The Miracle at Cana (Siloam)

Express Gratitude for Siloam’s partnership. I enjoy coming here and preaching God’s Word. I really appreciate the kindness of this church each time we come. My family enjoys it too.

Church Update

New Beginnings is doing well. We were down a little bit today to around 30 in service, but the last two Sunday we have had nearly 40 people in our service.

We also have people coming forward with a desire to do be more involved in the ministry of the church which is very encouraging.

I do have two things I would like to ask for prayer for:

1) A lady whom I believe God is really working on. She has been coming for a few months now and has expressed a desire to follow the Lord. I would like to just ask that God would bring her to full repentance and faith.

2) We are planning an outdoor worship service on the 20th of this month. Our hope is that it will make the community around us more aware of our presence and location. Please pray that God would bless it.

SERMON

Introduction

This is one of my favorite stories in the gospel of John because it has always intrigued me. It is the story of the first miracle Jesus performed turning water into wine.

It was such a joyous occasion: a wedding. Festivities, happiness, celebration, and Jesus revealing the very heart of God to us.

In this passage we find a woman of mature faith, obedience that leads to a miracle, and brand new disciples who begin to see Jesus.

Mature faith

John 2:1–5 NASB95

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus *said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” His mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

Explanation

Here is the mother of Jesus, Mary; though she is never named Mary in John’s gospel

She comes to Jesus with a problem: “they have no wine”

This was a big deal in that culture because wine was a very important part of social gatherings. So if the wine ran out, then this would bring shame and embarrassment upon the groom’s family who was financially responsible for the wedding.

Mary knows Jesus better than any other than any other person in that wedding. I say that because she gave birth to Him, raised Him, and obviously had a very close relationship to Him here.

When she comes to him with a problem, His response seems a little shrewd, and it was to some degree

Jesus’ response: “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come”.

In other words, I did not come to earth to make sure wedding parties went smoothly, I came to save the world from sin.

But Mary is not offended at Jesus’ reluctance to step in…she turns to the servants and says: “Whatever He says to You, do it”

This is why I am calling her mature faith

She knows the very heart of God. Yes she heard the same response that we heard, yet she still expects Jesus to step in and grant her request.

She demonstrates two things for us in her response:

1) Mary knew the heart of Jesus

Jesus did not have to intervene. He said Himself, its not My time.

But Jesus reveals to us the heart of God who is caring and compassionate when it comes to human affairs.

And what is important to you, is important to God.

John said this in chapter 1,

John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

What is the heart of God like? It is the heart of a loving Father who truly cares about the little things in your life that may seem insignificant to us!

We do not have to afraid to take “less important” things to God.

God is whom we should turn to in times of need!

We should not think God is going to ignore us when we do.

Mary knew the heart of God

2) Mary understood the Power of God

Mary Knew Jesus’ capabilities were unlimited

She tells the servant, “whatever He says to you, do it”

To my understanding wine was not readily available on every corner, so she was not expecting Jesus to send the servants to the 711 to pick up a box of fermented grape juice!

And there definitely was not enough time to send them to the wine press and press out some grapes and allow them to ferment.

So what did Mary expect here?

Some scholars claim that she was simply asking Jesus to help her in some kind of way, but I think her statement implies she knew Jesus was capable of doing something beyond human capabilities!

She knew He was divine in nature, she knew of his power and her faith demonstrates that!

Whatever He says to you, do it.

Application

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THAT JESUS IS NOT CAPABLE OF DOING

Some people only believe in Jesus’ power, only 2,000 years ago and He has retired from miracles.

But Jesus has alwasy been Jesus.

Jesus was the very instrument of Creation

John 1:1–3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

Luke tells us that that the entire book of Acts is the continued work of Jesus!

Acts 1:1 “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach”

The same Jesus that was capable of turning water into wine is the same Jesus we worship today.

Nothing is beyond His capabilities

Nothing is outside the scope of His powe

Is anything too hard for the Lord??

The obedience of a servant

John 2:6–10 NASB95

Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. 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 bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

Explanation

“Fill the water pots with water”

Now these water pots were large stone containers that held well over 100 gallons of water. And the servants did not have a garden hose to fill them, they used pitchers or buckets to carry the water.

Now we can only imagine what was going through their minds as they are carrying that water. Why are we doing this? Are we going to make up some kool-aid wine? Nevertheless they filled them to the brim (perfect obedience to Jesus).

The Jesus tells them to draw some out and take it to the headwaiter

Now when does the water turn into wine?

Well it does not happen inside the waterpots! Look at verse 9 “but the servants who had drawn the water knew”.

What did they draw? Water or wine?

They drew water. So the water must have turned into wine on the way to pour it into the headwaters cup

Here is what that means:

When those servants drew that water out, they knew it was water. And they also knew that if they poured water into the cup of that headwaiter, this whole thing would come crashing down. He was not there to drink water but wine!

But what did they do? They did exactly what Jesus told them to do, and as a response to their obedience, Jesus overruled the laws of nature and changed water into wine.

Principle

God most often uses ordinary obedience as a vehicle to do supernatural things

It is wrong to say God cannot or will not act apart from our obedience. That would be to put God in a box. But what we do see over and over in Scripture is Jesus doing supernatural things in conjunction with obedience to His commands.

Examples

The ten lepers:

Luke 17:14 (NASB95)

When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.

Peter catching the huge amount of fish

John 21:5–6 (NASB95)

So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.

Jesus heals the royal official’s son

John 4:49–51 (NASB95)

The royal official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living.

What do all these instances have in common?

Jesus worked supernaturally in their lives as a response to their obedience! And in every instance the miracle did not happen until their faith became action.

The water did not become wine until the servants had drawn out the water it out and taken it to the headwaiter.

The lepers were not healed until they headed to the priests

Peter did not catch the fish until he listened to Jesus and threw the net out the other side of the boat

Could it be the reason we do not experience the supernatural power of God more in our lives is because our actions do not match our faith?

Is it possible that God has presented situations in your life that call for radical faith AND YOU HAVE YET TO TAKE THAT STEP AND YOUR SITUATION HAS NOT CHANGED?

I think God is saying to us, that we need the kind of radical obedience like these servants had

I think God is saying to us today that if we put away all of our human reasoning and doubts that we would see God’s hand more clearly

(v 10) “You have kept the good wine until now”

Principle: Anything that Jesus calls us to obedient in is going to bring about the very best result in our lives.

I can look back over my life and think of the things God has given me: They are perfect. They fit my life, my needs, my finances, my taste, everything about them is absolutely perfect.

And I can compare with things I have obtained on my own, or without consulting God, and they are never what I expected them to be. They may not be bad, but there is nothing like the good that Jesus gives.

Matthew 7:11 NASB95

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

If we who are evil know how to give good things, how much more can God who is perfect?

Learn to trust Him like these servants did

The disciples who see God’s glory

John 2:11–12 NASB95

This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

Explanation

This is the beginning of His signs

What we often call miracles, John calls signs.

Signs are supernatural miracles, but they are not just for the sake of displaying God’s power. Signs to point to something deeper, they tell us something beyond the act itself.

They say something to us that we could not see otherwise on our own.

What was the purpose here?

“And manifested His glory (splendor, greatness, power)

The word manifested means “to make clear” or “to reveal”

So John sums up this section by saying:

1) This is the very first miracle Jesus did

2) When Jesus did this, He revealed His true nature

Who did Jesus reveal His nature to?

The answer is in verse 11:

(v 11) “and His disciples believed in Him”

Isn’t it amazing that the only people who are recorded believing after this miracle are those five men who began to follow Jesus and were invited to the wedding with Him?

These 12 verses say nothing about anyone else recognizing the person of Jesus!

It says nothing about the servants who were directly involved in this miracle coming to faith and following Jesus, even though they knew they drew out water and they poured out wine.

It says nothing about the bridegroom who would have known the wine was gone and now miraculously there is an endless supply of better wine than they had before! Where did it come from! It says nothing about Him believing in Jesus.

Who was affected by the manifest glory of God?

The disciples who were simply sitting at the table and watching the entire thing unfold.

Application

Have you ever considered that your obedience to Jesus will directly impact the faith of other people?

That is exactly what we see here. Servants who hear a command from Jesus, obey Him and something that goes beyond the laws of nature takes place.

These disciples who were nothing but bystanders in the entire thing, saw it all unfold and became believers.

And then the question to us is: Who is watching you? Who is standing on the sidelines of your life watching to see if you really believe what you claim to believe.

Who is watching you to see if you truly do “whatever He tells you to do?”

Lets look at the sequence:

Mary who has known Jesus for 30 years has this confidence in Him, even despite His rebuke , she appeals to Him for help. She is a mature believer

The servants hear the command of Jesus and trust Him enough to do what he says even if it does not make sense, they do it anyways. They are obedient servants whom God uses.

The new disciples who are nothing more than bystanders watching the entire thing unfold, and they are the one’s directly impacted by it all.

Application

QUESTION:

Which one of these are you?

Are you the mature believer who knows the heart of God and understands His unlimited capabilities to do anything?

Are you the servants who find yourself at the receiving end of the command of Jesus, having your faith tested?

Or are you the follower who has simply witnessed these things in others people’s lives and it has grown your faith?

I would suggest we strive to be all three

Strive to grow in spiritual maturity that you may lead others to obedience

Have a servants heart who is always willing to obey even when it does not make sense

And never stop looking for the manifest glory and greatness of Jesus Christ around you.

~PRAYER~