A miracle is the name we assign an event we ascribe to the operations of God that does not reconcile with our current knowledge of nature, hence, it is supernatural. This does not mean that God, in order to perform this act, sets aside His established natural laws. Christ Himself is the miraculous center of all nature and in Him nature is miraculous and the miraculous is natural; both the natural and spiritual forces are at harmony in Him. For example: His walking on water; it is not the water that holds Him up, rather He is the power with which it has its buoyant nature. God is Sovereign over all! He no more sets aside or suspends His natural laws when performing a miracle than He does man's will when predestining him to salvation; both wills are in harmony, just as both natures -- the natural and supernatural -- are in harmony in Him. So, in Him alone, all things demonstrate their fullest potential. Nothing in nature (or spirit) is wanting!

A caution here: Do not confuse a genuine miracle of God with a counterfeit demonic occurrence perpetrated by Satan. You ask: How do I know the difference? A miracle is a sign, a generative act, given to produce faith in an unbeliever that results in God receiving His due Glory. (As such, a believer should not ask for miracles as signs, for doing so indicates the sin of unbelief.) On the other hand, a demonic occurrence denies Christ, deceives man, and does not seek to glorify God. The illusion will vanish in time, but the genuine endures. (Lazarus did not succumb upon Jesus' departure!)

It is no common accident that at the outset of His ministry Jesus reclaims and sanctions the first institution established by God In The Beginning: marriage. By His very presence He confirms and elevates it from the civil of that day to the spiritual as it was intended in any day. Much has already been said and written by many about His invitation to anyone's wedding who truly wishes to live as husband and wife as God intends. Let us consider, therefore, another point avoided by most in a politically correct climate in an areligious liberal western culture. Today, this sacred and holy institution is made a mockery by those who seek it to sanction their own lustful unnatural ways to ease their consciences in life and gain acceptance by the society in which they live. Do not think for a minute that because the state may permit it, or a licentious church may perform it, that it is any more acceptable to the One who defined and ordained it (male and female). To these, if Jesus were invited, the sheer presence of the indisputable brilliance of His Light of Truth would melt away the error in any human heart leaving one standing in His presence exposed without defense, to recoil or repent. He then would say after receiving the repentant, as He said to all whom He lovingly confronted living in sin: Go and sin no more, and dismiss them in His love.

In Mary's request of her son, one of the things I see at work here can best be illustrated by a child's desire to witness his or her modern superheros do what they are known for and no other is capable of performing. As a child, I watched the fictional television character called Superman for one purpose -- to see him fly, leap tall buildings with a single bound, and bend raw steel with his bare hands. That child's heart ached for and reveled in the moment when this occurred. Here, Mary had pondered all the witnesses from birth to the special attributes of her son, and now that He had publicly come forward, confirmed by John the Baptist, and beginning to draw to Himself many followers, it is possible she was anxious to see Him do what she knew Him to be capable: the acts of God. If Mary was guilty of anything here, it might only be that of an over-anxious and misguided hope to see her son reveal His glory! As a parent or friend, or as His brothers, would we do less?

Of the many truths seen in this miracle event, because of limited space, let us consider only 5:

In this verse, we clearly see the stated purpose of the miracle (sign): for belief (specifically for His new disciples). John writes this entire record of events for this purpose.