Today we are going to look at the first miracle that Jesus performed at the wedding of Cana.
As you are turning there in your Bibles today let me ask you a couple of questions.
1. When you think of a wedding what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
2. Do you think about two people falling in love?
3. Do you think about a lifelong commitment?
• Perhaps the idea of a wedding even brings up thoughts of anger for various reasons?
• Perhaps you have seen marriage as a struggle rather than a blessing
• Perhaps you are upset on how marriage is treated so casually today by our lawmakers.
Now Hebrew weddings at this time in Palestine could last for up to a week. The wedding ceremony was central to Jewish life and families spent much time in planning and preparing for it. The financial responsibility for the wedding and celebration fell on the groom and his family. You can imagine what kind of planning this kind of celebration took. Today when we think of throwing a wedding celebration and reception that lasts for one day, we go to great lengths and through much planning to make that day special and we do our best to fit our weddings into a budget. Consider the planning and budgeting that went into a week long celebration.
ON THE THIRD DAY A WEDDING TOOK PLACE AT CANA.
Why on the third day?
Here is where some people get it wrong. They think the writer is telling us that a wedding took place on the third day after Yeshua was baptized. Because the book of John does not describe the 40 days in the wilderness that followed his baptism. This is not what it means. The third day is in reference to the Sabbath. The first day would be Sunday, the second Monday, and so on. Tuesday is always the third day. Tuesday is also the day chosen for weddings. The Jews chose the third day because it was the only day in the 6 days of creation that God saw his work and said it was good ‘twice‘. So it is believed in Jewish tradition that Tuesday, the third day has a special blessing. This is the reason the groom, and bride of Cana chose the third day. Even today Jewish weddings often occur on the third day.
• Genesis 1:13-18 (God said it was good).
• Genesis 1:27- 31 (God said it was good).
The third day is the day used in the law of Moses as the day of purification. Throughout the Torah instructions were given to wash for purification after coming in contact with anything unclean. Some believers think this was the third day after Yeshua came out of the wilderness. For 40 days He had been in the company of Satan himself. Can you imagine there in the wilderness Yeshua was surrounded by every demon, and evil spirit that walked the earth. There he stood in the midst of all the evil that exist. So it would be fitting that on the third day “ day of purification” he would be found at a location where there was containers of water for purification.
In the Middle East in Jesus’ day, weddings tended to be affairs for family and close friends only, so it is highly likely that Mary was a relative of the family hosting this wedding. And probably through his mother, Jesus is also invited along with his disciples to Cana, a short journey north of Nazareth, Jesus home town.
So Mary notices at some point that the wine had run out. Now for wine to run out at a wedding in Jewish culture was not just a minor mishap, where it could be rectified by send someone down to the off-licence for a couple of extra bottles. It was a major disaster, bring shame and dishonor to the host family.
I. Submit to the Lords His Purpose
1. The mother of Jesus was there (John 2:1).
2. The mother of Jesus said to him “They have no wine” (John 2:3).
3. Jesus said to her… (John 2:4).
4. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5).
We are looking at the marvelous example of Mary, the mother of our Lord, who features prominently in this story.
Prayer involves asking help from Jesus.
Mary recognizes that that there is a problem and she brings it to Jesus, “The mother of Jesus said to him ‘They have no wine’ (John 2:3). She sees the need and she brings it to Jesus. This is a marvelous example. What do you do when you see a need in your marriage, in your home, or in your family?
II. Trust and Obey the Lord’s Commands
Jesus said to the servants “Fill the jars with water” (John 2:7).
And he said to them, “Now draw out and take it to the master of the feast” (John 2:8).
Here we are looking at the example of the servants, who play an important role in this story.
The obedience of the servants is clearly noted. When Jesus says, “Fill the water pots,” John records “they filled them up to the brim” (John 2:7). When Jesus says, “Take it to the master of the feast,” John records, “So they took it” (John 2:8).
Jesus Christ could easily have turned water into wine without any involvement from the servants, but he did not choose to do so! God works with his people. He works as his people pray and as his people are actively involved in his service and in obedience to his commands.
His blessing came to the wedding guests through the obedience of the servants and not without it. Gifts of grace come from the hand of God, but they are received by his people through the prayers and the work of his servants. The New Testament refers to us as “God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor. 3:9).
3. Look to Jesus and Discern His Work
The first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. (John 2:11)
Christ manifested his glory. The question is—to whom?
The glory of Jesus was revealed, but there were many people who did not see it.
Who saw Jesus’ glory? Mary, who asked of Jesus, did. The servants, who obeyed Jesus, did. The disciples, who followed Jesus, did.
But the emphasis in the story is not so much on the people who knew what Christ had done, but on the people who were completely unaware of the blessing that they had just received: “The master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from” (John 2:9)
The master of the feast does not know that the good wine is a gift from Christ, so he gives credit in the wrong place. He calls over the bridegroom and says to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first… But you have kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10).
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Rev. NORMAN BERNAD
BANGALORE, INDIA
+919036696832
normanmab07@gmail.com
