John 2:1-12 (The Dawning of the Kingdom of God)

There we go, okay All right the Bible Has a lot to say about the kingdom of God and about the kingdom of man

The kingdom of God is where God rules. It's where his reign is present That's where his peace and his love and that's where our joy

Comes in when we are living in the kingdom of God in never -ending fellowship with the king of kings

Now the kingdom of man, we see it unfolding all around us It's built by war and violence and hatred and power dominion and jealousy strife and Yet in this era that we currently live in The kingdom of God and the kingdom of man exist as a simultaneous reality for instance you and I Gain our citizenship as American citizens

But there's a greater reality for you and I that we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven if we are in Christ Even right now as we gather together as the bride of Christ we gather as a visible expression of the kingdom of God here on planet

Earth We're members as I said of Jesus's kingdom that Jesus is building and that is growing and that the gates of hell are not going to Stand against until Jesus returns and calls us home to be his bride

But now let's not minimize the kingdom of man. The kingdom of man is real We live in the geopolitical boundaries of a country that seems more and more every single day like it is eroding around us

We live in a world of social unrest and political polarization. We live in a world of virtue signaling and riots and Gaslighting we live in a world where cities have been burned to the ground just in the past few weeks and this year alone

We've had pandemics Economic depression media induced hysteria city blocks torched in multiple cities and the kind of anarchy

That you and I would have never imagined just several years ago The new normal is waking up in the morning and our phones flooding us with Negativity faster than we can possibly even get adjusted to the brightness of the screen

It's plastered all over the news It's everywhere that we turn and it reminds me again and again and again that this world is not our home

And have you felt that way lately? Have you felt totally out of place in this world that we're living in?

You just watch the news you look at your timeline and you think gosh I just don't feel like I belong in this place anymore

Well, the reason you feel that way is because you don't the reason you fell out of place is because you are if you're a

Christian 2 ,000 years ago Jesus Christ came and he inaugurated a better kingdom that you're a part of and We live in this sort of awkward phase right now where we are trying to navigate as sojourners

Living in a world that is not our own now today I Want us to look at John chapter 2 verses 1 through 12.

That's right. We're gonna do 12 verses today and we're gonna look at what the kingdom of God is and We're gonna look at why the kingdom of God is and we're gonna look at how the kingdom of God can bring you and I joy

If we are citizens of that great kingdom So let's read the text.

We'll pray and then we'll examine six Fundamental truths about the kingdom of God.

How does that sound? Let's read on the third day There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there both

Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding And when the wine ran out the mother of Jesus said to him they have no wine and Jesus said to her woman

What does this have to do with us? My hour has not yet come and his mother said to the servants

Whatever he says to you do it Now there were six stone water pots set there for the

Jewish custom of purification containing 20 or 30 gallons each Jesus said to them fill the water pots with water

So they filled them up to the brim and he said Draw some out now and take it to the head waiter

So they took it to him and when the head waiter tasted the water which had become wine

He did not know where it had come from But the servants who had drawn the water knew and the head waiter called the bridegroom and he said to him every man serves the good wine first and when the people have drunk freely then he serves the poor wine, but you

Have kept the good wine until now this beginning of Jesus's signs he did in Cana of Galilee and he manifested his glory and the disciples believed in him

And they went down to Capernaum. He and his mother and his brothers and his disciples and they stayed there a few days now

Recap from John chapter 1 Jesus has come to set up his kingdom here on earth He came to in John 1 14 pitch his tent

Among us and he came here to rescue us because we were lost and we were broken and we were dead without him

He came first to the nation of Israel who should have welcomed their covenant God with open arms

But yet in John chapter 1 we see that they are the ones who are already Antagonistic towards him and already ready to reject him

He says that he came to the world that he created in his world rejected him Now the seeds are already here in John 1 in chapter 2 that the

Jews are gonna be the one to kill Jesus and yet When you talk about a kingdom

Normally when you kill the leader you kill the kingdom not with Jesus See they killed

Jesus 2 ,000 years ago, but his kingdom continues on it's stronger today. It's bigger today it's still growing today because Jesus came and inaugurated an entirely different kind of kingdom and The curious part about it is is that he started it at a wedding in Cana of Galilee in a backwoods e -town

You would think that if you're gonna start a kingdom you would go to The political center of the country like you would go to Berlin or you would go to Washington DC Jesus goes to Cana and it's in that That we see six wonderful truths about the kingdom of God right here in this passage

So let's pray. So that's the Lord to bless this message and for him to write it on our hearts

Lord God, thank you so much 2 ,000 years ago That you came and you stepped foot on this planet to rescue and redeem it you brought

You brought war to the kingdom of Satan you came and you crushed the serpents head you bound the strong man

And Lord you set up a kingdom that the gates of hell cannot stand against you set up a kingdom that will continue till every tribe

Tongue and nation has heard the gospel and Lord you set it up Beginning as such humble and beautiful means you're the

Savior who was born in a manger and not on a throne And you're the Savior who came to Cana to inaugurate your kingdom

So Lord, I pray by the power of your Holy Spirit that you would Open up our minds today to be able to understand the beautiful things that are going on in your word

Lord, I pray that you would show us the dimensions of the kind of kingdom that you were setting up Lord I pray that we would see the fundamental difference today between the power of the kingdom of God and the

Sterility and the weakness of the kingdom of man Lord, it's in your name. We pray. Amen Now the first feature of Jesus's kingdom is that he come to set up a kingdom of resurrection

This might not be apparent at first but look at how the passage begins. It says on the third day

There was a wedding in Cana and Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. Isn't that interesting that Jesus begins?

This is his very first recorded miracle. He begins his miracles with a miracle on the third day Surrounded by his mother surrounded by his disciples

That's not happenstance or coincidence that John would describe it that way John is a very deliberate writer

If you remember the purpose of the book in John chapter 20 these things have been written so that you will believe that Jesus is the

Christ the Son of the Living God and that by Believing in him you will have life in his name. That means that John is

Gonna take every possible moment that he can to squeeze out the richness of Christ and every detail is fascinatingly important He's intentionally giving us this detail that Jesus's kingdom began on the third day

John chapter 2 verse 11 We'll get to that in a moment says that this was the beginning of Jesus's signs

This sign the wedding at Cana meaning every detail of this scene is utterly important utterly important So This miracle and what we will see today is a microcosm

Microcosm comes from two Greek word my cross and cosmos little world. It's like a figurine

When you go to the store I've said this example a couple times and you look at the Eiffel Tower statue or you look at the Statue of Liberty Figurine and you say oh,

I know what the Statue of Liberty is like Yes, you do in part because it's meant to show us what the whole thing looks like It's like looking at a map you look at the map of the

United States. Yeah, I know what America's like but then look at how much more beautiful and how much more wonderful it is when you get out on the road and You start exploring the

Sierra Nevada region and you start exploring the Washington Olympic Mountains And you start

I'm getting Getting jealous of the trip that I took three years ago. Even right now as I speak

This passage is meant to be a small picture of the big and vast thing that Jesus is doing at his cross

Every element of it is meant to point us to that moment So what

I want us to do is I want us to hold Cana and Calvary in juxtaposition just for a moment Jesus begins his very first miracle on the third day

Isn't it interesting? He begins his first miracle surrounded by the same people.

He'd be surrounded in his last miracle, which also occurred on the third day This is the first third day miracle in John's gospel and it points forward to the final third day miracle the resurrection of Jesus Christ At this wedding

Jesus is foreshadowing that his kingdom is going to be a kingdom filled with resurrection

Which means it's gonna be a kingdom that's filled with people who were formerly dead in their sin formerly dead in their trespasses

But they've been made alive by Jesus Christ. That's what it means that this is a third day miracle

Jesus is looking past Cana to Calvary on what he is going to do

Jesus came into a world That was totally dead Jesus stepped into a scene of the walking dead except there was no people who are alive on that one

Since it all had fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone had fallen into sin. There was no one righteous not even one

So Jesus stepped into a world where everyone had committed spiritual suicide and there was no one living.

No, not one and the only way That Jesus is going to have a kingdom filled with people is to start with a resurrection

The only way Jesus is gonna bring us into his kingdom is if he goes down into the grave and brings us back out with him

This passage teaches us three things. It teaches us that as early as Cana Calvary is looming over the narrative it teaches us that This is the kind of kingdom that Jesus is bringing and as we know now 2 ,000 years later it began with a resurrection and Each and every single one of us if we are members of this kingdom had to be born again had to be resurrected

That's the kind of kingdom that Jesus entered us into you can be born to a physical kingdom But in order to be in Jesus's kingdom, you have to be resurrected

You have to have new breath new life new heart new mind You have to be a new creation and that leads us to the second

Feature of Jesus's kingdom is that Jesus is bringing new creation Now the first one

I said was not quite so obvious This one is even a little bit less obvious, but when we pull it together,

I think you're gonna see Honestly, I think you're gonna see how beautiful this text is. I marveled at this text this week

At just how many connections it has all throughout the Bible. It is beautiful Just As we saw a second ago that this miracle happened on the third day it also happens on the seventh day

That counts that possible It's a third day miracle that also happens on the seventh day It doesn't make any sense.

That's like saying 70 % of the time it works every time No, that makes absolutely no sense, but it's true

John has been meticulously Detailing the days in his gospel just like Moses did in Genesis First day second day third day.

In fact, John is writing the story of a new creation He starts his book in the beginning which means he's writing the story of a new creation

He lists out his days the first seven of them in fact because he's telling the story of a new creation

John's gospel begins this in verse 19 When John the Baptist begins preaching and he preaches the kingdom of God and the

Jews persecute him and that's the end of the first day the second day happens in verse 29 and John simply says you have to pay attention.

He says the next day. That's day two That's the day that Jesus made his first public appearance and then that's the end of the second day, right?

The third day happens on day 30 or on verse 35 Where Jesus appears a second time and then four of John's disciples start following Jesus And then that's the end of the third day

Now the fourth day is in John 1 43. It says the next day the group of five left and they went to Galilee So now if we're paying attention and we're looking at the clues that John is sprinkling through the forest

We're at day four What does John 2 begin with on the third day?

So on day four chapter 1 comes to a close then three days later Jesus comes in John 2

Now, I'm no mathematician I'm a homeschool dad, but I don't teach my wife does that But four plus three equals seven.

We all agree on that, right? Why does that matter though? Why is that important?

Why does John? Go to such elaborate links to tell us that Jesus did his first miracle on the third day and also the seventh day

Why is that important? Now we can't go into depth here in total

But the number seven is critically important in the Bible We'll give three points as to why

I think John is mentioning this now. Remember we've already said that John's writing the story of a new creation

Seven is very important to creation Remember I said that Genesis begins

Within the beginning it lists out the days John 20 makes this even more clear something new that I learned this week

Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and the seventh It's interesting

John 20 actually it says he rose on the first day of the week So three days after he died he rose from the dead.

We all agree with that. He rose on the third day But it says it was the first day of the week Which means it was sorry the eighth day

Now you're wondering why all of this this sounds very confusing. This is like a numerology type. No, it's not

Listen to what John is doing Jesus does his first miracle on the third day and on the seventh day the seventh day is when

God rested If Jesus rose from the dead on the eighth day the first day of the week, what day was he resting in the tomb?

on the seventh on the seventh So God in the first creation took six days to create the world out of nothing and on the seventh day

He rested Jesus after his ministry lays in the tomb after every work had been done and he rested from his work on the seventh day and then he rises in power on the eighth day to showcase that he is

Bringing into the world a brand new creation Unbelievable All these details are there and if we don't stop and stare long enough so easy to miss them the second point

About this seventh day and why this is important is that God not only rested on the seventh day

He ruled on the seventh day now Over the last 13 weeks or so.

I will confess to you that I have spent most of my life in my pajamas Almost entirely all of it.

I Didn't have to go anywhere. I was quarantined. I had shorts on and a t -shirt. That was it people came over to my house

I didn't even get dressed. I was still in my pajamas. They loved me. They're gonna accept me if they don't well, it's okay, too

I'll weep later But God doesn't take a lazy day on day seven

God doesn't sit in his pajamas in heaven God finished creating new material on the seventh day

But from the seventh day onward he's ruling over the things that he made Have you ever thought about the fact that Genesis never mentions an eighth day?

Well, the world doesn't stop turning It is true that the Sun rose and set again on the eighth day and the ninth day in the 10th and the 11th

Bible doesn't record an eighth day because every day thereafter is the seventh day Every day thereafter is the day that God is ruling over his world every day thereafter is a day that God is no longer

Creating new material. He's ruling over the material that he created now

Isn't it fascinating that? Jesus shows up on the seventh day in Cana and He creates new material out of nothing

He takes six empty stone water pots with nothing in them and he creates something brand new out of nothing water into wine

For all of history God has been in his seventh day not creating new material

But yet on this day God in the flesh steps down and he creates something new Signaling that the old creation is done.

The new creation has come Now just as a third point I Thought about not putting this in because it's a little nerdy, but I thought maybe you would indulge me for a second

It's my favorite part is to be a nerd The third day and the original creation was when the plants broke out of the ground

It's when vegetation sprouted. That's when the third day. That's what happened on the third day grass grew plants grew trees grew

Isn't interesting That Jesus shows up here on the third day and He doesn't use the ground to make his grapes and he doesn't use the ground to plant his seeds

He takes ordinary water and without touching it He fast forward

Almost through time. I don't know obviously we don't know how he did it But he turned water without grapes without seeds without people pressing them into juice without bottling them without Storing them for the time period that it would have taken for them to ferment

He bypasses everything that was required in the first third day and he makes wine out of nothing.

I Found that absolutely fascinating That Jesus is playing off of the original third day, but he's doing it in a way that showcases his new creations better His new creations bigger and more powerful.

And if you remember the first creation did not stop with plants God Created humans on the sixth day.

What's the final thing that Jesus does when he resurrects from the dead? He creates a new race of human beings who will love him and called according to his purpose and made in his own image before Jesus Christ you and I were made in the image of Adam and We were in the image of sin.

And when Jesus came he recreated you and I to be lovers of God and not haters of God to be conformed to the image of Christ and not conformed to the image of Our flesh

Jesus is bringing a new creation It's kind of all in this passage,

I know it's obscure I know we have to dig deep and peel back the layers, but it's there and I wanted you to see it

The third facet of Jesus's kingdom is that it's an intimate kingdom

Now Just as the theme of the third day is prevalent in the New Testament Just as the theme of the seventh day is prevalent in the

New Testament There's also a theme of wedding language in the New Testament I don't believe it's an accident that Jesus unveiled his kingdom at a wedding

In fact, I'll make the claim that the entire New Testament is a story of a wedding

From Matthew all the way to Revelation. It's the story of a man Jesus the God -man who comes to earth to claim for himself a bride a

Bride that he loves and a bride that he is going to transform into the kind of bride that loves him truly back

The language of the Old Testament is Israel is the unfaithful bride Jesus is coming searching a bride who is going to love him because he loved her first And he claimed her for himself and he transformed her into a perfect and spotless bride the picture of faithfulness and This is all throughout the

New Testament and I'll give you just a few examples John chapter 3 at the end of it Jesus compares

John the Baptist to his best man Because John's gonna help him prepare the bride That's an interesting metaphor

Mark chapter 2 19 through 20. He compares his earthly ministry to his engagement period

Why because he came to marry a bride? John 14, he says I'm leaving this world and I'm going to prepare a place for you

If it were not so I wouldn't have told you that's wedding language We'll get there when we get to John 14.

Just trust me until that point. That's it. It's a different sermon Matthew 22 he compares his kingdom that he's bringing to a wedding feast

Many are called few are chosen, but they are chosen to come into the feast to feast with the bridegroom

Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit calls the church Jesus is bride He uses the explicit terms in Ephesians 5 and 2nd

Corinthians 11 and at the climax of the story This is why I say that the whole New Testament is the story of a marriage

Because Jesus comes looking for a bride and at the end of the New Testament. He gets her

Revelation 19. I want to read it to you. The language is so beautiful. It's the purpose for which

Jesus came John says the same writer of the gospel that we're examining right now

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude Like the roar of many waters and the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out.

Hallelujah For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns Let us rejoice and exalt and give him glory for the marriage of the lamb has come

And his bride has made herself ready and it was granted to her to clothe herself with fine

Linen bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the Saints Jesus began his ministry at Cana at a wedding

But he was looking forward to Revelation 19 when all of human history is consummated and Jesus finally has his bride

So accident the kingdom of God begins at a wedding Now to the

Jews This would have been pretty scandalous Why wouldn't you go to Jerusalem Why when you start with the religious elite if you're gonna build a kingdom a spiritual kingdom a religious kingdom

Jesus is removing any doubt on who his bride actually is See Jesus didn't come to the impressive religious folk

He didn't come to the clean or to the elite He came to the bride that's gonna be made up of all the nations

He came to the bride who Jerusalem would consider to be scandalous, but he finds absolutely

Beautiful. It's the accumulation of blue -collar working people from Nazareth and Galilee It's the racial outcast from Samaria It's the impure

Gentiles in the Roman world scattered in all of the different cities It's the weak the meek the mild the downtrodden the broken

It's the men and women of all shapes and sizes from all over the globe That's gonna experience the intimate love of Jesus Christ So by attending this wedding in Galilee, what

Jesus is doing is he is foreshadowing the decidedly beautiful and peculiar Kingdom that he was enacting and it was the kingdom for his bride

He's showcasing that there's no outcast in the kingdom of God if you're in then you're not forsaken if you're in Then you are loved like a newlywed bride on her honeymoon

Except better than that because you're the perfect newlywed bride married to the perfect husband on a perfect honeymoon wherever that is

To me, it's Wyoming, but most people wouldn't agree with me If you're in Christ, then you are loved like that If you're in Christ, then you are beautiful to him

How often is it that we get stuck on our sin our failure our brokenness?

And we start thinking how ugly we are and how wretched we are. And yes, it's true without Christ.

We are utterly wretched We cannot save ourselves, but in Christ, we are deeply loved and we are beautiful to him

We are spotless to him and his white hot affections are being cultivated for you

That's the third element of Jesus's kingdom that is a kingdom for his bride at least to our fourth

Aspect of his kingdom that we see here in this miracle and you're like we've only went through two verses

How are we gonna get through the rest of it? Trust me We will one way or another

The fourth aspect of Jesus's kingdom is that shame erasing. It's a kingdom that erases our shame

John tells us in verses 3 through 5 When the wine ran out The mother of Jesus said to him they have no wine and Jesus said to her woman

What does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come And his mother said to the servants whatever he says to you do it

Now we got to unpack this verse a little bit we got to peel back the layers even more so because I Believe that there's some things going on in the background that we have to understand before we understand what

Jesus Christ is doing So let's for a moment. Let's just dive into 1st century

Israel Let's imagine that we were there and that their customs are our customs and that their behaviors are our behaviors

So in the 1st century weddings were a joyous joyous occasion Much like they are today except back then they lasted seven days

Now if you're an introvert and you get an invitation to a wedding That can be hard.

You're like I have to spend an entire evening with someone that I barely know Imagine seven days

Joyous singing dancing. I don't dance At our wedding is the only to my

Shannon and I's weddings the only time I've ever danced I've not even danced at friends wedding because I'm that awkward to look at and I care about what people think

But imagine being there for seven days Now It's also true that wine was a staple feature in a

Jewish wedding And I just want to unpack this for a second because we've got a it seems to be a touchy topic

Wine and alcohol in the New Testament. I just want to speak really frankly to my Presbyterian brothers for a second

This is not 25 year old Tawny port 25 % alcohol by volume wine and this is not your

Christian Liberty to go and get lit Okay This is watered -down wine that was not very strong and it would be almost impossible to get drunk off of But it was wine

So I just want to clear the air with my Presbyterian friends But to my Baptist friends

This is wine The word is wine. The word is alcohol. I grew up in a church that said this was grape juice.

No, it's not You can't manipulate the Greek language to mean that this is wine

And Not only is it wine Jesus was the one who made it and not only did he make it

He probably drank it at that wedding. So it's okay I just want you if you feel that way if you grew up in that culture, just take a breath and say it's okay

It's okay Wine and weddings was important It was a part of the culture and it was part of deep communal celebration that the community

Would actually come together and that's also a very important point because they lived in a different kind of culture than we live in today

Sociologists say that we live in a culture that is more akin to law and guilt We have laws

When we break those laws, we're guilty not so in the Middle East The Middle East it's more of an honor and shame dynamic

So when you think about it this way you would be tremendously honored if You had enough wine for your seven -day wedding feast and you would be tremendously dishonored if you ran out

Great shame would come upon you if you did not provide for your guests in an appropriate way

Now this is especially true in the region of Galilee Galilee was like the

Napa Valley of ancient Israel. It's where the best wineries were It's where the best grapes were

So if you run out of wine in Napa Valley, that's to your shame if you run out of wine in Galilee at a

Jewish wedding It's almost socially inescapable It would have been especially shameful and we know from history that family members took other family members to court

For running out of wine Because their negligence brought shame upon the entire community.

That's the way that they felt It's almost like in a modern example when a

Islamic person converts to Christianity the father feels shamed the mother feels ashamed the family feels ashamed the city feels ashamed and the only way to break the cycle of shame and dishonor is

Often they kill the person who converted to Christ This type of culture still exists today honor and shame and if you ran out of wine, it's a big deal and you're liable for uncle

Fred to take you to court and sue you for all that you're worth because you were the person who Was so negligent that you forgot the wine now

Again running out of wine is a massive social issue It was up to the family the close family to be on the sort of party planning committee to make sure this doesn't happen

So when we see that Mary is the one who's coming to Jesus that gives us a little clue as to who this wedding is for Mary would have been closely related to the bride and groom which means

That Jesus would have been closely related to the bride and groom which means if they run out of wine

Mary would have been ashamed Shame would have come upon Jesus shame would have come upon his ministry even before it even got started

So What we see Here is that Mary is not coming to Jesus to ask him to get involved in a trivial matter

She's not asking him to get involved for an acquaintance that he barely knows she's asking him

Not to perform magic tricks as if he's the entertainment at the end of the evening

He's asking her to rescue the people that he loves from deep abiding shame

That's what she's telling him. That's what she's asking him to do Now I find this feature somewhat fascinating the bride and the groom would have not been told the women would have known first because they were in charge and then only particular men would have been

Involved so Jesus his father had died. Now. He's the head of his household. He's told about it

The bride and groom would have never been told about it. They would have lived in their ignorance Sipping the last bottle of wine to their own shame and destruction

What an apropos metaphor for salvation That while we were yet sinners

While we had no clue of the shame and the and the guilt that was upon us

Jesus came without us even knowing what was happening and rescued us Again I see

That this is not just Jesus being involved in a social issue. This is Jesus acting out the gospel in front of his people

So I'm making the connection here that when Jesus is restoring this couple

He's looking past this couple to his family his covenant people who he's going to rescue at the cross.

I know many liberals Would say that this is just Jesus being nice and generous and we're supposed to be nice and generous too because Jesus is our great

Moral example and many Pentecostals will say to us No, this is Jesus giving us license to do parlor tricks and to do miracles because he did miracles.

We should do miracles He had faith. We should have faith. That's not what's going on here. Jesus is showcasing the glory of God Jesus is showcasing the gospel to his people and we know that for two reasons

Some of them we've already said maybe this is a little bit of a repeat but it bookends So perfectly third day miracle third day resurrection seventh day rest seventh day rest

Wedding wedding and then here we go. Jesus erases one couple shame and at Calvary He erases his people's shame the bookends of these particular things are so striking that you cannot ignore them

Maybe one point Would fall away, but when you see the totality of what

Jesus is doing here, it's unmistakable He's showcasing us the gospel The second reason that I think that this is true

It's because the way that he responds to Mary you can't preach this passage and not deal with the way that he responds to Mary So let's dive into that for a moment.

Let's see what Jesus is doing Because on the surface kind of looks like he's being sassy

Let's just be honest Jesus says one What does that have to do with us?

Now I don't recommend my brothers in this room Employing that tactic. I don't recommend if you have small children and your wife says will you go make me a bottle?

I don't recommend you say woman. What's that have to do with me? My hour has not come That's probably not the right strategy.

If your wife says hey, can you mow the yard woman? My hours now you come Again in our society that shame inducing but in Jesus's society that was actually respectful

And that was that wasn't disrespectful at all wasn't dishonoring at all It was very respectful.

In fact, but it wasn't the way you would talk to your mother Let me break it down this way. I Would not go up to my mama because that's what we call her in North Carolina.

I Would not go up to my mama and say hello mrs. Lankford That's respectful That's just not the way

I would speak to her Jesus here is speaking to Mary in a respectful way

It's not typical the way sons would speak to their mothers. It's not disrespectful. It's just not typical So what's he doing?

I? think that he's moving his mother out of the mother -son dynamic and into the servant

Lord dynamic this is his first miracle and From here on out his mother is no longer just his mother.

His mother is his Servant his mother is the one who loves him as Savior And now let's think about it this way

The joy of motherhood is unmistakable and it's beautiful But for her the greater blessing was not to remain

Jesus as biological mother Because what joy that would be for 50 60 70 years and then you die and go to hell the better joy was for her to Be moved out of that relationship and into he's my

Savior and he's my Lord So when he talks to her and he speaks to her it would be strange if he's talking to her like she's his mother

Mother my hours not yet come. Well, what does that mean? That'd be strange But it's not strange if he's her

Savior. It's not strange if he's her Lord. He says the hour Has not yet come he's looking at Mary and he's saying this

Event that I'm getting ready to do will signal my death I will be on an inevitable collision course from Cana to Calvary if I do this and I'm willing to do this

But I want you to know what it's gonna cost That's why his mother says whatever he says to do you do it

Cuz she knew He says my hours not yet. Come. What does that mean?

Does that mean he didn't want to do it because it was eight o 'clock instead of nine o 'clock. Absolutely not The hour is

Jesus's final hour his hour of crucifixion his hour of his death All throughout the

New Testament, especially in the Gospel of John Jesus uses this language to describe his death

That's why I say that Cana can be interpreted in light of Calvary because Jesus does

Look at what he says in John 4 to the woman at the well He says an hour is coming when true worshipers will worship the

Father in spirit and in truth that hour came when Jesus died on the cross and Indwelled his people by the

Holy Spirit so that finally they could worship him not in a dusty empty temple in Jerusalem anymore

But by the power of the Holy Spirit The hour had come at his death when the Holy Spirit came in and dwelled his people.

That's what his hour means John chapter 5 Jesus says to the Jews in Jerusalem an hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of God That didn't happen until Jesus resurrected from the dead.

That was his hour At the end of John chapter 17 when he's praying to the

Lord just days and if not hours before he is murdered He says father the hour has come

He's not thanking God that it's five o 'clock somewhere and that he can go to the Jerusalem drink shop

I just made that up on the spot. I didn't write that down He's not saying God. Thank you that it's nine o 'clock and I'm done with my work

He's saying the hour has come and then look at what he says glorify your son so that the Son may glorify you

The hour of Jesus's death had arrived and in his death He was gonna give glory and honor to God.

Jesus is interpreting Cana through Calvary and we must as well He's not saying he's unwilling.

He's not folding his arms as an impetuous child He's saying this event is gonna end my life mother

And she says whatever he says do do it We can interpret this passage this way because Jesus does

That's the fourth aspect of his kingdom is that he came to erase our shame if you're a follower of Christ There's no dishonor left for you.

There's no shame left for you If you're a follower of Christ You will stand clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ one day because of what

Jesus Christ did here in Cana and on Calvary The reason why brides wear white is because it's so pure and spotless that not even a stain can penetrate it

That's you Christian Because what Christ has done that sin you did today that sin you'll do tomorrow that sin that you will continue to struggle with for The rest of your life has been utterly cleansed by Jesus Christ and you have no more dishonor

And you have no more shame You're guiltless That's the fourth aspect of his kingdom.

The fifth aspect of his kingdom is that he is bringing a purified kingdom It's first six through eight.

Let's look at it together Now there were six stone water pots set there for the

Jewish custom of purification Containing 20 or 30 gallons each

Jesus said to them fill the water pots with water so that they are filled up to the brim and He said them said to them draw some out and take it to the head waiter.

So they took it to him now There's no mention in the Old Testament of stone water pots.

You can search Genesis all the way to Malachi. There's none So why do the Jews have these water pots?

Why do the Jews say that they're necessary and what is Jesus doing? We have to understand that The Jews are saying that this is a part of their custom for religious washing, but the

Old Testament gives no commandment What is going on here? Well, we have ample record in the

New Testament time that the Jews took the 613 laws that Moses gave and they turned them into thousands and thousands and Thousands of traditions that they raised up to the same level as the

Bible There's examples all in the

New Testament. I'll give you two Jesus is judged by the Pharisees for not properly washing his hands.

This was kovat ad 30 Jesus says to them now when he had spoken a

Pharisee asked him to have lunch with him and he went in and reclined at The table and when the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that he had not first ceremonially washed before the meal

But the Lord said to him now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the platter but inside you're full of robbery and wickedness

Jesus is saying that you've elevated your hand -washing tradition to the level of Scripture and you are not even clean on your heart

The Pharisees did the same thing to Jesus's disciples in Matthew 15 They it says then the

Pharisees and the scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said why do your disciples? Break the tradition of the elders as if the tradition of the elders was somehow in par with Scripture What do you just why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread?

And Jesus answered and said why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

Jesus is rebuking their religion Jesus is rebuking their

Tradition of washing hands and bathing before they eat food because it's not in the

Bible. It's a made -up human rule and Listen, I can't think of a better metaphor that Jesus could have enacted here

Than six empty water pots Six the number of man six the number of the

Jewish institution empty Empty their washings did nothing their cleansings were pointless

Jesus is saying here and he's demonstrating the utter uselessness of their man -made religion

Think about this Jesus could have made it rain wine out of heaven

Jesus could have gotten any pot or any pitcher or any Jug that he wanted to fill these full of wine to solve the problem

He chose six stone water pots for a very specific reason because he wanted to show the utter emptiness of the

Jewish religion Because it's not religion that's gonna make us clean and it's not soap and water that's gonna make us clean and it's not the tradition of the elders that is gonna make us clean because the stain goes too deep if You and I want to be truly purified

Then we got to be purified by the blood of Christ alone It says that though your skins your sins being like scarlet

They will be washed white as snow and the oxymoronic beautiful part of that is that it's not through water.

It's through blood That Is the fifth aspect of Jesus's kingdom that he is creating a purified kingdom

He is creating a resurrection kingdom where you and I will be resurrected to new life He's creating a new creation kingdom will be given new life new creation

He's creating a wedding kingdom where you and I get to be a part of his bride He's creating a shame free kingdom where he wipes away our shame and he's creating a purified

Kingdom where there is no more stain of sin as far as the east is to the west there has how that's how far your

Sin has been cast away from the presence of God Jesus is saying that you cannot be purified but by him and him alone and you need to leave the damning and empty vials of religion now

I Hope I've proven that you can interpret this passage Cana through Calvary, but just in case

You're still wondering how I'm coming to these conclusions. I want you to look at what the head waiter says

Because I think what he has to say is actually incredibly important When the head waiter tasted the water

Remember, it was empty before that Jesus had to tell him to put water in at first When the head waiter tasted the water which had become wine

And he did not know where it came from But the servants who've drawn the water knew the head waiter called the bridegroom and he said every man serves the good wine first And when the people have drunk freely then he serves the poor wine

But you've kept the good wine until now what a perfect metaphor for the

Bible and for the kingdom of God as This wedding was drawing close in 40 years

The Jewish nation would would be closed to an end their temple would be burned to the ground

These same pots that were totally empty So to the stony dusty temple would be left in ruins totally empty the presence of God never to fill that old building again

Soon the world would no longer go through Moses in order to know God go through Jesus Christ in Christ alone the system of the

Old Testament was being replaced and it was being drawn to an end and Yet look at what

God has done. God has done what this waiter would never do in that fascinating the waiter says

No one saves the best wine until last but look at what God has done in Jesus Christ He didn't he didn't bring

Jesus Christ in Genesis 3 When human beings sinned and rebelled against God, he didn't bring

Jesus Christ in the days of Noah He didn't bring Jesus Christ to Abraham when the family of God was was was promised

He didn't bring Jesus when Moses brought them out of slavery. He didn't bring Jesus when the temple was erected He didn't bring

Jesus when the law was codified He didn't bring Jesus when the priest were there to heal the people or when the the judges were there to lead the people or when?

The Kings were there to build the kingdoms or when the or when the prophets were there to speak the truth He waited until the end to bring his

Christ That old wine of the Old Testament was good But to the sinful people of old the law may as well have been an empty water pot that would have never ever

Satisfied they needed something better than their religion They needed something better than the old system of the Old Testament.

God brought out the best in Christ at the end Just like he did in this wedding

When the Jewish system was totally run dry and it looked as if the people of God were gonna live forever in their shame

God did what the waiter could not bring himself to do and he gave us Christ To replace and supersede the superficial gruel of religion, it's a middle medieval word that just means really nasty oatmeal

Jesus is the new wine of God's grace that replaces the old cup of religion He's the new Lord that indwells his people instead of the temple

He's the one who brings new birth and resuscitates his dead People and gives them new life that they could never have under the pulverizing weight of the law

He's the one who ushers in new worship instead of a temple on the top of a dusty hill in Jerusalem He is the one who brings the new and he is the one who came at the end to do it.

What a Savior What a God Jesus Christ here is reenacting the entire gospel for us

To me it's absolutely beautiful That's the fifth aspect and the final aspect as we close out today

Is that Jesus brings a glorious kingdom John concludes this narrative with his five signs

By giving us the theological point John gives us the point right here.

He says this Was the beginning of his signs that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee that manifested his glory

That's the point Jesus came to Calvary to manifest the glory of God Jesus came to Calvary to bring you into a kingdom that would give glory and honor to God He's not doing flippant miracles so that you and I can do miracles and he's not just being a good person as our moral example he is magnifying and demonstrating the power of a better kingdom a kingdom for the glory of God and what that means is

That you and I have been resurrected not because we're special. We've been resurrected for the glory of God We've been made in a new creations not because we are righteous we've been made in new creations for the glory of God We've been claimed as his bride for the glory of God.

We've been we've had our shame erased for the glory of God We've been purified for the glory of God All for the glory of Christ our

King. That is what the kingdom of God is It's the rule and reign of Christ for the glory of God Let's pray

Lord Jesus we began today talking about the kingdom of man and Lord the kingdom of man is powerful

Lord the kingdom of man is strong The kingdom of man is pervasive

Lord we look out and we see the riots and we see the evil and we see the wicked and we see

All of these things and we think the kingdom of God is somehow bigger and more powerful than it is But Lord, I pray that by your

Holy Spirit. You will have aligned our hearts today to see that the wedding Miracle you did at Cana though.

It started small in a small little town has continued to grow and spread and Strengthen and it will continue to do so Lord Jesus to the ends of the earth when moth and rust

Destroy this world. Your kingdom shall reign forever and Lord God Let us right now be amazed and be filled with praise