In John 2, Jesus turns water into wine. He’s at a wedding feast, and the hosts have run out of wine for people to drink. This could greatly disgrace the hosts.
So Jesus, after His mother tells Him the situation, turns water into wine and tells the wedding servants to serve the wine at the feast. He does this in private, so no one sees Him except the servants and His close friends and family.
When people taste Jesus’ wine, they find out that it is even better than the wine that was originally served.
“When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), 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’” (John 2:9-10).
Jesus could have wowed everyone by turning the water into wine in public. He could have done it at the beginning of the feast, so everyone could have immediately tasted how good His wine was. But He saved the best for last. He performed the miracle at the time when it was needed the most.
And Jesus still saves the best for last.
Remember the promises He has made us? That one day, He will come again to Earth. He will punish those who have not repented of their sins, and He will make a new Heaven and Earth for believers to live in. We will be perfectly united with God and with man. Every day, every minute, and every second of our lives will be spent glorifying God. Whether we’re interacting with others, working, or resting, our actions will all point to the goodness of God.
But we have to wait before those things happen.
Before Jesus takes Christians to Heaven, we will face persecution on Earth. We will be hated for Jesus’ names sake (Luke 21:17). Things will get a lot worse on Earth before they get better.
In John 2, Jesus performed His miracle at the time of greatest need—the perfect time.
God will return to Earth at the perfect time, too. The world will be far from Him when He returns, and what He will bring—punishment for nonbelievers and (at the end) peace for Christians—will be more needed than ever.
I think that more people would come to Jesus if He promised the new Heaven and new Earth immediately. That immediately once we become a Christian—poof—we would be immediately made like Jesus, all of our relationships would be restored, we would sin no more, and our life would be perfect. Everyone would like that, wouldn’t they?
But no, Jesus promises the opposite. We will face trials on Earth and following Christ will be hard. We will fail again and again and again. That’s why we need His Spirit in us and His righteousness covering us—because though we fail, He doesn’t.
At one point in the future, everything will be made right, but that time is not now (unless at the time this is posted Jesus comes back ;)).
Are you willing to wait?