Made Clean

Last week we discussed the matter of freedom and acknowledged that those who place their faith in the works of Jesus Christ can experience true freedom. We do not need to be slave to the desires that keep us separated from God. This week, I want to give you a visual representation of Christ removing our sins and creating something new. It is a passage that is often looked at, but just like many passages there is a deeper meaning to it.

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

John 2:1-12

I wanted to give you all the passage in context, but the main section that we will be discussing today is verses six through nine. While many look at this passage and see it as Jesus’s first miracle, I also believe that it is a visual representation of a concept that has not yet been discussed in the book of John. And that is that Jesus removes our sin and makes us a new creation. The six stone water jars mentioned are used in a purification ritual. In this case, it would be a purification of the bride. These jars would only be used as part of this purification process and in doing so, the bride would be made clean for her husband.

Now Jesus had the servants place water inside the jars and changed the water into something new. This is where the visual representation of Jesus cleansing us of our sin comes into effect. We are all born sinners and are unclean, it is only through the purification of the blood of Jesus Christ that allows us to become a new creation, “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. When we accept that Jesus died for our sins and now reigns, then we become a new creation. We effectively have gone from being water to wine. John 2:1-12 shows how the bridegroom (Jesus Christ) has made His bride (the church) clean through a purification ritual (the cross).

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex