Start of Something New | Sermon 10/09/2022

Apologia Utah

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Please turn with me in your Bibles to the gospel according to John chapter 2

00:07

Chapter 2 We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 11 today in the gospel according to John chapter 2 and the title of this sermon today church is the start of something new the start of something new and beginning in verse 1

00:33

The gospel according to John chapter 2 here now the inerrant and infallible words of the living and true

00:39

God On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there and Both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding

00:52

When the wine ran out the mother of Jesus said to him they have no wine and Jesus said to her woman

00:58

What does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come His mother said to the servants

01:06

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

01:12

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

01:21

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

01:28

So they took it to him When the head waiter tasted the water which had become wine and did not know where it came from But the servants who had drawn the water knew the head waiter called the bridegroom and said to him

01:42

Every man serves the good wine first and when the people have drunk freely Then he deserves then he serves the poorer wine, excuse me

01:53

But you have kept the good wine until now This beginning of his signs

01:59

Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and Manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him thus ending the reading of God's holy and inspired word

02:08

Let's pray church real quick Father, would you please? Illumine the scriptures today by your

02:16

Holy Spirit the same Holy Spirit Whom inspired this very word

02:21

Lord, would you edify your people today? Would you speak through me dear Lord? God, would you allow me to get out of the way and for your truth to be brought forth

02:33

Lord? Please help me to speak in a way that is helpful and clear and let it always be true

02:39

I pray this in Jesus name. Amen So church one of the highest

02:46

Privileges you can have as being a pastor is actually officiating weddings

02:52

I Myself have gotten to officiate a wedding and done some vow renewals

02:59

Truly is a blessing there is something very special about a wedding a

03:08

Union between a man and a woman cannot help but point to the Creator Even if a couple is not married

03:17

I'm sorry If they're not believing and they get married, they don't realize it, but they're appealing to the biblical worldview

03:26

They're they're showing the biblical worldview and their desire to be married That is something that God has instituted from the very beginning and you can see it all the way down into Genesis chapter 2

03:38

Where it says a man shall leave his father and his mother and he shall be joined to his wife and the two

03:45

Will become one flesh Covenant is made in that moment

03:52

And as the officiating pastor in many ways your hands are off of the big event

03:59

There's so many people invested in how well it's going to go the bride the mother of the bride the families

04:06

They hope the wedding goes exactly as planned, of course and When it comes to the ceremony itself

04:15

They're typically looking to you as the officiating pastor to do this, right this better go right they think

04:23

I remember when I did that wedding I Announced the new bride and groom with their new official titles and names

04:35

Introduced them to the rest of the people assembled there And as they walked away and people turned their faces towards them walking down the aisle away from me

04:45

I breathed a sigh of relief. It went well, okay, praise God it went well and yet It's not over at that moment

04:56

In many ways after those that 20 minute 25 minute ceremony.

05:02

There's much more to come How could we not celebrate what God has brought together?

05:10

But just as the ceremony was vitally important in some ways the reception Can be even more so especially

05:19

To some particular individuals in their mind. I of course think the ceremony and the covenant being established is

05:25

Very important but to sometimes the bride and the groom they they want the reception to go so well

05:32

Okay Here is where two different families will interact

05:39

Right The family of the bride the family of the groom You'll finally have those who are estranged from each other for some time now having a dialogue after many years

05:51

What's gonna happen is aunt so -and -so gonna talk with this person is? Crazy cousin

05:58

Wiley gonna be there. I just made that up You know What's gonna happen?

06:03

Not to mention the social pressure to live up to all the fairy tale and Hollywood weddings people have seen there's this pressure everyone is

06:16

Typically comparing your wedding to everyone else's Somehow we all become wedding experts.

06:22

Yeah, I wouldn't have done it this way, but it's pretty good You know we do that sometimes when we go into weddings we shouldn't

06:29

And so our text begins at the at the time of wedding celebration and with much of the same pressure

06:36

I just shared with you so starting in verses 1 & 2 It says on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee and The mother of Jesus was there and both

06:50

Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding Verse 1 2 & 1 & 2 there so essentially

06:58

Jesus's public ministry has now begun we've been Leading up to it.

07:05

There's been much hype and it has begun from here in John 2

07:11

All the way to John 12. We will see Jesus's ministry of signs and wonders chapter 2 to chapter 12

07:21

In fact some scholars call chapter 2 to chapter 12 they call it the book of signs as It reveals his glory it shows his glory to people and people believe on him and what's interesting is

07:37

Then chapters 13 through 21 in the gospel according to John are called the book of glory the book of signs and then the book of glory as during that time is

07:49

When he receives glory for all that he does especially in the crucifixion

07:57

Now I want to keep you in the mindset of the theme that we've been establishing from the prologue Until now

08:04

I want to remind you of this John has already alluded to Jesus being the divine creator of all things if you remember he said

08:15

That nothing not anything that was made was a mate was made apart from him That all things agonetto came through Jesus as the one who is

08:26

God Then we saw how the word became flesh and tabernacled among us and he has come to make all things new

08:36

Including as we saw in chapter 1 verse 12 and 13 new creations out of people

08:42

Not people born of blood or of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God So he's recreating we've been

08:54

Going over and if you recall a few sermons ago, I spoke about the creation symbolism in the days that are intentionally listed

09:04

Day one was the delegation From Jerusalem Questioning John the

09:09

Baptist day two was John announcing Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

09:17

Day three was the two disciples of John Decided to follow

09:23

Jesus as he is pointed out day four Andrew introduces

09:29

Jesus to Peter day five Jesus tells

09:34

Philip to follow him and Nathanael sees that Jesus is the Christ. That's what we went over last week so for chapter 2 verse 1 it says on the third day and what that means in Aramaic and Greek is

09:52

It's meant to be two days later therefore the wedding in Cana is on the seventh day the pinnacle so to speak of creation you see the

10:04

Creation fulfillment language there Christ performs his very first miracle on that day

10:11

He is going to bring eternal Sabbath and it starts here

10:18

The theme of recreation will continue here and largely into chapter 4 as we continue

10:25

From in the rest of chapter 2 chapter 3 and into chapter 4 keep that mindset

10:32

Recreation Jesus creating again. That's what we're gonna see the old things are passing away

10:38

New things are coming We will see old purification rites replaced with heavenly wine for celebrating

10:47

We will see Jesus going to the temple and cleanse it preparing the way for a new temple we will see in John chapter 3 natural birth compared to Spiritual new birth

11:01

We will see Jacob's well Opposed to the living waters that Christ offers.

11:07

And of course with the woman at the well, we see That the worship of God is no longer going to be in specific places in temples anymore

11:17

But he says the worship of God is going to occur in spirit and in truth So all these new things are going to take place

11:27

And some have interpreted this whole passage water into wine as more allegorical

11:35

Some even say it's a parable of Jesus But remember

11:41

John thus far has carefully chosen what goes into his gospel account

11:47

Everything has been chosen Intentionally and with purpose Everything from the prologue until now nothing isn't just another story

11:58

Okay, he's not he's not looking well the synoptic Gospels didn't have this story so I'm going to include it everything that John Intends to share with you and with me is going to lead us to a specific end a purpose

12:14

Okay If you remember I went over this in the first sermon

12:20

He says at the end of this gospel He says that there was more things that Jesus had done signs

12:26

Wonders and miracles and if they were written down the whole books all the books in the world couldn't contain all that Jesus had did that he performed and so It makes you wonder.

12:40

Why is John choosing this story water into wine? And sometimes we could just start reading chapter 2 and go, okay, that's interesting

12:52

Okay water into wine and then we move on but there's there's something more here that I think we need to see

13:00

This is not random John also also sought to show us witnesses a witness of John the

13:10

Baptist a witness of the Holy Spirit and the Father when Jesus was baptized and of course even a

13:20

Witness of the disciples we saw that in our last sermon that they had witnessed the Christ Jesus of Nazareth they had seen that he is the king of Israel as Nathaniel said

13:33

Now this scene acts as an additional witness to Jesus Christ in his divine power

13:38

That's what these accounts will show the signs and wonders are witnesses as well

13:44

Just as John just as the Father and the Spirit just as the disciples are witnesses.

13:50

So are the signs This first miracle takes place at a wedding in Cana Jesus's mother is referenced as in attendance, but not named.

14:02

Do you notice that? It says the mother of Jesus. It doesn't say Mary. I think that's for a specific reason.

14:11

We'll get into that shortly here It's possible this was a wedding of a relative or a close family friend as It seems even in verse 3

14:24

That Mary has a role in helping of the catering of the event She she realizes the wine is out and if she was just a simple guest

14:34

Why would she be concerned about wine being out in the reception? So it's possible but that this was someone that was close to them that they knew very well and they of course lived near Cana and The disciples accompanying

14:49

Jesus are likely the five from the other day The five that we went over Andrew Peter Philip Nathanael and the anonymous disciple who was following John and then now follows

15:03

Jesus and I for one Continue to keep leaning towards the fact that this was possibly

15:10

John the Apostle the son of Zebedee was the anonymous disciple. We talked about that last time.

15:17

There's no evidence for that, but This is his gospel. He's writing it and he writes it was such detail

15:22

And of course he could have gotten that from another witness, but it seems possible that John was maybe there again

15:28

We don't know that for sure but of course those five Disciples we see they were invited to the wedding as well

15:38

And at this time we don't have any reason to believe Jesus and the disciples were invited due to some rabbinical status that Jesus had

15:48

It was very common during that time For well -known rabbis or teachers to be invited to events like these because of their status

15:56

But we just we just don't really see that Because the fact is again most of them grew up in Cana Philip grew up in Cana Three of the

16:07

Andrew Peter Nathaniel are from Bethsaida, which is very close to Cana as well So it seems that they were all invited irrespective of their connection to Jesus But now we're going to come into the current conflict of the scene go to verses 3 through 5

16:25

This is the conflict now at this wedding When the wine ran out the mother of Jesus said to him they have no wine

16:34

Jesus said to her woman. What does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come

16:41

His mother said to the servants, whatever he says to you do it So wedding feasts always took place along with the ceremony in Jewish culture and These wedding ceremonies could last guess what up to seven days up to seven days a

16:59

Jewish wedding ceremony and celebration could last Sounds like a great time sounds very fun

17:06

Now there was much social pressure to come to a wedding even if you hated the family that it

17:13

That wasn't uncommon to them. That was very common Sometimes whole villages and towns would be invited to these weddings and and celebrations and Jewish weddings weren't just about two individuals getting married

17:28

It was very much about two separate families coming together often the the marriages can be arranged and decided by the elders or decided by the

17:40

The the parents and so it was very much important that these two families

17:46

Got along and they came together in such a fashion With the wedding celebration sometimes lasting as long as a whole week

17:56

The groom was the one who had to pay for it all and the groom

18:01

Had to make sure there was ample supplies for the whole week. It was on the groom in our in our culture, of course,

18:09

I don't know how that got established I should have looked that up, but the The the father of the bride and the bride's family takes care of it seems like traditionally mostly the cost of the wedding

18:22

But historically that's not always been so the groom had to have it all together

18:31

Have you ever been to a wedding where they've ran out of supplies? Anyone ever been to something like that?

18:37

I remember once being invited to a wedding and They realized they didn't order enough food so they put like this the smallest like Chicken slices on each person's plate.

18:49

They were very concerned So I have seen it and you can see people sweating and they are concerned about what they did

18:57

So you could imagine the very same thing is Happening here and just as much as it would be a big no -no for us today

19:05

It was a big deal back then to run out of food. Okay? Because of course in this in this

19:13

Culture, there was a big factor of shame and honor. Okay, so if the groom were to run out of supplies and food for the wedding celebration it was even possible that the

19:27

The the parents of the bride Could sue him they could they could take him for money

19:33

They could sue him for not giving the kind of wedding that their daughter deserved

19:38

Very interesting So wine was of course an important part of Israel's economy as They were an agrarian society, which means of course they they grew

19:53

With vineyards, they they grew all of trees made olive oil. They were an agrarian society

20:00

In many places throughout Israel vineyards would be covering the hills that was very common and Over and over again in the

20:09

Bible. We see that wine is a sign of blessing and abundance in Fact some of you might remember last year.

20:17

I posted my findings I did a large data analysis from from cover to cover on the

20:23

Word of God on the Bible going over specifically References to wine new wine strong drink fruit of the vine

20:32

Drunkard drunk and other words pointing to alcohol or inebriation.

20:37

I did a whole fully exhaustive Comprehensive data analysis on those things and it was determined that 59 % of the time those terms are used in the

20:48

Bible They're used in conjunction with good things or blessings 59 % of the time 4 % of the time there was a sort of neutral description of the item and Then only 37 % of the time those words had negative connotations or warnings against drunkenness so 59 % versus 37 % positive versus negative ultimately throughout scripture it shows that In many descriptions of blessing and times of abundance

21:26

That word wine came out that they would have many wine that they would grow many grapes and have wonderful harvests and they would they would have great wine and that's really the

21:41

What we see throughout even the Lord's Supper is a big aspect of that Now some scholars believe wine was often diluted in water

21:52

Okay, but it was still Determined after that dilution of water to be as strong as a five five percent

21:59

Alcohol, which would be kind of like a beer that we have today Okay Then undiluted wine was much higher in alcohol content and possibly could be considered strong Drink the more it fermented

22:15

Okay All that to say of course this sermon is not going to be about alcohol or the liberty liberties that we have

22:22

You can of course use your own conscience and the Word of God To decide if you will partake in the fruit of the vine.

22:30

Just know that that's what the word says not to be a drunkard but to participate freely

22:38

And if I could point out one more thing Some say the wine of the Old Testament wasn't enough to get one drunk

22:45

Then it begs the question. Why would there be so many warnings against drunkenness if that makes sense, okay?

22:52

Because that is a huge thing. Oh, it was all grape juice back then It was never anything that could actually get you drunk

22:58

But there is so many verses especially in my analysis that say they're staggering

23:04

They are vomiting things like that. And of course that is rejected against God God hates that sort of that sort of drinking but then again

23:14

He talks about wine in a good way in many blessings of ways. So I digress at This point in our scene they have run out of wine

23:26

And the mother of Jesus reports it to him. We're out We're out of wine

23:33

This could create big problems for the groom Especially if they are only a few days into the wedding feast if they're only day two into out of days seven days

23:44

What is he gonna? What is he gonna do? They're out of wine Now some speculate as to what

23:52

Mary expected when she told this to Jesus Why did Mary report this to Jesus?

24:00

And some say she was expressing her dismay at them running out of wine and it was simply just that They've run out.

24:08

Oh boy, isn't this terrible sort of thing? others say that she's been used to seeing the small miracles that Jesus had performed throughout his life and So she wants him to flex some of that power.

24:22

Come on Jesus. I know you can just do something. Okay? right, and that's kind of the the heart of these

24:29

Gnostic Gospels that we see that Jesus as a teenager or a boy was always doing these

24:35

These different miracles, but that's of course not in the Bible. Okay?

24:42

It doesn't seem likely that that's the case of why Mary is bringing this up to him What is possible is

24:51

Since the last time we heard of Joseph Mary's husband That was when

24:57

Jesus was 12 and they found Jesus at the temple when they were Looking for him when they thought him he was to be lost and the possibility is that since that's the last time we hear of Joseph in that way in the age of Jesus's life

25:15

That it's possible now at this point Joseph is dead We just don't know we simply don't know that seems plausible

25:24

She is a widow and she looks to her oldest son as she is used to coming to him as some sort of assumed head of household

25:35

Because again, you don't see Joseph throughout the Gospels You don't see him Coming to the cross as well as his mother you don't see

25:43

When it says there are your mother and your brothers and your sisters Joseph isn't present there some some speculate

25:50

That at this point she was relying upon her oldest son Jesus That is definitely possible when you see at the end of this gospel when

26:01

Jesus is on the cross. He points to John And he points to Mary his mother and he says behold woman your son and behold

26:11

Your mother to the disciple and so Jesus is concerned about the welfare of his mother after he is on the cross and goes into the grave to be raised again

26:25

So I'm going to say it again. We don't know for sure the point is

26:32

Jesus is now involved Jesus has been reported to about what has happened.

26:39

The problem is before him and Jesus says woman, what does that have to do with us?

26:48

And So I want to provide some context Woman here in this language is neither disrespectful nor is it very endearing?

26:58

Okay? Some have said it's akin to saying ma 'am But maybe not even so much saying ma 'am, okay, it's

27:08

I think there's a specific purpose here. He's saying woman like this and This by the way is gune

27:17

Which is where we get the word gyna gune. It's how it said in the Greek and so he says woman and Then he then he says a common

27:28

Jewish idiom that is throughout the rest of the New Testament. He says Woman what does this have to do with us?

27:37

Which is to say what is common to you and me with this what do you and I have to do with this and It is not a rebuke or a rejection

27:49

But neither is it a welcoming statement? Once again, it's not very endearing and it's not extremely

27:59

Rebuking it is somewhere in the middle Jesus is patient He is gracious and kind and that is what we ought to believe here

28:09

Some have taken these verses and said how could Jesus speak to his mother this way?

28:14

We've got to understand their culture cultural context and What is ultimately happening here?

28:23

There is no there is not to be a negative or hostile tone inferred here

28:29

I just want to make that clear Ultimately, this is it The will of God is to prevail in Jesus and Mary's relationship now in a more profound way

28:44

He's got to be about his father's Business she had given birth to him.

28:50

She nursed him She taught Jesus how to do small things as a child and now

28:55

She has come to rely upon him possibly as the leader of the home as Joseph is dead

29:02

But his public ministry has started something different has happened something has shifted

29:11

The purpose of his coming wasn't simply to be her son, but it was to show that he is the

29:17

Son of God And carry out his mission of redemption for his people

29:24

The prologue I We look together we saw that he is the unique Son of God and he is working for his father

29:33

Not for his earthly mother So her name isn't mentioned here for that reason

29:40

I believe and he doesn't call her mother here He calls her

29:45

Gune. He calls her woman One commentator states it is a remarkable fact

29:52

That everywhere Mary appears during the course of Jesus's ministry Jesus is at pains to establish distance between them

30:02

If you look at all their interactions, there's some level of distance he's creating between his mother and this is not callousness on Jesus's part as Of course we saw and I stated he makes provisions for her when he's on the cross

30:19

But she like every other person must come to him as the promised Messiah now

30:25

He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and that's how she has to approach him now

30:31

No one will be able to sidetrack Jesus now To the very end his face is set like flint

30:42

Towards his mission and Even his mother has to come to grips with that Everything now is viewed inside of the coming cross

30:54

He says his hour has not yet come What does he mean by that The hour is not yet That phrase is said multiple times all the way up until chapter 12 then something happens and After chapter 12 moving forward.

31:14

It says that his time has come So What is he saying

31:22

She tells him they've run out of wine and he's essentially saying my time of crucifixion

31:29

Resurrection and exaltation has not yet come And it's not that he's not able to act

31:37

When he says my hour has not yet come. It's that he cannot act in the fullest measure

31:45

In maybe the way that she's expecting That is not yet.

31:53

It is reserved for later His making water into wine isn't at the obligation of his mother, but his desire to act must now

32:04

Only come from the prerogatives and will of his father He will act now, but he won't act because she told him he'll act because him and his father's will is aligned at this point

32:21

She tells the servants Whatever he says to you do it. She's not offended by his words

32:28

She knows She receives it. Okay. It's I get it

32:35

She turns to the servants You better do all that he says She knows now

32:41

You get what I'm getting you get what I'm saying There's been a transition here for her so She tells the servants

32:52

She repositions and even Carson says in verse 3

32:59

Mary approaches Jesus as his mother but in verse 5 she now responds as a believer

33:06

As a believer she has submitted the situation to him. It's in his hands now

33:14

And although they didn't want any shame to occur at this wedding feast due to the lack of supplies

33:20

Jesus knows that the ultimate shame and spectacle making must occur at the cross before the divine

33:28

Wedding feast can take place Go to verses 6 through 8.

33:36

Let's move on It says now there were six stone water pots set there for the

33:42

Jewish custom of purification containing 20 or 30 gallons each

33:48

Jesus said to them fill the water pots with water So they filled them up to the brim

33:55

And he said to them Draw some out now and take it to the head waiter.

34:01

So they took it to him. Excuse me

34:08

It literally says In the Greek Each pot held two to three measures.

34:17

That's what it says Some have calculated that to be 20 or 30 gallons

34:23

But some even consider two to three measures to be possibly 60 to 90 gallons.

34:28

These were Whether they're 20 to 30 gallons or 60 to 90. These were huge pots.

34:34

These were large pots These vessels could hold a lot of liquid now, here's the thing stone pots

34:45

Didn't become unclean like earthenware vessels And in this case, they were preferred over earthenware for that very reason if you go to Leviticus 11 verse 33

34:55

It says and if any unclean thing falls into any earthenware vessel

35:00

All that is in in it shall be unclean and you must break the earthenware vessel

35:08

But it was determined that stone wouldn't be like that Earthenware would get unclean and dirty you'd have to break it

35:17

Stone could be reused for cleansing ritual and That's what these pots were used for.

35:24

These pots were previously filled with water for cleansing. Okay Each guest likely had water poured over their hands or they came as they came into the wedding ceremony

35:37

They went they went to the pots and they maybe they put their hands in or water was poured over We're not completely sure before they ate

35:45

Any food before they touched any food they must have ritual cleansing That's what occurring.

35:52

What is occurring here? and We saw that even in the synoptic Gospels mark 7 says

35:58

For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they're they wash their hands properly holding to the tradition of the elders remember when the disciples of Jesus pick grain heads in the field and they're eating

36:17

There's the Pharisees and the Jews saying your disciples haven't washed their hands They're not doing the law of the elders and it's so it's that sort of thing here

36:28

Now we're coming to the point of the miracle These pots church represent the state of the people at this wedding feast.

36:39

I Told you John has a specific reason for sharing this account and this is part of it

36:46

The pots represent the state of the people at this wedding feast. In fact, they represent the state of all people

36:53

We are unclean we need cleansing and We need something longer lasting than just water we need something that is permanent and The water pots are the old ways of Jewish religious custom

37:13

But Jesus is going to replace the purification water with something newer and far better So an imperative is made to the servants fill the water pots with water

37:28

And the immense amount of water turned into wine points to Something very specific it points to the rich and abundant messianic age

37:39

The wine points to the messianic age and it's all throughout the prophets the major and minor prophets

37:47

Here's just a few to show that According to the prophets. This is the age where there will be a time when wine flows freely and plentifully.

37:56

It says Amos Amos 9 13 through 15 says behold days are coming declares the

38:02

Lord When the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed

38:08

The mountains shall drip sweet wine The mountains shall drip sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it

38:17

I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them

38:24

They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit

38:29

I will plant them on their land and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them

38:35

Says the Lord your God and so even Jesus in the

38:42

Gospels has these moments Where he gives

38:49

Symbolic reference to the messianic age and wedding feast especially in Matthew 22 and Matthew 25 those are

38:58

Moments where we see the bride and bridegroom But these servants had drawn water from a place

39:08

From a well, I'm sorry from a well to place it into ceremonial cleansing pots

39:15

In a sense, this is what has been done for centuries But now that the

39:20

Messiah has come they will draw from the cleansing pots something new They put water into the pots, but now they will draw something different out

39:33

Now they draw for the messianic banquet and this wedding celebration

39:40

Symbolizes the wedding feast we the bride of Christ will have with him The supreme and holy bridegroom is

39:48

Jesus And the pots are filled to the very brim it says

39:54

And it's I believe that it's filled to the brim to show that there's no more need for ceremonial cleansing

40:02

There's no no more room. They're overflowing They're used now for something different The act is complete

40:12

One has come who will cleanse all unclean things and purify them by his blood

40:22

The wine symbolizes two things in this way they symbolizes the messianic banquets and Christ cleansing blood

40:32

That is what we are to see with these these pots Will never need to be filled with water for purification again never

40:42

Never again will they need to be filled that way what was once for purification is now for celebration

40:48

Jesus has come Jesus provides a solution To the conflict in this historical context he immediately provides wine for the groom true

41:00

But ultimately he does it as well in a cosmological context the same way

41:10

So he makes another imperative For the servants to draw some out now and take you to the head steward

41:17

The head over the banquet, that's who this would have been Head waiter is probably not the best translation.

41:24

It would have been Rk Rk is like some Archetype, you know, he is he's the highest steward in this wedding ceremony.

41:35

He is Over the whole thing in a sense so He takes it to him

41:44

The servants and the word now Shows a change has been made

41:50

Draw some out now Now because something has happened It's pointing to a greater

41:59

Transformation that is occurring the wine comes out of the stone pot This indicates that purification won't simply be external anymore

42:09

It won't just be on the outside It'll take place within There needs to be internal cleansing in each person and only

42:19

Christ can do that It's not the law or tradition of the elders nor is this

42:27

Change of blood flesh or of man, but of God This is a heavenly change

42:35

That's what Jesus is pointing to and making the water into wine

42:42

That we need transformation We need change We need cleansing and he can perform that cleansing and he can make us into something new something better.

42:53

And that's What we're seeing Excuse me

42:59

This even gives us some context to the bread of life passages that we'll see later in John 6 when he says whoever

43:07

Feeds on my flesh and drinks. My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day there will be context to that when

43:14

Jesus says that and this kind of points to that transformative aspects of what

43:19

Jesus Does in his work on the cross? But let's move on to verses 9 and 10

43:28

It says when the head waiter tasted the water which had become wine and did not know where it came from But the servants who had drawn the water knew the head waiter called the bridegroom and said to him every man serves the good wine first and When the people have drunk freely then he serves the poorer wine, but you have the kept the good wine until now

43:51

So the head steward tastes the wine and he is perplexed What is this

43:59

How is this Where did this come from? Where was this found? This is great wine.

44:06

He did not know where the wine came from Because it was of such high quality

44:13

Where did this come from And so the head steward approaches the bridegroom is again

44:19

The bridegroom was the one responsible for all the supplies food and drink for the wedding ceremony and approaches the bridegroom

44:26

And some try to argue that it was still just water and the head steward was making a joke believe it or not

44:34

Some liberal theologians will say that he was just making a joke to the bridegroom that it's still just water and there was no

44:41

Miracle that actually took place It's just ridiculous And you know why we know that that's not true because the root word become

44:53

Where it says when the head waiter tasted the water which had become wine that word has the root you know, my

45:02

You know, my is the same root for the word agonetto Which I taught you guys especially in the prologue of John that agonet agonetto means

45:12

Recreation means creation of something and so this is this is water that had completely changed

45:18

Into wine. This is something new something was created afresh and we continue to see this work of recreation by the

45:30

Son of God and This is by no means a difficult task for Jesus. This is easy

45:37

This is fine This is not a problem for him turning water into wine

45:43

Jesus can change the properties of material items because he made them

45:50

He can manipulate creation as the Creator It says that he sustains all things by the word of his power.

45:58

And so by his word he can change them as well He can tell a fig tree to wither away all at once and it will wither at his word

46:06

He can tell the the the storm and the rain to calm and the sea to calm and it will obey him

46:16

He can multiply bread and fish by his word He can heal people he can clear the

46:23

The flesh from wounds he can clear the flesh from leprosy He can make dead and lifeless hearts beat again

46:32

He's Jesus He can do all this He is the Creator Elisha needed

46:41

God to multiply the oil But Jesus is God and is able to do those things not on a borrowed power but on his in his own omnipotent nature and it is ironic to me that the head steward in the in The bridegroom himself those in charge of such things as food and drink don't know where it came from They're supposed to know but they don't the two most important people

47:13

In a wedding ceremony who should know about supplies who should know about These things don't know where this has come from such is the reversal of the kingdom of God the exalted become humbled and the humbled become exalted and Ultimately what we're supposed to see here.

47:34

Is that Jesus is the master of the ceremony? Jesus is the star of the show even if they don't recognize it.

47:44

That's what John is showing us but The man goes to the bridegroom

47:54

The head steward indicates what is commonplace at a wedding feast This is very typical.

48:00

This is how it goes. He says When the people are drunk or inebriated from the good wine you bring out the inferior wine and By the way, that's what the

48:12

Greek literally says here the NASB and other translations add a lot of words

48:17

The italics are gone here But really what exactly is being said here is not when the people have drunk freely

48:24

It literally says when the people are inebriated Then you bring out the inferior wine

48:33

Now the fact is We don't know if these people were drunk

48:42

The text doesn't say if these people were currently drunk nor does it say what level of inebriation?

48:48

They are at the point John is making and relaying this part of the account. Is that Jesus's wine is far superior than to the others

48:58

That's the point That's what we should get out of this By now the head stewards palate is probably a little weak if he's been drinking some of this wine, too

49:10

When one drinks alcohol Sometimes they are numb to to a good palate their taste buds become weaker, right?

49:20

and so even this Master steward can taste this wine and know that it is far superior

49:27

That it is much better That Jesus's wine tastes incredible to him.

49:34

These men are caught unaware with this wine But who isn't caught unaware

49:41

Jesus He is the true bridegroom who makes sure the wine of the kingdom never runs dry

49:50

John the Baptist Identifies Jesus as such in John 3. It says the one who has the bride is the bridegroom

49:59

The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice

50:04

Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. This is John the Baptist talking about his association with Jesus calling

50:12

Jesus the bridegroom and You see that all throughout the

50:17

Gospels and even in some of the epistles and especially in the Revelation that Jesus is the bridegroom

50:25

Jesus Says that he is the bridegroom. He says when the when the bridegroom is here, then my disciples will fast

50:34

I'm sorry when the bridegroom leaves then then my disciples will fast but the bridegroom is here if you remember that so he he identifies himself as such and The honor of this great wine belongs to Jesus not to the groom who is at this wedding in Cana the glory and the honor of this fantastic wine belongs to the

50:58

Lord Jesus and The fact is the messianic age has arrived and it's being fulfilled before their very eyes.

51:06

That's that's really what we're supposed to see Isaiah 25 verse 6 the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain a banquet of aged wine choice pieces with marrow and refined aged wine

51:23

That's Isaiah 25 Joel chapter 2 verse 19 The Lord will answer and say to his people behold

51:30

I am going to send you grain new wine and oil and you will be satisfied in full with them

51:36

And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations So from the moment

51:45

Jesus steps into this wedding, they may not know it, but he eclipses everyone else

51:51

It is about Jesus He is the main character of this scene

51:57

He is the one who gets all the glory John's point is that even though the head steward honored the bridegroom.

52:05

It is Jesus who receives the honor It is Jesus who is to be celebrated and there of course at weddings are

52:15

Speeches honoring the groom and the bride there are award shows to display Honor and prestige to people with high achievements

52:25

Most of those of course are concerned with self -promotion but not

52:31

Jesus and Maybe that's what he meant when he says my time is not yet Jesus didn't walk out with the wine and say the

52:39

Messiah is here because he says my time is not yet What did Jesus do he stayed in the background and lowly servants saw that he made water into wine

52:51

That's what we're seeing That reversal, but he's so humble

52:57

His exaltation is not yet. It's coming so behind the scenes

53:03

He does this The bride the church will give praise to no one else save him

53:12

Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and the whole world will know his name

53:20

That is coming Revelation 19 verse 7 through 9 says let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory

53:29

For the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready

53:35

And it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and pure and the angel said to me write this

53:42

Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb And he said to me these are the true words of God we're going from wedding to wedding

53:55

We're going from garden to garden we're going from wedding banquets celebration to Celebration That's the point of the messianic age it hasn't been inaugurated and it's going to consummate at one point

54:12

So let's finish up in verse 11 This beginning of his signs

54:19

Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him

54:26

John uses this last verse To package the whole thing up He even restates some of verse 1 here it says this arcane sign or miracle arcane is in the

54:46

Anarthurus So it doesn't mean first sign The word beginning is arcane

54:53

Okay There's something significant here This is the first of many signs wonders and miracles, but it is also chief among The others in that it is the inauguration of grace

55:09

The kingdom of God is now going to be established upon the earth. It starts with this

55:14

It starts with the wedding feast. And like I said, it ends with a wedding feast And although this is the first of his signs

55:22

Jesus simply calls them his works These are my works he says and so these weren't things he did for his own amusement

55:34

These weren't this wasn't something where Jesus really just wanted to help them out and and Make sure this groom wasn't shamed which that was of course a byproduct

55:46

That is an example of grace But everything was purposeful every single sign and wonder and miracle is calculated and purposeful

55:58

Each one has more results and fruit to it than the immediate Supernatural witness the disciples may have thought in the moment that the sign was just about water turning into wine, but soon the disciples would find out that there's more to this act and So according to John two things came as a result of this number one

56:25

It manifested his glory to make water into wine Of course, he's been trying to tell us

56:32

This that the glory goes beyond this moment it indicates a transformative force has entered into the world and then number two

56:41

His disciples and believed in him at the witness of this miracle It manifested his glory and they believed

56:52

Carson says the glory was not visible to all who had seen the miracle The glory cannot be identified with the miraculous display the servants saw the sign but not the glory

57:04

The disciples by faith perceived Jesus's glory behind the sign and they put their faith in him

57:11

Now we hope that the servants saw and did repent and turn to Jesus, but it doesn't say that and the point is

57:23

Many many throughout Jesus's public ministry are gonna see signs and wonders and miracles

57:28

They're gonna even see him raise people from the dead But they're not going to be able to see the glory

57:35

They won't see it they can see those things and still not believe

57:43

This points of course back to the prologue and verse 14.

57:48

It says we saw his glory glory as of the monogamous of the father full of grace and truth and Jesus told them remember

57:59

He said you will see the heavens open. You're going to see the glory You're going to see the angels of God ascend and descend upon the

58:09

Son of Man He promised them they would see Beyond what he told Nathanael they would see greater things

58:17

So the glory isn't in the signs themselves but in the one who performs them and They didn't believe in the sign or saw the glory of the sign

58:29

They believed in Jesus and saw his glory manifested in the sign That's the key

58:37

You and I weren't there But just as John said in chapter 20 he says these things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the

58:48

Christ and Believing in him you may have life in his name. That is the ultimate

58:54

Point of this story and the ones that will come after That you and I would believe that Jesus is the

59:01

Christ just as the disciples did And that we would have life in his name

59:09

So I'm gonna wrap this up now in church what we see here is that Jesus takes what is common and Makes things that are exceptional

59:20

He takes things that are used for uncleanness

59:26

And he makes them into vessels of celebration He demonstrates his grace on a people undeserving as he replenishes their wine

59:38

He didn't have to do what he did He could have left them looking like fools, but it is a demonstration even of his grace

59:46

There is no longer the wedding at Cana, but the wedding of God And this shows us

59:54

Christ came for his bride the father Chooses his bride brings

01:00:04

Jesus his bride he draws on to Jesus Exodus 22 says this a

01:00:13

Dowry must be paid for the bride and You know what Jesus obeys that law

01:00:20

Jesus will pay a dowry for the bride. He will give his life for the bride

01:00:27

That is his payment To the father and he paid it in full He gives his bride new life and life eternal they start new

01:00:39

Jesus says he goes to prepare a place for us. This is marriage language

01:00:47

He is adding on to his father's house as we speak. He promises that Have your oil ready for your lamp have your adornments ready as the bridegroom is one day to be expected and Whatever is his

01:01:06

He will share with you Paul says we are co -heirs with Christ that we will share in the inheritance from the father

01:01:17

Jesus says at the Last Supper as they're of course drinking wine Jesus says truly

01:01:24

I say to you I Will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God So as psalm 34 bids us to taste and see that the

01:01:36

Lord is good We are to partake in the wine of the Messiah He points to the wine and says this cup is the new covenant in my blood drink

01:01:49

And that is eternal life the wine the blood is

01:01:54

The cleansing that we've received freely enjoy that grace freely drink in that grace church

01:02:00

That's what's been given. You've been transformed. You've been changed Enjoy that as you've turned to Christ and he has rescued you and so for now

01:02:13

We are like the disciples We've seen miracles

01:02:20

We have seen the things Jesus did while everyone else around us is seemingly unaware

01:02:25

Does it ever feel like that? it's like you have been granted to see the miracles of God in the

01:02:33

Bible and People can read them and look on the miracles and it's like they're blind.

01:02:39

It's like they can't see It's been appointed to you to see You have seen the miracles and you believe that is the difference

01:02:51

We the church the bride of Christ must now tell everyone what the groom has done

01:02:58

We must go to the farthest corners of the earth to tell people the wedding supper of the

01:03:04

Lamb is fast approaching and He wants complete fidelity

01:03:10

The bridegroom will not take the adulterous bride We are not to commit adultery with the world.

01:03:18

We are to stay steadfast and holy for the Lord And he will do it

01:03:26

He will not receive one who has other grooms The call is to repent be faithful as we wait for the

01:03:33

Lord as a bride for her groom and For those who do it promises this in Ephesians 5.

01:03:40

This is the promise of Christ We are prone to wander But Jesus is going to make a bride for himself and this is what he will do

01:03:49

Ephesians 5 says this Christ also has loved the church and gave himself up for her so that he might sanctify her

01:03:58

Having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word that he might present to himself

01:04:04

The church in all her glory Having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless.

01:04:12

He's gonna do it He's gonna make it so He's gonna preserve his bride and that brothers and sisters is

01:04:25

Ultimately what this count this account is truly about so Let's pray

01:04:33

Enjoy actually some wine Father in heaven we bless your name

01:04:41

Lord, please use this message that went out God it is always Seems to be a story an account that we can almost just read past and just go

01:04:54

Wow, yeah, he made water into wine and yet as we've seen today, this is so much more

01:05:02

Magnificent than we could have ever imagined that this is pointing to the Cleansing that we have received.

01:05:09

This is pointing to the messianic age that you have inaugurated and That will come into full realization at your coming

01:05:19

So Lord, please preserve us as your bride Spotless and unblemished

01:05:27

Help us God to be ready for your arrival or Jesus We pray this all in your mighty name.