The First Miracle of Jesus

Bible Reading

The Wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11)

Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus
and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine had given out, Jesus' mother said
to him, “They are out of wine.”

4 “You must not tell me what to do,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

5 Jesus' mother then told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 The Jews have rules about ritual washing, and for this purpose six stone water jars were there, each one
large enough to hold between twenty and thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants “Fill these jars with
water.” They filled them to the brim, 8 and then he told them, “Now draw some water out and take it to
the man in charge of the feast.” They took him the water, 9 which now had turned into wine, and he tasted
it. He did not know where this wine had come from (but, of course, the servants who had drawn out the
water knew); so he called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone else serves the best wine first, and
after the guests have drunk a lot, he serves the ordinary wine. But you have kept the best wine until now!”

11 Jesus performed this first miracle in Cana in Galilee; there he revealed his glory, and his disciples
believed in him.

Lesson

Our prayers move Jesus. From this story, we can safely say that our prayers can indeed make God change
his mind; that our prayers can indeed influence the mind of God; that our prayers can indeed compel God
to act on our request, even if it may not be according to his original timeline. Moreover, this story also tells
us how powerful prayers can be because they can move even a hesitant Jesus whose hour has not yet
come.

Jesus meets with us at the point of need. The Son of God is ever present. He meets with us on an
impromptu basis at the point of our need. He is with us in the office, in the marketplace, on the golf
course, while we travel, while at home taking care of the children, or while shopping for groceries. When
needs arise, He is present. We do not have to set up an appointment to see him. He makes His presence
known “on the way.”

Jesus responds to our prayers with quiet miracles. God is responsive to people’s needs. He is not aloof to
the human plight. Even if he is inconvenienced by the request, his heart is larger than the stone jars. Some
have come to question the divine response to human suffering and have concluded that there is no God.
But this quiet miracle belies that conclusion by suggesting that sometimes God does His work without
taking out an ad in the paper.

This is very encouraging to us as needy people, but we must learn from this for our ministries as well. As
ministers of the gospel and soldiers of the cross, we need to be ready to meet needs. We may be
confronted with need at any time. We must be prepared at all times to speak for Jesus. We must be willing
to interrupt a schedule to meet the need before us. Otherwise the need might not be met.
The Greatest Teacher
Bible Reading

Sermon on the Mount

Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom, and
healing people who had all kinds of disease and sickness. The news about him spread through the whole
country of Syria, so that people brought to him all those who were sick, suffering from all kinds of diseases
and disorders: people with demons, and epileptics, and paralytics—and Jesus healed them all. Large
crowds followed him from Galilee and the Ten Towns, from Jerusalem, Judea, and the land on the other
side of the Jordan.

Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he
began to teach them:

“Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor;

The Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!
“Happy are those who mourn;
God will comfort them!
“Happy are those who are humble;
They will receive what God has promised!
“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires;
God will satisfy them fully!
“Happy are those who are merciful to others;
God will be merciful to them!
“Happy are the pure in heart;
They will see God!
“Happy are those who work for peace;
God will call them his children!
“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires;
The Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!

“Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because
you are my followers. 12 Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the
prophets who lived before you were persecuted.

Lesson

Jesus’s teaching is meant to challenge us. His teachings are far from trivial; they are practical. He does not
only teach us about facts; He teaches us how to live our lives. That is to say that His teachings are useful.
He teaches us to become good people. He teaches us to be generous to the poor. He teaches us to forgive
our enemies. He teaches us to Love God and our neighbor. So will they remain trivial for us? Or will we go
out and practice His teachings? The lessons we learn that remains only in our heads are useless. But when
we put them into practice, they become fruitful.
Jesus the Healer
Bible Reading

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man (Luke 15:17-26)

One day when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there who had
come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present for
Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a bed, and they tried to carry him into
the house and put him in front of Jesus. Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to take
him in. So they carried him up on the roof, made an opening in the tiles, and let him down on his bed into
the middle of the group in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man,
“Your sins are forgiven, my friend.”

The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks such
blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!”

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Why do you think such things? Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins
are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority
on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, pick up your bed, and go
home!”

At once the man got up in front of them all, took the bed he had been lying on, and went home, praising
God. They were all completely amazed! Full of fear, they praised God, saying, “What marvelous things we
have seen today!”

Lesson

Jesus will heal our greatest needs first and foremost. Not only physical illnesses need healing. There are
wounds we accumulate from failing that cause mental and emotional stress. There are also broken
relationships that need repair because of fighting or arguments. Like in the story of the paralytic man, Jesus
did not immediately heal the physical illness of the man. Rather, He forgives his sins first. (This is not
because of the belief that physical illnesses are caused by sin. Remember that God is forgiving and would
never give us suffering for the punishment of our sins.) It is only at the end of the story that He actually
heals the physical illness of the man. He saw the greatest need of the man which is the forgiveness of sin.
Our sins wound our relationship with God. They separate us from God. And so, the act of forgiveness heals
and restores our relationship with the Father.

Healing is faith in action. The bible reading is a great story of faith. The house where Jesus was staying is so
crowded with people that it is almost impossible to get to Him. Some might have gone home. Some might
have waited for the crowd to dwindle. But for the determined, they found a way by creating an opening on
the roof to reach Jesus. This is an example of faith in action. If we want to be healed by Jesus, we also need
to give our own effort. If we want to heal our broken relationships, we should give our effort to reach out
to forgive or ask for forgiveness. For us to be healed, we need faith. But faith is not passive. It should be
seen in our actions and determination.
This quiet miracle is the manifestation of Christ’s glory. But no one actually saw it. Nor was there a thunder
clap to herald the event. God’s glory is not what humans expect it to be. His glory is not for mere display,
but has the purpose to fulfill his service to his creation. He buries Himself in a quiet tomb to do his work on
Easter where no one can see or hear. As Martin Luther said, “God hides his pearls in a pile of dung so the
devil can’t find them.”

When Jesus meets our needs, He often gives us something to do. We must be obedient. A miracle may still
be needed, but we must do what He asks.

On other occasions, the need is met as we obey. Although this does not seem miraculous to us, it is an
important principle. We often pray, for example, that Jesus will meet our financial needs. Listen carefully
when you pray. Many times the Spirit will guide you into a program of activity that will produce a result for
you.

We may be praying for health. Are we doing things that dissipate our health? Even if Jesus works a miracle,
will he continue to do things that are bad for us? It may be that Jesus is asking us to set up a health
program that will produce a good result. Have we listened carefully to what the Spirit says? Begin listening
now!

We respond to Jesus with faith. Faith is the purpose of the miracle, as it is in all the miracles in John’s
Gospel. Faith is the reason John wrote the book (20:31). Faith is why we preach. Sermons are not political
essays designed to enlighten the rabble and produce enough guilt to get them to recycle their wine bottles,
but to communicate faith in Jesus Christ. Good works are by-products of faith. Faith is not a matter of
coercion but of wonder at the miracle of Christ. It is an overwhelming gift in which the Giver Himself
resides.

Without that power, without the Giver in the gift, all attempts at recycling and good works would be for
nothing for they would be based upon the wrong premise of utilitarianism, self-preservation, or the like.
But with faith in Christ as the source and meaning of all good things, whatever we do will be done for the
proper reason: out of thanks to Christ for filling our lives.
Jesus’ teachings encourage us to open our hearts and understand. Jesus has a unique teaching style. His
teachings always leave His disciples amazed. This is because of His creative way of relaying the words of
God. He often speaks in parables. So when a disciple asked Him why He uses parables, he said, “The reason
I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or
understand.” Thus, He encourages us to not only hear, memorize or recite His teachings, but listen
carefully, understand the meaning and put them into heart.

Jesus teaches with compassion. His teachings are not only for the sake of teaching, but they are moved
with compassion. When Jesus healed a crippled woman during Sabbath, the synagogue leaders were
indignant about it because He violated the law of the Sabbath. Jesus did not separate His compassion with
His teaching ministry.

Jesus teaches everyone and anyone. He does not exclude anyone from His teachings. Anyone who opens
their hearts to Him is accepted to be a disciple. He accepts the sinners to be His disciples. He accepts the
poor to follow him.
We need to open our hearts to healing. There are things that might prevent us from being healed. It can be
pride that prevents us from reaching out to forgive or to be forgiven. It can be our lack of faith in Jesus that
prevents us from easing our sufferings. Whatever it is, we need to set those aside and be open for healing.
Like in the story, there were many hindrances that prevented the four friends from bringing their friend to
be healed. There was a huge crowd, blocking the door. There were the Pharisees and teachers of the law
who influenced the people not to believe in Jesus. But despite these obstacles, they opened their hearts,
like how they opened the roof, to reach Jesus.

We need to ask our friends to pray for us. The bible reading is also a great story of friendship. The paralytic
man, unable to go to Jesus himself, was carried by his four friends. It was the faith of his friend that saved
him. There are times we feel weak, not just physically, but also spiritually; that is, we are weak in faith.
These are moments that we need to ask our friends to pray for our healing. Let their strong faith carry our
prayers to Jesus Christ. In the same manner, we need to pray for others who are weak in faith. This is why,
before the mass, mass intentions are said. These are people who are asking for our prayers. So we need to
pray for their healing. That said, prayer is not a personal activity, but a communal one. We might be
praying alone, but we have to recognize that we are praying with our fellow brothers and sisters. And we
also need to pray, not only for our own healing, but also for our brothers and sisters.

Jesus will never fail to heal us. One could only imagine how the owner of the house must have felt when
his rooftop was destroyed. He might have felt that his rooftop was destroyed for nothing if Jesus failed. Not
only would that, but the four friends who carried the bed up to the rooftop have felt that their effort was
useless. But Jesus did not fail to heal the paralyzed man nor would He ever fail to heal us. So never think
that our faith and our prayers are for nothing. Jesus will never fail to see and appreciate our hard work and
our sacrifices.