Lesson for March 9, 2025

The Book of John

Lesson 6

Jesus’ First Miracle

John 2:1-11

Verses 1-8

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, “What business do you have with Me, woman? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He tells you, do it.’ Now there were six stone waterpots standing there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing two or three measures each. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the waterpots with water.’ So, they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, ‘Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.’ And they took it to him.”

Following the call of His first disciples, Jesus was invited to a wedding feast where His mother Mary was present. This wedding was taking place in the small town of Cana, in the province of Galilee, a short distance north of Nazareth. The Jewish wedding feast would often last a week, with a parade, as the bride was transferred to the home of the groom’s parents. It was very common in biblical times for the entire family, including the spouse and grandchildren, to live with the parents after marriage. 

The typical Jewish wedding feast would include eating, drinking, and love songs from the Book of Solomon. Friends and relatives would recite scriptural passages or quote historical Jewish wisdom, as the wedding feast was a time of great celebration.

When a shortage of wine was discovered, Jesus’ mother, Mary, appealed to the deity of Jesus to solve the problem by performing a miracle, knowing that He was the Messiah. Mary’s statement to Jesus tells us that she understood Who He was and recognized His divine power. Mary made this request based on the fact of Who she knew Jesus to be. What Mary was asking Jesus was to use His deity to fix the problem. Using His deity to perform this miracle would have violated the plan of God the Father. Jesus knew that using His deity to perform this miracle would be against the will of God the Father and wisely refused to use His deity in this way. Instead, He used the power of the Holy Spirit.

And Jesus said to her, ‘What business do you have with Me, woman? My hour has not yet come.’ This meant that He had not yet publicly declared His Messiahship to Israel. This was not a rebuke of Mary, just an explanation that He was not going to use His deity to perform miracles. Jesus was polite to His mother, using the formal greeting of respect and affection, dear woman (“ma’am” or “lady).” But He does make it very clear to her that He was now operating under the authority of God the Father.

The Doctrine of Kenosis explains that Jesus restricted the use of His deity and utilized the power of the filling of the Holy Spirit to perform miracles. Christ voluntarily restricted the function of His deity so that He could be our prototype of how to live the Christian life. Never did Jesus use His deity to violate the plan of God. This doctrine takes its name from the Greek word kenoo, which means to deprive oneself of a rightful function. II Corinthians 8:9 tells us that even though Christ was “rich,” (deity) yet for our sakes He became “poor” (humanity).

We must remember that Jesus Christ is coequal and coeternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He voluntarily subordinated Himself to the Father’s plan of salvation. This means He also deprived Himself of the exercise of His rightful power. At no time did Christ “empty Himself” of His deity. He was never less than God. He simply voluntarily restricted the use of His divine attributes. (Colossians 2:9) 

Jesus was born as a human being and had to learn the Scripture the same way that we do, under the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the One Who empowered Him and sustained Him throughout His life on earth. As a human being, Christ suffered in the same ways that we suffer but much greater, of course. The ultimate humiliation was suffering the divine judgment from God for our sins. (Matthew 24:36; John 8:56, 16:14; Philippians 2:8)

Christ glorified the Father by executing the Father’s plan, not by glorifying Himself. However, the limitation of kenosis ultimately glorified Christ because He was able to execute the Father’s plan perfectly, without using His deity to keep from committing a personal sin. As a testimony to the fact that God was completely satisfied with the Son, Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father. This impeccable life was our prototype to demonstrate to us the fact that we too can execute God’s plan, by utilizing the power of the Holy Spirit. (John 19:30; Philippians 2:5-8)

When Jesus said, “My time has not yet come,” this meant the time had not yet come for Him to reveal His true identity, publicly. Remember that Jesus was going to present Himself as the Messiah to the nation of Israel, but He was going to be rejected as their king and savior. He was going to offer the nation of Israel the millennial reign!

Though Mary was wrong in asking Jesus to perform a miracle from His deity, she did show her humility toward Jesus when she said, “Whatever He tells you, do it.” She was saying that she recognized Christ’s authority and was removing herself from any position of authority. The first miracle of Christ followed when He turned water into wine at this wedding feast. Jesus made a strong but kind statement to Mary regarding Who He was and what He was about to do, which was to reveal Himself as the Messiah, King of Israel. Performing this miracle authenticated Christ’s authority and caused people to believe in Him. 

Verses 9-10

^“Now when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the groom,and said to him, ‘Every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests are drunk, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.’”

These verses illustrate how God always gives His best. Human Viewpoint Thinking would say, “Give the guests the superior-tasting wine first and the inferior-tasting wine later when they are drunk so that they will not likely notice the difference.” Jesus however, operating from divine viewpoint, gave them the best-tasting wine of the feast.

You can imagine the embarrassment of the headwaiter of the wedding in allowing the wedding party to run out of wine. The headwaiter was much like a wedding coordinator or caterer in modern times. He was the one in charge of the food and drink, and to run out of either would cause great harm to his reputation as a headwaiter. When the headwaiter tasted the wine that had been made from water, he was totally amazed at what Christ had provided (not to mention that his job and reputation were spared). The word in Greek for taste is “geuomai,” and means to savor or relish something by taste. The first miracle of Jesus was a testimony to all miracles, which sole purpose was to establish Christ’s authority as the Messiah. 

Verse 11

 ^“This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”

The Greek word for signs is “semeion,” which means a mark, an indication, or a token. The glory of Christ was always demonstrated when a miracle was performed by Him. His full glory was not manifested until the Resurrection, but His glory was beginning to be revealed so that those around Him would believe. The “signs” (miracles) revealed the fact that God the Father was making Himself known through the humanity of Christ. The highest character of God was embodied in the humanity of Christ, by which He demonstrated the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, which was a result of His study of God’s Word. We have the same opportunity to demonstrate the character of God in our lives by our study of God’s Word. We have the same two power options available to us so that we can fulfill God the Father’s plan, just as Jesus did in His life.