Turning Water into Wine

The New Testament book of John records the first openly displayed miracle of Jesus; he miraculously turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. Have you ever wondered why he would do such a thing? I can think of no spiritually edifying reason for such an open display of God’s powers; why it should be the first miracle of Jesus’ ministry has been a long time mystery for me. Surely this act can in no way suggest that we use the powers of Almighty God to further our pleasures through over-indulgence at a wedding party! Why did Jesus turn the water into wine?

John 2:11 “[Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding feast;] this beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”

Here we are told that by turning the water into wine Jesus “manifested his glory” {i.e. he openly displayed His powers) and in so doing he convinced the disciples to “believe in Him” -- but what was it the disciples were convinced of?

No matter how often I consider these questions, or how deeply I meditate on them, I cannot help believing that by this miracle Jesus was not trying to convince anyone of anything -- except perhaps his mother Mary! In fact, I don’t believe this was a miracle Jesus even wanted to carry out; it was simply not in his nature or his character to openly display himself or his abilities in this way.

Do you remember when you first began to understand the truths and the mysteries of God? I don’t doubt that most of us experienced an almost overwhelming urge to share our good fortune with others. I also have no doubt that in almost every instance our desire to share ended in disaster -- in far too many instances our need to share these truths led to the alienation of close friends and members of our own family.

Jesus not only had a more perfect understanding than we will ever have in this lifetime, he also knew he could exhibit the powers and abilities which would one day become an important part of his ministry. And yet, I must believe that he felt no compelling need to share with others that which he knew they would be unable to understand or accept.

Do those of us who make up the “church” and the Churches of God truly understand all that can be known about the ministry of Jesus Christ? We know he was the Messiah; the Redeemer sent by God to become the embodiment of the Passover sacrifice. He was sent to die that all may one day live again. But do we truly understand why his ministry openly displayed the very powers of Almighty God? Sometime in the next few weeks I hope to discuss this very subject with you with far greater depth and purpose than we shall today. Is it possible that we have misunderstood the power and the spirit which motivated the ministry of Jesus? But first; the water and the wine!

Understanding the First Miracle

John 2:1-3 “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’”

Notice that it was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who made this request. But why should Mary be concerned if the wedding feast had run out of wine?

John 2:9-10 “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. And he said to him, ‘Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, [he] then [sets out] the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!’”

This passage suggests it was the responsibility of the bridegroom to supply food and drink for his wedding guests. Is it possible that this feast was a celebration following the marriage of one of Mary’s other sons, one of Jesus’ younger brothers? If so, then by extension we may assume that Mary as mother of the groom, and Jesus as the elder brother would share in the groom’s responsibilities. Whatever the truth of the matter -- it was Mary who made the request that Jesus do something about the lack of wine!

However, I do not believe this was simply a matter of Mary wanting to provide more wine for the wedding guests? I do believe this was a conscious decision on her part to prompt Jesus to openly display his powers. Notice the reaction of Jesus to her request:

John 2:4 “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come’”

What was this “concern of Mary” if something other than providing wine for the feast? How do the writings of the Apostle John record Mary’s response to this seemingly negative reaction of Jesus? Did she back away from her request? She did not!

John 2:5 “[Mary] said to the servants, ‘Whatever he tells you to do, do it!’”

Every student of the Bible must be aware of the many wonders and miracles experienced by both Jesus and Mary in their lives. As a young woman, Mary had been in direct contact with an angel of God; she knew she had been a virgin when she conceived her son Jesus; she remembered the appearance of angels at the time of His birth; and she most certainly would have remembered the visit of the “Wise Men” who came to honour their new-born King.

Mary was with Jesus as he grew from a baby, to a child, to a youth, and then to a man. It should be fair to say that Mary knew Jesus as well as, or better than any other human could possibly have known him -- and she knew he was destined for greatness!

Luke 1:29-33 “Then the angel [Gabriel] said to [Mary], ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’”

So far so good; but does any of this bring us any closer to understanding why Jesus would carry out something as innocuous and seemingly unnecessary as the turning of water into wine? As far as miracles are concerned, surely this had little or no spiritual or instructional value. It may have helped everyone at the wedding enjoy the feasting a little more; but is this how we are to believe the miraculous powers of God should be used?

What was Jesus thinking when he agreed to turn the water into wine? Why would he want this act to be the first manifestation of his powers? Is it even possible that we could ever truly understand the very mind of Christ? Nevertheless, this much I do believe: until anyone successfully performs his (or her) first miracle, he (or she) must harbor at least an infinitesimal degree of doubt.

From Childhood -- to Manhood

Jesus spent the first thirty years of his life preparing for his ministry. When he was only twelve years old his understanding was already so advanced he was able to astonish even the learned men of the temple in Jerusalem with his understanding. And yet, can we appreciate what it must have taken even Jesus to perform his very first miracle?

Without going into a deep discussion concerning the need for faith in the working out of any supernatural event, let me offer you this singular comment: “Belief in a successful outcome is not enough to perform a miracle!” The addict who dives through a penthouse window may believe with absolute certainty that he or she can fly; but to my knowledge no one has yet succeeded. In a biblical sense, there is an account recorded in Matthew 17 and Mark 9 where the disciples of Jesus were unable to cast out an evil spirit which had taken possession of a young boy. Prior to this failure the disciples had successfully exorcised many spirits -- they must have ordered this spirit to depart fully expecting it to obey; yet they did fail!

Note: To those who feel the need to more fully discuss the question of faith, as it is required to do miracles, I would suggest that you first go to the “Archives” of this blogsite and read “A New Look at True Faith.”

In order to turn water into wine, it was necessary for Jesus to carry out a conscious act. I believe he knew beyond any doubt he would succeed; and as I said earlier it is my belief that he felt no compelling need to test himself -- and yet he did carry out this miracle!

Perhaps even Mary had no doubt that Jesus could do miracles. What if the only reason for her request was to force Jesus to manifest his powers before those who were his closest friends; those who were to become his most ardent followers and disciples?

It seems probable that prior to the time of the feast in Cana Jesus had shared many of his thoughts and meditations with his mother. Jesus clearly believed he was the fulfillment of someone prophesied to come and that signs and miracles would be part of his ministry. It may also be that Mary understood and agreed with everything Jesus believed -- then again, perhaps not -- how I wish we could know for sure!

As much as I would like to more perfectly understand all that can be known about this event, I wish even more that we could understand the emotion with which Jesus said the words: “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” How much longer was Jesus prepared to wait before displaying his God-given powers? How much longer would he have waited if not for the prompting of Mary?

Manifesting the Powers of God

For anyone, even Jesus, to successfully carry out a miracle, he or she would not only have to believe the miracle would work, but would also have to believe it was correct to make the attempt. If Jesus truly believed he was the living fulfillment of prophecy, he would not only believe it was correct to attempt such a miracle, he would also believe it was his duty and his responsibility to do so. With the scriptural record of Elijah and Elisha to follow, Jesus would even have many scriptural examples to guide him as to what form those miracles may take.

However, there was an even more compelling reason why Jesus knew his attempts would succeed. He had recently been the focal point of two incredibly miraculous events! He had survived a fast of forty days and forty nights, a feat no human could accomplish without the intervention of God; and at the completion of this fast God’s angels had appeared and had ministered unto him.

Both of these events were manifestations of miracles that had been carried out for Jesus -- not by Jesus! It is important to note that these same miracles had previously been carried out for, not by, the prophet Elijah!

Q...Have you ever wondered why Jesus performed the miracles that he did?

Q...Have you ever tried to consider how perfectly the miracles of Jesus parallel the miracles performed by the prophets Elijah and Elisha?

Q...Have you ever wondered why the writings of the Apostles never show John the Baptist as having openly displayed any of the powers of Elijah?

John 1:19-20 “Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not!’”

Q...Why is it that virtually everyone within the realm of nominal Christianity believes that John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy of the one promised to come in the spirit and power of Elijah? Is this belief based solely on the Scripture found at Luke 1:17?

Within the bounds of professing Christianity, there are few doctrines more widely accepted than that John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy of the “Elijah to come.” Because of my profound belief that the true identity of the end-time Elijah is of vital importance to all who are of the “church” and the Churches of God, I intend to present in an upcoming blog-offering a digest of a study-paper concerning the Elijah to come.

Note: From the inception of this blogsite I have tried to discuss my thoughts on a different subject each week. It was inevitable that not every subject would have the substance, or the instructive value, worthy of a full essay. I have been going over these snippets of information and have tried to flesh out some of them into what I believe may be a format you can enjoy. Next week I hope to offer a selection of these under the heading of “Bits and Pieces.”