Four men, each inspired and directed by the Spirit of truth, wrote accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each Gospel account has a different style and perspective, and each reports different stories and lessons. Isn’t it interesting that all four Gospels record the Feeding of the 5000, but only John records the raising of Lazarus, only Luke records the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and only Matthew records Peter’s walk across the water?
Mark’s Gospel records at least twenty miracles. We’ve looked at those, so let’s examine a few others that Mark doesn’t record. Let’s start in John.
John recorded eight miracles that he called signs, each Divinely planned to draw men, women, and children to saving faith in Jesus, the one and only Savior. John closed his book with this: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31).
Jesus’ first miracle, His first sign, was turning water into wine. “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11). The occasion for this first sign was a wedding in Cana. We don’t know the name of the groom or his bride, but we know something important about them. They were smart! They invited Jesus to attend! Jesus should be a VIP on everyone’s guest list!
Sadly, the days-long celebration of their nuptial was almost disastrously disrupted, apparently by poor planning. They ran out of wine. Hospitality was a sacred duty, so to run out of wine at such an important event would have been humiliating.
Mary, apparently one of the hostesses, went directly to Jesus with the concern. After a short discussion, Mary looked at the servants and emphatically commanded, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). That’s good advice. Always “do whatever he tells you!”
“Now six stone water jars had been set there... each contained twenty or thirty gallons. ‘Fill the jars with water,’ Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter’ ” (John 2:6-8).
Can you imagine the “headwaiter’s” shock and surprise? “When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, ‘Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now’ ” (John 2:9-10).
The running out of wine calls to mind the spiritual barrenness of first-century Judaism. They had no joy, no peace, nothing to celebrate. It was a discouraging religion of drudgery and duty. Do this! Don’t do that! But Jesus came “so that they may have life and have it in abundance” (John 10:10). Jesus sets us free and gives us something to celebrate! Notice that the water jars were “filled them to the brim” with “fine wine!”
So, let me leave you with this! Jesus is with us and gives us a reason to celebrate. Let’s find joy in His presence today!
All Scripture quotations, except as otherwise noted, are from
Holman Bible Publishers’ Christian Standard Bible.
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