Now we need to see that Jesus came in resurrection to weak and fragile people. Some may ask, “How could Jesus come in resurrection when He had not been crucified yet? To say this is to allegorize.” Yes, the whole story of changing water into wine is an allegory, and we need to allegorize every part of it.
The day upon which this sign was accomplished was “the third day” (2:1). “The third day” signifies the day of resurrection. In John 1 the words “the next day” are used three times, in verses 29, 35, and 43. Why does it say “the next day” three times in chapter one and then speak of “the third day” in 2:1? “The third day” in chapter two should not actually be called the third day, but the fifth. Perhaps you should go to John and argue with him, saying, “Brother John, you did something wrong. You have three ‘next days’ and so the day mentioned in 2:1 should be the fifth day.” John would reply, “Dear brother, that was why I did not speak of the second day, third day, and fourth day in chapter one, but called each of them ‘the next day’ until I called the day in chapter two ‘the third day.’” None of the events which transpired on the “next days” in chapter one were in resurrection.
Let us look at the three “next days” in chapter one. “The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (v. 29). Was that in resurrection? Certainly not. How can you say that was in resurrection? “Again the next day John and two of his disciples were standing, and looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, Behold, the Lamb of God!” (vv. 35-36). Although this happened on the second “next day,” it did not occur on “the third day.” The third “next day” is found in verse 43. “The next day He would go forth into Galilee, and He found Philip; and Jesus said to him, Follow Me.” This did not happen on “the third day,” because “the third day” is the day of resurrection. None of the events mentioned in chapter one transpired on “the third day,” that is, in resurrection. Only as we come to the changing of water into wine in chapter two do we find mention of “the third day.”
How do we know that in John 2 Jesus came to weak and fragile people? We know it by the fact that He went to Cana and that Cana in Hebrew means “a land of reeds.” A reed in Scripture signifies fragile people. Both Isaiah and Matthew say that we, the weak people, are the “bruised reed” which the Lord will not break (Isa. 42:3; Matt. 12:20). In Matthew 11:7, the Lord, when referring to John the Baptist, asked the Jews if they went out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind. Of course, John the Baptist was not such a weak, fragile person that could be shaken by the wind. Therefore, Cana as a land of reeds symbolizes the earth. The whole world is a Cana, full of weak and fragile people to whom the Lord came. The Lord’s coming to Cana signifies His coming into a world full of weak and fragile people. Although the people of this earth, like reeds, are weak and fragile, yet the Lord came to them in resurrection.
The wedding which Jesus attended in John 2 was in Cana of Galilee. Galilee was a place despised by people (7:52). As a despised place, Galilee signifies the low and mean condition of the world.