In this book, all the miracles done by the Lord are called signs (2:23; 3:2; 4:54; 6:2, 14, 26, 30; 7:31; 9:16; 10:41; 11:47; 12:18, 37; 20:30). They are miracles, but they are used as signs to signify the matter of life. The word translated “miracles” in the King James Version is the word “signs” in Greek. A sign is that which signifies something. For instance, a red light is a sign that tells us to stop. All the miracles performed by the Lord Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John were not only miracles but signs.
The first mentioning of anything in the Scriptures sets forth the principle of that particular matter. Therefore, the first sign here sets forth the principle of all the following signs, that is, to change death into life. The Lord’s changing water into wine establishes the principle of life—changing death into life. Since this is the first sign, so the principle of life which is set forth in it can be applied to all of the other cases. For example, it can be applied to Nicodemus, a person full of death, who needed to be born again that he might have the eternal life which is God Himself.
We may also apply this principle to the case of the Samaritan woman in chapter four. Do you think that the Samaritan woman had a life full of pleasure and enjoyment? No, but the Lord came into her life and He changed her. That woman had simply been a vessel wherein the wine of human enjoyment had run out. She had tried five husbands, but eventually her human enjoyment ended with no wine. She had been trying her best to enjoy the wine of human pleasures, but finally she felt only emptiness and death. Then the Lord turned that death into life and filled her with the divine wine of His eternal life.
Chapter five shows a man who was sick for thirty-eight years. His sickness indicated that the wine was gone, but the Lord came to change his death into life. In the eyes of the Lord, he was not only sick, but also dead, because later in verse 25 the Lord said that the dead shall hear His voice and live. He was not only a sick man healed by the Lord, but also a dead man raised by the Lord. He was even weak and dead in religion. Although religion may be quite good, it requires energy. How could a dead man have energy? Consequently, he could do nothing with religion, for his wine had run out. But the Lord came to apply the principle of changing the death into life, as seen in the first sign.
We may also apply this principle to the other cases. The hunger of the multitude in chapter six reveals that their human enjoyment had come to an end, but the Lord came to them as the bread of life. The sinful woman in chapter eight was also one whose wine of enjoyment had run out. The blind man in chapter nine also had no enjoyment of the human life. This is especially true with the case of Lazarus in chapter eleven. The main points of the case of Lazarus, in principle, are the same as those of the first case, the marriage feast at Cana. In the first case there was the enjoyment of the marriage feast. In the case of Lazarus there was the pleasure of the family love between Lazarus and his two sisters. In the wedding feast the wine ran out; in the case of Lazarus the human life ran out. Lazarus died, indicating that the wine of human life had run out. In both cases the principle of life was exactly the same: the Lord came into both situations and changed death into life. Therefore, the principle of life set forth in the incident of changing water into wine can be applied to every case throughout the Gospel of John.
In the Scriptures, figuratively speaking, the tree of life is the source of life, and the tree of knowledge is the source of death, as revealed in Genesis 2:9, 17. In all the cases recorded in the Gospel of John, the significance always corresponds, in principle, with the tree of life resulting in life and the tree of knowledge resulting in death.
Verse 11 says that in this beginning of signs which Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, He manifested His glory and His disciples believed in Him. The Lord’s divinity was manifested in His changing death into life.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, here signifies the natural man, which has nothing to do with life and which must be subdued by the divine life (vv. 3-5). When the wine was exhausted, the natural man came out and even prayed to the Lord. When Mary told the Lord, “They have no wine,” He said to her, “Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come” (vv. 3-4). Often we are exactly like the mother of Jesus. We are today’s Mary, praying as a natural man according to our natural life. Frequently the Lord will allow the wine in certain situations to run out in order that He might have an opportunity to change death into life. Even in a local church, the Lord may allow the situation to go into death. In such a case, the natural man will pray, “O Lord, do something to rescue the situation.” If you pray in this way, the Lord will turn to you and say, “What have I to do with you? You have nothing to do with Me in this matter.” Nearly all of us would act the same way Mary did. What then should we do? We should not do anything. Let the death come to the surface and be exposed. Then the Lord Jesus will come in.
We all must admit that many of our prayers have gone unanswered. For instance, many of the married brothers have prayed for their wives, telling the Lord, “O Lord, You know my wife. Lord, You must change her.” What kind of prayer is this? It is the prayer of Mary, the prayer of the natural man. Do not pray in that way. Let the death in your wife come to the surface. Let Lazarus be dead and buried. Then the Lord Jesus will come and raise him from the dead. Let your wife, like Lazarus, die, be buried, and begin to putrefy. If you do this, the Lord Jesus will come and change death into life.
Quite often I have received letters from individuals or from churches who are crying for help, saying, “Brother, we are so weak. Please come to help us.” Whenever I have received such a letter, I said, “You are weak, but you are not yet dead. Even if you are dead, you have not yet begun to smell.” We need to wait until the death situation comes to the surface; then the Lord Jesus will come in to change death into life. Everything that the Lord does is according to this principle of changing death into life.