(A) Introduction (Read the reference.)

Many commentators find this first miracle intensely embarrassing. I think they would prefer Jesus not to have performed it. Warren Wiersbe has a section in 'Be alive' warning that this passage cannot be used as an argument for the use of alcoholic beverages today. This is arrant nonsense. If Jesus enjoyed a glass of wine, and he most certainly did, his enemies called him a wine bibber and a gluttonous man, then I am sure he is more than happy if we drink wine too. Jesus did not tell us to remember his death by imbibing blackcurrant juice! I realise alcohol poses grave dangers if consumed to excess but so, too, do burgers and chips. I think there are legalistic Christians who are prepared to criticise Jesus himself for drinking wine.

There are other commentators who can only draw lessons from the miracle by spiritualising what happened. Bruce Milne, for example, sees Christ's intervention as a sign that he was going to change the water of Judaism into the wine of Christianity. I don't think for one minute that that was the intention of Jesus. We shall see that John did not draw this conclusion from the extra-ordinary events in Cana.

(B) Jesus was happy to spend 6 days at a wedding feast.

Jesus was very sociable. He enjoyed relaxing and chatting with friends. He didn't consider it a waste of time to attend a wedding feast for 6 days. I must confess that after I have been at a wedding reception for a few hours I have usually had enough. Jesus was not a workaholic or a scholarly recluse. He was a good mixer!

We can see the importance of fraternity to Jesus:

(a) From the Pharisee's question: "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking." Lk5v33. Jesus replied: "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?" He is acknowledging that the first months of his ministry was party time! The disciples were happy with Jesus; they revelled in his company; it was one long celebration. See exposition on Luke5v34.

(b) In that he was very keen to have a last meal with his disciples. Jesus said at the Last Supper: "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." Lk22v15. Jesus looked forward to this concluding fraternal event - to fellowship over good food and wine with his beloved disciples. He instructs all who believe in him to meet together, to share a simple meal and remember his death until he come.

(c) Jesus even likens the Kingdom of God to a great feast, a wonderful banquet. See Lk14v15. There are many good things to enjoy in the Kingdom and we should be enjoying them together. Fraternity should be a key quality of Christianity. It was certainly a characteristic of my days serving at Pioneer Camp - a Christian camp for boys and girls. The staff worked, played, ate, prayed, worshipped and laughed together. There was wonderful fellowship and unity in the Lord. It was a happy time. Christians are at their best when they all muck in together.

(C) Mary's concern.

Mary came to Jesus and said: "They have no more wine." v3. This simple statement raises two questions:

(1) Why was Mary concerned about the wine shortage?
It seems probable that Mary was helping with the catering. It is significant that the servants were quite prepared to take orders from her without asking questions. Perhaps, the son or daughter of a close friend was getting married and Mary volunteered to help out. She is afraid that the lack of wine will bring disgrace upon the bridegroom and his family.

(2) Why did Mary tell Jesus?
(a) She was used to taking problems to her oldest son. When she did the problem usually got sorted out! This does not mean Jesus had performed miracles before. John informs us that his first miracle was done in Cana of Galilee. Nevertheless, Jesus had undoubtedly helped his mother out with difficulties in the past and she had every confidence in him.

(b) She had high expectations of Jesus. Mary remembered the events surrounding his birth. She would never forget the angelic appearances, the naive wonder of the shepherds, the visit of the wise men or the prophetic words of old Simeon. Now at last it appeared that her dear son had begun his Messianic mission. His six disciples could not stop talking about him. Nathanael, in particular, was sure that Jesus was the Son of God and King of Israel.

Mary may have grown impatient for Jesus to make an impact. He had spent 30 years at home seemingly content to work as a humble carpenter in Nazareth. Mary may have asked herself why Jesus was so slow to take the initiative. He needed to get on the campaign trail, to exhibit his powers, to win the people over, to fulfil the glorious promises that accompanied his birth and to usher in the golden age for Israel. Mary never forgot the words of the angel: "The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; his kingdom will never end." Luke1v32. If I had been Mary I am quite certain I would never have understood the significance of these words. I, too, would have expected an earthly rule of unrivalled magnificence.

Jesus helps us with our problems today. After my mother died and I opted to care for my father who was in the final stages of Parkinson's disease I was not ready to abandon my teaching career. For two years I had many problems. I was helped to overcome the difficulties by my sister-in-law taking father for two days a week, my friends at the chapel coming in several mornings and afternoons on the remaining three days and the total absence of meetings after school during almost the entire period because of trade union action over pay. After two years conditions changed, but by then I was prepared to give up work.

We have every right to be confident in Jesus and expect great things of him. God the Father will strengthen and empower us on behalf of his Son. Paul writes to the Ephesians: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine ... Eph3v20. However it is wrong to try and force God's hand. There are Christians in the charismatic tradition who think that they have the gift of prophecy. They spend too much of their time knowing better than God.

(D)Jesus' relationship with his mother.

It is important to understand the response Jesus made to his mother's indirect request. The Authorised Version conveys the sense better than any other version I know. Jesus replied: Woman what have I to do with thee." v4. This can be read with the emphasis on the 'do' which sounds as if Jesus is saying, "Woman I haven't got anything to do with you." In other words Jesus told Mary the shortage of wine was nothing to do with him - it was her problem.

I am pretty sure that Jesus would not speak to his mother like that. Mary would hardly have asked him to assist if that was the sort of son he was. My mother knew me fairly well. She would rarely request a favour at breakfast. I am never very gracious early in the morning.

Jesus probably used an idiomatic expression in Aramaic. It would be difficult to translate this into the Greek. We use many idiomatic expressions in English like, 'put that in your pipe and smoke it.' It is not easy to convey the belligerence of that phrase in Japanese. So there are many variant readings of Jesus words to his mother in the different versions: 'Why do you involve me'(NIV); 'Your concern mother is not mine'(NEB); 'You must not tell me what to do' (Good News Bible). None of these is satisfactory because they fail to explain why Mary was so confident that Jesus would do something. Immediately following Jesus comments Mary went to the servants and said: "Do whatever he tells you." If my mother came into my study and said, "John, Mr Hudson (our neighbour) can't get his car to start" and I replied, "That's nothing to do with me", my mother would know what to expect. She would go away vexed knowing that her grumpy son wasn't going to help Mr Hudson. If I muttered, "For goodness sake, woman", my mother would have high hopes that I would go out and give Mr Hudson's car a push!

The AV almost has it right. We must read the phrase with the emphasis on the 'What have I ...'- the first part of Christ's remark. Jesus says, "Woman, whatever am I going to do with you." This is a bit like our modern jocular expression: 'What's he like!' For what it is worth, whenever my father addressed his wife as 'woman' he was being jocular. He would say when my mother was larking about and giggling, "Woman for goodness sake quieten down or there will be tears tomorrow."

Jesus spoke to his mother, as he had done many times in the past, in an amused, jocular fashion. He had a twinkle in his eye. He addressed her with a tolerant smile and Mary knew that he would do something to rescue the situation. Jesus had a sweet, easy and affectionate relationship with Mary. It is no bad thing to treat our parents with good humour and consideration and to do our best to please them.

(E) The Servant's obedience.

The servants did what Jesus told them. They filled six large open stone jars to the brim with water. They were a bit like water tubs and contained up to 30 gallons - so they took a bit of filling! The water was used for the ceremonial washing of hands and utensils.

Secondly the servants showed either faith or, perhaps, a mischievous spirit in taking a jug of water from one of the tubs to the master of ceremonies. The servants were obedient to the extent of being prepared to look very foolish.

Christians in the West find obedience very difficult. Very few of the school children I taught would include obedience amongst their list of virtues. Jesus said that those that love him obey his commandments. His followers should obey his instructions for living - as best they can. We also need to remain obedient to our calling however mundane, unrewarding and unappreciated it may seem. I am reminded of Corrie ten Boom's story in 'Tramp for the Lord.' She preached on Sunday morning in a church in Copenhagen on being willing to do whatever Jesus wanted her to do. After the service two nurses invited Corrie to their apartment for lunch. Unfortunately for Corrie their apartment was on the tenth floor of a block of flats that was not provided with a lift. Corrie was almost 80 and she baulked at climbing the stairs. On the fifth floor she collapsed into a chair and prayed, "Why, O Lord, must I have this stair-climbing after this busy day of speaking?" Corrie persevered and on eventually reaching the apartment she was introduced to one of the nurse's parents. Over lunch Corrie was able, with God's help, to lead those parents to the Lord which is what the two nurses had prayed and hoped for. Corrie closed her story with these words: "Thank You, Lord," I prayed as I walked back down the long steps, "for making me walk up all these steps. And next time, Lord, help Corrie ten Boom listen to her own sermon about being willing to go anywhere You tell me to go - even up ten flights of steps."

(F) The Miracle itself.

There is something of the fairy godmother about the miracle at the wedding feast in Cana. The wine was not really necessary - they had obviously drunk plenty. Jesus made a lot more than was required - 1200 bottles of it. The quality of the wine was far better than was needed at that stage of the feast. The best man was amazed at how good it was.

In fairy stories the arrival of the fairy godmother at the party, ball or celebration results in something lovely, something special, being contributed. She adds the icing to the cake. So Jesus makes the bridegroom and bride a very wonderful gift. He did something similar at the feeding of the 5000. Remember the 12 baskets full left over? The crowd had never eaten fish and bread like it. They pursued Jesus, eager for more.

Jesus will add something if invited to our celebrations. He has never been a kill joy! There is a special atmosphere at the wedding of two Christians where Jesus is made much of. I am not usually a great fan of weddings but I was full of happiness at my nephew Michael's Christian ceremony and it was just such a thrilling experience to sing Charles Wesley's great hymn, 'And can it be', at my niece Angela's wedding. One of the best parties I attended was the Ruby Wedding Celebration of my old friends Mr and Mrs Vincent. There was no doubt who was the special guest at their anniversary. We sang some hymns and their three grandsons entertained us with gospel songs. It made an abiding impression.

(G) The ignored aside.

Jesus did say to his mother: "My time has not yet come." I am inclined to think that Mary did not take much notice of this remark at the time. It was a gentle rebuke to Mary who had been so impatient for Jesus to assume the Messianic mantel. She wanted her son to make a name for himself, to set up his kingdom and establish Israel's golden age.

The sign itself was a kind of protest. It was so easy for Jesus to perform this spectacular miracle and make lavish provision for the wedding feast and happiness of all concerned. Jesus knew that if the success of his ministry depended upon miracles of this nature he would have no problem building his kingdom.

Right at the beginning of his mission Jesus was aware of a special work that God wanted him to do - a redemptive, saving, atoning work. In that hour there was no miracle. Jesus suffered, bled and died along with the two thieves on his left and right. But there, raised up twixt earth and heaven, he made sacrifice for mankind's sins.

(G) John's concluding remark.

John explains how this first miracle was a sign. He writes: He (Jesus) thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. v11.

We see something of Christ's remarkable grace in the first miracle. John writes in the first chapter of his gospel: We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John1v14. Jesus was seen at his best whenever his grace was revealed. That was his glory. He was under no obligation to give at the wedding feast of Cana but he gave willingly, lavishly and of the finest quality. He displayed both his power but also his abundant generosity and goodwill towards men. It persuaded his disciples to put their faith in him.

The miracle of changing water to wine was done at a humble wedding of village folk. It wasn't a grand occasion. Mary and her son were not grand people! Jesus never reserved his best, like some Christian performers, for the big occasion. Thank God for that. He has promised to be amongst the two and the three met together in his name. I have experienced Christ's presence and enabling grace on many occasions in the small group of believers at Brockley. We have had sweet times of fellowship. I think we are especially blessed when some of our number emulate the master and give of their best in his name whether it is a nice flower display, the provision of homemade cakes, a musical item, heartfelt prayer or a message delivered in love. Jesus makes glad the heart.