The transformation of water into wine at Cana in Galilee (John 2:3-11) is acknowledged as the first miracle of Christ, performed at the instance of his mother Mary. There was a marriage at Cana. The young Rabbi, Jesus, had been invited. He went with his disciples. Mary his mother was also there. The occasion, like all wedding feasts, was supposed to be one of joy and celebration. But something happened that was capable of cutting short the joy of the couple, and bringing upon them shame and embarrassment instead.
Mary the mother of Jesus noticed what was going on, and she quickly went to Jesus to complain, confident that there was something he could do. He had never performed any public miracle before now, yet Mary (full of compassion), approached her Son, believing that his presence at this occasion could save the couple the great embarrassment that was coming. She says to him simply, “They have no wine.” The first reaction of Jesus was a sharp rebuke: “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not yet come.” But Mary’s faith in the ability of her son to transform the embarrassing circumstance unto good was so strong that she could not be dissuaded by the rebuke. She turned to the servants and said, “Do whatever he tells you.”
The Lord Jesus subsequently gave orders that the six empty jars around be filled with water to the brim. The servants carried out the instruction. And he said to them again: “Draw some out and take it to the steward of the occasion.” When the servants obeyed, and took the content of the jars to the steward, behold it had been transformed into sweet, strong wine! The steward tasted it and wondered why the bridegroom kept the best wine for the last. A miracle had occurred – the first recorded miracle of Christ. His presence had transformed the tasteless, lukewarm water into a great wine of remarkable quality. Because Jesus the Son of God was present on that occasion, the anxiety and embarrassment of a young couple was instantly transformed into an abundant joy.
The prophets of old foresaw that the Messianic regime shall be characterised by an abundance of all good things, including wine and choice foods as on a wedding feast. Isaiah invites people to this abundance in the following passage: Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money, free! Why spend money on what cannot nourish and your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy. Pay attention, come to me; listen, and you will live (Isaiah 55:1-3).
At Cana in Galilee, we see manifested in the presence of Jesus, the abundance which Isaiah and other prophets wrote about. With the presence of Jesus at Cana, God visited his people, and with a great sign, he delivered them from shame and pain, as once upon a time he visited their ancestors in Egypt. The miracle of Cana announced the fullness of the gifts of God that Jesus has come to dispense. And when the disciples saw the miracle, they (like his mother Mary), believed in him.
The shortage of wine in this Gospel story is symbolic of the reality of human deficiency on all fronts, that was the cause of so much pain, embarrassment and distress, until Jesus came along with his transforming power, which ushered in joy in abundance. Jesus Christ indeed brought something refreshingly new into the human story, for until he came along, the world was locked in the darkness of sin and corruption. As a result of sin and corruption humanity was alienated from God and men and women were also alienated from one another and from the natural environment. Until Jesus came, men and women were held captive by the prince of darkness. They were indeed slaves of sin. Jesus came, as John testifies, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29). He came as the light, the light that darkness could not overpower. In John 8:12 he says: “I am the light of the world, no one who follows me will ever walk in darkness.”
While sin corrupts, degrades, depreciates and dehumanises, and while the prince of darkness steals, cheats and destroys, Jesus Christ says that “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10). Jesus went about doing good: teaching the way of righteousness and the way of love, and giving abundant life to all who are victims of a world that has run out of wine, and all who are condemned to a tasteless, lukewarm and tepid existence.
Two thousand years after the event of Cana in Galilee, and after the supreme sacrifice of Jesus on the cross by which he conquered Satan, won freedom for all who believe, many human beings still carry on an existence of misery and pain. Two thousand years after the saving visitation of the Son of God many people are still subjected to a dark, tasteless, gloomy existence, an existence without colour and without joy. Many people are living with the burden of sin and guilt, hatred and bitterness, and so are unable to enjoy the true freedom of the children of God.
The marriage and family life experience of many people today are a nightmare. Their houses, far from being true homes and rest place, are often a theatre of war. And this is caused largely by selfishness or the lack of genuine love in the human heart. Many people in our society are held down by dehumanising poverty, unemployment, and social insecurity. Others are embarrassed by sicknesses and all kinds of diseases. So many people go through each day in pain and anxiety.
The good news today however is that the same God who displayed his richness by providing new wine in abundance for the guests at Cana in Galilee, the same one who multiplied five loaves of bread to feed over five thousand people, the same God is still available in Christ to transform our circumstances of pain, distress and embarrassment. He is available to dislodge the powers of the devil that comes only to cheat, to steal and to destroy. Jesus is available to gladden the hearts of believers with new wine, just as he did at the wedding feast of Cana.
How is one to benefit from the freedom, the joy and gladness, and the abundant life which Jesus brings? The answer seems to lie in the instruction that Mary gave to the servants, namely, “Go to him.” “Do whatever he tells you.” Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you, and you shall experience instant transformation in the circumstances of your life. Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you, and your doubt, your fear and your anxiety shall be transformed into trust, confidence and security. Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you, and your heart will experience joy like people who have just taken a remarkably great new wine. Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you, and your shame and embarrassment shall be taken away instantly and permanently. Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you, and your arch-enemy, the devil, shall flee from your sight, and never dare come near you again. Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you, and you will be healed of your sicknesses and diseases, including those that are called incurable. Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you, and he will show you the way out of the humiliating poverty into which you are now condemned. Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you and your world shall be healed of hatred, violence and war. Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you and your country shall know peace, security and prosperity. Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you and your heart shall find the ultimate peace and fulfillment it desires.
Thus for us the story of the first miracle of Christ at Cana in Galilee is not simply a historical account of a miracle performed by Jesus Christ once upon a time. No. It is an invitation and a challenge for us to recognise in Christ even today, the promised Messiah, the Good Shepherd, and the Prince of Peace, and to accept him as the One in whom alone the world shall find abundant pasture, overflowing peace and eternal salvation. Without him, the world will surely run out of the wine that gladdens the heart, and be abandoned to an existence without joy, without peace, without fulfillment.
