Sun, 12 March, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
John relates for us specific events from Jesus’ life on earth with the express purpose that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
In today’s passage, John relates the first of seven miracles he will record in the book: the water turned to wine.
What do we learn from this?
Why does Jesus turn the water into wine? We can see from this that Jesus approves of marriage and that He considers it appropriate to consume a moderate amount of alcohol as part of celebrations. He is blessing this wedding and the guests who have come to be part of the reception.
But John tells us the ultimate purpose of the miracle of turning the water into wine. He manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. Jesus’ miracles point to His authority. They prove the truth of what He says. They show He is who He says He is. They show He is the Christ, the Son of God. They make manifest His glory as the Second Person of the Trinity. And they should cause us to place our faith in Him.
Where is Christ in this passage?
How do we know Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? John has written his gospel to prove this to us. John’s prayer for us as he wrote these things under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was that we would believe in Jesus Christ and find salvation.
