First Miracle of Jesus

February 2, 2014

John 2:1-11

Last we walked with Jesus as He found His first five disciples. Today we will walk with Jesus to a wedding in Cana where He performs His first public miracle—Turning water to wine.

This miracle parallels the first public miracle in the Old Testament— Moses turning the water into blood. It illustrates the contrast between Law and grace. “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came b•y Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

Moses turned the water to blood—Speaks of judgment—Law brings judgment.
Jesus turned the water to wine—Speaks of joy—Grace brings joy.

“New wine is found in the CLUSTER,” not in the bottle (Isa. 65:8). New wine is freshly squeezed juice from the grape (Gen. 40:11).

Every wino and boozer will use this passage to justify drinking alcoholic beverages, saying, “Jesus drank wine!” But that won’t work. The wine Jesus made was NEW WINE—not fermented liquor. When Jesus served the “Lord’s Table” the Scripture never uses the word “wine.” It is always either “the cup” or “the fruit of the vine.”

The Scripture clearly forbids drinking fermented wine:

Proverbs 20:1—Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is decieved thereby is not wise
Proverbs 23:20-21—Be not among winebibbers…For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty…
Proverbs 23:29-30—Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine…
Habakkuk 2:15—Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also…
Proverbs 31:4-5— “It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.”

God warns you to stay away from wine lest you short-circuit your thinking process. Science has proven that every ounce of alcohol consumed permanently destroys ten thousand dendrites, or filaments, in the nerve cells of the brain. While each of us have millions of dendrites, I think it is fair to say that none of us has any to spare. If you’re like me, you need all the dendrites you can get!

With all the Bible says about the dangers of drinking fermented wine, it would be inconsistent for Jesus to make 150 gallons of “hootch” so everyone at the wedding could get drunk.

I’m tired of seeing the damage alcohol inflicts upon children, families, and our society as a whole.

Cana of Galilee” was a small town located a few miles north of Nazareth. It was the home town of Nathanael.

1. The scene of the marriage. A wedding is supposed to be a joyous celebration. Jewish weddings were a week long event!

Jesus and the disciples are called to the wedding. Possibly Nathanael was a friend of the bride or groom, or Mary, was a friend or relative of one of the parties, and knowing Jesus was in the area, she called for Him.

Christ’s attendance shows He approves of marriage ceremony. Our society does not give much honor to marriage. Divorce rates climb while many just live together without being married. Society has further dishonored God’s institution of marriage by legalizing the marriage of homosexuals. Sad! Disgraceful.

2. The scarcity of the wine. To run out of wine was very embarrassing to the host of an oriental wedding. It created a crisis. The joy went out of the ceremony.

Mary took the problem to Jesus. If we would take our problems to Christ, we would save ourselves a lot of undue grief.

3. The satisfaction of the guests. The story ends happily with wine supplied and the governor is pleased. When Jesus intervenes, the sto- ry always has a happy ending for those who walk with Him.

What made the difference that turned the lack of wine into an abundance of wine… a crisis into a celebration… gloom into glory… failure into success… disappointment into delight… water into wine?