The First Sign
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So as I’ve mentioned before, I work down the street at IMARC Research...
And I’ve been there now for 12 years...
And something that has always been a staple of IMARC is that the majority of employees there are young women...
And so we know that as the years go by, more and more of the staff will need to take maternity leave...
…as more and more of the women begin to have kids.
And so, during my time there, I’ve had 3 kids...
And the other employees that have worked there as long as me - they’ve known me WITHOUT kids...
…and now - WITH 3 kids...
And so whenever I hear that one of the girl’s at work is pregnant with her 1st child...
I ALWAYS think the same thing!
I think - AWW CONGRATULATIONS!
AND i think
OHHH - GET READY! - Life is about to CHANGE!
And we start to GIVE THE NEW-TO-BE Parent - signs of what parenthood will be like**...
We like to give SIGNS to people...
AND THEN when you HAVE kids...
You start to give your KIDS SIGNS of what life will be like as an ADULT!
As kids we want EVERYTHING that we see in the TOY section...
But as we get older, our parents begin to have us save up our own money…and then use OUR OWN money to buy things...
to get us to understand what adulthood will be like
As kids our parents start out doing EVERYTHING for us...
But as we get older, our parents begin to have us DO MORE...
to get us to understand what adulthood will be like
And so these SIGNS play a big role in our lives… (prepare us for what’s coming)
TODAY - in our text, we’re going to see the FIRST SIGN performed by Jesus Christ...
What is it?
As you can see - it’s when Christ turned water into wine...
So let’s get to it...
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.”
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.”
11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
This story in scripture is an interesting one, BECAUSE, on the one hand...
It leaves out a lot of information, But on the OTHERHAND
it also gives quite a bit of detail regarding certain aspects of it
What we do know is that Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding at Cana in Galilee.
And what we see happen, is something that we’re probably all familiar with...
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.”
I’m sure we’ve all been to a party, a wedding, even a restaurant...
…where they’ve come out and said - SORRY - we’re OUT OF THAT!
*Panera (out of bread)
Now - we don’t know why Mary, and Jesus, and his disciples were there....(invited)...
…but - that’s ok...
We don’t need to know that.....we just know that they’re at this wedding
So Mary comes to tell Jesus that they’ve RUN OUT of wine!
Now His response is VERY interesting…(read v3)
4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Now -
There are actually some scholars who debate whether or not Jesus was being rude to Mary.
He said - Woman, what does this have to do with Me?
If you were to address a woman by that name today - YES - the assumption is - you’re being rude!
But clearly Jesus didn’t say this - TODAY - He said this in the 1st century.
It wouldn’t have been rude to address a woman this way...
But there would seem to a very important ASPECT to how he does address her here...
The first thing He says is - “Woman, what does this have to do with Me?”
He could have easily called her - Mother.
But He doesn’t!
What is He doing?
SLIDE: The First Sign: A Separating Moment
The First Sign
The First Sign
What does this mean?
There are 2 SEPARATING STATEMENTS made here by Christ...
The first SEPARATING statement - is how He addressed her - WOMAN...
By addressing her as WOMAN and not - Mother - He’s demonstrating that she is dealing with Him now - NO LONGER as her son...
- but as - THE Son of God
The next SEPARATING statement - is the question that follows...
In our version it says
4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
NOW - If you look at the literal translation - it’s this -
“What to Me and to you?”
In other words:
“What is it that concerns you and Me, together?”
NOTHING....
What do we have in common? - Nothing!
It’s a SEPARATING statement!
And we see this very thing play out in Matt 12
46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.
48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”
49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
What’s Christ saying here - He’s saying - the ONLY relationship I have is with people who do the will of my Father…!
ALL other human RELATIONSHIPS cease...
And so WHAT is He saying to MARY…when she comes to Him?
He’s saying - You have NO role to play in My life...
ALL earthly family connections are over...
ALL earthly relationships are OVER!
Early in Christ’s life - Yes - He would have honored his earthly father and mother...
He would have been about his mother’s business....AS A CHILD...
BUT NOW!??
He’s saying - No, I’M DONE with My mother’s business...
and now I’m ALL ABOUT My Father’s business!!
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
So - the first half of Christ’s response is a SEPARATING statement - Christ is now beginning his earthly ministry...
and then He says this...
4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
“What does this have to do with me? My hour has NOT YET come”
Interesting way to respond no?
What is Jesus up to here?
What is He saying?
If we just hover here a bit, we’ll see that this phrase - “My hour has not yet come”...
…we’ll see that it’s a familiar phrase to the book of John… this idea of “my hour”
Later on in John 12 read this...
22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
What’s does “The hour has come” refer to?
How about John 17
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Jesus says - “Father, the hour has come...”
What is He referring to?
This is the high priestly prayer - prayed by Jesus before His crucifixion!
SLIDE: The First Sign: Points to the Death of Christ
The First Sign
The First Sign
THE HOUR of Christ - refers to the DEATH of Christ...
It points to Christ’s death!
SO - now back to our verse in John 2...
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.”
Ok, still seems odd no?
Jesus is saying - “Ok, they ran out of wine? Well, why are you asking me (your concern in this is not my concern in this)…My time to die has not yet come.”
NOW - we may be scratching our heads at this point…but that’s ok>
you know why?
Because the disciples would have been scratching their heads too!
SO - let’s remember that “My hour” in reference to Christ - refers to His death!
Let’s continue...
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.”
So Mary here says - Ok, just listen to Jesus...
IT SEEMS - Mary had no idea what Christ was talking about...
“Just listen to Him and do what He says”…
She had probably come to realize over a few decades of living with Jesus - that He was the ultimate - Problem Solver
And here’s where we start putting some things together...
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.
Ok, we some interesting details being given to us here...
…and what I want to do is highlight what I feel are the key details to focus in on...
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.
The 1st detail i want us to notice is this:
These jars would have been used for the Jewish Rites of Purification
Now - according to the Jewish laws...
there would have been several reasons why a Ceremonial Cleansing would have been prescribed...
Leviticus 15:19-30 - tells us that a ceremonial cleansing would be prescribed for any woman after childbirth...
or after their monthly cycle - OR - for a man after sexual discharge
Leviticus 19:18-19 - tells us that this cleansing would be prescribed after contact with a dead body
Not only this, but Leviticus 11 also tells us that Clothing and Utensils could also be cleansed by ritual immersion...
NOW - later on, baptism, the water ritual - became part of the proselyte’s conversion to Judaism (meaning - if a Gentile converted to Judaism, they would be ritually cleansed in water baptism)
NOW - something else I think is worth noting is - WHAT KIND of JARS they were...
What does it say?
They were STONE jars.
NOW - why is this important?
It’s important, because it goes back to the Jewish Law...
If a POT was made out of earthenware - or if it was POTTERY - it could become contaminated and therefore NOT BE ABLE to be used for the purification rite...
We see this...
33 And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it.
The “them” in this verse refers to a dead carcass…and so what it’s saying is - If a dead animal falls into THIS SORT of vessel...
THEN the vessel itself is now contaminated, and ALL that is in it (the vessel) shall be unclean.
But our verse in John 2 says the jars were made of STONE...
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
Ok, so in regards to what was sitting before them - they had the PERFECT SETTING for Ritual Purification...
LARGE - Stone water jars
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
Ok, so they filled them with water - UP to the BRIM....
Couldn’t get any more water inside these things!
What I believe COULD BE represented here is - the FULLNESS of the Ritual Purification system...
And JESUS was about to perform a physical SIGN - that said something about what was coming...
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.”
Jesus here - changes the water INTO wine!
NOW - Was this JUST a miracle to display who Jesus really was?
Sure it was...
But I think there COULD BE more to it!
Think about what these JARS would have been used for...
They were NEVER used for DRINKING water...
They were solely used for the Jewish Purification Rites...
And what Jesus does here IS significant, because the Jewish Purification Rites had EVERYTHING to do with SEPARATING people!!
The PHARISEES would look down on ANYONE who didn’t perform these rituals...
We see this in Mark 7
1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,
2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.
3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders,
4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)
5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
The Pharisees saw themselves as PURE...
They used these Rituals to - ELEVATE themselves…and LOOK DOWN on those who didn’t partake!
SEE - According to the Law - if you touched a leper, you risked becoming UNCLEAN...
But when Jesus TOUCHED a leper - the leper BECAME clean!
See people stayed away from lepers for fear that they would become contaminated...
And the rabbi’s actually interpreted leprosy as a DIVINE punishment from God - for evil...
BUT then Jesus comes along and begins HEALING the lepers, it put the rabbi’s in a bad spot, because on one hand...
It seemed that Jesus was going against the DIVINE judgment of God...
YET...
The healings were so obviously FROM GOD, that it was hard to argue against what Christ was doing...
We read before - According to the Law, if you came into contact with a menstruating woman, you were made unclean...
But when the woman with the issue of blood came and touched Jesus...
Jesus didn’t become UNCLEAN....no - SHE became - HEALED!
According to the Law - if you touched a dead body, you would be UNCLEAN for 7 days...
But when Jesus touched the dead body of Jairus’ daughter - she came back to LIFE!
According to Jewish Tradition, if you were to eat with tax collectors and sinners, you would be defiled!
But when Jesus ate with the tax collectors and sinners - they were made CLEAN!
Jesus said this to the Pharisees...
31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
According to the Law, if a prostitute touched you, you would risk being considered IMPURE...
But when Simon the Pharisee complained that the sinful woman was washing Jesus’ feet...
Jesus actually - forgives the woman…and REBUKES Simon...
And so we can see - that within the Jewish culture - Purification was a SEPARATING rite...
Those who practiced it - felt MORE RIGHTEOUS than those who didn’t!!
And so NOW - we come back to the FIRST SIGN performed by Jesus - turning water into wine...
He fills the Stone Jars to the brim!!
The fullness of the Jewish Purification Ritual BEFORE Christ...
And what does He do?
He takes that WATER - that which COULD NOT purify....
And He TURNS It INTO - WINE!
And in DOING SO - He is POINTING to His death!
“My hour” has not yet come…but it IS coming!!
27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
The WINE represents what?
The BLOOD of Christ!
It seems that when Christ turned that Water into WINE...
HE was foreshadowing HOW He would end up bringing about the ULTIMATE PURIFIER!
Where the water of this world COULD NEVER purify a sinner....
The BLOOD of the Lamb washes us - CLEAN!!
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
It is the BLOOD of Jesus that CLEANSES us...
And so - the question remains - Have you been washed by the blood of the Lamb?
Have you cast your sin on Jesus?
Meaning - Do you know you’re a sinner, and have you confessed that to Christ?
Have you called upon HIM to save you?
It’s by His wounds that we are healed...
...by His blood that we are forgiven...
And by His resurrection that we are JUSTIFIED! - before God
Have you been made clean by Christ?
If not - what are you waiting for?
TAKE SOME TIME NOW and go before HIM...
SUMMARY:
The First Sign:
A Separating Moment
Points to the Death of Christ
Let’s pray...