In my quiet time a couple of days ago, my attention was bought to John 2… thankful that I have finally moved away from James… I eagerly looked up John 2 and started reading!
I have been writing a song that the holy spirit gave me a few days ago whilst I was running errands, and one of the things that keeps popping into my head is the opening verse of Cornerstone by Hillsong “Water you turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind, there’s no one like you, none like you” . My girls have been singing this song on and off for a couple of months and is one the first songs I ever worked on with a vocal coach.
And here we are, reading John 2, where we read about Jesus performing his first miracle – turning water to wine at a wedding he was a guest at with his Mother, Mary, and his disciples.
The actual miracle performed is not what drew my attention as I was reading the verse… It was the conversation before it. Mary tells Jesus about how the guests want wine, but they have no wine. Pretty much the wedding family has run out of wine, which would have been super embarrassing for the family. Jesus then responds to her with ‘Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come’ John 2:4.
Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.
John 2:4
And what does Mary do? She ignores this answer and tells the servants to do exactly as Jesus instructs them to do, John 2:5. And as you all know, Jesus performed the miracle.
The thing that shines here for me, is that Jesus knew the timing of the assignment for his life. It was super close, but not quite there yet… but he performed the miracle of turning water into wine anyway. I wonder if he was trying to fly under the radar, or if he had a set list of miracles and starting dates in his mind? I wonder if he had an internal struggle before he performed this miracle, because this thrust him into the arena of being known to perform miracles. Those servants KNEW he performed this miracle, his mother Mary knew he could perform the miracle and it says in John 2:11 that his disciples saw the manifestation of his glory and believed in Jesus.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
John 2:11
I wonder if Mary knew that this would be the first of many miracles he would perform, and now was the time that what she knew all along would finally come to pass? I believe that this miracle was probably not even on Jesus’ radar as he had a purpose and a mission to complete. His time had come, yet he was just a couple of days off starting his amazing path of miracle after miracle and changing the face of Christianity forever.
To me, this first miracle stands out as a beacon of the character of Jesus. He didn’t need to come to the rescue of the wedding family, but out of his mercy and compassion, he did. And he didn’t just turn it into wine, he turned it into the best wine!
All through the new testament we see that Jesus lived with a burning love and compassion for the people. He was the son of God and in everything he did he reflected the glory and power of the Kingdom of God.
What does this mean for us?
There is always a starting point. There is always a point where someone has more faith in us, more belief in us than we have in ourselves. It also shows me that being the hands and feet of Jesus is in every aspect of our lives. Performing miracles, blessing, praying, delivering people from demons and spreading the love and hope that Jesus bought should be part of our everyday lives.
When Jesus was leaving the earth to ascend to heaven, his final words to his disciples were:
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 1:8
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we have the authority and the power to be his witnesses to the whole world, In the moment that need arises, we have the power to step up and do what needs to be done. Our job isn’t to sit around and wait for Jesus to come, our job is make disciples of the world, just like Jesus did.