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Scripture Reading: John 2:1-11; 4:46-54; 11:1-45
In this chapter we will fellowship concerning the first sign, the “beginning of signs,” that the Lord performed (John 2:11).
The record of events in the Gospel of John is not according to the sequence of the history of the Lord Jesus’ life on the earth but according to the sequence of doctrine. The Lord Jesus did many things while He was on earth, but the apostle John chose to write only of cases that portrayed the Lord as life raising people out of death, and he presented these cases according to the sequence of doctrine. The last verse of the Gospel of John says, “There are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose that not even the world itself could contain the books written” (21:25). John selected only some of the Lord’s deeds to prove that the Lord Jesus is life to man to enable man to pass out of death into life, thereby accomplishing God’s eternal purpose.
Hence, the Gospel of John is not a record of history but a record of doctrine. This book shows how the Lord Jesus as the embodiment of God enters into man to be man’s life for the accomplishing of God’s eternal purpose. God’s eternal purpose is to build Himself into man and to build man into Himself so that God and man can become a universal building, which is both God’s dwelling place and man’s habitation. The Gospel of John presents this truth and revelation, not merely with words of teaching but by presenting a specific sequence of events. Out of the many things that Jesus did, John selected a few and arranged them to prove that the Lord came to be man’s life by changing death into life so that God and man can be joined together and built up as one.
John 1 is an outline and introduction to the Gospel of John. This introduction begins in eternity past and continues into eternity future. In eternity past the Lord was the Word of God; in time He created all things and generated life. Then He took a further step to become man’s life; He came as the Lamb with the dove to produce Bethel, the house of God, for the eternal union of God and man and for the communication between heaven and earth. This is the general outline and introduction of the Gospel of John.
After the introduction in chapter 1, John presents various cases in chapters 2 through 11. These cases were selected from the many signs that the Lord Jesus performed. The purpose of each case is to show how the Lord is life to man.
The first sign in chapter 2 is of the Lord Jesus’ changing water into wine. Verse 11 says, “This beginning of signs Jesus performed.” In principle, this case is the same as the second sign performed by the Lord. In the second sign a royal official asked the Lord Jesus to heal his sick son who was dying (4:46-54). The Holy Spirit included this simple story in this mysterious book as a further explanation of the first sign. The first record of any matter in the Bible sets forth the principle of that matter. A number of signs are recorded in John 2 through 11, and the first sign sets forth the principle of the following signs. Thus, the significance of the first sign is also the significance of the following signs.
Many Bible expositions say that the sign in John 2:1-11 of the Lord’s changing water into wine proves that only He can call the things not being as being; that is, only He can produce something out of nothing. The Lord’s meeting Nathanael in chapter 1 proves that He is omniscient and omnipresent. When Nathanael was under the fig tree, the Lord was not only with him but also knew Nathanael’s heart and mind (vv. 46-48). Hence, some Bible expositors say that John 1 proves that the Lord Jesus is the omnipresent and omniscient God, and chapter 2 proves that the Lord Jesus is the Creator. Therefore, the Gospel of John proves that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God.
In the past I felt that such speaking was right. Later, I asked the Lord whether the Gospel of John merely proves that He is the Son of God. One day I saw 20:31, which says, “These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in His name.” According to this verse, the Gospel of John does not prove merely that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God; it proves that as the Son of God the Lord Jesus wants man to have His life. The Son of God, the embodiment of God, wants to enter into man so that man may have Him as life.
According to the principle of John 20:31, the sign of changing water into wine does not prove that the Lord Jesus is the Creator who calls the things not being as being. Rather, it proves that the Lord Jesus is the Lord of life who changes death into life. Changing water into wine is not a matter of calling the things not being as being but of changing death into life. In this sign water signifies death, and wine signifies life. To change water into wine is to change death into life. This is the first sign in John.
The second sign is the healing of the son of a royal official (4:46-54), and it shows that the Lord can raise people from the dead. The last sign also concerns raising a person from the dead (ch. 11). John’s record of the signs performed by the Lord ends in chapter 11. In chapter 12 the Lord Jesus went up to Jerusalem in preparation for His death. In chapter 13 He washed the disciples’ feet. Chapters 14 through 16 contain His departing word, and chapter 17 is His departing prayer. In chapter 18 the Lord was betrayed, in chapter 19 He was crucified, in chapter 20 He resurrected, and in chapter 21 He is in resurrection. There is no record of signs being performed by the Lord in these chapters.
The first sign that the Lord performed is in chapter 2, the second sign is in chapter 4, and the last sign is in chapter 11. It may not be easy to understand the significance of the first sign, but after reading the signs that follow, we can see that the second sign concerns raising a person from death, and the last sign also concerns raising a person from the dead.
The first mention of a matter in the Bible sets forth the principle for that matter. The first sign in the Gospel of John is a sign related to the changing of death into life. This is resurrection. Hence, the following signs also concern resurrection. Although chapter 3 does not speak of a sign, the case here still concerns resurrection. Here the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life” (vv. 14-15). This speaks of passing out of death into life. When the people of Israel offended God in the wilderness, they fell under the judgment of death (Num. 21:4-9). Then God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on their behalf for God’s judgment so that those who looked at the bronze serpent would live. This type relates to passing out of death into life, and in John 3 the Lord Jesus applied this type to Himself. Hence, when a person under the bondage of sin and death looks at the crucified Christ, he will live. This is to pass out of death into life. Hence, the case recorded in chapter 3 involves the principle of resurrection.
In chapter 4 the Lord Jesus spoke with a thirsty woman concerning living water. The Lord said, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life” (vv. 13-14). In the Bible thirst is a precursor of death, and to not thirst forever means to not die forever. Hence, chapter 4 also speaks of the principle of resurrection. The second half of chapter 4 concerns the son of a royal official being healed by resurrection. This is also in the principle of resurrection.
In chapter 5 there is a person who had been sick for thirty-eight years. The Lord Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat and walk” (v. 8). Immediately the man became well, and he took up his mat and walked. Later, the Lord Jesus said, “An hour is coming, and it is now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (v. 25). According to this word, the man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years was dead in the eyes of God. As a person in death, he heard the voice of the Son of God and was immediately enlivened.
In chapter 6 the Lord is the bread of life to solve the problem of man’s inner hunger. Just as thirst is a precursor of death, hunger is also a precursor of death. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst” (v. 35). The Lord can satisfy man’s hunger, which is an indication of death, and cause man to live forever, because He is the bread of life. This is also in the principle of resurrection.
In chapter 7 the Lord Jesus cried out, saying “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (vv. 37-38). This word, which was spoken on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, is in the principle of resurrection.
In chapter 8 the Lord told the people, “Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins” (v. 24). He also said, “If anyone keeps My word, he shall by no means see death forever” (v. 51). These words are in the principle of passing out of death into life.
In chapter 9 the Lord caused the blind man to receive his sight. Seemingly, this is not related to death and resurrection. However, in chapter 10 the Lord said, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly. I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (vv. 10-11). Sheep here refers to the blind man who received his sight in the previous chapter. Hence, the case of the blind man receiving his sight is still in the principle of passing out of death into life.
In chapter 11 the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead (vv. 41-44). This surely is in the principle of resurrection.
All the cases recorded in the Gospel of John, in chapters 2 through 11, speak of the principle of resurrection, that is, of passing out of death into life. In every sign a person received the Lord as life and thereby came out of death and entered into resurrection.
We will now look at the important points concerning the sign of changing water into wine in chapter 2. May the Lord open our eyes so that we may understand what He desires to do in us.
Chapter 2 begins with the words and the third day (v. 1). If we begin reading from chapter 1, we will see that this day was not the third day. In chapter 1 the expression the next day is used at least three times — in verses 29, 35, and 43. Hence, the day at the beginning of chapter 2 should be at least the fifth day, but instead of saying “the fifth day,” John says, “And the third day.” The third day is the day of the Lord’s resurrection (v. 19). This means that the Lord comes to man in resurrection. Chapter 2 covers two matters, both of which are related to the third day, indicating that the Lord was in resurrection.
The first sign took place in Cana of Galilee (v. 1). Galilee was a place in a low condition; it was a place despised by people. Cana in the original language means “a land of reeds.” Reeds signify weak and fragile people. The Lord came to a place in a low condition, filled with weak and fragile people.
The Lord came to Cana to attend a wedding feast. In the eyes of the world, marriage is the center of human life. Marriage signifies human life because human life depends on marriage. A wedding feast signifies the pleasure and enjoyment of human life. The primary item in a wedding feast is wine. Whether in ancient times or in the present, wine is always at the center of a wedding feast. If there is no wine, there is no wedding feast. Wine refers to excitement, enthusiasm, and rejoicing on earth. Wine is made from the life juice of grapes; hence, it signifies life. Water in this case signifies death.
Marriage depends on a wedding feast, and a wedding feast depends on wine. This means that the pleasure of human life depends on the life of man. When the life of man runs out, the pleasure and enjoyment of life also end. When the wine in a wedding feast runs out, the pleasure of the feast also ceases. Hence, this sign provides a background showing that the enjoyment of human life depends on man’s life and that there is an end to man’s life.
When the wine ran out, Mary the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine” (v. 3). Like Martha in chapter 11, the mother of Jesus rushed to take the lead, trying to command the Lord. The Lord refused to respond, saying, “Woman, what do I have in this that concerns you?” (v. 4). When Mary heard this, she knew that she was wrong. Hence, she stopped and said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do” (v. 5). She realized that this was the Lord’s business, not hers. Whatever needed to be done should be initiated by the Lord, not by her.
In chapter 11 the Lord dealt with Martha in the same way. The sisters of Lazarus sent a message to the Lord, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick” (v. 3). But the Lord purposely remained where He was for two more days. His remaining where He was for an extended time was similar to His word to His mother in chapter 2. The Lord rejected and did not answer Mary or Martha’s request, because in the matter of the divine life, man is not the lord and cannot give orders. Rather, man must let the Lord of life be the Lord. If we want the Lord Jesus to be our life, we must acknowledge His lordship and give Him that position.
Many people are in death. Within they are full of water, not wine, because they do not know how to stop themselves and are not willing to let the Lord have ground in them. Their prayers seem to be petitions, but actually they are commands; that is, they usurp the Lord’s position and annul His lordship. If we want the Lord to be our life, we must step down and give place to His authority. We must see that He is the Lord. Instead of answering our prayer, the Lord often allows us to fail because He wants us to learn to stop ourselves. He wants us to learn to say, “Lord, I want You to be my life and my Lord. It is a small matter for me to fail, but it is a great matter for You to be my Lord. If You want to let me fail in this matter, I am also willing to fail. I give You full authority over me.” When we pray in this way, the Lord will be our life. Once He gains the ground in us by our giving Him the place of authority in us, He will be our life.
When the wine at the wedding feast ran out, Jesus’ mother should have been full of faith, because the Lord knows everything; time is in His hand, and He cannot be wrong. She did not need to petition or give a command. She needed only to stay in her position and yield to the Lord so that He could bear the responsibility. In order for the Lord to be our life, we must give Him the ground in our being by yielding to Him. If we do not give Him the ground, our prayers will be of no avail. The only thing that avails is to say, “Lord, You are the Lord. I give You all the ground in me, and I give You all authority over me so that You can be my life.” This is what Mary indicated when she told the servants to do whatever the Lord said. When we pray in such a way, the Lord will do something in us related to life.
John 2:6-7 says, “There were six stone waterpots lying there, according to the Jews’ rite of purification, holding two or three measures each. Jesus said to them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.” The six stone waterpots signify the natural, created man. Man was created on the sixth day, and stone signifies the natural man. The rite of purification refers to moral regulations and ritualistic practices, such as teachings concerning self-cultivation, self-reform, and doing good deeds. The Lord told the servants to fill the waterpots with water. This means that the natural, created man contains only water, that is, death, because water here signifies death. Whatever we practice according to a “rite of purification” cannot solve our problem of death. Self-cultivation and moral perfection can only improve and educate dead men.
Self-cultivation and self-improvement can be likened to working on a corpse in a mortuary. In a mortuary a dead person is washed and makeup is applied so that he looks clean and nice; nevertheless, he is still dead. I would rather contact a living person who is filthy than a dead person who is clean and beautiful. A dead person has been defiled by death. This problem cannot be solved by any “rite of purification.” Man cannot change the water in stone waterpots into wine. Everything that is within man is death.
In solving the problem of death, the Lord Jesus told the servants to draw some of the water out and take it to the master of the feast (v. 8). This water was changed into wine. This was not a matter of calling the things not being as being but of changing death into life. People may teach morality, talk about love and justice, and seek moral perfection in human life in order to keep some “rite of purification,” but we must not forget that man is merely a stone waterpot containing the water of death. No matter how purified or well-behaved a person may be, the death in him cannot be changed into life. Only the Lord Jesus who comes to man in resurrection can change our death water into life.
Few Christians know that the Lord Jesus has entered into us in order to change our death into life. Most Christians do not see this revelation, this vision. When a person feels that he is proud, he might pray, “Lord, have mercy on me, and make me humble.” Such a prayer is according to a “rite of purification”; it will not change water into wine. A quick brother with an irritable temperament might ask the Lord to have mercy on him and to change his temperament to be one of meekness. However, this is not according to the Lord’s salvation; it is according to a religious “rite of purification.” Another brother may feel that his casual attitude and speech are not proper, so he prays, “Lord, please restrict and regulate me by sealing my mouth.” The Lord Jesus does not come to answer such prayers. He does not ask us to keep a “rite of purification.” He wants to change our water into wine, that is, to change our death into life.
The cases of the dying son of the royal official in chapter 4, the man who had been sick for thirty-eight years in chapter 5, and Lazarus in chapter 11 are matters of changing death into life. The Lord does not merely heal man’s sickness, which is to alter something; He changes death into life. Being quick and irritable is a sickness, just as being unrestrained, being presumptuous, and talking too much are also sicknesses. In the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus did not heal sicknesses. The son of the royal official was sick and about to die (4:47). The Lord said a word, and his sickness was healed. However, the Lord did not say that the son was healed; rather, He said to the royal official, “Your son lives” (v. 50). The Lord does not make a bad person good; He only turns death into life. Making a bad person good is related to keeping a “rite of purification,” but changing water into wine is to change death into life.
A saint once said to me, “Brother, I am very bad; what should I do?” I answered, “If we are merely bad, the Lord Jesus will not heal our badness. We must be dead, and then the Lord Jesus will come to resurrect us. When Lazarus was sick, the Lord ignored him. The Lord did not come until Lazarus was dead, buried, and smelling. The Lord did not heal Lazarus’s sickness. Rather, He changed death into life.”
If we hate our irritable temperament and ask the Lord to make us gentle, He will not answer. Those who have experience will say that the Lord answers many prayers, but He does not answer prayers related to changing our temperament. Rather, the more we pray, the more we seem to lose our temper, because the Lord does not heal our sickness. He wants us to die so that we can be resurrected. When our eyes are opened, we will see that such prayers are religious prayers according to our own “rite of purification.” Such prayers do not ask the Lord to be our life or to change our death into life.
Some may say, “If this is the case, how should we pray if we are irritable, presumptuous, arrogant, and unrestrained?” It is best not to have a religious prayer. Instead of asking Him to do something, we can let Him shine in us. We contain water; we are full of death. Hence, we do not need Him to change our irritability to gentleness or our lack of restraint to good behavior, because the issue would still be water. Rather, we need to hand ourselves over to the Lord. Then He will bear the responsibility to change our death into life. This is a matter of seeing a vision and receiving revelation. We need not ask, beg, or request. We only need to say, “Lord, within me is only water, only death.” It is sufficient for us to see this. Then whatever people touch in us will be related to life.
The stone waterpots contained water, but wine was drawn out from them. When we give the Lord the ground in our being, we will see death in ourselves, but others will touch life in us. We should not pray, “Lord, I am irritable; please make me meek. I am not well behaved; please make me willing to be restricted.” Such a prayer is similar to Martha’s prayer in chapter 11 and the prayer of Jesus’ mother in chapter 2. If we pray in this way, the Lord Jesus will say, “What do I have in this that concerns you?” He will reject such prayers. The more we pray in this way, the less He will move. We may say, “Lord, come quickly! I am very sick,” but He will say, “I will come when you are dead.” Just like the stone pots that were filled with water, the Lord always takes us to a place of death.
Some of the saints have reached this place. They have received revelation and seen the vision. They often have the sensation that they are stone waterpots filled with water. It is sufficient to see this. The Lord does not want to improve our situation or change us from being bad to being good. He desires to change the water within us into wine; He wants to change our death into life.
I hope that we will see this revelation, prostrate ourselves before the Lord, and say, “Lord, I am a stone waterpot. All that is in me is death.” Then the Lord can come to us in resurrection, and He will be responsible for changing our water into wine. He will change our death into life. The more we yield to Him, give Him the ground, acknowledge His authority, stop our activity, and see His salvation, the more thoroughly He will work in us. Then others will touch life in us. This is what the Lord desires to do in us. This is to change death into life. Our Lord has come in resurrection to fragile people in a lowly condition so that He can change death into life.
