Why This First Jesus Miracle Matters

Jesus miracles matter, especially His first one. Every Jesus miracle matters. Here is a modern day one. In Kissimmee, Florida, a tornado lifted Jonathan Waldick, only 18 months old, from his bed. It carried him 50 feet. It injected him into a five-foot-high clump of debris that corkscrewed itself into the splintered trunk of an oak tree. And there, after a frantic, 30-minute search, Jonathan was found, only one foot visible but wiggling with life. There he was found, still cocooned in his Perfect Sleeper mattress, still resting on his purple striped sheet. Relatives and friends call Jonathan Waldick “The Miracle Baby.” They call the event “The Miracle at 1400 Fair Oaks.” One woman, Janice Gassert said, “I think God has something planned for this boy. I believe there’s a special plan.”

A few feet away, old phonograph records sat atop the wreckage, left there by the wind. It was a recording by the Raker Evangelistic Party, a gospel group. The first song on the album was called, “Oh Lord, You’ve Been So Good To Me.”¹ God does all kinds of miracles, and in today’s Light on Life Podcast, we continue to look at some of them like the very first of Jesus miracles in the Gospel of John. We are going to take a look at the turning or water into wine and why it matters.

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Conscience and the Inward Witness: A Look at the Spirit Led Life

[Tweet “Jesus refused to do something for the sake of the doing. He waited until it was His hour.”]

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.

This weeks Call to Action is:

Some of us live and die and never find our purpose. A clueless life is one the great tragedies of life. Jesus knew His purpose, and you can know yours. It’s there for the asking. Or, should I say, ‘It’s there for the praying.’ Lay this before the Lord this week.

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Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
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Question of the Day:

How did the Lord reveal to you your purpose for His glory? Please share your story, in the comments section below so that others may receive courage.

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the subject of ‘Who Jesus Is’ by clicking on the links above.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 42 years ago. He has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 38 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

Why the First Jesus Miracle of Turning Water into Wine Matters

As we mentioned in the last podcast on John chapter two, Jesus miracles matter because they are signposts meant for belief.
This miracle was a sign and signs matter.

A Sign Is a Pointer

A sign is a pointer as one writer said ‘a pointer to something other than itself.’
You never look at a directional sign and say, “Wow aren’t you a pretty sign?”
Or, “Wow that was gorgeous, did you see that?”
No the information on the sign is what’s important not the physical characteristics of it.
Is the sign clear?
Does the sign convey accurate information?
Is it getting the job done?
That is how a sign gets it kudos.
So, did this first Miracle of Jesus matter?
Did it fulfill John 20:30–31.

John 20:30–31 (KJV) — 30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

New Lessons from this First Jesus Miracle

Now, in the previous podcast, we saw three lessons from this first sign that Jesus did.
- One: Jesus First Miracle Is at a Social Gathering Not a Spiritual Meeting
- Two: Jesus First Miracle Wasn’t a Healing Sign
- Three: We Took a Look at Jesus First Miracle Geographically

John 2:1–2 (ESV) — 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.

First Miracle of Jesus Lesson Number Four: Knowing Your Hour

So, Jesus accepts a wedding invitation with His disciples.
Momma Mary came to the wedding also.
The critical fact about this wedding is that the wine ran out.
Why is this fact such a big deal?
For one: wine was an essential beverage for an area where drinkable water was scarce due to proximity, drought, or contamination.²

Running Out of Wine: A Social No-No

Secondly, the ‘honor and shame’ society of the first century made running out wine taboo.
You didn’t do that and expect to be able to look warmly in the face of your neighbor the next day.
For a host, whose job it was to provide for the entire seven days of a wedding, running out of wine was a super bad shameful thing.
It’s especially so since one of the Jewish expectations for the age of the Messiah was that it would be a time when wine would flow freely.
So, at a social level, running out of wine was considered to be a significant boo-boo: since the host was responsible for providing his wedding guests with wine for the entire seven day period of the wedding.³
When Mary found out that the wine was no more, she jumped in as any compassionate mother would.
She tried to help this family save face.
Mary let her son Jesus in on the problem know because she had confidence He could come up with the answer.
Mary was right.

Jesus Knows the Solution for the Hour

But, how did Jesus respond to His mother?

John 2:3–5 (ESV) —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.”

Jesus seemed to have spoken briskly to His mother: “Woman what does this have to do with me.”
‘My hour is not yet come.’
Cana is not the only time Jesus said the words ‘My hour is not yet come.’

John 7:6–8 (ESV) — 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

In John 7:30, 8:20, 12:23, 13:1, and 17:1 he repeats the same words.
So, there must be something to it for Him to say it over and over again.

‘Jesus Hour’ Points to His Death

Now, it is clear that ‘Jesus hour’ refers to Jesus death.

John 8:20 (ESV) — 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

So, this is what Jesus said to His mother in Cana when she asked Him to do something about this serious ‘wine problem.’
He points to His future arrest and subsequent death.
Now, I don’t know about you, but that reaction almost seems out of place here.
I mean Jesus is just get started in His ministry.
All of this seems not to make sense, that is until you realize that at the time Mary approached Jesus about the lack of wine, Jesus did not know that Cana was the place where His miracle ministry was to take off.
He did not know that His life is now ‘on the clock.’
So, somewhere between the statement to His mother, ‘my hour is not yet come’ and Jesus command to fill the water pots, the Spirit of God revealed to Jesus the plans of the Father, that yes the time was now.
Let’s repeat it.
When Momma Mary came to Jesus, He didn’t have direction about the start of His miracle ministry.
But, somewhere in here, Jesus gets it in His spirit.
The hour is now.
The countdown has begun.

Jesus on the Clock

Now, you understand, it’s an hour, not a minute.
An hour is 60 minutes.
So when He realized the hour had come, that’s the beginning of the hour not the end of the hour.
All of this implies that Jesus had some ‘ministry time’ on heavens eternal clock.
This time, this ‘hour’ turns out to be three and a half years.
Jesus first sign was the Father, by the Spirit, clicking the stopwatch for His eternal purpose.
The very reason why He came to planet earth began.

The Real Miracle of Jesus Identity

So, Jesus did not immediately grant His mothers request.
He couldn’t.
He had to wait on His Father for the timing just like you have to wait on His Spirit for yours.
You know, we get into trouble when we try to jump out ahead and do things, well-meaning things apart from the Holy Spirit of God.
Remember, that in coming to the manger in Bethlehem, Jesus laid aside His mighty power and glory.
That’s the real miracle of Jesus birth in Bethlehem.
The fact that as God, Jesus became a man.
In identity fully God, but in His ability fully man.
It’s a fact that’s hard to wrap your head around.
How did it happen?
In what way could it happen?
How does God lay aside His ability as God?
Details, please?
You know, it would be nice to have them.
We would love to know, but we don’t have them in this case.
You must accept the record of God becoming a man in the person of Jesus.
We must believe it by faith.

Jesus Hour Points to Dependence of the Spirit Life

Jesus response to His mother is the language of the Spirit life.
The life Jesus laid out for us on planet earth is a dependent life.
He said it was.

John 5:19, 30 (ESV) — 19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise… 30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Walk with God Not Ahead of Him

So, what are the lessons of ‘it’s not my hour’?
For one, Jesus did not move out until He knew it was time.
He knew He could do nothing on His own.
So, He waited on God to punch the clock.
He didn’t get ahead of God’s timing.
Jesus refused to do something for the sake of the doing.
He waited until it was His hour.
Here is yet another point to know on this.

Jesus Already Knew about the Plan for His Life

He knew this at a very tender age.
Scripture says the age of twelve.

Luke 2:49 (ESV) — 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

At twelve, Jesus performed no miracle.
No Holy Spirit manifestations took place until the Spirit of God came upon Him in the Jordan River.
And yet, Jesus knew the plan.
He understood the purpose for His life right to the very end of His life.
As Jesus stood beholding these empty wine vessels, He knew His purpose.
He understood it long before there was any confirming evidence of it.
Some of us live and die and never find our purpose.
A clueless life is one the great tragedies of life.
Jesus knew His purpose, and you can know yours.
It’s there for the asking.
Or, should I say, ‘It’s there for the praying.’
So, that’s the first miracle of Jesus lesson number four: knowing your hour.
But there’s yet another lesson.

First Miracle of Jesus Lesson Number Five: Turning the Sacred into Benefit

John 2:6–10 (ESV) — 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.”

Six Stone Water Jars

Look at these six stone water jars.
The six stone water jars are not for everyday drinking.
The scripture says they are set aside for the Jewish rites of purification.
It means it’s holy water, whose purpose is for ceremonial washing.
The washing would include hand washing.
The Pharisees came to Jesus complaining that both He and His disciples were not following the hand washing ceremonial edict.

Matthew 15:1–3 (ESV) — 1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

Luke 11:37–39 (ESV) — 37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

Holy Washing was Not Holy: It Was Tradition

You see, it was tradition to wash.
The scribes and Pharisees and religious leaders made it mandatory.
God didn’t make it mandatory.
The Law never commanded it.
There was no scripture for it.
And yet, the religious leaders made it a legal element necessary for spirituality.

Mark 7:1–4 (ESV) — 1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)

They expanded the washing tradition to not only hand washing but cup washing, pots and pans washing, copper vessels and the seats they dined on.
All of that stuff needed washing in order to be holy.
So, now you can understand why there are six pots of holy water, about 150 gallons worth, standing by at this wedding.
It’s a wedding, all these people’s hands, all these pots, and cups required washing or this was a sinful wedding instead of a holy one.
That’s what the religion crowd said.

So, what does Jesus do with this tradition of the Jewish leaders?

It is so cool; it is so like God.
Jesus takes the spiritual and turns it something that blesses people.
He took what was set apart as sacred and transformed it into something that was usable to elevate man.
That’s the Jesus way, to use the spiritual to bless people in the natural.

Holy Bread Turned Into Blessing

Mark 2:23–28 (ESV) — 23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

A Religious No-No

One Sabbath, the disciples, pulled a religious no-no.
They worked on the Sabbath,
They plucked grains of wheat so they could eat.
The religious crowd took issue with what they saw.
‘Oh no’ said these hypocrites.
Jesus again has the answer.
They didn’t catch Him off guard.
What does He say?
- ‘Didn’t you read what David did?
- He violated the law.
- David took the holy bread and ate it when he and his company were hungry and in great need.
You know, chronologically, the gospels are under the Old Covenant.
So, Jesus told these Pharisees, these so-called Old Covenant experts, “Look you guys did not get this Sabbath thing correct.
Your idea of the Sabbath and God’s idea of the Sabbath are not the same thing.
Compassion is the overriding factor, not the Law.
Compassion trumps the law.
It’s higher than the Law.
The disciples were hungry.
David was hungry.
They needed to eat.
Compassion says hungry folks should be fed.
Folks that are out of wine and facing shame and degradation ought not to have to go through that, that is not while Jesus is around.
Hear the lesson.

Jesus Turned Holy Water into Face Saving Wine

Jesus turned the spiritual into the natural.
He turned ‘the sacred’ into everyday use.
The Bible is for the everyday use.
It shouldn’t sit up on the shelf or a mantle as a display.
Other than maybe tracking genealogies, family display Bibles are useless.
The Word that is on the pages of those Bibles is what we need to act upon in daily life for it to have any impact in the world in which we live.
Witnessing for Jesus.
Laying hands on the sick; showing compassion to the poor.
Living pure in an impure world.
Being salt and light, that is what the spiritual is for.
And, that’s why this first miracle of Jesus matters.

#S4-031: How You Can Know that Jesus Will Do Miracles for You [Podcast]

References:

Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA, February 25, 1998, Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002). ↩
Joseph Kelly, “Wine,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). ↩
Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: John, Acts., vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 25. ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Why This First Jesus Miracle Matters

Podcast: Light on Life Season 6 Episode 2

by Emery Horvath

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