Jesus Turns Water into Wine
The first miracle — the best wine, kept until last, at a village wedding.
At a wedding in Cana the wine runs out, and at his mother's prompting Jesus has the servants fill six stone jars with water, which becomes wine — and the best of the feast. John calls it the beginning of miracles, by which Jesus manifested his glory.
What happened
Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
Fill the waterpots with water... and bear unto the governor of the feast.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
The beginning of miracles... and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
What it means
Jesus' first miracle is quiet and almost hidden — only the servants and disciples know what happened — yet John loads it with meaning. It takes place at a wedding, the Bible's recurring picture of joy and of God's relationship with his people, and it rescues the celebration from failure and shame.
The six stone jars were for the Jewish rites of purification — vessels of the old covenant's ceremonial washing. Jesus fills them and transforms their contents into the wine of the feast, a gentle sign that he brings something new and better than ritual: joy where there was only cleansing. And the governor's surprise — thou hast kept the good wine until now — hints that God saves his best for last.
John calls it the first of the signs by which Jesus manifested forth his glory. The abundance is staggering — well over a hundred gallons of the finest wine — a picture of the lavish generosity of the kingdom. The result is the point: his disciples believed on him. Every sign in John's Gospel is aimed there.
Quick answers
- What was Jesus' first miracle?
- Turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-11) — which John calls the beginning of miracles, by which Jesus first manifested his glory.