Preacher: Felix Ngunjiri Gichuri

Reading: John 2:1-11

Jesus’ First Miracle
It is interesting to know that Jesus performed His first miracle in a home. He was personally involved in a young couple who were getting married in a wedding celebration at Cana of Galilee. And because they had invited Him together with His disciples, He was there with them in their home to join them in their joy. ‘And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine. Jesus said unto her, Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come. His mother said unto the servants, Whatsoever he says unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots made of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, each containing twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said unto them, Draw out now, and take it to the master of the feast. And they did so. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not realize where it had come from: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said unto him, Every host in a feast brings out the choice wine first; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse is brought out: but you have kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.’ (John 2:1-11 [KJV])
Jesus is There in Your Celebration
Jesus is there in your home and in your family. He is there for you in a personal relationship. He is there with you in your celebration and in your sorrow. Everything was going on well at the wedding until they ran out of wine. In those days, wine was an integral part of the wedding feast. Jesus was there to show them God’s way of doing things: whatever was lacking would be restored and the diminished would be replenished. The Old Testament ends with the threat of a curse. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Mal 4:5-6 [KJV])
Jesus Means Saviour
The New Testament begins with the birth of a baby and the promise of life. “But while Joseph thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:20-21 [KJV])
The context of saving us from our sins includes healing us from our sins and diseases. To sin is to disobey God and the consequences of rebelling God are very severe. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Four hundred years before Jesus Christ was brought to us from heaven by God, the promise had been given to the Israelites that a Saviour would come to save us and heal us from our burdens of sins, curses, failures, debts, frustrations and from our situations. “And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.” (Isaiah 19:20 [KJV])
Christ Means Messiah, the Anointed One
The word Christ is an English translation from the Greek word Christos that is a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. Translated into English, it means Anointed or the Anointed One or His Anointing. The dictionary meaning of the word anointed actually means to pour on, smear all over or to rub into. The Anointed One came down from heaven to earth to rub Himself onto our flesh, smear Himself all over them who believe and pour Himself into our hearts so as to remove the burden of sin and destroy the consequences of sin around our necks. 735 years before Jesus came to earth, prophet Isaiah saw the Messiah coming and said: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” (Isa.10:27 [KJV]) Isaiah prophesied that it shall come to pass that the burden of sin on our shoulders
brought to us by the devil and the yoke of the devil wrapped around our necks to keep us chained to him shall be destroyed because of the anointing (Messiah means the Anointed One and His Anointing) who was coming.
The presence of Jesus offers a blessing rather than a curse, healing rather than sickness, supply rather than poverty. Jesus came to destroy the poverty yoke, the death yoke and every damnable thing that hell could devise. The death yoke will no longer scare the believers because there is hope of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord when our mortality will be changed to immortality. Hallelujah. (A yoke is a wooden beam with two U-shaped pieces that encircle the necks of a pair of oxen or other draft animals working together) At the beginning of His ministry Jesus proclaimed in the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth that He had been anointed by God to preach the gospel (good news). He told them that: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ (Luke 4:18-19 [KJV]) Jesus Christ came to destroy the poverty cycle and all manner of evil because of the anointing. The devil’s yoke cannot be destroyed by anything else but by the anointing. The devil is very cunning and can repair it and fasten it around our necks. But the devil is powerless where there is the presence of the anointing that destroys the yoke because the anointing is the power of God. The yoke is the curse that was pronounced unto Adam as a penalty for the original sin. In essence, Jesus was telling them that God was poured on, smeared all over and rubbed into Him to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the
acceptable year of the Lord. Amen.
Jesus started His ministry of preaching by telling the synagogue goers and the clergy that He had been anointed to preach the gospel to the poor, which means that the first and most important task from God assigned to Him was to preach good news to them who are poor: the bereft, lacking, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. God wonders why people call themselves rich while He is the owner of everything on earth and in heaven. “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” (Psalm 24:1, 2) “The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty” (Haggai 2:8). “Everything in the heavens and earth is yours O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as being in control of everything. Riches and honor come from you alone, and you are the Ruler of all mankind; your hand controls power and might, and it is at your discretion that men are made great and given strength.” (1 Chronicles 29: 11, 12 TLB) We are just stewards of God’s property here on earth. We should see ourselves as poor in our standards but rich in God. The richest and wealthiest people on earth are not the billionaires who own real estates, giant companies, fleets of ships and jets but those who have the owner of heaven and earth as Lord of their life. No wonder God calls those who claim to be rich here on earth as poor. “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” (Rev 3:17-18 [KJV])
Jesus has been anointed to preach to those who hunger and thirst after the good news, after the gospel of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. Hallelujah. He told them that he was there to set them free.
Desperate Situations Call for Desperate Measures
At Cana of Galilee, they ran out of wine. I assume that it must have been a desperate situation which called for desperate measures. Nothing short of a miracle could have saved the situation and Mary the mother of Jesus took swift action to intervene for the problem to be solved. Jesus had not performed any miracle before that time. Neither Mary nor His disciples had any experience of Jesus having performed a miracle. But Mary had a revelation from God that her son was the Son of God and was the source of all supplies. She went straight to Him and told Him that the wedding organizers had ran out of wine. But He replied that ‘What has the running out of wine got to do with me? My time has not come.’ Mary was not discouraged by Jesus’ statement. If it had been me or you, I might have said ‘Lord, I’m sorry. Just forgive me for bothering you. It’s okay.’ It’s okay.” But she knew who He was and she had unquestionable faith in Him. She turned to the servants and told them ‘Whatever he tells you to do, do it.’ Jesus must have asked them what they had and they told Him that they only had water. He told them to produce the water they had for Him to turn it into their need. Jesus told the servants to fill the large water pots with water and to pour it out and take a glassful to the governor of the feast.
Imagine being told to put water in a pot and pour it out and serve it to the governor of the feast without tasting it. You would be accused of embarrassing the governor or making a fool of him if it turned out to be just water and not the wine they needed. That would be tantamount to daring him to cast you out immediately.

Jesus Took the Water They Had and Turned It into the Wine They Needed
But Jesus was saying that His way of doing things requires one to trust and obey Him. Jesus took the thing they had; water, and transformed it into what they needed; wine. They needed the wine but they had to give what they had; water. God always starts with your nothing for Him to make something out of it for you. When people look down upon you, they do not realize that you are in the ‘water’ situation and that God is capable of turning it into a ‘wine’ situation that will restore joy to you. God is a specialist in making something out of nothing. God wants you to do the natural for Him to do the supernatural for you. God used the little stick Moses was holding in his hands to create a dry highway across the Red Sea for six hundred Israelites and their animals to pass through the sea on dry ground as they ran away from Pharaoh and from all his army. ‘And the LORD said unto Moses, Why do you cry to me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, to divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” (Exod 14:15-16 [KJV])
Jesus Multiplied 5 Loaves and 2 Small Fish to Feed 5,000 People
Then there was that time when Jesus multiplied a young boy’s lunch of five barley loaves and two fish to feed a huge crowd of about five thousand people as explained in John 6:5-14: ‘When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to test him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Eight months wages is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, There is a lad here, who has five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said to his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above what they had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.’
Jesus Can Turn Your Water Situation to a Wine Situation
We live in a harsh and cruel mean world but Jesus can turn your tasteless life into a life abounding in joy unimaginable. The wedding guests endured a wine-less party for a while and did not know what to do. When their cry reached Mary the mother of Jesus, she decided to approach her son because she knew that He was able to provide wine where there is none. If they had made Jesus their priority and not an afterthought, He would have supplied all their needs according to His riches in glory and they would not have lacked wine throughout the festival. The guests had tasteless water but they needed wine. He turned their water into wine. Your current job is the water situation while the promotion that you desire is the wine situation. Poor health is your water situation but Jesus can turn that situation into robust health so that you rejoice and be exceedingly glad. A tasteless marriage life characterized by endless wars and mistrust can be turned upside down into tasteful honey-like joyful marriage full of peace, love, trust and understanding. Christ is able to turn your tasteless unfulfilled life into a life of hope, salvation, redeemed and delivered of the Lord if only you believe that He is the Christ, the Anointed One, the One with His Anointing ready to smear that anointing on your flesh (body), rub it in and pour it into your body if you ask Him to give it to you. “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7 [HCSB])
Anointing Means God’s Power on Human Flesh
Anointing means God’s power on human flesh enabling the body to do supernatural things that the body would not normally be able to do. Some of the supernatural things that the anointing will enable you to do include “destroying works of the devil” through Him because His anointing gives us power over the devil. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (1John 3:8 [KJV])
Jesus called unto Him His disciples and gave them power to heal the sick. “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” (Matt 10:1 [KJV])
Embracing the Kingdom Of Heaven Comes With Power over the Enemy
“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19 [KJV]) Power to preach the gospel with no hindrances of demons across your path. “And Jesus said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:15-18) [KJV]
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt 24:14 [KJV]) “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matt 28:18-20) [KJV]

Jesus Gave His Disciples Power to Preach the Gospel
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 [KJV]) “When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place (in Jerusalem). Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.” (Acts 2:1-4 [HCSB]) Are we delaying the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by not preaching the gospel when “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few?” (Matt 9:37 [KJV]) The people who are expected to preach the gospel of Christ are you and me. But we cannot preach this gospel without the power of God on our bodies because if we dare preach it when we are not anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit of God and of Our Lord Jesus Christ, demons will jump on us and tear us apart. “Then some of the itinerant (moving from place to place, not staying in one spot for long) Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came, and confessed, and disclosing their practices.” (Acts 19:13-18 [KJV])
When you are anointed with the anointing of Christ, the Anointed One of God, you will be able to preach “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38 [KJV]). If the Anointed One is in you, then His anointing is in you. Like I said, you cannot separate Jesus and His Anointing. That is why He is called Jesus Christ the Anointed One.

Greater Miracles Shall You Do than Jesus Did Because He Went to the Father in Heaven
Jesus anointing on them who believe will enable them to do greater things than the ones He was doing when He was on earth. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:12 [KJV]) (John 14:14 [KJV])
As Jesus Multiplied Loaves and Fish, He Will also Multiply Grace and Peace for You
Jesus is able to multiply His Grace and His Peace upon you if only you acknowledge Him as Christ, the Son of the Living God. Grace means ‘God’s goodness and favour on us when we do not even deserve to be favoured.’ “May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.” (2Pet 1:2-4 [HCSB])
God Turned My Water into Wine and He Will Do It for You Today
God turned my water into wine by miraculously healing me in 1992 of a coronary heart disease known as angina pectoris brought about by a heart valve problem. I was being treated with such drugs as valium, barbiturates and placebos (A substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient’s expectation and belief to get well. It is nothing but glucose packed as a pill). God removed my diseased heart that was even murmuring loudly and causing muscle pains all over my body, threw it away and replaced it with a new heart that functions perfectly. After that miraculous healing, I decided to give Him my heart and I accepted Jesus Christ to be Lord and Saviour of my life in 1995. The word Lord means ‘Owner, Master, Ruler.’ God is Our Father and Jesus is made Lord (owner) because He sacrificed Himself by being crucified for our sake so as to redeem us (buy us back to God) at the cost of His own
blood being shed on the cross at Calvary. To the believers in Corinth, Paul exhorted them by reminding them that their bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God who dwells in them. “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1Cor 6:19-20 [KJV]) Let our bodies be full of praise and worship and thanksgiving to Jehovah Lord God Almighty who owns us and gave Himself as a ransom for us that we may be redeemed unto Himself again. “For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.” (Isa 43:3 [KJV]) “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1Cor 6:19-20) [KJV] We should therefore glorify God in our body (using our hands, mouths our minds and our whole being) and in our spirit (our spirit man) because He is there for us to turn our water situation into a wine (joy) situation. God can turn your water into wine now if you ask Him. Do not look for a go between to tell Him to turn your water into wine. Call Him yourself because He is just a call away. “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jer 33:3 [KJV])
Hallelujah, praise the Lord. Amen.