During his ministry on Earth, Jesus Christ performed a number of miracles. Everywhere He went people approached Him asking, or at least hoping, for a miracle. Many times, these miracles were what caused people to believe He was the Messiah. But before Jesus began his ministry, and miracles, He was a child who grew up under the close watch of His mother. It wasn’t until a wedding in Cana when things began to change. This is where Jesus performed His first of many miracles: turning ordinary water into the best wine around.

The story of Jesus turning water into wine is found in John 2:1-12, however it is not in any of the other gospels. This should stand out to the reader and should be considered to fully understand the story. Why would John include this story when the other writers did not? It’s important to remember that John’s gospel is much different than the others. He did not write his gospel to tell of what happened in Jesus’ life, but so that readers would “believe that Jesus is the Christ” (John 20:31). Therefore, the reader should understand as they read this story that John included it not to explain what happened, but to explain who Jesus is.

John begins the story with the wedding, mentioning that Jesus’ mother was there, along with Jesus and His disciples. Jesus’ mother becomes worried after noticing the wine was gone and asks Jesus for help. This tells the reader a couple things. Although John does not specifically say who was getting married, it seems the couple are either friends, or possibly related to Mary, and that she is helping with the arrangements, especially the serving of the food and wine. In Jewish wedding traditions of the time, if wine was to run out it would be extremely embarrassing to everyone involved, so Mary’s concern is real and her desperate desire for help is evident in her request to Jesus for help. There is no evidence of Jesus performing miracles before this, but Mary knows who Jesus is. She knows the miracles around His birth, and knows Jesus could help.

In verse 4, John records Jesus’ response to his mother, which is a very important part of this story. In today’s culture, responding with the word woman would be considered quite rude, however in Jesus’ time this was not so. Jesus uses the same term to Mary as He speaks to her from the cross in John 19:26 and other times with other women throughout the gospel of John (4:21, 20:15). What the term does, however, is make clear the relationship between Jesus and Mary. It is clear that Jesus lived an obedient life to his parents (Mark 2:51), but now things were beginning to change. By using this term Jesus redefines his relationship to Mary; He no longer follows her orders, but only those of His father in Heaven.

Following the dialogue with Jesus, Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus asks of them, which shows that even though Jesus responded sharply to Mary, she still felt something might happen…and happen it did. Jesus tells the servants to fill the stone water jars that guests used for ceremonial washing with water, which they did (2:6-7). Six stone jars full would be a very large amount of water, and again, the water was not for drinking, but for ceremonial washing.

When Jesus then tells them to take some water to the master of the banquet, the servants had to be confused, perhaps scared. Was Jesus really going to give the master of the banquet ceremonial washing water to drink? It was not like they were asking some random guy to take a drink, but the head master of the banquet, the big kahuna. Fortunately, somewhere between the servants drawing the water and taking it to the master of the banquet, the water turns into wine, the best wine, which is contrary to normal practice, but appreciative to those in attendance (2:9-10).

The story that John writes, again, is not to tell what happened, but who Jesus is. By turning water into wine, Jesus shows two important qualities of Himself. One, Jesus turns what is dirty into something wonderful. The ceremonial washing water, which sat in dirty washing pots would not have been tasteful to anybody at the wedding, however Jesus takes that and makes it into something wonderful: the best wine around.

Jesus also shows that when He gives, He gives plenty. The six stone water jars used for washing would have been quite large. Together, the water must have equaled over 100 gallons, all of which Jesus turned into wine. Where at first there was no wine, now there is more than enough to go around. That is how Jesus gives. If Jesus gives a large amount of wine to those at a wedding, imagine how much love and how many blessings He will give to those who trust and follow Him.

Every week in my Biblical Interpretation class we have to write a short analysis on a certain passage in the Bible. Sometimes they are on a parable, sometimes on a narrative, sometimes on an epistle, etc… I figured I’d share some of my papers here, not because I think they’re great but because I think it’s good stuff to think about…

Most of the stuff is based off of research, I don’t come up with all of it. I wish I could, but I’m just not that smart…

So, here’s my first analysis. It’s on David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17). I’ll share others as the days go by…

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The story of David and Goliath, found in 1 Samuel 17, is one of the most popular stories in the Bible. It is a story told to young children in Sunday school and is referred to many times in popular culture. It is a story of bravery, of small versus big, weak versus strong, but only a portion of the story describes the actual battle between David and Goliath. If a reader focuses only on these verses they will neglect the greatest portion of the passage and its emphasis which reveals more than just a battle in which a small boy defeats a large man.

Biblical narratives such as the story of David and Goliath are told on three separate levels. The first level is the narrative itself; the second level is “the story of God’s redemption of mankind with the old and the new covenant” (Grand Canyon University, 2005, ¶7), and the third level “has to do with the whole universal plan of God worked out through His creation” (Fee & Stuart, 2003, p. 91). When looked at from this third level, the story of David and Goliath reveals a story of remarkable faith in God.

In 1 Samuel 17, the narrator paints a picture of the Israelite army, including Saul who had earlier lost favor in the eyes of the Lord (1 Samuel 15), in fear of moving forward against the Philistines, specifically Goliath. Verse 11 shows the Israelites were “dismayed and terrified” of Goliath as he threatened Israel and its God. It is the same fear that struck their forefathers as they prepared to move into the land of milk and honey in Numbers 13:26-33. Verse 32 paints an eerily similar picture to that of the Israelites facing Goliath. After visiting the land, the men spoke in fear saying, “…all the people we saw there are of great size” (Numbers 13:32).

An understanding of God’s covenant with the Israelites would cause one to wonder why the Israelites were struck with fear. From the very beginning, God made it clear He would protect His people. Before Abram left his country for a new land, God said to him, “I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse…” (Genesis 12:3) Again, before entering the land of Canaan, the Israelites were reminded that God was with them. “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and shall flee before you seven ways” (Deuteronomy 28:7). If God is a covenant keeping God, then Goliath would have been cursed before the fight begun. Yet still, as the Israelites looked on at Goliath, they were scared to move forward.

As a boy filled with the Spirit of the Lord (1 Samuel 16:13), David must have understood the Lord’s covenant with the Israelites, which gave him faith that God would protect them from the Philistines. As he arrived at the battle lines to greet his brothers (1 Samuel 17:22), he must have been surprised, shocked even, when the Israelite Army ran in fear from Goliath (17:24). In David’s mind, he expected any true Israelite soldier, faithful of the Lord’s promise, to jump at the chance to take on Goliath; especially after hearing the deal that Saul had made (17:25), which he had to ask several people to confirm.

Soon after, David found himself in front of Saul offering to take on Goliath for his country. When Saul questioned David’s age and size, David reminded him of God’s promise, even describing situations in which God had saved him from certain death (17: 34-36) and stating his confidence that the Lord would “deliver (him) from the hand of this Philistine” (17:37).

The rest, they say, is history; and is the most famous part of the passage. Saul grants David permission and watches as David, after choosing to go without armor, uses a sling to put a stone in the forehead of Goliath, knocking him to the ground. When David approached Goliath and used his sword to cut off his head, he proved not that he was the stronger of the two, or the braver or wiser, but that God, as promised, would always be with His people, even against men twice or three times their size. All they needed was a little faith.

References
Fee, G., & Stuart, D. (2003). How to read the bible for all it’s worth. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Grand Canyon University. (2005). BIB 313 lecture five. Retrieved June 2, 2008, from http://angellms.gcu.edu

I’ve been trying something different lately. Instead of just reading the Bible, taking it from point A to point B and letting that be that, I’ve been trying to actually study the Bible. I’ll read a short passage, think about that passage, and then try to understand not only what took place, but what it means and what I can learn from it. It’s been going pretty well, I think, and although I know I won’t be able to just read a passage and know everything that there is to know, I still feel as if I’m learning a lot. The Bible study that I’ve been involved in has helped too.

The reason I mention it is because the other day I was studying the passage where Jesus feeds five thousand people with just a few loaves of bread:

Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost.” Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. (John 6:10-13 NKJV)

I don’t know how many times I’ve read that and thought, “Wow…what a miracle! He fed five thousand men with just five loaves of bread!” But after thinking about it, I noticed something completely different. Instead I thought about what Jesus says a couple verses later:

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35 NKJV)

So, I felt that what Jesus did by feeding five thousand men was not just perform a miracle, but show the world what he can do for everyone: me, you, your friends, everybody. What am I talking about? I’m not entirely sure, but think about this: Jesus fed five thousand men with bread and had a bunch left over, twelve baskets full. Also, Jesus himself is the bread of life. And so I feel that what we should take from the miracle is that there is enough of Jesus to go around, plenty in fact. However many people come to him, his arms will always be open, there will always be some bread available. No one has to go hungry.

Another interesting tidbit is that Jesus gave the bread to the disciples to hand out, which is exactly what He did during His time on Earth. Jesus spent three years teaching and mentoring His disciples so they could spread the message to the world; so they could hand out the bread of life to whomever would listen.

Maybe I’m wrong, maybe all Jesus wanted to do was feed a bunch of people and show them that He can perform miracles, but for some reason I doubt it. I truly believe it was much more than that.

The Bible is amazing.