The Super Supernatural Savior

The Super Supernatural Savior

Dr. J. Mike Minnix

Introduction

The Bible is filled with the supernatural, from the parting of the Red Sea to the Resurrection of Christ, and we note that biblical miracles cannot be explained apart from the power of God. I have no trouble with miracles, for I am a miracle, at least my conversion was and is a miracle. God took a poor lost sinner like me and saved me by His grace, then he commissioned me to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. Miracles? Sure! I have no problem with the miracles of the Bible.

If you can believe Genesis 1:1, you shouldn't have any trouble with the rest of the Bible. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Look at this great Universe - at least what your eyes can see of it. They tell me there is more of it you can't see, even with telescopes, than that which one can see. There are billions of galaxies and billions of stars in each galaxy. Look at it - God made it all. The God who hurled billions of stars into space simply through His voice, and set up one star (sun) in the midst of the solar system including earth, can do anything He wants to do.

Today I want us to look specifically at the first miracle of Jesus while He was on the earth. Just think of that for a moment. The One who created this earth was outside of it when He made it. Then, to save us, He stepped inside of His creation. After he died on the cross, He rose from the grave, and then stepped outside of His creation again. One day, He is coming back to that which He created. What an amazing Savior.

So, back to our thought for today. Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. Let’s set the scene and see just what he did. A couple, unnamed in the Bible, were being married in the little village of Cana in Galilee. Among others, Jesus, His mother, and His disciples were invited. Some believe that the wedding involved the family of the sister of Mary - the mother of Jesus – in other words, an aunt of Christ. We really do not know for sure, but at any rate Jesus and His disciples went to the wedding feast. As an aside, just think of the Lord of the universe attending a wedding. He fulfilled a request to go to something as common as a wedding, and He did so because He loved people and cared about those things that were important to them. And, also, we need to know that every wedding and every marriage is important to Christ. In fact, Jesus attends every wedding to which He is invited, even to this day. Where two or more are gathered "in His name" He is present.

Weddings in the Bible days were something, and of course they are something special today as well. The bride gets to experience "Here comes the bride," but dad and mom get to experience, "There goes the savings!" But weddings in the Bible days were long drawn-out affairs. The feasting and celebrating prior to the wedding went on for a least a week. Friends and family would come from miles away and would not only wish the couple well but would consume their weight in food and drink while they were present. Something like this must have happened on the occasion before us in the scripture.

A social no-no took place in the wedding at Cana. Right in the middle of the festivities the wine ran out. The mother of Jesus came to Him and explained the situation. Jesus ordered some pots to be filled with water and told the servants to carry the water to the director of the feast. When the water was tasted, the servant went to the bridegroom and told him that he was an amazing host, for he had saved the best wine till the end of the wedding feast. Most people in those days sought to make a good first impression by serving the best wine first and left the cheaper wine till later in the event. The bridegroom must have been astounded for he surely had been told that all the wine was gone. Of course he learned what had happened shortly thereafter.

Now, what does all this mean to us today? We know from the end of this passage that Jesus revealed His glory through this miracle. Again and again, as John points out, the activities of our Lord were to show us something about Himself – His nature, power and purpose. In this particular miracle we see that Jesus as supernatural - He has supernatural power, but we see more than that. To me this miracle is more revealing than the surface events would indicate. In this miracle I see the supernatural ability of Jesus, but I also see the super character of Jesus Christ.

Please note with me four things which show us the super character of the supernatural Savior. As we view these we will answer some difficult questions as well.

I. This Miracle Involved Happiness

Some people think that Christianity is a boring, dry, drab activity. Actually, Jesus Christ was anything but that. Here we find Him at a wedding feast enjoying the happy occasion with the couple, their families and friends. In fact, when something threatened to stop the joy, Jesus performed a miracle to assure that the joy would continue. This tells us a lot about our Lord.

One must be careful not to abuse this miracle however, for Jesus did not intend through this miracle to approve of illegitimate fun. On the contrary, I believe Jesus would tell us that He has created a world with plenty of legitimate pleasure.

Just be assured that Jesus was no kill-joy, no spoil-sport, and no down-in -the-mouth man. He wanted happiness to abound. He came to give life and to give in more abundantly. In fact, there is no greater life to be lived than one lived in and for Jesus Christ.

II. This Miracle Involved The Home

One can never overestimate the value of the home. God attended the first wedding ever performed and that was in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were joined as husband and wife. God actually did more than attend the wedding, He actually performed the ceremony. We might say that it is only fitting that Christ performed His first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

This miracle shows us how much our Lord cares for the home and the great priority that God places upon it. He could have performed his first miracle where thousands would have seen it, but He rather carried out His will in the home of an unnamed couple in a little obscure village. In this way He points to the critical nature of the institution called the home.

I read recently about a woman who went to the doctor concerning her husband. She told the doctor that she was afraid that her husband had some dreadful affliction. She explained that she could talk to him for an hour and a half and it seemed he never heard a word she said. The doctor said, "Ma’am that is not an affliction, but a divine gift!" I don’t think you wives want to vist that doctor.

It is a divine gift however when we understand, view, and react properly toward the divine estate of marriage. God places such great value on the home that it was the first institution created for the welfare of the earth. It all started in Eden when Adam and Eve were joined together. So, marriage came before the institution of government or even the institution of the church. This incident in the life of Jesus is to remind us that God places great significance and prominence upon the home.

Also, note that by preforming his first miracle at a wedding, in a home, Jesus revealed His love for the simplicity of the home. God cares about your home and your family circumstances.

III. This Miracle Involved The Heart

We must note the reason for this miracle. To run out of any needed item during a wedding feast is embarrassing on a monumental level to the families involved. In ancient times it was a disgrace not to provide what was expected in such situations. Christ saw the circumstances, looked into the heart of the poor couple who would suffer shame and disgrace, and loved them enough to perform a miracle in order to save them from the shame that would ensue.

The first miracle of Jesus was not a leg made straight, blind eyes opened, or the dead raised, but was a miracle that concerned a problem involving the emotions and social expectations in two families. It was a miracle that looked at the heart and acted to perform a transformation.

I don’t want to carry the idea encapsulated here to far, but I believe it is safe to say that the miracle performed at Cana was symbolic of what Jesus came to do for all who trust Him. Jesus came to transform the heart of the individual from defeat to victory – from sadness to joy. He came to take away the shame of sin and restore us to the heavenly Father. He came to bring us into the family with proper standing. He came to die on a cross so that we might not be shamed and rejected on the day of the final judgment. He came to change the bland to the beautiful – the lostness of mankind to life eternal.

IV. This Miracle Involved Helpers

In this story we see Jesus using helpers. This is no accident - this is God's plan for the ages. God has so designed His world that using men and women who obey Him is the mabner in which He accomplishes much of His work.

I read a story some time ago about a woman who had a flat tire. A kind man stopped to help her. He got the jack out of the trunk and slammed the trunk closed. Just then, the lady said, “Please don’t make so much noise, my husband is asleep in the backseat and he needs his rest.”

Sadly, there are a lot of people sleeping in God’s house while others are working. Jesus is looking for helpers He can depend on to get His work done. A Master who can turn water into wine can also fill the water pots without help – but He wanted to involve others. He is still doing that today. In fact, think what a joy it was for those waterpot-fillers to live the rest of their lives knowing they had been of use to the Master in the performance of a greart miracle. He will only perform miracles when His people are willing and ready to serve.

V. This Miracle Involved Hope

Jesus did more than was necessary at the wedding at Cana. He provided far more than was needed. That is God’s way of doing things. He brings hope and joy to situations that seem hopeless.

It has been said that anyone can count the seeds in an apple but only God can count the apples in a seed. God always does more than is necessary. He created the world to have far more available for us than is necessary for our mere existence. Think of the pollen in the air during the spring season. Here in the south, the pollen can be blown out of a tree by the wind and it looks like smoke from a fire. Is all that pollen really necessary to keep trees growing and increasing? No, certainly not. A lot of that pollen ends up on our automobiles, the roofs of homes and in the human nose, the latter of which keeps the allergy doctors in business. God always provides more than is needed. In the end, the Lord can and does supply all you need. He is, we can say without equivocation, the only hope for a meaningful, fulfilling. and lasting (everlasting) life.

Conclusion

We note from this incident that Jesus always saves the best till last. The world will give you the best first and then leave you flat in the end. Not Christ! He always has more ahead for us than that which is behind us.

Jesus loves you and cares about you. He cares about your home. He cares about your inner feelings and sorrows. He cares so much that He died at the cross so that you can have eternal life.

But, note also that He wants us to care for others as well. He wants us involved in His amazing, eternal work. Some of us need to get off the bench and into the game. Some people will only serve when a position is available that they consider elevated  enough to boast their image. Very few people desire to be "waterpot fillers," but Jesus performed this first miracle by calling people to make themselves useful in simple tasks. Just remember, Jesus didn’t change the water into wine till some servants were willing to fill the pots with water. Filling water pots may not seem like great work, but the people who helped fill them that day in Cana were so glad that didn’t sit on the sidelines waiting for a more significant task.

Jesus cares so much that He has saved the best till last. Only in eternity will we know all that Jesus Christ has prepared for those of us who know Him. Do you know Him as your Savior? You can do so - right now - in this very service.