Better Wine

The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory.  (John 2:9b-11a)
 
If you read the book of Hebrews, you will hear (many times!) that what God has done in Jesus is better than what he did in the previous ages. The later wine is better than the prior wine, in other words. Jesus’ priesthood is better than that of Aaron, his role as a son is better than Moses’ role as a servant, the sacrifice he offers is better than the old sacrifices, the altar he offers us to eat from is better than the altar in the temple—the list of “better wine” in Hebrews is long. God’s later work is better than his former work, not because the former work was inadequate, but because he keeps outdoing himself with a better perfection.
 
We take for granted that Jesus’ sacrifice is better than the sacrifices of the old covenant. But how often do we forget that there is still better wine to come? How often do we live as if the wine we have received so far is as good as it gets? How often do we treat what God has done in our lives so far as the end of the story? There is a later work that God will do that will completely surpass what he has done so far—there is better wine still to come!
 
The Bible ends (before the closing valediction) with the cry, “Come, Lord Jesus!” I have oftentimes thought of this (and prayed it) as a cry of desperation. But what if we heard it as what it is—not a cry of desperation because of the brokenness of the world, but instead the ecstatic cry of the bride awaiting her groom? What if we said it with joyful longing for the better wine to come? In other words, what if our cry, “Come, Lord Jesus,” were driven by eager hope, not frustration and sadness?
 
There is better wine to come. When the bride is united to the bridegroom, we will see the glory that God is still waiting to reveal in Jesus Christ, glory that is full of grace and truth.
 
Steven+