On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ‭‭John‬ ‭2:1‬

The first four words of this story begin with, “on the third day…“ Hmm. Let’s pause to think about this for a second.

  1. This wedding has already gone on for several days. Perhaps Hebrew weddings are much different than our current celebrations which often finish within just a few hours.
  2.  John obviously wants us to remember which exact day this happened during the wedding festivities. He must think something is significant about the third day.

Both are true. John uses so many metaphors in his Gospel and every metaphor is loaded with meaning. These four words alone carry extraordinary significance.

John’s audience would have known about the third day. They would have known the significance of the third day throughout all of the Old Testament scriptures as well as the recent happenstance of Jesus followers claiming Jesus raised from the dead on the third day. John is deliberating highlighting the way of Jesus as showing up with abundant life, offering full breath, and glorious evidence of new creation.

Use the next few minutes to dive into some of the scriptures mentioning “the third day” to see just how much significance is in just this four word phrase. Genesis 1:11-13, Hosea 6:2, Isaiah 53:1-12, Jonah 1:17, and 1 Corinthians 15:4… Can you find more??

By Yvonne Biel

Apprentices of Jesus are marked by being WITH him, becoming LIKE him, and doing AS he did. Try this Kingdom practice.
WITH PRACTICE | Dive into some of the scriptures mentioning “the third day” to see just how much significance is in just this four word phrase.