To be completely honest, I struggled for many years over Jesus’ first miracle – turning water into wine. (John 2:1-11) Of all the wonderful, miraculous signs that could have heralded his great ministry, why did God choose this seemingly insignificant miracle? I mean, today most Christians who are trying to live a good, straight walk with God won’t even touch wine. It puzzled me, and I told God so, on numerous occasions. Finally, He opened my eyes. I had that “Aha” moment, and this has become perhaps one of my most beloved stories of the Bible. Every so often, God shows me a little more hidden within the passage, and I am amazed with each revelation. Of course, it was a big deal back then, running out of wine at a wedding, and it was a huge miracle for the time. But it’s so much more. It was Jesus stepping forward and saying “Let me introduce myself, let me tell you who I am and why I am here.” It demonstrates the beautiful way in which God always shows at the very end, what He gave us a glimpse of in the beginning. Jesus told us in that moment, in that very first miracle, completely and utterly all that He would accomplish through his life and his death on the cross, and he confirmed it at the Last Supper when he declared the wine to be His blood. (Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20) It was with subtle, yet profound, purpose that he chose the jars that normally held the ceremonial water to fill with wine. This ceremonial water was used by the Jews in accordance with old covenant law, to make them clean before eating, along with their cups and vessels. In selecting these jars, steeped in old covenant tradition, He was demonstrating that the old way of being made clean was finished. When he declared the wine to be His blood at the Last Supper, He was no doubt wondering if anyone there remembered His very first miracle, and how this declaration was tied to it and wrapped up in it. It was His blood that replaced the water in the ceremonial cleansing jars – His blood that will wash us truly clean and give us right standing with God. And not just a new way, but a better way. Just as the wine that replaced the water was the best (John 2:10), this new way of being made clean through this His blood is a “new covenant..established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). How absolutely awesome that God chose this to be His first miracle! What an introduction! In that one miracle He told us everything we ever need to know about who He is – our Redeemer! And isn’t it just like God to have it all tied together, from His first miracle to the Last Supper? I think so.
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