May 2025: Should Miracles Be Self-Seeking?

Published on 05/01/2025 by Dr-Shirley-Cheng.

If you had supernatural powers to perform miracles, how would you use those powers?

Maybe you'd use such powers to help a loved one get healed, or "rain down" money for yourself. Some people may like to perform wonders to show off, to receive awe from people, to glorify themselves. Such powers can also be used frightfully in the hand of bad actors--like doing something terrible to get back at a perceived enemy.

Being the divine Son of God, Jesus is no doubt the greatest miracle worker of all times. But did he perform miraculous deeds to show off, or to pay back his enemies, or to gain something from the miracles for himself? Not at all. As we progress in our studies, we'll see Jesus performed miracles for very specific reasons: to authenticate he's the Messiah of God and to show compassion.

Today, we'll study Christ's first-recorded miracle and the reason he performed it. As we study, let us embrace his attitude: to always serve the interests of others to the glory of God.

The King's First Miracle

"The third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. Jesus' mother was there. Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the marriage." (John 2:1-2, WEB)

The day following Jesus' meeting with Nathanael, Jesus and Mary, along with Jesus' first disciples (perhaps including Philip and Nathanael), attended as invited guests a wedding in a Galilean town called Cana, about nine miles to the north of Nazareth. Before the ceremony wound down, the wine ran out. Having no wine would be a great embarrassment for the bride and groom, putting them and their families to shame. It would especially be a disgrace to the groom since he was responsible for hosting the ceremony and ensuring all the guests that they had enough wine to drink. Mary, who was probably a good friend of the host and hostess or maybe even a relative, wished to prevent such social tragedy from befalling them, so she noted the issue to Jesus, saying, "They have no wine." (John 2:3)

Jesus answered, "Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come." (John 2:4) Jesus explained that it was not yet the time for him to perform any miracle to announce his Messiahship. Nevertheless, he didn't say that he would ignore the situation, and his mother took it as a hint that he would act, and so instructed the servants to do whatever he told them. She knew that he was a compassionate person, and she believed that he would act in his own way. She humbly submitted to him, as he was her Lord even though he was her son.

At the wedding were six large empty pots that were used to hold water for ritual cleansing. The Jews washed themselves, usually their hands, in water to cleanse themselves of ritual uncleanness. Jesus commanded the servants to fill them with water, and they filled them to the brim. Next, Jesus told them to draw some out and give it for the master of the ceremony to drink. The servants perhaps were looking at one another in helplessness, wondering if this man had gone out of his mind. Yet, they did as they were ordered, and brought to the master of the ceremony some of the water to drink. They perhaps held their breath as the master took a sip.

After tasting the drink, the master of ceremony called the groom over and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!" (John 2:10)

This was the first miracle that Jesus performed: turning water into the best wine. He did so in secrecy so as not to reveal himself as the Messiah as it's evidently not the God-designated time for him to; only Mary, the servants and his disciples knew from where the wine came, and his disciples believed in him. His disciples such as Philip and Nathanael had already believed that he's the Messiah, and this miracle would have made firm their belief in him.

We can learn some lessons of Christ's love from this account, and since we're his disciples, it'd be wise of us to follow his steps:

1. Jesus didn't ignore a situation where he had the ability to make a positive difference. He could have said that the wine issue was the groom's fault for not preparing well. Instead, he did the compassionate thing to fix the situation so the couple would not be embarrassed.

2. Jesus gave the best. He didn't just perform a miracle to turn water into wine; he gave the best wine that wowed the master of ceremony.

3. Jesus didn't use the miracle moment to gain attention for himself. No one knew about the miracle other than his mother, disciples and the servants.

So when we come upon someone who needs our help, let us help when we can, giving our best and doing so in humility, not drawing attention to ourselves.

The Cleansing of the Temple

From Cana, Jesus and his family and disciples went to another Galilean town, Capernaum, where they stayed for a few days. His family now consisted of his mother, earthly half-brothers and half-sisters. No Gospel mentions Joseph in Jesus' adulthood, so it's likely that he had passed away by the time Jesus began his ministry. This explains why Simeon addressed only Mary when he prophesied that a "sword" would pierce her heart. Only Mary would witness the wrongful execution of her son; Joseph was spared of this pain.

Later on, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem to observe Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a pilgrim feast in which all Jewish men must participate. At the temple, he saw sellers of oxen, sheep and doves, and moneychangers with their tables set up. He made a cord to drive out the sellers and their animals and turned over the tables of the moneychangers. To those who sold the doves, he said, "Take these things out of here! Don't make my Father’s house a marketplace!" (John 2:16)

The merchants and moneychangers were capitalizing on and commercializing Yahweh's sacred appointed feasts. Worshippers who had to travel many miles to Jerusalem were often unable to bring along their animals for sacrifices, thus they bought their animals at the temple. Additionally, Jews who came from outside Israel had to exchange their foreign coins used in gentile lands for Tyrian shekels used in Israel, which were required for the annual temple tax that every Jew must pay. Thus, moneychangers set up their money-exchange business at the temple, often asking for hefty fees. Hence, both the moneychangers and those who sold the sacrifices were polluting the sacred temple by turning it into a noisy marketplace with dishonest business dealings, making solemn worship for worshippers impossible.

Moved by His righteous anger, Jesus threw them out of the temple and overturned the tables. Jesus' action was directed to two parties: the moneychangers and the sellers for their sinful ways, and the priests who had allowed these sins to continue.

But many people do not understand why Jesus acted the way he did, or why he got so angry at the merchants and moneychangers. People do not understand that profanity against God is the worst sin there is against God, which the merchants and moneychangers were committing. If we do not feel that profanity against Yahweh is the worst sin we can commit against Him, then we have our values and priorities mixed up.

Witnessing their Master's actions, Jesus' disciples recalled Psalm 69:9, "For the zeal of your house consumes me," and applied its fulfillment to him (John 2:17). Jesus had great love for his Father, and it showed through his cleansing of the temple and his rebuke of those who dared profane it.

Clash with the Authority

The Jewish leaders--likely the priests and Levites--who saw Jesus cleansing the temple ground of commercialization confronted him and demanded, "What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?" (John 2:18) If Jesus had authority from God to do what he had just done, then they wanted him to validate his authority by performing a miracle as a sign of confirmation.

Note that these Jews cared nothing about righteousness and sanctity for the temple. They should have been angered by the merchants' commercialization on the temple grounds to profane God's sanctuary. Instead, they were offended by Jesus' righteous act to cleanse it.

Because the Jews didn't care about the things of God, Jesus gave them a veiled reply to their demand: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19) Jesus would indeed give them a sign to verify his God-given authority, but it wouldn't be just then--they would have to wait for the sign at his resurrection. His "temple" (referring to his body) would be killed, but on the third day, he would be resurrected to life. His resurrection would be the greatest sign of his God-given authority.

Jesus often gave "veiled" responses to insincere seekers. Such responses filtered the true seekers from the false; if people truly wanted to understand what he meant, he would have explained his words to them. When people failed to ask him for clarification, then it just shows that they weren't interested in the truth in the first place.

Naturally, the Jews did not understand what Jesus meant. They thought he was speaking of the actual Jerusalem temple, not his body, so they said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple! Will you raise it up in three days?" (John 2:20) Herod the Great spent forty-six years to entirely renovate and beautify the second temple that the Jews built in 516 BC under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua. He gutted it and expanded it to make it a large, beautifully designed complex with precious stones.

At Jesus' resurrection, Jesus' disciples would remember what Jesus said about the raising up of the "temple." They thus believed that he is indeed the Messiah who has all authority to exercise what God wills; they also believed the Scriptures that foretold his death and resurrection (Isaiah 53). But those who were blind to Jesus during his lifetime remained blind after his resurrection and ascension. Some spiritually blind people are utterly hopeless for repentance.

The Reception by the People and the Perception of the King

During the eight-day feast period, Jesus performed many signs in Jerusalem. Seeing his miracles, many of the Jews believed in his name. However, Jesus had little faith in many of them and did not trust himself to them because he knew that their belief was shallow rather than genuine faith that God desires. Many of the Jews believed in him only on the basis of his miracles. We know from the Scriptures that miracles alone often do not produce in people true faith. Miracles awe the audience, but such awe does not result in active trust of God or His Messiah. Active trust in God is developed by our interaction with Him, not by witnessing miracles exclusively. The faith that Philip, Nathanael and other disciples had was genuine because they believed in Jesus before they saw any miracles, and his miracles simply cemented their faith. True faith should be built on relationship, not miracles.

Being the Son of God, Jesus knows what is in human beings; he knows what is in each person's heart. He needs no one to testify about anyone. So he did not accept everyone who believed in him due to his signs in Jerusalem. Of course, he would accept those who had developed true faith (active trust) in him.

How do you receive Christ? Do you receive him just because you're awed by his supernatural powers? Or do you receive him on the basis of who he is--the Son of God who loved you so much by dying in your place when you didn't even deserve it?


~*~ Q&A with Dr. Shirley ~*~

Question: What is the new covenant that Christ instituted?

Answer: When he established his own memorial (what we call the Lord's supper or holy communion) on the night prior to his sacrificial death, Jesus said to his disciples about the cup of wine he was handing over to them, "All of you drink it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:27-28, WEB)

The blood Jesus shed instituted or ratified the new covenant. The new covenant was foretold by Jeremiah 31:31-34, where Yahweh promised to forgive His people's sins and write His Torah on their hearts.

This is the new covenant that Jesus's blood ratified. Forgiveness of sins and subsequently fellowship with God is achieved by faith in him and repentance (Luke 13:1). People who will not repent will perish, so his sacrifice doesn't mean we can go on sinning.

Jesus said that he's the way to God. Salvation is only through him, as Peter echoed in the book of Acts. Only trust in him and repentance of our sins will grant us forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation to and peace with God. Therefore, we must be members of the new covenant to receive its promised blessings, and enrollment in the new covenant is through faith in Christ alone.

Have you enrolled in the new covenant yet by putting your trust in Christ's shed blood for you? Why not make today the day of salvation? Would you wait to deposit a gift check of $1,000? If not, then why would you wait to accept the gift that's priceless?

Do you have Bible questions and want answers? Contact Dr. Shirley and she'll be happy to answer your questions by the grace of God.

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