Our Lord used four very different examples to teach Nicodemus the basics of salvation. Birth (vv. 1-7), Wind (vv. 8-13), Snake on the pole (vv. 14-18), and Light and Dark (vv. 19-21).

The snake on the pole (vv. 14–18). Nicodemus was probably very familiar with the story in Numbers 21:4–9. It is a story about sin because the people went against God and had to be punished. God sent fiery snakes that bit people and killed many of them. It is also a story of grace because Moses prayed for the people, and God gave them a way out. He told Moses to make a snake out of brass and put it on a pole so everyone could see it. Anyone who was sick and looked at the snake would be healed right away. So, it's also a story of faith: the people were saved when they looked by faith.

The verb "lifted up" has two meanings: it can mean to be crucified (John 8:28; 12:32–34) or to be glorified and exalted. John says in his gospel that Jesus' crucifixion was actually the way He was glorified (John 12:23ff.). The cross was not the end of His glory; it was the way He got glory (Acts 2:33).

Just like the snake was raised up on that pole, the Son of God would be raised up on a cross. Why? To keep us from sin and death. In the camp of Israel, the answer to the "serpent problem" was not to kill the snakes, make medicine, pretend they weren't there, pass laws against snakes, or climb the pole. The answer was to look at the raised serpent with faith.

Sin has bitten everyone in the world, and "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). God sent His Son to die for more than just Israel; He sent Him to die for the whole world. What does it mean to be born from above? How does he or she avoid eternal death? By having faith in Jesus Christ and looking to Him.

Faith in Jesus Christ is what makes the difference between living and dying and between being condemned and saved. Jesus could have come to this world as a judge and killed every sinner who didn't obey Him, but He came to save us and died for us on the cross! He became the "lifted-up snake." The snake that Moses saw gave dying Jews physical life, but Jesus Christ gives anyone who believes in Him eternal life. He has salvation for everyone!

Light and dark (vv. 19–21). This is the final example that Jesus gives to Nicodemus and it happens to be one of the main pictures in this gospel (John 1:4–13). Why won't sinners enter the "light of life"? This is due to their preference for living in darkness! They want to keep doing sinful things, and this keeps them from coming to the light. The closer the sinner gets to the light, the more his sins are shown. People don't trust Christ because they have "intellectual problems." They love the darkness and hate the light because they are morally and spiritually blind.

Please be aware that Nicodemus did ultimately "come to the light." He was in the "midnight of confusion" (John 3:1–21), but he finally came out into the "sunlight of confession" when he identified with Christ at Calvary (John 19:38–42). He understood that the exalted Savior was truly the Son of God.

Jesus as the Host (vv. 6–12). The first miracle our Lord did was not something that everyone saw. Mary, the disciples, and the servants knew what had happened, but no one else at the feast did. John 11 tells us about His last miracle, which was a public event after a funeral. His first miracle was a quiet event at a wedding.

Each of the six stone waterpots could hold about twenty gallons. But we don't know if all the water in the jars turned into wine. The servants could only change what they took out and served into wine. The man in charge of the banquet praised the new wine so much that the groom's family was very happy to hear it.

The phrase "the beginning of miracles" makes the stories about Jesus performing miracles as a baby or young child false. They are just made-up stories that are based on superstitions, and anyone who believes in the Bible should not believe them.

The miracle did something for His followers. It showed how great He was (John 1:14) and made their faith stronger. Miracles alone are not enough to prove that Jesus is the Son of God (2 Thess. 2:9–10), but the fact that He has done so many miracles should be enough to convince them of His divinity. The disciples had to start somewhere, and as they spent more time with Jesus, their faith grew stronger.

But this miracle is definitely more than just meeting a need and saving a family from social embarrassment. The gospel of John, unlike the other three, tries to show the deeper meaning—spiritual meaning—of our Lord's works, so that each miracle is like a "sermon in action." We need to be careful not to "spiritualize" these events so much that they lose their historical context. At the same time, we shouldn't be so tied to history that we can't see "His story."

First of all, John didn't use the word "dunamis," which means power but He used the word "simeion" which means a "a sign." What is a sign? Something that points to something bigger than itself. People had to believe in Jesus and the Father who sent Him, not just in what He did (John 5:14–24). This is why Jesus often preached a sermon after a miracle and used that sermon to explain the sign. In John 5, the healing of the paralyzed man on the Sabbath led to a message about Jesus being God, "the Lord of the Sabbath." The feeding of the five thousand (John 6) led naturally into a sermon on the Bread of Life.

What do you think our Lord would have said if He had given a sermon after turning the water into wine? He probably would have told the people that the joy of the world always runs out and can't be found again, but the joy He gives is always new and always satisfying. In the Bible, wine is a sign of happiness (see Judg. 9:13; Ps. 104:15). The world gives you the best at first, but once you are "hooked," things start to get worse. But Jesus keeps giving us the best things until we can enjoy the best things with Him for all eternity (Luke 22:18).

Our Lord would definitely have a message just for His people, Israel. In the Old Testament, the nation is described as "married" to God but breaking her marriage vows (Isa. 54:5; Jer. 31:32; Hos. 2:2ff.). All of Israel had left were six empty waterpots when the wine ran out. They could hold water for washing from the outside, but they couldn't clean or bring joy from the inside. In this miracle, our Lord filled what was empty, brought joy to what was disappointing, and gave something internal to what was only external (water for ceremonial washings).

When John said "the third day" (John 2:1), he might have been hinting at the resurrection of our Lord. Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the dead (John 2:19) made all of these blessings possible.

It is interesting that Moses' first miracle was a plague that turned water into blood (Ex. 7:19ff.), which is a sign of judgment. The first miracle of our Lord was about grace.

This miracle also teaches us how to serve God in a practical way. The servants did what Jesus told them to do, which is why the water turned into wine. The feeding of the five thousand (John 6), the healing of the man born blind (John 9), and the raising of Lazarus (John 11) are all examples of signs in John's gospel that show how people and God can work together. We are helping Him do a miracle when we give out bread, wash away mud, or roll away the stone.

The servants knowing where this special wine came from is important (John 2:9). When Jesus healed the nobleman's son (John 4:46–54), only the servants knew what was going on. We are not only His servants; we are also His friends, and we know what He is doing (John 15:15).

People drank wine back then, but we shouldn't use this miracle to say that people should drink alcohol today. A man who liked to drink once told me, "Jesus turned water into wine!" I said, "If you use Jesus as a role model for drinking, why don't you follow His example in everything else?" After that, I read Luke 22:18 to him. This verse makes it clear that Jesus is not drinking alcohol in heaven right now!
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Sincere Christians today think about verses like 1 Corinthians 8:9; 10:23, and 31 before deciding that drinking alcohol is a good idea. The story of the drunk coal miner who changed his life and became a vocal witness for Christ comes to mind. One of his friends tried to trick him by asking, "Do you think Jesus turned water into wine?" 
​The believer said, "I sure do!" "At my house, He has turned wine into furniture, nice clothes, and food for my kids!"

Lastly, it's important to remember that Jews always mixed water with wine, usually in a ratio of three parts water to one part wine. The Bible doesn't say you have to completely avoid alcohol, but it does make a big deal out of it and warns against getting drunk.

GROWING TO KNOW JESUS

The six disciples who now believed in Jesus began their lifelong journey with Him and learned more about Him from the start. People who read the whole gospel record might take these events for granted, but for the disciples, every day and every new event was full of wonders that were challenging to understand. John wrote down three amazing revelations of Jesus Christ in these early verses.

First Revelation: His Honor (2:1–12)

"The third day" refers to three days after Nathanael's call (John 1:45–51). John wrote that it was the fourth day of the week (John 1:19, 29, 35, 43), so the wedding happened on "the seventh day" of this "new creation week." John's gospel stresses that Jesus was following a divine schedule and doing what the Father wanted.

According to Jewish custom, virgins had to get married on a Wednesday, and widows had to get married on a Thursday. Jesus would have been expected to rest on the seventh day of John's special week, just like God did on the seventh day (Gen. 2:1–3). But sin had broken God's Sabbath rest, so both the Father and the Son had to work (John 5:17; 9:4). John actually wrote down two specific miracles that Jesus did on purpose on the Sabbath (John 5; 9).

We see Jesus as the Visitor, the Son, and the Host at this wedding.

Jesus as the Visitor (vv. 1–2). Our Lord was not a hermit like John the Baptist (Matt. 11:16–19). He went to social events even though His enemies used this to accuse Him (Luke 15:1–2). Our Lord entered into the regular events of life and made them holy by being there. It is smart for that couple to invite Jesus to their wedding!

His mother and six disciples went with Him. Adding seven more people may have made the situation worse, but if that were the case, the wedding feast must have been small. We have reason to believe that Jesus' family on earth was not rich, and it's likely that their friends weren't either. Maybe the lack of wine had something to do with the feast being cheap.

Did Mary invite Jesus and His disciples, or did Nathanael invite them (John 21:2)? Our Lord was not yet popular because He had not done any miracles. People probably didn't invite Him because they knew who He was. The invitation was probably because of His relationship with Mary.

Jesus as the Son (vv. 3–5). The groom needed to have enough food for the week-long Jewish wedding feast. For one thing, it would be embarrassing to run out of food or wine, and a family that did that could even be fined! So, running out of wine could cost a lot of money and make you look bad socially.

Why did Mary go to Jesus about the issue? Did she really think He would do something special to help? She definitely knew who He was, even though she didn't tell anyone else this great truth. She must have been very close to either the bride or the groom to care so much about how the party went or even know that there was no more wine. Mary might have helped get the meal ready and serve it.

Mary didn't tell Jesus what to do; she just told Him about the problem. Look at what Mary and Martha said to Jesus when Lazarus was sick (John 11:3.) Jesus' answer seems a little rude and harsh, but that's not the case. In John 19:26 and 20:13, "woman" was a polite way to talk to her. His question was a polite way of saying, "Why are you getting Me involved in this matter?" He was telling His mother that He was no longer under her care (Joseph was probably dead), but that He would now be doing what the Father wanted Him to do. Some years earlier, there had been a hint of this (Luke 2:40–52).

John now brought up one of the most important parts of his record: "the hour." The Father set a "heavenly timetable" for Jesus to follow. (See John 7:30; 8:20; 12:23; 13:1; 17:1; and also John 11:9–10 for what Jesus said.) You will see how this idea of "the hour" grows as you read John's gospel.

Mary told the servants that she was okay with her Son doing whatever He wanted and that she trusted Him to do the right thing. We should all do what she said! It is important to remember that Jesus, not Mary, took charge and fixed the problem. Mary pointed to Jesus, not to herself.

The Son of Man (1:50–51)

The name, "Son of Man" is used eighty-three times in the Gospels and at least thirteen times in John. "Son of man" was one of our Lord's favorite names for Himself. The title talks about both Jesus' divine and human sides. Daniel 7:13 shows the "Son of Man" in a clear messianic context, and Jesus used the same name (Matt. 26:64).

Jesus is the "living link" between heaven and earth because he is the Son of Man. This is why He talked about "Jacob's ladder" in Genesis 28. Jacob, who was on the run, thought he was alone, but God had sent angels to protect and guide him. Christ is the "ladder" that God uses to get to and from heaven. "No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). In this gospel, Jesus often tells people that He came down from heaven. The Jews knew that "Son of Man" was a name for their Messiah (John 12:34).

By the end of that fourth day, Jesus had six men who believed in Him and were His disciples. They didn't "give up everything and follow Him" right away; that would happen later. But they had faith in Him and saw His power. Over the next three years, they would grow in their faith, learn more about Jesus, and one day become His ambassadors on Earth so that everyone could hear the Word.

God came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth. Philip's calling Him "the son of Joseph" did not mean that Jesus was not born of a virgin or divine. That was just His legal name; a Jewish person was known by who his father was (John 6:42). The witness of this whole chapter is clear: Jesus of Nazareth is God in the flesh!

God has come and is here!