A Wedding and a Funeral

Israel the unfaithful bride. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea.

God rescues her, God cleans her and makes her beautiful. They get married and then she runs from him and cheats on him at every opportunity she can, until she is once again a slave and a prostitute. To other nations and other gods.

Still God promises to rescue her again, and to renew his vows with her and to save her, even from her self.

Now this marriage and worship comparison is a very important one in scprture because Worship is love.. It is a profound combination of words and actions. And it is ultimately a complete giving your self to someone else, your husband, your wife, your God trusting that they will return your love.

This is why in the old wedding vows the man says these words as he places a ring on his wife’s finger: “With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, with all my worldly goods I thee endow.”

And this leads us to our question for this week.

What do you Worship?

God is the perfect husband.

This is a theme that we want to keep in mind as we start reading John Chapter 2.

Because John, the author, sets the official beginning of Jesus’ ministry happens at a wedding.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

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.

Not enough wine, the groom is shamed the party is over. The brides family could sue the groom. Thier marriage

Mary asks jesus to help… We don’t know why? But it looks like she is close to the groom. Is he family? And we don’t know what kind of help she is looking for! Could Jesus afford to go buy enough wine to redeem the party.. ? that is a huge expense. not just a box of wine. This is a massive celebration including the whole community.. and there is a lot of eating and A LOT of Drinking. Which is likely why she tells the servants to help Jesus. Jesus would need a horse and wagon to transport this much wine.. and a lot of hands to move it from place to place.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

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.”

Jesus Says that his wedding feast hasn’t begun.. He isn’t the bridegroom yet.

But he provides the wine for this one.. huge quantities of Wine. Way more than I hope they needed. And of excellent quality.

One thing to notice as we look at this miracle is that Jesus made the wine not in the empty wine jars that had been used but in the large stone basins used for ceremonial washing.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

Here we have a reminder that the old laws of uncleaness and ceremonial cleanliness only served to reveal the people sin and their need for a savior.

They only served to remind Isreal that she was unfaithful.

\But the blood of Jesus which jesus will symbolically link with wine will cleanse his people of their sins once and for all.

As the old song says, “ what can wash away my sins.. only water from giant stone basins… no.. Nothing but the blood of jesus.

This miracle also reminds us that The ministry of Jesus was the inauguration of a rich celebration. God had come the ultimate bride groom was present with Isreal.. and the party was beginning… The best party the Best wine. By the way with wasn’t grape juice.. it couldn’t have been. It wasn’t as strong as our wine today.. but had about the same strength as a Budweiser.

This wine was the best wine. The master of the feast honors the bridegroom.

But the story doesn’t stop there! John then tells us the story of Jesus and the cleansing of the temple.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Now I don’t think that John is nessecarily relating this story to us in chronological order.. because in the three other gospels Jesus cleanses the temple in the last week of his ministry. Now he could have done it twice.. or since the other gospels had come out quite a bit earlier than this one. John chooses to place this story right next to the wine miracle for a specific reason. We can ask him when we get to heaven. but in the mean time it is our job to read what is written and to try and understand what it tells us about God and his plan for each of us.

So here we have Jesus entering the temple a place of worship and wonder.. the place where the people are coming to meet God.. and instead of God what do they find?

A marketplace full of noise, stink and the worship of cold hard cash.

It is clear that Israel had a worship problem. It had crept through the city of Jerusalem and found a home in the very temple of God.

So jesus is consumed with a zeal for his fathers house. And he cleans house.!

Jesus cleans out the temple. Drives out the cattle, overturns the money table.. But it strangely polite to the pigeon sellers.

Jesus upsets the status quo of the temple.. making room for prayer and quiet in the gentile court.

What sign can you give us they ask… Show us your authority to do this.

Jesus responds I will tear down this temple and raise it in three days.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body

His body is the holy presence of God- God literally with us!

And this sign that he is pointing to his own death.

And that the final piece of the puzzle.. that ties these three pictures that we have looked at together

How is God going to rescue and transform Israel his unfaithful Wife?

How is Jesus the Ultimate bridegroom to pay for the feast at the greatest wedding celebration ever?

How is Israel finally going to be cleansed of her idolatry and how are all the nations going to be able to to come to God.?

The answer to all three of these questions is Jesus.

Jesus is the one who will come to Isreal and show her the fullness of Gods love.

Jesus is the ultimate bridegroom who will pay the most costly price for his bride ever.. He will die for her.. That is why he tells mary his time has not Come! Because it is not time yet for him to die.

And it is jesus’ death and resurection that will open the way for the holy spirit to dwell in the hearts of God people, Jews and Gentiles, so that the The temple is not just a building.. but a commuinity of loving christ like people united in thier worship and service of God.

Application.

Jesus is the one whobrings all of this wonderful plan of redemption to life. He is the one who brings us to life as well.

Here in these passages John is telling us.. You and me.. the readers. that Jesus is our savior, That jesus is our temple and that Jesus is the perfect Bridegroom.

And he invites us to come and to worship him.. together as one body we celebrate his mercy and love and as we look to that rich and beautiful feast on the first day of eternity.