We begin today with a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus' mother, Mary, was at the wedding when Jesus and his disciples were called to the marriage. We do not know if Jesus was called specifically for the miracle that was about to occur or if He was called for other reasons.

At this wedding, there was a lack of wine. There could have been a lack of wine because of poor planning, a bigger party than expected or maybe people were being greedy. All that was provided, was gone.

There are times in our life where we see lack in our life. Stuff comes up in our life. We run out of time, we run out of patience, we run out of knowledge, we run out of strength, sometimes we may run out of money. There are times where this happens because we didn't plan well, sometimes more was required than we expected and sometimes people drain us.

A lack of wine was not going to cause major problems. People were not going to get sick, die or impact their life in any way beyond this moment if there was no more wine. A lack of wine was not even going to nullify or condemn this marriage.

Mary tells Jesus the problem of a lack of wine. She does not tell Him how to fix it, when to fix it or even that He must fix it. Very simply, we need to tell Jesus our issues.

Jesus often came to people that had apparent needs and still ask them what they wanted or needed. He already knows what we want and what we need. He already has an answer for each of us. He already knows the path that we need to take to get us where we need to be. He has already made that path straight for us. He not only knows where we are going but He knows what He has waiting for us in that place.

Jesus asks His mom, what does a lack of wine have to do with us? Then He states that His time has not yet come. We have to remember that Jesus always answers our requests. The answer is either yes, no or not yet. Not yet may be years from now, months from now, days from now, hours from now or moments from now.

This sounds as if Mary was ignoring Jesus. She did not defend herself, she did not argue, she did not attempt to talk Jesus into anything nor did she beg Jesus.

She speaks by faith, saying whatever He tells you to do, do it. This should be the summary statement of all of our actions.

There were 6 water pots used for the Jews and Pharisees to wash their hands. The Jews and Pharisees washed their hands a lot, especially before they ate. This was done for purification and out of tradition.

The water pots held two or three firkins apiece. A firkin is the equivalent to 10 gallons. Each one of the pots held 20-30 gallons each. With 6 pots, there was 120 - 180 gallons of capacity.

Many commentaries agree that 120 - 180 gallons of wine would have been too much for this wedding feast. Jesus is setting up a miracle not only for the wedding but likely for the future of the bride & groom. God did a similar miracle for the poor widow in 2 Kings chapter 4 when God multiplied the oil in her pots to pay her debt and live with her children off of the excess.

You can't do things 1/2 way with God. God expects us to fill our pots. Fill our pots with what we have. Fill our pots in faith. Fill our pots in obedience.

Water is an ingredient of wine. Water is only a portion of what is needed to make wine. We may only have the vision, the desire or the plan. We may only have some of the required skills. We may only have an ingredient needed for the miracle that God wants to do in our life. We see this throughout the scripture. As long as the earth remains there will be seed time and harvest. Jesus used a few fish sandwiches to feed thousands. He used the ingredients within the disciples to do miraculous things. Whatever ingredients we have, God desperately wants us to give them to Him so that He can do the miraculous. God doesn't expect you to complete the task with partial ingredients. He expects you to give Him the ingredients that you possess and allow Him to add the rest.

Jesus tells the servants to fill the pots with water. God loves to use water to do miracles. We know that water makes up 65% of our body and 71% of the earth. The average person can only survive 3 days without water. Water is mentioned over 600 times in scripture. This is more than faith, prayer, love or worship. Ultimately, water in scripture points us to Jesus, the Living Water.

Moses was rescued as a baby in the water. Jesus is able to rescue us from helpless situations. God used Moses to turn water into blood. Jesus is the judge and is the one who brings justice. God split the waters of the Red Sea so His people could escape slavery and death. Jesus is the one who rescues and frees us. God poured water out of a rock to give drink to thousands of people. Jesus is our provider. God warned Noah of the waters that were coming to spare himself, his family and humanity. Jesus is our protector, especially in the midst of surrounding danger. God stopped the rain for 3 years. Jesus is God over nature. Psalm chapter 24 stanza 2 tells us that the world was founded upon the seas and established upon the floods including the sea. Jesus is the creator. God gave instruction multiple times for healing to come to people by washing themselves in water. Jesus is our healer. Jesus multiple times used the fish in the water to bring about a miracle. Jesus is the one who is able, and willing, to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think. We are baptized using water. Jesus is our salvation. Jesus gives the water that causes us to never thirst again. Jesus is all that we need. Jesus even walked on water. Jesus is the miracle worker.

We should be like those water pots, continually being filled with Jesus!

This takes faith! They saw water poured into the pots but the governor is expecting wine to be poured out. There was not some long drawn out prayer to God to do this miracle. The guests, especially the governor, surely didn't know what was going on. These servants were taking a risk bringing water to the governor who was expecting wine. Are we willing to do the risky, to obey God?

Can you imagine this tension? The servants put water in the pots and then served it to the governor. The governor immediately calls for the groom. If there was ANY doubt in the servants minds about the power of Jesus (who had not yet done any miracles) they had to have been terrified!

The best wine was always brought out at the beginning because at that time, all the guests could appreciate the wine and would not have yet been drunk. Jesus' work always produces better than what we produce on our own.

Jesus would go on to do amazing miracles with the rest of His time on earth. God has repeatedly reminded us that the earth is subject to it's creator. He has stopped the sun so that His people could win a battle. He has shut lions mouths to save His guy. He has protected three of His boys when they were thrown into fiery furnace. He has withered a fig tree, calmed storms turned water into wine. Jesus continues to do amazing miracles for us today!

Here are 7 things we can learn from this miracle.
1. Whenever Jesus is present there is an opportunity for a miracle.
2. Jesus can & will do a miracle for you.
3. God is a God of timing.
4. God can use our seed for a miracle.
5. God can use our faith for a miracle.
6. God can use our obedience for a miracle.
7. Miracles from Jesus will ALWAYS be better than anything you could have done on your own.