And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. -John 2:1-11 KJV Interesting thing about this wedding-we don't know the names of the bride or the groom. We have no idea what family is sponsoring this feast.

The Scriptures single out this remarkable act to spotlight an unusual power that Jesus has at His command. He can do miracles. How did He do that? Did He speak to the water? Did He pray and God answered? Did He sprinkle little magic dust over the water? Did He call down angels from Heaven to perform an angelic work? The Bible does not say how, but that the miracle occurred. This was the first of about 40 miracles Jesus performed. Miracles were part of His signature.

The Jews had been taught to expect their Messiah would come from Heaven and one of the ways they could be sure of His identity was by the miracles He would do among the people. Later Jesus would walk on water, open blind eyes, raise the dead to life, make the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. He performed a wide range of un curso de milagros that left no doubt that this Man was from God. These acts were designed to create a body of trust in Him so that the Jews would come together and receive Him gladly as their King of kings and Lord of lords. But we know that did not happen.

The tragic story of Scripture is reported in these simple words, "He (Jesus) came unto his own, and his own received him not." --John 1:11 KJV He would later be subjected to a series of humiliating and cruel acts that would culminate in His death on the cross. Many who only hear about this, or casually read the account observe this was, indeed, horrible and awful treatment of one who was so kind and gentle. And it was. But these terrible actions by the very people of God, His chosen family-the Jews, did not take God by surprise. He knew from the very beginning what would be done to His Son. Jesus knew it, too! That is why this wonderful verse is found in Scripture: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." -John 3:16 KJV

When God's chosen people rejected Jesus they actually testified against Him to the Roman government with great emotion, "... they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." --John 19:15 KJV As dark as that awful day was-it was the beginning the greatest period of light the world has ever known. Perhaps it can be illustrated by this simple story. An old man was walking slowly down the sidewalk one Sunday morning when he was met by a young boy who was smiling showing a happy expression on his face. The old man stopped the boy by asking him, "Why are you so happy?" The boy said he had just left his Sunday school class where he had heard the story about Jesus and his awful death.

The old man asked the boy to share that story with him so he could be happy, too. The boy was happy to do this. When he came to the part about Jesus being put to death on the cross the old man began to weep. This startled the boy and he quickly said, "Mister, please don't cry. Jesus didn't stay dead!" That story is really the meat of the New Testament. Jesus did not stay dead. He was raised from the dead. He is alive today and will be alive for evermore. The old song says,