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John 2,19 – A Wedding the Foreshadows A Cross
Have you noticed the similarities between the wedding scene and the crucifixion?
1. Both have Mary, Jesus’s mother, there: (2:1; 19:26-27).
2. Both are introduced by days: 3rd day (2:1) and day of preparation (19:31).
3. Both occur on special occasions: wedding (2:1) and high Sabbath (19:31).
4. Both have new homes are began in both: marriage (2:1): mother-son (19:26-27).
5. Both use the key word “believe” (2:11; 19:35).
6. Both use the word “disciple” and “disciples” (2:2; 19:26-27).
7. Both involve the miraculous: signs (2:11), prophecy (19:24).
8. Both involved servants: servants, headwaiter (2:5,8); soldiers (19:23-24).
9. Both involve “water” (2:7; 19:34).
10. Both involve (bad) wine (2:3,9-10; 19:29-30).
Implied in John 19 are further connections:
1. Wine is the color of blood.
2. The latter is greater than the former.
3. The containers were for water to purify ceremonially, and Jesus is our “container” to purify our souls.
Those are key connections – water and wine or blood.
This is the purpose of this passage – to foreshadow the cross and resurrection. By metaphor, the death is seen in wine and blood. Continuing that analogy, the resurrection is foreshadowed because wine is “alive” with fermentation while water is not. Creation by God’s power is central in the follow-up narrative of the resurrection. Could that be why we are told the wedding scene takes place on the third day?
John encapsulates these two stories close to the beginning and end of his book to get our attention and connect the two scenes. Are we noticing now the similarities?
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