THE MIRACLE AT CANA

Last Wednesday, Pastor Robin preached on the miracle described in the gospel of John, chapter 2, verses 1-11, where Jesus changed water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana. In verses 5-10 we read:
His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were set there six water pots of stone… Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from… the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then that which is inferior, but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Pastor Robin made it clear, first of all, that Jesus did not produce an intoxicating alcoholic drink as we think of wine today, but changed the water into pure grape juice of a superior quality. He then stressed on the importance of Jesus’ mother’s advice to the servants, “whatever He says to you, do it.” In our lives too, if we want to see miracles happen, we must do whatever Jesus tells us to do as He speaks to us today in various ways: Through the words of the Bible and through the counsel of His Holy Spirit. Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go, I will guide you with my eye upon you (guide you and watch over you).”
Jesus need not have asked the servants to fill the water pots. He could have simply filled the empty jars with wine, just by a word. When Jesus works miracles in our lives, He always does it in partnership with us. There is always something that we have to do that is our part and then Jesus does His part. It is true that nothing is impossible for God. But in our case we need to say that nothing is impossible with God, because He wants a partnership with us. God seeks a love relationship with us. Our relationship with Him has to be a commitment and cannot be based on mere feeling. The time we give to Him in personal prayer has to be a daily commitment. Pastor Robin compared this to a marriage relationship that has to be based on commitment. If it is based only on feeling, it is bound to break up, as feelings may fade away with changing times and circumstances. So coming back to our partnership with Jesus, it is clear that there is some part that God wants us to do. If we ask God for a good job, we need to look out for it or send our bio-data to various places. If we pray for good health, we also need to eat the right foods, exercise our bodies and get the right amount of rest. When we do our part, we can count on God to do His part and work the miracle that we are seeking. At times we may find that the miracle we seek is not happening. Perhaps God may be waiting for us to take that courageous step towards Him that we may be hesitating to take, finding it very costly in many ways.
Pastor Robin observed that most of us present there were Jesus’ recent miracles of converted hearts, come into the kingdom of God at these end times. He compared it to the best wine that was served last at the wedding of Cana. Praise the Lord!