EVERY LITTLE SIGN
Opening Prayer
I come before you with praise and thanksgiving, Lord God. In this day, help me to stand firm in faith, to give all that I am to you and share who you are with others.
Read JOHN 2:1–12
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Jesus Changes Water Into Wine
2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman,[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[b]
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and 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 10 and 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.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In what ways has Jesus brought transformation into your life? How do you thank him?In John’s gospel, Jesus’ miracles are always ‘signs’ (v. 11). That means they point beyond themselves to the central truth that Jesus is the Messiah (20:30, 31), and that in him God is at work to bring about the renewal of his creation (1:1). Jesus’ changing of water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana (vv. 8, 9) is therefore more than an act of compassion to save a family’s blushes. It is indicative of the transformation God is bringing to his creation through Jesus, and therefore of the honor due to Jesus as the Messiah.
That honor is expressed as obedience by the servants at the feast who, as Mary instructs them (v. 5), do whatever Jesus tells them (vv. 7, 8). The blessing of the new wine flows from humble obedience to Jesus. The detail that the jars filled with water were those used by Jews for ceremonial washing (v. 6) is significant. That washing was a sign pointing to the purification that would ultimately come through Jesus’ sacrificial death—his ‘hour’ (v. 4). The transformation of the water in the jars into wine therefore ‘calls time’ on the need for ceremonial washing. Now that Jesus the Messiah is dwelling among his people, it is to him and not to established rituals that they must hold.
Apply
In what circumstances do you find obedience to Jesus most difficult?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you that there is forgiveness freely given when I come to you in confession. Give me grace to follow you obediently in my thoughts, my words, and deeds—even when I find it hard.
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