Jesus’ first miracle: Turning water into wine
(Jn 2:1-11)
Story: A little girl was attending a wedding for the first time.
She whispered to her mother, "Why is the bride dressed in white?"
Her mother replied: "Because white is the colour of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life,”
The child thought about this for a moment, then said, "So why's the groom wearing black?"
Why is it that marriage so often has a bad press?
People make comments like “When are you going to get married and be miserable like the rest of us?”
And the mother –in – law jokes are endless
I had a wonderful mother-in-law. She told Maddy to marry me!!
Stag parties are painted as the last night of fun before you get tied down.
Yet here in the Gospels is one of the biggest vindications of marriage – Jesus’ attendance at it and his making of it a wonderful time
Did you notice in the story that Jesus takes something sombre and so very religious – purification jars - and turns them into something for rejoicing - wine
Surely that is what Christianity is all about
Yet if you put on the Christian TV stations here on Sky most of the time you will see sombre pastors preaching the word of God.
You wonder if they know the “joy of the Lord is my strength”
Introduction
John starts the story with these words:
“On the third day………
Yet if you read the context from the beginning of Jn 1, it seems more like day 5!
The phrase – on the third day reminds me of Christ rising from the dead on the third day, thereby offering us abundant life.
And turning water into wine reminds me too of the wine of our Holy Communion service.
You see Jesus was not above turning something overtly religious into something that challenges, what some consider, outside the sphere of the religious - joy.
In this record from John 2, Jesus created something that emanated joy and happiness in life.
Question: So why did Jesus turn water into wine?
I think there are three reasons. Each of which begins with C
Compassion,
Commitment and
Covenant
1. The first reason is that Jesus is
compassionate.
2. The second reason was that is that Jesus wanted to develop faith
3. The third reason is that wine signifies God’s new age that Jesus was ushering in.
1. COMPASSION
The first reason was that Jesus had compassion
Jesus felt compassion for this young couple that were just about to make the “faux pas” of their married lives.
In those days, running out of wine at a wedding was not a minor social inconvenience.
And you couldn’t just pop down to Safeway’s or
Tescos’ and get a few bottles more.
In the first century, running out of wine at a wedding was a social disgrace.
The couple should have planned better.
It was a major breach of the demands of hospitality,
And it would be devastating for the couple.
And notice- when God does something – he does it well.
When Jesus changed water into wine, he didn’t make some cheap plonk – he made the best.
Question: Have you any idea how many glasses of wine the six stone jars represented.
24 glasses, 240 glasses, 2,400 glasses or 24,000 glasses
Answer = 2,400 glasses – 150 gallons of wine
(John the Gospel of Belief by Merrill Tenney p.83)
You could hardly call Jesus a killjoy could you?
Look what the master of the banquet said to the Bridegroom:
“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”
God has high standards – even at parties.
2. COMMITMENT
Jesus is looking to develop faith to bring his disciples to be committed to Him
The result of this miracle was to develop faith.
John 2:11 says;
This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was Jesus’ first display of his glory. AND HIS DISCIPLES BELIEVED IN HIM.
Was faith just a chance result of the miracle or had Jesus thought it though.
I am sure Jesus had thought it through.
Why - because throughout the Gospels Jesus is looking to develop the faith of those around him.
Jesus’ disciples were probably a bit mixed up.
They had heard John the Baptist identifying Jesus as the Lamb of God – the Messiah.
And yet many “messiahs” had come and gone.
Israel at this time was a hotbed of unrest, with terrorist groups like the Zealots springing up everywhere.
For example Theudas had led a revolt with 400 men and this had been put down, followed by Judas the Galilean (see Acts 5:36/37)
They were right to be wary about following “any old Messiah”.
But this miracle clinched it for Jesus’ disciples.
On this point, I’d like to point out the faith of the servants.
They took Jesus at his word – even though it was utterly unreasonable.
To give the master of the banquet - water – when he would be expecting wine - would be asking for trouble.
God acts when we have the faith to take him at his word.
3. COVENANT
In John 2.11 John tells us that this is the first of the signs Jesus did.
Or in other words the beginning of Jesus ministry
On a deeper level the turning of water into wine is covenantal – it reminds us of the new Covenant – a new covenant that Jesus was ushering in.
Those at the wedding feast who knew their Old Testament scriptures knew that an abundance of wine symbolized the arrival of God’s new age - God’s new Covenant
We miss this significance /if we don’t know our Old Testament as well as the Jews of Jesus’ day knew them.
As one commentator put it: “Jesus replaces the old wine of Judaism with the new wine of his Covenant. “
And of course we see in the wine motif - an element of our communion service too, with the wine signifying Jesus blood poured out for us on the Cross.
On the Cross – we see Jesus pouring our himself for our sakes – revealing the Holy Love of God.
Let me read a couple of these texts about wine in the Old Testament
"The time is surely coming says the Lord when
the mountains shall drip with sweet wine and
the hills shall flow with it; when my people shall plant vineyards and drink their wine."
(Amos 9:13, l4.)
Here is another
"On this mountain the Lord will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of well-aged wines strained clear…This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." (Isaiah 25: 6-10.)
Jesus provided an abundance of wine at the wedding feast - to announce the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
In conclusion:
1. Our God is the God of Compassion
He is the God of second chances.
The bride and groom were given a second chance by the miracle
Jesus acted out of compassion for the bride and groom and the wedding was saved.
Isn’t that what the Gospel is all about?
2. Commitment
God wants us to have faith in Him.
Our God calls us to be committed to His way in the way we lead our lives
The choice, like that of the servants and the disciples, is ours.
3. Covenant
And finally the wine reminds us of the Covenant that Jesus ministry brings in – God’s New Covenant
When we come to communion and drink the wine we remember Christ’s death on the Cross for us.
The bread reminds us the Body of Jesus broken for us and the Wine reminds us of his blood poured out for us
But when we drink the wine today please may I invite you to remember one more thing
That we look forward to a New Covenant - a new age when Christ reigns supreme.
A covenant that began in Cana of Galilee at that wedding feast
