Jesus The Winemaker

“When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’” - John 2:3-5

Making wine from water was Jesus’ first miracle (and the one miracle of Jesus that teetotalers tend to ignore). A miracle is an act or an event that can only be explained by the power of God. There is no rational, human explanation. Yet there is more to this miracle than meets the eye. Could it be a foreshadowing of the Old Covenant, based on outward actions symbolized by the cleansing of water, to the New Covenant introduced with wine?

When Jesus came in the dawning of His kingdom, it was also the dawning of the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, God transforms a person’s heart, or cleanses our hearts, from within. It’s not just about outward actions. It’s about the heart. The New Covenant reveals that Christ has shed His blood on the cross to cleanse us of all sin from the inside out. When Jesus gave the wine to the disciples at the Lord’s Supper, the wine (yes, it was fermented!) was symbolic of His blood that is shed so that we can be cleansed of sin. So, you see, the first miracle of turning the water into wine was no accident. It was brought full circle, because Jesus led them in drinking the wine. He used it to symbolize His blood that through the shedding of His blood, He would transform their hearts from within.

What do you think about the beautiful symbolism and what the wine means? Is it symbolic of the blood of Christ, symbolic of the New Covenant? Perhaps this is why God chose this as the first sign and miracle in the dawning of Jesus’ ministry. What do you think?