Grave Robber

The First Sign - Water into Wine

Water into Wine

For nearly thirty years, the One who had crafted the universe with His voice crafted furniture with His hands.

And He was good at what He did—no crooked table legs ever came out of the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth.

1 But Jesus was more than a master carpenter. He was also God incognito.

For three decades, His miracles were history’s best-kept secret. But that all changed the day water blushed in the face of its Creator.

Read, pray, and meditate on the first sign, found in :

Read, pray, and meditate on the first sign, found in :

Thirty-four distinct miracles are recorded in the Gospels.

But John’s Gospel spotlights seven of them.

It’s those seven miracles that we’re going to explore during this study of The Grave Robber.

And it all begins in Cana. This is where Jesus turned water into wine. This is where the cabinetmaker became the Wine Maker.

Read, pray, and meditate on the first sign, found in :

Read, pray, and meditate on the first sign, found in :

Batterson, Mark. The Grave Robber Participant's Guide (Seven-Week Study Guide) (p. 10). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Read, pray, and meditate on the first sign, found in :

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

1. In the introduction to the Grave Robber study, there is a caution not to seek miracles but rather to seek Jesus.

Has there ever been a time in your life when you were seeking a miracle more than you were seeking Jesus?

Perhaps you sought God for the right thing in the wrong way, at the wrong time, or for the wrong reason.

Share your experience and what you learned from it with the group.

2. We all want a miracle, but none of us wants to be in a situation that necessitates one.

Share with the group a situation in your past or your present when you needed God to do a miracle.

Batterson, Mark. The Grave Robber Participant's Guide (Seven-Week Study Guide) (p. 12). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Share with the group a situation in your past or your present when you needed God to do a miracle.

3. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that once the mind is stretched by a new idea, it never returns to its original dimensions.

2 The goal of this study is to not only stretch your mind but also stretch your faith.

Share with the group an experience that stretched your faith to new dimensions.

What happened?

What did you learn from it? And how do you believe God wants to stretch your faith through this study?

4. This first miracle isn’t about saving a life. It’s about saving face. It reveals how much God cares about the minute details of our lives.

God is great not just because nothing is too big. God is great because nothing is too small.

says: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

How has God demonstrated His greatness in the small details of your life? Do you find it easier to trust God for the big things, like keeping the planets in orbit, or the small things, like your financial problems or emotional issues?

5. The first miracle reveals God’s mastery and majesty at a molecular level.

Is there a microscopic issue in your life where you need to trust God more?

A negative situation at work that you cannot seem to change?

A small problem that could become a major relational issue if you don’t deal with it?

A dream that is beyond your ability or beyond your resources?

Final Thoughts

One of the boldest statements in the Bible is : Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.

What do you think Jesus meant by “greater things”?

How is that evidenced in the rest of the New Testament?

What does that mean for your life? If you follow Jesus, you’ll do what He did. You’ll seek to please the heavenly Father first and foremost.

You’ll care for the poor, you’ll wash feet, and you’ll undoubtedly offend some Pharisees along the way.

But you’ll also traffic in the miraculous.

Make no mistake about it: only God can perform miracles. So God gets all of the glory. But nearly every miracle has a human element. You’ve got to do the natural before God will do the supernatural. Is there a natural step you need to take before God will do the supernatural?

Reflection Questions

1. If you don’t know what you want to get out of this Grave Robber study, you probably won’t get much out of it. Take a few minutes to identify where God wants to stretch you. Is it a dream that is beyond your resources? A problem that is beyond your ability to solve? A situation that is beyond your ability to resolve? Write down the top three things you want to get out of this study. 1. _______________ 2. _______________ 3. _______________

2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how easy or hard is it for you to believe in miracles?_____________

3. Trust isn’t measured by word count. In fact, the more trust you have, the fewer words you need. How does your lack of trust get expressed?

4. Nearly every miracle has a human element. You’ve got to do the natural before God will do the supernatural. What do you need to do to position yourself for the supernatural? What step do you need to take?

5. The single greatest miracle is the forgiveness of sin made possible through the crucifixion and resurrection of the sinless Son of God. There is no close second. That miracle is available to anyone, anytime but the miracle of salvation isn’t the finish line. It’s the baseline. What Jesus has done in the miracle of forgiveness and eternal life.

Remember, you are someone else’s miracle. Who is that person?

Jesus mother Mary nudged Him and encouraged this miracle…Who can you help and nudge and encourage this week?

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