John 2:1-11
Jesus Changes Water to Wine
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."
5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.
8Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."
11This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
Questions:
1. What do you think is the significance of this miracle as the first one?
2. What do you think Jesus means when he says to his mother,"My time has not yet come."
3. What does the miracle reveals to you about Jesus?
2 comments:
Q1: This passage is a confirmation that Jesus cares about our everyday activities. As one Bible study puts it, He came to do the most important mission that ever existed in the history of mankind, and yet He made time to be with people, enjoying a wedding with friends and family. And He cared enough about the embarrassing problem of running out of wine to do something about it. This miracle as a first seems to help us see Jesus as One who can relate to our everyday life experiences and even "emergencies" that really are not a matter of life and death.
Q2: Jesus' answer is difficult to understand here ... the fact that He said, "Why do you involve me?" and "My time has not yet come ... " Yet He still did respond in a way that resolved the problem, somehow confirming that He was indeed the right person to ask. (Who else could have done anything about this problem?) The statement "My time has not yet come" **could** be an indication that Jesus did not want people (in this case, His mother) to focus on what He could do for them in the here and now, but rather, He wanted the focus to be kept on what was coming ... to what He would do when He would give His life on the cross.
I'm looking forward to getting some perspectives from other posts on this one...
Q3: This miracle reminds us to call on Jesus even for things that might seem "temporal" or not as important as eternal or more spiritual matters. Even making a difference in the smooth execution of a wedding was important to Him, because it was important to the host!
Sometimes we forget that God answers our prayers for the little things. Thanks for the reminder.
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