Water to Wine
September 2, 2007
Video Clip from The Miracles of Jesus:
Episode 2: 10:10 – 11:40; Discovery Channel - Produced by the BBC
The Wine Runs Out
Today, we are going to be looking at the first miracle of Jesus, where He turned water to wine, so if you’ve got your Bibles, turn over to John 2. Read along with me. Here we go.
1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
The Wine Runs Out
4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
John 2
So, we see a huge, huge problem come up at this wedding, and this is what it is. “When the wine was gone,” now that’s a problem, okay? “When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ Jesus replied, ‘Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come.’
His mother then turned to the servants and said, ‘Do whatever he tells you to do.’ “ So, here’s Jesus. His mom’s like, “You are going to do something.”
Jars are Filled
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
John 2
So, the servants come to Him, so Jesus says, “I’ll tell you what. See those six stone jars over there? Those water pots? They hold about twenty to thirty gallons each. I want you to fill each one of them up with water.” So the servants did so.
They filled them up. John notes that they filled them to the brim, all the way to the top. Jesus then said, “I want you to go and I want you to dip the water out of those jars, and I want you to serve it to the master of the banquet, the master of ceremonies, and then begin to serve it to the guests.”
Wine is Poured
They did so, 9 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 10 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.”
John 2
And this little miracle that happened that day, this first miracle of Jesus was very much a behind-the-scenes miracle that met a huge need that had popped up at that wedding.
As each cup was poured, as the water was poured into each cup, Jesus worked a miracle in that each cup of water was turned into a cup of wine.
The Miracle of Water Becoming Wine
Now, what’s really interesting to me about this miracle, because I asked myself at times, “Why not a more grand miracle for the first miracle? Why turning water into wine? Why not, you know, raising the dead and all the other things? Why this one?”
Think about who Jesus is for a minute. We are in chapter 2 of John’s gospel. In chapter one of John, Jesus is God come to earth as a message of light and hope. We see Jesus baptized by John the Baptist and Jehovah God speaks out of the clouds and says, “This is My Son in Whom I am well pleased.”
Now, we come to the Cana for a wedding party. Jesus has just gotten his ministry started. He has just called five of His disciples. Not all twelve of his disciples came to the wedding, only the first five. So far everything is behind the scenes and Jesus is expecting to be released into public ministry soon – but it hasn’t happened.
People had journeyed and come to this wedding expecting there to be plenty of food and plenty to drink. And then they ran out of wine.
Jesus’ mother looked at Jesus and said, “Listen, you are the Son of God. You have the ability and the power to do something about this situation – so do it.”
He is thirty years old, He knows His time is coming, He knows what He has been called to do. He knows He is the Son of God. He knows His purpose, but yet, He’s got the sense of waiting for the right time. And His mom’s saying, “Hey, it’s time to do something right now!”
Jesus is saying, “Well, no, God expects me to wait. God is expecting me to do something at another time. My time has not come right now.”
But Mary, says, “Listen. You are thirty years old. You are still living at home. You just brought five more guys home with you. I’ll tell you what, you just do something right now. It’s time for your public ministry to start today.” Okay? And can you see her walking away… Talk about a Jewish mother!
Does this miracle teach us that we can expect that every time we pray for every little crisis that Jesus will give us every little thing we ask for?
I don’t think so…
This miracle is about so much more than that - and that is what is so incredible about this miracle. This miracle is about Jesus showing up at a wedding, an everyday event. It’s about Jesus stepping up and doing something great with something small.
Today is going to be the day that Jesus is going to do something great in your life. But, first you have to understand something. It is a key thought. I want you to write this down. It is where we have got to start.
Things often get worse before God makes them better
3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
We all have crises in our lives. Some are huge – life changing and defining moments – and some are more along the line of “running out of wine.” It doesn’t really matter there are a lot of expectations in life and the weight of unmet expectations, whether it is finances, relationships, stuff on the job, whatever it is – it can be really heavy on us at times.
A man was walking along a mountain road and saw a Native American man lying with his ear to the ground. As he approached the man, he heard him talking.
He said, “Chevy pickup truck. Large tires. Green. Man driving with large German shepherd in passenger seat. Loaded with firewood. Michigan license plate 830 EJE”.
The other guy was just astounded at the Native American guy. He said, “You mean you can tell all that from listening to the ground?”
The man replied: “Ear to the ground, nothing, That truck just ran over me!
Many a times we feel that way, like a big truck that just ran over us. Life has a way of handing out disappointments like a dealer in a casino passes out cards. And you never really know what you have to play until you turn the card over.
Maybe you are a teenager who, you are expecting that, you know, that new video game that’s out. There is that Wii Wii game now, you know, that whatever. You know, you move and like the whole TV kind of moves with you or whatever. Maybe you were expecting that for your birthday and you didn’t get it.
The wine ran out.
Some of you ladies are expecting your husbands to get it right on your anniversary – some of you ladies have given up. You don’t want anything with an electrical cord. What you want is small, and it sparkles. You may not get it.
The wine ran out!
Many of us listening to today are living in verse 3. The wine is gone and has been for a long time. You are at the end of your rope. You have run out of hope. You’ve run out of options. A lot of people are experiencing terrible circumstances. They are out of wine. You are out of wine.
Maybe you’ve just lost out on a job opportunity, or your friends have ditched you. Maybe your health is shot, your bones ache, and the bills are piling up. The wine is gone! You are out of finances. Your relationships are stuck, or they’re bad, or they are just non-existent.
Man, today is the day that you are even sitting there thinking to yourself, “I don’t even know if I can keep going?”
Let me tell you something. Today is the day that you find hope in Christ. Today is the day that you understand that God wants to move you, that this miracle is about understanding that God wants to move you from verse 3 to verse 10. You are asking yourself what now, and Jesus wants you to walk out of this room understanding how to live through unmet expectations.
So what do you do after you have run out of wine?
Look to Jesus for your solutions
Things may get worse before God makes them better, but He will always make them better.
Principle in scripture: You have to look to Jesus for your solution. Don’t lose hope. Man, what Jesus did at that wedding, he will do for you today, but you have to look to Him. A lot of us look to solutions in other things, and many other things other than Christ.
We look to solutions for our financial issues in casino’s, or credit cards.
Internet ad: Good Credit leads to a Good Life. This is a lie! Only Jesus leads to good life! Everything else fades with time.
Maybe you are a student. You are struggling with school, and the solution that you are looking to is a cheat sheet on test day.
Maybe you are in a bad relationship. You are hurting, and the solution, it’s not so much that you are in a bad relationship, but the relationship that you are in is going bad, and you are looking to a chat room on a web site. You are looking to other relationships at work and with your neighbors that you know aren’t healthy.
What solutions are you looking to that you need to stop looking to today, and you need to start looking to God? Maybe you are looking inside yourself, and you are putting all of your hope in your abilities and in your talents, but you are running out.
Here’s the deal. Jesus saves the best for last. Things may get worse before God makes them better.
Look what happens in verse 10. You were in verse 3, God wants you to be in verse 10. This is the master of the ceremony, who’s just had his cup filled with new wine, wine that has been transformed from water, and here’s what he says. “Everyone brings out the choice wine first, and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink.” What does that mean? That means that usually, what happens at one of these wedding feasts is, the good wine comes out. After everybody has had a little bit to drink and they are a little, you know, kind of, they are feeling pretty good, and they don’t really care as much, then you bring out the cheap stuff.
The wedding master of the ceremony says this, “But you had,” say it with me, “saved the best till now.” God’s best is coming. Don’t lose sight of that. Don’t lose hope. His best is coming. Hang on. He’s going to show up.
Toilet Paper from Heaven?
A Home Group Leader passed this on about a woman who was recently divorced and trying to keep her and her son going through some tough times. She was a new believer and knew that only God could get her through.
She and her 13 yr old son would pray everyday including petitions for their present and future needs. Day by day, week by week, they saw God working to get them through. She was determined to prove to her son that God cared about them and was their true source of provision for every need.
One rainy winter day, they had spent all their money to pay the rent and bills, buy some groceries and with the last remaining few dollars, put some gas in the car. That was it until the next payday. Any other needs would have to wait until then. Then came the discovery of a true emergency - they were out of toilet paper! What were they going to do now?
The frustration of all the month’s of struggling to get by suddenly weighed down on her - the thought of not being able to even afford toilet paper was too much. Her son tried to console her in the midst of her crying and sobbing - don’t worry mom, we’ll just pray and ask God to give us some toilet paper. Disbelieving but not wanting to discourage her son, she said OK, we’ll pray like we always have. A brief terse prayer was thrown up: God, we need toilet paper! That said, they called it a night and went to bed to forget their troubles and trials.
The next morning, she was awakened by the excited laughter and cries of her son. Look out the window mom! God answered our prayer! Someone had TP’d their whole front yard including all the shrubs, trees and her car - toilet paper hung from and was wound around everything in front of her house. In spite of the normally soggy weather it was perfectly dry that night. They ran outside in amazement and began collecting and winding up all the toilet paper - they ended up with more than enough to get them through to the next paycheck!
Was this a teenage prank played on the "wrong" house or was it.........the toilet paper angels? Only God knows - He was the only one besides them that knew of the emergency.-----------------------
[This came across the cell-list on the internet in December 1994 – Rick Stacy]
Act as If You Expect Jesus to Do a Miracle in Your Life
“Do whatever He tells you.”
Principle of Scripture: John 2:5, “Jesus’ mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he,’ ” say it with me. “Do whatever he tells you.”
The servants did what they were told – and they got a miracle.
Do it. We’ve got to ask God what to do and then whatever He tells us, whatever He speaks into our lives, we’ve got to do it.
In James 2:17, it says this, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
In other words, you can come to church. You can say you believe all day long, but if you are not willing to put action to that faith, then your faith is actually dead.
You have no faith, so what part of God’s solution are you simply not obeying? What part of God’s solution are you simply not putting action to?
What about your finances? You say you want God to show up in your finances and work a miracle, but yet, you don’t obey. You don’t tithe. Ouch – that hurts. You ok?
What about your relationships? You say you want God to show up and supply you that person, to bring that person into your life that you are going to spend the rest of your life with, but yet, you don’t obey in your relationships. You jump from one bad relationship to another bad relationship, often finding yourself in bed with someone, being disobedient, not doing what God expects. How can You expect Him to bring that person to deliver a miracle in your life, in your relationships, when you are not willing to obey?
What about your daily walk with the Lord? You are looking for Christian friends. You are like, “Man, I have nobody. I have no Christian friends around me,” yet you won’t obey God and get in a Life Group or get involved in a ministry. Best way to get friends is to be a friend.
What about parenting your kids? Your relationship with your kids stink. Yet, you won’t obey God and spend time with them. Instead, you are a workaholic, and when you get home, you collapse on the couch.
Today’s the day that we begin to obey. Today’s the day that we begin to do, that we respond, that we act because we expect Jesus to do a miracle – even – can this really be true? – when he doesn’t necessarily want to!
Let’s talk about one more thing here - Obedience – not performance
Obedience is seeking God with your whole heart. Performance is having a quiet time because you’ll feel guilty if you don’t.
Obedience is finding ways to let the Word of God dwell in you richly. Performance is quickly scanning a passage so you can check it off your Bible reading plan.
Obedience is inviting guests to your home for dinner. Performance is feeling anxiety about whether every detail of the meal will be perfect.
Obedience is following God’s prompting to start a small group. Performance is reluctance to let anyone else lead the group because they might not do it as well as you would.
Obedience is saying yes to whatever God asks of you. Performance is saying yes to whatever people ask of you.
Obedience is following the promptings of God’s Spirit. Performance is following a list of man-made requirements.
Obedience springs from fear of God. Performance springs from fear of failure.
Jesus’ Glory is Revealed through the Little Miracles in Your Life
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 2
John 2:11 says this. In the culmination of the miracle story, he says this, “Jesus thus revealed his glory and his disciples put their faith in him.”
It’s not about you… It’s about Jesus and what he has done for you and everyone else on this planet. What Jesus does in your life is not for your benefit alone. It’s for the people sitting next to you. It’s for the guy jogging by the school this morning. It’s for the couple with 2.3 kids in the back seat headed to mall for a little back to school shopping trip.
What acts are you not doing that Jesus is calling you to do that you need to be doing right now? Let me tell you something. When you put your faith into action, this is what happens.
James 2:18 says, “I will show you my faith by what I do.” I will show you my faith by what I do. Jesus did, the miracle happened, and at that moment, the disciples put their faith in Him, and that’s the next thought that we need to look at.
It is important to understand this, as you look to Jesus for the solution, as you put your faith in Him, this is what happens, Jesus reveals Himself to others through you. Write that down – live it today.
What do you need to do… to start a miracle in your life today?
