Today I want to end this series by returning to the beginning. How does John chapter 2 begin? The NLT has, “The next day,” with a footnote. Most other translations render, “On the third day.” So how does the chronology work? The miracle conducted at the wedding in Cana was performed on the third day following John the Baptizer’s announcement that the long expected Messiah was fresh on the scene of human history.
But this “third day” language dredges up other thoughts in the reader’s mind. The third day, after all is resurrection day, the day when the old becomes new, death becomes life, doubt becomes belief, and disappointment becomes hope. In my opinion, this is hardly a coincidence.
So here’s the point I’ve been working toward all week. I think God allows us to experience disappointment so that He may put to death our wrong expectations. He puts them to death so He can resurrect them to something new and glorious. When we lose that which is valuable, God replaces it with something invaluable. When we give up what we demand, we then find what God desires.
In our moments of disappointment we want to be rescued, but what we really need is resurrection.
What do you think they talked about on the way home from the wedding? Some, oblivious to Jesus presence and work, undoubted talked about the greatness of the host. Others, however, who had witnessed Jesus miracle, walked away saying, “God has visited us today.”
What is the difference?
The difference between rescue and resurrection is belief. You have to believe to experience resurrection. Without belief, all you have is rescue. With belief, you find life, even in the midst of disappointment. And, as the Apostle Paul suggested in Romans 5:5, our belief and hope “never disappoints.”