We had look at the purpose of Jesus performing miracles in the previous post. We have looked at the glory of God that is manifested in that miracle.

Now let us consider another  question that some of us may be wondering about the First Miracle Performed by Jesus in Canna

What can we learn from this miracle >

Let us consider the dialog between the Lord and Mary

Mary:  “They have no wine.”
Jesus : “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?
                My hour has not yet come.”
Mary: “Whatever he says to you, do it”

Running Out Of Wine

This is important for one day, our own wine will deplete as well

We know that wine is an important drink during wedding feast, I am sure that the master must have prepare a lot of wine, but yet there were so many guest. As the result, they finish up all the wine that was prepared. Most of us will find it disappointing

The same thing can happen to our lives as well. There are times where we enjoy peace and joy, and accidents occur. We tried very hard to prevent the problem from happen, but our ability is limited. So the wine we prepare may be used up.

That is when we need Jesus to be with us, to help us with our limitation. We need Jesus to be with us in our home, so that even if our wine ran out, Jesus will be there to help us.

Luckily, the couple invited Jesus to their house for the feast, if not they would have been helpless when the wine had run out. This is a problem that cannot be resolved even with money. There are no 24 hour convenient stores and supermarkets  during the time of Christ and they cannot buy wine even if they had the money.

But because Jesus is with them, he can turn water into wine. That is why we need Jesus in our lives and to allow him to rule over us and our house, we  need to rely on him in time of difficulties and mishaps.

Being Willing To Ask God For Help

Whenever we encounter situation when our wine is used up,  we need to tell our problems to Jesus just like Mary coming to Jesus with the problem.  God is always willing to help us through our difficulties

Sometimes the storms in life can distress us and make us anxious. But we need to rely on God and we need to tell him our suffering and our troubles. But often we choose to share them with friends instead of trusting Jesus.

Indeed friends can sometimes offer us help and advices, but there are many times they can only helplessly watch us in our problems. Perhaps they can make wine, but such processes require time, for no one can turn water into wine like Jesus

But often we find it hard to do so for we often hear comments like “Yes I trust him, but he ignored me in my prayers”

But let us notice what Jesus said to Mary 

“Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? 
  My hour has not yet come.”- Jesus (Jn 2:4)

Jesus did not immediately say “Alright, lets turn some water into wine” but he rejected saying “my hour has not come”. Sometimes we wonder why God does not grant our request now, and when is this “Good time” coming,

It appears as if Jesus did not listen and our problems are still left unsolved .

The Importance Of Following Instructions From The Lord

“Whatever he says to you, do it” –Mary (Jn 2:5)

This is the most important part of the solution is written here. For Mary did not know how or when the Lord will solve the problem, but she believe that God had his time to help. She is willing to believe and wait until Jesus tells them what to do.

So now we hear the instruction so of Jesus

1. Fill the water pots with water
2. Draw some out, bring it to the master of the feast

Step 1 can be followed without consequences, but the second instruction sounds dangerous. Even though others may not know that this was water, but the servants knew. So if we are the servants, can we follow the command of Jesus?

But these servants followed the command and this require both courage and faith. Instead of just putting our focus on the wine, let us look at the faith of these workers. They follow the instructions fully, and the result was that everyone can enjoy the wine.

We all believe in Jesus, but how many of us will be willing to obey his command?  We need to believe in Jesus so that we can receive eternal life, but will we follow all his instructions?

Obedience And Salvation

Jesus once warned us

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
  shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
  who does the will of My Father in heaven.

   Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord,
  have we not prophesied in Your name, cast
   out demons in Your name, and done many
  wonders in Your name?’

  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew
  you; depart from Me, you who practice 
  lawlessness!’” – Jesus (Matt 7:21-23)

The instruction of Jesus are given according to the commands of the father. These command concern salvation, and how can we disobey them if we believe in Jesus and calls him Lord?

Today many Christians called Jesus Lord, but yet the many things they chose to do is not according to his instruction. Some people mock at us wondering why we place so much emphasis in how to perform sacraments such as baptism and holy communion. They accuse us of being legalistic and just following blindly. They often say that as long as we understand the significance and the teaching behind it , it would have been sufficient.

We tell ourselves that because we are under the grace of God, we do not need to adhere to Gods standards in the 10 commandments and man only need to keep coming to Jesus for forgiveness. We unknowing turn the grace of God into a license to disobey him without consequences.

We say that the grace of God is with us, and there are still miracles where demons are being cast out and people healed and that means God is please with us everything is fine.

But the disciple of Jesus did not do that, they believed and followed all the teachings of the Lord. The told people to be baptised for the forgiveness of their sin and told them to follow God.

Today many Christians feel that these do not matter, but  is that what Jesus says?

Jesus mentioned it one more time in Luke saying

Conclusion

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?  Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:  He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” – Jesus (Lk 6:47-49)

When the day of judgement comes, the faith that we build will be flooded. That is the time we can test if our faith could withstand the flood.  At that time, those who choose to follow their own ways will find that their faith collapsing in face of the flood of Gods judgement

From the miracle at Cana we learn that it is important to follow the instruction of Jesus. Perhaps we may think that we have unlimited wine and we do not need the help of Jesus. But we know that even if our wine is unlimited, our life is definitely limited.  All man , be it a king or a beggar, will use up his life

If we run out of wine, Jesus can turn water into wine, and if we run out of life, Jesus can give us everlasting life.

John recorded this miracles so that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, by believing in him, we can receive everlasting life.

Let us keep this message deep within our lives.