Text: John 2:1-12 (NKJV)
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” 6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 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. 10 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!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. 12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.
Devotional Thoughts and Commentary:
Having now discussed the glory and divinity of Jesus, John records the first evidence (aside from the supernatural knowledge of Nathanael) of such claims. This is the first recorded miracle of Jesus's public ministry. What Jesus did that day in Cana was beyond what any human could do- He changed the physical nature of something. He never physically touched the items as they were gathered to avoid the appearance of collusion. His act here identified Him as, at the least, divinely empowered. This transcended even a miracle and is properly translated as a "sign."
Verse 11 is significant because, unlike the prophets or Apostles, Jesus's miracles manifested His glory. All others were doing miracles in the power of God. I suppose that was true of Jesus too, but in that, He was doing it in His own power as God.
Another important thing about this story is that it is key to our understanding of Creation. "What?", you might say. Well, follow me here for a minute. Remember from John 1 that Jesus was the one who created the physical universe. Now, He creates wine; however, there are some important things to consider about wine.1 First, wine does not appear instantly- that is what grape juice is (actually, what grapes are or what a grape plant or a grape seed is... chicken or the egg?). Wine requires time for bacteria to ferment the sugary material to produce alcohol. Furthermore, it was not just wine; rather it was the good stuff, likely indicating wine that had more time to age (and ferment). "Ok," you think. "How does any of this relate to Creation?" Let me break it down- the Bible says that Jesus was the Creator of the universe. One main argument against Creationism is that there are supposed geological evidences along with Carbon-14 dating and the fossil record that "refute" young Earth Creationism (note that I question the veracity of this arguments, but will not address that right now). In the record of Jesus's first miracle, He created something with the appearance of age although it was, in fact, not aged. When Jesus created the universe, He easily could have created it with mountains (that supposedly take millions of years to form) and even fossils. The supposed appearance of great age simply does NOT negate Biblical Creationism.
Without getting too far into an analysis of the Biblical arguments about alcoholic beverages, this passage cannot be used either to support drunkenness or total abstinence. There are other passages to address that, and I will likely summarize the Biblical truth on this subject in a "From the Heart of a Pastor" posting some other day.
The important application of this passage is obedience to Jesus. When He speaks, we should do, regardless of how much sense it makes. Today, what He says to us is recorded in the Bible, so we should obey it.
We should also recognize and worship Jesus as God, because of His power and His glory.
Other Studies from John
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” 6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 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. 10 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!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. 12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.
Devotional Thoughts and Commentary:
Having now discussed the glory and divinity of Jesus, John records the first evidence (aside from the supernatural knowledge of Nathanael) of such claims. This is the first recorded miracle of Jesus's public ministry. What Jesus did that day in Cana was beyond what any human could do- He changed the physical nature of something. He never physically touched the items as they were gathered to avoid the appearance of collusion. His act here identified Him as, at the least, divinely empowered. This transcended even a miracle and is properly translated as a "sign."
Verse 11 is significant because, unlike the prophets or Apostles, Jesus's miracles manifested His glory. All others were doing miracles in the power of God. I suppose that was true of Jesus too, but in that, He was doing it in His own power as God.
Another important thing about this story is that it is key to our understanding of Creation. "What?", you might say. Well, follow me here for a minute. Remember from John 1 that Jesus was the one who created the physical universe. Now, He creates wine; however, there are some important things to consider about wine.1 First, wine does not appear instantly- that is what grape juice is (actually, what grapes are or what a grape plant or a grape seed is... chicken or the egg?). Wine requires time for bacteria to ferment the sugary material to produce alcohol. Furthermore, it was not just wine; rather it was the good stuff, likely indicating wine that had more time to age (and ferment). "Ok," you think. "How does any of this relate to Creation?" Let me break it down- the Bible says that Jesus was the Creator of the universe. One main argument against Creationism is that there are supposed geological evidences along with Carbon-14 dating and the fossil record that "refute" young Earth Creationism (note that I question the veracity of this arguments, but will not address that right now). In the record of Jesus's first miracle, He created something with the appearance of age although it was, in fact, not aged. When Jesus created the universe, He easily could have created it with mountains (that supposedly take millions of years to form) and even fossils. The supposed appearance of great age simply does NOT negate Biblical Creationism.
Without getting too far into an analysis of the Biblical arguments about alcoholic beverages, this passage cannot be used either to support drunkenness or total abstinence. There are other passages to address that, and I will likely summarize the Biblical truth on this subject in a "From the Heart of a Pastor" posting some other day.
- I want to note here that the underlying Greek term oinos can indicate fermented and unfermented wine, but in this situation, it is likely that the wine was fermented as it was the good stuff. This would have been the wine that had been given more time to rest (and ferment). Regardless, it supports the idea of the paragraph that Jesus's creation here had the appearance of age although created new.
The important application of this passage is obedience to Jesus. When He speaks, we should do, regardless of how much sense it makes. Today, what He says to us is recorded in the Bible, so we should obey it.
We should also recognize and worship Jesus as God, because of His power and His glory.
Other Studies from John
This was good. :-) JL
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