The Paradox of Perception: Why Some Saw Jesus and Others Did Not

The "Fyre Festival" in 2017 is a well-known case of a feast or event that ran out of food. Although it was promoted as a luxurious music festival in the Bahamas with gourmet meals and top-tier accommodations, it turned into a disaster. Attendees paid thousands of dollars for tickets, expecting a lavish experience.

However, when they arrived, they found that the festival was poorly organized. The promised gourmet meals turned out to be inadequate and consisted of basic sandwiches, salads, and cheese slices in Styrofoam containers. There was not enough food to go around, and some attendees even reported receiving just a piece of bread with a slice of cheese.

Social media posts from the event showed pictures of the meager food portions, leading to widespread outrage and mockery. The Fyre Festival became a symbol of how a poorly planned event could fail spectacularly, and it highlighted the importance of proper preparation and logistics for large-scale gatherings.

To recap, three sessions ago, we saw how Jesus was manifested as the Son of God to John the Baptist and those around him. After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit rested on Jesus in a visible form and the voice of God called out, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

Then, after Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, we find John the Baptist manifesting, announcing the deity of Jesus to the Pharisees and the rest of his audience. As Jesus passes by, John the Baptist makes the proclamation, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!" The very next day, John the Baptist is with two of his disciples, Andrew and John, when Jesus walks by them. John takes a look at Jesus as He walks by and announces to his two disciples, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" When he says this, Andrew and John both get up and follow Jesus. Andrew goes the day after and finds his brother, Simon Peter, and brings him to Jesus. Later, the four go into Galilee and Jesus finds Philip and calls him to be a disciple. Philip goes to find his friend Nathanael who is skeptical about the Messiah coming from Nazareth, but goes to see anyway. When Jesus reveals His omniscience to Nathanael, Nathanael then readily believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Today we dive into the passage of John 2. There are 2 events that are mentioned here in which Jesus is directly involved. Let's start with the first one.

John 2:1-11 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. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 -- When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

This is the first of Jesus' miracles ever recorded, and it is a familiar story, both to people that grew up in church and to those outside the church, and it should be familiar and well-known, as in it are displayed some amazing qualities of our Savior.

I want you to notice first that Jesus is invited to this wedding that is in the village of Cana. We had already seen last week that it seemed as if Cana and Nazareth (where Jesus grew up) were rival villages, so much that when Philip goes to tell Nathanael that they have found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael (who is from Cana) responds, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" But Jesus attends, and isn't it fitting, that the one who authored marriage, the one who created the first couple, would grace this marriage with his presence?

But not only was Jesus invited, we are told in verse two that his disciples were invited along with Jesus. Now, this is the first time, in reference to Jesu's ministry, that His followers are called disciples. A disciple is not merely a follower, but a student- someone who is learning from the teacher/master. At this time, Jesus' disciples would have included Andrew, John, Philip, Nathanael, and probably Simon Peter and possibly James (the brother of John) as well.

Jesus and his disciples make 7 more invited guests at this wedding feast. Marriage ceremonies generally happened in the evening with the feast of the wedding typically being held at the bridegroom's house. These feasts would sometimes last for several days. As we read, though, we might infer that this feast was probably set to only last that day, however, seeing as they ran out of wine so quickly.

So we have a wedding celebration going on, Jesus is there with his disciples. We saw also in verse 1 that Mary, the mother of Jesus is present also. As the celebration progresses, the Bible says that they wanted wine. Some versions say that the wine failed. Either way, we don't get a sense of the panic that ensued because of the shortage of wine. To better understand what the wedding party was going through, you have to understand the culture. To have a shortage of provision when you had a guest, especially invited guests, was an extreme humiliation.

So now we kind of understand, if we put ourselves in the shoes of the ruler/governor of the feast and the Bride and Groom. They are fixing to be humiliated publicly. Imagine that your first act as a marriage, the wedding feast itself, ends up in a failure? Two Wednesdays ago we studied Ecclesiastes chapter ten, where basically Solomon is warning people to not be "that guy." There is a saying that goes like this, "Whether for good or for bad, you will always be a proverb." Meaning, someday, somebody will look at you and tell their friends or their children, "Be like that guy," or, "Don't be that guy."

The situation now looks like this groom is going to be a proverb among his friends and family for many years to come if a miracle doesn't happen soon. And that is exactly what Mary sees as well. It seems that Mary may have been close friends of the couple celebrating their marriage because of the interest that she shows in the situation and the way that she addresses the servants further in the story. Notice what she says to Jesus though. V. 3 the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

Though she simply stated a fact, we can see by Jesus' response that there was more to that statement than what had been spoken. Jesus, being God, could know people's hearts, minds, and intentions. Mary's statement is a covert plea for Jesus to remedy the situation. She is practically requesting Him to perform a miracle, but it is not a strange thing for her to do. Remember, she knows who Jesus is. Before John the Baptist and his followers ever say the manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah, Mary knew. She had been told before she even conceived the child that Jesus would be the Messiah, the savior of the world. Knowing that the Messiah would come performing signs and wonders, and now that Jesus had started gathering a following of disciples, and having heard about Jesus' public manifestation as the Son of God during His baptism, Mary now puts the situation in Jesus' hands as she tells him, "They've run out of wine." Almost as if to say, "What are you going to do about it?"

Her expectations may have been very high, because even though others have proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah in public fashion, Jesus has only done this in private around his current set of followers. What better way to establish His divinity than to do a grand miracle for all to see? But Jesus' responds differently. His intentions are different, and this teaches us a few things.

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

Let's break this down, because there is a lot to pull from Jesus' response to Mary. I want us to note first that Jesus does not call Mary "mother." He calls her "woman." Now, this is not a sign of disrespect or even intended to be that way. This would have been a term of courteous respect in that culture. By referring to her as woman and not mother, Jesus does two things

1. He refers to her in a way that does not indicate obedience. Augustine of Hippo writes concerning Jesus' address of Mary as woman this way: "As if to say you are not the mother of that in me that works miracles." We read earlier that Jesus does indeed miraculously provide enough wine for the feast, but what Jesus is indicating with His response is that He controls His own agenda. He responds to Mary, not as a son that will do a favor for his mother who has asked or commanded something, but He responds to her as the Messiah would to anyone that asked for a miracle, with grace and in His own manner.

2. By responding this way, Jesus teaches that relationship to Him is not fleshly, but spiritual. Paul understood this when he wrote to the church in Corinth in 2 Corintians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Even though we may have known Jesus in the flesh, that is not how we relate to Him anymore. We know Him, we relate to Him, spiritually.

The next phrase we encounter is "What have I to do with thee?"

This expression is used frequently in the Bible and always indicates a mild rebuke. It means, "Leave me to act as I please." Jesus uses this phrase to assert that He is independent of all human relationships in the exercise of His Messiah-ship.

This corrects two errors commonly taught by the Catholic Church: 1) The idea that Mary was immaculate (without sin or error). If this were true, then she would not have needed to be rebuked by Jesus. 2) Catholicism teaches that Mary's intercession is recognized by Christ. This is the only record in the Bible that exists of Mary trying to intercede to Christ on behalf of someone else. This attempt was not even concerning a spiritual matter, but a temporal matter, and she was quickly rebuked.

Why was she rebuked? The next phrase tells us a little more about that and about what Jesus knew Mary's request was implying. "My hour is not yet come."

This answer indicates that Mary's statement was more than just merely a statement of fact, but it was a desire for Jesus to manifest Himself fully as the Messiah. Through His miracles, Jesus gave secondary manifestations of His glory and of being the Messiah, but He only gave one supreme manifestation of it, and that was His Crucifixion and Resurrection. Jesus called this supreme sign his "hour."

Mary sought for a supreme manifestation, but at that time only a secondary sign was appropriate.

Notice how Mary responds. John 2:5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

We learn something from Mary in this passage. What has just happened? She has just received a mild rebuke, yet she is neither offended nor discouraged by this. She has a plan of her own. Perhaps she envisioned that Jesus would produce a miracle like Elisha did when he caused a widows small cruise of oil not to run out until she had finished filling many pots with oil from that one small container. Maybe she had thought that Jesus would go and serve wine out of a single pitcher until everyone had drunk their fill. Whatever she had in mind though, she gave up without being offended, without getting discouraged.

She simply turned to the servants and said, "whatever Jesus tells you to do, do that."

Though her words are not addressed to us, we would be wise to listen to the command of unlimited obedience.

Next we get a glimpse into the home. The Bible tells us that in that particular home, there were 6 waterpots used for purification. These waterpots held 2 to 3 firkins each, a firkin being about 9 gallons of water. This water had a particular use- it was used in purification rituals. Jews would have viewed themselves as ceremonially unclean if they did not wash their hands before eating. These pots of water would have been used for that and other different types of ceremonial cleansing/washing.

So Jesus commands that those waterpots be topped off. We are told that they are filled to the brim, which tells us two things: It emphasizes the great quantity of water (108 -162 gallons of water, so about 2 - 3-ish 55-gallon drums), and the fact that there was no room to add anything else to these waterpots.

The fact that the servants did fill them to the brim also shows their complete obedience to Jesus' commands.

And now, Jesus has them draw out the water. Jesus' exact wording is, "Draw out now." It is commonly believed that when Jesus pronounced the "now," this was the turning point of the water becoming wine. So He tells them to draw what was once water and take it to the governor of the feast. This would have been a person chosen by the groom to preside over the festivities. Today's toastmaster is a relic of this custom from antiquity.

What is going on in the Governor of the Feast's mind at this moment, before the servants arrive? He's probably panicking over a lack of wine. Wondering what is going to happen.

Then, all of a sudden, he is presented with a cup of wine to taste. This would have been the normal way of things after a new batch of wine was being prepared to serve. The governor of the feast thinks that he is drinking some wine that has been found and was unaccounted for, but the servants knew that it was the water that they had just drawn out of the purification pots. Jesus has just performed His first miracle. Jesus has just demonstrated His power of over creation. Wine, we know, is much more than water. And as the pots were filled to the brim with water, nothing else could have been added. Jesus did not perform an illusion or a parlor trick, He tuned water into wine. How could he possibly do this without being the Lord of creation?

But Jesus demonstrates His power not only over creation, but over time as well. Jesus has changed water into a perfectly aged substance. Not just any old wine, but far superior to what had been served already at the feast.

And when the ruler of the feast, or governor of the feast tastes the water that has been turned into wine, he calls the bridegroom over.

He praises the bridegroom for his innovative thinking. "Normally, the good wine is served first, and then, once everyone is well drunk, the wine that is not that good is served last, but you've done the opposite here."

And this simple phrase turns out to be a great description the new system of the Kingdom of God that Jesus was going to begin introducing with His ministry. The system of Christ, the Kingdom System, if you will, is backwards to what the world's system is, and Jesus, by saving the best for last, has just introduced for the first time this new system of the Kingdom of God.

Now note in verse 11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

This was a manifestation of Jesus. It showed His glory, it showed His power, and it showed His divinity. It was a miraculous sign. That word at the beginning of the verse that is translated as "miracles" also means "sign".

The value of a miracle was in what it signified, not the miracle itself. This was a sign of Jesus' divinity as it manifested His power and glory. Jesus was able to change what was worse into something better, what was simple into something richer. It showed signified His transforming power of changing a sinner into a saint.

And it also showed His concern for others. Jesus concerned himself with the reputations of the groom and ruler of the feast; He concerned himself with the fellowship of those attending the feast. Minor things in the grand scheme of the human story, but He concerns himself with even the small things. Things that to us may be important, but to the world may be of no consequence.

... and his disciples believed on him. This was also a demonstration of His humility. Note that it was not Jesus who gave the water made wine to the governor of the feast. Note that when the ruler of the feast was praising the Groom for bringing in the good wine last, Jesus didn't step in and say, "Hey, I did that, not him. I made that wine. He only wishes he could afford a wine so tasty. No, no, no, that is my gift to them today. Enjoy!"

This miracle was a primarily a manifestation to his disciples.

WHY? What were the disciples going to start doing soon? Ultimately, when Jesus formed the church, what would become the church's commission? To reveal Jesus to others as the Son of God, the Savior of the world.

We cannot reveal what we have not first seen. The disciples would soon be sent out to tell the country about Jesus, but they first needed to witness the glory and power of their new Rabbi, their new Master.

What we see next is a revelation of Jesus' authority as we continue in this chapter.

John 2:12-13 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. Why?

13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

So Jesus descends from the hill town of Cana to Capernaum that is by the Sea of Galilee, and we see that he is accompanied by his mother, siblings, and the disciples. This statement here is a deep cut to the Catholic belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. Jesus' siblings are mentioned another 8 times in the Bible, six times they are mentioned in close connection with Mary and indicate that Jesus was Mary's first-born son. She had at least four other sons as well as daughters.

We continue in verse 12 that they stayed in Capernaum for only a little while, finding out the reason in verse 13 - the Passover feast was at hand and they traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate it.

John 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

As Jesus enters the courts of the temple, he finds people that are selling various animals for sacrifices there, and also money changers. The temple had its own currency, and you would not spend Roman coins in the holy temple. To give you an idea of the amount of animals in that would have been found in this outer court area of the temple, The historian Josephus once wrote that to cover the needs of every family and every sacrifice during the feast of the Passover, it necessitated about 200K lambs. That is often considered a liberal estimate. It could be that much fewer were needed.

So Jesus finds within this outer court of the temple, which would have been the Court of the Gentiles, all these animals being sold, and look at what he does next.

V.15-16 and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

Jesus drives out the sheep and the oxen and demands that the doves be taken out as well. The money changers' tables are overthrown as well.

This is referred to often as the cleansing of the temple, or Jesus' first cleansing of the temple (there comes a time later when He does it again).

Though Jesus cleansed his house, he did not damage or waste property. The Sheep and the oxen driven out would have congregated outside the temple in grassy areas to feed, and would have been recovered by the owners, the doves that would have been in cages were not set free, but the owners were told to take them out of the temple, and the money from the overturned tables would have been easily recovered off the ground.

Jesus, however, did make a very important statement. As the Son of God for whom the Temple was built, and the business of the temple being to worship that God, Jesus contested the the appropriation of even a portion of that temple to be used for merchandising.

People had taken to themselves something that belonged to God.

The market belonged to the priests, so the rebuke was for these priests and their agent, the money-changers. It has been estimated that the priests brought in over $9M annually through that market.

Though there was no indictment against how the priests were conducting business (on this occasion), the issue is that business had taken over an area that was supposed to be meant as an area of worship. Had this market been conducted outside the temple, the issue would not have existed.

The problem with mixing religion with business is that business tends to corrupt religion. Three years later, our Lord would once again cleanse the temple, this time accusing those involved in the trades and changing of money of being thieves.

This act of Jesus was not a hot-headed loss of temper on His part. I think we are reminded of that often when we here this story. One of the things that I remember hearing a lot and using a lot as an example is the fact that if we found someone using our parents' house in a way that was not agreeable to our parents, we would be inclined to forcefully remove them as well, and this is true. But everything that Jesus does is done with a purpose.

This occasion is yet another way that Jesus reveals who He is. Note that when he has overthrown the tables and gotten rid of the animals, Jesus calls the temple "the house of my Father"?

This action was a revelation not just to the priests and the others present, but to His disciples as well.

John 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

The disciples, who would have sung the psalms, remember Psalm 69:9 that says "the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." For them, because they already believed in who Jesus was, this was just another revelation of their Master as the Messiah, the Son of God.

However, there were those that were present who did not believe.

John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

The Jews felt that only a divinely commissioned person could interfere with what was going on in the temple and set it in order. As if Jesus driving our over 100K animals on his own out of the temple court was anything short of miraculous... they called for Jesus to give them a sign of his authority.

And Jesus gives His answer:

John 2:19-21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

John records this saying, and we need to remember it, because when we approach Jesus' trial before his crucifixion, Matthew and Mark will record how the Jews twisted this saying and used it as an accusation against Jesus.

This is Jesus' first recorded prophecy of His death and resurrection. When Jesus uses the word temple, in this case he uses a word that specifically refers to the sanctuary structure, the seat of God's presence.

The Jews respond that it took 46 years to build the temple structures. This was the third temple. The first was the one that King Solomon built and was destroyed by the Babylonians. The second was the one that was built by Zerubbabel and Jeshua. This temple had been torn down by Herod the Great and rebuilt, but was done so in phases so as to not disrupt the temple services.

It is recorded by historians that this third temple employed over 18,000 workmen to complete.

The Jews are referencing an undertaking so massive that it seems impossible to them that one man could perform the task in three days, yet what Jesus was talking about was even more impossible, the miracle of self-resurrection.

But later, when Jesus was crucified, buried, and risen again, his disciples remembered this time and believed even more in Jesus.

John 2:23-25 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

We have no description of the miracles that Jesus performed during this time, only that he performed them and that because of the miracles, many people believed in him.

Though they trusted him, Jesus did not commit himself to them; He did not trust them, because He knew what was in their hearts. He told them nothing of his plans or purposes. He did not reveal Himself to them as He had revealed himself to his disciples. Here in Jerusalem, the place where there should have been the most people seeking the Messiah, the Holy City, were found only those that were out for self benefit.

John will give us many examples of Jesus being able to tell what was in a man's heart and mind, and this is just one of them. In the temple there were money-makers, sign-seekers, opposers, false and weak professors of faith, but no one to whom Jesus could commit himself fully.

Application:

So far, over the last few weeks, we have studied Jesus manifesting himself to others. But I want you to note to whom he shows himself. He shows himself fully to those that seek him. His disciples sought him and sought to know him more. John the Baptist sought to know Jesus and confirm what he believed about him.

But to those that simply sought Jesus for their own curiosities and their own self gain or out of malice, Jesus did not reveal himself.

If you are a person that is waiting for God to reveal himself in thunder and lighting and a voice from heaven before you believe, even that would not be enough for you. Because seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing.

John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathanael were following Jesus before they saw Him do miracles. When they saw the miracles, they believed even more. But they saw more than just the miracles, they saw the significance of the miracles. They saw God's glory in Jesus because of the miracles. Their belief allowed them to see so much more than anyone else could see.

Are you following Jesus in faith? Do you seek him for HIS sake? Or do you seek him for YOUR sake and your benefit?

Do you read the Bible so that you will have a good day? Do you start your day off in prayer so you can start the day on the right foot? Do you come to church and serve so that you can have some benefit or blessing from God?

Or do your read, pray, seek, serve, and connect because you are seeking him and his glory?

The results will be very different. You'll only get so far by being a selfish seeker. But when you give yourself up, you will start to see things about Jesus that you had never experienced before.

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Life Group

What do we learn about Jesus' intentions by the way He responds to Mary's request for a miracle?

What can we learn from Mary's response after she was rebuked? To continue on in obedience to Jesus even after He corrects us. To not give up in discouragement nor to be offended because we did wrong and God used someone or something to correct us. In short, we can learn humility.

It was mentioned that the value of a miracle from Jesus is found in what it signified, not in the miracle itself. What signs are seen in the miracle of turning the water into wine?

Jesus' divine power over creation and time.

The first indication of the new system of the Kingdom of God and how it operates contrary to the world's system (i.e.: saving the best for last).

What is the symbolism of the market practices taking over part of the temple area, and what applications and warnings can we draw out of that?

Remember, the temple is only loosely identified with the church. But it is very closely identified with the life of Christians.

In everything we do, to include business, we are to seek to honor and glorify God first. If God's glory ever takes second place to business or pleasure or any other thing, we have effectively de-throned God in our lives and need to confess that as the sin it is and repent. Jesus is Lord.

Why is it so important for us to seek to experience God in our lives personally?

The passage mentions that many believed in Jesus because of the miracles they saw. However, Jesus did not fully commit Himself to them because He knew their hearts. How can we ensure that our seeking of Jesus is genuine and not driven by selfish motives? What are the qualities of sincere faith and seeking?

What are the different results of following Jesus for self-satisfaction vs. following Jesus for His sake?