Why Did Jesus Turn Water Into Wine? – John 2:1-12

Did Jesus turn water into wine? Yes, He did.

Jesus revealed the first sign of His supernatural power at a wedding in Cana. Jesus’ mother is attending the wedding and the disciples show up with Jesus to celebrate. John 2:1-12 records the wedding celebration and we are brought into the story when the party was in full swing. I’m sure that this was a joyous wedding celebration, that is, until they ran out of wine.

Weddings were community events. For a small town like Cana, this would have been a large celebration for all of the people who lived there. Refreshments would have been provided to all of the guests. Did more people show up than expected? Did they forget to buy enough wine? While we don’t know why they ran out of wine the fact remains: the wedding party ran out of wine. Running out of wine was not a life-or-death situation, but it was a large error on the wedding party that would have caused embarrassment.

What would they do? Walmart didn’t exist. Heading down to a grocery store was out of the question. There was no way to solve this problem.

Mary Saw A Problem

Mary saw a problem and believed that Jesus could do something about it.

“When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother told him, ‘They don’t have any wine.’” John 2:3

Mary didn’t tell Jesus what to do, while the solution is implied. She presented the problem to Jesus believing that He was able to solve it.

Jesus told the wedding servants to fill six stone water jars that were used for Jewish purification (John 2:6-7). The servants took the jars, filled them with water, and presented them to Jesus. Jesus told the servants to draw some of the liquid out and take it to the headwaiter (John 2:8). The water was miraculously turned into wine and the wedding celebration continued.

Water to Wine

So, why did Jesus turn water into wine? There are two reasons that Jesus performed miracles.

First, all of Jesus’ miracles served a specific purpose – bring glory to God. Jesus’ miracles showed his power over the physical and spiritual realms. These displays of power and dominion pointed to the glory of God.

Secondly, Jesus performed miracles to help humans both physically and spiritually. Jesus’ miracles met physical and spiritual needs of humanity to, as Luke 19:10 says, “seek and save the lost.” Every miracle was a moment to bring spiritual healing to those who believed in His power and goodness.

Does turning water into wine seem like a small problem to solve? It does to me. While I don’t want to downplay the power that Jesus displayed in the miracle (I can’t turn water into wine), this miracle seems smaller than some of the miracles Jesus completes later in His ministry. After all, Jesus walks on water, brings people back from the dead, feeds over 5,000 men with a few pieces of bread and fish, and defeats the sting of death and penalty of sin.

While turning water into wine wasn’t one of the larger miracles that Jesus performed, we can learn an important truth about Jesus’ heart and character. Jesus is concerned with the small aspects of our lives.

 Jesus is concerned with the small aspects of our lives.

It seems like we are quick to call out to Jesus in the insurmountable moments in life. You know the moments: a bad health diagnosis, the loss of your job, the death of a loved one, or the pain of a broken relationship. In these heavy moments I know that I instinctively call out to Jesus for peace, rescue, and hope.

It isn’t just the heavy moments that I can cry out to Jesus. Mary saw a problem and took it to Jesus. Mary never told Jesus what to do. She brought the need to Jesus and allowed Him to make the decisions. Jesus, in His perfect wisdom and goodness, decides when to move in miraculous ways.

 Jesus cares about the large and small aspects of your life. You should never feel like a prayer request is too small or insignificant. We can bring all of our pains and praises to Jesus.

Live It:

• Do you overlook smaller prayer requests? Are you diligent to present those to Jesus?
• Spend a few minutes thanking Jesus for His character and compassion. He cares about the large and small in our lives.

Christ Chronological: John 2:1-12

Want to connect to the Facebook Community? Join today and receive the devotions to your Newsfeed each morning. Read It. Live It. Devotion Facebook Group.