When you see a sign do you tend to believe it or to ignore it? For example, "slippery when wet" or "caution wet floor" sign.
What happens when you DON'T heed signs?
What was the first miracle that Jesus performed in the Bible?
This study looks at this first miracle from John 2:1-11. We will see that Jesus works in our lives for HIS glory. Our lives serve to bring glory to to God through Jesus.
The glory that WE bring to our lives is a flawed glory. When we "shine the spotlight" on ourselves it fades quickly. But when we bring glory to Jesus, we bring glory to to God. This glory points people to God and pointing people to God brings glory for eternity.
This eight session study looks at signs that the Gospel of John points to that deepen our understanding of God's directions for our lives. For eight weeks we will look at the signs of: God's glory, God's grace, authority, provision, presence, light, God's power over death, and his ultimate sign.
A couple of weeks ago we determined that we desired to add a hymn before our study. See if you can figure out how this hymn relates to today’s study.
The first miracle of Jesus recorded brought to the attention of Jesus' mother, some of his disciples, some servants and perhaps some party goers, the divine nature of Jesus. While unnoticed by a majority of the public, the miracle serves to point out for us the divine nature of Jesus.
This first miracle took place at Cana, a word meaning "place of reeds" or "nest". The exact location is unclear to us at this time, but the modern town of Khirbet Qana is the likely site. It is eight miles north of Nazareth and overlooks a marshy plain. Archaeology demonstrates a population of about 1,200 people. Other regional villages were only about 400 in population.
Cana had a strong Jewish population as evidenced by the Jewish Synagogue excavited. Stone storage jars called pithos that held 20-30 gallons of liquid and weighing, when full, at some 200 to 300 or even 500 pounds have been found at Cana. A modern 30 gallon water tank is 20 inches in diameter and 30 inches tall roughly 2 feet by three feet.
Jesus' mother, Jesus and his disciples with him at that time were invited to a wedding in Cana, where Jesus performed the first recorded miracle of his ministry. Let's look more closely.
John 2:1-4
1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
This miracle served a dual purpose. First, it introduced the miracles or “signs” John recorded in his Gospel. The final sentence indicated John’s Gospel would include other miracles.
Here John notes that this was Cana of Galilee. This is common, for example we are holding class in Brenham, Texas and NOT in Brenham, Kansas, the only two cities in the world named Brenham (according to the internet which is, of course, always correct 😉).
This was the first sign Jesus performed. It was the Cana located in Galilee. Second, the miracle revealed Jesus’s glory and caused His disciples to believe in Him. The implication: If they believed because of this miracle and continued to learn from him the rest of their lives, we too should be able to see His glory and believe in Him and continue to learn from him the rest of OUR lives.
John notes that this wedding occurred on "the third day." Likely, John was describing that the wedding was taking place on the third day of the week, a Tuesday. This had become a Jewish tradition because in Genesis 1:10 and 12, on the third day the creation of God TWICE declared the work to be "good".
God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. ... The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed ... and trees bearing fruit with seed in it.... And God saw that it was good.
In a wedding, God was creating a new family; Jews wanted the union to be doubly blessed.
Jewish weddings in the first century were a week-long celebration or could last even longer. The groom’s father paid for the wedding and chose the date. Invitations to Jewish weddings in the first century came in two parts. The first indicated the date; recipients were expected to RSVP. “Y’all come next Tuesday to a wedding. Let me know if you can make it.”
The second invitation arrived when the food was ready and the festivities were about to begin. “Remember the wedding feast will begin this Tuesday.”
A trumpet (shofar) blast marked the beginning of the wedding. If you missed the trumpet call you might miss the wedding feast.
The groom then brought his bride from her father’s home to his father’s home. This procession was marked by joyous singing and music.
John refers to “the mother of Jesus”. John never referred to Mary by name but rather by a title that associated her with Jesus, he expected his readers to know Mary. Mary came to Jesus and said “They have no wine.” Mary’s saying they may indicate she was not directly involved in the wedding situation, she may have been simply a guest at the wedding though this seems unlikely. It seems that Mary may have had a more official role at the wedding. She may have been a family friend who was merely assisting with the food. Or, she may have been responsible for catering some of the week-long festivities.
When wine was lacking, for whatever reason, Mary told Jesus "they have no wine." Jesus' response of "what have I to do with thee?" Seems confusing. It almost seems like he is saying that "Gee, Mom, whadda want ME to do about it?!" But of course this was not the case. Jesus’s use of this phrase may indicate Mary had a more official role at the wedding. If so, then running out of wine would have been a concern for Mary.
The term Woman was not a title Jews commonly used when addressing their mothers. Yet it was not a term of disrespect or contempt; it would be comparable to our saying, “Madam,” or “Ma’am.” Jesus' statement was "mine hour is not yet come." Jesus’s hour is a theme woven throughout John’s Gospel. The term refers to Jesus’s being glorified in His death, burial, and resurrection. His statement here meant this was not the time for Him to reveal His full glory; that would come later. Yet, as we see, this miracle did reveal God’s glory, Jesus’ divine power. It served to show those closely following Jesus at the time that Jesus was something more than a simple teacher. Jesus was demonstrating to His mother and His disciples that the purpose of miracles is not to use them as something performed on-demand. Miracles are intended to meet a need and to point to a greater truth about God and for His glory.
Mary’s response to Jesus wasn’t one of entitlement (e.g. listen here young man when your mother says....) but of trust. She took her hands off the problem and put the focus on Jesus’s power and compassion. She made Jesus "aware" of the problem and of a potential need.
She leaves the problem in his hands and instructs the servants who will be dealing with the jars weighing hundreds of pounds. Let's see what she tells them.
John 2:5-8
5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
Mary's words to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you" are good words for us to live by as followers of Jesus. Put the responsibility for the problem in the hands of Jesus and then "do whatever he tells you." This statement to the servants also indicates Mary was more than an observant guest. Do is an imperative, a command. The only way Mary would have had authority to give this directive would have been if she had an official role at the wedding. Otherwise, these servants would have had no compulsion to obey an order from a woman. If Mary had no official role, they would have been answerable only to a member of the groom’s family.
Here, Mary demonstrates for us what faith really is: Jesus, there is a problem... now everyone else do whatever HE tells you. If Mary did have a official function at the wedding she just delegated the problem to, and gave authority to, Jesus to deal with it. Was Mary expecting a miracle? Was she just expecting Jesus to send the boys out to get more wine? We can't know, but we can see that Mary’s statement is a precursor to something Jesus taught His disciples, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you”
The Jewish purification concept was a big deal during this time period. Purity had to do with not "mixing" things, e.g. keep your water separate from your dirt. Stone vessels were common, but expensive. Where most would utilize clay or ceramic pots, it became popular for stone vessels to become predominant during this time and became a status symbol. Archaeology has born this out. Carving a vessel out of stone was an expensive and time consuming job, even for limestone vessels. This indicates that this wedding involved a wealthy family.
Having six of the LARGE stone vessels was a display of abundant wealth. This was a large wedding. A small gathering would not need this much water for purification. The wedding involved a religiously observant Jewish family. The family was obedient to Old Testament law, which stated clay jars were susceptible to contamination. Jews thus used stone jars to avoid impurities, uncleanness.
John included a statement that this was the normal Jewish practice as a benefit of his non-Jewish readers. Remember that the Galilee area was home to many non-Jewish citizens. They would not have known that Jewish purification called for persons to wash their hands before and after eating and the “cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables” that would have been used at a feast or religious observance.
These large storage vessels were nearby the entrance to the dining hall. Water was dipped out of the jars and poured over hands and utensils for cleansing. You could say that this verse highlights the original "employees must wash hands before returning to work" sign. Jews in the first century took purification regulations seriously. The Talmud has thirty chapters on purifying various vessels and four on cleansing one’s hands.
So there were six stone vessels each holding about twenty or thirty gallons totaling 120 to 180 gallons for these six vessels. The task of filling the jars would not have been a simple one. It would have taken numerous trips to the spring or cistern that supplied the city’s water, possibly taking hours rather than a few minutes.
What he found when they brought in Jesus' wine shocked him.
John 2:9-11
9 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, 10 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. 11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
The official’s words indicate he was surprised at how good this new wine was. Underscoring the theme of these verses, the quality of this wine exceeded his expectations. The common practice was for the best wine to be served first, to make the biggest impact and impression early in the week-long celebration. The steward thought the groom had done the opposite and saved the better wine until later. Dude, most people serve the good stuff first and the cheap stuff last. He had no idea where this wine had come from.
So, who knew the source of this wine? Jesus, his disciples, and Mary knew. The servants knew; they had drawn water and poured it into the stone jars.
Who didn’t know the source of the wine? The headwaiter did not know. The groom and his family did not know. None of the guests knew. The wedding festivities continued uninterrupted thanks to the miracle Jesus performed. But why keep the miracle in the shadows and shrouded from public view? Jesus himself tells us: Jesus’s hour had not yet come. The terminology lets us know this was not the only miracle Jesus would perform and more specifically, not the only one in Cana.
This first miracle was like a roadside sign. It indicates that a restaurant is at the next exit, but that sign is not the restaurant. It points beyond itself to something unseen, something greater, more important, and more satisfying than the roadside sign. Jesus’s miracles conveyed an unseen truth; they pointed to the fact that He was the Word who had become flesh. This miracle showed the disciples Jesus' God nature and they believed.
In the Old Testament, God’s glory first dwelled in the tabernacle and later in the temple. Now, because of the incarnation, God dwelt among His people in a new way—in human form. Being God in the flesh, Jesus revealed and radiated the Father’s glory and shows us how we can do the same.
Near the end of his Gospel, John stated that Jesus did many more signs besides the ones John had included in his writing. He explained, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. These first disciples who were with Him at the wedding in Cana believed. They put their faith in Him.
Two of those with Jesus at the wedding were Andrew and an unnamed disciple; these two had been disciples of John the Baptist. Andrew’s brother Peter was at the wedding; so were Philip and Nathaniel. They were no longer disciples of someone else; they were now Jesus' disciples. They had seen the remarkable sign of the glory of God through Jesus at Cana; yet even greater signs were yet ahead.
We can learn of Jesus' miracles through the Bible and if we look with awareness we can even see miracles around us even today. These miracles are the signs of the shining Glory of God working in our lives.
Have you figured out how the hymn above relates to this miracle? If you look for the signs provided by God you can find them.
It is best if we heed the signs.
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