The Best is Yet to Come

INTRODUCTION

Context

BOOK

Gospels Series

Matthew

Written by a Jew, for Jews.

Relies heavily on OT and emphasizes Jesus as the Messiah, the Promised Deliverer.

Mark

Written by a Jew, for the Gentiles.

Focuses more on Jesus’s actions than his teaching.

Emphasizes Jesus as the Suffering Servant — highlights his humanity through his actions and encounters.

Luke

Written by a Gentile, for Gentiles.

Most detailed record we have — Luke records medical details of miracles/crucifixion.

Emphasizes Jesus’s humanity as the Son of Man.

Gospel of John

Unique from the other 3 gospels…only one not labeled a “synoptic”.

Material is almost entirely original to John — very little overlap with the other Gospels.

I call John the philosopher of the bunch. He focuses on the theology of Jesus, and proving that Jesus is the Son of God.

Everything in the Gospel of John points to Jesus as the Son of God.

Even from ch. 1 as we looked last week, John doesn’t begin with Jesus’s birth — rather, he begins with Jesus’s eternality by showing him present and active in creation.

Purpose of John: John 20:31

John 20:31 CSB

But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

With that purpose, John only records 7 miracles of Jesus, that he calls “signs”

So with that in mind, we’re going to look this morning at the first of Jesus’s 7 signs recorded in the book of John.

READ: John 2:1-12.

PRAY

So Jesus and the disciples (at least 5 of them at this point) find themselves as wedding guests.

We’re going to see that like an onion, there are layers to this story. To begin to peel back those layers, we need to start by understanding a little about Jewish wedding practices of the day.

CULTURAL

Modern Day Weddings

Find someone you like, you date for a while.

Probably date several people, until you find the one you decide you’d like to marry.

Eventually, the guy gets up the nerve, buys a ring, and proposes to his girlfriend.

Assuming she says yes, at the point the couple is “engaged”.

THEY’RE PROMISED TO ONE ANOTHER, BUT THERE’S NO REAL TEETH TO IT. THEY CAN END THE ENGAGEMENT AT ANY TIME WITH NO LONG-TERM REPERCUSSIONS.

If everything goes to plan, the couple is engaged for a while, they have some form of wedding ceremony, and are formally announced as “MARRIED.”

Ancient Jewish Weddings

Arranged marriages.

Fathers would find a suitable candidate for their son/daughter’s spouse, and they would negotiate with the father of the other person.

The two would agree upon a DOWRY — a “bride price”

An amount to be paid by the family of the young groom to ensure their commitment to the marriage.

Could be money, property, cattle, or a combination of all.

This was important! A young lady’s options to support herself were slim in those days. So, should something happen to her husband, or should the marriage for some reason be called off, the young bride would have her dowry to fall back on to support herself. It was really more of a safety net.

Once the dowry was paid, the two were promised to each other. When they came of age — late teen years — they would be “betrothed”.

We equate it to engagement, but really it was much more serious.

They were legally married at that point. So if the marriage fell through, it would be considered a divorce, which was entirely disgraceful in that time.

Once they were betrothed, the groom would go away to prepare a place for his new bride to live. He would also prepare for a celebration feast — more on that in a minute.

After about a year, he would return and get his bride to take her home with him.

There, they would be greeted with a celebration feast that would last upwards of a week.

This is were Jesus and the disciples find themselves — at the celebration feast.

This isn’t just a wedding reception. This is a PARTY. They invite the whole family, their friends, often even the whole community to come and celebrate with this couple.

Based on the amount of wine Jesus makes, we can guess there was well over 200 or so people at this party.

RETELL STORY

In the midst of this wedding celebration, a problem happens — they run out of wine.

Our Wedding Reception

I planned our wedding ceremony, and it was great. It flowed like a worship service, and was a meaningful time. But I forgot we had a reception. So when it came to planning the order of events for the reception, it was chaos.

Our CD for dances didn’t work, no one knew what was supposed to be happening when, it was just an all around train wreck.

We’re still married, but there were a lot of problems that happened at the celebration.

This isn’t just a minor problem — it’s not even a major problem that you can move on from. This is an earth shattering, celebration halting problem.

It’s like when the words come out “There’s no more wine” the record scratches, and the whole party stops.

Here’s the core of the problem…The groom was supposed to be preparing for this feast. This was to be a demonstration that he could provide for and take care of his wife. If they run out of wine, that’s all called into question.

Socially, it’s a major embarrassment. This is something that would have hung around this couple for years to come. They would have been social outcasts and had a hard time living in their community. They actually could have been sued for this in Jewish law.

On the other hand, this is a major red flag for the bride’s father. A groom that can’t take care of his daughter? That’s a problem. I’ll be up front and say I don’t know if it could have ended their marriage, but at the very least it would have caused a rift in the family dynamics.

Enter Mary.

We don’t know her exact role here, but it’s likely she was somehow involved in hosting the celebration.

Obviously she was aware they were out of wine, something they would have tried to hide from the guests.

She recognizes they’re out of wine, and she approaches Jesus.

All she says: “They don’t have any wine.”

Guys: If your mom/wife says “The trash is overflowing,” what are you supposed to do?

Ladies: You all are masters of instructing without giving instructions. You just make an observation, but there’s an understanding that it’s our job to fix it.

“The dog’s at the door again.”

“Your room’s a mess.”

“The dishes really need done.”

There’s an implication in each of those statements that something is to be done about the problem posed.

This is the tone Mary has with Jesus!

“They don’t have any wine.” That’s all she says. The understanding: Jesus needs to fix it.

We don’t know what she fully expected — it’s not recorded that Jesus had performed earlier miracles, so she has no reason to think he would now.

But, she did know who he was, so it could have been a long-shot, last ditch effort.

She might have meant for him to round up his friends and go to the next village over and buy more.

Whatever the case, the implication’s still the same. They’re out of wine, and she wants Jesus to deal with it.

Watch Jesus’s response….”What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?”

If I called my mom (or wife for that matter) “woman”, the mouth I used to speak those words would become disconnected from my body.

Jesus isn’t being entirely disrespectful here — he’s respectfully reminding Mary that he’s a man now, and that he only answers to God the Father. Whatever parent/child relationship they had where she got to order him around is now over.

Some of you with adult children may understand that tension.

Mary’s next move: Breezes right past Jesus’s remarks, looks to the SERVANTS, and says “Do whatever he tells you.”

This is one of those times I just imagine Jesus letting out a big ol’ frustrated sigh.

Of course, Jesus takes the water in the pots and turns it into wine — we know the rest of the story. But there’s a couple of things in particular that I think we can glean from this.

Remember, this story is like an onion — it’s got multiple layers.

1. God wants to bless his people.

Look at the situation here — no incentive for Jesus to perform this miracle.

His response to Mary is right — it’s really not his problem that they ran out of wine.

And yet, we see Jesus’s character put on display — paired with God the Father.

Jesus doesn’t act independently or against the will of the Father, so somewhere along the way, the Father gives him permission to perform this miracle.

Part of that character revealed: God wants to bless his people.

Jesus performs this out of compassion for the groom, and for the enjoyment of the people.

No one is healed, he doesn’t gain wide-spread notoriety.

The groom, or anyone else for that matter, hasn’t done anything deserving of a miracle.

He’s not even asked for one explicitly!

A. God’s blessings are based on his goodness, not our performance.

Thankfully God doesn’t bless us based on what we deserve!

Even though the groom had done nothing to deserve it, Jesus still chooses to bless him with this miracle.

Think of our own lives…

We aren’t worthy of the blessings that God gives us.

In fact, we often squander his blessings.

And yet, he still chooses to bless us as his people.

God’s blessings are based on his goodness, not our performance.

There’s nothing we can do to earn any more or less favor from God.

B. God’s blessings are for his glory. (v. 11)

John 2:11 CSB

Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

The primary purpose of God’s blessing — and subsequently this miracle — is to bring glory to God himself.

Jesus performs this miracle. In so doing, he reveals his glory and what happens? The disciples believe.

God’s blessings in our lives aren’t there for us to sit around and revel in all that we’ve done/accomplished. Rather, it’s for us to point the glory and praise back to the only one who deserves it — Jesus Christ.

2. God saves the best for last.

This is a pattern throughout scripture of how we see God operate, and it’s exemplified in this passage.

God always saves the best for last.

Another way of putting it: The best is yet to come.

A. He saved the best wine for last.

Look at the low-hanging fruit here: Jesus produces the BEST wine LAST.

John 2:9–10 CSB

When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.”

I imagine this poor groom is so confused at this point.

Think about it this way — the people had thought they already had the good wine. Little did they know the best wine was still to come.

APPLICATION

New Vision: You’ve already had some good wine over the years.

Seen growth, seen people saved and baptized, many of you could share personal stories — and have shared with me over the last couple of weeks — of just how God has used this church to impact your life.

You’ve had some good wine, but the best is yet to come. God has saved the best for last.

Our best days are ahead of us.

God is going to do things that make us think, “Wow, and I thought those early years were good!”

The best is yet to come.

B. He gives signs.

Look in John 2:11

John 2:11 CSB

Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Mentioned earlier: John records 7 miracles that he calls “signs.”

Why signs and not miracles? THEY POINT TO SOMETHING.

Krispy Kreme Hot Sign

Before Lauren and I started dating, we were acquaintances for about a year (I was an idiot). During that year, she had 4 tickets to a UK Men’s Basketball game that she was giving away. I’m a big UK fan — L’s down all day — as was my roommate, and still one of my best friends. Suffice to say, I got the tickets and my roommate Adam and I went to the game.

When we left Rupp, we decided to make a detour to the Holy Land before we headed back to campus. Of course I’m talking about possibly the greatest evidence of God’s goodness we have — Krispy Kreme. I’m almost positive the Manna God provided in the Old Testament was a Krispy Kreme glazed donut.

We make the drive across Lexington to Richmond Road, and as we pull into the parking lot, that glorious red glow flicked on in the window — that beautiful “HOT” sign. And all God’s people said!

We pull to the window, and ordered 2 dozen donuts a piece. When we go our receipts, the cashier informed us that there was a survey on the bottom of that receipt, and if you followed the link and filled out that survey, you would get a BOGO deal for a dozen glazed donuts. I looked at my roommate, I saw he was thinking the same thing. I turned back to the cashier and said “Y’all might wanna start some more donuts.”

We went through that drive thru a total of 8 times that night. I’d fill out a survey while he ordered 2 dozen, then we’d circle the building and he’d fill out a survey while I ordered 2 dozen. By the time all was said and done, we had something like 20 dozen donuts in the back seat of my car.

We gained a lot of friends real quick when we got back to campus.

That red “HOT” sign wasn’t there just for show — it was an indicator that there was fresh manna from heaven inside!

Jesus’s miracles are like a giant “HOT” sign — it’s why John calls them signs instead of miracles — they’re not just there for show, they’re indicating something — JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD.

This is a pattern we see throughout Scripture.

Scholars call them “types,” or Paul calls them “shadows” in Colossians 2.

a. OT Shadows

First Passover/Jesus Crucifixion

Tabernacle/Temple

David/Jesus

Old Covenant/New Covenant

b. Shadows in miracle

John calls them “signs” for a reason — THEY POINT TO SOMETHING ELSE/GREATER

Water in the pots

Purification pots. The people would have used them to ritually cleanse themselves before attending.

Water would have been drawn from running water, know as “living waters.”

John 4:10 CSB

Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”

John 4:13-14 (CSB)

John 4:13–14 CSB

Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”

John 7:38 CSB

The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”

Wedding Celebration: Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

The entire Jewish wedding ceremony is a shadow of a celebration that’s yet to come.

After a year of betrothal and separation, the bride and groom are reunited, and a party ensues. They can enjoy each other’s presence again.

John 14:1–3 CSB

“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.

Revelation 19:6–9 CSB

Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns! Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”

Christ has gone to prepare a place for us.

There’s coming a day when Jesus Christ is going to split the sky open and come back to retrieve his bride.

We’ll be reunited with our glorious groom, when we’ll get to enjoy his presence for all eternity.

There’s going to be a party when that happens.

The wedding is just a shadow of what’s to come, but there’s one more thing we need to look at.

Purification Pots: Cleansing Comes from Jesus

The Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God. It’s without error in any way.

Meaning: IT’S INTENTIONAL.

Every word, every punctuation, every action and encounter recorded is there for a reason.

So why did Jesus use the purification pots? There had to have been hundreds of empty wine containers laying around…why not use those?

Background…

These pots were for ceremonial cleansing/washing.

These weren’t for hygiene, so much as spiritual cleanness.

Ironically, this is during a time that Israel is almost completely spiritually bankrupt.

They were washing the outside, with no change on the inside.

Before a guest could come into the wedding celebration, they would have to stop and wash their hands and their plate in this particular water.

Only then would they be considered ceremonially “clean” and be allowed to join the celebration.

Of all the available vessels, Jesus chooses the purification pots and fills them with…wine.

What’s wine a symbol of in the New Testament? BLOOD.

Jesus is saying there’s coming a day when true cleansing will take place, but it wont be with water. It will be by his blood.

CONCLUSION

Here’s the reality….

You have a standing invitation to the wedding of the century.

You have a seat with your name on it at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

But there’s only one way in — you’ve got to be washed.

Not by water, but by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Heads bowed, eyes closed

How many know that you know that you know that if Jesus came back right now, you’d have a seat at the table?

I’ve been washed, I’m clean, I’m going to enter his presence with rejoicing and I’m going to join the party.

How many would say that I’m not sure if I have a seat at the table or not?

There’s not been a time you can point to where Christ has forgiven you — made you clean.

Good News: Gospel Presentation

Romans 10:9–10 CSB

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.