Do You Know Him?
The Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsJesus has revealed His glory so that we might believe.
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TITLE: Do You Know Him?
TEXT: John 2.1-12.
INTRODUCTION:
As we came to the end of John 1, the stage has been set. The apostle John has made it very clear from the beginning who he is writing about. He is writing about:
The Word (Jn 1.1)
The Eternal God (Jn 1.1-3, Jn 1.18)
The Light of Men (Jn 1.4)
The True Light (Jn 1.5-9)
JTB entered the narrative and joined in unison with the author in declaring this story is not about him. Though he was the witness of God, a voice crying out in the wilderness, come to prepare the way of the Lord and make His path straight… He was not the One the people of Israel waited for. JTB spoke of the:
The Lamb of God (Jn 1.29)
The Son of God (Jn 1.34)
In the first chapter, there is no ambiguity for us today who the apostle John was writing about and who JTB was declaring would be coming soon. What a blessing it is to live in this age and have the full revelation of God at our fingertips!
Jesus Calls His Disciples (v.39-51)
Jesus began to call His first disciples to himself. Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, Nathanael, and John…each were either invited to follow or encouraged to Come and See what this rabbi (teacher) was all about. They heeded the call and followed. In amazement at his words, Nathanael made a great declaration which was followed by a promise.
Jesus’ Promise to His Disciples
49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
THIS WEEK: John 2.1-12.
This week we get the utmost pleasure of seeing the FIRST of EIGHT SIGNS or miracles across the Gospel of John. The purpose of John’s mention of these signs is very clear - It is his first Spirit-led measure of evidence to support his claims concerning Jesus of Nazareth in John 1.
ILLUSTRATION: Does that hold water?
When forming an argument for a certain position, a common expression comes out in conversation from time to time. One might say “Okay… I hear what you are saying… but does that really hold water?”
This is an English Idiom that found its way into some 17th century writings. Some trace in back as far as the prophet Jeremiah when describing the effects of Israel’s sin.
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Simply put, such a question asks if an argument is logical, reasonable, or sound. Does it hold up to scrutiny and prove itself trustworthy and useful, or is it like a leaky bucket - Useless.
The apostle John begins here in John 2 proving out the outstanding claims of John 1, and we see our first piece of evidence here - The Wedding at Cana.
MAIN IDEA:
Jesus has revealed His glory so that sinners might believe in Him.
OUTLINE:
His Person Recognized (v.1-5)
His Power Displayed (v.6-10)
His Glory Revealed (v.11-12)
PRAYER - Wisdom, Understanding, Illumination
1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
His Person Recognized (v.1-5)
His Person Recognized (v.1-5)
The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) all begin Jesus’ ministry with his time in Galilee, but John pulls back the curtain a little bit for his audience and provides additional information about his ministry, including this wedding story in Cana. In fact, John is the only gospel author that mentions this story.
CANA was a small Jewish village in first-century Galilee, which was the Israelite region north of Judea and Samaria. The best estimates place Cana roughly nine (9) miles north of Nazareth. And, this was also the home of Nathanael whom just just called to be his disciple.
Given there former location of Bethany near Jericho (Jn 1.28) where Jesus was baptized, it would have likely taken them a couple days to reach Cana.
Why were they travelling to Cana?
They were invited to a wedding! Just like today, a wedding then would have been a joyous event, but in this culture such an event would have been a community wide celebration that spanned multiple days. What a sight such a celebration must hav been!
And some of these customs or traditions still continue today. When Logan was in Israel for 3 months back in college, they were all invited to a wedding reception in Nazareth after meeting the father of the bride. The wedding as a whole spanned multiple days and it was a huge, community event.
Jesus, his disciples, and his mother (Mary) were all invited to this wedding, which means (though the couple is not named here) this was likely for a relative or close family friend of Jesus. So functionally everyone in this close knit community were there celebrating together.
The Problem
“When the wine ran out…” (v.3)
The host of the wedding, being the Groom and family, had not properly prepared with enough wine for the guests. The focus here is not that the Groom’s family must provide enough wine for the guests to drink freely until they are drunk. No… the focus is more simple than that.
In this close-knit community of Cana, “failing to provide adequately for the guests would involve social disgrace” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p42). This would have been a great embarrassment to the family not just then but likely for years to come.
ILLUSTRATION: Running out of food
We have all been to that family gathering. “Time to eat” is announced and people start pouring into the kitchen to grab plates and you look around at the spread of food… and then you begin to count the number of people.
If its anything like our family gatherings, everyone starts making plates for the numerous kids and then you realize “There is no way this is enough food.”
Then you start to play this mental battle with yourself going… Do I really just get 3 chips? 1 sausage ball? Half a sandwich? But then you draw the line. No way are you getting less than 20 little smokies.
Jokes aside though… this situation (if you are the host who hs provided the food) is an embarrassing one!
In a much greater way, the host of the wedding at Cana has run out of wine and Walmart has not yet been invented. They had failed to lovingly serve their guests who came to support their union. There was no solution in sight.
The Mother of Jesus’ Quick Thinking
When Mary heard of this issue, it seems she was very concerned for the Groom and his family. She immediately comes to her son with this problem. Mary’s goal here was not to slander or embarrass, but she was seeking a solution.
John 2:3 “3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.””
Understanding Jesus’ Response
John 2:4 “4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.””
Right out of the gate, you might be thinking that Jesus’ response to his mother is somewhat insecure and somewhat disrespectful. Welcome to the limits of translation! More specifically, what I mean is that some things do not translate with the same cultural context from the Greek into the English.
Jesus’ address of Mary here as “woman” is not disrespectful or impolite. The term used here by our Lord is actually the most common term for woman in the NT and is also used for wife.
Same Term for Mary When on the Cross
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
Why didn’t he just call her mother? This is a fair question. The word use here (Woman and not Mother) does actually imply a distancing from Mary. Furthermore, he asks what this problem has to do with him.
4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, came to earth with a singular purpose, and he had entered into that purpose at the beginning of His ministry. In asking His mother “What does this have to do with me?”… He is revealing His immense focus on one thing alone: Doing the will of the Father.
He isn’t asking this from a point of ignorance as if He did not know, but in doing so He shows us how dedicated He was to a singular aim and mission.
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
My Hour Has Not Yet Come
What was the Father’s will? - THE HOUR
This is a very profound statement from Jesus that means so much in this Gospel. “The Hour” that had not yet come is referred to 5 times across this Gospel. Multiple times across the narrative, we see that some sought to arrest Jesus for what He was teaching or doing… but it never happened… Because His hour had not yet some.
Gentiles (Greeks) Sought Jesus at Passover
23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
The hour was a divinely appointed time by the Father for the suffering and crucifixion of His Son. A time for Jesus to be fully revealed for who He is, and then for Him to die for that truth. This hour is the pinnacle of all human history and it is the backbone of Christianity and the faith that we proclaim.
It was not yet time for these things to take place… specifically because before the foundation of the world God the Father had ordained the exact moment the His Son would take up His cross with the joy that was set before Him… the joy of both righteously judging sin and justifying sinners at the same time.
Jesus and Zacchaeus
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
APPLICATION: Gospel
Today…Do you know Him?
Do you know the Man, the God Man, the Son of Man, the Son of God who humbled himself and took on the pain and weakness that is our humanness, living perfectly according to the Law of Moses but then took on my sin and your sin and all the judgment that is due our sin, bearing the full weight of the Father’s wrath against sin in our place, asking only the we believe who He said He is - Our only hope in life and death.
Do you know Him?
Do you know the One who is fully God and full Man, that promises that all who do believe in His name are given the right to be called children of God and are given new life, new birth in Him that is not our our own doing or strength… but it is of God.
Do you know Him?
Today is the day.
His Person Recognized
The mother of Jesus does not respond coldly to her Son’s distancing statement, but she simply said to the servants - Do whatever he tells you.
She leaves the fate of this evening, this situation, this family in the hands of her Son. WHY?
Mary, like us, did not understand her son fully, but there were some concrete, solid truths about her Son that she new to be true. And because of those things, she could be confident that whatever He did would be right and best. Mary’s faith in her son here is not blind hope, but it is evidenced truth she can stand firmly on.
Jesus’ Birth Foretold to Mary
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Jesus’s Birth Foretold to Jospeh
19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Simeon at Jesus’ Presentation to the Lord
27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.
Though in an imperfect way, Mary recognized who her son was and that it was only Him that could reconcile this seemingly irreconcilable situation at the Wedding in Cana. Surely the Son of the Most High, the better David, the Savior from sin, the Lord’s Christ, the bringer of salvation, the revealed Glory to God’s people could solve the wine shortage.
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
His Power Displayed (v.6-10)
His Power Displayed (v.6-10)
Jesus heeds the urgent request for help from his mother, and the servants stood by waiting for instruction.
The Water Jars
The stone water jars requested by Jesus here in verse 6 were purposed for the “Rites of Purification” within the Jewish culture. This was a tradition of Israel’s elders, and the Pharisees and all the people did not eat anything unless they washed their hands properly.
Matthew 15:1–2 “1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.””
These jars likely set outside the ceremony area for the many guests to clean their hands before eating. It is also safe to say that these jars, being the washing area, were not necessarily clean. They were a tool of the long held Jewish tradition.
Jesus instructs - Fill them to the brim.
The Significance
The jars are a symbolic sign of what Jesus is displaying in the first miracle. The rituals and traditions associated with Judaism are giving way to something far greater that has come.
The Master of the Feast
This would not have been the house, but the head waiter and organizer of food and drink of the event. He would approve what would go out to the guests and when.
After filling the jars, Jesus instructs them to “draw some out” and take it to the man in charge for distribution among the party.
8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
You may be thinking… “Wait…When did it happen?”
Don’t miss the main point here. Our natural response is to want to look behind the curtain and understand exactly what happened here. In our natural way of thinking, we want to understand what Jesus did and how he did it.
Did he wave his hands in the air over the jars? Then did he pronounce some audible blessing over the jars? Did he….?
ILLUSTRATION: The Chosen
An early episode from the popular TV series The Chosen depicts the wedding and even this miracle moment. In the depiction of this event, I would not say this is necessarily an area where the writers or producers of The Chosen take too much religious liberty in turning this narrative into cinema.
BUT…I will say the depiction is not how the Word reads. In the scene, Jesus asks the servants to step out of the room (even Thomas whom I am not actually sure was present though it is possible). He stares upwards and says audibly “ I am ready Father” and then grips on to the jar before scooping some of the newly turned wine out of the jar with His hand.
Now…you may be thinking I am taking it a little too far in my examination here but stay with me for an important point. In the text, Jesus instructs them to fill the jars with water and then says “Take some to the master of the feast.”
There was no trickery here. No dramatized event or magical waving of the hands. No… the Creator and Sustainer of all things orchestrated this transformation of substance with no outward sign at all. In the beginning, God’s spoke and all things existed! He did not pick up His magic wand and get to work… no from nothing came everything simply by His Word.
With that God-glorifying reality before us, it should be no shocker that the substance of the water transformed into wine simply because it (the water) obeyed the inaudible command of its Creator.
The Result
From the hand washing jars, the master of the feast was presented with the best wine of the multiple day long event. The master marvelled at groom’s witholding of the best wine until then. The water of mere ceremonial cleaning jars has been transformed into something far great, far superior to what it used to be. Its quality was unmatched.
APPLICATION:
Do You Know Him?
Do you know the only One who has the power to transform fully and completely? Do you know the One whose transformation produces something of far superior quality, something that truly satisfies and is called good? Life in Him.
Like the Groom and the wine, God the Father (in all wisdom and insight) kept the best gift of all (the Son, Jesus, the Christ) until the time was perfect for His coming.
Do You Know Him?
Today is the Day.
11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
His Glory Revealed (v.11-12)
His Glory Revealed (v.11-12)
The Apostle John makes in plain here that this was the first of Jesus’ miracles within his account of His ministry. The first of the signs conducted by Jesus among the people and evidenced here in this Gospel so that we might hear about it.
Lord willing, we will see many other signs conducted by our Lord’s hand together in this book. During His ministry, Jesus would do the miraculous among a people with a rich spiritual history, and like their ancestors many will be amazed but some will recognize that these signs could only come from the hand of God.
The sick will be healed (Jn 4.46-54)
The lame will walk (Jn 5.1-17)
The thousands of hungry people will be satisfied (Jn 6.1-14)
The storms will obey His voice (Jn 6.15-21)
The blind will see (Jn 9.1-41)
The dead will be raised (Jn 11.17-45)
Why? What was His purpose?
John 2:11 “11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
To Manifest His Glory
The God of the Bible is primarily concerned with glorifying His name, and here at the Wedding in Cana we see that Jesus’ sign was a manifestation of His glory.
MANIFEST - φανερόω (phaneroō), reveal; make clear (Lexham Analytical Lexicon)
Thus, the glory of God in the Son, Jesus Christ, was made clear through this sign.
THE GLORY OF GOD - What is it?
This is no tangible thing for us to see and it is not even His awesome deeds or works themselves that are His glory.
No…the glory of God is the fullness of who He is which is revealed for us in His character and attributes.
The glory of man is like the flowers of the field that wither and fade, but the glory of the Lord is eternal, constant, and unchanging.
Moses’s Intercession for Israel
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
God describes His own glory to Moses here as “all my goodness”. The Lord and all His glory would pass before Moses, but the hand of God would protect Moses from the fullness of who God is. All Moses could witness and live would be the last passing moment.
In Exodus 19, Mt Sinai trembled greatly at the presence of the Lord.
All of creation is full of His glory (Isaiah 6) and declares His glory (Psalm 19.1-4), while mankind cannot behold Him fully and remain alive.
The Glory in Christ
In the NT, we see that the glory of God the Father is perfectly reflected in the Son of God. In Christ, the glory of God is veiled in a way that is both approachable and knowable for sinners like you and me.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Through the signs and wonders of Jesus the Christ, the glory of God is revealed so that we will see there is no one like Him. He alone is God, glorious and set apart from all other that would seek to steal the praise and honor that is due His name.
8 I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
2. So That We Might Believe
We see a purposed result from Jesus’ first sign - His disciples believed. When he called them, He simply told them to COME and SEE, and He promised that they would see great things.
They saw the work of His hands and their faith was increased! It was evident to them that He was from God and unlike any other they had ever heard or seen.
Evidenced For Them and Us
31 but these are 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.
This marked the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, a display of supernatural power that convinced His disciples to believe in Him and follow Him.
When His glory was displayed, He was worth uprooting their lives and following Him wherever He would go.
APPLICATION:
Do you know Him?
Do you know the second person of the Trinity, the incarnate Christ, who displayed the glory of God truly for us to behold and believe? Do you know the One who not only has the power to transform water into wine but also sinners into saints?
Jesus has revealed His glory so that sinners might believe in Him.
Let us be a people who are simply devoted to showing the world who He is! It is him we proclaim not ourselves. He transforms for His glory and our good.
Let us declare His name and His gospel, and let Him work.
Do you know Him?
Today is the day!
