The Beginning of Miracles Which Jesus Did

The Beginning of Miracles Which Jesus Did

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 20, 1890,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested forth His Glory; and His disciples believed on Him." John
2:11.

AT this time I shall not consider the relation of this miracle to total
abstinence. The wine which Jesus made was good wine and it was made of
water–we are not likely to meet with anything of the kind in this
country where the wine is seldom made from the pure juice of the
grape–and where it is not known who made it, or of what it is made.
What is now called wine is a very different liquid from that which our
Lord Divinely produced. We use our Christian liberty to abstain from
wine and we judge that our Savior would approve of our avoiding that
which, in these days, makes our brother to offend. We who quit the
intoxicating cup of today have our ways of viewing our Master's action
in this instance and we do not find it difficult to see wisdom and
holiness in it. But even if we could not so interpret what He did, we
should not dare to question Him. Where others quibble, we adore.

Even this is more than I meant to have said, for my object, this
morning, is far removed from this controversy. I pursue a spiritual
theme and pray for help from on high to treat it aright. We find this
miracle only in John. Neither Matthew, nor Mark, nor Luke has a word of
it. How did John come to know of it? In part it was because of his
being present. But the preface in reference to the mother of Jesus came
to him in another way, we think. Remember our Lord's words to John from
the Cross and how it is written, "From that hour that disciple took her
unto his own home"? I believe that no one heard the words of Jesus to
His mother but Mary herself. It was after the manner of His delicacy to
utter a reproof to her when she was alone.

But when John and the honored mother conversed together, she, in all
probability, reminded him of the miracle and told him of her mistake.
Saints gain precious things from God's poor and tried servants–and
those who entertain the widow and the fatherless shall not go without
reward. If my conjecture is correct, I see the holy modesty of "the
mother of Jesus"–that she narrated her own fault and did not forbid
John to mention it. The Holy Spirit moved the Evangelist to chronicle
not only the miracle, but the error of Mary. It was wise, for it is a
conclusive argument against the notion that the mother of Jesus can
intercede for us with her Son and use authority with Him. It is evident
from this narrative that our Lord would tolerate no such idea, either
in her mind or in ours.

"Woman, what have I to do with you?" is a sentence which rings the
death knell of any idea of our Lord's being moved by relationships
according to the flesh. With all loving respect He yet very decidedly
shuts out all interference from Mary–for His kingdom was to be
according to the spirit and not after the flesh. I delight in
believing, concerning the mother of Jesus, that though she fell into a
natural mistake, yet she did not for an instant persist in it. Neither
did she hide it from John, but probably took care to tell it to him
that no others should ever fall into similar error by thinking of her
in an unfitting manner.

Let it never be forgotten that "the mother of Jesus" had a very firm
and practical faith in her Son, concerning whom angels and Prophets had
borne witness to her. She had seen Him in His infancy and watched Him
as a Child–and it could not have been easy to believe in the Divinity
of One whom you have held as an Infant to be nourished at your breast.
From His marvelous birth she believed in Him and now that she receives
a kind of rebuff from Him, her faith does not fail her, but she calmly
turns to the servants and bids them stand ready to obey His commands,
whatever they might be. She felt that He was quite certain to do the
kind and necessary thing. Even from His words, "My hour is not yet
come," she probably gathered that His hour to work would arrive.

Her faith was accompanied with imperfection, but yet it was of the
right kind. It persevered under difficulty and in the end it was
triumphant, for the wine which had failed became plentiful again and
that which He provided was of

surpassing quality. May we have a faith which will outlive a rebuke!
May we, like Mary, sing, "My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior" and
may Jesus be to us, as He was to her–a trusted and beloved One upon
whom our soul has learned to wait with confidence.

With that end in view I have taken this subject for discourse. Oh, that
His disciples may trust Him more and more! John said, in another place,
concerning the doings of our Lord, "These are written that you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
you might have life through His name." Truly, I can say this sermon is
preached that my beloved hearers may believe on the Lord Jesus and be
saved! We shall consider three things in connection with the text.
First, the significance of this beginning of miracles. Read "signs"
instead of "miracles" and you will be nearer the meaning of the
original. This "beginning of miracles" was intended, like all that
followed it, to be an instructive sign.

Secondly, let us observe its specialty as a manifestation– "And
manifested forth His glory." And then, thirdly, its sufficiency as a
confirmation of faith– "And His disciples believed on Him." It was
calculated to establish their faith and it did so.

I. To begin with, let us think upon THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS BEGINNING
OF SIGNS. May the Holy Spirit graciously assist our thoughts and warm
our hearts! The first sign-wonder that Christ worked was the turning of
water into wine at the wedding at Cana of Galilee and as we may often
judge of a man's course by its beginning–and the beginning is often
the key of all that follows–so we may learn the whole tenor of our
Lord's miracles from this one. Note, first, that this miracle displayed
His self-denial. Our Lord had been a few days before in the wilderness
and after 40 days' fasting He was hungry. It was in His power to have
commanded the stones to become bread–and had He done so the beginning
of signs would have been a miracle worked for His own necessities.

But such a beginning would not have been like His life-course and
especially would it have been wide apart from the conclusion of His
life when it was said of Him, "He saved others; Himself He cannot
save." He would not make bread for Himself, but He will make wine for
others. And the fact that it was wine and not bread that he made, makes
the miracle all the more remarkable. He did not merely make bread for
men, which is a necessity, but He even went further and made wine for
them, which is a luxury, though He would not make even bread for
Himself. You see the sharp contrast between His refusal to help
Himself, even to a crust of bread, and His readiness to give to men not
only what might be necessary for life, but that which was only
necessary for their joy.

When the wine failed, the only danger was that the bride and bridegroom
would be pained and the wedding dishonored–and this our Lord prevents.
He would not allow the humble festival of two villagers to come to an
untimely end when they had so kindly invited Himself and His disciples.
He repaid their courtesy by His spontaneous bounty. How greatly is our
Divine Lord to be admired and beloved by us! Behold His kindness! He
has no selfishness about Him. We can each one cry, "He loved me and
gave Himself for me." He laid down His life for men–He gave His all to
others. No selfish aim ever tinctured that consecrated life of His! For
Himself He reserved no measure or degree of power–for others He used
that power without stint. This beginning of miracles is a display of
unselfish working. Thoughtfulness for others shone in that miracle like
the sun in the heavens.

Next, observe that this miracle was marked with beneficence. It was
"the beginning of miracles" and the first is the keynote for the
rest–happy are we that the first miracle is full of blessing! Moses
commenced his work in Egypt with a miracle of judgment. He cast down a
rod and it became a serpent–and he turned water into blood–but Jesus
overcomes the serpent with the rod of Scripture and turns water into
wine! He works no plagues but heals our sicknesses. Blessed Master–

"Your hand no thunder bears, No terror clothes Your brow, No bolts to
drive our guilty souls

To fiercer flames below."

The mission of Jesus is a happy one and so it opens at a marriage
feast. It is intended to bring joy and gladness to heavy hearts and so
it begins with a deed of royal bounty. At the coronation of kings the
conduit in Cheapside has run with wine and here the water pots are
filled with it to the brim!

The after-miracles were all beneficent. True, He withered a fruitless
fig tree, but it was a beneficent act to wither a tree which drew men
out of their way by false promises of fruit and so caused bitter pangs
of disappointment to hungry

and fainting wayfarers. It was a good thing to teach us all a practical
lesson of sincerity at so small an expense as the withering of a
good-for-nothing tree. All our Lord's actions towards men are full of
royal benevolence and Grace. There will be a day when the Lamb will be
angry and, as a Judge, He will condemn the ungodly–but while this
dispensation lasts, He is to us all mercy, love, kindness and bounty.
If you, my Hearer, will come to Him, you will find that His heart will
go out to you and He will freely bless you with life, rest, peace and
joy. The Lord will bless you and remove the curse far from you.

This beginning of miracles was worked at a wedding to show great
beneficence. Marriage was the last relic of paradise left among men and
Jesus hastened to honor it with His first miracle. Marriage is His
Father's ordinance, for He it was that brought Eve to Adam–and our
Lord worked in harmony with the Father. He symbolically touched the
very springs of manhood and gave His sanction to that ordinance whereby
the race is perpetuated. Jesus comes to a marriage and gives His
blessing that we may know that our family life is under His care. How
much we owe to the joys of our domestic relationships! Thereby life is
raised from water into wine. We have sometimes thought it was almost a
proof of the Divinity of Christianity that there could be homes so
happy as some of our homes have been made by the Presence of our dear
Lord whom we invited to our wedding feast–and who has never gone
away–but has stayed with us all these happy years! It was a miracle
which, by honoring marriage, confirmed an institution fraught with
happiness to our race.

But, next, it was a miracle most compassionate. Our Lord's miracles
were worked, in each case, to meet a need. The wine had failed at the
wedding feast and our Lord had come in at the time of the pinch, when
the bridegroom was fearful of being made ashamed. That need was a great
blessing. If there had been sufficient wine for the feast, Jesus had
not worked this miracle and they had never tasted this purest and best
of wine! It is a blessed need which makes room for Jesus to come in
with miracles of love. It is good to run short that we may be driven to
the Lord by our necessity, for He will more than supply it.

My dear Hearer, if you have no need, Christ will not come to you. But
if you are in dire necessity, His hands shall be stretched out to you.
If your needs stand before you like huge empty water pots, or if your
soul is as full of grief as those same pots were filled with water up
to the brim, Jesus can, by His sweet will, turn all the water into
wine–the sighing into singing! Be glad to be very weak, that the power
of God may rest upon you! As for me, I am more and more dependent upon
the Lord for every particle of strength. My deacons and elders know how
often on a Sunday morning, before coming into the pulpit, I have
thanked God that it is so. I am glad to be entirely dependent upon the
Lord and to have such a failure as to all my natural wine of ability
that there may be occasion for my Lord to come in and supply wine of
strength, of another and more Divine quality.

We are likely to do our work best when we feel most our insufficiency
and are driven to God for help. If we go blundering to our service, we
shall fail. But if we go tremblingly as to ourselves, by confidently
looking up to the Lord, we shall be more than conquerors! If we have a
great need. If something essential has given out. If we are likely to
be despised for failure–let us in faith expect the Lord Jesus to come
for our deliverance! I gather from this miracle that our Lord looks to
man's necessities and not to his possessions. He has an eye to our
failures and needs–and He makes our distress the platform upon which
He manifests His Glory by supplying all our needs.

Further, I cannot help noticing how condescending was this miracle! We
are told, twice, that it was performed at Cana in Galilee. Twice is
this mentioned so that we may observe it well. Our Lord did not choose
the high places of Jerusalem, nor any of the notable cities of
Palestine as the scene of His first miracle–He went to a quiet village
in Galilee, Galilee of the Gentiles, a district much despised–and
there He worked His first miracle at the city of rushes and canes, even
Cana in Galilee. He worked the sign, not on a spiritual and sacred
occasion, nor before ecclesiastics and scientists. Some seem to fancy
that all our Lord does must be done in churches or cathedrals. No, no!
This miracle was in a private house and that not at a Prayer Meeting or
a Bible reading, but at the marriage of a couple of poor peasants,
names unknown.

See how Jesus condescends to the common places of life and sheds a
blessing upon the secular side of our existence! Those who gave that
feast were people of slender means. The wine would not have been so
soon exhausted if they had been very rich. It is true that seven more
came to the wedding than they had expected, but still, if they had been
wealthy people they would have had more than enough to satisfy seven
extra guests, for Easterns kept open house for almost everybody during
the marriage week. They were by no means an aristocratic party, or a
set of Israel's notables. Why did not our

Lord begin His miracles before the king, or the governor, or at least
in the presence of the high priest and the scribes and doctors of the
Law? Our Lord chose not to make His first appeal to the great and
dignified.

I feel much comfort in this fact–that He comes to commonplace
individuals is bliss to me! You and I may, in station and in wealth, be
low down in the scale, but Jesus stoops to men of mean estate. To
common spots like this Newington, on the south side of the Thames, the
Lord has come to visit His people! Here, also, has He worked His
transformations and many a watery life has been made rich and full
through His Grace! My dear Hearer, Jesus can come to you, though you
are only a laborer or a servant, or a poor tradesman, or the wife of an
artisan! Our Lord loves the poor! He is a great frequenter of cottages.
He stops not for grand occasions, but He makes His abode with the
lowly. He is full of condescension.

This first of miracles was most munificent. He did not, at the wedding,
multiply the bread–He dealt with a luxury and rejoiced their hearts
with that which was as the pure blood of the grape. When our Lord fed
the multitudes in the wilderness, He might have given them each a bit
of bread to keep them from famishing. But He never does things in a
beggarly, workhouse style and therefore He added fish to be a relish
with their bread. Our Lord not only gives existence, but happy
existence which is truly life. He does not give to men just enough for
their necessity, but He gives up to the higher degree which we call
enjoyment. Here He turns good wholesome water into a sweeter, richer,
more nourishing beverage–perhaps we little know how truly good and
sustaining that God-made drink was to those who were privileged to
taste it.

Our dear Master will give to all those who are His followers a joy
unspeakable and full of glory. They shall not only have enough Grace to
live by so as barely to hope and serve, but they shall drink of "wines
on the lees well-refined" and shall have Grace to sing with, Grace to
rejoice with, Grace to fill them with assurance and cause them to
overflow with delight. Our Beloved has not only brought us to the house
of bread, but to the banquet of wine! We have Heaven here below. Jesus
does not measure out Grace by the drop, as chemists do their
medicines–He gives liberally–His vessels are filled to the brim. And
the quality is as notable as the quantity–He gives the best of the
best–joys, raptures and ecstasies.

O my Soul, at what a royal table do you sit! He daily loads you with
benefits. What a gracious miracle it was! How free! How unconstrained!
He did not need pressing to do it. Mary must not interfere. Stand back,
good woman, for the Lord knows what need there is without your telling
Him! Dear Friend, you think, perhaps, that you must pray up to a
certain quantity, but the Lord is much more ready to give than you are
to pray. It is not your prayer that will make Him willing to bless you,
for He is willing, even now, to do for you exceeding abundantly above
what you ask or even think! To obtain the supply of wine it is
noteworthy that nothing was required from men but what was very simple
and easy. Hasten, you obedient servants, to fetch water–just draw it
from the well and pour it into those large water pots–that is all you
have to do!

The Lord Jesus does not come to us with hard conditions and exacting
terms. Dream not that to be saved you have to do or feel some great
thing. As you are you may believe in Jesus to eternal life! Have faith
enough to draw out at the Lord's bidding and, to your own amazement,
there will be wine where before there was only water! The Lord, by His
Spirit, can come and change your heart and renew your spirit so that
where only a little natural thought has been, there will be spiritual
life and feeling! He will do this without pressing and persuading.
Grace is free! Jesus has a tender heart towards needy sinners–the
spear has laid it open–a prayer will touch it.

The first miracle was prophetic. At a wedding our Lord begins His
signs. To a marriage feast He invites us now. At a glorious marriage
supper all will end. The story of our Bible ends like all well-told
tales, with–they were married and lived happy ever afterwards–for
proof read the Book of the Revelation. Our Lord will come to celebrate
a wedding between Himself and His Church and all the wine they will
drink at that high festival will be of His own providing and all the
joy and bliss will be of His own giving! He is the sun of Heaven's day!
He is the glory of the glorified! He will take care that throughout the
millennial age, yes, and throughout eternity, the joy of His chosen
shall never fail but they shall joy in God and in Himself without
measure and without bound.

Our Lord began with this special miracle as if to show us that He had
come here to transform and transfigure all things–to fulfill the Law
and its types–putting into it substance and reality. He began with
this special miracle to take man and lift him up from a fallen creature
into a Heaven-born son and heir! Jesus has come to rid this planet of
her mists

and to array it in garments of glory and beauty. Soon shall we see new
heavens and a new earth! The new Jerusalem will come down out of Heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband! Jesus has come
to elevate and to fulfill–and He gives the token of this in this
beginning of signs.

II. Secondly, I want you to notice in this miracle ITS SPECIALTY AS A
MANIFESTATION. "This beginning of

miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory."
I believe that there is a very clear connection between the first
chapter of this Gospel and the passage before us. John, in the first
chapter, said, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and
we beheld His Glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father),
full of Grace and truth." Here you have an unveiling of that Grace and
Glory. Observe that He manifested forth His Glory. Truly, He glorified
the Father, for that was His great end and aim, but yet He manifested
forth His own Glory in that very act.

Notice that it was His own Glory which was manifested. This was never
said of any Prophet or saint. Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah–none of
these ever manifested their own glory–indeed, they had no glory to
manifest! Here is One greater than a Prophet! Here is One greater than
the holiest of men! He manifested His own Glory–it could not be
otherwise. I feel that I must adore my Lord Jesus while I read these
words. Jesus revealed His own Glory as God and Man. During all those
former years it had been veiled. He had been a Boy obedient at home, a
young Man industrious as a carpenter at Nazareth–then His Glory was a
spring shut up, a fountain sealed–but now it began to flow forth in
the ruddy stream of this great miracle!

If you will think of it, you will see more clearly what Glory it was.
He was a Man like other men and yet at will He turned water into wine!
He was a Man with a mother–His mother was there as if to remind us
that He was born of woman. He was a Man with a mother and yet He was so
truly "God over all" that He created, by His will, an abundance of
wine. He was but one among many wedding guests with His six humble
followers, but yet He acted the Creator's part! He sat not arrayed in
high priest's garments, nor did He wear the Pharisee's phylacteries,
nor any other form of ornament betokening ecclesiastical office or
profession–yet He did greater wonders than they could attempt. He was
simply a Man among men and yet He was God among men! His wish was Law
in the world of matter so that water received the qualities of wine.
Adore Him, Brothers and Sisters! Adore Him reverently! Bow low before
Him who was a Man, a real Man and yet worked as only Jehovah Himself
can work! Worship Him who counts it not robbery to be equal with God
and yet is found among the guests at a lowly marriage, manifesting His
Glory even there!

Observe, He manifested His Glory by operating beyond the power of
Nature. Nature does not in an instant turn water into wine–if this is
done it must be by the direct hand of the Lord. It is true there are
processes by which the dewdrop enters the berry of the grape and is
gradually, by secret arrangements, turned into refreshing juice. But by
what power could water be taken from an earthen vessel and be
transmuted into wine while being carried to the table? None but God
Himself could do this and as Jesus did it, He therein displayed His
Godhead. By doing this He showed that He had all power on earth. He can
do as He wills and by His one act of creation, or transformation, He
makes manifest the glory of His power.

He did this by partly operating without any instrument. When Moses
sweetened the bitter water it was by a tree which the Lord showed to
him. When Elisha purged the springs he threw salt into the water. We
have no instrumentality here. Whenever our Lord did use visible means
He took care to select such as in themselves were evidently
insufficient for the purpose, if not opposed to His design as, for
instance, when He healed the blind man by making clay with spittle and
putting it on his eyes–a thing to blind him, rather than to open his
eyes. Here, however, our Lord had no instrument whatever. He did not
even speak a word and say, "Water, blush into wine." No, He simply
willed and it was done! How divinely does He manifest His Glory in this
respect!

And He operated so easily and so majestically that He therein reminds
us of the method and way of the great God. He simply says, "Fill the
water pots," and the servants do His bidding with enthusiasm, for He is
Master of all minds. "Draw out now," He says, and in the process of
bearing it to the ruler of the feast the water is turned into wine!
Here is no effort, no breathing as of one gathering up his strength to
perform a feat. The earth revolves, but the wheel of Nature never
grinds upon its axle. God acts by His Laws in a perfectly natural and
unconstrained manner. Creation and Providence abide in that majestic
silence which comes of Omnipotence. All goes easily where God is. With
His own will He can do all things for us and in a moment turn the
waters of our grief into joy.

Our Lord manifested His Glory by operating naturally and without
display. I really believe that if you could have worked this wonder you
would have said to the ruler of the feast, "Call upon all the guests to
remark that the wine has failed and I am about to create a new supply.
See this huge water pot? Mark how I have it filled with water that you
may know that there is no wine in it. Observe me while I work the
transformation." Then you would have spoken aloud, or you would have
gone through a series of performances. Jesus did nothing of the kind!
He hates display. He will not have His kingdom come with observation.
He shuns pomp, noise and ceremony. He but acts like a God whose wonders
are too many to be made matters of note to Himself. It was God-like on
our Lord's part to perform so great a work without appearing to be
doing anything uncommon.

That He did literally perform the miracle was certified by impartial
witnesses. John, or Philip, or the whole six might have said, "Master,
we will fill the water pots with water." But this must not be so, lest
there should be a suspicion of collusion between the Master and the
disciples. The ordinary servants must fill the water pots with water.
Again, the disciples would have been very pleased to bear the wine to
the ruler of the feast, saying, "Here is the wine which our great and
good Master has made for you." No, the servants shall bring in the wine
and say nothing at all about from where it came–and the chief witness
that what they bring is really wine, and wine of the best quality,
shall be the master of the ceremonies–a gentleman not at all
spiritually-minded, but one who has been at many such feasts and knows
the custom of them and has a proverb ready to set it forth.

He was evidently a man who was a judge of the quality of wine and we
may safely accept his verdict–"You have kept the best wine until now."
The less spiritual the man in this case, the better the witness to the
reality of the miracle! If he had been a follower of Jesus he might
have been suspected of being in the swim with Him and His disciples.
But you can see he is a man of another mold altogether. God's work is
fact, not fiction–it appeals to faith, not to imagination. God does
His transforming work in such a way that He will have witnesses ready
to attest it. As when Christ rose from the dead there were appointed
witnesses to certify it–so His first miracle is certified beyond all
question as real and true by the best of witnesses.

There was a special reason for this. Oh, my beloved Hearers, if you
come to Christ He will not deceive you! His blessings are not dreams!
If you will come and trust in Jesus, the work He will do for you will
be as real as what He did at Cana! Even the ungodly shall be obliged to
see that God has made a change in you. When they see your new life,
they will say, "Here is something good, the likes of which we never saw
in him before." Come, I pray you, and take Christ to be your All in All
and He will be, in very truth, all that you need! Trust Him with your
sins and He will bring real pardon. Trust Him with your troubles–He
will give you perfect rest! Trust Him with your evil nature–He will
renew you! He is no pretender to deeds which He does not perform. He
did by the witness of everybody at the marriage actually turn water
into wine of special quality–and so He can now transform your
character and make it such as Nature, when best educated, can never
produce!

I say again, the specialty of this manifestation lies in the fact that
it revealed the Lord Jesus, by His own Almighty power, uplifting
everything He touched, transforming men, things and facts into nobler
ones than they were before, or could ever have become. This is the
specialty of the manifestation of Christ–He says, "Behold, I make all
things new." He brings forth the best last! He raises the poor from
hunger to feasting! He lifts up fallen humanity into something so
glorious that it stands, in His Person, near to the Throne of God! In
all this Christ is revealed and His name is glorified!

III. And now, lastly, I think we have here A REASON FOR THE CONFIRMING
OF FAITH. It is said, "And His

disciples believed on Him." Brothers and Sisters, notice something
here. How did John know that the disciples believed on Him? Why,
because he was one of them and he himself believed on Him. The best
witness is that of one who has a share in the fact. When you feel a
thing yourself, you have a full assurance of it. John knew that the
other five disciples believed on Jesus by what they said to him, for
their feelings coincided with his own. Let us see to it that we, also,
share in the faith which the marvels of our Lord are designed to
produce.

Note that the guests at that feast all partook of the wine but the
disciples at that feast had something far better– they had an increase
of faith. An increase of faith is better, far, than all the dainties of
a feast. Others ate and drank but these men saw God in Christ Jesus
manifesting His Glory! Our enquiry is, What was there in this miracle
which would tend to confirm their faith? Notice that I say to confirm
their faith. It did not originate their faith, but it established it.

Their faith had been originated by the Word of the Lord preached by
John the Baptist–they had believed in Jesus as the Lamb of God which
takes away the sin of the world.

Secondly, they had enjoyed personal communion with Jesus, by going to
Him and dwelling with Him. This had greatly strengthened their faith.
And now they begin to taste of the benefit of being associated with
Jesus and to see for themselves what Jesus was able to do. Thus their
faith grew. His disciples believed on Him already, but this miracle
confirmed their confidence. The miracle abundantly justified the
disciples in implicitly believing in Jesus for it is manifest that one
miracle proves the power to work every miracle. If Christ can turn
water into wine by His will, He can do anything and everything. If
Jesus has once exercised a power beyond Nature, we may readily believe
that He can do it again–there is no limit to His power–He is God and
with God all things are possible. Thus, the first miracle rightly
confirmed their

faith.

But, next, it showed their Master's readiness to meet unexpected
difficulties. Nobody had foreseen that the wine would fail. Jesus had
not gone to the marriage, prepared and primed, as we say among men. The
demand came all of a sudden and the supply came, too. The wine ran out
and He was ready for the difficulty. Does not this confirm your faith?
Christ is always ready for every emergency! Something may happen
tomorrow that you have not thought of–Christ will be ready for the
unexpected. Between here and Heaven you will meet with a great many
unlikely events, but they will not be surprises to Him. He has clear
foresight–when the trial comes He will provide–"In the mount of the
Lord it shall be seen."

Again, their faith was confirmed because He had showed that He could
allow nothing to fail with which He was connected. I like to feel sure
that Jesus is with me in any business, for then I know that the
pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hands. True, it was not the
wedding of one of His relatives or disciples, but still it was a
marriage at which He was a guest and He would not suffer it to be said
that they ran short of provisions when He was there. His connection
with the feast may seem to have been remote, but it was a
connection–and slight connections are observed by our Lord Jesus! O my
Soul, if I can but touch the hem of His garment, virtue will come from
Him to me! I get into the same boat with Jesus and if I drown Jesus
must drown, too, and therefore I know that I am safe! O my Heart, if I
do but get the hand of Christ in my hand, or my hand in His hand, I am
linked with Him and none can separate us! In that union is my life, my
safety, my success–for nothing that He touches, or that touches Him,
will ever fail.

He is only one of a party at a wedding, but because He is there things
must go well. I think this must have encouraged the disciples much
when, in later days, they began to preach. Their confidence would be
that Jesus was with them and they must prevail. They were poor,
unlearned men and all the scholarship of the age was arrayed against
them–but they said to themselves, "We fear not, for Jesus is in this
controversy and He will see it through." Let us get Christ into our
quarrel for God's Covenant and Truth and the battle is no longer
doubtful! If, in the matter of your salvation, faith brings the Savior
into the business, you may rest assured of eternal life!

It showed to them, next–and this must have greatly confirmed their
faith–that He could use the poorest means. To make wine the Lord had
only water and six large water pots. Yes, but He can make better wine
out of water than men can make out of grapes! Behold His vats and His
winepresses–six water pots of stone. You and I–what are we? Well, we
are poor earthen vessels and a little cracked, I fear. There is little
enough in us and what there is weak as water–but the Lord can bring
forth from us a wine which will cheer the heart of God and man–words
of faith which will please God and save man! The disciples would, in
later days, know themselves to be nothing but earthen vessels and they
would remember that their Lord could work miracles with them. When they
saw the majestic ease of His working, do you not think it confirmed
their faith? He did not call for angels. He did not deliver a long
prayer, much less repeat a sacred incantation. He did but will it and
the deed was done!

Next time they came into a difficulty, the disciples would believe that
the Lord could easily enough appear for them. They would stand still
and see the salvation of God! In some way or other the Lord would
provide and He would do wonders without trouble to Himself. Brothers
and Sisters, we shall come out at the big end of the horn, yet, for God
is with us! It showed them, also, that from now on they need never be
anxious. Will you that read your Greek Testament notice the expression
here? Is it said, "His disciples believed Him"? No. Is it "Believed in
him"? No. "Believed on him"? Yes. It is so in our version, but into
would be more correct. The Greek is, "eis"–His disciples believed into
Him. They so believed that they seemed to submerge themselves into
Jesus!

"Into him"–think what that means! John, Andrew, Nathanael and the
others cast their life-long concerns upon Jesus and felt that they need
never have another care! Jesus would see them through to the end. They
would leave everything to Him. Mary took the matter a little into her
own hands, but she erred therein–the disciples entered into Jesus by
the open door of this confirming miracle and there they rested. Be this
your condition–"Casting all your care on Him, for He cares for you."
They believed right into Jesus. It is one thing to believe in Him and
another thing to believe Him–it is a restful thing to believe on Him,
but it is best of all to believe right into Him so that your very
personality is swallowed up in Christ and you feel the bliss of living,
loving, lasting union with Him!

Those six men could not have produced a drop of wine for the
wedding–but count their Master in with them and the seven could flood
the streets with it if there had been need! Entering into partnership
with Jesus, their faith rose as a morning without clouds. Now were they
sure, steadfast, strong–for their weak and watery faith had gained the
fullness and richness of generous wine!

I have done when I have said to any here who are undecided–see, my
dear Hearer, Jesus Christ will come and visit such as you are! He is
willing to go to plain men's houses even when they have a feast going
on. Ask Him to come to you just as you are. See how He is able to bless
human joy! You think, perhaps, that you will go to Jesus next time you
are in sorrow, but I say to you, come to Him at once, while you are in
joy. You that are getting on in business, you that rejoice over a
new-born child, you that are lately married, you that have passed an
examination with honors–come to Jesus in your joy–and ask Him to
raise your happiness to a higher degree and quality and elevate it till
it touches the joy of the Lord!

Jesus is able to raise you, beloved Friend, from what you now are into
something better, fuller, grander, nobler, holier and more God-like!
May He do it now! Believe in Him! Believe Him! Believe on Him! Believe
into Him and it shall be done! Amen.

PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON– John 1:35-51; 3:1-11.