Something new

Truck in a rut

Two years ago, I visited Gono in PNG for the first time. I’ve been there twice now. First time in January 2023, and again more recently with my whole family in October last year.

Now, Gono is in a remote region. To get there, you take a plane to Goroka, and then you need to get on a truck which takes you the approximately 60km trip to Gono.

Now, 60km might not sound like a long distance. But as you leave Goroka, the road gets worse and worse.

Actually, on the most recent trip, they had obviously done quite a bit of work to make the road better.

On the first trip, I was sitting in the cabin of the truck on our way back to Goroka. There had been some recent rain and so the ground was quite boggy. The driver, however, was skilled at picking the the right line to go to avoid getting bogged.

There were these big deep grooves in the road where other vehicles had gone before. Now, the tricky part about this is that if you stay in the groove, the ground is more compact, but being in the groove gives you less choice.

We left Gono, and the first part was the worst. We’d only been gone for about 15 minutes when one groove proved too difficult. The truck got bogged.

We all had to jump out. We pushed. The load was lighter. But it wouldn’t budge. We pushed. But it wouldn’t budge.

I’m starting to think - well, what’s going to happen now? But it seemed pretty obvious that this wasn’t the first time something like this happened.

What was clear is that they were not able to get out of the mud. But change the mud for something new, and the truck could move. People started searching for rocks. They would place the rocks in front of the wheels.

It took a while, but eventually, there was enough new material that the truck could finally move. With a final push, the truck finally got out of the bog.

Sometimes life can feel like driving on one of these boggy tracks. We kind of keep to that well worn path and feel like we make some progress, but sooner or later, things get bogged. Sooner or later, the world feels like it squeezes us so tight we can’t move.

It can be all sorts of things. It can be external pressures. It can be our own internal thoughts. It can be feelings of guilt, whether real or perceived. But we get to a point where we just feel we’re going no where. The wheels might be spinning, but we’re not moving.

We might go searching for those rocks to put in front of the wheel, but it almost feels futile because we know it won’t be long before we’re in another bog.

We need something new.

The Jewish bog

The metaphorical bog we get ourselves in today might seem different to the bog people got in a few thousand years ago, but perhaps they’re not really all that different.

You see, let’s try to place ourselves in the world around the time of Jesus.

They dreamed of something better. For the most part, they knew how to navigate the road, and stay on the parts that allowed you to keep moving, but life had struggles.

The tax colletor was always hanging over the head. The Roman soldiers were never far. They had freedoms, but it’s a bit like our freedoms. Freedoms that can feel quite restrictive.

And then they had the feeling of guilt hanging over them.

Now sometimes, people try to suggest that its religious systems that impose guilt on people.

But in my experience, people with no religion of any kind seem to struggle with feelings of guilt as much as any body.

Religious systems like Christianity and Judaism aren’t causing the guilt, they’re just better at explaining where that guilt comes from.

Now, the Jewish system had a way of dealing with such sins, but when we look before the time of Jesus… well, it was kind of limited.

Around this time, the Jewish people had already had a long period where they would travel forward a bit before really getting bogged. They needed something new.

The Wedding

Well, let me take you now to the immediate context in which we find ourselves in for our passage today.

We’re going to find a situation where things seem to get bogged in a very different kind of a way.

You see, where about to find ourselves in a wedding without wine.

But let’s back up and see how we got here.

If you were with us last week, you’ll have heard how some of the first of Jesus disciples started following him. So, unlike many of the other stories we read about Jesus where the disciples had been with Jesus for a long time, we’re still at the point where the disciples are trying to figure this man out.

Now, you’ll see in verse 1 it says on the third day. The way they count days, we’re actually referring to what we would say was two days after the last event, which incidentally was when Jesus had that little interaction with Nathanael.

Well, Jesus gets invited to Wedding in Cana which is a town roughly 20km west of the western shoreline of the Sea of Galilee.

We’re not told who the wedding is for, but presumably it was someone related to Jesus. Somehow, the new followers of Jesus also got an invite, so they got to see their first glimpse of who this man is.

Now, Weddings at this time and in their culture are quite different to ours. Perhaps one of the biggest differences being that a Wedding celebration could go for a whole week.

So Jesus and his new followers are there, presumably enjoying themselves until the crisis hits.

Actually, it’s a crisis that wouldn’t have been initially obvious, but it soon would have been.

The wine ran out!

Now, depending on your background, this may or may not seem like a big deal. For people who grew up in Baptist circles from a generation or so ago, where alcohol just wasn’t part of your scene, running out of wine doesn’t feel like such a big deal.

But in this culture, being able to provide for a celebration was a big deal. This is not just about wine, this is about providing.

It was the responsbility of the groom to provide, and if he couldn’t there was shame associated with it.

It’s important to remember that honour/shame cultures treats honour and shame with far greater importance than what we do. The implications for having shame associated with your name were far reaching.

This incident, therefore, is not just about a bit of embarrassment, in this culture the impact of this crisis could have long term repercussions.

Mary outs Jesus

Into this situation steps Mary, the mother of Jesus.

She’s found out about the crisis - perhaps because she was close to the groom.

First thing she does is tell her son.

It’s interesting to speculate at this point what Mary actually expected Jesus to do. Did she anticipate the miracle that did actually happen? Or did she recognise Jesus as a resourceful person and therefore perhaps able to think of a way around this situation? Or was she just simply passing on information? It’s hard to know for sure, but given how the story goes, it would certainly seem she has some indication Jesus is capable of something special.

Interestingly, Jesus seems to suggest he’s not willing to help out. Why are you involving me? He asks. It’s not my time.

Now on the surface level, it sounds like Jesus is just saying that his time to do miracles hasn’t come yet. And I think that is at least partly right. But saying “My hour has not yet come” is very interesting when we read it in the context of the overall story of Jesus life as presented in the gospels.

You see, when Jesus talks about “my hour”, it becomes a bit of a code for his death and resurrection.

Initially, that might not seem like the context here, but later when we consider what this miracle is going to point to, it can take on new meaning. I’m actually going to leave that thought hanging for a bit while we look at the rest of the story.

You see, despite the fact that it looks like Jesus is saying he’s not ready to do anything, Mary either chooses to ignore this, or perhaps understands Jesus on a deeper level, because she tells the servants to do whatever Jesus says.

She tells the servants - Do whatever he tells you.

The miracle

So now the narrative draws our attention to six stone water jars that stood nearby (verse 6).

The narrative draws our attention to the fact that these are not just normal jars, they are very specific jars for the purposes of ceremonial washing. Now, whenever the narrative highlights certain facts like that, it’s not because it’s just some sort of fun fact that might pique your interest.

Now, to be honest, there is quite a few different ideas around the significance of these ceremonial jars.

I’ve been convinced that the main significance is the ties between the old system.

These jars are for ceremonial washing. Certain utensils and guests hands would be washed for the rituals they do. But we’re about to see, out of the old, comes something new.

Again, just hold this thought as we go through the narrative.

You see, Jesus does give instructions to the servants. He tells them to fill each of the ceremonial jars up with water.

They’re simply told to then just draw from the jars and take it to the master of the banquet.

And it’s at this point that we learn that this water has miraculously been turned into wine.

And not just any wine. You see, as the narrative tells us, you bring out the best wine first - and there’s a reason. After you’ve had a bit to drink, well, the quality isn’t going to matter do much.

But this wine was the best wine yet.

Something new came out of the old.

A word about wine

Now, it’s worth pausing here a moment to think about alcohol.

I alluded to the fact earlier that if you go back a generation or two ago in Baptist circles, you would not touch any alcohol.

Some have tried to argue that Jesus actually turned the water into non-alcoholic wine, but let me tell you that there is essentially no evidence for this, and more evidence that it was alcoholic.

You see, the problem lies in the fact that alcohol can be easily abused. It can be addictive. Too much causes a whole range of problems. Unfortunately, many of the good things that God gives us can be abused. We could talk about sex, or work, or food, or knowledge or a whole range of thing. Each are good things. But each can be damaging when used in excess.

So what should our attitude be to alcohol? It’s something that we should each consider. Consider the danger that it poses for you. Consider whether it has mastered you in the past. And can I suggest to err on the side of caution.

Alcohol can be enjoyed and it can be seen as a gift from God, but, if that danger is present for you, it is better to avoid it altogether.

And if I can add to that, don’t just think about the danger to yourself. Think about your brother and sister around you. Could it be that your drinking causes your brother of sister to fail. It is better to go without than to cause your brother to stumble.

Something new

But I want to get back to the miracle, because even though it involves alcohol, the primary lesson here is not actually about alcohol. It’s about what this represents.

Now, just to be clear, I’m going to suggest it does represent something bigger, but that’s not to say that it is only a metaphor. I believe this is a real event that did take place.

Now, remember when I earlier made the comment about Jesus saying “my hour has not yet come”, and that usually when he says “my hour”, he’s referring to his death and resurrection.

Well, I want to suggest that this first miracle is actually pointing us towards what Jesus is going to do.

You see, let’s consider the bigger picture of Jesus’ ministry. This ministry is the climax of God’s plan that is essentially the whole story of the Bible.

That overall story of the Bible is that humanity fell away from God, yet God made it possible for humanity to come back to God.

The plan started in the Old Testament and involved a system for humanity to atone for their sins.

As beautiful as the system was, it was never designed to be permanent. In one sense, it actually highlighted the problem. People still got bogged.

They needed a new system.

Now remember we went from the ceremonial jars, to miraculous wine.

In the grander scheme, Jesus would take the ceremonial system… he’d take the sacrificial system of old, but he would draw from it new wine.

Later Jesus would draw a link between the blood he would shed and wine for us to remember it by.

Through this miracle, Jesus is pointing to us the fact that we don’t need to settle for an old system that is bound to result in us getting bogged.

We don’t have to settle for it, because Jesus can make things new.

Now only that, but it is something that produces joy. Doing it at a wedding celebration seems so fitting.

What Jesus is creating is not some dour affair. He’s creating life and life to the full.

In practice

So what does this mean for us today?

Well, we can look at it from a macro level and a micro level.

Let me explain...

That macro level is the bigger level. This is where we see the bigger picture of what Jesus is doing.

In a sense, this miracle is a reminder that the old system of rituals is only good in that something new came from it. Jesus has provided a new life that you can access.

You access that life by believing and accepting Jesus. It’s really that simple.

But on a micro level, that is to say, as we drill down and think about you as an individual, we can also look at this miracle in the way that Jesus is willing and able to move you through a crisis.

I spoke earlier about that feeling when life seems to be giving us the big squeeze… When we feel we can’t move because of all the pressures.

Let me tell you now - you’re situation is not hopeless. There is hope because of Jesus.

When you feel the world is against you - find hope in Jesus.

When you seem to be your own worst enemy and you’re constantly getting yourself in trouble - find hope in Jesus.

When it’s not just one crisis, but five crises all on top of each other - find hope in Jesus.

There is an ultimate hope in the new heavens and the new earth, but there is actually hope even now.

You see, you can have the wine Jesus produces now.

New life doesn’t just start in the next age, it starts when you put your hope in Jesus.

Just believe

In verse 11, we’re told this is the first of the signs through which the glory of Jesus was revealed.

There’s some conjecture over whether it’s the first of any miracles he did, or the first one in public. But it kind of feels like arguing over semantics. The point is, it was a sign that caused the disciples to believe.

And this is the important thing in all of this.

To access this hope I’ve been talking about, you need to believe.

These miracles have been recorded so that we may believe.

Conclusion

I started speaking about the road out of Gono, and how we used rocks to get us out of a bog.

Well, that was a temporary solution. Something bigger was needed.

When I went back with my family some 20 odd months later, a lot of work had been done.

I’m not suggesting the road was amazing, but compared to what it had been, it felt like a new road.

What Jesus does makes that pale in comparison.

The new thing Jesus created was as if Jesus created a new freeway.

You don’t have to be stuck in your situation.

Yes, bad things will still happen in this life time, but it will happen while you experience new life.

I want you to experience the true joy that this creates.

Let me pray...