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Sounds like a fantastic wedding!

I remember reading this story when I was a teenager and thinking, “Cool, Jesus was all about keeping the party rolling”. Throughout the years I have heard this story called ‘Jesus’ first miracle’ and related how his mother trusted that Jesus could intervene. Now I read this and go, wait a minute… If his mother trusted him here, what about Mark 3:21 (When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind)? Did Mary’s faith/belief in her son change so much in the time between the wedding and when he was teaching? I would hope not…

I think that this story has more to do with the symbols found in the wine and the wedding. (Aside: I do believe that Jesus changed water into wine, not grape juice and I do believe that people at this party were pretty inebriated.) The master of the banquet gives credit to the “bridegroom”, but never names who that bridegroom is. However in the following chapter John the Baptist relates the Christ to the bridegroom.

You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him. The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.
- John 3:28-30
Jesus calls himself the ‘bridegroom’ in the book of Luke:

They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking." Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast."
– Luke 5:33-35

Three examples of a bridegroom; the two later of them relate to Jesus being named as the bridegroom and the first has Jesus claiming that, “My time has not yet come.” Now the question becomes, “what is the point?” Here is my perspective…

1) Ceremonial Jars – the mention of the type of items used were definitely symbolic. Here you see cleansing jars typically filled with water, now being filled with wine and distributed. Wine is later used as a symbol to represent Jesus’ bloodshed on the cross and our salvation, and again relating to cleansing us of our sins.

2) Master of the Banquet vs. Servants – I will admit that I cannot assume that the Mast of the Banquet would be anyone other than the Jewish leaders. What we can see is that the wedding party and the Master of the Banquet did not know where the wine (cleansing) came from, only that it was there. Only the Servants knew from which the wine came from.

3) Bridegroom – we see that later in the chapter and in other accounts Jesus is called the bridegroom. However in this story the bridegroom is given credit for something that he didn’t overtly do. Similarly Jesus didn’t come to this earth and eradicate sin. God sent him to be the sacrifice and gain a place of honor in his bringing cleansing to those that accept him.

4) “Saved the best till now” – this is a key statement. As the Master of the Banquet acknowledges, the best wine (cleansing/forgiveness) did not come before but is being received now. This acknowledgement can directly relate to how God is redeeming his people. The ways of the past (sin sacrifice, circumcision, and the Law) are now being replaced by something that is better than before. God “saved the best till now”.

I do believe that this story can speak volumes about the shifting tide that the writer John witnessed. This precursor was to point out that Jesus was going to be the better cleansing/forgiveness that isn’t expected or understood, but known by those who serve him. If there is one thing that we can take away from this story is that, we must strive to be those Servants that filled the cups with the cleansing wine of Jesus.