Jesus: God of Creation

Introduction

Focus Passage: John 2:1-11

John 2:1–11 NASB 2020

1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “What business do you have with Me, woman? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He tells you, do it.” 6 Now there were six stone waterpots standing there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing two or three measures each. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” And they took it to him.9 Now when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the groom, 10 and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests are drunk, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

Outline

Divine time-table (vv. 1-4)

Have you ever tried to rush things before it was time?

How did that turn out for you?

Within verses one through three we find the setting and some secondary characters within the our text. The primary setting of course is a wedding in the small city of Cana. This happens to be the town in which Nathaniel was from. We see that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at the wedding and was, so it seems, charged with the responsibility of keeping supplies going for the wedding. We see that Jesus and his disciples were also at this wedding. We know that the wedding was taking place on the third day, but what third day is unknown, no is it truly important. What is important are a few details that might be missed if we try to rush through our text. What is revealed through our text is a subject matter that will infiltrate the Gospel of John throughout, “time.”

Within these opening passages we see a...

Time to celebrate - ‘…invited to a wedding...’

Time of catastrophe - ‘…they have no wine...’

Wedding would last for days, even upwards of two weeks or so. So drink and food was a must. It was stocked to be plentiful. To run out of wine would be the black mark of black marks. Mary would be the laughing stock of the community, the embarrassment of the community and family. She would not only be embarrassment to herself, but she would portray this on the newly wedded couple. This was truly a social catastrophe of the nth degree. In this time of desperation, Mary turned to the only one that she knew could help, but in the process tried to force her way.

Time of new relationships - ‘…What business do you have with Me...’

How often do we try to force our will in times of desperation?

Who do we try to force our will on?

Mary did what most people would have done. Jesus, fix this for me. She was desperate. She went to the only one she knew might be able to fix it, her son, Jesus. Jesus’s response might take some of us back. He responds, “What business do you have with me?” In Greek it renders, “Woman, what to me and to you?” On the surface, Jesus’ remarks may seem rude, uncaring, etc. But before judge Jesus’ response in such a way, we need to find clarity in the historical context of our passage. The first century was time where men were highly lifted up and women were placed very low. It was also a time of very clear relational boundaries. Within these boundaries the men were in charge in public and outside of the home, whereas the women were in control within the home. The woman was not to try to control or press the decision of the man in public. As we look at our text, I’m not sure that Mary is doing that as much as she is pleading for help. Asking Jesus to show who He was before it was time.

What is shown through the lines of this text is another relationship in place. This is the relationship between Jesus, the Son, and God, the Father. Jesus, was not going to be pressed or pressured by his mother to do something that His Father was not ready for him to do. Jesus was not going to be move beyond the will and timing of the Father.

Jesus came with a three-fold purpose in relation to the Father. Jesus came to...

Fulfill the Father’s purpose, to make Him known (Jn 1:18)

John 1:18 NASB 2020

18 No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.

Act on the Father’s authority (Jn 5:19-20)

John 5:19–20 NASB 2020

19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

Glorify the Father (Jn 12:28)

John 12:28 NASB 2020

28 Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

All of this points to one thing. Jesus was working on a divine time-table.

Time arranged by the Father - ‘…My hour has not yet come...’

Jesus was not going to let friends, family, or society dictate what he did. He was going to follow the time arranged by His Father. May we take this lesson to heart. We are to follow God’s timing not our own. In the end, we find that Mary understands that Jesus will handle it. She did not know how it was going to be handle or what was going to be done, but Jesus was going to handle it, “Whatever He tells you, do it.”

How does it make you feel knowing Jesus has the answer, we just have move out of the way and let Him take care of it?

How hard is it for us to move out of the way?

More than Sufficient (vv. 6-10)

Jesus’ provisions are more than sufficient (vv. 6-7)

God took six stone basins, that were empty and filled them with water. Each of these basins held between sixteen and twenty seven gallons. So, Jesus takes between ninety-six and one hundred sixty-two gallons of water and does something special with it. He turns that water into wine. Not just any wine, but the best wine (vv. 9-10). Do not miss the point. Do not attempt to use this passage as a justification to drink. If you do, you miss the point. As look at the characters of the story, Mary has fallen away. Jesus’s disciples have fallen away. There’s one source still present from the beginning, and it’s Jesus. Jesus takes what we have considered dried up and insufficient and does something great with it. His provisions are more than sufficient.

Jesus’ provisions far exceed our expectations (vv. 8-10)

Who can testify about a time that God not only sufficiently provided for your needs, but far exceeded those needs?

Jesus, the God of Creation (v. 11)

The wedding of Cana was not about drinking. It was not about the wedding. It was a sign to reveal who Jesus is. It was time for Jesus to begin His earthly ministry to begin to reveal His glory, the glory of the Father. Throughout the Gospel of John, John gives seven signs and all of these signs have a particular purpose. Their purpose is the purpose of the entirety of the Gospel of John; to point others toward the revelation of who Jesus Christ is.

John 20:30–31 NASB 2020

30 So then, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.

Conclusion

Jesus is more than sufficient. Jesus can and will exceed our expectations if we put our faith in Him as the only begotten of the Father. However, we must not try to press Jesus into a corner and expect Him to move in our time. He moves according to the time of the Father and according to the will of the Father to bring glory to the Father. May we realize as Mary did, we garner our existence from Him. He does not garner His existence from us. Let us remember the words of Mary and apply them to our life in all areas, “Whatever He says, do it.”