The Miracles of Jesus - Week 1
Over the next few Sundays in church, we will be looking at a number of Jesus’ many miracles. Exploring what they mean and what they tell us about who Jesus is and how they reveal his character to us.
Each week we will be putting up a devotional linked to our Sunday service for you and your family to enjoy and discuss at your leisure. After all, church isn’t just for Sundays
Water into Wine
Our first miracle can be read about in the bible: John 2:1-11. Jesus attends a wedding with his mother and friends but they run out of wine. Watch the video below to see what happens.
Family Devotional
If you’ve ever been to a wedding reception, you probably remember having lots of food to eat and wedding punch to drink. Can you imagine how embarrassed the bride and bridegroom would be if people were standing in line to get punch and were told the punch had run out? The wedding guests would know that the hosts hadn’t planned properly, and in a hot climate like Israel, their thirst would certainly aggravate the situation. This is what occurred at this wedding in the village of Cana that Jesus, His mother and disciples attended.
When Mary told Jesus about the wine running out, Jesus responded with words we wouldn’t have expected. “How does that concern you and me?” Jesus asked. “My time has not yet come” (John 2:4). If we read through the whole Gospel of John, we discover that Jesus spoke often about His “time” coming, and it becomes obvious that He was always referring to the time when He would die for the sins of the world. So when Jesus responded to Mary’s statement about the lack of wine, He must have been thinking about people lacking, not wine, but something that wouldn’t be provided until He died. It’s possible that Jesus was referring to His own blood, which was symbolised by wine at the Last Supper. Or He may have been speaking about the Holy Spirit, who is sometimes symbolised by wine in the New Testament. Everyone needs to have his sins forgiven through the shedding of Jesus’ blood and be born again by the Holy Spirit. Both of those are much greater needs than wine running out at a wedding feast. Jesus was concerned about much more important things than Mary was.
Jesus, however, must have been somewhat concerned about the lack of wine at the wedding feast because He performed a miracle to solve the problem. That miracle may also have had a deeper spiritual meaning, because Jesus didn’t change just any water into wine - He changed water that was used by the Jews for the purpose of purification rites into wine. Because of the many laws that God gave the Jews to keep, they were very conscious (or aware) of their sinfulness, and they were always trying to keep themselves symbolically purified by various washings with water. But since Jesus died for us, cleansing us from all the guilt of our sins, we don’t need any other way of getting spiritually clean. Knowing that we’re cleansed, we can now enjoy ourselves, drinking Jesus’ good wine. Now we can really celebrate!
Q. Did you notice that the wine Jesus made was described by the master of ceremonies as being better than the first wine that ran out? What does this teach us about God and his character?
A. Perhaps it does. It shows us that when God does something, He does a quality job, and He wants us to enjoy the best He has to offer us. He has provided a wonderful salvation for us that includes loads of benefits for all eternity, not just a temporary fixer-upper salvation that puts a band-aid on our problem. He doesn’t want us to have mediocre families, but quality families, with truly loving relationships. Are you enjoying all the benefits of what God has to offer us?
Q. Does this miracle of Jesus’ changing water into wine teach us anything about God’s power?
A. Yes, it shows us that God can change anything into something else. If you believe in Jesus, He has changed you from a child of the world into His own child. One day God will change your physical body into a brand new body that glows with His glory when you go to heaven.
Worship
It’s good to praise and worship God on any day of the year but on Easter Sunday we have so much to be thankful for, it’s right that we worship at the tops of our voices with everything we’ve got. So crank up the volume and sing and dance on the day of Christ’s resurrection!
Let’s pray
Let’s take some time now to be still with God before we pray. I find it helps if I bow my head and close my eyes so I don’t get distracted.
Lord Jesus, Son of God, Miracle-worker,
The miracles you performed were nothing but amazing.
We thank you that you showed us who you are and what you are capable of through them.
Thank you for showing us what is possible when we have faith and believe in you.
Help us to strip away our desire to do things ourselves and fill us with your Spirit so we might trust and depend on you alone.
In your name we pray,
Amen.
