182 – Water to Wine
John 1:35-51, John 2:1-11
One day, John saw Jesus walking past. He turned to his own disciples and said, “Look, there’s the Lamb of God.” Two of John’s disciples immediately started following Jesus and spent the entire day with him. One of them was a man named Andrew. He went to his brother and said, “Simon, we have found the Messiah!”
His brother was curious, so he went to see for himself. As soon as Jesus saw him, he said, “Your name is Simon, but from now on you’ll be known as Peter.”
The next day, Jesus found a man by the name of Phillip, and said to him, “Follow me!”
Phillip went and found his friend Nathanael. “We’ve found the one that Moses and all the prophets talked about. His name is Jesus, who is from Nazareth.”
Nathanael was surprised. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
“Come and see for yourself.”
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said, “Here comes a true Israelite—an honest man— one who has no pretense.
Again Nathanael was surprised. “How do you know me?”
“Ah, I saw you before Phillip talked to you— when you were still under the fig tree.”
For the third time, Nathanael was surprised. Then he said, “You are the Son of God, the true King of Israel.”
Jesus said. “Nathanael, you believe because I said I saw you under the fig tree. You’re going to see greater things than this!”
It was during this time that Jesus and his disciples were invited to join his mother and attend a wedding at Cana. Later in the day, Mary came to Jesus and said, “They’ve run out of wine.”
He looked at her and said, “Why are you bringing this situation to me? You know it isn’t my time yet.”
She turned to the servants. “Do whatever he tells you to do.”
They looked at him waiting for his instructions. He saw six large stone water pots standing nearby. Each could hold about 20 gallons of water.
He said to the servants, “Fill those pots with water.”
They quickly filled all six pots full of water, right to the brim. Once that was done, they looked at Jesus. He said, “Now draw some out and take it to the manager of the feast.”
The servants did as they were told. The manager of the feast didn’t know where this wine had come from, so he tasted it. To his surprise, it was better than any they had served that day! He went to the bridegroom and said, “Where have you been hiding this? Usually the best wine is served at the beginning of the feast. Then, as the day goes by, the lesser quality is served. You have saved the best until now.”
This was the first miracle that Jesus performed.
