Why Jesus Turned Water into Wine and Still Does

By Gabriel Schultz

John, the writer of the gospel of John, writes as though he were a reporter in that he uses four of the five Ws (when, what, where, and who) that journalists are taught to use in their articles. However, he does not tell us why, which is the missing W.

The questions are as follows:

Why did Jesus get involved?
Why did the wedding happen on the third day?
Why was this wedding special as to warrant Jesuss involvement?
Why in Cana of Galilee, of all places?
Why was Mary there?
Why did Jesus intervene by turning water into wine?
If you want answers, youre holding them in your hands.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512783667

Gabriel Schultz

The author has over thirty five years of ministerial experience in various callings. He is also the founder/ president of Christ Life Ministries and Assemblies in Zambia, Africa. And travels back and forth. He and his wife presently reside in Bayfield Ontario Canada.

Book preview

CHAPTER

1

God Loves Celebrations

HE INSTITUTED FEASTS

Contrary to the images some may have of God as being harsh, unsmiling, and ready to clobber us when we do wrong, the truth is far from this pessimistic view. God is a smiling God, and He even smiles at our foolishness (Ps. 2:4).

God loves to celebrate. If this were not true, then God would not have given the children of Israel so many feast days. They had feast days not only once a week but sometimes multiple times during the week as well.

2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Are My Feasts the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

3. Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work Sabbath of the Lord: it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. (Lev. 23:2-3)

These were not their feasts; they were God’s feasts. Notice the possessive pronoun my in the above verse. Since it was His feasts, they were to be dedicated to Him, and He was to be the center of the celebration. In the same way, a wedding feast or celebration would be in honour of the married couple, as they dedicated their marriage to the Lord.

He gave the children of Israel days in which they could feast and rejoice in Him. They had to come together as the chosen people to do so.

This was not restricted to the group gathering; it could also be done individually. But as with any party, the more the merrier.

All through scripture we read of feasts and seasons that He gave them to relax and enjoy themselves. Hence, God graces such events with His presence if He is recognized during these festivities. Is it not true that God has given us all things to enjoy?

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. (1 Tim. 6:17; emphasis added)

Somehow, we have this mistaken idea that God does not want us to enjoy ourselves. The only time He does not want us to enjoy ourselves, as we classify it, is when He knows that our so-called enjoyment will bring us pain, sorrow, disaster or death. This was the case in Adam’s situation. God had forbidden him to eat of the Tree of Knowledge because He knew the results and tried to shield Adam from the outcome of what he would suffer should he eat of the tree. However, Adam ignored God’s directive and went ahead and ate, and the result is what we are now experiencing every day of our lives.

When God says no to something, it is important that we take note. Our failure to obey causes pain and sorrow not only to us but to others and even to God.

Since God loves to celebrate, it is no accident that Jesus attended this wedding celebration when invited. He was there to rejoice with those who rejoice. To further endorse His approval, He turned water into wine so that the celebration would not end prematurely.

Jesus was happy to be there, and He is happy to be at any such function if He is invited. We’re not talking about a church service, we’re talking about the actual wedding celebration where people gather to enjoy themselves. However, this is on the condition that they do not forget that He is the one who makes all things possible.

Most couples do not invite Jesus to their reception because they have the idea that His presence will prevent them from enjoying themselves. This is often true especially since alcohol will be served. If this were true, I do not believe Jesus would have attended this wedding at Cana of Galilee—unless we assume He was not aware that wine would be served.

What is unbelievable is the fact that He went further by turning water into wine. This has confused many a Christian and has resulted in there being two camps: those who believe it was wine (alcoholic), and those who say it was plain juice. This is what must be proven in this report: whether it was fermented or unfermented wine, which we hope we can show by looking at scripture.

Before we do, we need to ask ourselves what comes to mind when the word wine is mentioned. As per Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it means the alcoholic fermented juice of fresh grapes used as a beverage. If there was such a thing as non-alcoholic wine, we must give credit to those winemakers for dealcoholizing it. Meaning that they were scientifically ahead of their time. Anyway, I could not help saying that. I now feel better for it.

As far as I am aware, all through scripture wine was used anytime there was some form of celebration. To my knowledge, this would mean that it was customary to serve alcoholic drinks. Otherwise, what kind of wine was offered to the Lord in times when they were told to do so? Was it unfermented or fermented? Of course, we could argue on this and spend our time trying to prove this without coming to some agreement. The devil has got us so tangled up debating and arguing one another that we have missed the message being conveyed by the Lord. In the process, we have become unproductive.

While we all seek after miracles and enjoy seeing what God can do, we must not forget that there is always a reason for or purpose to what God does.

If we approach scripture that pertain to miracles, it is important that we find out why He did what He did. This is an obligation we have as scripture tells us.

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. (Prov. 25:2; emphasis added).

There is always a message to His actions. If we do not see this, we will argue with one another on issues that we are not well versed in. The danger is that we could reject another’s revelation because it does not line up with ours, when in fact this revelation is from God. Or we might accuse one another of heresies because they differ from our interpretation. We need to realize that none of us have the complete picture of things.

We may need to be reminded what the Holy Spirit said through Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. For now, we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face, now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Cor. 13:12).The turning of water into wine in John’s account (John 2:1–11) is one such incident that has caused controversy and misunderstanding. This is the reason we have been debating with one another and trying to prove the other wrong. This has come about because we are either trying to protect people from drinking or trying to protect the Lord Jesus by saying that the wine was non-alcoholic. One thing we need to know is, that we cannot do either. Since we cannot stop people from drinking, if we said it was alcoholic, and if they choose to do so, we should not justify ourselves in thinking we are more spiritual than others.

Jesus did things outside the accepted norm, and as such, He was often misunderstood. There is a danger that we too could also fall in the same trap as those religious leaders by misinterpreting Him. What we read should also be read with a mind that scripture answers scripture. I’m not only talking about what we have been taught to believe by our denominations or whatever. We need to be taught by the Holy Spirit:

And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. (Isa. 54:13 emphasis added).

We need to rely more on the Holy Spirit than on others, and we need to humble ourselves before the Lord if we are to be taught by and about Him. This is what Jesus meant when He used a child as an example, saying that unless we become as one of them, we will not see the kingdom of heaven. In addition to this, Jesus said that we have been given the ability to understand the mysteries of the kingdom. Since this is true, it follows that we should be open and attentive to hear and receive these mysteries.

Since this is the only recorded incident of Jesus attending a wedding, it is very easy for us to conclude that it is the only wedding He ever attended. Although I do not necessarily believe this, this wedding does have some specifics that we will be looking at to find out why it was recorded. When we do, we will then uncover the mystery about why Jesus turned water into wine.

As I have already said, there is always a reason for what God does and says. It is on this foundation that this book is written—to know the reason so that we can work with God in bringing about what He desires to do here on earth. The only way we can know this is by knowing the mind of God. How can we know the mind of God? By reading His mind. We do so by reading His Word. In it He tells us what His thoughts (mind) are to us. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jer. 29:11; emphasis added).

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, seems to confirm this point but in a more instructive way (1 Cor. 2:10-11), where he states, But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

We can know the mind of God only as the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. Since we have the same Spirit who dwells in us, He will download the mind of God into our mind, and we will know the why and what of it. (see also Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 2:14; 3:16).

As I have already said, since it is the only recorded incident of Jesus attending a wedding, this wedding must have been special. as to get Jesus involved to turn water into wine. If we can know why, we will also know how this applies to us. To understand this, we need to ask ourselves the following questions:

Why did they run out of wine on the third day?

Why specifically at this wedding? What makes it so special?

Why in Cana of Galilee of all places?

Why was Mary the mother of Jesus involved?

I’m sure that we’re all curious to know the answers. Once we tie these things together, we will see the relationship of the whole episode what they stand for. More importantly, it tells us what God’s thoughts are toward marriage, how much He values it and why we should do the same.

I pray it will be informative, enlightening and educative and will motivate us to value our marriages and help others with theirs.

CHAPTER

2

God Instituted Marriage

To appreciate why Jesus turned water into wine at a marriage celebration, it is necessary that we go back to the beginning and see why God created man. Since God does not do things without a purpose it follows that there was a reason He did what He did. Furthermore, it is important that we understand that God does not do things to show off or to boost His ego. It is not necessary, because He is who and what He is and nothing can change that, whether we choose to believe it or not. It does not change who God is. All that God wants from us is our recognition of who He is by what He does. It was for this purpose that God made man. Man’s recognition of who God is, and acknowledging Him, results in being elevated to a higher level than on earth. Therefore, God made man. And God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. (Gen. 1:26 emphasis added).

After coming to a decision to make man, God went ahead to form the man from the earth.

FORMATION OF MAN

When God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, Eve was nowhere in sight or in existence. One is then bound to wonder what the Lord was doing by omitting her. (We will see why a little later). For now, we need to look at why God made Adam. Or man, for that matter. Since man was made in the image and likeness of his Creator, God had instilled in man His nature and character to a lesser degree, of course. Man was made as a three-part being consisting of spirit, soul and body. What we may have failed to see is that Adam was complete in himself as God is, prior to Eve being formed. Because as a son of God he was complete in God. (Luke. 3:38). His satisfaction was to be found in God. But there was one problem. Although he communicated with God his Father and was spiritually satisfied, there was need for him to experience physical contact and satisfaction at the earthly level. This would then have fulfilled him in spirit, soul and body to be complete in every area of his being. Adam had everything he needed to live a life that men today are trying to obtain. All the creatures were his pets. He did not have to have a dog as his best friend, since all the animals were his best friends. He needed someone such as himself to communicate with and share an intimate relationship at a physical level from what he shared with his heavenly Father.

However, during Eve’s absence, it was time for him to draw closer to his Father and learn the process of ruling the earth as God rules in Heaven."Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven". (Matt. 6:10; emphasis added)

Adam was created to be king, and his kingdom was the earth. God gave it to him. For him to govern it as God governs heaven, it was necessary that he get his directives from God. The only way he could do this was through communicating with Him. Hence his kingship or authority was premised upon his obedience to the One who gave him that position and authority. This was the only way it could work.

Once this relationship was set up, God found it necessary to now give him a companion. "And the LORD God said: It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Gen. 2:18, emphasis added)

Let this be a lesson to those who are yet to be married that they develop a close relationship with their Father as to know His will for their lives before marriage. Once this relationship is set up between Father and son, then God will direct His son to the right wife for him.

CREATION OF EVE

Looking at the above scripture, Genesis. 2:18, it’s easy to think Eve was an afterthought, as some have said. When this was not the case. All one needs to do is, look at all the things God created to note that the seed of future generations was already implanted in them (Gen. 1:11-12). be they plants or animals. (Gen. 1:20, 22).

That does not mean God had not taken that into consideration in as far as man was concerned. Was man not the crowning glory of God’s creation? Just as plants and animals had seed in themselves, the same was true for Adam. Eve was in his loins. This word loin is found often in scripture to direct us to the fact that the person already existed before being birthed. (Gen. 35:11; 46:26). Therefore, it’s noted in another scripture that God knows us before we were born. (Jer. 1:5). This was the case with Eve. Therefore, to bring her forth, God had to anesthetise Adam and take a rib and flesh from him.

Have you ever wondered why God did not take a bone from some other part of the body, such as the tailbone or some other part of the body?

The only problem would be that man would have had a good reason to mistreat their wives and use them as objects. Instead, He takes the bone from that part nearest the heart. His choice of rib and flesh is significant in that it speaks volumes to us. The ribcage houses and protects the vital organs such as lungs, the heart and even the liver. However, the most important part we know is the heart, because if the heart is damaged, that’s it. It’s considered the centre of our being. In other words, Eve was to be near our heart while God was in the centre of it. We can see the priority. God in the centre with our wife placed next to Him.

There are many expressions used related to the heart. I’m not referring in this case to the organ that pumps blood through our bodies, which is symbolic of what God meant. It was a real physical rib taken from Adam to point us to the fact that a wife should always be protected by the husband and to love and cherish her as a part of him.

Could this be why Shylock (see Shakespeare’s: The Merchant of Venice) was so intent in getting his pound of flesh nearest the heart? What was he asking for? The person’s life. Incidentally, the heart weighs about a pound. Since there is no flesh near the heart to amount to that weight, this could only be relating to the organ.

So, God took Eve out of Adam and formed her for him. She was in the same form as he was, but different in structure. This shape decided her ability to receive from the man for her to produce.

And thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (Gen. 3:16).

She would, through an intimate relationship with her husband, receive his