Good News Club: John 2 and the Miracle at Cana

Introduction: Today, I want to share with you something about Jesus Christ where He did something amazing that we call a “miracle” - say that with me “miracle”. A miracle is a special act that demonstrates great power. This miracle is going to help us understanding something about Who Jesus is!

John 2:1-2 “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.”

“On the third day”

How many days had past?

3 days!

3 days from what?

3 days from the events that happened in John 1!

In John 1, Jesus is called both the lamb of God, Son of God, and King of Israel.

As the lamb of God, Jesus would sacrifice Himself by dying on the cross so that we can have our sins forgiven if we trust Him as our Savior.

This is why we call Jesus the Redeemer, only Jesus can pay the price of death for our sins to save anyone from their sins if they trust in Him.

Here, John the Baptist, the last prophet proclaimed this message from God that Jesus would be the Redeemer, like the other prophets before him!

As the Son of God, Jesus has all power to create and control what He has created.

As the King of Israel, Jesus has all authority to command others to obey Him.

Jesus is also calling people to follow Him as His disciples.

A disciple is one who follows the teachings of another individual.

While Jesus walked on earth, He had 12 men who followed His teachings and went with Him wherever He went.

If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior from sin, then you want to live according to His teachings that we read about in the Bible, God’s Word.

“there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee,”

Weddings are a special celebration where a man and a woman from two different families decide to be husband and wife and start a new family that normally includes a time of great fellowship with lots of food and lots to drink!

Weddings in Jesus’ day could last up to a week!

Can you imagine have a party that lasted a week long?!

“and the mother of Jesus was there;”

Does anyone know the name of Jesus’ mother?

Mary!

“and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.”

What does it mean to invite someone to a special celebration like a wedding?

You have requested that they attend that celebration.

Have you ever been invited to a special gather?

Who were the specific individuals invited to this wedding?

Jesus

Jesus’ disciples

John 2:3 “When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.””

“When the wine ran out,”

What was it that had run out at this party?

The wine!

Remember, weddings could last as long as a week!

It’s no wonder that they would run out of something when you could celebrate so long!

Have you ever been to a party where they ran out of food? (fellowship meal: apple pie [?])

“the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.””

It was such a big deal that they ran out of their drink for the wedding that someone came and told Jesus about it.

Who told Jesus that they were out of wine?

Jesus’ mother, Mary.

What Mary did was describe to Jesus what had happened.

Have you ever had your mom or dad tell you, “Your room is messy?”

Why would they describe for you the current state of your room?

Because they want you to clean it!

Mary described the situation to Jesus so that Jesus would do something about it!

Why do you think that she would ask Jesus?

Because Jesus could do something about it!

Not because He had money to buy more wine.

Instead, because He had something greater!

John 2:4 “And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.””

Jesus made an interesting response to His mother!

What is an hour?

It’s a measurement of time.

Give current time when teaching this lesson.

What Jesus has identified here is that He lives His life according to Someone else’s time (BEC).

Or, we could say, that Jesus has identified that He lives under Someone else’s authority.

What Jesus was encouraging His mom to do was to recognize that He lives under the authority of God.

Additionally, if Jesus lives under God’s authority, then everyone should follow His example and obey God also as He was encouraging His mom to do also!

John 2:5 “His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.””

Does Mary continue to speak to Jesus?

No.

She goes to the servants who would have served the guests with food and drink.

What is it that she tells them?

Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.

What do we call it when you do something that someone else tells you to do?

Obedience

We obey others because they have the authority to tell us what to do.

Mary here recognizes Jesus’ authority over her life and now she’s calling on others to recognize Jesus’ authority in their life also!

John 2:6 “Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.”

Have you ever seen a stone waterpot?

They’re enormous!

They can hold a lot of liquid!

20 or 30 gallons is like 20 or 30 gallons of milk!

Have you ever seen so many gallons of milk in your life?

John 2:7-8 “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.” So they took it to him.”

“Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.”

What did Jesus tell the servants to do?

Fill the waterpots with water.

Is water the same as wine?

No!

Jesus must have another plan for the water if they had run out of wine.

“So they filled them up to the brim.”

How did the servants response?

They filled the stone waterpots with water.

What do we call it when someone does what someone else says?

Obedience.

They obeyed Jesus’ word.

How much of the stone waterpot did they fill with water?

Up to the brim.

This is the same as saying all the way full.

“And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”

What did Jesus tell the servants after He told them to fill the stone pots with water?

Draw out or pour some of the liquid in the stone pot into something so that the headwaiter can have some of the liquid in the pot.

“So they took it to him.”

What did the servants do?

They did as Jesus had said.

Did these servants continue to obey Jesus?

They sure did!

John 2:9-10 “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 bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.””

“When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine,”

“and did not know where it came from”

Did the headwaiter know that the water had become wine?

No!

Can you imagine how the servants must have felt knowing that water went into the pots?

“(but the servants who had drawn the water knew),”

What did the servants know?

They knew that Jesus was responsible for anything that was in the stone pot!

the headwaiter called the bridegroom,”

“and said to him,”

Uh oh, what is the headwaiter going to say?

Water went into the pot.

Is he still going to taste water?

“Every man serves the good wine first,”

“and when the people have drunk freely,”

“then he serves the poorer wine;”

You see, when it comes close to the end of a party, everyone has had their fill so there’s no need to set out the best food and drink!

but you have kept the good wine until now.”

What a second?!

Water went into the stone pot.

But the headwaiter says that he has tasted “good wine”!

What has happened?

Jesus has performed a miracle!

A miracle is something spectacular and amazing that only God can do!

Jesus took ordinary water and turned it into extraordinary, tasty wine!

Only Jesus can do this and more because He is God.

John 2:11 “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”

“This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee,”

This is not the only miracle that Jesus performed!

This is the first miracle that Jesus performed!

“and manifested His glory,”

Have you ever heard the phrase, “He had his moment of glory.”?

What this phrase means is that someone did something amazing and outstanding that drew everyone’s attention to them.

Jesus through this miracle and many others demonstrated that He was unlike any other man.

He was both God and man.

“and His disciples believed in Him.”

What was the response of those that followed His teaching?

They believed in Him!

They believed that He was truly Who He said that He was.

They believed the things that Jesus told them.

This is exactly how Jesus wants us to respond to this account.

Because Jesus can do only what God can do, He must be God.

Conclusion: Go over memory verse - John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

“For God so loved the world,”

God loves you and loves me.

He loves everyone in the world!

“that He gave His only begotten Son,”

the Son of God is none other than Jesus Christ, Who performed the miracle that we talked about today.

“that whoever believes in Him”

Believes in Jesus, that only Jesus can save you from your sins

“shall not perish,”

Will not be punished for your sins in a terrible place called hell.

“but have eternal life.”

Will live with Jesus forever because He is your Savior that you have trusted to save you from your sins.