John closed the previous chapter by revealing Jesus as the Son of Man. Now Jesus is being revealed through His miracles.
John 2, begins three days after Jesus called Philip, Andrew, Peter and Nathanael to be His disciples. John had been baptizing near Bethany across the Jordan. This was the first excursion of Jesus with His disciples. It would have taken two to three days to walk from Bethany near Jericho of Judea to Cana of Galilee (1:28). Cana of Galilee was about 4 to 8 miles northeast of Nazareth. This was the hometown of Nathanael. (John 21:2) It is quite conceivable that Nathanael and Jesus both knew the wedding party and family.
Turning water into wine was the first of 37 recorded miracles that Jesus performed.
(See table below for a list of Jesus’ miracles.)
This record makes it clear that this is the first miracle that Jesus performed. He Who was in the beginning with God and was God, came out of eternity and was made flesh. For His first thirty years, He lived in Nazareth of Galilee and was known as the son of a carpenter. His action is tied in with time and space. Jesus is entering His ministry.
John 2:1 NKJV On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus’ mother was there, but John did not give her name. John never named himself or the mother of Jesus.
John 2:2-3 NKJV Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
In the evening, the bridegroom led the bride to his home for the ceremony which was followed by the wedding feast. In first century Judaism, weddings were festive events that lasted for a week and entire communities participated. Since Galilee was His home, Jesus’ mother and family would have been in attendance.
When the supply of wine was exhausted, Mary turned to Jesus. What Mary was indicating is highly questioned. Some think she thought this would be a good time for Jesus to show the community that He was the Messiah. That would validate her “claim” that Jesus was born of a virgin. Others suppose she was implying that Jesus assist her in arranging the depleting supplies of the wine. This would show the humanity of Jesus.
This text raises the question about the wine. During that time, wine was a staple part of their diet, but drunkenness was absolutely condemned. No connection with a drunken party is connected with this wedding feast. This was a religious celebration and community event.
Jesus ministry began at a wedding and will end at the marriage supper of the Lamb, where the church will be the bride of Christ.
Mary knew Who Jesus was. The dynamic of the parent—son relationship changed. Jesus was entering into the phase of His life that was the fulfillment of His purpose for coming into this world.
The text says this was the beginning of signs that Jesus did. We have no record of other signs or miracles that Jesus did earlier in His life. Mary had seen and knew things about Jesus that no one else knew. She had personally experienced the miraculous signs at His birth and life. She knew that He was the Son of God. It is possible that Mary expected a miracle because she knew Who Jesus is.
Listen to Jesus’ response.
John 2:4-5 NKJV Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
“Woman” or “Dear Woman” was normal polite address in that culture. Jesus said, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” The NIV says, “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” The Amplified says, “Dear woman, what is that to you and me? (What do we have in common? Leave it to Me.) My time (hour to act) has not yet come.”
The implications are dramatic. Jesus was entering into a new phase of life. It is a normal process for children to come to those times when they choose their vocation and direction in life. Even when He was a child, Jesus was always “about His Father’s business.” Now, more than ever, His life choices were no longer to be directed or influenced by Mary. Since the Holy Spirit had come down and rested upon Jesus, He had entered into the anointing and purpose for His coming. Every relationship and function in His life had changed. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him in power and had anointed Him to fulfill the Father’s mission for His life. He had been raised in a carpenter’s house, but now He is entering into His heavenly calling.
Jesus said: “My hour has not yet come.” This could refer to Jesus’ knowledge that His body and blood were to be offered up for the world. Later He said, “My body is meat indeed and my blood is drink.” Jesus was considering His purpose for being and Mary was looking at the wedding feast and the immediate situation.
This text begins the Lord’s public ministry. Before this moment, Mary was a parent figure in Jesus’ life. From this point on, Jesus takes up the Father’s purpose for His life and ministry.
Jesus was committed to God the Father’s will. The time for Christ’s manifestation was in the Father’s hands. Jesus Christ was entering the beginning stages of His ministry. His comments clarify that His ministry would not be secular, but committed to the Father’s will.
Jesus said: “My time has not yet come.” What was His time?
John’s Gospel mentioned three times that His time or hour had come (12:23; 13:1; 17:1).
John 12:23 NKJV But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” This was immediately after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and just before He was to be crucified.
John 13:1 NKJVNow before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
In the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was praying, He knew His time had come. John 17:1 NKJV Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.”
Mary’s instructions to the servants were filled with faith.
John 2:5 NKJV His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
This is a good word for each of us. She may not have had perfect understanding, yet she trusted Jesus. She said, “Whatever He says to you, do it” (2:5).You can take this message personally, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Jesus’ command to the servants must have appeared to be foolish and reckless. “Fill those water pots with water and serve the party.” This is an act of obedience to faith.Mary said, “Trust Him to tell you the right thing to do.” “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
God often uses foolish things to confound the mighty.
1 Corinthians 1:27 NKJV But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.
We don’t have to understand everything He is doing, we just have to do whatever He tells us. If we do our part, Christ will do the rest. This is the act of obedience to the faith.
Look closely at these verses.
John 2:6 NKJV Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
That was possibly 180 gallons of water.
John 2:7-8 NKJV Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.
Then Jesus said: “Draw some water out and take it to the master of the feast.”
Whatever He says to you do it!
Watch them go draw water to fill the water pots. These waterpots were used for the ceremonial cleansing of the people. Ceremonial cleansing and purification was an integral part of Jewish life. The Pharisees required several kinds of ceremonial washings including their hands and feet, and cups and vessels. The Law required all manner of cleansing and washing with water. A large amount of water was needed for cleansing at the wedding feast.
Jesus said: “Get water from the waterpots and take it to the master of the feast.”Obedience to the faith changed common and utilitarian water. Notice that after they refilled the waterpots, they took “water” not “wine” to the master of the feast.
“Whatever He says to you, do it.”
This miracle reminds us of Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves and fish. When they took steps of obedience, their faith was rewarded with what was needed. The servants and His disciples knew where the wine came from. As we serve Christ, we start learning what Christ can do. He does the supernatural with things that are common, despised and inadequate.
What kind of water was this? The water in the six water jars was used for purification rites before and after meals.
Matthew 15:1–2 NKJV Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
There is a deeper message that is easily missed. They were to use the water that was used for the traditional purification. They washed their hands, feet, and vessels with that water.
Jesus was about to change the order of purification. His life and ministry was ushering in a cleansing that removes the defilement from the inside. The old is about to be done away.
New wine is being offered.
The master of the banquet did not know he was drinking from the purification jars.
Jesus is able to make all things new. For a Jew it would be unthinkable to drink from the purification jars. The servants dipped out water, but Jesus turned it into wine.
John 2:9-10 NKJV When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
What Jesus supplied was superior to what they had been drinking. Everything Jesus offers is superior. His cleansing and purification is superior to the cleansing of washing with water. When Jesus cleanses, He makes all things new.
Jesus knows how to make all things good. He can take the ruined and common and make something new. What Jesus brings is always superior to what the world gives.
There is a deeper meaning to this miracle. This miracle is a prophecy about Christianity and the gift of the Holy Spirit. What Jesus Christ offers is superior to Judaism and the Law. God has kept the best Gift of His Son—until now.
John 2:11 NKJVThis beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
John says this beginning sign or miracle was a manifestation of Christ’s glory. This first act of power demonstrated Christ’s deity and glory.
Jesus’ first miracle is a prophecy of the joy He provides by the Spirit. Jesus Christ gives New Wine. The first miracle was a transformation. Jesus is able to take the common and ruined things in our lives and transform them. This miracle points to the Lord’s ability to change lives.
Luke 4:18 NKJV “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJVTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
When the disciples started following Jesus they did not know His power and grace. They were not familiar with His mercy. They did not know His glory. They did not understand much of what Jesus would do. This first miracle demonstrates what He will do with men.
He is going to take the old forms of cleansing and replace them. He can take what is to be thrown out and make it new. He can take men and women that are unclean and unholy and make them clean. He can fill them with the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus turned water into wine, He was giving a sign of what was to come. This was the beginning of signs, and “His disciples believed in Him.” Jesus was demonstrating His glory and power. He can take what is ruined and common and transform it into something new.
