The LORD’s First Miracle Reveals the HE Controls the Present and the Future.

Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Tree of Life
Weekly Review
082320
The LORD’s First Miracle Reveals the HE Controls the Present and the Future.

We begin this morning by noting that at the first wedding in Cana, the headwaiter of the wedding turned and asked some of the disciples where they got the good wine that they are now enjoying.

JOH 2:6-11, Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.”
And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw {some} out now, and take it to the headwaiter.” And they took it {to him.} And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew),
the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when {men} have drunk freely, {then} that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of {His} signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

Our LORD saved the good wine until the end and gave the lesser wine in the beginning of the wedding illustrating that GOD always saves the best for Last. When they passed the great wine around illustrating what good wine He had been saving, the principle that we have been noticing many times is: GOD saves the best for last.

JOH 2:6-11, Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.”

And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the headwaiter.” And they took it to him. And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him,

“Every man serves the good wine first, and when men have drunk freely, then that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

The headwaiter points out that usually people serve the good wine first and then they bring out the bad wine after all the good wine had run out.

So, our LORD takes water, (a common substance) and without a word, without a gesture, without any laying on of hands, in utter simplicity, He turns the water into a wine, a product of fermentation. Thus, He demonstrated his marvelous ability to master the processes of nature when called for. Remember John said in JOH 1:3, “All things came into being by Him.” 

So, in JOH 2, John is recording one of the miracles in which Jesus demonstrates that He is the Creator. He creates wine. He does not speed up the natural processes. He is now willing to use His deity to reveal both the deity of Christ and the humanity of our LORD working together to perform a miracle that our LORD said would draw a crowd so that people would hear the message.

That would be an even greater miracle if the believers and the unbelievers who heard and saw the LORD’s miracles responded with their faith and either believed the Gospel or believed the doctrine that our LORD taught. There is probably not a law of science waiting to be discovered that says if you put water into certain stone pots it will turn to wine instantly. However, at best, what He did was to provide every kind of believers the blessings that they needed for salvation or the doctrines that our LORD needed to feed those believers spiritually.

So, notice that the LORD does not show us a law of nature concerning the fermentation of the wine that comes from the Creator, who is in the midst of performing a miracle in front of all who were there. HE simply creates. This is why our LORD said in JOH 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;” The significance to the Jewish audience back in Cana of Galilee will be there because passages in the Old Testament that have a symbolism between wine and the presence of the Messiah working with GOD the Holy Spirit.

You have heard this passage many times before and perhaps more importantly, those Jews who were guests at the first wedding were basically familiar and knew the customs that the pots were used only for water to cleanse them in ceremony. What our LORD seems to be doing is to reveal to everyone that the present and the future are still in control by Him. And now, as our LORD Jesus has filled them with the finest wine, fruit, cheeses and appetizers, and the finest wine that miracles could ever taste made this a very special wedding with a very special guest and a message that they never heard of before, made this a very special wedding. Jesus demonstrates himself to be the Creator and the Messiah.

HE also revealed HIS Glory (JOH 1:14) and in JOH 2:11 we read of the confirmed faith of the disciples. I like the conversation between Mary and Jesus, or mother and son in which we see no doubt that Mary regarded our LORD more reverently than just her son. As she obeyed HIM, and told the others to do the same, great things were being planted for our LORD’s new ministry including the fact that HE will tell HIS mother, she has nothing to do with her Son’s ministry. HE will tell her and everyone else that HE came to fulfill HIS Heavenly Father’s will and finish HIS work.

JOH 4:34, Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.

JOH 5:17  But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

JOH 5:36, “But the witness which I have is greater than {that of} John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

JOH 10:25, Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these bear witness of Me.”

JOH 14:10, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.”

HEB 10:5-14, Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, But a body Thou hast prepared for Me. In whole burnt offerings and {sacrifices} for sin Thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (In the roll of the book it is written of Me) To do Thy will, O GOD. After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and {sacrifices} for sin Thou hast not desired, nor hast Thou taken pleasure {in them}” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Thy will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will [that is the LORD’s will] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of GOD, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

So, notice that even the first miracle has the purpose of building faith, whether faith in the Gospel or faith in our LORD’s doctrine. This miracle was glorious, but it was not “the hour of glory” for our LORD. All the miracles build up to what is most important - the most glorious work of Christ - HIS work and death on the Cross – Resurrection, and Ascension, which is the basis of genuine saving faith. I find it interesting that the servants saw this miracle from a closer vantage point than anyone else, but the Holy Spirit provides no record of their faith. It is also interesting that Jesus created wine with apparent age, this was good wine, it was the type of wine that is at its own unique perfection.

Now, what is this significance for the miracle as the “creation--evolution debate” especially because evolutionists say that the earth has to be billions of years old because of things like carbon dating. For example, I wonder in Gen 1:11 that if the LORD created all the trees, that very day if you cut one down, how many rings would it have? How many would the one next to it have? GOD created the world, and HE created it with apparent age! If you take GOD out of the equation, the world looks old. But if GOD did it 10,000 years ago, and created everything with age, then the empirical evidence for the age of the earth is not in conflict with any scripture.