WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.519 Back in 2008, the British writer Julian Barnes wrote his memoir, Nothing To Be Frightened Of, 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:16.000 ! And he used a really interesting line in that book. He said, I don't believe in God, but I miss Him. 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:23.760 ! I don't believe in God, but I miss Him. And I remember hearing that at the time and thinking, 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:32.640 that's an astonishing thing for an agnostic or potentially an atheist to admit, because all the 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:39.439 voices about Christianity and about God and Jesus in the public square at the time were very critical. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:47.280 You might remember Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, all of those voices 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:56.480 were very, very critical indeed. God is not great, the God delusion, aggressive anti-God sentiment. And if 00:00:56.480 --> 00:01:03.920 you didn't agree with that, you were considered to be a fool, at best a fool. But it's completely 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:13.599 different now. Tom Holland, Jordan Peterson, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Tommy Robinson, even Nick Cave, 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:23.519 all kinds of high profile people speaking positively about the Christian faith. And of course, who can 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:29.599 forget that event last year where most of the senior members of the US government publicly and clearly 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:38.639 proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a growing interest in God, Christianity, the church, 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:48.560 Jesus Christ. And while that is a very, very positive thing, it is possible for someone to like those 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:58.079 ideas, for you to embrace the culture, the Christian culture, the things that go with Christianity. 00:01:58.960 --> 00:02:06.240 You can belong to a church. In a very real sense, you can look the part and still not know God. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:13.680 It is possible to attribute lots of positive things that you see around you in the culture to 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:19.199 Christianity and not be a Christian. It is possible for you to say that you think Christianity is the 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:25.599 hope of the Western world and for you not to know Jesus Christ, the one at the heart of it all. That's 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:34.159 not what we want. That is a failure of the highest order. What a terrible thing to be able to speak 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:40.319 positively about Christianity as an artifact, to think that Jesus is really important and to have 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:46.079 a measure of reverence for Him in your heart, but not to have a living relationship with Him. It's to 00:02:46.079 --> 00:02:52.400 miss the point it is a failure. We don't want that. What we want is the reality. We want living faith, 00:02:53.199 --> 00:03:00.319 real faith, faith that you can see. By that, I mean faith that actually changes the way that you live 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:07.439 your life. Over these next few Sunday evenings, as Paul said, I want to take you to the source of that 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:15.599 kind of life change. And it can only be found in one place, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to look 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:23.439 in particular at what happens when individuals come face to face with Him. What happens when He sets about 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:30.560 changing your life? And in doing that, I want us to see, I hope for most of us who know Him, I hope that 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:35.759 we will be thrilled by that. But for those of us who come, those of you who are here who do not know 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:42.639 the Lord Jesus Christ personally, I want you to see what He does when He takes hold of your life. And so, 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:49.360 I want to encourage you to surrender yourself to Him. So, maybe come back over these Sunday evenings. But at 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:55.840 the start of his gospel, John records several encounters with Jesus with very different kinds 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.240 of people. That's one of the things that could potentially be in people's heads this time of 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.880 year. There's all this sort of stuff, this time of year, in this cultural moment, when everybody, 00:04:04.880 --> 00:04:09.920 it seems, lots and lots of prominent voices speaking so positively about Christianity, saying 00:04:09.920 --> 00:04:14.160 good things about God and about Jesus Christ. And you think, well, it's for that kind of person, 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:21.360 that's not really for me. I'm not really that kind of person. Well, what we see at the beginning of 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:25.279 John's gospel is that Jesus engages with very different kinds of people. This evening, He's 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:31.199 engaging with a bridegroom at a wedding. Next week, Lord willing, it'll be a theologian. He's actually 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:38.560 interacting with somebody who is the teacher of Israel. He then gets involved with a morally dubious 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:46.959 woman and talks to her about what He means to her. And we'll also see that He meets with somebody who 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:53.600 is a cultural and religious no-hoper. And in each of those cases, I want to show us what happens. These 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:59.519 are portraits of people meeting God. That's what's happening. When they come face to face with Jesus, 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:04.079 they are meeting God. You see, that's what we're told at the beginning of John's gospel, chapter 1, 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:09.359 verse 1, if you look over there. The first words of John's account, in the beginning was the Word. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:15.919 There's a deliberate echo there of the very first words of the Bible, Genesis 1, verse 1, where God 00:05:15.919 --> 00:05:22.079 spoke the world into existence. And here in the coming of Jesus, what we realize is that God's Word 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:32.240 isn't just spoken, it's embodied, a Word that is flesh and blood. And we're to see that His coming then 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:38.960 is the bringing in of a new world. In the beginning, echoes of the beginning of creation. In the 00:05:38.960 --> 00:05:43.360 beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:48.400 This, John is telling us, His account is the beginning of a new world that centers around the 00:05:48.400 --> 00:05:55.519 One who is the Word, who is Jesus. And we need that new world because our sin has spoiled that old 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:01.680 creation. So, God has come. He has taken on flesh, and He has come to us. That's the Christmas story that 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:07.920 we've spent so much time thinking about recently. He's come at Christmas to put that right, to recreate, 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:14.800 to rewrite the story of history, to restore order from the chaos that our sin has brought to the world. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:23.680 You can know God. You can know Him personally because He has made Himself known. And in these 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:30.240 early chapters, we see that He has done this personally. This evening, I want to see what happens when 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:36.000 He meets the bridegroom at this wedding party in Cana in Galilee. And it all starts, chapter 2, 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.240 verse 3, with something of a crisis. Chapter 2, verse 3, 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.960 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:52.000 They have no wine. The party has run out of wine. Now, in ancient cultures that weren't so focused on 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:56.879 the individual, as we are here in the West, the purpose of marriage wasn't primarily about these 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:02.720 two people finding each other and finding love. It was about raising families. It was about building 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:07.439 the community. So, wedding feasts were a much bigger deal even than they are today. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:15.839 A bigger deal, perhaps, not so much in their opulence, but in the sense that sometimes the parties 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:21.919 could go on for days and days. And if the reception was to run out of wine in this sort of honor and 00:07:21.919 --> 00:07:27.919 shame culture, that was a big deal. It was a disaster. In fact, you could take a family to court if they 00:07:27.919 --> 00:07:34.879 didn't provide adequately at a wedding feast. So, the party running out of wine wasn't just inconvenient. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:39.919 It wasn't just kind of, well, I guess we better pack up and go home now then. I expected to be here 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:48.720 till Thursday. No. It was a crisis. And Jesus steps in. He performs this amazing miracle. He turns the 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:55.280 water into wine. Be under no illusion. That is what it is. He performs a supernatural miracle. And when that 00:07:55.280 --> 00:08:01.680 happens, verses 9 and 10, it's wonderful. When the master of feasts tasted the water, now become wine, 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:06.480 did not know where it came from. Though the servants who'd drawn it knew, the master of the feast called 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:10.480 the bridegroom and said, Everyone serves the good wine first. And when people have drunk freely, then 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:16.640 the poor wine. But you've kept the good wine until now. It's a moment of celebration. It is wonderful 00:08:16.640 --> 00:08:24.400 news. And in doing this, Jesus, verse 11, we're told, has revealed His glory. He has shown Himself 00:08:24.400 --> 00:08:28.319 in this miracle to have the power of the God of chapter 1, verse 1. 00:08:30.400 --> 00:08:34.800 So, what does this tell us? What does this exchange at this wedding with this bridegroom tell 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:39.279 us about what it means to meet God? Well, the first thing is this. It happens in real life. 00:08:41.199 --> 00:08:49.759 It happens in real life, verses 1 to 3. How do you connect with God? When He is described in generic 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:57.039 terms as He often is in self-help books or the wellness podcasts or some, if not all, or certainly 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:02.559 most of the rhetoric that we hear in our culture at the minute about Him, the usual course of action 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:10.000 is to find a way to get ourselves into some sort of spiritual state or get out of ourselves in some 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:16.479 way. People are all over this thing called ayahuasca at the minute. It's psychedelic drugs that you can 00:09:16.479 --> 00:09:21.359 take with a shaman. It's illegal in this country, but you can go to South America and you can do it. 00:09:21.359 --> 00:09:26.719 And that shaman, with this magical drug, will get you out of yourself and connect you to spiritual 00:09:26.719 --> 00:09:31.519 depths that you didn't know existed. And more and more people are doing it because they're hungry for 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:37.199 this kind of thing. On a more basic level, I've got a friend who talks to me about needing, quote, 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:43.840 to get away to nature in order to feel spiritual. Nature is where we need to go in order to be 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:49.840 spiritual. Now, nature is lovely. And there is a sense in which when you're closer to the ground and 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:57.439 away from all the urban chaos and everything else, you may feel different. But you don't need to go 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:03.440 somewhere else in order to connect with God. God meets us in the ordinary. On the third day, 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:09.920 there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited 00:10:09.920 --> 00:10:13.840 to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:21.120 they have no wine. He's at a wedding. It's very run of the mill. Someone got their quantities wrong. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:27.519 It's embarrassing. It's a potentially socially costly mistake, but it doesn't sound very spiritual, 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:36.399 does it? And yet that is where Jesus is. You do not need to go anywhere in order to meet with God. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:45.440 He has come to us. He is present here this evening. He is present now with us, not in 00:10:46.160 --> 00:10:49.840 flesh, but by the Spirit of the same Son who was present at that wedding. 00:10:54.640 --> 00:11:00.400 There's a very real sense that, well, he has promised that he is present when the church gathers 00:11:01.280 --> 00:11:05.600 in a way that he isn't in other contexts. So, you could say that this is the special context in which 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:11.600 we have to be present in order to meet with him, but he meets us in the everyday. He meets us in the 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:18.960 ordinary, and that means the God of heaven and earth is concerned with your regular, ordinary, 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:26.320 everyday life. He meets you in the midst of it all, and he helps you, however ordinary those needs 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:35.040 might be. Jesus is interested in your work, your play, your family life, your health, and all of the 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:40.559 associated difficulties that come with those things, which means that you can bring those things to him. 00:11:42.959 --> 00:11:50.719 He's interested in what you care about. He's interested in what you care about in this world, 00:11:50.719 --> 00:11:58.480 because he is Lord of it all. So, you can talk to him about it. At this run-of-the-mill wedding, 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:05.759 Jesus didn't just ignore the problem. He didn't just say, oh, that's a mundane, ordinary, everyday thing. 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:09.039 You know, that's going to be awkward for the family. 00:12:11.920 --> 00:12:15.200 God had come to earth, and that wasn't beneath him. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:26.480 He stepped in. He engaged with the people. He provided for the family. He met them at a very real 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:36.320 point of need. You can meet God in real life. In fact, when you think about it, that's the only 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:44.639 option because that's where we are. He meets us in real life. Meeting God happens in real life. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:50.320 Point number two, it involves real transformation. That's verses 9 and 10. It involves real transformation. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:54.800 First of all, look at verse 3, the shift in mood here. It's really obvious. When the wine ran out, 00:12:54.799 --> 00:13:00.319 the mother of Jesus said to him, they've no wine. They've no wine. It's going to be a massive deal. 00:13:00.959 --> 00:13:07.439 Fear, distress. And then, verse 9, look down. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become 00:13:07.439 --> 00:13:12.240 wine, did not know where it came from. The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:19.759 everyone serves the good wine first. People have drunk freely, then the poor wine. You've kept the 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:25.759 good wine until now. It's incredible. It's a cause for celebration. All the fear, all the distress, 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:32.399 it's gone. Now, it's celebration. I don't know if you've ever been a best man at a wedding or 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:37.200 involved in organizing a wedding or something like that, and there's been a problem in the process. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:43.039 The father of the bride has gone AWOL just as the speeches are about to start or something like that. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:48.080 Or you realize the band haven't turned up. You've been trying to call the band, wondering where they are. 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:52.320 They're not there. They thought it was next month or something like that. You're trying to keep a lid 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:56.800 on it so that the bride and groom don't find out you're outside phoning, whatever. You come back in, 00:13:56.800 --> 00:14:02.960 hey, everything all right? All that kind of thing. And you realize you can't hide the problem anymore. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:07.840 And so, you're going to try and sheepishly let the groom know, maybe buy a bit more time, 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:16.480 avoid a bit of panic, whatever it is. Hey, don't panic, all right? It's actually nothing, but there's a 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:22.399 bit of a, there's a bit, there's a bit, that kind of thing, you know? Don't worry, I'll sort it out. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.639 I'll be back in a sec. Just give us a couple of minutes, that kind of thing. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:29.200 You can imagine the bridegroom, he knows that they're out of wine. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:33.520 And he's thinking to himself, how on earth am I going to break this news? 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:40.480 And he's wondering, you know, his bride's saying, you know, everything all right? You seem a bit edgy. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.200 And he's saying, no, no, it's all cool. Don't worry, don't worry. Everything's all right. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:50.000 And he's thinking to himself, this is really going to be bad. And then the master of the feast comes to him. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:54.080 You can imagine he's about, he's come to him and he's about to say, you know, 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:57.759 completely out of wine. It's a disaster. We're going to have to close things down. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:04.160 And he says, well, tell you what, you know how to do it, don't you? You're some boy. And he says, do you? 00:15:04.160 --> 00:15:10.960 I'm like, what? Well, you know me. What exactly have I done, please? Can you tell me? 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:18.560 Well, you have only gone and kept the best wine till now. Oh, you are a messer. We thought we're out of wine. 00:15:18.560 --> 00:15:23.680 And there you go. You've gone and sorted it all out. He's thinking, he just told me a minute ago, 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:29.840 it had all run out. This was a disaster. He's thinking to himself, right, we're going to make plans to get on honeymoon, 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:35.700 get out of here and never come back. We don't want the shame. He might be confused about how this has all happened. 00:15:35.780 --> 00:15:40.400 I don't know how it played out. But what is clear is that the whole situation has been turned on its head. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:50.400 The whole situation has been transformed. And that is a picture of the kind of transformation 00:15:50.400 --> 00:15:58.240 that Jesus brings to the lives of those who are his. See, the regular order of things is the good 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:03.759 wine first. And when people have had a few, you can give them the Australian stuff. And that's really 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:12.480 the pattern for life. Start well and then decline. It's true, isn't it? Quality diminishes as time passes. 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:23.159 Jesus reverses that natural order. This transformation at the wedding gives us a glimpse of something that 00:16:23.159 --> 00:16:27.039 he'll make explicit, actually, in a few chapters time. Chapter 5, verse 24. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:33.019 Here's Jesus. Truly, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:40.099 has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. The natural order 00:16:40.099 --> 00:16:49.699 of things is life to death. But Jesus turns it upside down. Let me be totally clear. Christian faith is not 00:16:49.700 --> 00:16:57.840 just a lifestyle choice. It's not, I'm a member of the golf club. I'm a member of the local council. 00:16:58.040 --> 00:17:04.720 I'm a member of the church. A pastime. Something that I do. It is not a lifestyle choice. It is a 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:11.279 transformation of your whole life. And for those of you who haven't put your faith in Jesus, I want to 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:18.940 say to you, this is what he offers you. Anxiety, confusion, and fear transformed to celebration. 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:27.099 That's what happened at the wedding. And what he says later on is a picture of death to life. 00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:36.119 That's what Jesus offers. He offers to take your life where you are, however good you might think 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:40.460 things are, however bad you might think things are. He takes your life, he takes hold of it, and he 00:17:40.460 --> 00:17:47.519 transforms it completely. And I think we need to remember that, those of us who do believe, because 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:54.740 I think we can forget that Christ, by his Spirit, when he takes hold of your heart, he gets to work 00:17:54.740 --> 00:18:03.360 on a total renovation. So much so that the Apostle Paul says that we are a new creation. It's not just 00:18:03.360 --> 00:18:09.259 a renovation, it's a completely new creation. You are made new when you come to Christ. 00:18:10.460 --> 00:18:15.500 Now think about that for a moment. Think about what that does to our lives. Think about the hope 00:18:15.500 --> 00:18:22.640 that that just offers all of us. So first of all, you're no longer controlled by your past. 00:18:23.140 --> 00:18:28.799 When you put your faith in Christ, you are no longer controlled by the past. Christ has taken 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:34.100 every one of your sins on himself at the cross, and those sins have been punished in him, 00:18:34.099 --> 00:18:43.859 and they won't be punished in you. You are no longer that old person. You've been given a new identity. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:50.559 You are now a child of God and an heir of eternity. That's what's true of you if you're a Christian. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:59.139 You, if you are a Christian, that is true of you. Your past no longer controls you. So you can move on from 00:18:59.139 --> 00:19:06.980 that story that you've told yourself about being stupid or ugly or weak or a failure. 00:19:06.980 --> 00:19:19.599 Whoever told that to you, whoever made you believe that, they're not God, and Jesus is God, 00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:26.839 and he tells you that you're loved. He tells you that I've taken all of your sin on myself, 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:37.759 and I've given you new life, and you live in that new life under my love and approval. That is who you are. 00:19:39.459 --> 00:19:43.139 Let that reality define you. You're not controlled by your past. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:47.980 Similarly, you're not stuck in the same old patterns that have controlled you up to now. 00:19:49.819 --> 00:19:55.240 Jesus can break your addictions. He can heal your wounds. 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:00.000 He can deal with your depression. He can. 00:20:04.379 --> 00:20:10.159 The other implication of this is that your best days, your best days are ahead of you. 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:18.099 The natural order of things is health and vitality and decline and death. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:23.099 That has been transformed such that your best days are ahead of you. 00:20:23.099 --> 00:20:26.899 In the wellness world, we're promised all kinds of longevity hacks. 00:20:27.919 --> 00:20:32.779 Top of the list, I mentioned him before, that tech guy, Brian Johnson, on his Living Forever protocol, 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:38.579 spends millions of dollars every year, eats this terrible pureed pulp stuff, 00:20:38.639 --> 00:20:40.539 which has exactly the right amount of nutrients. 00:20:40.679 --> 00:20:44.899 He's under the light, getting the right amount of red light and blue light and whatever light, 00:20:44.900 --> 00:20:46.500 and, you know, all that kind of stuff. 00:20:46.500 --> 00:20:48.240 And he says he's going to live forever. 00:20:49.540 --> 00:20:54.840 Pills, potions, plans, they can potentially slow your decline, 00:20:55.340 --> 00:20:58.080 but they can't reverse the natural order of it. 00:20:59.780 --> 00:21:01.000 But Christ can. 00:21:02.040 --> 00:21:02.960 And he does. 00:21:04.040 --> 00:21:05.860 He is the agent of real transformation. 00:21:05.859 --> 00:21:07.839 And whether you're young and healthy, 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:11.619 or whether you're old and broken, 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:16.379 if Jesus Christ is part of your life, your best is still to come. 00:21:20.099 --> 00:21:24.619 Your best day here in this life is only a shadow of what lies ahead. 00:21:26.059 --> 00:21:30.899 And ever strong and full of vitality you might feel here this evening, 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:36.560 and that's judging by your expressions on your faces, that's none of you. 00:21:36.980 --> 00:21:44.100 But those of you that feel super strong and that life is there for the taking, 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:47.340 it's going to be even better than that in glory. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.320 And those of you that think, I'm hanging on by my fingernails, 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:53.660 I'm broken and busted, 00:21:54.820 --> 00:21:56.820 one day you're going to be released from it all. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.220 Your best days are ahead of you. 00:21:58.220 --> 00:22:01.180 Meeting God. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:02.360 It happens in real life. 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:03.799 It involves real transformation. 00:22:04.440 --> 00:22:05.259 And because of that, 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:09.140 thirdly, we can see it also brings real joy. 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:10.740 It brings real joy. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:13.440 Now, there's obvious happy relief at this wedding. 00:22:14.019 --> 00:22:16.380 The social faux pas, it's been averted, thankfully. 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:18.799 But the point actually runs deeper. 00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:20.360 The point about joy runs deeper. 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:22.519 It's not just relief and kind of, 00:22:22.600 --> 00:22:25.019 oh, that was a close one, thanks very much, 00:22:25.059 --> 00:22:26.160 and the party can continue. 00:22:26.299 --> 00:22:27.660 No, it runs deeper than that. 00:22:27.660 --> 00:22:28.140 Why? 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:34.380 Because we're told here that the story is centering on wine. 00:22:35.580 --> 00:22:40.140 And wine, biblically speaking, signifies joy. 00:22:40.140 --> 00:22:43.160 Now, like any of God's good gifts, 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:45.400 it can be abused and it can take away that joy. 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:49.280 But wine is almost always in the Bible associated with joy. 00:22:49.360 --> 00:22:52.980 And that is why Jesus does this miracle as His first miracle. 00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:57.000 You see, in a real sense, it is His signature statement. 00:22:57.340 --> 00:22:58.440 He's beginning His ministry. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:00.100 He's showing His power. 00:23:00.180 --> 00:23:01.180 He's revealing His glory. 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:06.560 And the first miracle that He does is this one, turning water into wine. 00:23:06.620 --> 00:23:07.220 It's interesting. 00:23:07.320 --> 00:23:08.340 He could have healed the sick. 00:23:08.840 --> 00:23:11.400 He could have done something like that in full view of everyone. 00:23:11.940 --> 00:23:14.240 He could have raised the dead for all to see. 00:23:14.620 --> 00:23:15.480 He did that later. 00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:19.559 But He chose that His first miracle was going to be this relatively private, 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:21.380 turning water into wine at a wedding. 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:28.120 And He did that because doing it that way afforded Him the opportunity to teach us about 00:23:28.120 --> 00:23:31.279 the character of God and the truth about Christianity. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:39.000 See, by providing what was needed at the party, 00:23:40.399 --> 00:23:47.279 Jesus is actually revealing Himself to be the one who brings true, real, lasting joy. 00:23:49.099 --> 00:23:51.079 Right at the beginning of His ministry, you see, 00:23:51.220 --> 00:23:53.660 He wants to show how the whole thing is going to end. 00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:55.940 There will be suffering. 00:23:56.460 --> 00:23:58.960 There will be self-denial as He goes along. 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:03.799 He will be rejected, mocked, abused, and ultimately crucified. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.299 He will suffer in the most horrendous ways. 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:12.539 But ultimately, His suffering is a means to an end. 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:19.620 And the end is a feast, a joy-filled celebration where He is the host. 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:21.759 That was the promise of the prophets. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:24.360 Isaiah 25, verse 6, 00:24:24.359 --> 00:24:37.859 Of all the things Jesus could have shown us, 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:42.439 His first miracle, His page one sign, says this, 00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:45.200 I have come ultimately to bring joy. 00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:51.580 The renewed positivity about Christianity that I talked about at the beginning, 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:53.420 it's bubbling up all around us. 00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:59.740 It is pointing to lots and lots of really important things. 00:25:00.380 --> 00:25:04.220 We need to return to our Christian heritage, we're told, because of the culture, 00:25:04.860 --> 00:25:07.700 because it has implications for the community, 00:25:08.340 --> 00:25:10.160 because of what it will do for our families, 00:25:10.620 --> 00:25:12.300 because of what it will do for marriage, 00:25:12.460 --> 00:25:14.060 because of what it means for ethics. 00:25:14.560 --> 00:25:15.560 All of those are true. 00:25:15.880 --> 00:25:16.840 All of those are true. 00:25:16.839 --> 00:25:22.839 And we should seek to recover Western civilization because of its Christian roots. 00:25:23.159 --> 00:25:25.359 Christianity needs to re-drive the West. 00:25:25.439 --> 00:25:26.259 Of course it does. 00:25:28.339 --> 00:25:31.539 But the reason Jesus starts with isn't those. 00:25:32.939 --> 00:25:33.799 It's joy. 00:25:35.959 --> 00:25:37.079 Isn't that striking? 00:25:38.099 --> 00:25:39.639 I wonder, does that surprise you? 00:25:40.199 --> 00:25:43.899 Lots of people think that Christianity and joy are like magnets with the same poles. 00:25:43.900 --> 00:25:48.080 You know, you try and stick two magnets together, the same poles, they don't go together. 00:25:48.860 --> 00:25:51.300 And lots of people think that's what Christianity and joy. 00:25:51.540 --> 00:25:52.440 They don't go together. 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:55.840 Maybe you meet the occasional Christian who's a bit detached, 00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:57.480 and they've always got a smile on their face, 00:25:57.540 --> 00:25:59.000 but we don't want that because they're mad. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:03.560 No, if you've got a real Christian who's serious about the Bible, 00:26:03.740 --> 00:26:05.019 well, they're in much joy. 00:26:05.600 --> 00:26:08.660 It's dry, it's dusty, and so on. 00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:11.019 Jesus says, no way. 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:14.259 No, no way. 00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:17.639 At root, it's all about joy. 00:26:19.299 --> 00:26:21.379 And don't miss the liberality of it either. 00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:22.240 Look at verse 6. 00:26:22.339 --> 00:26:27.379 Now, there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, 00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:30.700 each holding 20 or 30 gallons. 00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:32.400 Why does He give us the quantity? 00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:35.139 Of course, He gives us the quantity because 00:26:35.140 --> 00:26:39.000 God doesn't give His good things with teaspoons. 00:26:39.840 --> 00:26:43.520 He doesn't get one of those tiny little syringes you used to give your kids kelp all with. 00:26:43.740 --> 00:26:46.680 He doesn't give you one of those and go there, have some blessing, have some joy. 00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:51.920 He takes shovels and ladles, and blessing comes in floods. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:58.140 He keeps pouring and pouring 20 or 30 gallons. 00:26:58.140 --> 00:27:02.100 Everything that Jesus gives to gladden our hearts, He does it in abundance. 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:05.060 Now, don't mishear me. 00:27:05.580 --> 00:27:10.500 This joy, or the transformation for that matter, is neither instant nor constant. 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:12.520 Our world is broken. 00:27:13.300 --> 00:27:14.980 Living in a fallen world is hard. 00:27:15.700 --> 00:27:19.280 Our freedom from the penalty and the power of sin, those things are real. 00:27:19.380 --> 00:27:20.020 We are free. 00:27:20.100 --> 00:27:21.160 We were hearing that this morning. 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:24.460 But we aren't yet fully free from the presence of sin. 00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:29.420 It also means that the Christian life requires sacrifices. 00:27:30.820 --> 00:27:32.880 Our desires aren't entirely pure. 00:27:34.040 --> 00:27:39.160 And therefore, we've got to put the desires of the old man, our sinful desires, our old flesh, 00:27:39.259 --> 00:27:42.320 our self-loving selves, we've got to put those to death. 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:46.220 When you put Jesus at the center of your life as He requires you to, 00:27:46.620 --> 00:27:49.400 it means going against many of those instincts or desires. 00:27:49.400 --> 00:28:00.980 But as many of you know, knowing Christ personally transforms even the hardships of life. 00:28:03.080 --> 00:28:06.759 And can I say again, if you're looking into Christianity and you find this hard to believe, 00:28:07.660 --> 00:28:10.759 I can introduce you to people, some of them are here this evening, 00:28:11.280 --> 00:28:14.360 who are going through real struggles, and despite that suffering, 00:28:14.840 --> 00:28:17.860 their lives are still marked by a profound joy. 00:28:17.859 --> 00:28:22.759 And it's because they know this Jesus. 00:28:24.679 --> 00:28:30.119 And whatever they have or don't have now, they look forward to the fulfillment of this miracle, 00:28:31.299 --> 00:28:34.019 the great feast with Jesus in glory. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:37.439 It's a feast that's described in the Bible as a wedding. 00:28:38.219 --> 00:28:39.099 Revelation 19, 00:28:39.199 --> 00:28:42.479 Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb, 00:28:42.859 --> 00:28:44.619 the wedding supper of Jesus. 00:28:44.619 --> 00:28:47.919 This is a wedding where Jesus and those who have put their faith in Him 00:28:47.919 --> 00:28:53.019 are united finally and fully to experience the fullness of the joy that this miracle has promised. 00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:56.919 So, what I'm saying is it brings real joy. 00:28:57.339 --> 00:29:01.179 But the joy that we experience in the moment, in the present, 00:29:01.579 --> 00:29:06.639 isn't the fullness of the joy that is coming at the end that the Bible holds out to us. 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:08.399 The reason we know this, 00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:12.100 the reason we know that our best days are in the future, 00:29:12.300 --> 00:29:16.300 that there is a wedding supper for all who have put their faith in Jesus in the future, 00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:23.900 is because that wedding is on Jesus' mind at this wedding. 00:29:24.620 --> 00:29:27.000 We know that because of the way that He addresses His mother. 00:29:27.080 --> 00:29:27.640 Do you see that? 00:29:28.580 --> 00:29:33.620 The way He speaks to His mother connects the miracle to the way that we can experience all that the miracle points to. 00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:34.799 We look again at verse 4. 00:29:36.159 --> 00:29:37.799 Woman, what does this have to do with me? 00:29:37.879 --> 00:29:39.579 My hour has not yet come. 00:29:41.639 --> 00:29:42.959 Sounds a bit strange, doesn't it? 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:44.439 Speak to your mother like that? 00:29:44.879 --> 00:29:45.859 He calls His mother woman. 00:29:48.259 --> 00:29:51.219 But because He then speaks of His hour, 00:29:51.959 --> 00:29:55.979 we know that this is about something bigger than a mother and her son and some wine at a wedding. 00:29:55.980 --> 00:30:02.400 What Jesus is doing here is signaling with this term woman, 00:30:02.740 --> 00:30:04.360 which He uses again at the cross, 00:30:04.579 --> 00:30:07.099 which is what His hour is referring to, 00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:08.539 the hour of His death, 00:30:09.319 --> 00:30:15.140 is that in His ministry He is acting more in His capacity as the Son of God 00:30:15.140 --> 00:30:18.240 than He is as the Son of Mary, His mother. 00:30:19.880 --> 00:30:21.420 He's creating distance with her, 00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:23.240 not in an unkind way, 00:30:23.779 --> 00:30:25.059 not in a rude way, certainly. 00:30:25.059 --> 00:30:27.539 Some people read this and say He's being a bit short with His mom. 00:30:27.619 --> 00:30:28.700 That's not the case at all. 00:30:28.919 --> 00:30:31.379 What He's doing is signaling that He is on a bigger mission 00:30:31.379 --> 00:30:34.279 than merely this wedding 00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:40.480 or merely what it means for Him to be the Son of His mother by the flesh. 00:30:40.740 --> 00:30:41.599 How do we know this? 00:30:42.679 --> 00:30:44.519 Do you notice how the water jars are described? 00:30:44.659 --> 00:30:45.159 Verse 6, 00:30:45.819 --> 00:30:47.579 Not just told how much they hold, 00:30:48.019 --> 00:30:51.779 but we're told that they were reserved for the Jewish rites of purification. 00:30:51.779 --> 00:31:01.399 These water jars were used for the ceremonial washing that symbolized what was required to come into God's presence in the temple. 00:31:02.339 --> 00:31:05.480 You see, sinful people need to be cleansed. 00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:11.099 We need to be cleansed if we're going to come into the presence of holiness. 00:31:11.860 --> 00:31:17.759 And these pots symbolized, they spoke of that reality. 00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.200 And Jesus then takes those pots that symbolized that, 00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:23.359 the pots that spoke of cleansing, 00:31:24.039 --> 00:31:30.000 He takes them to say that the hour of His death will do what these jars only pointed to. 00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:31.960 He's saying, 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:35.279 My death on the cross will cleanse you on the inside, 00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:37.160 not just on the outside. 00:31:37.940 --> 00:31:38.819 And because of that, 00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:42.519 you can be united to me and we can rejoice for eternity at the heavenly feast. 00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:48.660 You and I can't just stroll up to that heavenly feast 00:31:48.660 --> 00:31:50.360 just as we are, 00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:52.079 because our sin has stained us. 00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:55.440 You know that uncomfortable feeling 00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:58.039 that comes when we do something that we know is wrong? 00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:00.899 That is an accurate feeling. 00:32:01.980 --> 00:32:04.480 We are unclean before a holy God. 00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:09.980 But because Jesus endured the hour of His death 00:32:09.980 --> 00:32:12.019 in our place, 00:32:12.619 --> 00:32:14.599 when we put our faith in Him, 00:32:14.659 --> 00:32:16.839 we are cleansed by His blood. 00:32:18.460 --> 00:32:20.259 We are cleansed. 00:32:20.740 --> 00:32:21.920 All of the guilt, 00:32:22.500 --> 00:32:23.779 all of the shame, 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:25.899 all of the wrongdoing, 00:32:25.900 --> 00:32:28.160 all of the things that 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:30.940 we've put away in the back of our minds 00:32:30.940 --> 00:32:33.000 that we're ashamed to even think of now, 00:32:33.560 --> 00:32:34.240 all of it 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:36.100 is washed clean. 00:32:37.259 --> 00:32:40.019 And that means that the door to the heavenly feast 00:32:40.019 --> 00:32:42.280 is flung wide open. 00:32:42.780 --> 00:32:43.960 That is why 00:32:43.960 --> 00:32:45.420 Jesus brings joy. 00:32:46.500 --> 00:32:47.920 He has done everything required 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:49.580 to meet you where you are, 00:32:50.140 --> 00:32:50.780 real life, 00:32:51.480 --> 00:32:53.060 to transform your life, 00:32:53.059 --> 00:32:55.579 because He has paid for your sin 00:32:55.579 --> 00:32:56.899 and He has brought you into the joy 00:32:56.899 --> 00:32:58.119 and the delight of God. 00:32:59.879 --> 00:33:01.179 I don't believe in God, 00:33:01.299 --> 00:33:02.039 but I miss Him. 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:04.480 Can you see 00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:06.859 that in unbelief, 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:09.240 you miss more than the cultural trappings 00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:10.960 that Julian Barnes was talking about? 00:33:13.819 --> 00:33:15.460 But if you do believe in Him, 00:33:15.460 --> 00:33:17.579 if you meet Him 00:33:17.579 --> 00:33:18.940 in the person of Jesus, 00:33:20.220 --> 00:33:21.019 you get all this? 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:24.840 And hope and joy 00:33:24.840 --> 00:33:26.400 flood your life. 00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:27.900 Let's pray. 00:33:27.900 --> 00:33:27.900