Jesus Changes Everything John 2:1-11

Hey Newsong!

I want to take a moment and welcome our first-time guests and those who are worshiping with us online!

We’re continuing our series in the Book of John and if you’re just joining us, John one of Jesus’ disciples, and Jesus’ closest friend, is writing down his eyewitness testimony because he wants us all to know Who Jesus is!

This is his mission...this is his goal, and he actually reveals his goal near the end of the book...it’s our series verse...

31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Jn 20:30–31.

We want you to know that here at Newsong Church, this is our mission...it’s our goal...it’s why we’re here... we want everyone everywhere to not only know Who Jesus is...but that they would believe in Him and find eternal life in His name!

In chapter one we see John making some huge claims about Who Jesus is...He’s

The eternal God...the Word, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe...He became flesh...He stepped into time so that He could rescue us from our sin...

John’s like I knew Him...I walked with Him...I lived with Him...I saw the miracles...I saw His glory...but don’t just take my word for it...

You know John the Baptist? The one Jesus said was the greatest man to have ever lived? He said Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! But don’t just take his word for it...

Ask Andrew, ask Peter, ask Philip and Nathanael...They all say the same thing...Jesus is the Messiah...He is the Son of the Living God!

Now we’re in chapter two and Jesus and his five disciples are invited to a wedding in a little village called Cana...This is Nathanael’s home town, it’s about 9 miles North of Nazareth where Jesus is from

John 2:1–11 NIV

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Pray

I love weddings! I can’t tell you how many weddings I’ve officiated over the years, I’ve ministered inside of traditional churches with stained glass and altars, I’ve ministered outside, in parks, on beaches, in apartments, on a terrace, I’ve done destination weddings...that doesn’t sound bad right now does it?

So it’s interesting to me that the very first miracle that Jesus performs to show that He is the Son of God seems kind of low-key...

You would think that His first miracle would be more in your face...

You know, they’re on they’re way to the wedding and Jesus heals somebody, or they’re at the wedding and a guest has a heart attack and dies doing the Macarena and Jesus is brings him back to life...Boom! He immediately starts trending on social media! But Jesus seems to do this under the radar...

Now John tells us that this first miracle was a sign to help His disciples believe in Him! But theres something else I want you to see...

Jesus also performs this miracle to bring joy to everyone who was at this wedding...I’ll explain that more in a second, but think about what I just said...

Sometimes God will bless you...Just to bless you. Sometimes He’ll perform a miracle in our life for our enjoyment...for His good pleasure! Just like you and I as parents love to bless our children...we experience joy when we bless our kids...so does our heavenly Father! He loves to bless us!

He doesn’t bless us because we are so good...He blesses us because He is good! Think about this...when He blesses us, it helps us and others see Him for Who He really is! It becomes a sign that helps us build our faith...It becomes a sign to point others to Himself… to believe in Him! God loves to bless us!

In fact, if you really stop and think about it...God blesses us in so many ways every single day, we just don’t notice them, because we’re waiting on that BIG miracle! Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t be praying for the big things...we should absolutely be praying and believing God for those healings and breakthroughs...

I’m just saying that we can sometimes miss the other powerful things that God is doing in our every day life!

So although Jesus’ first miracle isn’t “in your face” that doesn’t mean that it’s insignificant!

So let’s go back through these eleven verses and see what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us today...

Invite Jesus into your EVERYDAY Life

Jesus, His mother (whose name isn’t mentioned but we know it’s Mary) and His disciples are invited to attend a wedding...It’s possible that either the Bride or the Groom were a relative of Jesus...or maybe a friend of the family...we don’t know!

What we do know is that Jesus was invited and He accepted the invitation! God wants us to invite Him into our everyday lives...

We have a tendency to compartmentalize our life...We have our work-flow, our school-flow, our social-media flow, and our church-flow...And what happens is we invite Jesus into our church-flow...It’s Sunday...get my praise on...get a WORD...get a blessing...and then we repeat it the next time we’re in our church-flow...

The only other time we think of inviting Jesus into our other flows is if there’s a crises...

I lost my job...Jesus I invite You into my work-flow

I need to pass this test to graduate...Jesus I invite You into my school-flow

I’m not sure if I’m dating the right person...Jesus I invite You into my social-flow

Now because of His grace and His goodness, God shows up when we’re in crises...but His desire is to be invited into every area of our life...He wants to have a relationship with us.

He wants to be the center of your life...He wants you to invite Him into your relationships...He wants you to invite Him into your workspace...He wants you to invite Him into your school...your finances...your everyday decisions...

What does that look like? Well, we said last week that Jesus doesn’t follow...He leads. So when I invite Him to be the center of my everyday life...I’m saying okay Jesus you lead! Okay Jesus what You say goes...

Now when we invite Jesus into our everyday life, does that mean that there won’t be crises? No not at all...but it does mean that He’s already with us, and if He’s leading me to it...He will lead me through it...He prepares me for things that I can’t see coming...

David said...

4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Ps 23:4. (NLT)

That’s relationship...that’s inviting Jesus into your everyday life! The couple getting married had no idea that a crises was coming, but they had already invited Jesus to the wedding and Jesus changes everything!

Ask yourself the question are there areas of my life where I haven’t given Jesus access?

Okay so back to our text...Jesus gets invited to a wedding! What does this tell us? Well first of all it tells us that if you want to get married...You should invite Jesus to your wedding! If you invite Jesus He will show up!

I love what Charles Spurgeon says

“The invitation of Jesus to this wedding says something about the presence of Jesus at weddings. “Jesus comes to a marriage, and gives his blessing there, that we may know that our family life is under his care.”-Charles Spurgeon

Weddings are fun...guess what? Jesus likes to have fun!

A lot of people think that if they follow Jesus they can’t have any fun...I guess that depends on what you call fun...If going to a wedding for you means getting fall down drunk and acting like a fool...well obviously Jesus isn’t going to join you in that...

But Jesus had fun...He was invited to all kinds of things, with all kinds of people...But He never joined people in their sin.

Now most of you know this, but just in case you’re wondering...the Bible doesn’t tell us that drinking alcohol is a sin. God’s Word does tell us that drunkenness is a sin. So as followers of Jesus we have the freedom to have a drink , but it’s not always wise to have a drink. For instance if you have an addictive personality, or you’re in recovery...you shouldn’t have a drink.

If you have a friend who’s in recovery and you go out for lunch...you shouldn’t order a drink for yourself, because that could lead to temptation for someone else...

Okay back to our text...

Jesus is invited to this wedding...and what you need to know is that wedding’s in first century Judea where a big deal! Weddings were the highlight of a person’s year...Here in our culture a wedding will last a few hours from start to finish...These weddings lasted days

Singing, celebrating, lots of good food...lots of dancing...it was a week long party!

Now for those of you who are married...you remember all of the planning that went into your wedding...For Jewish couples in the first century, a couple was considered to be married at their betrothal...which was an official ceremony...After their betrothal...the couple didn’t see each other again until the wedding...There was no dinner dates...no FaceTime calls...nothing!

The Groom to be would go back to his father’s house to prepare a place for him and his bride to live...It was up to him to be the provider...When everything was ready, the Groom would go back to his bride and tell her family...I’ve taken care of everything let’s gooo!

So everyone is having a great time...Until suddenly there’s a little problem...They ran out of wine! This would not only have been a major embarrassment to the Groom, but it would send a message to everyone that he really can’t take care of his bride...he can’t provide for her...

Our Coffee & Dessert Reception

Now it’s not the same...we were already married...but to run out of wine at the wedding...this would have been catastrophic...they would forever be known as the couple who ran out of wine...they would have been the talk of the whole town!

It’s possible that this is why Mary comes to Jesus with the crises...

3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” Jn 2:3.

Now this is such a Mom thing to do...Mom’s this is one of your many superpowers...You don’t come right out and tell us what to do, but you simply make a suggestion...Tell me if you’re Mom has ever done this to you...

You’re sitting watching t.v. and suddenly your Mom will say...the garbage is full...She’s not telling you to do it per se, but she’s telling you to do it...

“your clothes are piling up in your room” translation...clean your room! Mom’s have this superpower to say something without saying it!

So she just goes up to Jesus and she’s like “They have no more wine”

Jesus’ response is kind of shocking...

4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” Jn 2:4. (NIV)

Now I’m not sure about you...but if I ever referred too my Mom as “Woman” Do you remember what Rocky’s face looked like after he fought Apollo Creed? Yeah that’s about how that would go for me...

“Woman, why do you involve me?” Some of you husbands just found your new memory verse...

This sounds like Jesus is being rude to His Mother, but actually He’s not. “Woman” in this culture would be like saying “Ma’am” in our culture..it’s a polite and respectful response to a female...

The question is why does Jesus call her “Woman” instead of Mom? He was letting her know that their Mother/Son relationship was changing...

Jesus was beginning His ministry...which means that He’s not only Mary’s Son...He’s Mary’s Savior...and the only One who can tell Jesus what to do now is God the Father...He’s going to live by the will of His Father, and not by the wish of His Mother...

We saw a glimpse of this when Jesus was 12 years old...Luke tells us that every year Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem for Passover...and this particular time they left thinking Jesus was with them...Now I can’t say anything because I actually did almost drive out of our church parking lot without Jacob....I looked in the rearview mirror and noticed his car seat was empty!

Joseph and Mary finally find Jesus after three days of looking for Him...He was in the Temple courts...

48 His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.” 49 “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Lk 2:48–49. (NLT)

He’s talking about God the Father...So Jesus is respectfully saying I won’t be taking my cues from you anymore...Now I only do the will of the Father...and then He says “My hour has not yet come”

We’re going to see that phrase repeated throughout John’s Gospel...Most of the time It’s in reference to His death on the cross...What we’re seeing is that Jesus is focusing on the plan that God the Father has had for Him since the beginning...He knows that the second He performs this miracle the countdown to the cross will begin...

I love Mary’s response to Jesus...

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” - Jn 2:5.(NIV)

These by the way are Mary’s last recorded words in the Bible...But it’s such good advice for all of us isn’t it?

Obey Jesus even when things don’t make SENSE

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, Jn 2:6–8. (NIV)

Now Jesus doesn’t need the servants help, but He invites them in on this...and they not only got a front-row seat to His first miracle, but they were obviously blessed by it!

I’m sure some of them were like...how is filling these water jars going to fix the problem? But they did it anyway...and that’s the key!

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Pr 3:5–6. (NLT)

How many miracles and breakthroughs do you think we would see if we started living our life with an “I’m going to do whatever He tells me to do attitude?”

How would that affect my Marriage, my Parenting, my friendships, my decision making? Ask yourself the question...what simple step of obedience is God asking me to do right now?

Back to our text...

The servants do exactly what Jesus told them to do, the fill these water jars to the brim, and when Jesus tells them to draw some out they’re like...It’s just wa..ine! Jesus is like that’s right...now take some over to the master of the banquet...That’s the wedding planner! So ladies when you want to hire a wedding planner and your guy is like no...tell him it’s biblical!

9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” - Jn 2:9–10. (NIV)

The wedding planner basically exposes the industry secret...They bring out the good stuff first, once everyone is feeling good, they won’t notice the cheaper stuff...He’s saying to the Groom...You’re not like everyone else...You saved the best until now.

Now I can kind of picture the Groom saying “I did?” “I guess I did...I think I did...did I?” He has no idea what’s going on...

Now stop and think about this for a second...Jesus transformed 180 gallons of water into wine...not just any old wine...This wine made by Jesus Himself...There was probably quite a bit left over...which means Jesus blessed them with a beautiful gift!

They could save it for special occasions...they could sell it...

Think about this...If Jesus can transform water into wine...and bring joy to this couple...what can He do in your life ? What in your life needs to be transformed by Jesus? What in your life is empty and needs to be filled to the brim?

I love this story because in the grand scheme of things, this wasn’t a life or death situation. Yes everyone would talk about what a bad husband and provider this guy was...but that would be it...It’s seemingly small...

Yet the God of the universe, through the Person of His one and only Son chose to intervene and solve this problem. If God will take care of a wine problem at a wedding...what will He take care of in your life? God cares about what’s going on in your life!

This story reminds us that there’s nothing too big or too small that should keep us from bringing it to Jesus!

11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. Jn 2:11. (NIV)

How was this a sign?

It’s interesting that Jesus uses empty water jars instead of the empty wineskins...

The water jars were used for ceremonial washing...Now where’s my germaphobes...We’re all like amen...give us clean hands!

The Jews practiced this ceremonial washing because they believed that God is Holy and so they wanted to wash themselves...set themselves apart...so they could worship God...

These 6 water jars held the water that they washed in...Jesus turned the water into wine...what is wine symbolic of in the N.T.? Jesus’ Blood. Jesus is saying washing your body will only get you clean on the outside...

The cleansing that we need isn’t on the outside, it’s on the inside...in our heart...and the only way our heart can be made clean is through the blood sacrifice of Jesus who freely gave His life for us!

With Jesus the BEST is yet to come

The Master of the Banquet praises the Groom for saving the best for last. It points us to God...because God always saves the best for last...

Someone who doesn’t know Jesus in a personal way...this life is as good as it gets...

To those of us who do know Jesus in a personal way...this life is as bad as it gets...

The best is yet to come!

This life is full of difficulties heartaches and pains, sickness and disease, people wrong us, and we wrong others...people lie, cheat, steal, murder, and do unspeakable evils to one another...

And Jesus comes along and saves us from our sins and rescue us from a sinful world...And we have eternity to spend with Him...the best is yet to come!

Jesus’ first miracle is at a wedding banquet...And guess what? The last mention of a wedding banquet is in the Bible is the one that Jesus has prepared for those of us who know Him as Lord and Savior.

It’s in Revelation 19 and it’s called The Wedding Banquet of the Lamb...Jesus is the Lamb and He’s the Groom...

6 Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: “Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.” - Re 19:6–9 (NLT)

Jesus is the Lamb of God who sheds His blood for us so that we can have a relationship with Him! He’s also the Groom...He pursues with love...He’s gone after us to ransoms us...to redeem us..so that we can enter into an eternal relationship with Him!

We are the Bride of Christ...The Church...We’ve made ourselves our ready and on that glorious day when either we die and go to be with Him, or He comes back for us...we will forever be with Him! Either way those of us who are saved...be prepared for a party like you’ve never had in your life! Those who know Him now will enjoy Him forever!

This world isn’t our home...we are just passing through...Don’t give up, Don’t be discouraged! God has saved the best for last!

What’s the Holy Spirit saying to you?