Many people have some knowledge about the account of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding celebration. However, this extraordinary account of this event in John 2:1-11 has much more significance. The marriage of a man and woman is a sacred bond worthy of celebrating. It was beautiful that the Creator of the universe should be a part of that celebration. We also need to understand the cultural customs and expectations of the time. A man and a woman were betrothed for one year before the wedding ceremony. Then the wedding took place, followed by a week-long celebration. It was customary to serve the best wine at the beginning of the festival and bring out the cheaper wine as the original supply was consumed. The rationale for this was that after the good wine was exhausted, the people would overlook the cheaper wine.

If the host of the wedding celebration ran out of wine, people would consider this a most insulting situation. As we look at this passage, we will discover that Jesus performed His first miracle, which was an incredible act of grace and a magnificent lesson for us on many levels.