JOHN 2 AND THE
"NEW WINE'' OF PENTECOST
The
Gospel of John provides numerous illustrations of the ways in which the
annual festival seasons of Israel picture important aspects of the
mission and attributes of Jesus Christ. For instance, Jesus' Passover
miracles and teaching recorded in John 6 reveal Him as the Bread of
Life, and His words during the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:37-39; 8:12)
proclaim Him to be the source of the
living waters of the Holy Spirit and the Light of the World (see Grace
and Knowledge, Issues 5 and 7).
In this article, I will discuss
yet another example of festival symbolism from the Gospel of John-the
Pentecost imagery included in John's description of the wedding miracle
at Cana (John 2:1-11). Here the symbolism is less obvious than that of
John 6 or John 7, but it has been convincingly described by scholars
(e.g., [3, 5]). We will see that in John 2, Jesus is portrayed as the
bringer of the new wine of a renewed covenant.
The Background: Pentecost and the Covenant
To understand the connection between Pentecost and John 2:1-11, it is
helpful to remember that by Jesus' time, Pentecost had become much more
than a festival of the spring harvest. It was also a celebration of
God's covenant relationship with Israel and His gracious gift of Torah
[3-6]. This is plainly evident in the Book of Jubilees, which was
written in the second century B.C. In Jubilees, God's covenants with
Noah and Abraham are said to have been made on Pentecost (6:1-17;
15:20), and Pentecost commemorates the covenants. According to Jubilees
6:17, ``...it is ordained and written in the heavenly tablets that they
should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year to renew
the covenant each year.'' The Qumran community, which followed the
calendar of the Book of Jubilees, was one group that formally renewed
its covenant commitment to God during the Pentecost season [5, p. 132].
Also relevant to possible symbolic meanings of the wedding feast at
Cana is the fact that the Sinai covenant is portrayed in the Hebrew
Scriptures and subsequent Jewish tradition as a marriage covenant (see
Grace and Knowledge, Issue 3, pp. 28-29 as well as [2, Chapter 6]). In
Jewish tradition, a marriage covenant begins with a written contract
called a ketubah, and a wedding ceremony is conducted under a canopy
(chupah in Hebrew). In the case of Israel's marriage covenant, the stone
tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written can be viewed as
the ketubah, while Mt. Sinai was the chupah.
We have seen
elsewhere in this issue (pp. 9-12) that it is very instructive to view
the Pentecost miracle of Acts 2 in the context of the events at Sinai
described in Exodus 19-20. Similarly, one can profitably study the Cana
miracle of John 2 in light of both Exodus 19-20 and Acts 1-2. Keeping in
mind these two sections of scripture, let us now turn to the second
chapter of John's gospel.
The Pentecost Symbols of John 2
The setting of Jesus' miracle is given in John 2:1:
``And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:''
Commentators differ in their explanations of the chronology of John 1-2
[1, p.97]. The ``third day'' of John 2:1 was probably the third day
after the calling of Philip and Nathanael in John 1:43-51, since some
time would have been required for Jesus to travel from the Jordan valley
to Cana; alternatively, it could have been the third day after John the
Baptist's testimony of John 1:29-34, with the first two days mentioned
in verses 35 and 43, respectively. In any case, this time reference may
have additional symbolic significance. Recall that before God's
appearance at Sinai, the Israelites were instructed to go through a
period of sanctification in preparation for that momentous event (Ex.
19:10-15), which occurred on ``the third day'' (vv. 11, 16). These days
just before God's fiery descent to the mountain (called the ``days of
bounding'' in Jewish tradition [5]) comprise yet another part of the
wedding imagery of Exodus 19, since a wedding itself was preceded by a
time of purification and preparation. Interestingly, the water which
Jesus turned into wine was contained in pots used for the sort of ritual
washings that were part of prenuptial purification (John 2:6).
A further connection between John 2:1 and the days leading up to
Pentecost is suggested by the way in which John refers to Mary in this
verse. Grassi [5, p. 133] observes that the precise phrase ``the mother
of Jesus'' appears in only one other place in the New Testament besides
John 2:1, 3: Acts 1:14, where Mary and the other disciples are involved
in their own time of sanctification as they await the coming of the
promised Holy Spirit. Those who were praying together in Acts 1:13-15
included Jesus' disciples, His mother, and His brothers, the same people
mentioned in John 2:12.
In designating Mary as ``the mother of
Jesus'' in John 2, John seems to be emphasizing her symbolic role in
this passage. A vision recorded elsewhere by John (Rev. 12:1-6) makes a
connection between the mother of Messiah and the people of God [1, pp.
107-109], and it is interesting to think about Mary as a personification
and representative of the Church as we move on to John 2:3:
``And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.''
In Acts 1, the disciples pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is
likened to new wine in Acts 2:13. In John 2:3, Mary tells Jesus that
the wine for the wedding party has run out, implicitly requesting that
He provide more wine. Mary's statement can be viewed symbolically as the
Church's supplication for the new wine of God's Spirit.
Jesus
answers in John 2:4 that the wine shortage is not a matter of immediate
concern for Him, since ``mine hour is not yet come.'' It is clear from
other verses in John's gospel (7:6, 8, 30; 8:20; 12:23; 13:1) that the
``hour'' Jesus refers to is the time of his betrayal, crucifixion,
resurrection and glorification. As John 7:39 states, a major granting of
the Spirit would not come until after these events had occurred. The
timing of this ``hour'' was in His Father's hands; in the meantime, He
had much to accomplish, and not even the concerns of His immediate
family could take precedence over the completion of His assigned
commission.
Still, Mary is sure that Jesus will in some way
respond to her request, and she tells the servants, ``Whatsoever he
saith unto you, do it'' (John 2:5). Verses 7-8 emphasize that the
servants are careful to carry out Jesus' instructions precisely. These
verses are reminiscent of the scene at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19:3-8, where
Moses conveys the offer of God's covenant to the Israelites and the
people answer, ``All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.'' (See also
Ex. 24:3,7.) In the case of the New Covenant, it is Jesus whom the
people of God now must follow closely and obey (John 14:21, 23; 15:14).
Later, His disciples would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit after
faithfully heeding His directive to wait in Jerusalem (Luke 24:49; Acts
1:4).
The six stone waterpots (John 2:6) whose contents were
changed to wine held a great deal of liquid-probably about fifteen to
twenty-five gallons each [1, p. 100]. John 2:7 specifies that the
servants ``filled them up to the brim.'' This large quantity of wine
symbolizes a great outpouring of God's Spirit. Water was carefully
measured into the waterpots, but Jesus brought the Spirit ``without
measure'' (see John 3:34). The Pentecost account of Acts 2 stresses that
the disciples were filled with the Spirit (verses 4, 13).
John
2:9 mentions that the ruler of the feast ``knew not whence it [i.e.,
the wine] was.'' Indeed, that is the way it is with the Holy Spirit, as
Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3:8. In Acts 2, the Spirit comes suddenly,
heralded by ``a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind'' (v. 2)
No one knows from whence the sound and its visible effects have come,
and the multitude gathered in the temple area is amazed by what is
happening (vv. 6-12).
The ruler of the Feast goes on to remark to the bridegroom,
``Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men
have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good
wine until now'' (John 2:10).
It is also true in God's plan of
salvation that He has ``saved the best for last.'' In Joel 2:28-32, a
universal outpouring of the Holy Spirit is promised for the last days,
and the disciples gathered at the temple in Acts 2 experience part of
the fulfillment of that promise (Acts 2:17-21).
Nearly fifteen
hundred years before, God had appeared in glory at Mt. Sinai (Ex.
24:16-17). Jesus' miracle at Cana was a preliminary manifestation of His
glory, leading His disciples to believe on Him (John 2:11). The
disciples could sense that they were seeing the beginning of the
Messianic age, which was to be characterized by an abundance of wine
(Amos 9:13-14; Jer. 31:12). Today, as we await a future wedding feast
with our Messiah, we can rejoice as they did in the great blessings that
He continually pours out for us, during the Pentecost season and
throughout the year.
