From Water to the Best Wine: Jesus Upgrades the Story (Ep 340)

Pulled from the Smart Edit newsletter, this episode flows with a prophetic edge. We’re spotlighting a Kingdom Dynamic from John 2: the first miracle of Jesus—turning water into wine at a wedding.

But it’s more than a party trick. It’s a revelation. Jesus doesn’t just top off what’s lacking. He introduces something radically better, a new era, new wine, and a call for new wineskins.

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See the full episode transcript below.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

In this episode of Jesus Smart X, Brian Del Turco explores the miracle at Cana — Jesus turning water into the best wine — as a prophetic picture of how Christ upgrades our lives and stories. Discover how He’s still transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary today.

What "X" Means in Jesus Smart X

Hey there, my friend. Welcome to the podcast! This is Brian Del Turco with Jesus Smart X. You might be wondering, What does the “X” stand for?

It’s actually a historical symbol for Christos (Christ) in the early church. But I also see it as representing Christ in you and you in Christ. That intersection — Jesus Christ with you, together — is where the kingdom works.

At Jesus Smart, we’ve always believed Jesus is the most brilliant person in the universe. As Dallas Willard said, He’s the “Master of molecules.” Jesus knows how to turn water into wine, heal the human body, and even pull up a fish with enough resources in its mouth to pay the tax bill.

He knows how life works best. Now and forever.

And that future? It belongs to Him. Not to the so-called “great singularity,” or to the globalist vision of a great reset.

This world will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Everything else is a counterfeit substitute.

Jesus’ message still calls out to us today: “Repent, for the kingdom of God has drawn near.” That word repent means to change your mind — and thus your lifestyle — so you can begin preparing now for the kingdom that’s coming in its fullness.

Podcast Overview and Recent Episodes

That’s what this podcast is all about. You can listen to most episodes at JesusSmart.com, and of course on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Audible — all your favorite platforms. Spread the word! Invite someone to listen in.

We’re at episode 340 today, and I’m drawing from The Smart Edit newsletter — which you can subscribe to at thesmartedit.beehiiv.com (that’s spelled b-e-e-h-i-i-v). You can also find it by clicking the Newsletter tab at JesusSmart.com.

The long-form newsletter goes out every Thursday. The short “B12 shot” arrives Monday mornings, a quick dose of motivation and calibration for the week.

From Water to the Best Wine

Let’s talk about John chapter 2 ... the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding.

Here’s what I love to say: There ain’t no party like a Jesus party, because a Jesus party doesn’t run dry!

In this account, the wine runs out during a wedding...

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey there my friend welcome tothe podcast today this is brian del
turco with jesus smart x thepodcast you say what does the x mean
well a couple things one it'sa historical symbol for christos
or christ in the early churchso there is that but also jesus smart

(00:20):
x i think that christ in youyou with christ you are that x that
variable jesus christ with youtogether is how the kingdom works
and so jesus smart we'vealways had this idea that jesus is
the most brilliant person inthe universe as dallas willard says

(00:43):
the master of molecules heknows how to turn water into wine
he knows how to heal humanhuman beings he knows how to cast
a line into the water and pullup a fish with resources in it to
pay the tax bill and just onand on and on he knows how life works
best now and the future is histhe coming horizon it's not going

(01:06):
to be the great singularitysome kind of a a horizon devoid of
god it's not going to be somekind of a great reset you know the
world economic world economicforum and the globalist and their
vision of an antichrist futurethis whole earth will be filled with
the knowledge of the glory ofthe lord as the waters cover the

(01:28):
sea and all these other thingssingularity etcetera are just counterfeits
so he knows how life worksbest now his message to us my friend
is repent for the kingdom ofgod is drawn near to you it's drawing
close to you repent in thegreek means change your mind and

(01:48):
thus your lifestyle and beginto prepare now for the kingdom that
is coming in its completenessso that you can enter into that future
otherwise you can't get injesus told nicodemus in john chapter
three you must be born againto see the kingdom in verse three
and also to enter the kingdomin verse five so a little bit about

(02:14):
what the podcast is about i'mglad you're here you can hear it
most of these episodes are onjesussmart dot com but they're also
on all the all the favoritelistening options like spotify apple
podcasts podbean iheartradioamazon music audible on and on so

(02:35):
spread the news let somebodyknow about the podcast invite them
to listen in so this isepisode three hundred forty can you
believe and we have a specialtheme today which i'll get to in
just a moment i just wanted tomention last the last episode episode
three hundred thirty nine wasa recast interview with doctor charles
stone he's an expert inneurology as well as pastoral ministry

(03:00):
and christian leadershipdevelopment that episode was called
from brain fog to clarity aslower sacred way to think his concept
of holy noticing i've beengetting into his book again lately
on a personal level tremendousmaterial there and i think it will
just improve the quality ofour life overall the episode before

(03:21):
that episode three hundred andthirty eight pulverizing mountains
six above normal advantagesthat you have as a christ follower
but we have a whole catalogthere this is episode three hundred
forty and i'm drawing todayfrom the smart edit newsletter and
you can subscribe to the smartedit newsletter at the smart edit

(03:46):
dot beehive dot com so beehiveis spelled uniquely on this platform
b e h i i v so the smarteditdot beehive dot com you can also
go to jesussmart dot com andclick on the newsletter tab and it'll
also take you there tosubscribe i'd love to have you on

(04:09):
the list it generally goes outthe long form newsletter goes out
on thursdays it's free and wealso have a very short b twelve shot
on mondays at the beginning ofthe week to motivate to inspire to
help us to calibrate for thenew week but let me draw upon something
i wrote a week ago in thenewsletter and it's about the miracle

(04:34):
of jesus turning water intowine in john chapter two at a wedding
and this is called from waterto the best wine the jesus is always
upgrading the story pleasedon't process what it means to follow
christ as just something thatupgrades your own personal story

(04:54):
only it's just that ourpersonal stories fit into the greater
story of jesus christ and ourstory is going to include can i make
can i just be real with youit's going to include trials temptations
and testings there are goingto be seasons where are more challenging

(05:14):
than others paul said i can doall things through christ i know
how to live in abundance iknow how to also go through a challenging
season but the lord is ourshepherd and this is the only way
to live in my opinion and it'scertainly the way to live to future
proof your life you know whati mean the ultimate future proofing
of your life in the newheavens and in the new earth so in

(05:38):
john chapter two let me justsay this there ain't no party like
a jesus party because a jesusparty doesn't run dry okay in john
chapter two it's the accountof a wedding that the mother of jesus
was invited to as well as hisdisciples and the wine ran out now

(06:01):
in that culture and that daywhen when they had a wedding and
a reception it was like aseven day event of gathering feasting
drinking celebrating i'm surethey were dancing and they just knew
how to put on a wedding andthe wine ran out now this is not
exactly like a life or deathissue however a wedding celebration

(06:26):
and in that time this weddingwas like teetering on a collapse
this was in in first centuryjewish culture this was like a community
failure a family failure ifsomething like this were to happen
and jesus stepped in you canread about this in john chapter two
verses one to eleven and whatdoes jesus do he takes ordinary common

(06:50):
water and he turns it into thebest wine in truth he saves the moment
now there were these six stonewater pots there which held about
twenty to thirty gallons apiece of water and these water pots
were used for ceremonialjewish washings like under the old

(07:15):
testament and jesus said tofill those up to the brim and then
he tells them to take it tothe head waiter and this common water
was turned into the mostexquisite wine it wasn't just wine
it was new wine it was richerthan the wine they had been drinking

(07:40):
during this wedding it wasbetter it was the best and john writes
there in this account thatthis was the first sign the first
miraculous sign that jesusperformed to manifest his glory that
is to really show who he is anaccurate appraisal of who jesus is
isn't it interesting that thefirst sign was not like healing blind

(08:04):
bartimaeus or raising theyoung daughter from the dead or any
of these other wonderful signsand miracles in the account of jesus
life on earth in the gospelsbut it was like an exquisite luxurious
miracle this wasn't a saving alife miracle or helping somebody

(08:28):
to hear for the first time ordriving an infection from somebody's
body or casting out a demonthat's been tormented it was providing
more wine for a wedding andthere's just a lot going on here
this is all pointing towardsthe marriage supper of the lamb it's
a pre figurement of the sacredromance between christ and his people

(08:50):
but it's also just jesus justblessing human beings sort of empowering
and blessing human beings inthis important time of a wedding
celebration but let's not missthis okay because he is signaling
i believe a shift here what doi mean by that it's not just about

(09:12):
the drinks at a wedding inthat moment it's a revelation and
here's the revelation the oldis ending and he's introducing something
radically better i meanconsider the vessels that jesus used
jewish ceremonial washingvessels from the old testament and

(09:33):
who knows it may have beenfrom all the other laws that the
pharisees and and scribespiled on to the old testament law
with with human tradition buthe is clearly the oldest ending and
he's introducing somethingradically better here's what jesus
said in another account lukechapter five verses thirty seven

(09:54):
to thirty nine no one puts newwine into old wine skins for the
new wine will burst the wineskins see these wine skins would
stretch and once they werestretched out you can't put new fermented
wine into those old stretchedwine skins that had stretched about
as far as they're going to gobecause they would burst and jesus

(10:16):
says continuing here spillingthe wine and ruining the skins from
luke five he said new winemust be stored in new wine skins
but no one who drinks the oldwine seems to want the new wine that's
what he said the old is justfine they say so it's no longer about

(10:38):
just filling these ceremonialstone jars and even about the wine
at this wedding in the momentit's about our lives now being stretched
and shaped to carry somethingnew from jesus stretched and shaped
we are in a similar momentright now i don't know how you feel

(11:00):
about what's going on in yourlife or what's going on in the macro
but the old wine is runningout i'm talking about outdated ways
of thinking we're talkingabout worn out religious habits don't
you know that there are brokensystems and the reality is new wine

(11:24):
cannot go into old wine skinsso this is the big question for us
we have to look in the mirrorare we willing to become a new wine
skin or is the old wine justfine for you jesus is still in the
turning water into the bestwine business hebrews thirteen eight

(11:45):
says jesus christ is the sameyesterday today and forever he is
still in the turning waterinto the best wine business lack
into abundance taking plainritual turning it into a new higher
reality relationships work andpurpose finances health and wellness

(12:12):
so that we can serve god instrength all the life domains but
just know just know that theupgrade will not fit into yesterday's
mold here's here's what'shere's what it's asking of me and
of you it demands freshsurrender and it's asking for stretching

(12:35):
fresh surrender and it'sasking for stretching this is all
prophetic he's preparing hisbride in this account in john two
he's signaling a shiftactually the big wedding that's coming
it's his wedding jesus is thebridegroom and he's both bridegroom
and head waiter of thiswedding amazing when they took the

(13:00):
wine to the head waiter atthis at this wedding in john two
the head waiter went to thebridegroom and said look at weddings
everybody gives the best winefirst and then when everybody's kind
of drunk and their senses arekind of in another place if you know
what i mean then they bringout the old common wine but you've
done the opposite you broughtout the best wine for last and consider

(13:21):
this what jesus did becausemaybe you need a miracle like this
you know it takes a long timeto grow grapes and to ferment wine
it takes a summer of growth ittakes time to ferment that wine but
jesus compressed time maybeyou need a miracle like that maybe
you need something acceleratedand compressed outside the normal

(13:42):
time schemes that we live inwell jesus is both the bridegroom
of his own wedding of courseand he's the head waiter of it so
we need to say something likethis to me i need to say something
like this to jesus jesus whatdoes this mean for me what does this
mean for the people you'veplaced in my life show me how to

(14:04):
live right now lord like thebig wedding is already on the calendar
help me to live in light ofthat the sacred romance of that and
the love of that and theprovision of it and the miracle of
it and the beauty of it rightnow i pray this for my friend in

(14:25):
jesus name so that was takenfrom what we call the big idea article
in the newsletter each week wespotlight us what what i call a kingdom
dynamic a kingdom dynamic is akey insight into how god's kingdom
works in real life and thatwas the big idea we sort of had this

(14:47):
feature article at the top ofeach newsletter from two issues ago
let me share something withyou now and again this newsletter
the smartedit beehive dot combeehive is b e e h i i v thesmartedit
dot beehive dot com or you cango to jesusmart dot com and click

(15:08):
on the newsletter tab at thetop and it will take you there as
well let me share this whichjust went out today in today's issue
we have another section in thenewsletter called higher thoughts
okay and and we have severaldifferent sections in the newsletter
something usually dealing withhealth there's a meme there's a link

(15:28):
to a podcast episode there'ssomething we call signals and that
are like links to currenthappenings in culture and in the
world and in the kingdom andmore but we do have this section
called higher thoughts youknow god says in isaiah fifty five
verse nine that my thoughtsare higher than your thoughts and

(15:48):
here's a couple higherthoughts that we shared in this week's
issue i think you might likethis i did not know that there was
something called in psychologyidentity foreclosure identity foreclosure
is where you settle and yousettle into a version of yourself
that's not the full self youcould be you just kind of foreclose

(16:10):
on your potential okay one ofthe thoughts here today is kingdom
identity foreclosure we cansettle into a version of the christian
life too quickly okay wesettle before the spirit has deeply
shaped our sense of self inchrist we've not wrestled really

(16:34):
we've not wondered we've notsought we've just sort of adopted
inherit inherited expectationsand labels and roles and maybe even
a cultural christianitywithout the holy spirit fire of discovery
this is identity foreclosuresee but it happens spiritually too

(16:55):
that's why we're calling itkingdom identity foreclosure and
so the thought is don't settleand don't foreclose on your kingdom
identity too early you arebeing formed okay you're not just
labeled a christian or achurchgoer you're being formed into

(17:16):
the image of christ by theholy spirit romans eight sixteen
the spirit himself testifieswith our spirit that we are god's
children so this is onethought kingdom identity for closure
in today's issue there's asecond thought there these are called
higher thoughts ballast inyour boat do you know what ballast

(17:38):
is in a boat most people don'tthink about this hey if you have
no ballast in your life here'swhat you're like here's what i'm
like i'm like driftwoodwithout a sail okay can you imagine
turbulent waters driftwood outthere just rough waters when it's
like that flash does notmatter what matters is weight okay

(18:03):
what matters is ballast depthcore you need something real in your
hall h u l l that keeps youupright when everything tilts ballast
in the bottom of a ship or thebottom of a boat is a weight that's
there engineer designed tokeep that ship from tipping over

(18:24):
in rough waters and we needthat we need ballast in the boat
of our life now what what dowe mean by ballast well truth is
ballast okay solid bibledoctrine is ballast a prayer life
a rigorous prayer life isballast discipline being consistent

(18:48):
being disciplined that's whatdisciple in part means a pupil a
learner or a disciplined onein the english word kingdom worldview
is ballast community of faithbeing planted in the right community
of faith for you at the righttime is kingdom or or is ballast

(19:12):
so without it even thesharpest vessel is just tossed about
when the waters get roughedrough so we don't just want to look
steady or we don't want tojust like kind of be churchy but
we want to be heavy okay thisis one time you really want to be
heavy in the lord colossianstwo seven paul said let your roots

(19:36):
grow down into him beingchrist so there's two higher thoughts
in this week's issue kingdomidentity foreclosure don't do it
don't settle go all the waywith jesus run as fast and far as
he he enables you to go andthen ballast in your boat depth core
and sinking your roots downinto christ we have an article in

(19:59):
this week's it's really avideo from a site called the stream
your body is likely underattack this is a health and wellness
issue what if inflammationisn't just a symptom but what if
it's the root of most chronicdisease and we have some experts
talking about that on this youknow we want to serve the lord with

(20:20):
strength with energy withlongevity right so these are just
a couple elements from thisweek's issue it has also the big
idea article in this week'sissue about entering the kingdom
without reserve like beingconfident and certain at the coming
of christ and not shrinkingaway from him in shame at his coming

(20:43):
because the offer he's put onthe table is worth the offer of our
life going full on for that sothere you have it the smart edit
and again the smartedit dotbeehive dot com if you just look
up the smart edit or look thisup in probably any search engine

(21:04):
the smart edit newsletter andit'll pull it up you can also go
to jesusmart dot com and clickthe newsletter tab well just a few
elements from a couple ofnewsletters recently i think the
new wine thing for me it'sbeen something that's been resonating
recently within the pastcouple of weeks i believe the lord

(21:26):
has maybe highlighted it to myattention personally and so that
was in last week's newsletterwell i appreciate you can you think
of anybody who could benefitfrom this episode today or would
like it or it would be a valueadd to their life would you share
it with them and we'll catchyou next time.