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John 2:1-11 THE FIRST MIRACLE OF JESUS

Introduction:

Previous texts gave a record of the first disciples of Jesus.

This text today is a record of His first miracle.

The word, wine, in this verse means "The juice of grapes"

without reference to whether it is fermented or unfermented.

Even if this speaks of fermented wine, it could not be the kind

of strong liquor known as wine today which has extra sugar added

for extra alcohol. Jesus would not have attended a drunken

party. Especially, He would not have furnished the liquor to

help them get drunk.

I. Jesus and His disciples attending a wedding

V. 1, "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of

Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there." Cana was a small

town located just NE of Nazareth. It was at Cana that Nathanael

became a disciple of Jesus. John says that a marriage took place

at Cana. The wedding itself, would take but a very short time,

but it was customary in Israel for a marriage feast to last from

seven to fourteen days.

John says that the mother of Jesus was there. He does not

say that she came with Jesus, but that she was there. You will

note that he makes no mention of Joseph. The last time Joseph is

mentioned in Scripture was when Jesus was carried to the temple

at twelve years of age. It is believed that Joseph died before

the public ministry of Jesus began. It would seem that if he

were alive at the time of this marriage he would have been

mentioned. It is especially noticeable that he was not mentioned

as being at the crucifixion of Jesus.

John says that this marriage took place on the third day. It

appears that John means that the marriage took place on the third

day after Nathanael became a disciple of Jesus.

V. 2, "And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the

marriage." Jesus has now returned from Judea following His

identification by John the Baptist as the Christ. He now has

those first disciples. No doubt the news has reached Cana that

John the Baptist has identified Jesus as the Christ and that

Nathanael, who lived there in Cana, is now one of several

disciples.

John says that Jesus and His disciples were invited to this

wedding. John does not tell us whether or not the number of

disciples was limited to Andrew, Simon Peter, John, James and

Philip whether or not all of the 12 have now become disciples.

All we know is that Mary, the mother of Jesus was there and that

Jesus and His disciples, however many they may have been at this

time, were there. I have an idea that all 12 may have been

there, but I have no way of knowing for sure.

II. Jesus called upon by His mother to supply wine at the

wedding feast

V. 3, "And when they wanted wine..." That is, they had run

out of wine. Their supply had all been used up. This tells us

that the marriage feast has now been in progress for several

days. They surely would not run out on the first day. It is

highly unlikely that they would run out until sometime toward the

end of the feast. This was getting down toward the very end of

the feast. It would be an embarrassment to the bridegroom, who

was to furnish supplies for the whole occasion.

(V. 3), "...the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no

wine." Mary, the mother of Jesus, learned that the supply of

wine had run out. She was very sympathetic toward the bridegroom

and all his guests. She took it upon herself to tell Jesus about

the need in hopes that He might do something about it as a favor

to her. For many years she had carried within her heart the

knowledge that Jesus is the Christ without saying anything about

it publicly. Apparently she had never called upon Him to use His

supernatural powers to do favors for her. But now that Jesus had

been publicly named by John the Baptist as the Christ and since

her host was faced with an embarrassing situation, she thought

she might prevail upon her Son and get Him to help these people.

She did not directly ask Him to perform a miracle, but she did

strongly imply that she wanted Him to do so.

V. 4, "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with

thee? mine hour is not yet come." Jesus was somewhat disturbed

by Mary's request. It is true that she was His mother, but that

did not give her the right to exercise control of His ministry

and manipulate Him into performing a miracle before the scheduled

time for His miracles. It is true that the performance of a

miracle would catch the attention of a lot of people and convince

some that He is the Christ, but it would also draw earlier

opposition to Him from the scribes and Pharisees.

So what Jesus did was to honor His mother by going ahead and

granting her request, but He also gave her to understand that she

was not to interfere again in His ministry and try to control

what He would or would not do. He did not even tell her that He

would grant this request. He just waited, knowing that she would

pursue the matter further.

III. The performance of the miracle

V. 5, "His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he

saith unto you, do it." Mary did not call the bridegroom and

inform him that Jesus would provide him with a new supply of

wine. Nor did she tell the ruler of the feast, who was in charge

of supplies. She found some servants nearby and said to them,

"Do you see that man right there. Whatever he tells you to do,

you do it." Mary had every confidence that Jesus could do what

she wanted and she had every confidence that He would do what she

wanted. She was right, of course.

V. 6, "And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after

the manner of the purifying of the Jews..." These waiter pots

were not located with the wine pots. Rather they were located at

an area which would be convenient for guests to use in the

frequent ceremonial washings that the Jews had at meals. All

Jews washed before and after meals and the Pharisees washed

several times before eating. Besides that, water would be needed

for washing utensils and, in all probability, to wash the feet of

guests.

A lot of water would be needed and these six pots would hold

a lot of water. (V. 6), "...containing two or three firkins

apiece." A firkin was a measurement equal to about 8 or 9

gallons. This made a total of somewhere about 100 to 120 gallons

of water.

V. 7, "Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water.

And they filled them up to the brim." I have an idea that these

servants did not really understand what was about to take place.

They were not accustomed to being given reasons for the things

they were told to do. They just obeyed orders. The bridegroom

expected them to take care of his guests. Mary had told them to

do whatever Jesus said do and they did it.

V. 8, "And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto

the governor of the feast. And they bare it." Now before I talk

about the meaning of this verse, let me call your attention to

something. Jesus never touched the waterpots. So far as we can

tell by the record, He never even went near them. There is no

way that the servants could suspect Him of pulling some kind of

trickery. He still did not go near the waterpots in order to

have some of the wine carried to the governor of the feast for

him to taste. He just gave orders to the servants and they

obeyed His orders.

The governor of the feast was the man in charge of serving

the guests. That is, he gave the orders and servants did the

work. He, of course, knew that their supply of wine had run out,

but until now, he had no way of knowing that there was a new

supply. He would assume that the bridegroom had this new supply

brought in.

It was also his responsibility to taste all drinks and sample

all food that was served see if it was suitable to serve to the

guests. When he tasted this new supply of wine, he was amazed.

It was so much better than he had expected. He did not know that

this wine had been miraculously supplied by Jesus. As mentioned

earlier, he assumed that the bridegroom had order in a new

supply.

V. 9-10, "When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water

that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants

which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the

bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth

set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that

which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." Any

host would normally serve his very best at the first. Then, if

that was not sufficient, he would use an inferior product as a

last resort. But the director of the feast thought the

bridegroom had deliberately saved the best until last. He must

have been pleased, but he was surprised.

Up to this point, there were not many people who knew that a

miracle had taken place. Mary, the mother of Jesus, knew. She

had maneuvered the whole event. Jesus knew. He performed the

miracle. The servants knew. They were the ones who refilled the

water pots with water. They were also the ones who carried a

sample of the new wine to the governor of the feast. But pretty

soon everybody at the feast would know. The servants would tell

the governor of the feast. The governor of the feast would tell

the bridegroom and the news would spread throughout this large

crowd of people.

IV. Jesus glorified

V. 11, "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of

Galilee, and manifested forth his glory..." This was the very

first miracle which Jesus performed. This beginning of miracles

was somewhat of a forecast of miracles yet to come. John said

that it manifest or demonstrated His glory. It demonstrated the

kind of power that He possesses. Later He would heal all manner

of sickness. He would cast out demon spirits! He would walk on

the sea! He would calm the storm! He would feed a multitude

with five loaves and two fishes! He would even raise the dead

to life again!

But all of this is still just a small demonstration of the

great power that He possesses. Some day in the not too distant

future He will call for the dead bodies of all the saved who has

ever died. Graves all over the world will open up and the saved

will come forth. The saved who are living at that time will be

caught up together with them and go up to meet the Lord in the

air. After spending a relatively short time in the air Jesus

will bring the saved back to earth in their glorified bodies and

He will establish His throne in Jerusalem and rule the world. He

will rule for a thousand years. After the millennium is over He

will sit upon a Great White Throne and judge the unsaved. Then

He will take this old sin cursed world and from it He will make a

new heaven and earth. He will bring the Holy City New Jerusalem

down from Heaven and make it His headquarters on the new earth.

Yes, my friends, the glory of Jesus was demonstrated by that

first miracle at Cana, but the half has not yet been seen. There

is a great deal more yet to come.

V. The disciples strengthened in their faith

(V. 11), "...and his disciples believed on him." Now this

does not mean that they believed for their first time. Not at

all. They first believed in Him under the preaching of John the

Baptist who said that the Christ would come after him. They

believed in Him even before they learned that He is the Christ.

John the Baptist was the one who had informed them that Jesus is

the Christ, and they believed John. They had believed to the

extent that they had become His disciples. But now their belief

in Him was stronger than ever. This miracle strengthened their

belief that He really is the Christ. They became more convinced

than ever that He really is the Son of God --- that He really is

the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, the Savior

of men.

Conclusion:

Do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the

Son of God? Have you ever turned to Him and called upon Him and

asked Him to save your soul? Have you trusted Him to save you

and keep you out of hell? Have you trusted Jesus to take you to

heaven? If not, will you call upon Him right now and ask Him to

save you?

Peter and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Nathanael

believed to the extent that they were baptized at the hands of

John the Baptist. Have you ever been baptized as an expression

of your faith in Jesus? If not, will you come forward now and

present yourself as a candidate for baptism?

Those men stepped out and became followers of Jesus. Will

you come forward and present yourself as a follower of Jesus?