or if you will ever get married. Then the pastor said, “Why wouldn’t Jesus be doing the same thing?” Obviously not an earthly marriage, but imagine Jesus being at this wedding thinking forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb, the Church being the bride of Christ. How rich and abundant Christ will provide for that wedding celebration. If they thought this wine was good, just wait until we get the New Heavens and New Earth wine.

 

The Miracle

 

Jesus decides to go ahead and do something about this wine issue. He has the servants fill up the jars for purification washing. The Jews had various washing rituals they performed at various times. Then Jesus has the servants take some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they did and lo and behold the water had turned to wine! The master loves it and says “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” The text tells us the tradition: at weddings they’d put out the best wine first, the guests have their fair share and then when that wine is gone, the poorer wine is put out. This is not to be understood as a promotion of drunkenness by Jesus. Remember, the wedding celebrations would often last up to a week. They would go through a lot of wine in a week of wedding feasting without promoting drunkenness. While not promoting drunkenness there is certainly a gladness that the wine provides intended by God as a blessing. Psalm 104:14-15 says this, “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.” Jesus, knowing the Psalms and the many other passages of Scripture speaking to the blessing that wine is, makes what could have become a sour situation into a happy wedding celebration. That in and of itself tells us quite a bit about God. It tells us that He is a happy God and He likes to see His creatures happy in the enjoyment of Himself. One of the ways in which we enjoy God is by enjoying the gifts He has given to us. Obviously sin is the great abuse and twisting of God’s good gifts and neglecting of the Giver, but we must not allow sin to rob us of gladness that God wants to give us.

Step back now and consider what Jesus did here. Jesus did something people don’t do – serving the best wine until last – and He did something people can’t do – turn water into wine. This is the gospel! Jesus did what people don’t and can’t do!

Consider this sign in another way now. In the first chapter, the gospel writer hinted at the theme of the Jew’s rejection of Christ. Here we see that the running out of wine at the wedding symbolizes the spiritual dryness or the spiritual barrenness of the state of first century Judaism. It is also symbolic of our spiritual barrenness apart from Christ. Throughout the Bible wine is often a symbol of celebration, gladness, wealth, and blessing from God. In first century Judaism, and in our hearts before Christ, we have none of that! As Mary said in verse 3, “They have no wine.” When we look at the Spiritual condition of our hearts apart from Christ what can be said about it? “They have no joy. They have no righteousness.” Only in going to Jesus Christ do we receive what we do not have and what we need – joy and righteousness.

Consider the setting of this miracle. The bridegroom, who was responsible for providing the wine, was totally at fault in a shame culture. If Jesus had not done this miracle, the bridegroom would have been utterly put to shame. This was a failure on the bridegroom’s part because he either didn’t have enough money or resources to provide what was necessary, was an incredibly poor planner, or he could’ve simply been irresponsible. It is against that backdrop that Jesus graciously provides. It is against the backdrop of our sin that Jesus graciously provides forgiveness and righteousness for us. In the face of our utter lack of inability and our utter failure, Jesus gives more grace. He gives free and undeserved forgiveness and righteousness. If the wedding had not run out of wine, Jesus would not have given grace in the way that He did. If we have righteousness then we don’t need Jesus to give us His. But we don’t, and we deserve to be shamed and condemned before all of creation and before all the angelic beings before God’s throne, and yet what does Jesus do in the gospel? He covers our shame. He covers our guilt. He takes it on Himself. He provides for us what we cannot provide ourselves. We are not counted as sinners and we are counted before God as if we had always obeyed. Did you notice that about the narrative? The master of the feast did not know that Jesus provided the wine. In verse 9 and 10 the master of the feast credits the bridegroom for saving the best wine until now. That wasn’t the bridegroom’s wine! Yet it was counted as his.

 

The Quality

 

Notice the quality of the wine. “But you have kept the good wine until now” (v.10). That’s the real gospel statement of this passage. In this we see the superiority of The New Covenant that Jesus is bringing over the Old.

What Jesus brings is of a higher quality. He didn’t give out his best to then serve the worst, like humans do. He kept the good wine until now. The inferior wine prepared the way for the superior wine. Jesus is better than the types and shadows of the Old Testament. All of those shadows prepared the way for the real thing. “But you have kept the good wine until now” because, “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6).

The specific mention of the water jars for Jewish purification rites in verse 6 clearly signify the superiority of what Christ is bringing to the Old Covenant. The water fills the jars to the brim and as they draw it out, it is wine, it is something better than what the law prescribed. As wine fills the Jewish washing jars, so Christ fulfills the law and provides something better than what the law could.

Apart from Christ, the law is but an empty vessel. But the law was useful in bringing us Christ. Only Jesus could provide what was needed. The law could not provide the substance; only Christ is the substance. The water only washed the outside, the wine gladdens the heart.

Some of us may struggle with really liking those old purification jars. Some of may think, “Man, why did Jesus have to go and ruin those perfectly good jars with wine?” We like our laws and regulations and our Moses; but our hearts are dried up of grace and truth and Jesus Christ. Maybe if that’s us, it’s because we haven’t tasted and seen for ourselves that the grace that Jesus provides is better than the stony vessels of law. If your heart is dry and graceless toward others, maybe it’s because you haven’t had any of Christ’s wine.

What’s interesting is that there’s actually another way to understand this miracle. Some people think that it’s actually the water being drawn out of the well that is turned to wine. Here’s how to understand that: in verse 6-8, the servants are ordered to fill the jars with water. Presumably this water comes from a well. So they fill all the jars with water. Then Jesus says, “Now draw some out…” This seems to indicate that wine is now being drawn out of the water well. So Jesus gets all the water that they would need for their washing, then turns the water in the well into wine. Now if that is what’s going on here, that also gives us wonderfully rich gospel pictures. Just as the New Jerusalem is described as having streets made of gold, so will wine flow like water in the New Heavens and New Earth.

 

Jesus is the Wine

 

Regardless of which way we understand the water turning to wine; the point here is that Jesus is the wine. As wine gladdens the heart (Psalm 104:15), so Jesus is the truer and better wine and gladness of our hearts. Jesus is what makes the New better than the Old. He is here. The substance is here. The true bread, the true water, the true prophet, priest, and king, and the true wine from which we drink who gladdens our hearts. The New is better because we get Jesus. It is not something other than Jesus that makes the new better, it’s not some effect or benefit that Jesus brings that makes the new better. It’s that we get Jesus Himself. He is better than shadows, symbols, and tablets of stone. There is no one and no thing that is of better quality than Jesus Christ. He is the best of tastes. Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” The best wine, the best honey, the best bread! There is no higher quality than Jesus Christ.

 

The Quantity

 

Notice not only the quality of the wine, but the quantity of wine. There were 6 jars each holding 20 or 30 gallons. That’s a lot of wine! That is an abundance of wine! More than enough. The image of this only expands if we understand the wine to be coming out of the well. There is an abundance beyond what we could ever use of grace in Jesus Christ. As we understand Jesus to be our true wine, we understand that he is more than enough to satisfy and gladden our hearts for all eternity. He will not run out on us. Where our love runs out, where our righteousness runs out, where we run out, Christ does not. Have you just run out on life? You have a Savior who does not run dry, who never empties of mercy for you. His giving outdoes your taking and your need. The quantity of new wine will not run out for all eternity. There is enough here for you. If you are a poor sinner unsure about coming to Christ, if you wonder if God really will forgive you of your sin, you must know that Jesus is a savior who never runs out of grace. There is more than enough of Him for you.

 

Conclusion

 

As the best was saved for last, so is the Christian life. We go through the trials and tribulations of this world; many dry seasons as if in a desert. We are like pots that experience cracks and chips and brokenness. We experience heartbreak and pain and suffering, and rejection for Christ’s name. We go through difficult times of the Lord’s discipline and testing. Things are not always as they ought to be. But the best is yet to be. Christ is saving the best wine for later. We have yet to drink of the choicest reserve that Christ has for us. When we get there one day, our hearts will not be able to hold all the joy and gladness we will have when we sit down to drink with Christ. Every teardrop we spilled in this life will be worth one drop of Christ’s choice wine, yet we will have an abundance for all eternity. Charles Spurgeon once explained that Christ has far more love for us in His storehouses than He has revealed to us, because if He revealed all His love to us, then our hearts would literally burst because we could not contain it all. Is your life full of tears and frowns? It is but a time. Smiles and laughter forever are coming.

Notice in verse 1 we were told this took place on the third day. On the third day water turned to wine. On the third day, death turned to life. We have a living Savior whose Kingdom is teeming with new life. So we raise our glasses to the resurrection, drinking in the New Covenant grace of our Lord’s redeeming blood.