In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines John 2:1-11 and the account of Jesus’ first sign at the wedding in Cana. John the apostle presents Jesus’ first sign-miracle of turning water into good wine so that you will believe in Jesus and find eternal life.
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well let’s pray Lord Jesus we come now to hear from you we don’t want to hear a man’s opinion I don’t want to hear my opinion or do you want to hear what your word says because you have the words of eternal life there is nowhere else to go we want those words we want you to help me God to be able to explain your word in a way that is accurate in a way that is helpful and pray God he would help us to give attention to it change Us by it amen moving on today in our next passage of the Gospel of John and it is an important one recall the purpose of this gospel from John the son of Zebedee one of Jesus closest disciples John writes primarily to Hellenistic Jews that is Jews who were Greek speaking Greek cultured they didn’t live in Palestine but John writes to them so that as he himself says in John 20 31 you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God and that believing you may have life in his name but recall the way that John seeks to bring about this soul-saving conversion in his readers his listeners John 20 30 John 20 30 says therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book and then verse 31 but these have been written so that you may believe so in other words our author John is presenting us a selective record of Jesus life and Ministry John can’t say everything that could be said about what Jesus did but John has purposely reported certain signs that Jesus performed to show that Jesus really is the Christ the son of God and that by believing in him and in him alone you have eternal life now what are these signs we’re not talking about literal boards with words on them are we no certainly not we were talking about sign miracles we’re talking about works of power Supernatural acts of power that only the Son of God could do these Miracles especially selected miracles from our author John then only prove that Jesus really is the Messiah but they also reveal what Messiah is like who he is what his mission is all about John says in John 1 14 John 1 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw his glory glory is of the only begotten from the father full of grace and truth so that means that these sign miracles of Jesus and the words that Jesus spoke alongside these sign Miracles these Mighty Works they revealed to us the glory of God even the Glorious character of the Eternal Word so if you want to get to know who Jesus really is if you want to experience eternal life with him and according to John you must pay attention to these signs and you must appreciate what they communicate about Jesus now today we’re looking at the beginning of Jesus signs the first sign Miracle recorded in this book and probably the first miracle that Jesus did on the Earth if we think again about the Gospel of John kind of like a courtroom scene in which John is intent to prove Jesus identity to the people and counteract the lies and misunderstandings of Jewish opponents of Jesus John Begins the book by providing providing powerful eyewitness testimony he gives John the Baptist testimony in verses 19 to 34 of chapter one and then he presents the testimony of Jesus early disciples in John 1 35 to 51.
but now John presents before the people the evidence that corroborates the witness testimony here is exhibit a that Jesus really is the Christ in an eternal life is found in him what did the Triune God choose to be the inaugural sign Miracle proof of Jesus as Messiah might be a little surprising God chose that Jesus would turn water into good wine at a not so important wedding in a tiny little town known as Cana in Galilee why this particular sign and what does it show us about Jesus that’s what we’re going to investigate today please open your Bibles to John 2.
John 2 we’re looking at verses 1 to 11.
title the message today is straightforward Jesus turns water into good wine Jesus turns water into good wine John 2 verses 1 to 11. this is a page 1059 if you’re using the Pew Bible let’s read our text 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 serves the poor wine 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 this is one of the well-known accounts of the Bible even people who are not Christian have heard of Jesus turning water into wine but even if the account is well known that doesn’t mean it’s well understood especially in a life transforming way considering the explicit purpose of John’s gospel which we already heard from John 20 to in verses 30 to 31 of that chapter and also what we see in verse 11 here we can readily understand the main purpose of this passage in John 2 1-11 John presents Jesus first signed Miracle of turning water into good wine so that you will believe and find in Jesus eternal life I’ll say that again John presents Jesus first sign Miracle of turning water into good wine so that you will believe in Jesus and find eternal life The Narrative here unfolds in four main parts the first one comprising verses one to five so let’s go through the passage starting with that first part number one the sign Miracle needed number one the sign Miracle needed look again in verses one and two 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 so notice that phrase on the third day this chronologically ties our new passage to the ones that have come before we’re still part of that first amazing week of Jesus beginning his public Ministry in Israel last time on days three and four we saw Jesus collect his first disciples here when it says on the third day that probably means we are now three days later from that or what would be day seven the end of the week or I don’t know when it began what day of the week it began but this would be day seven why these time details well certainly this is the eyewitness author John showing that he knows exactly when these things took place it was all within the span of seven days but notice where Jesus and his disciples are now they are in Cana of Galilee we learned last time not Nathaniel the last of the first five disciples to be collected was actually from Cana so it may be that Jesus had journeyed from Beyond the Jordan where he was with John the Baptist into Galilee specifically to Cana and since Nathaniel happened to be there Philip went to go get him but whether Jesus originally traveled to Canada or just shows up now he’s in Canaan now to attend one of the happiest social events of the ancient world and that is a wedding remember life in the ancient world was hard for most people they spent their days mostly working and doing household chores they had to they didn’t have time to just kick back and banquet but weddings were the exception here’s the one time where even poor people felt like they could really party so good food good drink good conversation music dancing all part of these weddings weddings were truly special occasions and for Jewish people in Jesus time weddings were the culmination of a someone involved the marriage preparation process there was often a year-long betrothal period before marriage in which the bridegroom prepared a place to receive his bride and he readied everything for the Wedding Banquet that would take place there when he was ready the bridegroom would process through the town often in a Kind of Night parade to collect his bride at her home and then bring her back to be his wife in the new home in his home that he had prepared invited friends and family would then join the new couple for a Wedding Banquet celebration that are in the new home that would often last more than one day sometimes as long as a week so you can see that weddings were really important really joyous occasions for the Jews of Jesus day and it just so happens that for this wedding that Jesus his mother and his disciples probably meaning the first five disciples mentioned in the last chapter they were all invited now notice it says they were specifically invited so this is not Jesus and his disciples crashing a wedding that they weren’t really invited to and causing a problem with the amount of wine there no they were all invited the bride and groom had specifically invited them all now why were they invited well presumably it’s because Jesus and his mother and maybe his disciples too they knew the bride and groom they were friends or relatives and this is not too unexpected after after all Cana as far as we could tell is not far from Nazareth only about nine miles north they’re both sleepy little towns in Galilee with no more than a few hundred people at best and the townspeople in these two places since they lived near one another they probably would have interacted with each other relatively frequently the Craftsmen and Merchants would go back and forth between Cana and Nazareth farmers and the pastoralists of each town they would work alongside one another in the fields and inevitably over time families between the two towns would get married to one another there would be intermarriage now Jesus and his mother Mary they probably knew the bridal couple and that’s why they were invited and maybe the other disciples did too or perhaps they were merely invited as a courtesy to Jesus since they had become his disciples as an aside notice that Mary is not called Mary here but just the mother of Jesus actually this is the way that John refers to Mary in this gospel he never calls her by name only refers to as his mother or Jesus mother or the mother of Jesus we will see this description again in John 19 when Jesus is at the cross I mean when Mary is at the cross why this version of identifying Mary why not identify her by name don’t know perhaps it’s so he simply won’t confuse the reader with two other important Mary’s in this gospel Mary the sister of Lazarus and Mary Magdalene or maybe it’s kind of like why John doesn’t identify himself he doesn’t want to draw attention to Mary just prefers to refer to her as the mother of Jesus but anyway she’s invited Jesus is invited there his disciples are invited to this wonderful occasion this little wedding going down for a family friend in Cana it’s going to be a great time right well verse 3.
when the wine ran out the mother of Jesus said to him they have no wine uh oh big problem emerging at this wedding they’ve just run out of wine why is that a problem well not only is it a certain practical problem of what are people going to drink for the next few days at this banquet but it’s also a huge social scandal for the bride and groom particularly the groom after all the wedding is supposed to take place when the bridegroom has everything ready including the wine for The Wedding Banquet to run out of wine shows that the bridegroom was not ready and suggests either that he’s not really able to provide for his new bride or that he’s trying to be stingy with his guests he could have provided wine but he chose not to in fact according to the rabbis if a Jewish bridegroom failed to provide adequately for a Wedding Banquet the bride’s family members could sue him for fraud and extract monetary compensation you promised to revise something and you didn’t you’ve shamed the bride therefore you’ve got to pay up and it’s not as if the bridegroom at this point could just serve water instead in those days most people didn’t drink water regularly because most water wasn’t that clean being affected by various kinds of bacteria that could cause stomach problems wine is much safer to drink because the natural fermentation process of grapes that produces alcohol it has a kind of purifying effect on the liquid produced not to mention people mostly enjoy the taste of wine much more than water of course ancient wine was usually diluted with water so that the wine served what the Bible calls wine was actually only one third or even one-tenth alcoholic wine versus water the rest was just water you could still get drunk on this stuff if you try it hard enough but it was way less alcoholic than the wine that is served today actually the Ancients referred to unmixed or undiluted wine with a different term they called it strong drink and actually you see that term in other places in the Bible now why did the wine run out here we don’t know text doesn’t tell us it could be that this bridegroom was poor and he knew he needed to gather enough wine for the feast and he thought he had enough maybe it wasn’t enough but he tried to stretch it and it backfired took a risk but now it’s backfired majorly and he is on the edge of Social and perhaps financial disaster not a great way to start wedded life now verse 3 tells us that Jesus mother notices what has happened and tells Jesus they have no wine now based on what follows this is not Mary just telling Jesus to inform him of a tragic development they have no wine what a shame no this is because she hoped that Jesus will be able to do something to help save the situation now why is Mary taking it upon herself to intervene again we don’t know maybe she has a family friend a relative she was appointed to help oversee the banquet in some fashion so she feels responsible or maybe she’s just a concern to compassionate guest and she’s like oh man they’ve run out of wine I know somebody who can help she turns to her son now what precisely she expects from Jesus in approaching him is a little unclear also as apparently Jesus has never performed a miracle up to this point it’s not just like oh you know Jesus you do Miracles all the time do a miracle here it’s probably never happened before this though there has been a change that’s taken place recently right as we even know from the previous chapter no Jesus I’m sure has proved to be a reliable son over the years even giving Good Counsel courageously facing problems showing himself resourceful and doing so and Mary would have really needed that because Joseph Jesus formal father Mary’s husband apparently died early he’s probably already dead has been dead by this point for a number of years so she’s learned to rely on her firstborn son that would have been true even without a miracle but Mary’s aware who Jesus really is Mary is aware that Jesus has just started attracting his first disciples he’s begun his public Ministry and if the Messianic Mission has begun in Earnest and that means that the power of God the power of the Son of God is ready to be put on display even in the accomplishment of Miracles so might marry imperton Jesus to put that Messianic power on display here save a family friend from massive social scandal after all Jesus is her son is there anything wrong with a mother asking her loving son to do a miracle for her whatever exactly Mary is thinking she turns to her son expectantly but receives a surprising reply look at verse 4.
and Jesus said to her woman what does that have to do with us my hour has not yet come your first impression of this reply might be that Jesus is being shockingly rude to his mother I mean probably most moms here would be offended if their son if your son addressed you as a woman right even if that Sun’s grown up we have to understand though that the address woman it wouldn’t have been considered rude and Greek or Aramaic it would be it’s a way that somebody could address someone else more akin to the way that our Southern Brethren might use the word ma’am it wasn’t a rude term actually Jesus will again address his mother as woman when she’s there with him at the cross before asking John to take care of her that being said it is extremely unusual for a son to call his mother woman in either Greek or Aramaic in fact we have no recorded instance of a son doing that in any of the surviving Greek literature we have outside of this in the Bible this is unusual it certainly is a distancing form of address he’s downplaying the familial connection that he has with his mother he’s not acknowledging that he refers through simply as woman it’s not disrespectful but that certainly is distancing very unusual for a son to say but the phrase that accompanies Jesus addresses even more distancing literally he says to her what to me and to you say uh what does that mean that’s an idiomatic expression we could translate it the way we have it in the new American 95 version that I’m preaching from here but better is the King James version of this phrase which reads what have I to do with thee that’s the I think a more faithful translation in fact we see this same idiomatic expression in other parts even if the new American translation New American Standard translation of the Bible like when Jesus is dealing with the demoniac with the legion a legion comes up to him and says what do what business do we have with each other Jesus Son of the most high God it’s that same expression what to me and to you what business do we have with each other that’s what Jesus replies to Mary when she gives this implied request to save the wedding he says woman what business do we have with each other now if that sounds like an Abrupt rebuke that’s because it is it’s not a Stern rebuke but it is a rebuke nonetheless and the reason for the rebuke is given in the statement that comes after Jesus says my hour has not yet come now there’s a phrase we’re going to see again in the Gospel of John or versions of it multiple times in this gospel culminating at the Passover just before the cross we’re going to see this phrase actually at the Passover Jesus will announce the hour has come but before that he’ll say my time has not yet come or the hour has not yet come what exactly does Jesus mean my hour has not yet come well at the most basic level Jesus is communicating that it is not yet the right time to act but we’ll see another layer to this answer as we move through the gospel namely that as Jesus is officially beginning his public Ministry he is now firmly set on a timetable that is not determined by his mother by his brother by his disciples or even by Jesus himself is determined by the father alone this is the timetable of the glorification of God’s son which will culminate or this is the timetable for the culmination of the S catological hopes for the Messiah from the Old Testament of all the Jewish people which will be chiefly fulfilled by Jesus death on the cross and by his resurrection and there’s going to be times in this gospel where people will try to rush this glorified glorification timeline this eschatological fulfillment timeline they try to get Jesus publicly revealed or glorified or even reigning before the time set by the father and the response that Jesus gives to such people throughout this gospel is essentially the same as the one he gives his own mother here which is to say what business do I have with you my hour has not yet come you’re not concerned with God interests God’s interests here but Mance even your own I need to gently remind you of what I’m about and what is your proper place in response this was a message that Jesus’s own mother needed to hear he needed her to see that now especially as this public Ministry has begun he is not chiefly her son but he is her Messiah he is the savior sent from God she cannot think that she can Prevail on him to do whatever she thinks would be right rather she is to humbly accept whatever God determines is right for him to do and is right for her and what Mary needed to learn about Jesus we also do don’t we the Christian life is not about getting God on board with your will even when you think you know what is best what God would really want surely would want this it’s about you getting on board with God’s will because he actually knows what is best now did Jesus mother get the message she did but not in a way that caused her to stop hoping in Jesus look at verse 5.
his mother said to the servants whatever he says to you do it that statement is remarkable and it is highly exemplary for followers of Christ Mary has moved from a position of trying to direct the Son of God to act as she thinks he should to now being open to whatever the father deems best she knows Jesus has the power to save this wedding she knows that Jesus knows that she would like him to do so but she now leaves it up having made her request she now leaves it up to his wise and Compassionate Heart she tells his attendance responsible for the drinks at the feast whatever he might tell you to do get ready to do it I don’t know if he’ll act or what he’ll do or when he’ll do it but I know who he is I know his heart I know his power so let’s get ready and let’s see what the Son of God chooses to do see Mary hasn’t lost her faith in her son it’s just that her faith has become properly grounded in the humility that is so necessary that’s the kind of faith that you and I need and you know what’s amazing it’s that kind of humble faith that God is so pleased many times to reward it always amazes me I can’t think of another word besides that it always amazes me how many times in life when you are finally willing to say to God from your heart God I really want this I think this would go along with your will but if not God I’m okay with that your will be done not my will you know what God often does when your heart expresses that to him he gives you the thing that you request he’d always intended to do so he’s a good God he doesn’t hold back a good gift from his people but first more importantly he wants your heart to stop Desiring that good thing more than him he wants you first to humble yourself before him so that he can lift you up that’s more important that God doesn’t always do this it doesn’t always bring you to the place where you’re okay without it and then give it to you he frequently does but even when he doesn’t your joy is still intact because you’ve gained the thing that is actually more important you’ve gained contentment in God you’ve learned to trust God so whether he does or he doesn’t you can praise the Lord let’s see what Jesus chooses to do next at this wedding here we saw number one the sign Miracle needed now let’s go to verses six to eight and see the sign Miracle prepared Messiah Miracle prepared and we’ll take these verses all together verses six to eight now there were six Stone water pots set there for the Jewish customer purification containing 20 or 30 gallons each Jesus said to them fill the water pots with water so they fill 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 isn’t this so interesting having communicated what he needed to to his mother Jesus now takes action showing that the father had indeed ordained for Jesus to compassionately intervene at this wedding had to be at the right time but Jesus was going to yeah notice how Jesus does so It Is by some surprisingly ordinary means Jesus simply tells the banquet attendance that fill up some water pots with water and then take some of that liquid to the headlighter Head waiter to taste it now notice the way the water pots are described here six Stone water pots set up for the Jewish custom of purification Now understand what that means this customer purification is not something prescribed by the Mosaic law nor is it about hygiene didn’t understand germ Theory back then they didn’t know washing hands was really good for um preventing bacteria and such rather this is a custom prescribed by the Pharisees for protecting against ceremonial uncleanness because according to the rabbis you never know how you might pick up ceremonial uncleanness during the day you know you’re going into the marketplace might bump into a dirty Gentile gotta make sure you’re ceremonically clean before you eat and according to Mark 4 verses 1 to 5 this custom of ceremonial hand washing and washing pots and pans and all those types of things it was widespread among the Jews in Palestine during Jesus day so understandably the bridegroom at this wedding has provided plenty of water for just this purpose and six Stone water pots and they needed to be stoned because according to the Mosaic law Stone was a type of material that could not become unclean it it’s not porous so even today if you go to Israel we actually saw this when we were visiting Israel or learned about this Stone things can’t become unclean so they’re very valuable anyways he’s got these Stone water pots these are so each gas could ceremonially wash his hands have the water poured over his hands according to the tradition before they banquet at the feast and these Stone pots are huge we learned from the text that they can hold 20 to 30 gallons each I always want to make sure there was quite enough water for all of his guests to ceremonially wash if they needed to jesus takes notes of these large Stone jars and tells the attendants to fill them up again with water apparently there’s not they’re not full of water they’ve been used so he says fill them up again and notice John tells us the attendants filled the jars to the brim with water that’s important because what does that mean it means that nothing else besides water was added to these jars that’s part of verifying what’s about to take place Jesus then tells the servants to draw from the jars and take it back to the Head waiter and we could translate that term head waiter the Greek word head Steward or even Master of the banquet this could have been a servant or it could have just been a friend or family member who was temporarily temporarily appointed by the groom to oversee the banquet aspect of this wedding celebration so something like a Mater D today anyways we got the banquet Master there Jesus says take some give it to the banquet master and the last line of verse 8 says so they took it to him the servants do exactly as Jesus says and as Mary wisely counseled do notice something about the they of this last phrase the they is emphatic in Greek so more clunkily we could translate this they themselves took the drawn liquid to the banquet master why is that important well that emphasis underscores the truthfulness of what is about to take place there was no switching from the servants who filled up the water in the jars to other servants who took the liquid to the Head waiter the banquet master no one the servants can Testify the ones who are bringing the liquid to the banquet Master no one has tampered with the water jars they filled it up they know what’s in it they’re bringing it to the banquet master now something amazing happens between the filling up of the water jars and the tasting by the banquet master and that’s the third part of our narrative verses nine to ten number three we see the sign Miracle revealed the sign Miracle revealed like a verse 9.
when the head waiter tasted the water which had become wine and did not know where it came from but they’re servant to a drawn the water knew the head waiter called the bridegroom I’m kind of a amazed at how understated verse 9 is I mean a miracle has taken place but if you’re reading quickly the way the author has written it you might not even have noticed when the head waiter tastes the water which had become wine almost like an aside what exactly happened well after the water jars were completely filled up with water Jesus turned the water into wine no grapes no growing no harvesting no fermentation nothing added to the water mixture all the servants did was fill up the jars with water and draw from it according to Jesus Direction and boom 120 to 180 gallons of wine wine should have solved and then some except there was no boom there was no flashing lights there’s no sound no announcement nothing nobody in the room was made immediately aware that a miracle has just taken place at this Wedding Banquet at least of all the banquet master because notice what we see in verse 10 he did not know where it came from though the servants who drew it did they can testify and what does the headwaiter do after tasting this water become wine yeah understandably calls the bridegroom supposing that the bridegroom himself has provided some new and special store of wine in other words the banquet Master does not know this is important the banker Master does not know that Jesus has just miraculously created this wine which makes what the banquet Master says to the bridegroom in the next verse even more significant verse 10.
and he that’s the banquet Master said to him the bridegroom every man serves the good wine first and when the people have drunk freely then he serves the poor wine you have kept the good wine until now notice how the banquet master first notes to the bridegroom the standard practice when it comes to serving wine at a feast or banquet people serve the better wine first and the poorer wine the inferior wine only after and why is that well this just makes sense once banqueters have already had their fill of wine they either decide they’re not going to drink anymore or if they’ve already gotten drunk it doesn’t really matter what they drink so as a host it makes sense to serve your good wine first when people are actually going to drink it and appreciate it and save your cheap wine for when they don’t care of course that’s not an endorsement of drunkenness that’s just an observation about feasts sometimes happen Bible does call drunkenness a sin he notices to the bridegroom but then end of verse 10 you have kept the good wine until now in other words you’ve done the opposite of custom you served the poor wine first and you save the better wine for last now of course there’s some dramatic irony in these words from the banquet Master to the bridegroom isn’t it because like Jesus disciples and the servants at the banquet who filled up the water pots we the readers know the bridegroom hasn’t done this at all bridegroom hasn’t provided the new and better wine later it was Jesus yet the banquet Master becomes an unwitting yet objective witness to two amazing realities he doesn’t know but by what he says he ends up testifying to two truths first the water from the stone pots really did miraculously become wine this is wine the banquet Master knows that and he testifies with that and second this wine tasted better than even the best wine already offered at the feast which means that must have been some seriously good wine and Jesus made more than 120 gallons of it without any noticeable effort at all I wonder what the bridegroom said in response to the banquet master of observation but we don’t know because this is where the accounts of the water turning to Wine ends except for one concluding verse look at the final part of the narrative now number four the sign Miracle understood the sign Miracle understood and this is verse 11.
this beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory and his disciples believed in him from this verse we learned that though Jesus first signed miracle was public or at least semi-public at this wedding its true meaning and significance was understood only by a few really by his disciples John our author wants to make sure that we also understand the meaning of this sign miracle so he includes verse 11 for us notice that this verse begins with this beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee with this John tells it that this was the beginning of the sign Miracles that Jesus did this is the first there would be many more but this is the first and it happened in Canada Galilee and then notice the next phrase he says and manifested His glory this phrase importantly clarifies that this first sign miracle was more than a simple verification that Jesus is the Christ does he do a miracle oh yeah he’s the Christ now this sign was a revelation of the amazing nature and character of the Christ the son of God what exactly has Jesus revealed about himself here I’m sure we could answer that a number of different ways certainly one way is that he has revealed that he is the all-powerful Creator and sustainer just as John 1 3 has already observed about Jesus as the word Jesus creates wine from water a scientific impossibility unless you are the Creator and can command that which cannot come into being on its own to come into being this is what Jesus did and he did it without any discernible work without any hand movement without even a word except for the directions to the servants to fill up the pots what kind of man has this kind of creation power only one the God man but it’s not just Jesus power that’s revealed here we also see his independence and His holy commitment to his father’s will Jesus proved that he will not set aside the will of God for any human interest not even the interest of his beloved mother he is not a God to show his partiality but one who is totally committed to the father’s will we also see his compassionate Mercy this poor bridegroom made a costly error in failing to have enough wine truly he did nothing observed a miraculous rescue from the Christ but it was God’s will that Jesus would intervene and lavishly too Jesus not only provided abundant wine but the best quality wine this was an undeserved gift to someone in need yet that’s the kind of God that The God Who is is we also see Jesus mysterious humility are you struck by the fact that Jesus did not draw attention to himself with this miracle it didn’t stop The Wedding Banquet and just announced I just want you all to know that good wine that you’re all tasting right now I did that it doesn’t do that as far as we know he never clarified for most of the people at the feast what really happened but he did make sure that his disciples knew and he made sure that they knew without a doubt he had done it you know when Jesus Promised in John 1 51 the last verse the passage we looked at last time that his disciples his new disciples would see the heavens opened and Angels ascending and descending on the son of man himself they perhaps might have expected a dazzling and dramatic show something that the Messiah would do that would just attract the Wonder and attention of all the world but we can see from this first sign miracle that that is not the way that God has chosen to operate it’s not that what he’s doing is not wondrous but there’s this mysterious humility about it God Is manifesting His glory the Son of God Is manifesting His glory but it’s in a way that people even his people the Jews would not have expected we see this also from Jesus here but there’s one other aspect of Jesus showing his glory to which I want to draw your attention I raised you the question at the beginning of why this sign miracle out of all the signs that Jesus could have done to be inaugurate his public Ministry his sign Miracles that reveal his messiahship why this one why turning water into good wine at a wedding well as I said in Sunday school many times we cannot say for certain why God chooses to do what he does we know that he’s committed to his own Glory he will always glorify himself we know that he does whatever he pleases so evidently this is how he determine you would glorify himself this is what pleased him but can we say anything more than that in this specific instance I believe we can I think the key is in that last line of dialogue in verse 10 where the banquet Master says you have kept the good wine until now does that remind you of anything else that we’ve already heard in the Gospel of John maybe John 1 16-17 John 1 16-17 for of his fullness we have all received and Grace upon Grace for the law was given through Moses Grace and Truth were realized through Jesus Christ do you remember how I explained verse 16 to you the best understanding of that phrase Grace upon Grace is not super abundant grace rather Grace after Grace Grace instead of Grace Grace replacing and superseding the previous Grace why because as glorious as the law of Moses was as glorious as God’s covenant with Israel was the grace and truth brought about by the word made flesh is so much better verse 17 it’s like Grace and Truth weren’t even existent before and they finally come into being with the arrival of Jesus the Christ and isn’t this exactly like what we see happening with the wine at this wedding feast spiritually speaking God saved the best wine for last it was wine better than anything previously served and what was served before wasn’t necessarily bad but this is way better and it’s certainly better than the pharisaic Judaism that is masquerading in Jesus time as God’s chosen drink is it any accident that we also see in the other gospels Jesus coming is like here tied to a wedding to the drinking of wine and to the need to let go of the old to embrace the new each of the synoptic gospels Matthew 9 Mark 2 Luke 5 they all record a certain conversation in which those concepts are all emphasized some people come by some Pharisees and they’re like hey why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples do and like we do you know what Jesus says then you can’t tell the attendance of the bridegroom to Fast and the bridegroom is here implying I’m the bridegroom and I’m here this is like a wedding it’s a celebratory time and then he adds soon afterwards but you’ve got to put the new wine of my arrival into new wine skins because if you try and put the new wine in old wine skins what happens the Skins will burst and both the old skins and the new wine will be ruined is it not fitting therefore that the first miracle of Israel’s Messiah would itself be a metaphor for how all of Israel’s hopes were being fulfilled in something new something so much better than what came before something to which the old which was good to which the old was always pointing and anticipating and if the new is so much better when you know what that means that every person needs to do don’t cling to the old move from the old to the new why killing so tightly to the old system of Judaism and fail to follow Jesus into the culmination and fulfillment of Judaism into the new age of joy in the Messiah thus verse 11 fittingly ends with a phrase that denotes the only appropriate response to this sign this first revealing of the glory of God’s Messiah verse 11 ends with and his disciples believed in him those first five disciples they saw what Jesus did they saw his glory revealed and says they were confirmed in their belief in him they say he is the Messiah he is God’s savior he is the Lord I will believe in him and I will follow him but it wasn’t just for them John intends for the Hellenistic audience to whom he’s writing that they will do the same they will not stay with just John the Baptist or with Judaism but they will go all the way to where God meant them to go to Jesus and of course that is what we are to do as well this is written to us also so that we would do the same so Brethren do you really believe in Jesus have you crossed all the way over into becoming his disciple not trying to go back to Moses back to Judaism back to the keeping of the law as if that will get you into heaven and not simply clinging to man-made Traditions to your own good works or to rituals as if that’s going to save you no you ought to trust instead and the one who has the power to turn water into good wine who also has the power to pay for your sins once and for all by suffering them on the cross and has the power to clothe you with his own righteousness by his perfect life given to you when you believe and also has the power to transform The Way You Walk So that you are no longer a slave of sin but a slave of righteousness that’s what it means to believe and that’s what you are to do that’s what I am to do that’s what you and I are to keep doing we cannot stop short we cannot go back we must believe in Jesus as he really is as he reveals himself to be the only savior the Lord the true Lord of your life in my life don’t merely profess to be a disciple but fail to follow through fail to actually go all the way to Jesus and live as his disciple come all the way so that you may see also and testify that a sport historically speaking God saved the best wine for last with the coming of his own son no one else will save no one else will satisfy it no one will supersede him he is the climax he is the full unveiling of God himself if you want to experience the spiritual banquet of walking with Christ if you want to experience the eschatological banquet so interesting we read from an Old Testament passage earlier in the service there’s constant references to the banquet to the even the wine that is going to be in the kingdom of God that he’s going to bring you want to be part of that banquet remember even Jesus said that at the Passover before his crucifixion I’m not going to drink this wine with you again until I drink it new with you in my kingdom if you want to be part of that banquet then you must repent and believe in Jesus you must turn from your sin you must follow or you must trust in Jesus to be your only righteousness and salvation and then you must follow him as a disciple that’s what the early disciples did that’s what John wanted the Hellenistic Jews to do who are reading this gospel and that’s what he wants us to do and if you have done that keep going keep going keep your eye on the Lord Jesus and on the banquet that he promises to us now and in the future let’s close in prayer Lord God I’m thinking about Isaiah 25 again and this wonderful Kingdom that you’re going to bring yes even to Israel but to which we Gentiles by faith have been brought in I think of the testimony of that poetic portion of scripture and how those in that day will say it is for the Lord that we have waited we have waited for him and he has come he has provided Lord how that has been true through the centuries your people have waited for you they have waited for your salvation to be revealed they have waited for you to bring what you bring about what you have promised and Jesus in your coming what we were waiting for has arrived salvation has arrived the good wine has arrived God I pray that there is any who have not yet tasted and seen that Jesus Christ is good that they would repent and believe today and they would go all the way as a true disciple not hedging their bets professing a Jesus but really living for themselves the Lord they’d go all in they’d go all the way but God we know from your scripture that even though our Salvation has arrived and it’s been accomplished in one sense we’re still waiting for it because our bodies are not yet redeemed your kingdom is not yet on the Earth but it will be one day and how good that kingdom is going to be your prophets and apostles have testified of that again and again we read about it even in the Book of Revelation the Eternal Kingdom that you will set up and it is just the light it is the light God in one sense we’ve tasted in part the good wine that is to come yet so that is why your Apostle Paul testified I am convinced that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed and I pray that we would Embrace that truth also by faith as another Psalm says you have shown us many troubles and afflictions in this life but you will revive us again both temporally now you will do that as to sustain us through our pilgrimage here but ultimately God we know that you will revive us again when we die you will revive us and you will bring us into your kingdom and you will say I have saved the best banquet for you now and amazingly God you say that you yourself will serve at this banquet we don’t deserve to be there much lest be served by you and yet you say that you will do that what a God who is like you o God and who are we that you would show us your lavish kindness your generous Mercy now and forever oh Lord Jesus all praise be to you all glory be to you God let us not any who God why they haven’t come to you or say they’ve come to you treat lightly such a great salvation Lord we dare not walk in uncleanness when such a marvelous savior has arrived forgive us God for where we have but no more Jesus help us to walk as your true disciples you will that same creative power God that turn water into wine is that some that power that you work in us to turn us from people Bound in sin now be bound to righteousness that was to walk with you Jesus to enjoy you as really the best and