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One of the most famous miracles performed by Jesus, is in-fact His first one recorded in the Bible; the turning of water into wine in John chapter 2. There have been countless sermons preached on this over the years, and debates have even been argued on whether the wine was actual wine or merely grape-juice – which as an aside, it must have been actual wine, because the master of the feast clearly called it the “best wine” and inquired about why it was not served first, which would not have made any sense if it was only grape-juice.
However this first miracle of Jesus, is also often misunderstood. There is some very interesting dialog had by Jesus during this scene, and it has some amazing truth which is also very informative for us today as well. This is what I want to share with you today… how to let Jesus turn your water into wine.
Let’s begin today with John 2:1-5:
“And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine.
Jesus said to her, Woman, what have I to do with you? my hour is not yet come.
His mother said to the servants, Whatever he said to you, do it.”
In verse 1, we can see that this was a marriage feast, most of us already knew this fact, but it is important because again it shows us an aspect of Jesus’ nature and character – He is not a prudish person, nor does He have a stuck-up, up-tight attitude.
I have talked with people over the years who think that in order to be holy, or righteous, that one needs to be a stick-in-the-mud and to renounce all types of fun and lighthearted celebration. Some people just don’t know how to relax, enjoy the moment and have a good time in fun. God is not a God of malcontentment, but a God of joy, peace and yes happiness too! He wants us to enjoy the life that He has given to us, and the world in which we live as well. (Ecclesiastes 2:24, 5:18, 9:7-9, 1st Peter 3:10. 3rd John 1:2)
So Jesus arrives at this wedding with His disciples, and we also see that Mary His mother was already there.
In verse 3, we see a situation develop; the wine of the wedding party runs out. The guests wanted wine, but there was no more to be had. And we see that Mary, knowing who Jesus is, and what He can do, brings the problem to Jesus in a rather terse way, by simply saying “They have no wine”.
Now in verse 4, Jesus gives what we would consider to be an odd response. Jesus says: Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come. To our modern mind it seems like He has actually evaded the issue. And most debate and question surrounding this reply has to do with the fact that again, to the modern English-speaking culture, the word “Woman” that Jesus used to refer to His mother, seems a bit rude and out of place. However, we need to understand that in Hebrew culture, it is perfectly okay and not rude at all, to address a lady as “Woman” (אשה in Hebrew), in-fact it is considered more polite than some of the typically polite terms that we use in English. Jesus uses this phrase, repeatedly when addressing women, whom He obviously has compassion on, such as Matthew 15:28, Luke 13:12, and other places.
However the point that we are going to focus on today, is the second-part of what He said: My hour has not yet come. Now contrary to what it may seem like at first, Jesus is not dodging the issue here, but making an important point for us all to see. You see, the people at the party (Mary included) were all focused on the joy of the moment, the happiness of the people at that present time at the wedding feast. Jesus was speaking of a different wedding that was going to take place, a spiritual celebration and the joy and happiness that would come at that time. Jesus wasn’t evading the problem at hand, not at all. Rather, Jesus was speaking about His coming finished work; that when His time comes, then the people will have joy and happiness in the salvation and redemption which He brings. They will rejoice in the true life and freedom of Jesus Christ. Mary also understood this, which is why she doesn’t start arguing with Jesus or anything, but simply makes the statement to the servants that she does in verse 5: Whatever He tells you to do, do it.
Seems like good advice, so let’s move forward now and see how this plays out, with verses 6 through 10:
“And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Jesus said to them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
And he said to them, Draw out now, and bear to the governor of the feast. And they bore it.
When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not from where it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
And said to him, Every man at the beginning does set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but you have kept the good wine until now.”
In verse 6, we see that there were 6 water pots of stone. These were for the ritual purification that the Jews held to by their traditions. They thought that all of their traditions and washings would purify them and make them clean, but Jesus was about to show them that the real way to be pure is not through the works of men, but through the one work of Jesus Himself.
Jesus told the men to fill the pots with water. Today if we were to make spiritual significance of this, the water here would most certainly represent the washing of the water by the Word. This happens by His Spirit, through His Words which are spoken to us. This is also mentioned by Jesus in John 15:3, and repeated in Ephesians 5:26.
After they filled the water pots all of the way, Jesus then tells them to draw out of the pots, and what they find then shocks everybody. The water is not water anymore, but wine! And not just wine, but the best wine! This wine was so good, that the head of the feast wanted to know why this wine was being served last, rather than first. The typical procedure would be to serve the best wine first, and then serve the lesser wines after that – when people were too drunk to care about the drop in quality.
Here’s the main take-away from this today. We all have the water of the word. We have the Spirit, we read the scriptures, and yet for many people, it can actually be pretty flavorless at times; just like water. And there are a lot of churches today where the water by the word is presented… the problem is that it is presented apart from the truth of Jesus Christ – and it is often not used to wash the people, but instead it is used to drown them in guilt and shame many times.
Jesus was focused on one thing at this wedding feast. His finished work. He saw the real wedding, and the joy that would be brought about. As we saw last week, there are two ways to read the Bible: One is dead, and leads to destruction apart from Jesus. The other is see Jesus in the scripture. It is the way of life and leads to everlasting life.
Apart from Jesus, the water in those stone pots would have just remained water. Likewise, the scriptures apart from Jesus and His Spirit, will remain flavorless, tasteless and dead. However when Jesus is there, that water will be turned into wonderful, intoxicating wine that will bring joy and jubilation to every area of your life!
So I encourage you today. Let Jesus turn your water into wine. Let Him be the center and focus of every message that you hear and every scripture that you read. Otherwise, it will end up as just another dead tradition of men; but with Jesus, it will become full of life.
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