Mother’s Day
2025
“Water to Wine”
John 2:1-11 NKJV “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” (My mother, be not anxious. I will act when it is time).
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were set there six water pots of stone…containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 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 feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”
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Now, the context of this story is a wedding.
It is the setting where Jesus performed His very first miracle.
And the story holds great value and relevance to us today in several ways!
First, we see that:
I. Jesus was invited
“Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding” (vs.2).
So…the first thing I want to point out here is that Jesus comes where He is invited!
He will not force Himself on anyone’s life.
God has given all of us a will, and with that will we can let in or keep out whomever we choose.
—Every heart has a door complete with bolts and locks that only we can unfasten.
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The Bible teaches that Jesus desires to come into the life of every human being on earth.
“For God so loved the (Whole) world, that He gave His only begotten Son…”–John 3:16
But He doesn’t force His way into our space.
He knocks from the outside but will never kick the door down!
Rev. 3:20 NKJV “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
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How do you know when Jesus is knocking?
It’s a moment of awareness that He is nudging your heart, that He is speaking to your conscience.
There is a sense of needing to come clean and get right with Him.
And we alone can either invite Him in, or keep the door to our heart shut.
Now we soon see that the wisest thing this couple could have done was to invite Him to their wedding.
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Because next:
II. A crisis happens
The Bible says, “They ran out of wine.”
Someone made a mistake and miscalculated how much wine they would need.
Now, to run out of wine in a first century wedding was a huge blunder that was very embarrassing to the host.
Some first century weddings went on for days and it was up to the host to be sure the food and wine lasted!
So something happened here that threatened to tarnish the wedding and end it on a sour note.
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Reading this I thought of how in our own lives we’re always running out of something because we live in a world broken by sin and separation from God!
In practical things we run out of money, out of gas, out of food, out of shelter, out of ideas, out of time.
On the inside we run out of strength, out of patience, out of hope, out of love, and sometimes we even run out of desire to go on.
–But more than that, there is a universal lack in the heart of man that we do everything to fill.
It’s that nagging sense that something is missing we can’t put our finger on, but its oh so real!
So we turn to drugs,
alcohol,
endless relationships,
various philosophies and religions,
sensual pleasure,
constant activities–all in an attempt to fill the emptiness.
But in the end we wind up like the host of this wedding with a lack we can’t fix on our own.
Here’s why: Because the lack we feel is for the God who made us!
The Bible says: “He (God) has also planted eternity in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God].”–Ecc 3:11
The host of the wedding had a problem he himself did not have the ability to fix.
And so do we!
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Like the host of this wedding, crises and problems routinely invade our peace!
Marital problems,
money problems,
temptation problems,
family problems,
stress problems,
health problems—crises that are bigger than we are.
–And with every problem we experience, we make a decision where to turn for answers.
Some go to counselors,
others to self-help books,
or Oprah,
or Dr. Phil,
or friends,
or some kind of religion, Yoga, meditation,
or we decide to handle it alone.
But Mary chose to take the problem to Jesus: “They have no wine.”
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And after bringing the problem to Jesus, Mary gave the best advice a mother (or anyone) could ever give.
Turning to the wait staff she said:
“Whatever He says to you, do it.”
In other words, The answer to your problem will be found in whatever He tells you to do!
–The wisest thing any of us can do is find out what Jesus says about the problems we’re facing and then DO what He says!
You say, “But Jeff, he’s not here like he was then. I don’t know what he’s saying about my problem!”
That’s where the Bible comes in!
God’s word is filled with what Jesus said about virtually any problem you or I could face!
In the Sermon on the Mount alone he deals with:
Purpose in life
Forgiveness
Anger
Lust
Adultery
Divorce
Worry
Fear
Money
Marriage
Prayer
Enemies
Getting on the right road in life
And much more!
And once you find your problem addressed in His word, “Whatever it says to you, do that!”
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Now, what He told them to do made no sense.
There were six huge empty water pots of stone that held 20-30 gallons apiece, and Jesus said “Fill the water pots with water” (2:7).
But they didn’t need water, they needed wine!
This made no sense!
And it makes no sense when Jesus tells us that the way to a new life where that empty place is filled begins at the Cross where he bled and died for our sins!
The Bible says, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”–1 Cor 1:18
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And you know, very often what Jesus tells us to do with our problems makes no sense because they go against what we would naturally do.
For instance, instead of retaliating against our enemies, Jesus said:
“Love your enemies…do good to those who hate you” (Matt.5: 44 NKJV).
Makes no sense, but it sets you free!
He said, “Don’t worry about your practical needs–what you will eat, drink, or wear.”
Why? Because a God you cannot see will take care of you!
Doesn’t make sense, but its completely true if you put Him first in your life!
You see—It’s not what the world advises, or well-meaning people, or close friends–it’s what does Jesus advise?
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Finally, we see…
III. The problem solved
When the servants followed Mary’s advice and poured around 120-180 gallons of water into the pots, Jesus said,
“Draw some out now, and take to to the headwaiter” (2:8 AMP).
And when the headwater tasted it he said, “A host always serves the best wine first…Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” (2:9-10)
Somewhere between the servants pouring the water in, and then drawing it out, Jesus had turned ordinary water into extraordinary wine.
And when we “do whatever He says,” Jesus turns ORDINARY into EXTRAORDINARY, the NATURAL into something SUPERNATURAL!
And it all begins with turning from your sins, and turning to Him as Savior.
“When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!”–2 Cor. 5:17
–So “Whatever He says to you, do it” is the best advice a mother ever gave!