| What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. |
| —John 2:11 |
On this blessed Christmas Day, the Season of Advent comes to a glorious close for another year. We celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lord, and King. We also celebrate the reality of His Second Coming and wait in eager anticipation for His arrival. In the meantime, we can continue to seek to learn more about the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And, that’s the purpose of this blog post.
Have you ever watched anyone build something? Maybe you have watched someone remodel part of your house. Or, maybe you have seen workers building a new house on your street or working on a new office building around the corner from where you live. Or perhaps, you’ve taken notice of new construction in the center of the village, town, or city where you live. Tall cranes lift building materials, as high rise buildings extend far into the air.
It’s fun to watch people build things. Every time we pass the location where building is going on, we can see something new happening. It is kind of exciting and lots of fun to watch a new building being built.
It’s fun to watch people build things in factories, too. Maybe you’ve visited a factory and watched the workers build something. It’s fun to watch how they start out with very little and add more and more pieces until whatever they are building takes shape.
For many years, I worked as a fire protection engineer for a large insurance company that insured large factories, as well as large shopping malls, hospitals, and other very large facilities. Many times, when I visited one of our insured facilities, I would observe new construction. And, in the manufacturing facilities, I would often watch as machines built whatever that particular factory created as one of its products. I confess that it was fascinating to see how different products were made.
Out in Appleton, Wisconsin, there is a manufacturing facility known as Pierce Manufacturing Company. Do you know what they make at that factory? They make fire engines and fire trucks. Do you know what the difference is between a fire engine and a fire truck? A fire engine carries hose and pumps water and a fire truck carries ladders and tools. Each type of fire apparatus serves a specific purpose.
When you watch a fire engine being built, it is quite a neat experience. You watch them start by constructing a heavy metal frame and then build all the metal compartments. You can see them place the diesel engine and transmission on the frame and mount the pump that will pump water onto a fire. Every part of the fire engine goes in a specific place on the vehicle and serves a particular purpose.
When they are almost finished building the fire engine, one of the last things they do is to paint it. And, while each fire department may have a particular color scheme, almost every fire engine gets painted red. Long ago someone decided that the color “red” represented the color of flames and so fire apparatus became painted red to help warn people of danger. The people who choose to paint the fire engine red do so for a purpose.
The Scripture passage for today is found in John 2:1-11, where Jesus performs a significant miracle at the very beginning of His formal earthly ministry. Jesus performs this miracle for a purpose. Please take note of this description:
1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Here in the Gospel of John we find the story of Jesus attending a wedding at Cana. This is a really interesting account where Jesus performs an amazing miracle: He turns ordinary water into wine. Jesus did this miracle for a purpose. He acted deliberately. It’s important for us to understand that God wants us to do things on purpose. As we learn more about God, we will begin to understand that He wants all of us to live every aspect of our daily lives on purpose.
We must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within all who believe in the life-transforming power of the living Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will prompt us to act with purpose. Doing so will bring glory to God and give those of us who act obediently great joy.
