Conclusion

The meaning of this miracle in Cana sets the stage for Christ’s ministry, symbolically defining His purpose.  The signs He performed all demonstrate some aspect of the kingdom, and validate His claim as Israel’s Messiah.  Still, the hearts of the Pharisees continually harden against Him, and they eventually attribute His miracles to the workings of Satan.  In doing so they rejected every purpose of the miracles: to show Christ’s power to establish the coming kingdom, to show the Way of salvation, and to prove Christ as Messiah.  Because the designated rulers of Israel chose to reject the Christ, the entire nation would suffer the consequences, and the Kingdom would be delayed.  But by the grace of God individuals could still drink the cup of salvation.