JESUS CHANGES WATER TO WINE
John 2:1-11
Key Verse 2:11
“This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory and his disciples put their faith in him.”
John’s gospel records seven miracles that Jesus performed to show to us that he is God in the flesh. This message is Jesus’ first miracle, the changing of water into wine. Have you ever heard of anyone changing water into wine? Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding! What was Jesus doing at a wedding? It was here that Jesus wanted to bless everyone with joy and reveal his glory. It was here that Jesus’ disciples first put their faith in him.
This morning, let’s open our hearts to Jesus and find out what this miracle means. May Jesus reveal his glory to you so that you may also like the disciples, put your faith in Jesus.
First, a wedding! (1-2)
Look at verses 1-2, “On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.” The background of Jesus’ first miraculous sign was at a wedding. A wedding is the start of a new life for a man and woman. Two single people make a vow of commitment to each other and to the Lord. God then takes these two single people and mysteriously makes them one. In the Garden of Eden, God performed the first wedding ceremony between Adam and Eve. Many kinds of creatures in attended this first wedding such as lions, penguins, turtles and koala bears. This wedding was the highlight of God’s wonderful work of creation.
That Jesus is at this wedding shows that he wants to bless this wedding with God’s blessing. The Bible compares the Christian life to a wedding. Jesus is the bridegroom and we the church, of believers are his bride. Like a bride with her bridegroom, we are full of joy, excitement and as long as we stay committed to Jesus and make a confession of love to him.
Second, the role of Mary (3-5)
At this wedding feast there was a problem. Let’s read verse 3, “When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’” At the wedding feast, it was customary to drink wine. I am not sure exactly how much percent alcohol it had, but it had a little. Wine was not the everyday drink for the people living back then, it was served on special occasions as an act of celebration.
But now the wine was gone. This was a problem! Once the wine ran out people would start to leave the reception complaining that the hosts were stingy. They might become angry. The wedding reception would end on a sour note. In this situation, Mary, Jesus’ mother, took charge and brought this problem to Jesus. She didn’t try to solve the problem by herself and get stressed out. She didn’t depend on other people and burden them. She simply took this problem to Jesus. It was like a prayer. Mary was a woman of prayer. Her prayer became the catalyst by which Jesus could perform his first miracle of changing water into wine.
Behind the great works of God, whether it be small or large, there are always women like Mary, who take things to God in prayer. Through their prayers all things that looked impossible, became possible because God hears and answers their prayers for his glory and honor.
How did Jesus respond to Mary’s request? Let’s read verse 4, “Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My time has not yet come.’” Jesus’ answer sounds rude. He did not call her, “Mom” or “Mother.” He seemed to show disrespect to his mother. He called her “woman.” Hey, what kind of a son is Jesus any how? How can he talk to his mother like that? Did you ever call your mother, “Woman”?
What was Mary’s response to Jesus? She did not become offended or hurt by Jesus’ cold response. Instead she turned to the servants nearby and told them in verse 5, “Do whatever he tells you.’” Her words plant faith and readiness to listen to Jesus. It is as if she is telling them, “Do anything he tells you, no matter what he says, just do it!” .
Now the servants are ready to listen to Jesus. They are ready to obey his words. We can say here that Mary made a good spiritual environment for Jesus to perform his miracle by planting faith in the hearts of the servants. First, Mary prayed, then she planted a readiness for the servants to obey Jesus. The role of women like Mary in the work of God is irreplaceable and invaluable. A woman’s role in God’s work is to make a good spiritual environment by helping weak men. When God made woman in the Garden of Eden, he made her to help man to do God’s work.
After Jesus ascended into heaven to be with God at the Father’s right hand side, many faithful women gathered with the apostles and joined with them in prayer. Their prayer helped and encouraged many weak men to be strong and very courageous. Their faithfulness and love for Jesus inspired the apostles.
In God’s work today we see women of faith like Sharon Shafer and Jennifer Lemon who pray and make a good environment to support the work of God at Penn State. Without them, Shepherd Joe Shafer and David Lemmon would both collapse in exhaustion because of their heavy responsibilities of serving their research work and teaching responsibilities at Penn State and being campus shepherds and messengers for the Sunday Worship. May God raise many more women of America to be like Mary.
Third, Jesus revealed his glory (6-11)
Now let’s get back to the passage and see what Jesus told the servants to do. Let’s read verses 6-7, “Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water; so they filled them to the brim.” The servants obeyed absolutely, doing what Jesus told them 100%
What did Jesus tell them to do next? Let’s read verse 8, “Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’ They did so.” Again, they obeyed this strange request100% What happened when the master of the banquet tasted this water that had been in the stone water jars? Let’s read verses 9-10, “and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” The master of the banquet was moved by this drink. It was not wash water! It was sweet tasting wine. It was the best and most delicious wine he had ever tasted! He was amazed! He was happy!
What had happened? What caused the wedding feast to become lively again and for the master of the banquet to make such a happy statement? It was Jesus. Jesus accepted Mary’s prayer and blessed the servant’s obedience. Jesus wanted to bring joy and happiness to these ordinary people. Jesus wanted to bless this wedding at Cana.
Let’s read verse 11 and find out how the author John and the other disciples saw this event. Let’s read verse 11, “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” This first miracle was glorious. So glorious that the disciples made a decision to put their faith in Jesus.
This great miracle revealed to the disciples who Jesus was. It revealed his power. No one can change water into wine, that’s humanly impossible even with modern scientific and technology. But Jesus did. Jesus did because he is God in the flesh. When we put our faith in Jesus he then can change our lives and bless our lives.
Without Jesus our lives are like water. The properties of water are colorless, tasteless and odorless and cheap. Water is just plain boring! In fact about 75% of the world is covered by water. Without Jesus life on this planet is just ordinary. Without Jesus we are like Abram before God called him and changed him to be Abraham the father of many nations.
But when we let Jesus into our hearts and lives, he changes us to be like wine. This does not mean we all of a sudden have a higher alcoholic content in our blood or have a desire or justification to get drunk. It means that Jesus brings taste, color and excitement to our lives. Jesus can transform any person’s boring life because he has the power to do so. Jesus wants to reveal his glory and power through us when we believe who he is and come to him by faith. When Jesus transforms our lives, he reveals his glory and many people can put their faith in him.
Jesus wants to change ordinary sinners into holy children of God. Last night we heard that God called Abraham to leave his people, his country and his father’s household and go to the land he would show him. God promised to make him into a great nation and to make him a blessing and to bless the whole world through him. This promise looked impossible to a 75 year old man whose wife was barren and past the child bearing years. But he trusted and obeyed God and left as God told him. That was the beginning point of God’s work to change a hopeless old man to be a great man of God and a source of blessing to the whole world, even us today. It was God’s great and wonderful miracle, like Jesus changing ordinary water to tasty wine.
God also changed my life from being ordinary to tasty. Before I put my faith in Jesus I only cared about myself and thought about myself. I only wanted to make my name great by becoming a great runner. I didn’t care about others problems. With this attitude I could not be a blessing to anyone but only a burden due to my pride and arrogance. But when I met Jesus through 1:1 Bible study, he began his changing work in my life. Through Bible study I met Jesus who loved me so much that he willingly laid down his life for a terrible sinners like me. When I accepted his love and sought him by faith, he began to use me to be a Bible teacher who really began to care about others life and their eternal salvation. Through Bible study I had joy to see students receive Jesus’ forgiveness and to experience the joy and love of Jesus themselves. Through Jesus I accepted his calling to be a pioneering shepherd for one of 206 East Coast campuses at George Mason University.
Let’s read verse 11 again, “This, the first of his miraculous signs Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory and his disciples put their faith in him.” This morning we saw that Jesus changed water into wine. This was not some magic trick. This was the power of God because Jesus is God. This miracle was done to reveal Jesus’ glory and plant faith in Jesus in our hearts. May God help you to come to Jesus and believe that he has the power to change life.