Using verses 1-11 of the 2nd Chapter of the Gospel of John, this was given at the little church I served outside of Jacksonville (IL) on January 18, 2004.

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       This little red, white and blue card is proof that, at one time at least, I knew how to operate heavy equipment. As best I recall, it cost me just over two hundred dollars… and two hundred dollars back then was probably about like five hundred today! I mean, I was paying .08 – .10 cents a gallon for gas, and until I got this card, had been making $1.25/hour! The big letters at the top of it read ‘International Union of Operating Engineers’, and shows an initiation date of November 11, 1973. I didn’t necessarily remember the date, but I remember the day. You see, it wasn’t enough to just walk in to the business office, plunk down my money and say ‘I want to be an Operator!’ …I had to prove to them that I was an operator!

       At that time, the government was sponsoring a training program through the union, and on the acreage behind the hall were a number of government-surplus earthmovers, dozers, cranes, etc., most of which were being operated by young men who were eagerly spending their morning loading dirt from one pile and moving it to another, then spending the afternoon loading it from the second pile and returning it to the first. One of the instructors was called into the office, and I was taken back to where the dirt was flying. We first of all stopped one of the earthmovers and he had me climb up into the operator’s seat. Most of this government equipment was equipped with second seats for the riflemen to sit and protect the operator, so the kid that was running that machine moved over and sat in that seat. Now, I had run a lot of machines in my day, even at that young age, but I had never been on an earthmover! He told me how to work the controls to make it move, and he reached over and operated the controls to load it… All I actually did was steer it across the field! OK.

Next, I was taken over to one of the large dozers spreading and leveling the dirt brought over by the earthmovers. Now, I had run several dozers over the years, but all of them were very old with cables, hand clutches and huge steering levers… this machine was all automatic power shift with a multi-function hydraulic blade and tiny steering controls… once I figured out how to make it move I could make it move dirt, but I wasn’t near as smooth as I might have been on a more familiar machine.

I had been told that I was to be tested on just three machines, and so far I wasn’t doing real well!

Finally, the instructor who was testing me took me over to an end-loader… now I was in my element! I had been running loaders of one kind or another since before my legs could easily reach the pedals. I climbed up, shooed everybody out of the way, and put that machine through its paces, loading up one bucketful of gravel out of one pile and dumping it on another, zip, zip, zip. As I climbed down off of it, the instructor just smiled and said, “Why did you go so fast?” I had proven myself… and got my card!

The Life Application Commentary says that until the time of today’s verses, “the disciples (those who had been called thus far) were following Jesus for their own reasons. Others may have been questioning who Jesus was and were following him to find out. John says that when the disciples saw the miracle, they believed in him. The miracle demonstrated Jesus’ power over nature and revealed the way he would go about his ministry — helping others, speaking with authority, and being in personal touch with people.”

“The six stone water jars were normally used for the ceremonial washing of hands as part of the Jewish purification rites before and after meals. According to the Jews’ ceremonial law, people became symbolically unclean by touching objects of everyday life. Before eating, the Jews would pour water over their hands to cleanse themselves of any bad influences associated with what they had touched. When full, each jar would hold twenty to thirty gallons.

The number six and the water jars have been allegorized by various commentators throughout church history. The fact is, Jesus did not make random choices of objects when they were used in miraculous actions. Even the miracles operate under a system of consistency. It is often enlightening to inquire about the reasons behind Jesus’ use of elements like mud, spittle, bread, water, fish, etc., in his miracles. In this case, the empty water jars may symbolize the emptiness of Jewish ritual when true faith is absent.”

Why did Jesus perform miracles? Again, quoting from The Life Application Commentary, “The Gospels record thirty-five miracles, or signs performed by Jesus. In the Gospel of John, each miracle was a sign intended to point people to the truth that Jesus is the divine Son of God come down from heaven. These signs were remarkable actions that displayed the presence and power of God.

The miracles recorded in John’s Gospel (and indeed all the miracles recorded by the other Gospel writers) demonstrated God’s great love for people and his concern for their individual needs. But on a deeper level, they also revealed Jesus’ glory — Jesus’ unique, divine nature portrayed in such a way as to claim our loyalty and reverence. The sign of turning water into wine was a partial unveiling of Jesus’ full identity. His power over nature, death, sin, and evil revealed him to be the promised Messiah. As Nicodemus said, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him”

What was that? “…no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him”. So yes, this and all of His miracles were intended as a sign of proof that God was with Him! Where I had to climb up on and operate three different machines in order to prove my worthiness as a heavy-equipment operator, Jesus performed miracles to prove that He had the full support and backing of God, His father! Why, then, do we sometimes find it so difficult to accept these miracles as that proof?

Part of it, no doubt, is the fact that they occurred so very long ago… over two-thousand years! And with the passage of time comes an acceptance of amazing things, and with that acceptance comes a lessening in that ‘amazement factor’! I looked up the word ‘miracle’ on the internet… there were over 5 million listings!!! Everything from the Children’s Miracle network to Miracle Glue to Miracle software to the Miracle Theatre Group… it would seem to me as if we have lost just a bit of the impact of what a ‘miracle’ really is! I’ve talked before about how many ‘miracles’ occur around us everyday! Through so many ‘miracles’ of technology and modern science we can talk to, visit with, and sometimes even see anyone around the world anytime we want… we generally live longer and are more healthy than our predecessors… and yet, even though we live longer… and have more ‘disposable’ time… we have come to expect instant gratification or access on every level, from instant food to instant knowledge, to instant communication and transportation! What our ancestors might have considered miraculous has become not only commonplace, but an expected part of our lifestyle!

       So it is that many of our generation… and certainly many more of the younger ones… become less and less impressed with the miracles listed in the Bible… after all, so many of them can be accomplished today by using our current technologies! And I’m going to sit here and tell you that, for the point that I want to make right now, that’s OK… because WE shouldn’t need the proofs of His miracles to convince us that He is the Christ… we have the proof of the test of time!

Over that same two-thousand-odd year period of time, the story of Christ has prevailed and been proven over and over again… it has survived countless attempts by Satan and his minions to dilute it, distort it, belittle it, confuse it, or even eliminate it altogether! Even today there are those who try to call into question the teachings of Christ and distort His words to seem to support homosexuals… there are those who use the ‘feel good’ properties of Christ’s love to try to strengthen the individual and weaken the power of the Church… and there are those who have committed themselves to an outright war against Christianity and the elimination of all Christians. Some people do this in the belief that they are following their ‘god’… some have tried to ‘modernize’ Jesus’ words and have convinced themselves that they are doing what He would have wanted… but I put it to you that ANYTHING that disrupts or detracts from the actual message… the very words… of Jesus, and of His apostles that followed Him… can NOT be from followers and believers of Christ! And if that be the case, we must consider just who they are truly following and working for… whether they realize it or not!

One of my commentaries points out that Jesus had followers… people who believed in Him and His ministry… even before this incident, this ‘first miracle’. Would it help us if we were to walk with Him everyday? Would it help if we could reach out to Him, talk to Him, and listen to His words at every turn, just as those who followed Him then did? Is that a ‘trick’ question? Of course it is… because in everyway, we do walk with Him each day… we do talk and listen to Him at every turn… don’t we?!

All of these miracles are listed in the Gospels as a proof of Jesus’ birthright for the people of that day, and have been repeated throughout the centuries as a continued source of proof if and as needed. But I put it to you that the miracle for us… the very proof for the people of our time… is not in Jesus’ ability to change water into wine… but in His ability to change the very people who are looking for that proof… the ability to change us into the people He would have us be… the ability to change the very world… if WE just look at the truth of His words and accept them unconditionally AS His words!

After all… if He were to have come one thousand years ago, do you think His message would have been any different? How about five hundred years ago… or even one hundred? I say not! If Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, then His words are and must be truly eternal! If that be the case, how can anyone who claims to follow Christ claim that His message for today would be any different?!

I do NOT have a card in my pocket stating that I am a Christian… hopefully any who would chance to question me about that would just be able to tell. And unlike my old union card, which shows the last dues being paid sometime in 1975, there are no dues or time limitations on my being a Christian. God is the God of ALL time! He created the universe and all that is in it! He was there at the dawn of time… He was there to give the Ten Commandments to Moses… He was there during the reigns of David and Solomon… and He was there when His Son was nailed onto the cross and died on Calvary! This is and always has been His world.

How can anyone think to improve upon His teachings?