Today we are going to talk about Jesus Christ and his signs. Signs are very important. Road signs may tell us the legal speed limit or inform us that we must stop at an intersection. Signs on stores give us clues as to what sort of products we might expect to find within them. In the Gospel of John, Jesus gives us signs. Through these signs Jesus reveals to us who He is. Let us take a look today at the first of these “signs.”
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4. And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Before we proceed much further let us take a quick look at the problem and Mary’s response. The groom is hosting a great wedding party and has run out of wine – an inexcusable offense in a culture that prized hospitality. The problem threatens to bring shame upon the groom’s family during his wedding celebration.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, noticing this problem, responds in the most noble way possible. She turns to Jesus. Let us observe that she does not presume to command Jesus in any way – she merely brings the problem to his attention. Then, being satisfied that Jesus has heard her, says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” She leaves the situation in Jesus’ hands and the servants at his disposal. Perhaps she remembered the words of the Angel to her when she had conceived. Perhaps she recalled the testimony given by Anna and Simeon in the temple. Certainly at this moment she did what faith does – she presented her problems and concerns to the Lord and left them there in his hands.
6. Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rite of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10. and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. 11. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
Let us observe the outcome of this sign – “(Jesus) manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him.”
The sign reveals who Jesus is. Jesus, through this sign, manifests his divine glory. Jesus, through the sign, reveals that he is more than just a ordinary man and an extraordinary teacher. He reveals that He is, as the prologue of this Gospel states, “The one through whom all things were made and without him was not anything made that was made.”
Jesus through this miraculous manifestation reveals himself as the Divine Son of God so that we might believe in Him, as Mary did, and by believing have eternal life.
Through this event Jesus also honors the desire of his mother thus upholding the commandment, “Honor your father and your mother.”
Finally, through this event Jesus honors the God ordained estate of marriage and blesses the celebration of Holy Matrimony.
Blessings to you.