Tuesday | Week 2

The wedding business today is huge! But if we think we’ve cornered the market on weddings today, we’re wrong. In John 2, the Jews knew how to throw a wedding! This chapter is full of significance. 

Jewish weddings during the time of Christ were gala occasions even among villages like Cana in Galilee. They were week-long festivals with the entire village invited. Hospitality was abundant and wine was essential. The Rabbis used to say, “Without wine, there is no joy.” To run out of wine at a Jewish wedding was a terrible embarrassment and humiliation. In today’s lingo, it would be a catering disaster! 

An easy way to understand John 2 is to think of the wedding phrase of something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

Something old is represented in the six stone water jars. These six stone water jars were used for ceremonial washing for purification. The book of Leviticus, all 27 chapters of it, gives the laws and regulations for worship including instructions on ceremonial cleansing, moral laws, holy days, etc. These six stone water jars represent the Old Testament law. 

Something new is represented in the wine of the New Testament—the gospel of grace, the new covenant. In Luke 22:20, Jesus takes the cup of wine and says this is the new covenant, which is poured out for you. Each of those jars held 30 gallons making a total of about 180 gallons. That would equate to about 917 bottles of wine today! The new covenant is abounding with grace!

Something borrowed is represented in the time remaining in Jesus’ earthly ministry. From this point forward, Jesus was living on borrowed time. Jesus knew the countdown clock had begun ticking with that first miracle at the wedding in Cana. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 tells us

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born (Christmas) and a time to die (Good Friday).”

Jesus knew the journey to the cross was underway. 

Something blue is represented by Jesus Christ Himself. The term true blue refers to someone who is faithful and genuine, someone you can count on. Jesus is our true blue friend who always loves us unconditionally and is always there for us. When a social emergency presented itself at this wedding, the true blue nature of Jesus was revealed. 

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.