November 12, 2024 • 33 mins
Reflecting on the recent re-election of President Trump, we grapple with mixed emotions and the implications of this political landscape for our faith communities. Does this political shift offer a chance for the church to boldly share the gospel, or does it tempt us to place our hope in transient political movements? Join us as we navigate these questions and call for a deeper national repentance, emphasizing that true salvation is found not in politics, but in the return of the King of Kings.
The sermon embarks on a journey to the wedding at Cana, where Jesus' first miracle unfolds. This pivotal moment not only marks the beginning of Jesus' public ministry but also invites us to immerse ourselves in the profound mystery of marriage as a reflection of our union with Christ.
In this episode, witness the transformative dynamic between Jesus and Mary during this miracle, as Jesus takes a definitive step towards independence, setting the stage for his mission. We unpack the layered symbolism of turning water into wine, challenging the rigidity of self-righteous traditions and revealing the joy and abundance Jesus brings.
Explore the tension and faith in Mary's response, which models unwavering trust in the Messiah. As we reflect on what what Jesus does, we are prompted to re-evaluate the rituals we cling to in our own lives, ultimately encouraging a shift towards a more personal and genuine relationship with Jesus, transcending traditional practices and embracing the hope found in him as the bridegroom.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is a sermon I gave at New Life Church
in Cornell on November 10th,the Sunday after our national
elections, where President Trumpwas re-elected for his second
term.
It was quite a week for ournation politically speaking,
with the Republicans taking thepresidency, the Senate, and it
(00:22):
appears as if they will have theHouse of Representatives as
well.
These are truly historic times.
Personally, I'm both surprisedand pleased by how this election
has turned out, as I believe itgives more opportunity for the
church to feel free to proclaimthe gospel message and for our
(00:42):
nation to turn back towardsgoverning with biblical
principles found in the word ofGod.
However, I would offer a wordof caution.
I believe this movement wasmore of a vote with people's
pocketbooks than with moralprinciple.
We must keep praying for ournation, especially for the
(01:07):
church in America, to repent oftheir wicked ways and seek the
face of God.
This political change did notchange the fact that our nation
shows great signs of being underGod's judgment.
Signs of being under God'sjudgment.
(01:29):
Many people in our nation arestill under a strong delusion
about basic natural revelationsfrom God, as the Apostle Paul
puts it, for although they knewGod, they did not honor him as
God or give thanks to him, butthey became futile in their
thinking and their foolishhearts were darkened.
While this may be anopportunity for the nation, it
(01:52):
isn't any kind of salvation forour nation.
Furthermore, our hope shouldnot be in a political movement
of America or in any nation onthe earth.
Our hope is to be in the returnof the true King, the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords, andwhen he comes, there will be no
(02:13):
election, there will be nodebate, and every knee will bow
and every tongue will confessthat Jesus Christ is Lord.
Today we'll be looking at Jesus'first miracle, found in John 2,
verses 1-11.
And this miracle is done at awedding feast.
(02:35):
If I could sum up the firstmiracle of Jesus and why he
would begin his public ministryat a wedding feast turning water
into wine.
It goes something like thisJesus is our bridegroom and we
are his bride.
When we know Jesus intimately,we know him as our bridegroom.
(02:58):
He replaces our self-righteousreligious pretenses with a very
personal relationship thatoffers abundance and life.
In Hebrew culture, winesymbolized life and abundance,
and when you know Jesuspersonally, he brings life and
(03:20):
abundance to your soul.
One day, jesus, our bridegroom,will come for his bride and we
will feast with him.
Before I get into the text ofJohn, chapter 2, I'd like to
read a couple of passages fromthe Old Testament that talk
about this idea of God as ourbridegroom and the church as his
(03:42):
bride.
Jeremiah 2.2 reads In thatpassage we see that the Lord
(04:04):
speaks of his people as a bride.
And Isaiah 62.5 also reads andhere in Isaiah, we see God speak
(04:28):
of himself as the bridegroom ofhis people.
Now let's go into John, chapter2, verses 1 through 11, where
Jesus performs his first publicmiracle.
Should it surprise us that hisfirst miracle is at a wedding
feast?
I don't think so.
Jesus is coming for thesalvation of his bride.
(04:51):
I want to invite you to takeyour copy of God's Word, if you
have it, and turn with me todate John chapter 2.
Today we're going to look atthat first miracle that Jesus
performed at the wedding of Cana.
As you're turning there in yourBibles, let me ask you a couple
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of questions.
When you think of a wedding,what's the first thing that
comes to your mind?
Do you think of two peoplefalling in love?
Do you think of a lifelongcommitment falling in love?
Do you think of a lifelongcommitment.
Maybe for some of you, the ideaof marriage brings up thoughts
of anxiety or anger.
Perhaps you see marriage asmore of a struggle or
(05:34):
competition rather than theblessing that God intended.
Or perhaps, like many of theyouth in our nation today, you
think marriage doesn't meananything because nobody really
takes it seriously anymore andour lawmakers have destroyed the
very foundations of marriage inour culture that are supposed
(05:54):
to uphold the family.
Now let's begin with our studyin John, chapter 2, verse 1.
On the third day there was awedding at Cana, in Galilee, and
the mother of Jesus was there.
We read here that the weddingtook place on the third day.
Now I don't want to spend toomuch time on this, but this
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could seem confusing at first.
The sentence might be bettertranslated for us
English-speaking people.
Three days later, it's actuallyreferring to the final day in a
series of seven days thatdescribe a full week in the
Gospel of John.
(06:35):
The week began back in John,chapter 1, verse 19, when John
the Baptist was telling thepriests and Levites that had
come to question him that he wasnot the Christ, but that one
stood among them whom theydidn't know, one who would come
after him.
The week that's being laid outhere in the Gospel of John is
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Jesus's first week of ministry.
Now, hebrew weddings at thistime in Palestine could last for
can you guess that's righttypically a week.
Furthermore, the Jewish weddingfeast was intentional about
teaching principles of God'sWord.
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However, the origins of thisweek-long wedding feast dated
much further back than even thelaw of Moses.
We see these wedding feasts inthe lives of our patriarchs,
abraham, isaac and Jacob, andthat tells us these week-long
wedding feasts may date backpast even the flood, into very
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ancient times.
The wedding ceremony was centralto Jewish life and it involved
the entire community.
Families spent much time notonly in planning and prepping
for it, but in celebrating it.
The financial responsibilityfor the wedding and celebration
fell on the groom and his family.
(08:06):
You can only imagine what kindof planning a week-long
celebration would take Today,when we think of throwing a
wedding celebration or areception that lasts for one day
.
We spend a great deal of timeprepping and planning.
Consider the budgeting thatwould have had to go into a
(08:31):
week-long celebration thatinvolved not only inviting your
entire extended family, but thewhole community as well, which
may be the whole town.
So Now, as you're consideringall of this and how the marriage
feast was so central to Jewishlife.
Consider, first, how thisweek-long celebration with the
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whole community involvedreinforced this lifelong
relationship that was beingformed to create a new family in
the community.
But there's even a deeper truththat the marriage ceremony
symbolized.
It's one we're going to diveinto today.
The prophetic truth is thatthere's a faithful God who's
(09:19):
coming for his people.
The Messiah was coming for hisbride.
Today in our text, we find theMessiah literally beginning his
ministry at a weddingcelebration.
That, in part, is designed topoint to him, and the Gospel of
(09:39):
John's description of this isall to show us that Jesus is
coming for the salvation of hisbride John 2, verse 2,.
Jesus also was invited to thesalvation of his bride John 2,
verse 2.
Jesus also was invited to thewedding with his disciples.
As we continue in our text fortoday, we find out that Jesus
was invited to the wedding withhis disciples.
(10:00):
Jesus, our bridegroom, wasinvited as a guest to a wedding.
Jesus didn't remain solitary.
Like John the Baptist, jesusaccepted invitations to social
events, even though his enemieswould use it as an opportunity
to accuse him of being a gluttonand a drunkard.
At this point, jesus hadalready called five of his
(10:25):
disciples.
All of them were from theregion of Galilee, and three of
them even came from the samevillage.
It's very likely here thatJesus and his mother were
invited to this wedding becausethey were close relatives or
family friends.
We'll also see later thatJesus's mother is overseeing the
(10:46):
kitchen and, again, all of hisdisciples are from this region
of Galilee where the wedding istaking place.
So, as I mentioned, weddingsare so central to Jewish life
and, as you can see, when theygave the wedding celebration,
they invited everyone and theircousin's cousin.
One more item of note is thatJesus's earthly father, joseph,
(11:11):
isn't mentioned here at thewedding, and scripture doesn't
mention Joseph at all duringJesus's ministry.
It's believed that Joseph haddied sometime between Jesus
turning 12 and when he began hisministry.
John 2.3 reads when the wine ranout, the mother of Jesus said
(11:33):
to him they have no wine.
Now that we've given somecontext to this wedding, we read
in verse 3 that the wine runsout.
So what's the deal with thewine?
Why is this such a big deal andwhat does it have to do with
Jesus?
Well, for the wine to run outat a wedding feast was a serious
(11:57):
offense in Hebrew culture.
It was an embarrassment to thefamily of the groom.
As I mentioned, winerepresented life in abundance.
It was so serious that it couldeven possibly lead to a lawsuit
from the bride's family.
Now isn't it interesting thatwhen the wine runs out, the
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scripture tells us Mary comes toJesus?
What a picture of Marybelieving and trusting that her
son could fix this.
An interesting note here is thatJohn's gospel always refers to
Mary as the mother of Jesus.
It never calls her by name.
(12:42):
It never calls her Mary, muchlike John.
The apostle and writer of thegospel of John never mentions
his own name.
He never mentions Jesus'mother's name.
Now, mary, jesus' mother, hadalways believed her son was the
Christ, ever since she wasvisited by Gabriel the angel,
(13:05):
and it seems here that shebelieved it was time for him to
reveal himself to others.
It is this text that also showsus that Mary had some
responsibility over the kitchen,which even becomes more
apparent as we continue.
For Mary to approach Jesus onthis matter meant she was hoping
(13:28):
for a miracle.
John 2.4,.
And Jesus said to her Womanwhat does this have to do with
me?
My hour has not yet come.
Jesus' response is strong andit can seem harsh at first
glance, but the word, translatedwoman here could better be
(13:50):
understood by us as ma'am.
Now, if you ever traveled downsouth, you know people often
have a sense of respect for oneanother and greet each other by
saying sir or ma'am.
It's just a nice way of showingrespect when you speak to
another person.
The use of the word woman tobegin this conversation in
(14:11):
Jewish culture wasn't derogatory, but it was a sign of respect.
However, notice Jesus doesn'tsay mom, he says ma'am.
And after beginning theconversation, by showing his
mother respect but a firmer tone, jesus is trying to create some
(14:32):
separation between him and hismother.
Mary still sees him as thelittle boy more than the rabbi
before her.
She knows he's the Christ, butshe doesn't yet recognize his
purpose.
And when a child becomes anadult and begins to live
independently, there's atransition period that occurs
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and it can be difficult for aparent to let go of the control
they once had.
Parents have a tendency to holdon and cling to their children
even after they becomeresponsible, independent adults.
Jesus is making it clear to Maryhere that she should no longer
treat him as her young son butas the Messiah, with the purpose
(15:19):
of fulfilling the will of theFather.
As Jesus tells her this, hesays that his hour has not yet
come.
As Jesus tells her this, hesays that his hour has not yet
come.
When we first read this, it canbe difficult to understand.
What is Jesus saying that myhour has not yet come?
But as we continue to readthrough the Gospel of John,
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jesus develops this idea of myhour and he uses that phrase my
hour to describe the time ofsomething very important that is
yet to happen in his ministry.
And almost every time Jesususes that phrase my hour he
either is referring to thePassion Week or the very time of
his crucifixion.
Here are some verses for thatJohn 7.30, john 8.20, john 12.23
(16:10):
, john 12.27, john 13.1, andJohn 17.1.
However, in the context of thiswedding feast, when Mary is
asking Jesus to make wine, jesussaying his hour has not yet
come, I believe, is referring tothe hour in which he will one
day celebrate with his bride.
(16:32):
At this point, that hour isthousands of years away and Mary
is still being overly motherly,wanting to see Jesus the Christ
celebrated.
But Jesus uses this idea of itnot being his hour to teach her
that he has now begun hisministry and his purpose is not
(16:56):
simply to glorify God as herobedient son, but that he has to
follow Father God's larger plan.
Now John 2.5 reads and we seehere the response of Mary Even
(17:17):
though Jesus spoke strongly toher and basically said, mom, you
need to let go, she turnsaround and points to her son,
submitting to whatever he woulddo.
While it might look like Maryisn't quite giving up on fixing
things, she does recognize sheneeds to let go and let her son
(17:39):
take control.
Mary doesn't know what Jesus isgoing to do, but she believes
that whatever he does will bethe right decision.
We also see in this verse thatMary had authority over the
servants in the kitchen.
As she is directing theservants to do whatever Jesus
tells them to do is directingthe servants to do whatever
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Jesus tells them to do.
So how does this look for you?
When you're at your job,overseeing something or someone,
where do you turn?
Do you turn to Jesus?
Do you seek and submit to God'sguidance in your life?
Or, like Mary, are you tryingto tell Jesus how your life
(18:19):
should go?
What if you turn to Jesus andhe speaks strongly to you?
Are you willing to let him dowhatever he wants in your life?
What's your response?
We continue to read John 2.6.
Now, there were six stone waterjars there for the Jewish rites
of purification, each holding 20or 30 gallons.
(18:40):
These stone water jars wereused to hold water for religious
purification.
Water purification before themeals was one of these extra
laws or traditions of the eldersthat the Jewish leaders had
added, or traditions of theelders that the Jewish leaders
had added.
And when I say an extra law, Imean this is not a law found
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anywhere in the Old Testament.
The Jewish leadership believedthat in addition to the written
Torah, the first five books ofthe Bible, there existed another
Torah, and that other Torah wastheir oral traditions, the
traditions of the elders.
The Jewish people would not eatunless they washed their hands
(19:26):
properly according to the ritesof purification, according to
the rituals of the elders.
And being that this was such alarge gathering, there were six
large stone water jars here forwashing before the meals, and
each of them held 20 to 30gallons.
That means all together thesejars held between 120 and 180
(19:51):
gallons.
John 2.7 reads Jesus said to theservants Fill the jars with
water.
And they filled them up to thebrim.
Jesus telling the servants tofill the jars up shows the
abundance Jesus is about toprovide for those he cares for.
The symbolism is very powerfulhere.
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Jesus is using empty jars thatare part of extra laws and extra
traditions created by theJewish leaders.
The Jewish leaders who promotedthese extra religious rituals
in the name of God were thefalse teachers of Jesus's time.
And Jesus filling these sacredjars to the brim and bringing
(20:38):
forth wine out of them shows thefoolishness of these
extra-religious rites andrituals that people were
trusting in.
It demonstrates the abundanceand joy that Jesus alone can
bring to people trapped in falsereligion, to people trapped in
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false religion.
Consider the implications ofJesus using these vessels that
teachers had used to misuseScripture for their own
self-righteousness.
Consider the outrage of some ofthe people if they had found
out Jesus used these sacred jars.
Consider the outrage of thereligious Jewish leaders when
they learned Jesus used thesesacred jars.
Consider the outrage of thereligious Jewish leaders when
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they learned Jesus used thesejars for vessels of wine.
Jesus breaks through man'sself-righteous rituals and
religious pretenses and hebrings forth genuine joy, a
genuine joy that comes throughfaith in him alone.
Can you think of some sacredjars that you have in your own
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life, some extra religious rulesthat you've created in an
attempt to feel holy?
It's only through an intimaterelationship with Jesus Christ,
the Bridegroom, that we can bereconciled to God.
I want to read you a couple ofverses from Revelation, chapter
(22:05):
5.
Revelation 5, 2-4 reads and Isaw a mighty angel proclaiming
with a loud voice who is worthyto open the scroll and break its
seals.
And no one in heaven or onearth or under the earth was
able to open the scroll or lookinto it.
And I began to weep loudlybecause no one was found worthy
(22:29):
to open the scroll or look intoit.
My friends, there is no oneworthy in the heavens, on the
earth or under the earth.
No one is worthy.
But Revelation 5.5 says, andone of the elders said to me
Weep no more.
Behold, the lion of the tribeof Judah, the root of David, has
(22:54):
conquered so that he can openthe scroll and its seven seals.
Jesus is the lion of the tribeof Judah, the root of David, and
Jesus alone has conquered andhe is worthy.
Jesus alone can bring holinessand righteousness to your life.
(23:17):
Bring holiness andrighteousness to your life.
Now let's get back to thiswedding feast, where Jesus is
now standing next to the jarswith the servants.
John 2.8 reads and he said tothem Now draw some out and take
it to the master of the feast.
So they took it.
Now the tension here for theservants is real.
(23:38):
If there's no more wine for thethe feast, so they took it.
Now the tension here for theservants is real.
If there's no more wine for thewedding feast, things are going
to go south for their masterfast.
If the water that they just putinto these jars is just water,
they might not have a jobtomorrow.
But if they don't listen toMary's instructions, they might
(23:59):
not have a job tomorrow either.
They are likely hoping for amiracle too.
The fact that these servantsfollowed Jesus' instructions,
even to the point of drawingwine out of Jewish religious
jars, shows how they weredesperate.
It shows that they felt theyhad to listen to Mary, the
(24:20):
mother of Jesus, and at somelevel it shows they trusted and
hoped that what Jesus was doingwas going to work.
(24:59):
John 2, 9-10,.
When the master of theceremonies the master of the
ceremonies was the head waiteror the toast master.
This was an official positionthat was usually called upon to
help distribute food or drink atlarge social gatherings.
We might call him the weddingplanner.
So what this is describing isthat the man in charge of the
(25:26):
entire wedding celebrationdidn't know where this wine came
from.
So the master of the ceremoniescalls for the bridegroom.
Again, it was the bridegroom'sresponsibility to provide for
the wedding.
Now the master of the feastwants to honor the groom for
what he's done in this hour ofneed, because he had no idea
this wine existed.
(25:47):
And the master of the feasttells the groom that everyone
serves the good wine first.
Culturally, people served goodwine first, so that after people
would lose some of theirsensibilities, they'd no longer
notice or care so much about thepoorer wine.
It's also a description of howour world works.
(26:09):
People in the world offer upthe very best and they put on a
show, and once they got youhooked on their display of
goodness, out comes the common.
However, the lesson that Jesusshows us here is something quite
different from the world.
He shows us that he has thebest yet to come.
(26:37):
I want to address the oftendebated topic that comes up when
we talk about Jesus turningwater into wine, because, quite
frankly, it deals with an extrarule that Christians can often
religiously create.
I remember when I was younghearing some people say that the
(26:57):
wine in the Bible didn't haveany alcohol.
Now, I'm sure that the peoplewho said this had the best of
intentions to keep people awayfrom drinking too much alcohol.
However, when we're not honestabout what the Bible teaches, we
don't do anyone any favors.
It is not an accuraterepresentation of historical
(27:20):
biblical truth to say that thewine did not have any alcohol.
The Greek word for wine here,used in John chapter 2, is the
same word for wine used inEphesians 5.18, which tells us
not to be drunk with wine.
Which tells us not to be drunkwith wine.
(27:41):
Historically, we also know thatthe grape juice was indeed
subject to fermentation.
In the ancient world, theirdaily sources of water were
often mixed with wine, simply sothey could quench their thirsts
without being drunk.
Mixing wine with water was bothto purify the water and also
(28:03):
add flavor to very oftenstagnant water sources.
The ratio could fluctuatebetween three parts water to one
part wine, even up to ten partswater to one part wine.
Some of the terms that are usedin the Middle East and in our
scripture, for example, are newwine.
New wine was wine recentlypressed, but even that would be
(28:26):
quickly fermented.
The reference here to good winebeing made by Jesus is a
reference to wine that was notwatered down.
As we talk about Jesus makinggood wine, I'm certain some
people will take it the wrongway, just like people took Jesus
(28:48):
the wrong way when they calledhim a glutton and a drunkard.
So let me be very clear todaythere's nothing inherently evil
about wine with alcohol in it,according to Scripture, and to
claim that there is is puttingup our own set of religious
purification jars in front ofJesus.
Jesus is not endorsingdrunkenness by turning this
(29:12):
water into good wine, any morethan he was endorsing gluttony
when he multiplied the fishesand the loaves.
Jesus creating over 120 gallonsof good wine at the wedding
feast of Cana is the Christcreating a picture for us.
It's Christ foreshadowing howhe has the very best for us in
(29:36):
the future, has the very bestfor us in the future, how one
day our bridegroom will returnand abundantly provide a feast
for his bride on the mountain ofthe Lord.
I'd like to read a prophecy fromIsaiah, a prophecy about how
Christ will do this in themillennial kingdom.
Isaiah 25, 6 through 8 readsmillennial kingdom.
(30:02):
Isaiah 25, 6-8 reads On thismountain, the Lord of hosts will
make for all people a feast ofrich food, a feast of well-aged
wine, of rich food full ofmarrow, of aged wine well
refined, and he will swallow up,on this mountain, the covering
that is cast over all people,the veil that is spread over all
the nations.
He will swallow up deathforever, and the Lord, god, will
(30:26):
wipe away all tears from theirfaces and the reproach of his
people he will take away fromall the earth, for the Lord has
spoken.
Our text in the Gospel of Johntoday finishes with John 2.11.
This, the first of his signs.
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Jesus did at Cana, in Galilee,and manifested his glory, and
his disciples believed in him.
In the Gospel of John, theGreek word for signs is simion.
It's different than the wordthe other Gospels use to
describe Jesus' miracles.
(31:08):
The other Gospels use the worddynamis, which means power, but
the Gospel of John uses thisword, simion, which describes
the miracles having a deepermeaning.
They were signs that pointed toa bigger message Jesus was
teaching.
(31:29):
As I mentioned earlier, theJewish marriage feast symbolized
the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God and hismiracle of turning water into
wine symbolizes the joy andblessing of the coming messianic
kingdom.
Christ is the bridegroom andthe church is his bride.
Jesus' first miracle displaysthe celebration, the joy and the
(31:55):
abundance that our bridegroomis bringing.
Revelation 19.7 reads Are youready or are you holding on to
(32:16):
oppressive religious rituals andself-regulation, believing that
it can make you right with God?
It was here, at the wedding ofCana, that some of his disciples
first believed in him.
The miracle of turning waterinto wine at Cana confirmed for
some of Jesus' disciples thatthere was no hope in Jewish
(32:40):
religious rituals, but there washope in Jesus, their Messiah.
If today your eyes have beenopened to trust in Jesus Christ
alone, please contact God.
Bless you this week.
The following is a sermon I gave at New Life Church
in Cornell on November 10th,the Sunday after our national
elections, where President Trumpwas re-elected for his second
term.
It was quite a week for ournation politically speaking,
with the Republicans taking thepresidency, the Senate, and it
(00:22):
appears as if they will have theHouse of Representatives as
well.
These are truly historic times.
Personally, I'm both surprisedand pleased by how this election
has turned out, as I believe itgives more opportunity for the
church to feel free to proclaimthe gospel message and for our
(00:42):
nation to turn back towardsgoverning with biblical
principles found in the word ofGod.
However, I would offer a wordof caution.
I believe this movement wasmore of a vote with people's
pocketbooks than with moralprinciple.
We must keep praying for ournation, especially for the
(01:07):
church in America, to repent oftheir wicked ways and seek the
face of God.
This political change did notchange the fact that our nation
shows great signs of being underGod's judgment.
Signs of being under God'sjudgment.
(01:29):
Many people in our nation arestill under a strong delusion
about basic natural revelationsfrom God, as the Apostle Paul
puts it, for although they knewGod, they did not honor him as
God or give thanks to him, butthey became futile in their
thinking and their foolishhearts were darkened.
While this may be anopportunity for the nation, it
(01:52):
isn't any kind of salvation forour nation.
Furthermore, our hope shouldnot be in a political movement
of America or in any nation onthe earth.
Our hope is to be in the returnof the true King, the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords, andwhen he comes, there will be no
(02:13):
election, there will be nodebate, and every knee will bow
and every tongue will confessthat Jesus Christ is Lord.
Today we'll be looking at Jesus'first miracle, found in John 2,
verses 1-11.
And this miracle is done at awedding feast.
(02:35):
If I could sum up the firstmiracle of Jesus and why he
would begin his public ministryat a wedding feast turning water
into wine.
It goes something like thisJesus is our bridegroom and we
are his bride.
When we know Jesus intimately,we know him as our bridegroom.
(02:58):
He replaces our self-righteousreligious pretenses with a very
personal relationship thatoffers abundance and life.
In Hebrew culture, winesymbolized life and abundance,
and when you know Jesuspersonally, he brings life and
(03:20):
abundance to your soul.
One day, jesus, our bridegroom,will come for his bride and we
will feast with him.
Before I get into the text ofJohn, chapter 2, I'd like to
read a couple of passages fromthe Old Testament that talk
about this idea of God as ourbridegroom and the church as his
(03:42):
bride.
Jeremiah 2.2 reads In thatpassage we see that the Lord
(04:04):
speaks of his people as a bride.
And Isaiah 62.5 also reads andhere in Isaiah, we see God speak
(04:28):
of himself as the bridegroom ofhis people.
Now let's go into John, chapter2, verses 1 through 11, where
Jesus performs his first publicmiracle.
Should it surprise us that hisfirst miracle is at a wedding
feast?
I don't think so.
Jesus is coming for thesalvation of his bride.
(04:51):
I want to invite you to takeyour copy of God's Word, if you
have it, and turn with me todate John chapter 2.
Today we're going to look atthat first miracle that Jesus
performed at the wedding of Cana.
As you're turning there in yourBibles, let me ask you a couple
(05:12):
of questions.
When you think of a wedding,what's the first thing that
comes to your mind?
Do you think of two peoplefalling in love?
Do you think of a lifelongcommitment falling in love?
Do you think of a lifelongcommitment.
Maybe for some of you, the ideaof marriage brings up thoughts
of anxiety or anger.
Perhaps you see marriage asmore of a struggle or
(05:34):
competition rather than theblessing that God intended.
Or perhaps, like many of theyouth in our nation today, you
think marriage doesn't meananything because nobody really
takes it seriously anymore andour lawmakers have destroyed the
very foundations of marriage inour culture that are supposed
(05:54):
to uphold the family.
Now let's begin with our studyin John, chapter 2, verse 1.
On the third day there was awedding at Cana, in Galilee, and
the mother of Jesus was there.
We read here that the weddingtook place on the third day.
Now I don't want to spend toomuch time on this, but this
(06:15):
could seem confusing at first.
The sentence might be bettertranslated for us
English-speaking people.
Three days later, it's actuallyreferring to the final day in a
series of seven days thatdescribe a full week in the
Gospel of John.
(06:35):
The week began back in John,chapter 1, verse 19, when John
the Baptist was telling thepriests and Levites that had
come to question him that he wasnot the Christ, but that one
stood among them whom theydidn't know, one who would come
after him.
The week that's being laid outhere in the Gospel of John is
(06:59):
Jesus's first week of ministry.
Now, hebrew weddings at thistime in Palestine could last for
can you guess that's righttypically a week.
Furthermore, the Jewish weddingfeast was intentional about
teaching principles of God'sWord.
(07:21):
However, the origins of thisweek-long wedding feast dated
much further back than even thelaw of Moses.
We see these wedding feasts inthe lives of our patriarchs,
abraham, isaac and Jacob, andthat tells us these week-long
wedding feasts may date backpast even the flood, into very
(07:45):
ancient times.
The wedding ceremony was centralto Jewish life and it involved
the entire community.
Families spent much time notonly in planning and prepping
for it, but in celebrating it.
The financial responsibilityfor the wedding and celebration
fell on the groom and his family.
(08:06):
You can only imagine what kindof planning a week-long
celebration would take Today,when we think of throwing a
wedding celebration or areception that lasts for one day
.
We spend a great deal of timeprepping and planning.
Consider the budgeting thatwould have had to go into a
(08:31):
week-long celebration thatinvolved not only inviting your
entire extended family, but thewhole community as well, which
may be the whole town.
So Now, as you're consideringall of this and how the marriage
feast was so central to Jewishlife.
Consider, first, how thisweek-long celebration with the
(08:55):
whole community involvedreinforced this lifelong
relationship that was beingformed to create a new family in
the community.
But there's even a deeper truththat the marriage ceremony
symbolized.
It's one we're going to diveinto today.
The prophetic truth is thatthere's a faithful God who's
(09:19):
coming for his people.
The Messiah was coming for hisbride.
Today in our text, we find theMessiah literally beginning his
ministry at a weddingcelebration.
That, in part, is designed topoint to him, and the Gospel of
(09:39):
John's description of this isall to show us that Jesus is
coming for the salvation of hisbride John 2, verse 2,.
Jesus also was invited to thesalvation of his bride John 2,
verse 2.
Jesus also was invited to thewedding with his disciples.
As we continue in our text fortoday, we find out that Jesus
was invited to the wedding withhis disciples.
(10:00):
Jesus, our bridegroom, wasinvited as a guest to a wedding.
Jesus didn't remain solitary.
Like John the Baptist, jesusaccepted invitations to social
events, even though his enemieswould use it as an opportunity
to accuse him of being a gluttonand a drunkard.
At this point, jesus hadalready called five of his
(10:25):
disciples.
All of them were from theregion of Galilee, and three of
them even came from the samevillage.
It's very likely here thatJesus and his mother were
invited to this wedding becausethey were close relatives or
family friends.
We'll also see later thatJesus's mother is overseeing the
(10:46):
kitchen and, again, all of hisdisciples are from this region
of Galilee where the wedding istaking place.
So, as I mentioned, weddingsare so central to Jewish life
and, as you can see, when theygave the wedding celebration,
they invited everyone and theircousin's cousin.
One more item of note is thatJesus's earthly father, joseph,
(11:11):
isn't mentioned here at thewedding, and scripture doesn't
mention Joseph at all duringJesus's ministry.
It's believed that Joseph haddied sometime between Jesus
turning 12 and when he began hisministry.
John 2.3 reads when the wine ranout, the mother of Jesus said
(11:33):
to him they have no wine.
Now that we've given somecontext to this wedding, we read
in verse 3 that the wine runsout.
So what's the deal with thewine?
Why is this such a big deal andwhat does it have to do with
Jesus?
Well, for the wine to run outat a wedding feast was a serious
(11:57):
offense in Hebrew culture.
It was an embarrassment to thefamily of the groom.
As I mentioned, winerepresented life in abundance.
It was so serious that it couldeven possibly lead to a lawsuit
from the bride's family.
Now isn't it interesting thatwhen the wine runs out, the
(12:21):
scripture tells us Mary comes toJesus?
What a picture of Marybelieving and trusting that her
son could fix this.
An interesting note here is thatJohn's gospel always refers to
Mary as the mother of Jesus.
It never calls her by name.
(12:42):
It never calls her Mary, muchlike John.
The apostle and writer of thegospel of John never mentions
his own name.
He never mentions Jesus'mother's name.
Now, mary, jesus' mother, hadalways believed her son was the
Christ, ever since she wasvisited by Gabriel the angel,
(13:05):
and it seems here that shebelieved it was time for him to
reveal himself to others.
It is this text that also showsus that Mary had some
responsibility over the kitchen,which even becomes more
apparent as we continue.
For Mary to approach Jesus onthis matter meant she was hoping
(13:28):
for a miracle.
John 2.4,.
And Jesus said to her Womanwhat does this have to do with
me?
My hour has not yet come.
Jesus' response is strong andit can seem harsh at first
glance, but the word, translatedwoman here could better be
(13:50):
understood by us as ma'am.
Now, if you ever traveled downsouth, you know people often
have a sense of respect for oneanother and greet each other by
saying sir or ma'am.
It's just a nice way of showingrespect when you speak to
another person.
The use of the word woman tobegin this conversation in
(14:11):
Jewish culture wasn't derogatory, but it was a sign of respect.
However, notice Jesus doesn'tsay mom, he says ma'am.
And after beginning theconversation, by showing his
mother respect but a firmer tone, jesus is trying to create some
(14:32):
separation between him and hismother.
Mary still sees him as thelittle boy more than the rabbi
before her.
She knows he's the Christ, butshe doesn't yet recognize his
purpose.
And when a child becomes anadult and begins to live
independently, there's atransition period that occurs
(14:55):
and it can be difficult for aparent to let go of the control
they once had.
Parents have a tendency to holdon and cling to their children
even after they becomeresponsible, independent adults.
Jesus is making it clear to Maryhere that she should no longer
treat him as her young son butas the Messiah, with the purpose
(15:19):
of fulfilling the will of theFather.
As Jesus tells her this, hesays that his hour has not yet
come.
As Jesus tells her this, hesays that his hour has not yet
come.
When we first read this, it canbe difficult to understand.
What is Jesus saying that myhour has not yet come?
But as we continue to readthrough the Gospel of John,
(15:43):
jesus develops this idea of myhour and he uses that phrase my
hour to describe the time ofsomething very important that is
yet to happen in his ministry.
And almost every time Jesususes that phrase my hour he
either is referring to thePassion Week or the very time of
his crucifixion.
Here are some verses for thatJohn 7.30, john 8.20, john 12.23
(16:10):
, john 12.27, john 13.1, andJohn 17.1.
However, in the context of thiswedding feast, when Mary is
asking Jesus to make wine, jesussaying his hour has not yet
come, I believe, is referring tothe hour in which he will one
day celebrate with his bride.
(16:32):
At this point, that hour isthousands of years away and Mary
is still being overly motherly,wanting to see Jesus the Christ
celebrated.
But Jesus uses this idea of itnot being his hour to teach her
that he has now begun hisministry and his purpose is not
(16:56):
simply to glorify God as herobedient son, but that he has to
follow Father God's larger plan.
Now John 2.5 reads and we seehere the response of Mary Even
(17:17):
though Jesus spoke strongly toher and basically said, mom, you
need to let go, she turnsaround and points to her son,
submitting to whatever he woulddo.
While it might look like Maryisn't quite giving up on fixing
things, she does recognize sheneeds to let go and let her son
(17:39):
take control.
Mary doesn't know what Jesus isgoing to do, but she believes
that whatever he does will bethe right decision.
We also see in this verse thatMary had authority over the
servants in the kitchen.
As she is directing theservants to do whatever Jesus
tells them to do is directingthe servants to do whatever
(17:59):
Jesus tells them to do.
So how does this look for you?
When you're at your job,overseeing something or someone,
where do you turn?
Do you turn to Jesus?
Do you seek and submit to God'sguidance in your life?
Or, like Mary, are you tryingto tell Jesus how your life
(18:19):
should go?
What if you turn to Jesus andhe speaks strongly to you?
Are you willing to let him dowhatever he wants in your life?
What's your response?
We continue to read John 2.6.
Now, there were six stone waterjars there for the Jewish rites
of purification, each holding 20or 30 gallons.
(18:40):
These stone water jars wereused to hold water for religious
purification.
Water purification before themeals was one of these extra
laws or traditions of the eldersthat the Jewish leaders had
added, or traditions of theelders that the Jewish leaders
had added.
And when I say an extra law, Imean this is not a law found
(19:04):
anywhere in the Old Testament.
The Jewish leadership believedthat in addition to the written
Torah, the first five books ofthe Bible, there existed another
Torah, and that other Torah wastheir oral traditions, the
traditions of the elders.
The Jewish people would not eatunless they washed their hands
(19:26):
properly according to the ritesof purification, according to
the rituals of the elders.
And being that this was such alarge gathering, there were six
large stone water jars here forwashing before the meals, and
each of them held 20 to 30gallons.
That means all together thesejars held between 120 and 180
(19:51):
gallons.
John 2.7 reads Jesus said to theservants Fill the jars with
water.
And they filled them up to thebrim.
Jesus telling the servants tofill the jars up shows the
abundance Jesus is about toprovide for those he cares for.
The symbolism is very powerfulhere.
(20:14):
Jesus is using empty jars thatare part of extra laws and extra
traditions created by theJewish leaders.
The Jewish leaders who promotedthese extra religious rituals
in the name of God were thefalse teachers of Jesus's time.
And Jesus filling these sacredjars to the brim and bringing
(20:38):
forth wine out of them shows thefoolishness of these
extra-religious rites andrituals that people were
trusting in.
It demonstrates the abundanceand joy that Jesus alone can
bring to people trapped in falsereligion, to people trapped in
(21:00):
false religion.
Consider the implications ofJesus using these vessels that
teachers had used to misuseScripture for their own
self-righteousness.
Consider the outrage of some ofthe people if they had found
out Jesus used these sacred jars.
Consider the outrage of thereligious Jewish leaders when
they learned Jesus used thesesacred jars.
Consider the outrage of thereligious Jewish leaders when
(21:21):
they learned Jesus used thesejars for vessels of wine.
Jesus breaks through man'sself-righteous rituals and
religious pretenses and hebrings forth genuine joy, a
genuine joy that comes throughfaith in him alone.
Can you think of some sacredjars that you have in your own
(21:44):
life, some extra religious rulesthat you've created in an
attempt to feel holy?
It's only through an intimaterelationship with Jesus Christ,
the Bridegroom, that we can bereconciled to God.
I want to read you a couple ofverses from Revelation, chapter
(22:05):
5.
Revelation 5, 2-4 reads and Isaw a mighty angel proclaiming
with a loud voice who is worthyto open the scroll and break its
seals.
And no one in heaven or onearth or under the earth was
able to open the scroll or lookinto it.
And I began to weep loudlybecause no one was found worthy
(22:29):
to open the scroll or look intoit.
My friends, there is no oneworthy in the heavens, on the
earth or under the earth.
No one is worthy.
But Revelation 5.5 says, andone of the elders said to me
Weep no more.
Behold, the lion of the tribeof Judah, the root of David, has
(22:54):
conquered so that he can openthe scroll and its seven seals.
Jesus is the lion of the tribeof Judah, the root of David, and
Jesus alone has conquered andhe is worthy.
Jesus alone can bring holinessand righteousness to your life.
(23:17):
Bring holiness andrighteousness to your life.
Now let's get back to thiswedding feast, where Jesus is
now standing next to the jarswith the servants.
John 2.8 reads and he said tothem Now draw some out and take
it to the master of the feast.
So they took it.
Now the tension here for theservants is real.
(23:38):
If there's no more wine for thethe feast, so they took it.
Now the tension here for theservants is real.
If there's no more wine for thewedding feast, things are going
to go south for their masterfast.
If the water that they just putinto these jars is just water,
they might not have a jobtomorrow.
But if they don't listen toMary's instructions, they might
(23:59):
not have a job tomorrow either.
They are likely hoping for amiracle too.
The fact that these servantsfollowed Jesus' instructions,
even to the point of drawingwine out of Jewish religious
jars, shows how they weredesperate.
It shows that they felt theyhad to listen to Mary, the
(24:20):
mother of Jesus, and at somelevel it shows they trusted and
hoped that what Jesus was doingwas going to work.
(24:59):
John 2, 9-10,.
When the master of theceremonies the master of the
ceremonies was the head waiteror the toast master.
This was an official positionthat was usually called upon to
help distribute food or drink atlarge social gatherings.
We might call him the weddingplanner.
So what this is describing isthat the man in charge of the
(25:26):
entire wedding celebrationdidn't know where this wine came
from.
So the master of the ceremoniescalls for the bridegroom.
Again, it was the bridegroom'sresponsibility to provide for
the wedding.
Now the master of the feastwants to honor the groom for
what he's done in this hour ofneed, because he had no idea
this wine existed.
(25:47):
And the master of the feasttells the groom that everyone
serves the good wine first.
Culturally, people served goodwine first, so that after people
would lose some of theirsensibilities, they'd no longer
notice or care so much about thepoorer wine.
It's also a description of howour world works.
(26:09):
People in the world offer upthe very best and they put on a
show, and once they got youhooked on their display of
goodness, out comes the common.
However, the lesson that Jesusshows us here is something quite
different from the world.
He shows us that he has thebest yet to come.
(26:37):
I want to address the oftendebated topic that comes up when
we talk about Jesus turningwater into wine, because, quite
frankly, it deals with an extrarule that Christians can often
religiously create.
I remember when I was younghearing some people say that the
(26:57):
wine in the Bible didn't haveany alcohol.
Now, I'm sure that the peoplewho said this had the best of
intentions to keep people awayfrom drinking too much alcohol.
However, when we're not honestabout what the Bible teaches, we
don't do anyone any favors.
It is not an accuraterepresentation of historical
(27:20):
biblical truth to say that thewine did not have any alcohol.
The Greek word for wine here,used in John chapter 2, is the
same word for wine used inEphesians 5.18, which tells us
not to be drunk with wine.
Which tells us not to be drunkwith wine.
(27:41):
Historically, we also know thatthe grape juice was indeed
subject to fermentation.
In the ancient world, theirdaily sources of water were
often mixed with wine, simply sothey could quench their thirsts
without being drunk.
Mixing wine with water was bothto purify the water and also
(28:03):
add flavor to very oftenstagnant water sources.
The ratio could fluctuatebetween three parts water to one
part wine, even up to ten partswater to one part wine.
Some of the terms that are usedin the Middle East and in our
scripture, for example, are newwine.
New wine was wine recentlypressed, but even that would be
(28:26):
quickly fermented.
The reference here to good winebeing made by Jesus is a
reference to wine that was notwatered down.
As we talk about Jesus makinggood wine, I'm certain some
people will take it the wrongway, just like people took Jesus
(28:48):
the wrong way when they calledhim a glutton and a drunkard.
So let me be very clear todaythere's nothing inherently evil
about wine with alcohol in it,according to Scripture, and to
claim that there is is puttingup our own set of religious
purification jars in front ofJesus.
Jesus is not endorsingdrunkenness by turning this
(29:12):
water into good wine, any morethan he was endorsing gluttony
when he multiplied the fishesand the loaves.
Jesus creating over 120 gallonsof good wine at the wedding
feast of Cana is the Christcreating a picture for us.
It's Christ foreshadowing howhe has the very best for us in
(29:36):
the future, has the very bestfor us in the future, how one
day our bridegroom will returnand abundantly provide a feast
for his bride on the mountain ofthe Lord.
I'd like to read a prophecy fromIsaiah, a prophecy about how
Christ will do this in themillennial kingdom.
Isaiah 25, 6 through 8 readsmillennial kingdom.
(30:02):
Isaiah 25, 6-8 reads On thismountain, the Lord of hosts will
make for all people a feast ofrich food, a feast of well-aged
wine, of rich food full ofmarrow, of aged wine well
refined, and he will swallow up,on this mountain, the covering
that is cast over all people,the veil that is spread over all
the nations.
He will swallow up deathforever, and the Lord, god, will
(30:26):
wipe away all tears from theirfaces and the reproach of his
people he will take away fromall the earth, for the Lord has
spoken.
Our text in the Gospel of Johntoday finishes with John 2.11.
This, the first of his signs.
(30:47):
Jesus did at Cana, in Galilee,and manifested his glory, and
his disciples believed in him.
In the Gospel of John, theGreek word for signs is simion.
It's different than the wordthe other Gospels use to
describe Jesus' miracles.
(31:08):
The other Gospels use the worddynamis, which means power, but
the Gospel of John uses thisword, simion, which describes
the miracles having a deepermeaning.
They were signs that pointed toa bigger message Jesus was
teaching.
(31:29):
As I mentioned earlier, theJewish marriage feast symbolized
the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God and hismiracle of turning water into
wine symbolizes the joy andblessing of the coming messianic
kingdom.
Christ is the bridegroom andthe church is his bride.
Jesus' first miracle displaysthe celebration, the joy and the
(31:55):
abundance that our bridegroomis bringing.
Revelation 19.7 reads Are youready or are you holding on to
(32:16):
oppressive religious rituals andself-regulation, believing that
it can make you right with God?
It was here, at the wedding ofCana, that some of his disciples
first believed in him.
The miracle of turning waterinto wine at Cana confirmed for
some of Jesus' disciples thatthere was no hope in Jewish
(32:40):
religious rituals, but there washope in Jesus, their Messiah.
If today your eyes have beenopened to trust in Jesus Christ
alone, please contact God.
Bless you this week.
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