The Joy-Less Social Justice Gospel (Part 3)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.�

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the

Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King. Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike. Show number three today for me, December 8th,

Wednesday, 1 p .m. Eastern Standard Time. It�s Thanks for praying.

Recovery is going along pretty well. I�ve preached the last two Sundays. I don�t see much progress day -to -day, but I see progress week -by -week, and certainly three months ago, acute respiratory failure, and then now

I�m�I just had a little piece of dark chocolate. It�s kind of nice, little things in life.

I regularly say I always thought my wife was beautiful, but I think she�s more beautiful now. I�ve always liked the taste of coffee in the morning.

I like the taste better now, and the list could go on and on and on where you just are thankful, counting your blessings, naming them one by one.

It takes me a few minutes to get warmed up. I just was outside my door here talking to my wife and back in the studio to talk about John chapter 2.

What do you know about John chapter 2? If I were to say to you, �John 2, tell me everything you know ,� well, maybe you�d say, �Temple cleansed by Jesus.�

Good for you. Maybe you�d say, �He knows what�s in the heart of man, that is the

Lord Jesus knows.� Good for you, because it ties into John 3 with, �And there was a man.�

Right? He knows what�s in a man, and there was a man, and his name was Nicodemus. Good for you. But what about the whole water -into -wine stuff?

Why is it there? What does it teach? It�s John, nobleman�s son, crippled man, both healed, 5 ,000 fed, man born blind.

He was in fact healed by Jesus, Lazarus raised from the dead.

And now you�ve got the �Jesus turns water into wine.�

Does it seem kind of like a letdown almost? Does it seem like Well, I know signs are to validate, and this sign is the first one, maybe like the

Inaugural sign, which it is. What does it do?

Why this? And so today we�re going to look at John chapter 2, 1, and following this first sign, �Water into wine in a little town called

Cana.� And of course, all these signs point to the ultimate sign, and that is Jesus raising himself from the dead.

Not a whole lot of speaking here by Jesus, but the maximum amount of glory given to Jesus by the human author and of course the divine author.

Jesus is now going to start his public ministry, and even though it�s not going to be uber -public, it�ll be semi -public.

It�s public enough. It�s no longer private. And this great miracle is anything but profane.

Somebody called it profane. Somebody said, you know what, it wasn�t even really a miracle.

There was just a bunch of wine in those big pots, and Jesus said, add in some water, basically, and dilute it to make it go to the top.

Some, they don�t know the real meaning of this, so they think, well, it�s kind of a parable, maybe some allegory.

This is the Christian version of the Dionysus myth. Dionysus was the

Greek god of wine, and he gives abundant wine, and now Jesus is like a god.

He gives abundant wine. Is that what�s going on here? Is that what�s happening? I think not.

I think this first sign is going to tell you about everything you need to know about Jesus as he starts his ministry.

If you are someone who�s a teetotaler, great. If you�re somebody who drinks alcohol responsibly, great.

This passage has nothing to do with alcohol, how much percentage alcohol is in this particular wine.

Is the wine real? This is real wine.

It�s real alcohol. Of course, the scriptures elsewhere talk about drunkenness always being a sin.

Is there a time that drunkenness isn�t a sin? The answer is no, but alcohol isn�t the devil�s water.

Maybe your life, like my grandmother�s, and to some extent my mom�s, and to a full extent

Kim�s parents, has been wrecked by alcohol. That doesn�t make alcohol bad.

Guns don�t kill people. It�s just the instrument. Sex sins are abounding in this world.

Does that make sex bad because people misuse it, abuse it, and abuse other people?

Well, of course not. Therefore, when we think about this, I want you to think biblically. You want to be thinking to yourself, �What�s going on here ?�

Not, �I need to know what the percentage of alcohol is in this watered -down stuff just to kill the bugs or whatever.�

I don�t want you to be thinking that way. I don�t want you to think of narrative passages in Gospels especially.

Especially. Why do people say espresso instead of espresso? Why do people say especially instead of especially?

I don�t want you to think that way. I want you to think there�s a bigger picture here. It probably has something to do with Jesus and good news.

The Gospel of Jesus according to John. Mark 1, the

Gospel of God. That�s what we�re looking for. My purpose today is not to say, �Can we drink alcohol ?�

Should we? If you have liberty to drink or not drink, I will respect either of those.

That�s not the point of the passage, so quit making it the point of the passage. On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

The third day. So this is a couple days later, after Jesus is with Nathaniel, and we�re going to get a bird�s eye view here, an eyewitness account of what�s happening.

Weddings go for a week. I don�t know if we see

Jesus and his disciples enter on day one, day six. That doesn�t tell us, but we do know here on the third day there was a wedding, and Jesus� mother was there.

So Mary, she was there. Maybe she was a relative. Maybe she was a helper.

Because she was a relative, those details we don�t have. Maybe there was a family friend that was close.

Maybe that was the reason. We�re not exactly sure. But Jesus was also invited to the wedding, verse two, with his disciples.

Jesus shows up, and this is the

Sabbath day. He�s invited, and he shows up.

I want you to think a little bit about the public ministry of Jesus. Isolated, monastic, asceticism, hermetic.

No. We do our stuff solo, isolated. No, this is very public, very visible.

He�s not trying to hide. Not kind of John the Baptist -like.

No, no. Here comes Jesus to a wedding, and by the way, he certainly gives his blessing by his presence, does he not?

We don�t know if he got up and gave a blessing, but for him to be there, he�s authorizing this institution, of course.

What are some of the bad interpretations of what�s going on in this book? Well, we�ll talk about those in a little bit, but some people are thinking, you know what,

Jesus and his disciples, they�re the reasons for the lack of wine. If they wouldn�t have shown up, if they would have actually

RSVP�d, then there wouldn�t have been a lack of wine, but it�s Jesus and his disciples.

That�s the problem. Jesus and the men that he brought with him. That�s the problem.

I don�t think we ever want to think like that, or do things like that. I don�t want us to go down that path at all.

The weddings were, in those days, a bigger celebration than what we have.

I mean, we celebrate for a day, and maybe if you think, you know, the rehearsal, then rehearsal dinner, then the wedding, then the wedding reception.

Maybe you could say a two -day deal, but they had a seven -day deal.

There was all kinds of fun stuff going on based on customs and manners that we�ve learned back on those days, and processions of the groom to go get the bride, and speeches, and long, long times of food and feasting.

That�ll last a week. And now Jesus, with most likely Andrew, Simon, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel, show up, along with some unnamed disciple,

John, and the wine runs out, verse 3. The mother of Jesus said to him, �They have no wine.�

This is like Matthew 15, feeding to the 4 ,000. They have nothing to eat.

And what would happen back in those days, the person responsible for the food, and for everything going well, and for the wine, which was important, was the bridegroom.

And it was not only a big embarrassment to run out of food or wine, but sometimes people said, �You could even be sued.

You could even be sued if you didn�t provide everything for the people who showed up to this big day.�

Well, they have no wine. Jesus is going to do

His first sign. Some people think Jesus did all kinds of other signs, but in the

Bible, this is the first sign. If you want to read other things in Thomas and other places, the

Quran, you�re going to read about Jesus before this time, when He was little, and He made clay birds, and He brings them to life.

Or He takes a dried fish and brings it to life. Cursing a boy who becomes a corpse.

Parents becoming blind. Resurrection of boys.

His friend falls from a roof, and He resurrects him. Healed a man who chopped his foot with a hatchet.

Carries water on cloth. Stretches a beam of wood that his dad is using to make a table or a bed.

Healing snake -poisoned people. How people have been poisoned by snakes, rather. And the one that I find the most outlandish, none of them are funny, really, but it�s

Joseph and Mary, husband and wife. Jesus is there. Real mom, stepdad.

And their neighbors are complaining about Joseph and Mary. And so Jesus strikes them blind.

This is, what does the text say? This is the first sign. And that�s important, because once you understand why this sign was done, you�ll see how just idiotic those other things are.

The wine�s gone. Host is responsible to provide for food and wine for seven days.

And Jesus said to her, verse four, �Woman, what does this have to do with me?

My hour has not yet come.� Now, most of the time when people go to this passage, they want to know two things.

Is it real wine? And why did Jesus talk like this to his mother? That�s where most of the ink is spilt, trying to figure out those two questions.

I think it�s important to deal with those questions, but if they�re the most important, then it obscures, it somehow dims the real issue that�s going on here.

He literally says to his mother, �What to me and to you ?�

It�s not the main issue. And in addition to that, it�s hard to translate. If you try to get an

English equivalent, it�s just hard. Well, what do we also know? We know that Jesus always obeyed the law.

That means he always obeyed the Ten Commandments, and that means he always honored his father and mother, including right here.

This is no sin. This is no breach of righteous behavior that would shame

God and Jesus and his mother. He always honored his father and mother.

This is not sinful. It�s not lacking respect. Jesus is talking in a

Semitic idiom, a certain way to think about culture and language.

But something�s going on. So what is he actually doing?

This is Mary, who raised Jesus, who knew

Jesus was going to be a Messiah. Maybe she�s forgotten, but what did the angel tell

Mary? We could all factor in a lot of those questions. Remember Jesus on the cross while he�s dying?

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother�s sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, �Woman, behold your son.�

Then he said to the disciple, �Behold your mother.� And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.

On his deathbed, as it were, up on the cross, that�s how Jesus talked as well.

Well, what�s happening here? What�s the main point? Up until this point, there�s been a relationship between Jesus and his mother that�s been focused on family ties, on blood.

Now his public ministry starts, and he is on his way to the cross.

He is the Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world. He now,

I think, courteously rebuking. If I could put it that way, a courteous rebuke.

As a matter of fact, I�m going to write that down, so I use it another time. A courteous rebuke. Jesus is on his father�s mission now, and there�s going to be no more influence of his mother.

There�s a different relationship. Why do you involve me? What does it have to do between you and me?

This is language of Genesis 41, where Pharaoh said to the Egyptians, �Go to Joseph.

What he says to you, do.� There�s a distance between the two now.

The special relationship of mother and son is different now, and it�s going to be of sinner,

Mary, and the Savior, Jesus. Jesus is off to do his messianic work, and there�s going to be no interfering with him, including even his mother.

The relationship is new. Not mother, but woman.

There�s kind of a barrier. There�s a distance. Jesus will do what he wants, when he wants, as often as he wants.

He says, �My hour has not yet come.� That�s language of, hmm, when you first read it, you�re like, well, what hour is that?

But then you begin to read more and more and more, and you think, oh, that�s the hour of the suffering and death. His hour had not yet come,

John 7. No one arrested him because his hour had not yet come, John 8. The hour has come for the

Son of Man to be glorified, John 12. The hour of his crucifixion, his saving work, his atoning death.

He�s looking forward in anticipation. So, simply put, Jesus here is telling

Mary the relationship is different. He�s on his messianic ministry now, up until including the cross, and nothing, no one, no person, not even his mother, is going to interfere with that.

That�s what�s happening here. There�s a, I don�t know,

I don�t know why people just don�t go, oh yeah, duh, woman instead of mother, that should take it right there, and my hour�s not yet come.

It�s pointing to the cross, and this is his first sign. Okay, my messianic ministry is starting.

Our relationship�s different, right? Mary�s going to have to be saved, ever since forgiven by Jesus, her

Son. His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. Okay, I understand.

10 -4, new relationship, I get it. Which, whatever Jesus wants to do, he�ll do it.

Remember the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, she was rebuked, you know, crumbs on the floor, dogs, and all that stuff.

So, Mary�s rebuked. It�s not that big a deal. Whatever Jesus wants to do, let him do. And I think here, you�re seeing that Mary believes.

The whole book is written so that you might believe. Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the

Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. Now, I don�t know if it was saving faith yet, but Mary�s believing.

She understands the relationship is different. Jesus is going to do something. He�s going to intervene.

Verse 6, �Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.�

Goblet -sized stone jars, harder to contract uncleanliness in these stone jars.

This is written by someone who obviously was there to see exactly what�s going on.

If you combine all six jars, you�ve got 120 to 180 gallons. Some say 600 bottles of wine that would be.

And you�ve got a large amount of wedding guests, and you have seven days of feasting.

And Jesus said to the serpents, �Fill the jars with water.�

They filled them to the brim, okay, all the way to the top. There�s big, huge jars there, pots, goblet -shaped, filled all the way to the top of the water, so nothing else can get poured in there without it spilling over.

He said to them, �Now draw out some, or draw some out.�

That�s what it�s called? Is it a ladle? Does a ladle dip? No, no, we don�t have a ladle. What do you have, like a little spoon, a little scooper?

A little COVID fog. �Take it to the master of the feast.� So they took it.

He�s kind of like the master of the banquet. He�s in charge of things. Jesus fills it all the way.

Once it�s filled all the way to the and there�s no messing around. I mean, no fraud here, master of the ceremonies.

When he tasted it, verse 9, the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.

The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, �Everyone serves the good grape juice first, but when people have drunk freely, then the poor grape juice.

But you have kept the good grape juice until now.� Actually, some people think that.

They actually think that. No, no. Everyone serves the good wine first, right? Because you�re not,

I was going to say inebriated, but that�s true, but that�s not what

I�m after. You can�t taste as well after you�ve had some alcohol, and so you got the best stuff first, and then you bring out the bad stuff, right?

Here�s this miracle. It happens, a sign, and it�s the best wine served first.

Jesus provides the water. No, they did the water, and then Jesus turned it in to wine.

I made a mistake talking because I�m now looking at the clock. Your palate is more sensitive before you drink wine.

Man, there�s a lot of wine here. There�s a lot of jars. Wow. This, the first of his signs,

Jesus stood at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Wow. Okay. How can I figure this out? What does this mean?

There�s a sign. It attests to his glory. It shows that he�s the Messiah. It shows that God is his

Father. It shows that he�s the Son of God. I�m supposed to believe. This miracle confirms and makes legitimate.

It authenticates his claims, and I now see that only

God could do that, and God did that. John 1, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.

Glory is the only begotten Son of the Father. Oh, okay. I�m seeing. I understand.

Here�s the sign. The first sign, okay, revealing the glory of God the Father, full of grace and truth.

Ultimate glory, yes, on the cross. But what does this all mean? Why the water into wine for the first sign?

Answer, see you next time on No Compromise Radio. You�re going to be glad you came back.

You can write me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com. In all sincerity, listen to the next show because you�re going to be really happy that you stayed tuned.

Stayed tuned? That you stayed in tune. I�m in tune, right in tune.

That is Roger Daltrey, but you�ll be glad you did because it is really, really cool. I�m not kidding. One of my favorite new little finds in John 2.

Why the first sign? What is going on here? Well, we�re going to find that out next time. Again, you can write me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com.

Thanks for praying for me. I�m feeling better every single day. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God�s Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We�re right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.