Jesus First Miracle

John 2 introduces us to Jesus First Miracle when He attended the Wedding at Cana of Galilee with His mother and his disciples. During the course of the wedding feast, the bridegroom ran out of wine. God so ordered the events that the bridegroom ran out of wine, which presented the circumstances that then allowed Jesus to perform His first miracle.

Jesus First Miracle
Scripture

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.
John 2:1-11, NKJV

Jesus First Miracle
Introduction

John 1 ended with a conversation between Jesus and Nathanael. Now, three days later, we find Jesus and his disciples have been invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

John 2 introduces us to Jesus First Miracle when He attended the Wedding at Cana of Galilee with His mother and his disciples. During the course of the wedding feast, the bridegroom ran out of wine. One can make several conjectures regarding this, but John Calvin makes a very appropriate comment,

I have no doubt that all this was regulated by the providence of God, that there might be room for the miracle.

In other words, nothing happens by chance. God so ordered the events that the bridegroom ran out of wine, which presented the circumstances that then allowed Jesus to perform His first miracle.

Jesus First Miracle,
No Wine!

It was a rather embarrassing situation for the bridegroom. Mary, seeing his predicament said to Jesus,“They have no wine.”

Jesus responded, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

That may seem to be a rather rude way for Jesus to address His mother. One commentator made a note to say that it is important that we do not place Mary on the same level as Jesus. Though Mary was His mother, she was not divine. She, like us, was born in sin and would need to come to Christ for salvation just as we do.

As we proceed through the Gospel of John, comments regarding Jesus’ time occur quite frequently, reminding us that Jesus was not just a mere man. He was the God man, and He was here for a specific purpose, that would come to pass at a specific time. Our God is a God of order; nothing in this life happens apart from the plan of God. Christians can take encouragement in knowing that even the days of their lives are ordered by the Lord.

We are not entirely sure if Mary expected to see Jesus first miracle from Him, but she told the servants to do whatever Jesus said to do.

There were six water pots of stone containing twenty or thirty gallons of water each. Jesus told the servants to fill the water pots to the brim. Then, without even bothering to taste it Himself, he told them to take it to the master of the feast. The master exclaimed, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wind, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

No doubt the servants felt that filling the water pots with water was rather absurd, for they undoubtedly already had enough water. As we read of Christ’s other miracles as recorded in the Gospels, we note that it was not unusual for Christ to give a rather simple, seemingly redundant, command, which seems to magnify the miracle even more. Imagine the servants’ surprise at the comment made by the master of the feast.

Jesus First Miracle,
Disciples Believed

There was no doubt, as evidenced by this as well as other of Jesus Miracles, that Jesus was the Son of God. The Creator God who created the heavens and the earth with just the spoken word certainly had no difficulty changing 150 to 180 gallons of water into wine.

Though silent partners throughout the events that occurred at this wedding, the Bible tells us, “And his disciples believed in Him.” With this being only a few days after Jesus called these disciples to follow Him, they certainly had much to learn. Even after three years of following Jesus, we still see instances of their doubting His divinity. So we see that one purpose of this particular miracle was to verify to the disciples that Jesus was not just a man, He was the God man.

Jesus First Miracle,
Manifested His Glory

The other purpose of this miracle was also given to us in verse 11 of John 2: This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory. Though all of the Gospels relate the story of Jesus’ ministry, the Gospel of John particularly presents Jesus as our Savior. It is no surprise then that the very first miracle done by Jesus manifested His glory, demonstrating that He was, indeed, very man and very God!

To the disciples, as well as all of the people, Jesus appeared to be a man, just like them. It would take several years of walking with Him before the disciples really understood that He was not just a man, He was also God. The question may be asked, “How could Judas walk with Christ and His disciples for three years and not understand who Jesus really was?”

Jesus First Miracle,
True Faith

Without true faith it is impossible for any person to understand and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was not just a man, but He was God—our dear Lord and only Savior. How, then, does one obtain true faith?

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not works, lest any man should boast.

Faith is the gift of God. Without faith, no one can come to God; without faith, no one will believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is, indeed, the Son of God, our only God and Savior. We must go to Christ, fall down before Him and say, “Be merciful to me, a sinner. Grant unto me faith that I might believe.”

Next: Jesus in Temple - verses 12-17