Transcription
Have a seat, Chris. Worship team, thank you guys so much. I, yeah, I get me. Yeah, absolutely. I didn't realize it until it was stated, but I'm really looking forward to having my house trashed. Didn't know that was gonna happen, so that's exciting.
We are in the book of John, chapter 2. John continues his writing, telling us, answering the question, "Who is Jesus?" And I want to remind us at the beginning here, like I typically do, John has one purpose in mind for you, his reader, and that is this: that you would know Jesus, and that by knowing Jesus, you would believe in him, and that by believing in him, you would have eternal life.
Now, if you've ever met someone who has absolutely and totally transformed and changed your life, you know what it feels like, that inward compulsion to tell everybody you know about that person. This is John. This is what's happening. John, John says, "I met Jesus, and my life will never be the same." In fact, he goes on to say, "I spent three years with Jesus. I saw the miracles. I heard his teaching, and I was an eyewitness. I had a front-row seat to his life, and I can tell you this: when I was around him, it was like participating in and experiencing the glory of God."
But don't just take my word for it. Consider the testimony of the great John the Baptist. He looked at Jesus and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." But don't just take my word for it. Don't just take John the Baptist's word for it. Consider the testimony of the early disciples. They were all convinced that Jesus was who he claimed to be, that he was the Son of God, sent by God to save the world, to redeem mankind. That's chapter 1.
Chapter 2 begins with a miracle, which makes sense, because if you're answering the question, "Who is Jesus?" you don't just give verbal testimony. You want to give witness to what Jesus actually did, that he commanded nature. And so, in chapter 2, we read of this incident that occurs in this tiny little town, not really even a town, but a village, the village of Cana. John includes only eight miracles done by Jesus, so we kind of have to ask the question, "Well, why these eight?" We'll get to that in a minute. Within these eight miracles, Jesus will reveal everything he wants to reveal about himself to his followers.
Now, you would think, maybe these miracles would take place in front of large crowds, right? Huge audiences. But that's not what Jesus wants to do. It's going to take place in front of a select few, and even the people who get to experience this very first miracle is not, it's not the people that you would expect to experience it. But the point of the miracle is that his disciples would see, and that they would believe. Further evidence. That's what John is doing. He's compiling the evidence. He's putting together the evidence, and he's presenting it to you.
Now, you have to deal with this. All right? You have to deal with who Jesus said he was, and the miracles are further proof of who he claimed to be. Jesus did many other things outside of these miracles. In fact, in John chapter 20, verse 30, John writes this: "Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book." In other words, miracles were a daily experience for those who followed Jesus.
So, for the, for the last 30 years of Jesus' life, the fact is, he's been living in total obscurity until this moment. Until this moment where he's invited to a wedding in Cana. We pick it up in chapter 2, verse 1: "On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' Jesus said to her, 'Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.' His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.'"
Now, there were six stone water jars there for Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water," and they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast." So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
Okay, so let's step back in time and put ourselves in this scene. This is a wedding. This is a massive, immense party. Weddings didn't happen often. You were perhaps invited to a wedding maybe once or twice a year, and it would be the highlight of your year. Know that in the first century AD, it was a very difficult existence. Life was harsh, and so you needed something to look forward to, and a wedding would certainly be something you would look forward to. And so, what would happen is, you, you depended on others for your survival, right? You grew your own food and you sold what you had left over, and you depended upon the community and surrounding community. So, if you have a wedding, you're going to invite everybody in the surrounding communities.
Now, Cana was very small. It's meant to be, again, not considered a town, but a village. And then Nazareth was not too far outside of Cana. So it would make sense for Jesus and his mother, since that's where they, they lived in Nazareth and they were close to Cana, it would make sense for them to be invited to this wedding. So, if you can imagine it lasting for days, there is eating, there is drinking, there is singing, there is celebrating. It is just a massive, week-long party.
It was also a year in the making. This is the culmination of what ancient Jews had as their betrothal period, where the couple was essentially considered married, but they didn't consummate their marriage until after that year-long waiting period. That year-long waiting period was very important, especially to the groom. And here's why: it was his responsibility to do everything necessary to provide for his wife once they were together. This would involve either buying or building a home. Very often, the home was built as an addition to his father's house. And so, what would happen is, at the end of that betrothal period, you would go and travel with your entourage to your fiance's house, knock on her door, and essentially you would say, "Everything is ready. Everything is ready. All the preparations have been made."
Additionally, it was the groom's responsibility to ensure that everything necessary was provided for the wedding ceremony itself. Herein lies the problem: the wine has run out. And if the wine runs out, you know what it communicates? The husband was not prepared. The husband doesn't have what it takes to be a good husband, to provide what is necessary for his bride. Now, you're living in Cana, perhaps no more than 50, 60 people live in this little village. You are born and you die. We travel all over the world in this day and age, but back then, you barely traveled outside your clan, your tribe. Imagine the shame, the embarrassment. This is a deep and gross humiliation, and it is reflective of the groom's ability to provide.
So, if you can imagine Mary finding out there's no more wine, there's no more wine. So the tone of her voice is, she is, she tells Jesus, "Jesus, there's no wine. There's no more. They've run out." Now, at this point, we can't be certain that she expects something out of Jesus, like, "Jesus, I expect you to fix this problem." Although, at this point, it appears that Joseph, his, has died, and Mary would be used to turning to Jesus for the solution to her problems. I mean, you've got the wisest, most intelligent man who's ever lived, and she's been with you for 30 years, and you might want to turn to him. And so, she's, this is a problem. This is a big problem.
And then Jesus responds, but his response is kind of cryptic, right? I mean, you read it and you think, "What's going on here? Is he having a bad day? Jesus, are you just having one of those days? I mean, this is a party, right?" Is this what he says? "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come."
Before we get into the details of his response, so I make a little footnote here. Let's talk about drinking. Understand that as Christians, we don't want to condemn what the Bible doesn't condemn, because if you condemn what the Bible doesn't condemn, that leads to legalism. Does the Bible condemn the drinking of alcohol? No. What does the Bible condemn? Drunkenness. Additionally, the Bible says the Apostle Paul encourages us to display Christian maturity. The Apostle Paul actually says, "You need to think about what those around you need from you at any particular moment." That is the mark of a mature Christian. You see, a mature Christian will actually impose limitations, self-imposed limitations, to his or her Christian freedoms for the blessing and benefit of another.
And we have an example from Paul himself in 1 Corinthians chapter 8. He says this: "Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble." Now, all you vegans, calm down a little bit. Let me tell you what Paul is saying. See, back in the day, if you were invited to have dinner with a friend, and they were serving meat, there's a good chance that that meat bought from a butcher had been sacrificed to that butcher's pagan gods in the form of some, some act of idolatry. And so, then you had Christians coming to faith in Christ, and they were really struggling with this, you know, "I don't feel good about eating meat that's been sacrificed to idols. I don't feel good about doing that." And what Paul says is, "If eating meat causes my brother or sister's conscience to falter, if that's something they struggle with, he says, then I'll never eat meat around them again."
What's he doing? He's taking the high road. Self-imposed limitations for the benefit and blessing of your brothers and sisters. In other words, what, what he's saying is this: "I'm asking the question constantly, 'What do the people around me need from me?'" That is a mark of great Christian maturity. When you're able to do that, and then to say, "You know what? I'm going to abstain." So, if you're at a dinner party and you understand it's a gathering of folks from Alcoholics Anonymous, you're not going to serve wine, okay? Right? You're not going to drink wine. Why? Because of what others around you need from you.
Now, having said that, let me say this: there are some who condemn the drinking of alcohol, and what Paul would, would say is this: "You actually have the weaker conscience." You might think you're taking the Christian high road and displaying maturity, but you're condemning what the Bible doesn't condemn, and you actually have the weaker conscience, not the stronger one.
So, now we put this in our context, right? Put it in a broader context. Wherever we go, whatever we do, I love the Apostle Paul when he says, "You know what? I am, I'm an ambassador." You're an ambassador. An ambassador is a goodwill representative of some other place. Everything that we do, Christian, everything we do, is so that the glory of God can be seen through us. And that might include you putting some self-imposed limitations on your own Christian freedoms for the blessing and benefit of others.
So, Mary finds out the wine has run out, which, by the way, may be an indicator that she has some important role in this wedding. She may even be one of the hosts or the primary host of this wedding, because she learns there's no more wine and she approaches Jesus and tells him. And Jesus responds with, "Woman," and you're kind of like, "Wait a minute, Jesus, this is your mom. Is this, anyway you talk to your mom?" "Woman," literally he says, "Lady." What? What's happening here? Jesus being rude? But at the same time, this is not a term of endearment. And then he goes on to say, "Well, what does this have to do with me?" Literally, it reads, "What do you and I have in common?" In other words, he's saying, "Your concern is not the concern that I share. We don't have the same concern in common."
What is he thinking? He tells you in the very next line: "My hour has not yet come." What hour is he talking about? Well, if you read through the New Testament, the hour that he's talking about is the hour of his death. See, in other words, Jesus is now becoming singularly focused on the plan that God the Father has for him, knowing that when he performs this miracle, you know what's going to happen? The lid is going to be taken off. There's no more disguising who Jesus is. For the last 30 years, he's been in obscurity, but when he performs this miracle, it's a total game-changer. People will begin to understand. People will begin to talk. "Hey, this Jesus of Nazareth, it's not just the testimony of John the Apostle, or the early disciples, or even the great John the Baptist." Word is spreading. "This guy commands nature."
Now, this is an oral tradition, oral society. And when something happened, word would spread. Jesus understands this. And so, in this statement, he's actually beginning to separate himself from his family. Again, he's not being rude. It's just that he understands that with this miracle, the larger plan of God for his life will come to fruition with his death on the cross. In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus is speaking to a large crowd, and he's told that his mother and his brothers are outside and they want to see him. And Jesus responds with, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? Those that do the will of God."
You want to, you know, ever wonder why Jesus never asked for advice on anything in life? It's because every moment of his life, he was firmly committed to carrying out the will of the Father. He was in step with the Father. This is Jesus setting his face toward the mission that God has for him.
And I love Mary's response. You know, let me just say this, you moms, you really know your boys. You moms really know your boys. Because after Jesus' days, she has his conversations with Jesus. She turns to the servants and says, "You do whatever he tells you to do." Mary understands that Jesus' wisdom, his association with God the Father, she's in tune with all of that. You say, "Well, when did it begin?" Probably was a virgin birth, probably safe to say that, you know, and when she gets pregnant, having, right? It's like, you know, there's gonna be something really special about this boy. You know, Jesus was kind of that kid who, he was just the greatest kid. He was totally obedient. You know, loved hanging out with his friends, loved to laugh, to play, loved to have fun. He made the best mud pies. But every once in a while, he would stare off in the heavens, you know, with this contemplative look on his face. He was a young boy, but with a very old soul.
When he's 12 years old, it takes a trip to Jerusalem with his parents. When it's time to leave Jerusalem, you know, when they travel, they would travel, you know, with all the relatives and people from your village, and you'd all travel together. And kids would be running back and forth, up and down, somebody at the front of the line, in the back of the line. And didn't think much about it. And so, a couple days later, they're getting back, seeing Jesus, "Hey, where's Jesus?" You know, I think they're looking through everybody's passing by on the way to the village, and he's not there. So they go back into town, and where do they find Jesus? He's in the temple. His 12-year-old boy. He's in the temple asking questions. His mom, Dad, her freaking out, like, "How could you do this to a son? How could you do this? We were worried sick about you." And Jesus responds, "Don't you know? Don't you know that I, I have to be where, what's he say, 'in my Father's house'?" Jesus was on point his entire life, even the 12-year-old boy.
But now, this is the, this is the beginning of the fulfillment of God's plan for his life. So, if Jesus looks off in the distance every once in a while, he has this contemplative look on his face, this is why he knows it's all going to end in his death by crucifixion on the cross. He's making a break with family, not in a rude way, but in a very focused way. Does Jesus care about his mom? Absolutely. Remember, Jesus is hanging on the cross. He's hanging on the cross, and he has the love, compassion, concern to look at John and say, "John, take care of my mom. Take care of my mom."
Now, what's Jesus going to do? Mom says, "Do whatever he tells you to do." And Jesus does it. Why? Out of deference to his mom? Not so much. It's because this miracle actually fit God's timetable for the inauguration and the beginning of his public ministry.
There are six stone water pots, and they're big. Each one holds, what's the text say? 20 to 30 gallons of water. And they're for purification. They have nothing to do with wine. If we see the Jews, they were, they were religious about their purification ceremonies and rituals. You washed your hands at various points during the meal. You washed the plates. You washed the utensils. That's what these are for. You go about 120 to 180 gallons worth of this water used for purification. And Jesus says, "Go ahead and fill them to the top. Fill them with water." So the servants are filled up with water, and then Jesus says, "Go ahead and draw some out." So the servants reach, draw out the water, and oh my, oh my. And they're looking at each other like, "Now, this is really..." What's really cool about this, who are the very first ones to experience this miracle? Nobility? Princes? Kings? No. People who are working the party. They're not even invited to celebrate in the party. Their job is to work the party. And they only gave each other, "Go on, okay, boy, do we have a story to tell. This is the best party ever."
And so they're taking it out, and they bring it to the head waiter. And what does the head waiter do? He tastes it. Now, if you can imagine drinking wine created by Jesus, this is the best wine ever. Jesus makes at least 120 gallons of wine. And the head waiter tastes it. He says, "Okay, this is not normal." Because typically, what happens is, we serve all the best wine first, and then when that's all gone, then we give people the leftovers. So he calls the groom in and he says, "Just need to let you know that you have saved the best wine for last."
What has Jesus done? He's taken this man's humiliation and turned it into what? This guy just threw the most legendary wedding party ever because he saved the best wine for last. Nobody does that.
Question: Why would Jesus choose this miracle to usher in the beginning of his public ministry? You either, we have to ask this, "Well, why would John include this as one of only eight?" He had many, many miracles. Why? Why this one? You know, you would think, "Let's, let's heal a blind man." Okay? "Let's, let's heal a leper." "Let's raise a dead man." Yeah, that was, I mean, imagine the effect of that. Step back and ask, "What is the effect of this miracle?" What is, what is the effect of this miracle? You know what it is? Just a few people know about it. But everybody, "Hey, the party's still going. The party is still going."
Jesus' first miracle is actually one of perpetual joy. You know, the Old Testament, wine is associated with gladness. Psalm 104:15, "Wine makes the heart merry." Ancient rabbis actually had a saying, "When the wine runs out, the party is over. The joy is gone." And so, what's remarkable about this is that Jesus' first miracle is a demonstration of himself as the source of all true and lasting joy.
So, we all need joy. Joy is the thing you look forward to. Do the things that you love give you joy? Remember the first time you fell in love, and do you remember what that felt like when another person felt the same way as you, right? And you had these immense and feeling feelings inside of you, and you all, you just thought about that person. You couldn't wait to be with them. Remember, remember when you graduated from college and you got your first job, right? And maybe you had the little, little, little nameplate on the desk. "I did it. I did it." The beginning of your entire future. Remember the first time you bought a home, and the joy is like, "Yes! I did it." An accomplishment. All of that is temporary. You know that even the best marriages, they're not always joyful. You know that that job that you had, and that boss ended up being a jerk. Yeah, that new home eventually needed repairs.
See, among other things, this is Jesus saying, "Don't settle for cheap wine. Don't settle for cheap wine." Because anything you try to fill in that place of ultimate joy will eventually let you down. And so Jesus says, "Let me just show you what I'm capable of. I will give you your greatest joy."
Now, this is so relevant for our time, because in our day, people often look at Christians and think, "I could never be a Christian because I like to have fun." Right? I mean, their view of Christianity, Christians are known more for what they stand against than what they stand for. They view Christians, you know, God is like saying, "Okay, everything that's fun in life, God calls sin. And everything that's boring, God calls good." Feeling, "I could never live that kind of joyless existence."
Well, here's the thing: Jesus isn't asking you to give up your joy. What he's asking you is to replace that cheap wine you've been drinking with the best wine imaginable. Do you know what happens at the end of the age? The book of Revelation, there's a party, and it's a wedding party, and there's a groom, and there's a bride. And the groom is Jesus. You know who the bride is? You. The bride is his church. Now, remember, Jesus is the groom. With that, what does that tell you? It's his job to provide. So the wine never runs out. The food never runs out. The joy never ends.
But you have to realize this: in order for this party to happen, Jesus is going to have to die. In order for you to experience true joy, Jesus is going to have to die. He's going to have to die. And so, if during this time, he has these contemplative moments, if during these times he looks at his mom and says, "Woman, it's not my time. What does this have to do with me?" You can understand he has the cross on his mind. His blood has to be shed in order for us to participate in that joy.
You see, again, he's the groom. The groom provides for everything. You cannot get to eternal life without the groom providing for you. Man, she's a good provider. So, later, Jesus will be with his disciples, and he'll be participating in the Last Supper, and as part of that, wine is involved. But he takes that wine and he applies it to himself, and he says, "This is a new covenant. I'm doing something completely and totally new." And new, don't we all know it's so much better than older? And what Jesus is replacing is so much better than what came before. And that's what he wants to do in our lives. He wants to replace all that we tried to cram into our lives to be that source of joy that was so temporary, but yet we were so fixated on it that we actually ended up becoming undone.
And I love Mary's response. It's the perfect response because she says to the servants, "Do whatever he asks you to do." And when you and I take those words to heart, when we are obedient to Jesus, we enter into his joy. And so, let me, let me ask you, what is the cheap wine in your life? Well, what, what is it that you've been sipping on that you think will provide you what you want, only to realize it's fleeting and it's temporary? When the realization is made, "I have a secure future. I have a new identity. I have one who loves me more than I love myself, who knows me better than I know myself, who was so committed to the pursuit of my personal joy that he's willing to give up his life for it."
In Jesus' parable of the faithful steward, he says, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Then, you know what he adds? He says, "Enter into the, what? The joy of your master." So, we're going to remind ourselves of what Jesus had to go through to give us that joy. So, I'm going to ask the men and women if they would come forward. I'm going to ask you to bow your heads, close your eyes. I'm just going to pray for us.
If you haven't participated with us in the Lord's Supper, here's what happened. You'll come forward, you'll take the elements, you'll go back to your seat, then when we have all been served, I'll come back up and lead us.
Father, first of all, forgive us for the pursuit of those joys in our humaneness. We pursue those earthly things, whether they be relationships, material objects. They serve their place, but to give them the ultimate priority is, is to be unfulfilled. So, Father, the more we reflect on who you are and what you're capable of doing in our lives, and establishing our identity, freeing us from those temporary things of this world, looking forward to that day when we sit around that table and we share that meal together, and, and what kind of joy we will enter into. You give us the opportunity to enter into that joy even here and now. Father, I pray that as we receive the elements, you would continue to impress upon our hearts the importance of your death, burial, and resurrection. We ask you, in your name. Amen.