John 2:3

New International Version

When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

For Encouragement
The wedding was grand, and the guest list had some high-profile names. Mary, Jesus’s mother, and Jesus were there. Suddenly, murmurs of shock and disapproval pervaded the gathering. The servers retired their trays; for the bar had run dry. Embarrassment hung in the air. How could the representation of life and abundance to the Jews run out before the wedding ceremony ended? Wine symbolized the life of the ceremony and the good life the newlyweds expected. If ever there was a social crisis, this was one.

Mary, likely a family member of the couple, turned to her Son, “They have no wine” (Jn. 2:3).

Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My time has not yet come (4).

Mary understood something others didn’t about her Son. The angel Gabriel had revealed to her that the child she would carry was not conceived through human means, but by God—the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and the Most High’s power would overshadow her. The angel also instructed her to call the child, the Son of God (Luke 2:35). So Mary took no offense at Jesus’ remark. She understood Him very well (Jn. 2:4). Therefore, she instructed the servants to do whatever He told them (5). She knew what Jesus could do when He so willed, and I am happy the servants took Mary’s advice.

The servants filled the six stone water jars nearby with water, drew some, and presented it to the master of the banquet at Jesus’s word; and the party came alive again. That’s the way we too must walk with Jesus. Total obedience to His word as God expects of all His children. His word must be our command. 

The master of ceremonies was bewildered.

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, he said (10).

This sign, as John calls it, has everything to do with the first revelation of Jesus’ glory and its effect on His disciples with Him on that day (11). It is not a debate on the consumption of wine or otherwise. That has its place in other scriptures. This one, however, is about the revealing of the Word becoming flesh and making his dwelling among us. John said they had seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14). Have you seen Him? Have you received grace from Him to believe for your salvation (Eph. 2:8-9)?

You see, worldly delight runs dry quickly. It is temporal and a mockery—here today, gone tomorrow. But the delight Jesus brings through His Spirit surpasses everything. The sign manifested the glory of the One who creates out of nothing and turned water into wine. Whoever believes in Jesus sees His glory as the Son of God in His humiliation and suffering by the Cross and His exaltation to the highest place and given a name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9). That’s the story of the miracle at Cana.

It calls you, who have known Jesus as an ordinary baby, a carpenter from Nazareth, or just a good man or one of the prophets, to see Him differently today. The sign at the wedding in Cana points to His otherworldliness as His glory shines through it—the glory of the one and only Son of God, full of grace and truth. It calls on you to throw away your unbelief and throw yourself on Jesus for eternal life.

For you who know Him as Savior and Lord, let this revealing at Cana strengthen your faith as you see His glory in a new, refreshing way, and live for Him.

Pray with Me

Dear God. Thank you for Jesus, your Son, and His transforming power in my life. I bow to you, Jesus, you who indwell me in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Delight my heart with your infilling, Spirit of God, that I will forever praise the Father in Jesus’ exalted matchless name, amen. 

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