Miracles: Let him Be Known
“Turning Water Into Wine”
Pastor Rollan Fisher
We believe that God works miracles today by the power of the Holy Spirit to bless people and advance his kingdom. In 2023, we are believing God for miracles that will testify to his power and create new opportunities for the gospel to advance. The sermon series will focus on the 7 miracles John recounts as signs pointing people to faith in Jesus as the Son of God.
Notes prepared by Pastor Brian Taylor
Big Idea
The ultimate purpose of God’s miracles among us is to reveal the glory of the Son of God, yet a concomitant secondary purpose is to bless people.
Focus: Our greatest problems can become our greatest opportunities to deepen our faith.
Function: To reframe the way we see problems, and more importantly, seek God in our problems.
Future: To become a community of people who operate with a lens of faith in every problem we encounter.
Primary Text:
John 2:1–11
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.
Setup:
The gospel of John contains several signs that Jesus performed: from feeding the 5,000 to healing the blind to raising the dead, and many others. When I think about miracles, and the type of situations that necessitate a miracle, running out of wine does not fall on the list of priorities. If I’m holding out for a miracle, I think I would save them for something a little more dire than the situation we see in John 2. Yet this passage gives us the very first public miracle Jesus performs. There is something about this story that we learn, not only about miracles but also about what God does in our hearts when miracles take place.
This story takes place early in the public ministry of Jesus. Verse 1 refers to this being the third day. This could refer to the third day since the ministry started or the third day since talking with Nathanael. Either way, we know it is early on, and Jesus goes to a wedding in a small town about eight miles from Nazareth called Cana. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus shows up with his disciples. You know when Jesus shows up, other people show up with him.
Everything seems to be going fine until verse 3 reveals a problem: the wine ran out. It’s interesting that this would be presented as a problem from a biblical perspective. It would make sense for this to seem like a problem in a frat house on campus or a party at a club, but why would this be an issue presented as something for Jesus to fix? Weddings in those days would typically last for an entire week, and each day new guests would arrive. When guests showed up, they came hungry and thirsty. It was expected of the host to make sure food and wine were provided. Imagine the social and financial pressure in hosting a wedding. To not have wine available would be disastrous. One commentator said it would be a “social catastrophe.”
Perhaps this helps us understand why the mother of Jesus would bring this up to him. Maybe this was a close family friend and Mary wanted to help them avoid the embarrassment. Maybe she just knew that her Son could do something to help. Either way, the problem is brought to Jesus. Let’s read Jesus’ response: read verse 4.
Have you ever had things that you did not think were worth bothering Jesus with? This seemed like one of those things Jesus did not want to be bothered with. Jesus tells his mother that this has nothing to do with them and that his hour had not yet come (reference notes about significance of hour). Jesus did not deny it was a problem, but the issue was about the timing of Jesus revealing his glory.
His mother went on to tell them to do whatever he says. The best thing you could ever do, especially when you need a miracle, is listen to Jesus and obey him.
Here’s what Jesus instructs them to do: read verses 6–7. They not only did what Jesus said, they filled them to the brim. This is not just obedience; this is extreme obedience. At this point they probably do not know what is going to happen. They did not have the luxury of turning to a later verse to see how water was going to turn into wine. They simply did what Jesus told them to do.
In verse 8, we see Jesus commanding them to draw the water out and give it to the headwaiter. The interesting part is that only the servants and the disciples with Jesus really knew what was going on. The rest of the wedding party does not even acknowledge that Jesus saved the day. Read verses 9–10.
The result was not only that the party was able to continue but this did something in the heart of the disciples. Read verse 11. This theme of believing in Jesus is seen all throughout John, even as the ultimate purpose of the book: John 20:31, “But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in his name.” This seems to ask the reader, are these miracles enough to convince you to believe as well?
Remember, this is the beginning of the signs Jesus would perform. There’s a tone that is set that helps us to understand how Jesus works miraculously in different situations. What can we learn about miracles?
1. The problem was brought to Jesus: Everyone loves miracles, but not everyone loves being put in situations where miracles are needed. What we do find is that at some point the problem is brought to Jesus. We see throughout John that the methods of performing the signs and the types of miracles change, but they all begin with a problem coming to Jesus. I find it intriguing that the first miracle Jesus performs is not at the request of the person needing the miracle. It was not the bridegroom that asked for the miracle; it was the mother of Jesus. Perhaps Mary understood something about Jesus that the others had yet to discover: Jesus is a miracle worker! Do we know where to go with problems when they arise?
2. The problem required obedience: Mary tells the servants to do whatever he says. They don’t know he is the Messiah at this point, and since this is the first of his signs, they did not have a built-in expectation that a miracle was going to happen. They simply acted in the posture of submission. Sometimes we must obey before we understand. Where is God calling for obedience in your life?
3. The problem invited participation: Jesus was the one performing the miracle, however, the servants were part of the process. The servants had to fill the waterpots with water. Why didn’t Jesus just fill the pots with wine? Why was water even needed? We don’t have the answers to those questions, but we do know that Jesus chose to perform this sign using the things that were there and using the people that were there. How is Jesus inviting you to participate in his work today?
4. The problem led to belief: When reading verse 11 we see something happened as a result of this sign: the disciples believed. The question is, how is it that when the miracle took place the disciples believed? They were already disciples. I imagine that for them to follow Jesus up to that point they had to believe at least a little. However, it seems there were levels of belief that they had not reached at this point. Is it possible to be around Jesus, and even a follower of Jesus, and still not fully believe him? It may be that the very problems we want to avoid are the ones God uses to deepen our faith in Jesus. In what ways is God teaching you to trust him more?
Application:
The miracle here is not just turning water to wine but turning hearts that doubt to hearts that believe. What if we began to see our problems differently? What if our greatest problems were our greatest opportunities to deepen our faith?
Conclusion:
What is a problem you are facing that only Jesus can fix?
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher