The Sign Says

This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him. John 2:11 NLT

A Sign

• the most common greek word used for Jesus miracles in the NT is dynameis which denotes a 'mighty work', but John does not use it in his gospel.

• the word here is semeia 'signs'. The NT miracles are not mere miracles; they are all signs of some underlying reality. 1

• like John the Baptist testimony in chapter 1:6, his purpose was to tell about the light so that everyone might believe. The signs are to point to the light so everyone might believe.
  
  
• This follows the pattern of John seen in John 20:31  But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.  A __________ (sign, testimony, witness) that causes belief which gives you life
  

Sources
The Gospel of John, F.F. Bruce p 72

The chosen place of revealing

This was the story of one of the most historic occasions in human history. God was about to reveal His glory through the God/man named Jesus. This was the first public miracle Jesus would do which would show the world that he was the Messiah.

If we were in Jesus entourage I wonder where we would plan this meeting for him.

God chooses a much different place than we would I think. Here is a quote from Ken Gire "That glory was not revealed at the imperial palace in Rome.  Or at Herod's temple in Jerusalem.  Or at the colonnaded Acropolis in Athens.  But here in an impoverished village of Cana, nestled away in an obscure corner of Galilee." 1

If Jesus lived in Texas we would think he would unveil his Glory amidst a throng of reporters on the steps of the capital building in Austin, or maybe at half time of a Superbowl being held in the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, and yet it was more like the place I graduated high school in Southland Texas. Southland has a population of maybe 150. There used to be one local store and I'm not sure if it is still open or not. It was a place like Southland, Cana, at a local wedding that God chose to have Jesus glory revealed.  Cana was in close vicinity of Nazareth where Jesus grew up.

This is like God, who is not impressed by the structures of men, to reveal himself in a common place.

Source:
1 Incredible Moments with the Saviour, Ken Gire [Grand Rapids, 1990] p 6

The Private Miracle

I would entitle the changing of the water to wine the private miracle.

Kostenberger says it like this: the entire event served as a foil for Jesus revelation that his "time had not yet come" (2:4; cf. later 7:30, 8:20; and the arrival of the "hour in 12:23, 27, 13:1; 17:1) Nevertheless, Jesus finds a way not to "blow his cover": he performs a miracle "behind the scenes," without stealing the spotlight that properly belonged to the bride and groom, selflessly meeting the need of the hour.

Encountering John, Kostenberger p 73

Seven Signs or Miracles

There are seven specific signs in John that give witness to Jesus being the son of God.

1. Turning water into wine (2:1-11)
2. Healing the nobleman's son (4:46-54)
3. Healing of the paralytic at Bethesda (5:1-47)
4. Feeding of the 5000 (6:1-14)
5. Walking on the water (6:15-21)
6. Healing the blind man (9:1-41)
7. Raising of Lazarus (11:1-57)

2:3 sight

2:3 When wine had run short, Jesus' mother said to him 'They have no wine'.

You see this throughout the gospel of John. Man gets to zero and then the Lord gave life. T. Austin Sparks calls it the zero point. They had no capacity. It is the place we need to come to. We need to recognize that in ourselves we have no capacity. We can not make the old man better. We have to be born again. We need the life of the Lord to become a new creation.

They had run out of wine and had no where to go to get wine.