Well, let me again say Happy New Year, church.
It's good to be with you all this morning.
We are looking this morning at the Gospel of John,
chapter 2, verses 1 through 11.
This coming spring, we're going to do a series in the Gospel of Luke
in the early part of Jesus' ministry.
But for the next couple of weeks, we're just going to take just a couple of weeks
and look at some various texts together before we dive into that series.
So this morning, we're going to be in the Gospel of John,
chapter 2, verses 1 through 11.
That's page 887 in the Pew Bible, if you want to turn there with me.
Gospel of John, chapter 2.
All right, let me read this text for us.
John writes this.
He says,
On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.
When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him,
They have no wine.
And Jesus said to her,
Woman, what does this have to do with me?
My hour has not yet come.
His mother said to the servants,
Do whatever he tells you.
Now, there were six stone water jars there
for the Jewish rites of purification,
each holding 20 or 30 gallons.
Jesus said to the servants,
Fill the jars with water.
And they filled them up to the brim.
And he said to them,
Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.
So they took it.
When the master of the feast tasted the water,
now become wine,
and did not know where it came from,
though the servants who had drawn the water knew,
the master of the feast called the bridegroom
and said to him,
Everyone serves the good wine first.
And when people have drunk freely,
then the poor wine.
But you have kept the good wine until now.
This, the first of his signs,
Jesus did at Canaan and Galilee
and manifested his glory.
And the disciples believed in him.
Let's pray together.
Father, we ask that this morning,
as we attend now to your word,
Father, that your living word,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
would come and be present to us
and speak to us by your Holy Spirit.
Lord, as we put ourselves under your word,
we pray that you would raise us up by your spirit
to hear and see and know
and to taste that you are good.
Lord, would we come to understand you
and love you and know you more fully this morning
as a result of this time together
around your word.
God, we ask that our time spent here this morning
would bring much praise and much honor
and much glory to you,
our great and loving King.
We ask this in his name.
Amen.
Well, it's the start of another year, isn't it?
Hard to believe.
2017, how many months is it going to take you
to write the right date on your checks?
Oh, wait, we don't write checks anymore,
so forget about that.
Our cell phone just does it all for us, right?
But I think this is a good time of year, isn't it,
to recalibrate and to realign ourselves
with what's really important,
both as individuals and as a church.
And as I thought about a text
that would help us do that this morning,
this is the text that came to mind.
Because I think that this is a text
that helps us to see in a really vivid way,
as John says at the end of our text in verse 11,
it helps us to see in a vivid way
the glory of Jesus.
This, the first of his signs, John writes,
Jesus did at Cana in Galilee
and manifested his glory.
After all, what is really important?
What is worth building your life
and reorienting your life around?
What ought we as Christians, as a church,
constantly be recalibrating
and reorienting ourselves around?
If we are listening to God's revelation in scripture,
that thing above all else
is the glory of Jesus.
If you think about it,
most of us are hunting and searching for glory,
aren't we?
For something beautiful and awe-inspiring.
In other words, we're looking for something
that's worthy,
worthy of giving our lives to,
worthy of our time and our efforts
and our dreams and our energies,
aren't we?
I think in our worst moments as human beings,
we're hunting for our own glory.
We want ourselves to be great.
But thankfully, by God's common grace,
we're often not as bad as we could be.
And in those not as bad moments,
rather than wanting ourselves to be great,
we want to be a part of something great.
We want to live for something or someone
that is truly worthy.
But it's so easy to go after the wrong thing.
Even as Christians, even as a church,
we often get caught up in secondary things
and lose sight of the main thing.
But John's entire gospel
that we're just dipping into this morning
is written to show us
that this desire for glory within all of us
is really meant to find its object,
its goal, its satisfaction
in the one who is glorious in Jesus.
The word of God who became flesh
so that we might see the glory of God.
And by believing in him,
we might become the children of God.
That is, we might become partakers of that glory.
So here then, as we begin another year,
I think there are three things in this text
that can help reorient us back to the center,
back to the main thing.
Back not just to an idea or a program
or a set of resolutions,
but back to a person,
back to Jesus himself
and to his glory.
The one who is truly worth actually living for.
So let's look first at what we see here.
First, we see here
the glory of the power of Jesus.
Don't we?
I mean, at the most basic level,
this text is about Jesus
doing something extraordinary, isn't it?
He literally turns water into wine.
Now this event in the life of Jesus
is so familiar to so many of us
that we can lose sight
of how extraordinary it actually is.
How many children's Bibles
have this story in it?
We're so familiar with it
and yet, it's incredible.
Look again at verses 6, 7, and 8.
Look down there in the text again
at 6, 7, and 8
where this miracle happens
and notice what Jesus doesn't do there.
There's no big production, is there?
He doesn't wave his hands over the water
and say something really profound
and powerful, right?
He doesn't sort of gather everyone around
to watch him work.
He doesn't say, stop the feast.
Something big's gonna happen right here.
You know?
He doesn't tell the disciples
to cue the music
and fire up the smoke machine.
You know?
The final countdown, here we go.
Because the magic's about to happen.
None of that.
In fact, John narrates this story
so beautifully, so subtly, doesn't he?
Look again.
Where in this story
does the miracle actually happen?
In verse 9, John tells us
that the master of the feast
tasted the water,
now become wine.
But by that point in the story,
by the point in the story
where John actually says
that the water had become wine,
the miracle's already happened.
At some point between the servants
filling the jars to the brim
and Jesus saying,
now draw some out,
Jesus had already done the impossible.
Just like that.
Perhaps with that simple word,
now.
Now draw some out, Jesus says.
And with that simple word,
this everyday substance,
this water,
has been changed forever.
Imagine yourself at the gym.
Come on.
It's New Year's Day.
I'm sure I'm not the only one
who's been thinking about
my need to get to the gym, right?
So imagine yourself at the gym.
And there are two people there
lifting weights.
First one comes up,
grabs the bar,
stares into the mirror.
Why do people always lift weights
looking in a mirror?
I don't get it.
You can tell I don't go to the gym a lot.
Grabs the bar,
and with a good deal of grunting
and groaning and this noise,
sts, sts, sts,
why do they do that too?
With a solid yell,
they lift the bar above their head.
Not bad.
But then another steps up,
and without a sound,
without seemingly any effort,
lifts the bar aloft
and puts it down again.
And of course,
in that moment,
we know who has the greater strength,
don't we?
Not the one who is grunting and groaning,
but the one who can do it
without the slightest sign of exertion.
And is that not Jesus here?
And yet he's doing something more
than lifting a barbell,
isn't he?
He's altering something
in the created order
at its very root
and bringing it into newness.
Water becomes wine.
And as his ministry continues
in the Gospel of John,
this is just the beginning.
This is just the first,
this is just the beginning
of his signs,
John will say.
In chapter four,
an official son will be healed
with just a word.
In chapter six,
5,000 people will be fed
with just one small meal.
In chapter nine,
a man who's been blind since birth
will see again
with just a little wash
in the city pool.
And in chapter 11,
with a simple prayer
and a command,
a dead man will walk out
of his own tomb.
So who is this Jesus?
Who is this one
who has such power
to overcome sickness
and hunger
and blindness
and even death itself?
The earliest followers of Jesus
all came to one conclusion.
That in Jesus,
God himself,
the creator God himself
had come.
Here's how John explains it
in the opening chapter
of his gospel.
In the beginning was the word
and the word was with God
and the word was God.
He was in the beginning with God
and all things were made
through him
and without him
was not anything made
that was made.
And then he goes on to say,
and that word became flesh
and dwelt among us
and we have seen his glory.
Glory is of the only son
from the father
full of grace and truth.
This is who Jesus is.
The word of God,
the son of God,
the second person
of the Trinity
become flesh
and dwelling among us.
Almighty in power.
And that helps to explain
Jesus' interaction with Mary
in these opening verses,
I think.
Mary tells Jesus
that they've run out of wine.
And how does Jesus respond?
Well, surprisingly,
he responds with a gentle
but firm rebuke.
Woman,
what does this have to do
with me?
Not exactly how you think
Jesus would respond
to his own mother, right?
Now, the word woman there
sounds really harsh,
doesn't it?
If I were to walk up
to someone and say,
woman,
da-da-da-da-da-da-da,
you would think,
whoa,
where's that guy get off?
No, well, okay.
But in the historical context,
that particular word
in this particular context
would have actually been
a quite respectful way
for Jesus to reply to Mary.
In fact,
that same sort of expression
can even be used
with some warmth
and some affection
in certain contexts.
That's the same way
Jesus will address his mother
at the end of his life
at the cross
when he's sort of making sure
that Mary's taken care of
by John.
So Jesus is being respectful.
He's being caring here.
But in the rest of his reply,
Jesus is telling Mary what?
He's telling Mary
in no uncertain terms
that she or anyone else
can dictate the terms
or the times of his ministry.
He is telling her
that his ministry
will be utterly free
from any kind of human advice
or agenda or manipulation.
Not even Jesus' own earthly mother
has an inside track
to get Jesus to do something
on her timetable.
You see?
This almighty Lord Jesus
isn't something
that we can control.
Isn't someone
that we can control
or even someone
we can advise.
Mary wants Jesus to act
but Jesus is clear
that he will work
in his own time
and in his own way.
Rather,
the lesson here
is that we should respond
the way Mary responds
and how she advises
the servants to respond
in verse 5.
Do whatever he tells you.
That is the right response
to this almighty Jesus.
He's not someone
that we could ever
possibly control
but he is someone
that we must trust.
He doesn't obey us
but we must obey him.
Do whatever
he tells you.
So this text
is helping us
to see the glory
of Jesus' power
and a little bit
of how we should be
responding to that power.
But this miracle
is a lot deeper than that.
There's more going on here
than just a brute display
of power
and there are hints
sort of all over
this narrative
that tell us
that something more
is going on.
First,
Jesus talks about
his hour
in verse 4
and then second
there's this detail
that John points out
about these jars
being used
for Jewish purification
in verse 6
and then third
we're told
that this miracle
is the first
of Jesus' signs
in verse 11.
All these little hints
in the narrative
are pointers
that what Jesus
is doing here
is more than just
showing his power.
It's more than just
a trick
to display
how great he is.
There's something
deeper that we're
meant to see
and this is our
second point.
The deeper thing
that we're meant
to see is the glory
not just of Jesus' power
but the glory
of his mission.
Now isn't it strange
that Jesus replies
to Mary
what does this
have to do with me?
My hour
has not yet come.
That's all the more
strange when you realize
that in John's gospel
whenever Jesus
talks about his hour
he's talking about
something very specific.
It's not just
a general way
of him referencing
his ministry
as if
it's not my time
yet to sort of
start doing all
these things.
In fact
throughout the first
half of John's gospel
as we're being told
about Jesus' ministry
we're constantly
being told
that his hour
hadn't come yet.
It's not until
chapter 12
after Jesus
rides into Jerusalem
for the last time
that finally
he says
now my hour
has come.
This is my hour
because at that
moment
he's on his way
to the cross
and to his resurrection
and to his exaltation.
You see
in John's gospel
Jesus' hour
is the hour
of his death
and resurrection.
So the question is
why
when this young
couple
runs out of wine
at their wedding feast
and Mary says
Jesus
you should probably
do something here
why does Jesus say
but my hour
hasn't come?
And by the way
Mary probably
isn't asking Jesus
or intending for Jesus
to do something
miraculous here
she's probably just
asking him for help.
John tells us
in verse 11
that this is the first
miracle Jesus did
so Mary probably
isn't expecting him
to do something miraculous.
We know from Luke 1 and 2
that Mary knew
that Jesus was destined
to be Israel's
long awaited king
but she probably
hadn't seen him
do anything like this
before.
So she's saying
Jesus help
and yet Jesus
in response
comes back
with this almost
nuclear reply
but my hour
hasn't come yet.
What did Jesus see
in this moment
that Mary
didn't see?
What is it
about this setting
and this context?
A bridegroom
a bride
a wedding
a feast
what about all
that made Jesus
think explicitly
of his hour?
Well friends
I think Jesus
was thinking
of his hour
because of what
he understood
his mission
to be.
You see
when the great
Old Testament
prophets
look forward
to the messianic
age
to the age
when God
would come
they often
characterize it
as a time
when the wine
would flow freely
when fasting
would give way
to feasting.
That's what
Jeremiah 31
was all about
that we read
earlier.
Just one of
many texts
in the prophets
when they
looked ahead
and saw
that one day
God would
finally be
united to
his people
like a groom
united to
his bride
and that
that would
be a celebration
to end
all celebrations
and they would
feast
and they would
drink
and they would
do so forever.
Later in his
ministry
Jesus himself
would adapt
the image
of a wedding
as a symbol
for the completion
of the messianic
age.
And you see
friends
that was
Jesus'
mission.
He had
come
to begin
to inaugurate
this great
work of God
this in
breaking
of God's
kingdom
to start
this banquet
of lasting
joy
because
God was
breaking
in.
You see
all around
him
in this
moment
in John
2
Jesus
was seeing
an image
a parable
of why
he came
and at
the center
of that
great feast
that great
feast of
God
that the
prophets
spoke of
at the
center
of that
great
coming
feast
that Jesus
had come
to inaugurate
just like a
marriage
in the center
of that
feast
there was
a covenant
it's no
accident
that Jesus
told them
to fill
the jars
that were
ordinarily
used for
purification
rites
there were
probably other
jars they
could have
used
by the way
you see
there were
rituals in
the first
century
for Jews
rituals
for washing
their utensils
and rituals
for washing
their hands
and all
of these
sort of
were ways
of kind
of embodying
and expressing
the mosaic
law
and these
big jars
were the
ones
that you
would
use
so what
better
way
for Jesus
to show
that now
the old
covenant
was being
fulfilled
in the
new
that the
new
had come
than to
take those
old jars
and fill
them with
something
radically
new
to do
a work
of
transformation
in them
the water
of those
old
purification
rites
that water
that could
only wash
you on
the outside
and it
had to be
repeated
again
and again
was now
giving way
to the
new wine
of the
great
feast
that God
had all
along
promised
you would
bring
this wine
that you
would drink
down
deep
into the
inside
of yourself
and that
would
satisfy
you
once
and for
all
again
John's
gospel
is in
many ways
all about
this
theme
in his
opening
chapter
we read
there again
and the
word
became
flesh
and
dwelt
among
us
and we
have
seen
his
glory
from
his
fullness
we've
all received
grace
upon
grace
for the
law
was given
through
Moses
grace
and truth
came
through
Jesus
Christ
the law
of Moses
the old
covenant
was just a
pointer
was just a
shadow
and Jesus
came to bring
the substance
the fullness
he came to
bring the new
and lasting
covenant
and at the
heart of
this new
covenant
that would
bind God
and his
people together
in lasting
joy
joy like a
feast
like a
banquet
at the
heart
of that
binding
covenant
at the
heart
of that
covenant
was what
those jars
stood for
but could
never
actually
deliver
at the
heart
of the
new
covenant
was
something
that the
law
could never
give
lasting
real
purification
cleansing
the
forgiveness
of sins
and that's
why Jesus
was at a
wedding
thinking of
his hour
that's why
his mother's
request for
more wine
made Jesus
think of
the cross
because Jesus
knew that
one day
he would
be feast
with his
bride
one day
there would
be
festival
joy
with his
church
and there
would be
no
unstoppable
limit
there would
be nothing
that would
stop the
feast of
that day
but to
get there
to win
his bride
to cleanse
her so that
she might
drink deeply
of the wine
of his love
and be
satisfied
Jesus
would need
to say
I thirst
God
John will
show us
in chapter
19
that as
Jesus is
hanging on
the cross
they'll
fill a
sponge
with sour
wine
bitter to
the taste
and in
his thirst
he will
drink it
isn't it
amazing how
this gospel
is constructed
that the
very first
miracle that
Jesus does
is bringing
the best
wine
that they
had ever
tasted
but in
order to
bring it
home
Jesus will
drink the
bitterness
of our
sin
and our
guilt
and our
death
he'll
drink it
down
so that
we can
drink the
wine of
his
righteousness
and because
he's taken
our cup
down to
the very
dregs
we can
have no
fear
that the
cup of
his
righteousness
will ever
run dry
you see
friends this
new covenant
that Jesus
has come to
bring cannot
and will not
be broken
because he's
fulfilled all
the terms
and this is the
glory of his
mission
to fulfill the
law and to
complete what the
prophets spoke
of to win
his bride
and to save
the feast
isn't that a
sobering
description of
our human
condition
verse 3
the wine
ran out
how often
do our
human
attempts to
find joy
and happiness
come crashing
down
no matter
what it
is
the wine
runs out
but here
to rescue
us
Christ
intervenes
in verse
10 the
master of the
feast pulls
the bridegroom
aside
now in that
culture the
groom actually
would have been
responsible for
paying for and
putting on the
wedding feast
so that's why the
master of
ceremonies this
master of the
feast pulls
the groom
aside
and he tells
this young
man he says
everyone serves
the good wine
first and
when people
have drunk
freely then
the poor
wine but
you have
kept the
good wine
until now
and is in
that moment
an incredible
picture of the
gospel
this young
groom is
about to
experience the
embarrassment of
his lifetime
in an honor and
shame culture this
wedding feast that
he has planned and
he has paid for and
his family is
responsible for is
about to come up
short and all of
his family and
all of his friends and
all of his in-laws
are there and
there's a whole
mountain of
social shame that's
about to come
crashing down on
his head
a mountain that
he might never
come out from
under
but instead of
getting all that
this young
groom
he gets the
credit for what
Jesus has done
and he's
saved
and that's the
heart of the
gospel friends
that through
believing and
trusting in
Christ you
get the
credit for
what he
has done
his death
pays for
your sin
and his
righteousness
covers your
life and
you are
saved
have you come
to rest in
that
or are you
still trying to
prop up your
identity in some
other way are
you still trying to
get out from
under that
mountain of
shame in some
other way are
you still trying to
be whole in some
other way and
your wine is
running out
instead receive
him get the
credit for what
he's done that's
the gospel and
that's the glory of
his mission
let's finish with
the last point that
we see here
third I think we
see here the glory
of Jesus's
lasting joy
don't these words
just ring out
the master of the
feast says you
have kept the
good wine
until now
that's the note
that the story
ends on
and of course the
irony is is that
the bridegroom had
served his best
he had done all he
could do and it
fell short and it
wasn't enough and
it was about to end
in disappointment and
shame but the
wine that Jesus
brings is better
better than the
best thing that
they could ever
come up with on
their own
you've kept the
good wine until
now
J.C.
Ryle put it this
way commenting on
this paragraph of
scripture he says
the world gives its
best things like the
best wine first and
its worst things
last the longer we
serve the world the
more disappointing
unsatisfactory and
unsavory will its
gifts prove Christ
on the other hand
gives his servants
their best things
last they have
first the cross the
race and the battle
but then the rest
the glory and the
crown for the
believer in Christ
friends there is
always better to
come no matter how
good things are now
no matter how terrible
things are now
better things are
still to come and
what we know from
the New Testament is
that the work of
Christ will ultimately
end in the renewal of
all creation that
these joys that we
experience now that if
we are in Christ
they're just a
foretaste of something
better to come when
Christ returns and
heals this created
order when the banquet
of heaven becomes the
feast of earth and
again all of creation
rejoices in the
presence of its creator
and redeemer and we
the bride of Christ
those who have
trusted in him will
be in the midst of
that celebration
living out the
glorious freedom as
Paul says of the
daughters and the
sons of God no matter
what our journey has
been in this life one
day we will turn to
the great master of the
banquet and say you've
kept the good wine
until now and it will
only get better so
for instance this is
glory so orient your
life around this make
this what you live for
this glory yeah and you
will not be disappointed
let's pray our Lord Jesus
how often we have sought
for joy and happiness and
created things when Lord you
are the giver of all good
gifts Lord thank you that
the promise of this
passage is that you
have come to give an
undestructible everlasting
joy Lord help us to
fight for that joy help us
to live in the midst of
that joy even as we weep
with those who weep even
as we work for justice even
as we go about our daily
routines Lord even as we
suffer Lord help us to
know that there is joy in
knowing you and that one
day you will come and make
all things new so Lord Jesus
as we now come around your
table as we celebrate
communion as we remember
your body broken and your
blood shed would you take
these signs of what you've
done for us and would you
seal on our hearts the glory
of who you are and what
you've done and would we
know the assurance of being
loved and known by you
Lord Jesus be present with us
now encourage our hearts
fan the flame of our faith
we pray so that we might see
your glory and believe in you
amen