We find this very first recorded miracle of Jesus in John Chapter 2, verses 1-12. Just six days prior, John the Baptist sees Jesus and declares him, “the Lamb of God” (Jn 1:20). He also sees the Spirit of God descend upon Jesus in the form of a dove (Jn 1:32). The day after he baptizes Jesus, John again declares Jesus “the Lamb of God” and two of his disciples start to follow Jesus (Jn 1:37). Andrew was one of them and he brought his brother, Peter, to meet Jesus (Jn 1:41). The next day, Jesus leaves for Galilee and calls Philip to be a disciple. Philip gets Nathanael (whose hometown is Cana) and brings him to Jesus (Jn 1:43, 45). It is a three-day journey to Cana from where Jesus was baptized (the Jordan River near the Dead Sea).

While everyone is enjoying the festivities of the wedding, Mary, Jesus’ mother, comes to him with a major issue: the wine had run out! Why was this such as issue? Well, wedding feasts were typically a week-long affair. Hospitality was considered obligatory in this day and age of Jewish culture. To not be hospitable would be a strong insult to one’s guests.

It is believed this wedding is of someone related to Mary. Running out of wine would be an insult to their whole family and not just the mother and father of the bride. Therefore, Mary is asking Jesus to save the family an embarrassing situation. At first Jesus is hesitant, but his mother simply tells the servants to do whatever Jesus asks of them.

Jesus notices six stone jars nearby. These were not just ordinary stone jars, but jars used for ritual purification (Jn 2:6). Not just anyone would have such jars at their home. Therefore, it may be that this was a house of a priest. Cana was one of the cities where priests lived and then moved to Jerusalem when it was their time to serve as a priest at the temple in Jerusalem.

What was special about using these particular jars? Water in a stone jar would still be considered “living water.” Jewish law stated that water from a spring or from a cistern for collecting water is considered clean (Lv 11:36).

To go from water in stone jars of purification to wine in stone jars of purification was symbolic of how purification will be transferred from their current ritual purity laws to the blood of Jesus Christ which would purify going forward.

The wine was the best the master of the banquet had ever tasted (Jn 2:9-10). Jesus’ blood is also the best among bloods because only his can purify one from sin. Also, this points to the future wedding supper of the Lamb where all who have been redeemed by Him will be in attendance (Rv 19:9).

As stated, it is thought that this wedding may be of a relative of Mary’s. It would be consistent with this being a priestly family as it is believed that Mary’s mother was a descendant of Levi (the tribe from which the Jewish priests descended). We know that Mary’s aunt married a Levite and had Elizabeth who married Zechariah, a priest (Lk 1:5-7). Their son was John who became John the Baptist.

Some say that Joseph of Arimathea was Mary’s uncle. A couple of things may support this to some degree:

1.           Someone had to be with Jesus for three days at the temple when he was twelve. This could have been Joseph of Arimathea.

2.           The people didn’t seem to know Jesus when he was back in Nazareth, his hometown (Mt 13:55-56). This could be because he had been away with Joseph until he started his ministry.

There were over 7000 priests at the time of Christ. They could trace their lineage back to Aaron, the first High Priest. Only the priests could participate in making sacrifices at the temple. Most lived outside Jerusalem in towns and villages. They were divided into 24 priestly clans (1Ch 24:4; 2Ch 8:14) and would serve one week out of the year: light altar fires, attend to the offerings of incense and unleavened bread, and participate in the killing of the sacrificial animals.

There were over 9000 Levites at the time of Christ. They could trace their lineage back to Levi, the father of Moses and Aaron. These were not the same as the priests and were not from the lineage of Aaron himself. They were also comprised of 24 priestly clans and would serve one week of the year: guards, policemen, doorkeepers, singers, musicians, and servants of the temple. They were forbidden by act of death to enter the holy sanctuary or touch the altar of sacrifice.

The daily temple duties required about 1,000 chief priests, priests, and Levites. On feast days, all 24 courses were required to be in Jerusalem and perform duties at the temple. This meant that on Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), there were approximately 18,000 temple personnel on duty at the temple.

While this was the first miracle we know of that Jesus performed, and a significant one, not too many knew about the miracle. Who did know? Mary, Jesus’ disciples, servants at the wedding, and the mother and father of the bride. It is unknown if they told others or kept this to themselves.

It seems, especially in the early part of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus was controlling how quickly his fame would get rolled out to the general public and thereby to the religious leaders. This particular miracle, I’m sure, sealed the faith of his disciples to him.

Jesus did have half-brothers and sisters (Mt 13:55-56). We know his brothers were also at the wedding (Jn 2:12) and then accompanied him to Capernaum where they stayed for a few days. We don’t know if they were told about this particular miracle, because it seems they did not accept Jesus as the Messiah (Jn 7:5) until after his death and resurrection (1Co 15:7). We do know they eventually did as Jesus’ half-brother James became a leader of the church in Jerusalem (Ac 15:13) and wrote the book of James, and another one of his half-brothers, Jude, wrote the book of the same name. This helps us to see that Jesus is patient with us to recognize who he really is, but then empowers us once we turn to him to be effective for him.

We understand this miracle to be his first miracle, but it is quite powerful even though it did not involve other humans. It shows how he can transform something inorganic (like water) into something organic (like wine), how something put into the jars new (water was drawn and placed in the jars) could come out aged (as this was some of the best wine the feast master had ever tasted—and he had tasted a lot of wine!), and at the same time represented how his blood would become the purification for us all. Quite the miracle, isn’t it! And he can do the same for us. Have you let him? If not, he is patiently waiting, just as he did for his brothers. You, too, can be part of his family. A simple step of faith can change everything.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Jesus is known for his miracles. There are at least 42 recorded in scripture, yet even what is recorded pales in the number he actually conducted (Jn 21:25). Of these 42 recorded miracles, Matthew records 64% of them, Mark records 55% of them, Luke records 55% of them, and John records 19% of them. This being the case, it is obvious that many of these were recorded by more than one gospel writer. Yet, each gospel records some unique ones as well.

There are five miracles recorded only by Matthew: 1-healing a sick and demon-possessed man: Mt 4:23-25; 2-healing two blind men: Mt 9:27-31; 3-healing a demon-possessed, mute man: Mt 9:32-34; 4-healing mute, blind, lame, and impaired individuals: Mt15:29-31, and 5-temple tax found in a fish’s mouth: Mt 17:24-27.

There are two recorded only by Mark: 1-healing a deaf and mute man: Mk 7:31-37; and 2-healing a blind man at Bethsaida: Mk 8:22-26.

There are six recorded only by Luke: 1-miraculous catch of fish: Lk 5:1-11; 2-raising a widow’s son from the dead in Nain: Lk 7:11-17; 3-healing a woman who had been crippled for 18 years: Lk 13:10-17; 4-cleansing ten lepers: Lk 17:11-19; 5-healing a man with dropsy on the Sabbath: Lk 14:1-6; and, 6-healing a servant’s ear which was cut off as he is arrested: Lk 22:50-51.

And, there are six recorded only by John: 1-turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana: Jn 2:1-11; 2-healing an official’s son at Capernaum: Jn 4:46-54; 3-healing a man at Bethesda: Jn 5:1-15; 4-healing a man born blind: Jn 9:1-41; 5-raising Lazarus from the dead in Bethany: Jn 11:1-45; and 6-another miraculous catch of fish: Jn 21:4-11.

That means 23 were recorded by more than one of the gospel writers. Of the 42 miracles recorded, only one of these were recorded by all four gospels: the feeding of the 5,000 men plus women and children (Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:30-44; Lk 9:10-17; and Jn 6:1-15). And, finally, of all these recorded miracles of Jesus, only one appears negative in nature: he curses a fig tree, and it withers (Mt 21:18-22; Mk 11:12-14, 20).

So, what was the purpose of Jesus conducting these miracles? After all, it’s not like he healed everyone. So, how did he pick and choose? There are likely several reasons for him doing this. Here are a few thoughts about this topic. You may even think of more than I have.

1.      Jesus preached “the good news of the kingdom of God”(Lk 6:20). Many of the Jewish prophets had taught that the Messiah would bring in an age of wonder where many things would be restored: Isaiah was one such prophet who declared the eyes of the blind would be opened, and the ears of the deaf would be unstopped, the lame would leap like a deer, and the mute tongue would shout for joy (Is 35:5-6). He also declared the dead would live (Is 26:19). Isaiah also stated the Messiah would proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom to the captives, and release prisoners from their darkness. So, Jesus was doing all these things to help everyone realize that he was the one to whom Isaiah spoke and he could do all the things the prophets had taught about what their coming Messiah would bring them.

2.      It seemed some people had been born with an infirmity for this very time so Jesus could release them and demonstrate his power to everyone (Jn 9:1-5).

3.      More often than not, Jesus stated it was the person’s faith that had healed them: the woman with a bleeding disorder for 12 years (Mt 9:22; Mk 5:34), two blind men (Mt 9:29), healing the daughter of a Canaanite woman (Mt 15:28), healing a paralyzed man (Mk 2:5), healing blind Bartimaeus in Jericho (Mk 10:52), healing a Roman Centurion’s servant (Lk 7:9), the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair (Lk 7:50), a leper (Lk 17:19), and others. It seems some healings did not take place because of their lack of faith (Mt 13:58).

4.      Many times, Jesus just had so much compassion for the people he could not help himself but minister to their physical needs as well as to their spiritual needs (Mt 9:36, 14:14, 15:32; 20:34; Mk 6:34, 8:2; Lk 15:20).

Over the next several posts, we will look at several of Jesus’ miracles in more detail and see what we can glean from them. I hope you join me. Until then, God bless!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens