The Gospel of John - part 4

preached Oct 7, 2018

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 twenty or thirty 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 Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

John 2:1-12

Today's story marks the first recorded miracle of Jesus in the Gospels. Though a short story, it holds a great truth: Because of Jesus, we have reason to celebrate! Follow along as we dive into the details of the story:

"On the third day" marks the 3 days that passed since Jesus was baptized by John.

Mary, then, addresses Jesus when the wine runs out. "Woman" is too harsh in the English. Jesus uses it here to distinguish His new relationship with Mary. Before he was her son and bound to familial codes. Now, He is taking on His role as Messiah and King which marks a transition of authority.

Wine is a symbol of celebration

This story represents the dawning of an age of celebration. The old wine of Israel had dried up. In the past, the Jewish nation could celebrate God's deliverance from Egypt, the establishment of the Temple, and their independence from all foreign powers. By the time of the first century, they were slaves once again to a foreign power, the Temple had been tainted by Herod and widespread greed, and worst of all, the people were in a complete spiritual malaise. Mary rightly said, "They have no wine". Israel had no reason to celebrate.

But Jesus had come to the party.

The wine came from purification jars

The new wine came through purification jars. These large jars would've have been used by the party guests to clean their hands and heads--both for hygiene and, more importantly, for ritual purification. A wedding is a religious event, therefore the Jews attending had to be ceremonially clean for the rabbis to conduct their duties rightly.

Church, the new celebrations come through purification. It is only when we allow God to remove sin from our lives that we can truly celebrate.

The new wine is greater than the former

Jesus brings greater celebration than the former works of God. He brings an eternal kingdom, not just a temporary home on earth, but a heavenly home that cannot be destroyed or taken.

He brings eternal freedom, not just from slavery of earthly powers, but freedom from sin which means no matter how you are treated here, you are free to live as Christ calls you to live.

There is a second aspect of this story that is often overlooked. When the wine ran out, it was more than a party foul--the guests could have taken back their gifts as a legal suit against a lack of hospitality. So the wedding couple is looking at losing their gifts, possibly even having to pay restitution. But, Jesus provides for their debts. The jars held 20-30 gallons of water each. These are very large jars. If all the water had turned to wine, then the newly weds now had 120-180 gallons of high quality wine. It is plausible to conclude not all the wine would have been drunk at this one occasion. Therefore, Jesus not only provides for their hospitality needs, but He goes above and beyond to give them a source of revenue as they establish their new home.

Jesus' glory is revealed to the disciples and they believe

Not everyone present believed--at least it does not appear so. It may be that not everyone even knew what happened, but John simply points out that it was at this point that all the disciples believed. Nathaniel had already believed, but now so does everyone else. And that is John's purpose for us today: to see Jesus' glory revealed in the stories of history so that we will believe.

Will you believe today?