When God has something better for you!

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”-John 2:1-5

The first recorded miracle that Jesus performs during His ministry is documented for us here in John 2. Jesus and His disciples are invited to a wedding celebration in the town of Cana. During the wedding feast the supply of wine runs out, so Mary approaches Jesus to intervene. 

“Now there were six water pots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.”-John 2:6

Jesus instructed that each pot be topped off with water and then He instructed the servants to draw some out and take it to the master of the feast:

“When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feasted called the bridegroom.”-John 2:9

The wine was so exemplary that the master of the feast accused the bridegroom of holding back the best wine until last. Jesus used this occasion to declare an important truth; one that is still relevant today! God has something better for you!

“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”-John 1:17

Let’s take a moment to compare what Christ and Moses each did with water. The contrast clarifies the differences between law and grace. In Exodus 7:14-17 we read how Moses turned water to blood. This miracle communicated judgment. Jesus turning water into wine communicates grace. This contrast is clearly seen in John 3:17:

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

The law condemns, however grace saves! Jesus had not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). Jesus often used physical miracles to demonstrate spiritual truths. He healed a man in order to show that he had the authority to forgive sin. He cursed a fig tree as a sign of coming judgment. He raised the dead to prove He is the resurrection and the life. That is why the mention of the six water pots used for ceremonial washing were mentioned. 

This seems to be a significant part of the story. Jesus didn’t turn just any water into wine. He turned the water used in their religious traditions into wine. Jesus was the ultimate expression of those ceremonial washings. The water in those jars could only cleanse a man’s hands; but Jesus could cleanse a man’s soul! Jesus was declaring that he was bringing them something new, something better.

God has something better for you too! Those attending the wedding feast had become so wrapped up in the celebration that they did not recognize that their wine had run dry; that is when Jesus stepped in with something better. Perhaps you are so wrapped up in your sinful life that you didn’t realize that God has something better for you! Jesus is still in the miracle working business, but He isn’t changing water into wine. He is transforming men’s souls and He has something better for you; if you will put your faith in Him. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church