Jesus’ First Miracle
Sermon Title: Jesus’ First Miracle
Sermon Text: John 2: 1-12
An Outline of Chapter 2 to 12 is Jesus’ Public Ministry and 13 to 17 you get his private ministry to his disciples.
John chooses eight miracles to record and no two are the same.
1.The first one is water to wine in chapter 2.
2, The second one is healing the nobleman's son in chapter 4.
3. The third one is curing the paralytic in chapter 5.
4. Then in chapter 6 there are two, and they are feeding the 5,000 and
5. walking on the Sea of Galilee.
6. Chapter 9 gives the sixth one, giving sight to the blind.
7. Chapter 11 gives the seventh one, raising Lazarus.
8. In Chapter 21 Christ provided fish for the nets of the disciples.
Eight different unique miracles showing His power over eight different aspects of nature.
And there's no duplication in these. And they all have the same purpose. You say, "What is the purpose?" Why did Christ do these miracles? The answer is in chapter 2 verse 11, right here in our own story that we read. This beginning of miracles, and it's the reason He did all of them, did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth His glory, that's why He did them, in order that men might believe, even as the disciples did there in verse 11. Christ wanted to manifest His glory. What glory? What? The glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. He wanted to reveal His deity by His miracles. Glory means deity.
For your consideration today I want to look at the Scene, then the Situation, the the Supply and then the Significance.
- The Scene 2:1-2
The third day refers to the three days between the time Christ called Philip and Nathanael.
Cana of Galilee was 22 miles away so it took two days to get there. Cana was eight miles from Nazareth so very close to where His family and come to a wedding. Weddings were a very big deal during that time and they usually lasted three to seven days.
- The Situation 2: 3-5
They ran out of wine. A lot of people want to read into scripture and because, like me, they detest alcohol in all its forms, they want to say the wine that Jesus created was no more than grape juice. But we must let scripture be scripture. Wine in the Bible is fermented and not grape juice. Because there wasn’t an refrigeration or preservatives the wine fermented very quickly and was very powerful and drunkenness was a real problem so the Bible put tremendous stringent rules on the consumption of wine and drunkenness. Also in the time of Christ, for the most part, the win was a mixture of three part water for every two part wine.
Today there are more than 40 million problem drinkers in America. Alcohol is the
number one drug problem among teenagers. One in three American families suspects that one or more family members have a drinking problem. Misuse of alcohol costs ournation $100 billion a year in quantifiable cost. Even if I liked the taste of alcohol there is simply too much sorrow and heartache connected to it and I feel avoiding this devastating drug is simply the wisest thing to do.
Moral reasons for not drinking alcohol:
- Alcohol is a mind-altering drug and can be addictive.
- Alcohol does not help anyone doing the will of God and can be a hindrance.
- Alcohol is a highway killer, a home destroyer, a business wrecker and a church splitter.
Questions to ask concerning the drinking of alcohol:
- Does alcohol make me a better person?
- Does alcohol draw me closer to God?
- Does alcohol help me run the race faithfully to the end (Hebrews 12:1-2)?
I hear people ask if it is ok if they drink just socially or in moderation. One out of every three social drinkers become alcoholics. A dog that bit one out of every three visitors would be consider dangerous. Adrian Rogers said “moderation is not the cure for the liquor problem, it is the cause of the liquor problem.”
Biblical reasons for not drinking alcohol:
- Avoiding drinking alcohol is consistent with the principle of edification from 1 Corinthians 6:12. Alcohol does not build you up or make you better for Jesus. Avoiding ensures you will not harm yourself or others.
- Avoiding drinking alcohol is consistent with the principle of refusing that which enslaves us (1 Corinthians 6:12). Alcohol is a drug that can impair the senses and could be addictive.
- Avoiding drinking alcohol is consistent with the ethic of love for believers and non believers alike (1 Cor. 8:13; 9:19-22; 10:32-33). I want to be a godly example and I don’t want anyone ever walking the road of sorrow called alcoholism because they saw me drink.
I agree with John MacArthur. Can I say it is always a sin to take a drink? No.
Can I say it is almost always unwise? Yes, because it violates the biblical principles of wisdom and witness. One of America’s leading pastors is Andy Stanley. He wrote a book entitled The Best Question Ever. That question is this, “What is the wise thing for me to do?” I challenge anyone to show me the superior wisdom of drinking “in moderation,” as opposed to not drinking at all. This is not legalism but love. This is not being anti-biblical but pro-brother and sister. This is not working for evil but for good.
Given the world in which we live I believe such a lifestyle honors the Lord Jesus. I believe it pleases Him and that is all that any Christian should care about.
- The Supply 2: 6-10
Did you ever think about this miracle? Let's think about this miracle. Where does wine come from? Grapes. Where do grapes come from? Vines. Well where do vines come from? Seeds and little vines. Well where do little seeds come from? Other vines. Well where do those other vines come from? Other seeds. Well how do they grow? In the earth. Well what makes them grow? Water and sunlight. Not these, this wine didn't come from any grapes. There never were any grapes. You say, "Wine has to come from grapes." Nope, no grapes here. I'm sure somebody thought, "I wonder where such tasteful grapes were grown." There never were any grapes.
No grapes, no vines, no other vines, no seeds, no dirt, no sun, no water, just wine. That, friends, is a miracle. Christ created wine out of...what?...nothing. Nothing. He eliminated water, created wine. There never were any grapes. There never were any vines. There was no field. Nobody planted them. Nobody cultivated and nobody pressed them down. No. You see, that's a creative miracle, isn't it?
- The Significance
What can we learn from this miracle. In every person’s life there will come a time when you are running on empty spiritually, mentally or financially. I think we can see four steps that must happen in your life before Jesus can fill your life with new wine of His love.
- Admit that there is a problem 2: 1-3
- Honestly bring your problem to Jesus 2: 3-4
- Do whatever Jesus tells you to do to fix the problem 2: 5-10
- Commit yourself to Jesus, the Problem-solver 2:11