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A Day in the Life of Jesus | The Day Jesus Made the Best Wine

February 22, 2026
John 2:1-11

¹On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. ³When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. ⁹When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

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Purpose

To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst

To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships

To participate in God’s mission to the world

Opening Prayer

Responsive Prayer — Psalm 16

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

    In the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me;

    Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;

    My flesh also dwells secure.

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

    Or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;

    in your presence there is fullness of joy;

    At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Summary

This week we have begun a Lenten series entitled A Day in the Life of Jesus, during which we are exploring brief vignettes from the Gospels, seeking a realistic glimpse into a typical day in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Our passage this week records Jesus’ first public sign at the wedding in Cana, where he turns water into wine and thereby reveals his glory so that his disciples believe in him (verse 11). The event stands against a rather deep Old Testament backdrop in which the prophets described the coming messianic age as a time of restoration, divine presence, and abundant blessing, often symbolized by overflowing wine (Isaiah 25:6-8; Amos 9:13-15; Joel 2:24). By providing an extraordinary abundance of fine wine, Jesus signals that the long-anticipated era of salvation has begun in his person. Further, the new age is signaled by a reversal of Moses’ first public miracle of turning water into blood (Exodus 7:14-24), indicating a movement from the judgment associated with the law to the joy and life associated with grace (John 1:17). As one commentator put it, Moses’ sign was a signal to Egypt of their coming judgment, but Christ’s sign is a signal to the world that the age of restoration and the coming of joy and celebration are on the horizon. All of this helps us see the initiation of Christ’s ministry as ushering in a renewed order of redemption (Westminster Confession of Faith 8.2).

Yet the narrative maintains a tension between present fulfillment and future completion. Jesus’ remark that his “hour has not yet come” (verse 4) introduces a forward-looking dimension that prevents us from assuming the messianic age has arrived in its fullness. This theme carries throughout John’s Gospel, anticipating the climactic hour of his death and glorification (John 12:23; 13:1), through which the full messianic blessing is secured. The sign at Cana then offers a genuine foretaste — a glimpse behind the curtain — of the coming kingdom without pulling the curtain back entirely, showing us that the abundance promised points beyond itself to the resurrection and the future order it heralds. In other words, Cana is both fulfillment and promise at the same time. Scripture consistently presents the kingdom as inaugurated but not yet fully realized (Hebrews 2:8-9; Revelation 21:1-4). Believers therefore live in hopeful anticipation of its consummation, praying for its fuller realization (Westminster Larger Catechism 191).

Finally, the sign at Cana highlights the character and purpose of Christ’s ministry in general. As John writes near the end of his Gospel, everything in the book is meant “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). The transformation of water into abundant wine functions precisely in that way. It reveals Christ’s glory so that faith might arise (verse 11). The superabundance of wine (around 150 gallons) is not simply incidental information but is part of the manifestation of Jesus’ glory. It is a visible disclosure of his divine sufficiency and generosity, and it only heightens the anticipation of the fullness of blessing that will be at the marriage supper of the lamb, the final messianic banquet (Revelation 19:6-10). The fact that the sign occurs at a wedding feast ties all of this imagery together. The Cana sign looks beyond itself to the person of Christ, in whom all of the promises of God find their fulfillment. It declares that the joy and abundance symbolized in the wine are not ends in and of themselves but rather a foretaste of the greater life secured through Christ’s death and resurrection. As with the disciples who have faith after seeing, we should be moved toward faith, trusting in the one who alone brings the true messianic feast. As we follow him, we live in hope of that final celebration when what was glimpsed at Cana will be fully realized in the kingdom of God.

Discussion Questions

1. Looking at the Bible

• Share with the group some key phrases or ideas that stood out to you from the passage.

2. Looking at Jesus

• Read Exodus 7:14-20. What can we learn about Jesus by contrasting his first miracle to that of Moses?
• What can we learn from Christ’s provision of over 100 gallons of wine, despite the fact that the wedding was nearly over?

3. Looking at Our Hearts

• The miracle we see here signifies Christ’s giving of himself, and that in abundance. How have you seen Jesus’ immense generosity in your own life?
• How should this image of Jesus inform our approach to him in prayer?

4. Looking at Our World

• We live in a time where many people might expect religion to turn their water into blood rather than wine — to take their circumstances and make them harder, rather than more joyful. How might you use your Christian testimony to proclaim truth in the face of this view?

Prayer

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