The Miracles of JesusSample

Water Into Wine

Shortly after Jesus began His earthly ministry, He attended a wedding in Cana with His mother and His disciples. It was customary to offer wine at most festivities, especially weddings. As the event went on, the wine supply came to an end. Apparently, this was uncommon and would even cause the host embarrassment. 

Jesus’s mother came to Him to let Him know the wine was gone. Maybe Mary was a “fixer” and wanted to solve a problem, or maybe she was fully confident that her son would have a solution. He responded to her that His time “had not yet come.” But even though He said that, He still did something about the wine shortage. 

Jesus told the servants to fill the nearby jars full of water. There were six of them and each held 20 to 30 gallons. In the Jewish culture, these jars were used in a washing ceremony, and when they washed, they’d be cleansed spiritually. 

Once the jars were full, Jesus told the servants to give some water to the master of the ceremony. They scooped it out to take to the master, but instead of tasting water, he tasted wine. And not just any wine—really good wine. He was blown away by this gesture, as it was completely acceptable that the best wine was used at the beginning of the celebration, leaving the cheaper wine for later. This was the first miracle that Jesus performed. It showed His power and the glory of God, and many people came to believe in Him.

Today’s Takeaway: God’s Abundance
The amount of water that Jesus turned into wine was anywhere from 120 to 180 gallons, depending on the size of the jar. Today, that would equate to 590 to 880 regular bottles of wine. We don’t know how long into the celebration they were, but to make this much water into wine and for it to be such a high quality just shows the heart of our God. 

He’s an abundant God, providing more than we need. He lavishes us with His love, provision, and grace. What God gives to us can’t be measured. His resources are unlimited, His love is unconditional, and His grace is unbounded. 

Whatever it is we lean on to make us feel better about ourselves or use to “cleanse” our consciences is no longer necessary because of the unlimited, unconditional, and unbounded love of our good God. This incredible unleashing of grace and mercy from God is more than enough to cover our past, present, and future sins. May we always remember that with our God comes an abundance of everything we need.