The Book of John - 14

Introduction - After looking at the cultural background of the two events that occur in John chapter 2, we will begin looking at the first of these events.

Let’s begin by reading the first 12 verses.

Read John 2:1-12

Let’s pray.

As we continue through the book of John, we come to this second chapter and it is here that we are presented with two events.

We have seen, how at the beginning, John lays out for us a series of witnesses.

These witnesses testify to who the Lord Jesus Christ is, the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Israel.

It is interesting to note all the different ways in which these witheses encountered the Lord Jesus Christ.

So far we have seen:

I. Prologue – The Revelation of the Word 1:1-14

A. The Word vs. 1-5, 9-14

1. The eternality of the Word. vs. 1a

2. The co-existence of the Word. vs. 1b-2

3. The deity of the Word. vs.1c

4. The Creator God: the Word. v3

5. The Word is life and the Light. v4-9

6. The Word was not recognized by the World. v10

7. The Word was rejected by His own. v11

8. The Word is received by some. v12-13

II. The Witness of the Word 1:19-4:54

A. John the Baptist v1:19-36

B. Andrew v1:37-40

C. Peter v1:41-42

D. Philip v1:43-44

E. Nathanael v1:45-51

F. Nicodemus 3

G. The Woman at the Well 4:1-42

H. The Nobleman of Capernaum 4:43-54

In between the witnesses Nathanael and Nicodemus we have these two events.

In the first half of the chapter we have a marriage feast and in the last half we have the Passover festival.

As we look at these two events, we will see the first of many signs that John presents.

The word translated as miracles in verse 11 (σημεῖον sēmeion), means ‘signs.’

These signs, as we saw at the introductory lessons, are selected for specific reason.

In John 20:30 it is made clear that the Lord did more than what is recorded in this book: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:”

This teaches us an important lessons concerning the Scriptures, and that is that what we have recorded for us is purposely selected by the Holy Spirit.

The Word of God is not just a random record of events, nor does it report to record every detail of every event that is recorded, but rather God has inspired exactly what we need to know.

Notice with me the first of these events in verse 1.

The introduction of the event. v1

John 2:1-2 “1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.”

Here in verse 1 and 2 we are introduced a marriage in Cana of Galilee.

“The traditional site is less than five miles from Nazareth.” - John Phillips

In John 21:2 we are told that Nathanael is from Cana of Galilee.

John 21:2 “2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.”

2. The invitation to the event. v2

We see that Mary, the Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples were invited to this marriage feast. They were “called” according to verse 2.

John 2:2 “And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.”

And as one expositor stated, “The Lord should be invited to every wedding.”

In interesting to note as well that John never mentions Mary by name in this Gospel record.

The fact that the Lord and His disciples are found at the marriage feast and that the Lord chose to perform this first sign at the feast certainly shows us God’s blessing upon His institution of marriage.

One commentator stated that there is a large contrast given here between the blood atonement which pointed to the law versus the grace of God, as wine is normally symbolic for Joy and not judgement.

I would like also to point out the specificity of this event.

We are given the place (Cana of Galilee), the timing (the third day), and the people involved (Mary, Jesus, and the disciples). This record is specific.

There are many folks who attempt to cast doubt on the accuracy of the Word of God. Or they would attempt to say what is recorded for us our not real events but rather made up stories. But those who would take the time to study the Bible discover that like this event, God has recorded for us an inerrant accurate record.

We move on the verse number 3 and see the problem for the sign.

The Bible says in John 2:3 “3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.”

3. The issue at the event. v3

The problem as is seen in the verse is that they had no wine.

As we saw earlier these marriage feasts could last some length of time.

To run out of wine would be an embarrassment to the family and potentially speaks to their poverty.

---- Alcohol ———-

Before we go further, though this is not the focus of the passage, I want to address perhaps the question in people’s minds regarding the use of alcoholic drinks.

Regardless of what opinions people may or may not have concerning this passage the Lord Jesus Christ is without sin and as God does not tempt man with evil.

James 1:13-14 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”

Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

II Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

To say otherwise is antichrist. And so for any to insist that the Lord was party to a drunken party is absurd.

With that being said, it is stated in this passage that the Alford turned water into wine.

In Ephesians 5:18 Paul introduces a theological contrast between drunkenness and being yeilded to the influence of the Holy Spirit He states in that well known passage, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

“Wine was used for inducing drunkenness in pagan religions in the worship of pagan gods by the Greeks and the Romans in order to induce what they thought was a higher religious consciousness.  They believed that the more drunk they were, the higher level of consciousness they attained to commune with their gods.  It is exactly what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 10 when he said you can’t drink the cup of the demons and the cup of the Lord, you can’t go and drink the cup that makes you drunk to commune with the gods and then come and take the cup of Communion by which you commune with Jesus Christ.”

I believe for those who want to try to use the Bible as an excuse to drink alcohol, they will state, as long as I am not drunk it is ok.

The truth is there are abundant references to wine in the Word of God, which include both fermented grape juice and non fermented grape juice.

With that being said, I want you to understand first a couple of things:

Wine mentioned in the Bible is not the same as alcoholic drinks of the 21st century.

When someone tries to compare the two, it is case of comparing apples to oranges.

When we look at alcoholic production today it is produced for the express purpose of making money.

Alcoholic drinks are most often consumed today because they inebriate.

The way that alcohol is produced today it can rightly be classified as a drug. And for some reason, we have allowed advertisements to soften our understanding of this.

Charles Ryrie stated it this way, “Why is alcohol not associated with other drugs? Indeed, alcohol is the drug most commonly used and abused today. But somehow we have detached it from other drugs and think that moderate use has no significant physical, social, or spiritual consequences.”

“That alcohol is a drug is undebateable. Its toxic effects are well-known and cause permanent damage to the body. Large doses can result in immediate death, and prolonged usage can also cause death.”

“Unfortunately those who drink socially think they will never slip into the category of problem or dependent users of alcohol, and they are convinced they will never become alcoholics. They think that happens only to others. Yet, if twelve people drink over the course of ten years, one will become an alcoholic and three others will become problem drinkers. People do slide from one category to another, sometimes without realizing it.

After cancer and heart disease, alcohol is the third leading cause of death in this country. Drunk drivers are responsible for about one-half of the fatal automobile accidents each year. Alcohol is also responsible for thousands of suicides and drowning deaths. In 1989 it was estimated that there were close to twenty million alcoholics in America. It has proved to be a dangerous drug.”

“The effects of alcohol on the body are numerous and serious. Brain cells are altered, the memory blocked, the senses dulled, and physical coordination impaired. Alcohol can trigger bleeding in the stomach and intestines and deterioration of the heart muscle. It also can prevent the immune system from functioning properly. But it affects the liver more than any other organ, often resulting in cirrhosis and death.”

“Alcohol adversely affects family life. On the average four other persons suffer when there is one alcoholic in the family.”

“Alcohol deceives families in various ways. Some parents who discover one of their children intoxicated are apt to say, “Well, we’re glad it was only liquor and not cocaine.” The implications of such a remark are all too clear. Television ads suggest that athletics and alcohol somehow go together. Other ads tell young people to learn to drink “responsibly”—whatever that means. But the number of alcohol-related accidents and fatalities prove those ads to be only clever deceptions.” - Charles Ryrie

I have been alive long enough to understand this.

And personally have seen the great damage that can take place with someone addicted to alcohol.

We could go on endlessly giving stories of broken lives and loss of life because of alcohol.

Fermented grape juice was boiled down into a syrup which would be diluted into water in a 8 to 1 ratio for water purification purposes.

This can be seen in the root from the most common Hebrew word for wine ‘Yayin’ which means “boiling up” or “bubbling

Pastor John McArthur in an extensive article concerning mixed wine, which is fermented, unmixed which he quoted from 1 century sources as being unacceptable had this to say, “If you want to defend the fact that you can drink wine today on the basis of the fact that they drank it in the Bible, then you need to reexamine whether what we drink today is the same as what they drank then.  And we find out as we get close to the subject that they drank what was either totally unintoxicating, such as the syrup base, or what was so diluted with water that its intoxication level was very, very minimal.”

Universally drunkeness or excess of wine is condemned in the Scriptures.

Seperation to God was characterized by abstinence from any form of wine. (Priests, Nazarite Vow, John the Baptist, etc.)

What it comes down is this.

Are alcoholic beverages fitting for a Christian to consume?

At first some will try to sight Paul’s commendation to Timothy to drink “a little” wine as proof that Christians should drink.

But as you would think about why Paul is suggesting this, you would have to come the conclusion that Timothy was abstaining from wine, for the Bible says, “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine...” (I Timothy 5:23)

Folks who sight this verse would like to focus on the “use a little wine” to the exclusion of the first part that states “Drink no longer water...” and further completely ignore the purpose which states “for thy stomach’s sake...”

The heart of the matter is always the heart…

I believe the answer for you and I can be discovered by looking at the overwhelming warnings given to us from the Bible and by answering a few questions:

If there is great danger associated with the excessive consumption of alcohol? If the answer is yes, why would you go near it?

What is my purpose in drinking alcohol?

If drinking a little is okay, but not drinking a lot, how do you determine what is a lot?

At what point are you affected by alcohol? How do you know when you are affected?

Dr. Paul Chappell his book “Discerning Alcohol” further asked these thought provoking questions:

Is today’s “wine” the same as in Bible times?

Is it necessary?

Is it the best choice?

Is it potentially destructive?

Will offence other Christians?

Will it harm my testimony?

I will lastly say this, our church covenant, of which members of Sharon Baptist Church have agreed to, states that we will abstain from consuming any alcoholic beverages.

“to abstain from the sale of and the use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage....”

And our church leadership standards, which are signed by the church leadership state the same.

With all of that being said, let us move on and see the intent for which John recorded this passage for us.

We see not only problem, but notice the statement by Mary to Jesus found in verse 3.

John 2:3 “And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.”

So we have not only the issue at the event but also:

4. The intimation at the event.

What I mean by the use of the word intimation is that Mary was presenting the problem to the Lord for Him to address the issue.

Some have suggested that Mary thought perhaps the Lord could address the issue. Others have thought that perhaps she was suggesting that they leave before the shame of no wine was discovered.

Whatever it is that was intimated by her we see the response of the Lord recorded for us in verse 4.

John 2:4 “4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.”

The literal translation would be “What to me and thee...”

The phrase that is used here seems at first glance to be derogatory to some.

But this phrase really is identifying several key items that we should make note of:

The term woman itself is not demeaning but rather the common way of addressing a woman.

Notice John 19:26-27 “26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”

The Lord’s response was really to help Mary understand their relationship as it related to His person and office rather than her maternal authority.

As one expositor stated, “Christ speaks here not so much as the Son of Mary as the Son of God, who was about to perform a good work. 2. He spoke to His mother thus, not slighting her, but in order to show that her maternal authority did not extend to matters pertaining to His office. His own authority was in this supreme. 3. God permits no limit to be prescribed as to what, when, and how He should work; for He knows best Himself.”

Matthew Henry stated it this way, “A check to his mother for interposing in a matter which was the act of his Godhead, which had no dependence on her, and which she was not the mother of. Though, as man, he was David's Son and hers; yet, as God, he was David's Lord and hers, and he would have her know it.”

Lastly, this phrase, “mine hour yet come…” speaks to the specific and purposeful action of the God-man. Nothing was happenstance. Every detail and action of the Lord’s life and ministry was according to God’s plan.

The Bible tells us that God’s plan of redemption was before the foundation of the world. (I Peter 1:20)

In the book of Acts 2:22-23 we find similar words when Peter is preaching concernjng Christ’s crucifixion, He states, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:”

And so as we close having gone through these first few verses, I think the lesson for you and I is to patiently wait on the Lord.

Sometimes it is that we want the Lord to act upon our timetable especially as it concerns the problems and trials of this life.

And yet, as we see here, the Lord Jesus Christ, being God in the flesh acted according to His perfect will and as we will see addressed the distressing situation.

Next week we will look at the greater meaning behind this sign.