Jesus' First Miracle

John 2: 1 – 10 (NIV): On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

I don't think it's an coincidence that Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding. By doing so, he put his stamp of approval on the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. It wasn't time yet for him to reveal that he was the Christ, but he knew this story would be told through the ages as his first sign of power, and he knew it would be associated with a wedding.
We are wise to invite Jesus to our weddings, but even more wise to invite him into our homes. The family is by far the most important unit of society. God invented the family. God gave man the woman as a gift, a helper. I realize that David broke God's design and had more than one wife and yet God said David was “a man after his own heart.” So we know God still loves us, even if we do not follow his ideal, but God's plan from the very beginning was one man and one woman, bonded together for life and creating a godly family. By performing his first miracle at a wedding, Jesus reminded us of this.
But did Jesus also show his approval for drinking alcohol by creating wine from water? Keep in mind the wine in that culture was very weak. Fermentation was the only way they had to purify their water. Paul even told Timothy to drink a little wine to help his stomach. The Bible never speaks against drinking wine in moderation, but it is clear that we should not abuse it. The larger picture is that wine is symbolic of joy in this story and Jesus brings joy to our lives, our families and our faith.