Start of Something New | Sermon 10/09/2022

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

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

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

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

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 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 to them draw some out now and take it to the head waiter

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

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

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

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

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

Holy Spirit the same Holy Spirit Whom inspired this very word

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Will become one flesh Covenant is made in that moment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Okay Here is where two different families will interact

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day one was the delegation From Jerusalem Questioning John the

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

Day three was the two disciples of John Decided to follow

Jesus as he is pointed out day four Andrew introduces

Jesus to Peter day five Jesus tells

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

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

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

He is going to bring eternal Sabbath and it starts here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Drunkard drunk and other words pointing to alcohol or inebriation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She repositions and even Carson says in verse 3

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

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

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

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

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

Let's move on It says 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 to them Draw some out now and take it to the head waiter.

So they took it to him. Excuse me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Says the Lord your God and so even Jesus in the

Gospels has these moments Where he gives

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

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

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

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

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

Now they draw for the messianic banquet and this wedding celebration

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

And that's What we're seeing Excuse me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jesus the bridegroom and You see that all throughout the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He takes things that are used for uncleanness

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

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

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

Christ came for his bride the father Chooses his bride brings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that is eternal life the wine the blood is

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

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

We are like the disciples We've seen miracles

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lamb is fast approaching and He wants complete fidelity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy actually some wine Father in heaven we bless your name

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

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

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

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

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

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