John 2:1-11: Water into Wine

John 2:1-11 ESV 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.

The First Sign of Jesus Christ

1. Intro
   1. Discuss the event
   2. Mary knew Jesus was able to do something miraculous
   3. Jesus by His presence blesses marriage
   4. Don’t read too much into the text:
      1. No reason to believe the wine served was non-alcoholic (v.10)
      2. No reason to believe Jesus abstained
      3. We do know Jesus did not drink enough to get drunk.
   5. “My hour has not yet come” symbolizes His suffering and death. Jesus is literally saying, “It is not time for the best help I can offer.”
2. What the Sign was (The Physical act of the Sign/Miracle)
   1. Turned the water into wine
   2. Actual water became actual wine, not through normal means, but solely through the miraculous act of Jesus.
   3. This is a miracle that was used by Jesus as a Sign.
3. What the Sign meant (The Spiritual act of the Sign/Miracle)
   1. Jesus has the ability to overrule natural order because the natural order must obey Him because He is the Lord of creation.
   2. Jesus is demonstrating that He is not bound by the curse pronounced in Genesis 3.
   3. That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
   4. That the New Covenant ushered in through Christ is the “good wine” that comes later in the feast which surpasses the earlier wine.
      1. The first wine did not satisfy
      2. The last wine met the need and is greater.