Turning water to wine…this miracle is recorded for us in Joh 2:1-11. In this account of the first miracle performed by Christ we find some very interesting (but confusing) events taking place. Let’s look at Christ’s response to His mother’s notification that the wedding they were attending had run out of wine…
“Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee?” First of all, His response helps us to understand that He was not going to perform this miracle in obligation to His mother’s request. When He would make this wine, it would be by grace and His choosing. By addressing her as “woman” and reminding her she had no authority over Him, he was helping those who were at the wedding to realize He was not obligated to perform this miracle. He wanted this to be a lesson in God’s gracious intervention in the lives of those in need.
This is a great reminder to us that when we go to the Lord in prayer asking Him to meet a certain need in our life, He is not obligated to meet our need in the way in which we desire. When our prayers are answered it is entirely an act of a gracious loving Lord who will only do what is best for His children.
“mine hour is not yet come.” Secondly, in this response He is saying that this miracle would be done on His Father’s schedule not Mary’s. Here, we are taught about Christ’s submission to His Father’s will. In case we think that Christ was being haughty and prideful as He answered His mother, we now have this second part of His response reminding us of His submission and humility. He was not being mean nor unloving to His mother. He was simply reminding her of His first priority… following the will and timing of the Father for His life.
This is another truth we can apply to our prayer life as well. Our desires are to be taken to our Lord in the context of His will. Our desire should be, ultimately, what He would desire for any given situation we may face in this life.
Following the Lord’s response, He acts graciously supplying their needs and, in accordance to His Father’s will and timing, changing 6 water pots filled with water into wine. When the governor of the wedding tastes the wine he acknowledges that it was the “good” wine (ie wine of very high quality). When the Lord answers our prayers, He always answers in the BEST way. What is best for us and best for His glory and His honor.
We are told that this gracious act of Christ “manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” As we come before our Lord in prayer, seeking for His intervention in our lives, we should recall His Authority, His Will, His Grace and His Knowledge of future events…. all of which play a part in His response to our requests. Let’s set the example He set for us when He prayed before His crucifixion…. “not my will but thine be done.”
May the Lord bless each one of us as we “Think On These Things”.
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another good one. u r a teriffic writer!
Thank you so much Terry. I am trusting that the Lord will bless the series and use it for His honor and glory. Take care. Lord bless.
You hit the nail on the head here!
Over the years, I have seen differing ideas behind these verses but I’ve never really felt comfortable with my explanation. Just recently, the Lord allowed me to look at them again and He made more clear to me all that was actually going on. I do feel much more comfortable with all of this now. Lord bless you.
Pastor Rob, this teaching on the very familiar First Miracle of Jesus’ ministry at the wedding feast at Cana, reminds me once again that we need never concern ourselves with “quality control” when it comes to any gift from Our Lord!
You are so right Granbee!! I couldn’t have said it better myself! Lord bless you.
As a Roman Catholic I was taught that this miracle showed that Jesus was forced to do something because Mary made Him, and therefore prayers to Mary could be more effective than prayers to God. What a twist on the truth! And how upset Mary would be about it!
Thank you for a great explanation of the truth.
I think many of the great characters of the Bible would be in agony if they saw how some of the events in their lives were perverted through false teaching. My wife was a Catholic before she met me and much of what you tell me she has experienced as well. My heart goes out to anyone who is sitting under false teaching and they are blinded to the truths of His Word. We all need to be in prayer for them and actively try ot reach them with the truths of God’s Word.
I think when someone said to me that everything in our life God saw ..kind of like a map so He knows everything and when we pray he sees the whole picture of when certain prayers are to be answered……we only see the present. I understand now why some of my prayers were longer than I would have liked before being answered…looking back at all the circumstances that I can see now..that God saw way back when…..Diane
Diane,
It is very true that our Lord knows the end from the beginning and that He is in total absolute control over all. When His people pray, He always responds in a way thet best glorifies Him and blesses us. So in other words, He always works for our good. Sometimes it is by Him immediately granting our request, sometimes it is by Him delaying our request, or sometimes He even denies our request. In any case, we can rest assured He did what was best for us and by which he receives the greatest glory. Lord bless.
Thank you for looking at these verses and helping us with them. It reminds me too, that sometimes when His responses seem harsh . .. we weren’t there to hear the tone of His voice or see His face and His eyes as He spoke. God bless you, Rob, as you pray for His will in your life today!
You are so right about this Debbie. It is something we all have a tendecy to forget at times…. any event would be viewed in a different light if we were actually seeing it take place. As you say, tone of voice, facial expression and the current events taking place all around them would help us to understand what is actually meant by the statements that are made. Thanks fo ra great reminder! Lord bless.