Welcome to another online church service here at Becclew.
It's always a pleasure to welcome our church family
and then to know that there's family and friends from different places
joining with us so we hope we'll all hear God together
from his word as we spend some time singing, praying, reading the Bible,
hearing how the Bible speaks to our lives.
I want to begin with some verses from the Old Testament,
from the book of Isaiah, a promise that we'll come back to actually
as we think about John's Gospel.
On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations.
He will swallow up death forever.
The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces.
He will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
Wonderful promises of hope as we begin our time together.
Now we're going to read in our Bibles.
We're moving from the Gospel of Matthew to the Gospel of John.
We're beginning a series looking at the signs that Jesus performs,
that John records.
There are seven signs recorded in his Gospel.
And we come to the first of them here in John chapter 2.
And we're going to read from verse 1 to verse 11.
And the words will come on the screen.
On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.
Jesus' mother was there.
And Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
When the wine was gone and Jesus' mother said to him,
They have no more wine.
Woman, why do you involve me?
Jesus replied.
My hour has not yet come.
His mother said to the servants,
Do whatever he tells you.
Nearby stood six stone water jars,
the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,
each holding from 80 to 120 litres.
Jesus said to the servants,
Fill the jars with water.
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.
They did so.
And the master of the banquet tasted the water
that had been turned into wine.
He did not realise where it had come from,
though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
Then he called the bridegroom aside and said,
Everyone brings out the choice wine first,
and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink.
But you have saved the best till now.
What Jesus did here in Cana in Galilee
was the first of the signs
through which he revealed his glory,
and his disciples believed in him.
So there's the first sign that Jesus is recorded as doing by John's gospel
as he turns water into wine.
Our wedding meal,
a good number of years ago now,
started with a bang.
Quite literally,
we were having some beef,
and just before it was served,
the glass covering over the beef to keep it warm,
it smashed,
sending shards into all those fine cuts.
And so we were unaware of this.
We got served first,
and so we had 15 minutes of,
I can't,
oh God,
what's going on?
Before the kitchen staff saved the day
and everything was absolutely fine.
The last time
that I had the chance to speak on John chapter 2,
it was at a wedding.
Kellen,
our music maestro,
and Sarah,
it was their wedding last summer.
That was a time of great joy
and celebration for friends and family of the church,
a time of feasting,
all those things that we associate with a wedding.
Well,
here,
what have we just read?
Here is a wedding party
that threatens to go out,
not with a bang,
but to go out with a whimper.
And Jesus,
an invited guest,
shows his glory.
John has introduced Jesus as the word
who comes revealing glory already.
In John chapter 1 and verse 14,
the word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory,
the glory of the one and only son
who came from the father,
full of grace and truth.
And here,
Jesus shows his glory in this,
the first of his signs.
He shows that he is the true Lord of the feast
who brings joy.
We see in verse 11 of what we just read
that John likes to use the language of signs.
In the other gospels,
there's a great focus on miracles.
John talks about signs.
And in fact,
he says that his gospel
has a focus on his signs
and the purpose for them.
So towards the end,
in John chapter 20,
we read Jesus performed many other signs
in the presence of his disciples,
which are not recorded in this book.
But these,
so the ones that we have,
are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of God,
and that by believing,
you may have life in his name.
John has recorded what happened at this wedding
so that we might believe
Jesus is the Messiah,
that we would see he's the Son of God
and that by believing in him,
we would have eternal life.
So we need to think about signs.
When John talks about signs,
what is he talking about?
He's thinking of a sign
as a mark of authenticity.
Just like the Old Testament prophets,
here is a sign
that shows that Jesus is from God,
that he is revealing God
in his words,
in his actions.
These are called signs
because they are also pointers,
symbols towards
deeper eternal realities.
And we'll see that each week
as we study.
So they are signposts
speaking to us
of the identity of Jesus
as the Son of God
and his authority
and his mission
to be Messiah,
to be Saviour.
So when we see Jesus,
the guest,
putting this wedding feast right,
saving the day,
it's going to be a sign for us
of how he will put everything right.
So to help us to see
what this sign reveals
in a little more detail,
we're going to go backwards,
as it were,
and we're going to look at
three sets of people
to help us with that.
So first of all,
let's think about the experience
of the bridegroom.
And we'll see that Jesus,
by his generosity,
turns shame to honour.
Now, weddings are a big deal
in our day
and maybe we know people
who are concerned
because of the virus,
whether their wedding can happen.
Now, weddings in Jesus' day,
they were massive.
Massive to the couple,
biggest day of their life.
Massive to the whole
extended family and community.
So there would be typically
a feast lasting anything
up to a week.
And so we read that Mary is here,
the mother of Jesus.
Jesus is here.
His disciples are there.
Here is Jesus,
the eternal Son of God,
who's just begun
his public ministry
and he's at a wedding.
It's the beginning
of his public ministry
and he's going to help
out this bridegroom.
Now, the bridegroom's job,
weddings in Jesus' day,
presumably same as ours,
to kind of stay out of the way,
largely.
But also,
it was his job
to provide the wine.
You've got one job,
bridegroom,
make sure there's plenty of wine.
So what happens
in verse three,
when Mary,
Jesus' mother says,
they have no more wine,
this is a total disaster.
In an honour,
shame culture,
this couple,
they are never going
to live this down.
Their marriage,
in a sense,
is going to be tainted
from day one
because of this disaster.
But in steps Jesus.
Notice,
when Jesus speaks
to his mother
and says,
why do you involve me?
He's,
in a sense,
saying,
I don't need
to get involved.
And that highlights
the fact that Jesus
is choosing
to get involved
in this man's
problem,
in his crisis.
And how does Jesus
meet the need?
Well,
first of all,
we're told in
verse six onwards
that Jesus provides
generously.
There was those
huge stone water jars
holding around
about a hundred litres.
Six of them
get filled to the brim
and then are turned
to wine.
So that's about
600 bottles of wine
that Jesus produces
in his lavish generosity.
And in verse 10,
we discover
he provides
the very best.
You have saved
the best
till now.
So the master
of the feast,
who has presumably
tasted the good wine
at the beginning,
he's like,
whoa,
you've saved
the best
till now.
So this wedding,
it's not going to
go down in shame,
not going to be marked
by embarrassment
and dishonour.
It's going to continue
with joy
and celebration
and this bridegroom
is going to be honoured.
Now,
what's the deeper
reality of this sign?
What can we say
at this stage?
Well,
it becomes clear
in Jesus' ministry
that he comes
to bring in
the kingdom of God.
He comes to bring in
the new age.
And what's that like?
Well,
it's marked by
God's generous provision,
God's grace,
a love and a kindness
that we do not deserve.
It's marked by
the bringing of
deep joy.
Jesus enables
celebration,
true celebration.
celebration,
just ask this bridegroom.
His shame,
his failure to provide,
has been generously
covered by Jesus.
So now this bridegroom
is being honoured.
He's totally unaware
of what Jesus has done,
but he's being honoured
and so he can share
the joy
and his guests
also get to share
in joy.
His experience
is a picture
of what Jesus came to do.
that shame,
that guilt,
that stuff we want
to hide.
Those things in our life
that we know
are wrong
and that we deserve
judgment for,
Jesus came to remove
that from us,
to clothe us
with honour
so that we can have joy.
We read in Isaiah 25
of what the Lord Almighty
would do.
He would prepare
a rich feast.
Jesus is Lord
of the feast.
He provides
the feast.
He has come
to end death
and sorrow.
He has come
to bring in
a kingdom
of eternal glory
and joy.
You think of it
the best wedding
or the best feast
you've ever been at
and we know
there'll be friends,
there'll be family,
there'll be laughter,
there'll be joy,
there'll be celebration,
there'll be love
and that's all there
in what Jesus
wants to provide.
This wedding feast
in a sense
is a little window
into heaven
because Jesus came
to establish
the kingdom of God,
to establish
in the fullness of time
when he returns
the world
we all want.
A world where sorrow
and death is gone,
a world where love
and joy
are complete
and never ending
and Jesus promised
he's come to do that
and that sounds amazing,
doesn't it?
But how
will he do that?
How can
he
do that?
And that takes us
to the servants
in verses 5 to 9
and what happens
in the conversation
between Jesus
and the servants
is we see Jesus
replaces
the old
with the new.
Now before we even
get there,
there's that really
interesting dialogue
between Mary
and Jesus
and we'll touch
on it very briefly.
When Jesus
is approached
by his mother
and she says
the wine,
they have no more wine,
Mary clearly appreciates
Jesus is able
to help.
Jesus is the one
to turn to
when we need help
and that's a wonderful
reality
that I hope we all
come to recognise.
and then
Jesus says,
woman,
why do you involve
me?
And his mother
said to the servants,
do whatever
he tells you.
And that's great
advice.
That's great advice
for the life
of discipleship.
We are called
to follow Jesus,
our master,
to do what he
tells us,
to do what we
find in his word
and it's also
a sign of her faith
and Jesus responds
to her faith
and begins a
conversation
with the servants.
So what are the
servants to do?
There are those
six stone jars
and what those
stone jars were
for was for
ceremonial washing.
Jewish ritual,
Jewish law
was very aware
of uncleanness
as a symbol
of spiritual
uncleanness.
So there had to
be washing
for public events
and we have
become very
aware of
cleanness
and hand washing
recently,
haven't we?
There's a reminder
for all the guests
for the bridegroom
include,
even at the
wedding,
they come as
a people who
are unclean
before God,
a people who
need washing.
Now what does
Jesus do with
those stone jars?
He says fill them
and they fill them
to the brim
and then he says
draw some of the
water out and
take it to
the master of
the feasting
and it becomes
wine.
By a miracle
Jesus changes
this water
used for
washing,
uncleanness,
and turns it
to wine
which is a
great symbol
of joy.
What's the
deeper significance
of what's going
on here?
Well what the
water
and what the
law could
never do,
it could never
truly cleanse
from guilt
and cleanse
from sin
because the
problem isn't
on the surface,
as the
problem lies
in our
hearts.
Jesus has
come to
perform that
washing.
And this
miracle reminds
us that by
making people
clean, by
providing that
deep washing,
making us right
before God,
he will then
at the same
time provide
deep joy.
The joy of
knowing and
being known and
loved by God.
You listen to
psychologists or
you listen to
health professionals
and they will
at times speak
about the
crippling
effects of
personal guilt
on emotional
and mental
well-being.
King David,
who wrote many
of the Psalms
in Psalm 32,
talked about a
time in his
life when he
was silent
before God,
he wasn't
confessing his
sin.
And he uses
really vivid
language, he
talks about his
bones wasting
away, he
talks about
groaning, he
talks about his
strength being
sapped until
he confessed,
until he knew
the joy of
being forgiven.
Now we don't
need an expert,
do we, to tell
us that there
is guilt in
our lives.
We know
this, we
know that there
are things in
our lives that
at times, maybe
even right now,
stop us from
sleeping because we
feel awful.
We can think
about relationships
that have broken
down because of
problems that we
have created in
our words or in
our behaviour.
We can think
about love that
we have failed to
show to others
and when we're
honest we know
that we have
not loved God
as he deserves.
We also, I'm
sure, know that
it's painful to
look inside
ourselves.
It's painful to
have that sense
of exposure, to
be honest about
the fact that we
are not half as
good as we think
we are or how
we try and
project to
others.
It's a lot
easier to
distract ourselves
with entertainment.
It's a lot
easier to try and
minimise the
problem or to
compare ourselves
with others so
that we can feel
good about
ourselves again.
But here's the
truth as we find
it from Jesus.
When we make
that honest look
to expose our
need, to
expose our
guilt and sin,
to show us
that we cannot
be good enough
for God,
that honesty
is then the
pathway to
joy when
it leads us
to look to
Jesus as
our saviour,
to trust him,
to ask him to
remove our
sin and to
give us the
joy of
salvation.
Now let's
return to
Jesus'
mother and
let's think
about Jesus'
hour and
Jesus'
wine.
Again,
Mary provides
an example
for us to
follow when
she brings
the needs
of others
to Jesus.
That's one of
the things we
do with
prayer.
We pray for
ourselves because
we know we
need it but
we also pray
for our
family, we
pray for our
colleagues, for
our neighbours,
we pray for
our nation.
notice how
Jesus answers,
woman, why
do you
involve me?
My hour
has not yet
come.
Now when
Jesus calls
his mother
woman, he's
not being
disrespectful but
there is a
sense of
distancing and
the question
is why?
And in
a sense
it's hard
to pin
down exactly
why but
perhaps it's
helpful to
think in
these terms.
Remember Jesus
has just
begun his
public
ministry.
Perhaps this
is a message
to Mary that
now that my
public ministry
has begun I
must be about
my father's
business and
I need freedom
to follow
God's
timetable.
But notice
he says my
hour has
not yet
come.
And that's
a theme
in John's
gospel, the
hour of
Jesus.
He talks
about it
often and
it becomes
clear as the
gospel progresses
that he's
talking about
his suffering
and death
and then his
resurrection and
return to glory
beyond.
But this much
we can say
from the
beginning of
his public
ministry
Jesus is
aware of
its end.
Jesus begins
his ministry
knowing it
will climax
at the
cross.
His public
ministry will
end in
the cross
and then
three days
later the
resurrection.
Now I want
us to think
about the
hour and
the wine and
think about
how this
wedding reveals
Jesus'
glory.
Now the
new age
that was
promised in
the Bible
pictured as a
time of joy.
Think back to
Isaiah, a
feast of the
best of
wines.
Central to
that hope
is that God
and his
people would
be united
together
forever.
one of the
images that
God himself
uses is
that he is
the bridegroom
and his
people is
the bride
and Jesus
uses that
in his
stories
also.
So central
to future
hope
is the
picture of a
wedding and a
wedding feast.
And so here
we find
Jesus at the
beginning of
his public
ministry and
he's at a
wedding.
And what do
we find?
We find that
he is looking
ahead.
He's looking
ahead to
that great
future hope
but he's
very aware
of the
great cost
to him.
For the
joy of
that wedding
Jesus
must
provide
the
wine.
And for
that wedding
the wine
won't be
produced by
a miracle.
It will
be produced
by Jesus
dying
on the
cross.
The Lord's
Supper that
we share
as a church
when we're
able to
meet together
is a
visible
reminder
that we
can feast
in the
presence of
Jesus.
that we
can know
him.
He is the
Lord of
that feast
but we
can know
him and
enjoy him
only because
he died
for us.
Only because
he was
willing to
sacrifice
himself to
pay the
price for
our sin
to take
the judgment
of God
to set
us free.
So in
this sign
we're being
reminded actually
that Jesus
is the
true bridegroom
who wants
to provide
for our
joy.
And how
will he do
it?
He will do
it by
covering
our shame,
covering
our sin,
covering
our rebellion
and rejection
of God
so that by
that act
of love
and grace
we receive
honour.
That knowing
him,
being bound
and united
to him
brings
eternal
joy.
This sign
says to
us,
Jesus
will bring
joy
but only
by losing
his.
And Jesus
knew that
from the
start.
He knew
there would
come a
point where
he would
feel forsaken
as he took
and went
under the
judgment of
God so
that we
might be
welcomed,
we deserve
judgment,
but instead
through faith
in Jesus
we can be
welcomed
into
God's
kingdom.
So the
wine,
the wine
of this
wedding,
the wine
at the
wedding of
Canaan,
in a sense
it was a
means to
an end
because it
led to
joy
continuing,
it led
to celebration
continuing.
For
Jesus,
the cross
stands as
a means
to an
end.
and what
it means
for us,
the cross
is the
means to
your
eternal
joy,
to my
eternal
salvation.
If I
trust that
Jesus went
to the
cross to
pay for
my sin
and my
shame,
that he
died for
me and
then rose
again to
give me
new life,
if we
believe that
then the
cross is
the means
to an
end for
your
eternal
joy.
So here
is Jesus
sitting in
the middle
of a
picture of
joy,
a wedding
feast,
but he
is anticipating
suffering
so that
you and
I can
cope with
our
present
suffering,
and I
know some
of us
are suffering
in really
extreme ways,
but we
can sit
in our
suffering
anticipating
future
joy.
Because of
what Jesus
promises here
at this
wedding feast,
Jesus is
the bridegroom.
Christian,
look at the
cross,
see how
much he
loves you,
see how
much he
delights
in you,
see the
price he
paid that
he might
be united
with you
eternally.
And if
you're not
a Christian,
let me ask,
does the
removal of
shame and
guilt
sound like
good news?
does that
sound like
an invitation
to joy?
Is the
prospect of
eternal joy
in the
presence of
God rather
than eternal
judgment
separated from
God, does
that sound
like something
that's good
news and
something you
want?
Well, if
so, come
to him.
He is your
king.
Trust in
him and
receive this
gift of
love.
May all of
us come to
Jesus as
the wonderful
Lord of
the feast.