In a village in Galilee we encounter John’s ‘sign theology.’ As he puts it so simply and beautifully: ‘This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee‘ (v. 11). The question, as always with these signs, is: ‘What does this sign mean?’
Believer or unbeliever, we all understand the message a superabundance of wine gives. It conveys joy, celebration, party and so on. In Israel an abundance of wine was associated with a prophetic turn of speech for the ushering in of the new messianic age (Amos 9:13-14; Joel 3:18). For John the miracle was a sign of the messianic age, the passing from the old to the new. The wedding feast was a sign of the heavenly banquet to which we are all invited by virtue of our baptism. The bridegroom at this wedding is Jesus. The joy of the heavenly banquet would come after the ‘hour’ of Jesus’ suffering: the cross, His death, and His glory.