The First Miracle

Credit:

o Some parts are from Troy Burst.

o Some thoughts from John McArthur’s sermon on this text

o Some of the opening illustrations and some of the body is from Jeff Strite.

“The First Miracle”

John 2:1-11

Do you know about miracle of Jesus turning water to wine?

- Jesus was at a wedding party and

- there was a crisis, they were quickly running out of wine

- the party would be ruined, and the GROOM would be ridiculed

Jesus is around 30 years old here:

- and up until now the world has observed Jesus as

- the Son of Mary and Joseph or the carpenter from Nazareth

- on this day Jesus will show Himself to be GOD

Mary, the mother of Jesus:

- brought the situation to JESUS in faith

- and Jesus impressed with her faith

- Jesus was the hero of the story by turning regular water into quality wine.

WE will read the text from John chapter 2 in a minute

The Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn had a problem:

o motorists weren't coming to a complete stop at stop signs.

o So, the Mayor came up with a creative solution.

o He added a second, smaller octagonal sign

o to the town's 50 or so stop signs that read:

“STOP - And smell the roses”

"STOP - No really, you gotta stop"

"STOP - Or I’m Telling Your Mom,"

"STOP - In the naaaame of love."

And – it worked!!!

o People stopped at the stop signs.

o The additional signs were so imaginative and humorous people

o laughed and obeyed the Stop sign.

Everybody laughed…

o except the Illinois Department of Transportation

o which deemed the signs violations of the Federal Traffic code, and

o threatened to withhold funds if the signs weren't removed.

Sadly, the Mayor had to comply.

The Mayor’s believed that if:

o he could just get

o the motorists to pay attention,

o then he could get his message across.

The message… STOP!

o It was an important message…

o he was using special signs to get it across.

Signs have always been used to get messages across to people:

o Whether square, rectangular, triangular, or octagonal…

o there is a message tied to the sign.

o Sometimes the sign’s message is very important and even critical

In our text this morning we’re told:

“This (changing water into wine) was the first of his SIGNS, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

- John 2:11

The miracles in John’s gospel were:

o intended to teach us something.

o They were like SIGNPOSTS showing us God’s message.

o that WAS the purpose of miracles.

And later in the book Gospel of John we’re told

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

- John 20:30-31

In other word, the miracles that Jesus did:

o were intended to say to people:

o PAY ATTENTION!

o This is the Son of God… this is the one you need to listen to!

1. The PARTY

“The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”

John 2:1-3

Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding:

o The wedding is held in tiny place named Cana of Galilee

o Perhaps only a few dozen people lived there

o Cana was not far from Nazareth, where up 500 live

Marriage in those days was complicated:

- the engagement was a legally binding contract

- the engagement lasted 1 year, and

- the marriage was not consummated until the actual wedding ceremony

During the 1-year engagement:

o the Groom was expected to plan, save and pay

o for the wedding party

o provide a place to live where he could bring his bride

So, Jesus finds Himself at a wedding in Cana:

- While at the party that followed the wedding,

- we suppose there was dancing, drinking and food

- Then the wine began to run out.

Cana was a small place and:

- like all small places

- everyone knew everyone

- a lot of them were related to each other

Running out of wine would have been considered:

o a significant social disgrace at that time.

o Even a poor groom was expected to provide

o plenty of wine for his wedding party.