Come and drink John 2:1-11

George Clayson

John's Gospel seven signs • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

John 2:1–11

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Introduction

Through out John’s Gospel Jesus performs miracles that John refers to as signs. A Sign points to something greater than itself.

Today we are going to look at the first sign that Jesus performed and what greater truth it has to teach us about the Lord Jesus Christ.

This miracle is often pointed to by people who try to justify getting drunk, unbelievers often use this to try and justify the amount the drink.

If only they truly grasped the truth that this miracle communicates they would see they don’t need drink but they need Christ. They would learn that Christ satisfies the thirsty soul.

This morning is want us to look at this passage in three points.

FIrst we are told the problem- this first point is called no wine.

Then we see the miracle that takes place and what it means- this point is called new wine

Then finally we see the response of the disciples to the miracle and what our response should be too- this final point is called Come and drink.

I. No wine

II. New wine

III. Come and drink

Firstly then we have the problem- No Wine.

I. No wine v.1-5

The account begins by setting the scene.

Look with me at v.1and 2 “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding”

We are told two days after the Lord had called some of his disciples they were invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

Cana was a small town 4 miles away from Nazareth which was where Jesus was brought up. The people at the wedding were probably well known to Jesus and many of his disciples, Cana was also the home town of Nathaniel.

We see from verse one that the people getting married must have been friends of Jesus and his family.

V.1-2 continues saying

The family of Jesus and his dsciples were all invited to the wedding.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee,

Cana was 4 miles away from Nazareth which was where Jesus was brought up. THe people at the wedding were probably well known to Jesus and many of his disciples, Cana was the home town of Nathaniel.

and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding

The people who were closest to Jesus were about to witness his first miracle.

. 3 And when they ran out of wine,

This would have been very embarressing for the bridegroom who was the one who had the responsibility to provide the food and drink for the wedding feast.

the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

Some how Mary was aware of the problem, maybe she was helping with the food?

Whether she knew Jesus could perfrom the mircale we do not know as this was the first miracle that JEsus performed. Maybe she knew that he would have a solution.

4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

The Lord has some reluctance to comply with the demand of his mother.

5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

II. New wine v.6-10

6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Matt 15:1-2

The pots held roughly 450 litres in total.

7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

To the brim is important becuase it shows there was no room for any wine to be poured in to dilute the water, this was a genuine miracle.

8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.

By this time the miracle had taken place. The master of the feast would have been in charge of the feast, he would have decided who sat where, how much people would have drank etc.

9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

The wine that Christ provides is superior

III. come and drink v.11

11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

Through this sign the Lord Jesus displayed his glory and his diciples believed in him.

This means that the people who were closest to Jesus were about to witness his first miracle.

Thats the scene where the first miracle takes place- The Lord and his disciples are at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, some of Jesus’ family have been invited too.

After setting the scene, John tells us the problem that takes place.

Look with me at v.3 “And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

. 3 And when they ran out of wine,

The problem that arises was the bridegroom had ran out of wine.

This would have been very embarressing for the bridegroom who was the one who had the responsibility to provide the food and drink for the wedding feast.

A wedding celebration in those days could last up to seven days and it was the bridegrooms responsibility to ensure they had enough wine for the celebration.

the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

Running out of wine at a wedding was a social blunder which could result in a lawsuit, the brides family taking the bridegrooms family to court.

This was considered a serious problem.

Some how Mary was aware of the problem, maybe she was helping with the food, or had some role with the catering.

When she found out she went straight to the Lord Jesus and told him “they have no wine.”

She knew of the problem and thought maybe Jesus would have a solution.

Whether she knew Jesus could perfrom the mircale we do not know as this was the first miracle that Jesus performed.

Maybe she knew that he would have a solution. It is believed by many that by this point Joseph, Mary’s husband had died, and because Jesus was the firstborn son he would have been the one who Mary would have turned to when she had a problem.

This is what she did here. One preacher helpfully points out that maybe she knew that Jesus would have a solution because he never had a bad idea in his life.

What was the repsonse of Jesus?

Many are suprised by how Jesus reponded to his mother and some do not know what to make of it.

Look at Jesus response to his mother in verse 4.

4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

In his response the Lord seems to be a little blunt to his mother. What did the Lord mean by this repsonse?

Well it must be made clear that the term “Woman” that Jesus used was not a disrespectful way of addressing someone, it was a completely courteous way to address a lady.

However, it was an unusual way to address your own mother.

Then the Lord says “What does your concern have to do with me?”

Or as the AV translates it “What have I to do with thee?”

This phrase is used through out the Bible to put distance between the two parties. It could be translated what do we have in common?

This phrase is a bit more of a rebuke.

The Lord is telling his mother that their relationship has changed. Since Jesus started his public ministry, his relationship to his earthly mother changed. She could no longer make demands on him as her mother, he was about his Father’s business, now he is answerable only to his Father in heaven.

If you like now Mary had to approach the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the one who came to seek and to save that which was lost, she could not come as his mother but had to come like everyone else, she had to come as a believer.

We see this is true In . In Matt 12 we see that Jesus’ mother and brothers are looking for him. The people say to Jesus “ Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking to speak with you.”

In v.48-50 of Jesus responds by saying this “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The Lord Jesus was showing Mary that their relationship had changed now that he had started his public ministry and was revealing that he was the promised Saviour.

This must have been difficult for Mary, but the Lord is making it clear that all who come to him must come believing that he is the Saviour. They must come like everyone else, in repentance and faith.

The Lord has some reluctance to comply with the demand of his mother.

Yet even though Jesus made it clear that his mother could no longer make demands of him, but that he only answers to his Father in heaven. Still she is persistant.

Verse 5 says; “His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

Mary was not put off.

Here we have a picture of persistance in prayer.

It is interesting to know that this is a key passage that the Roman Catholic church uses to try and prove their false doctrine of Mary being a mediator between us and Jesus. They reason that Jesus cannot refuse the requests of Mary and so we should go to Jesus through Mary, which is why they pray to Mary.

This of course is against the teaching of Scripture. says “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”

The application of this verse is not that we are to pray to Mary but rather that Mary is to be a model of prayer for us. Meaning that we should copy her persistance, Mary is an example of perservering faith.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

It seemed that she was refused but yet she persisted and as we will see in a moment the Lord fulfilled her request. The reason being that now she came to Jesus not as his mother demanding his obedience by right but rather she came as a believer.

App-

Before we look at what happens next let us think about the way we pray.

Are we persistant in prayer like Mary was here? Do we pray with faith believing that God is able?

When we dont see the instant result to our prayer do we continue to pray?

Maybe you have prayed for your loved ones to be saved for years and they are still unsaved. Well let Mary be an example to you this morning and keep on praying.

So that was the problem. Jesus and his disciples along with his mother were invited to a wedding and the wine had ran out, a very serious problem to have in that culture at that time.

Next we see the miracle that the Lord Jesus performed and we will think about what this tells us about the Lord.

The next point. New wine.

II. New wine v.6-10

After Jesus had spoken to his mother and she told the servants to listen to what he says, in verse 6 and 7 the Lord Jesus tells the sevants to fill six water pots with water.

V.6-7 say

6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

These six water pots held roughly 500 litres and the Lord told the servants to fill them to the brim.

We are told they were used for the ceremonial washing that the jewish people used to do before eating.

The pots held roughly 500 litres in total.

7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

The pots held roughly 500 litres in total.

Its important that we notice they were filled to the brim, this shows there was no room for any wine to be poured in to dilute the water, this was a genuine miracle.

The servants filled the waterpots to the brim and then in verse 8 we read;

8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.

The Lord Jesus told the servants to draw some water out and take it to the master of the feast. This was what they did.

The master of the feast would have been in charge of the feast, he would have decided who sat where, how much people would have drank, how much water should be used to dilute the wine and so on...

The servants took the water to the master of the feast, by this time the miracle had taken place.

We read in verse 9 whats happened when the master of the feast tasted the water that was turned into wine.

look with me at v.9 and 10;

Not only did the Lord Jesus turn the water into wine but the wine that he created was superior to the wine they had already been drinking.

Remember the water pots help roughly 500 litres of water, the Lord provided very generously for the needs of the bridegroom.

So thats the mircale but as we are told in the next verse v.11 we see that this miracle is referred to as a sign.

Signs are used to point to something greater than itself, this miracle is a sign that is pointing to a greater more glorious truth.

What does this sign teach us?

We learn from this sign two important truths about the Lord Jesus, one is very evident to see from the miracle, the other is slightly more hidden but is probably the most important truth that the miracle is pointing to.

The first truth that we learn about Christ from this miracle is the fact that he is God.

He is the Soveriegn Creator who has stepped into his creation in order to redeem it from sin.

Only God can create wine. Only God can cause water to turn miraculously into wine.

The fact that there were 500 litres of it shows the ease with which the Lord Jesus did this, and the fact that the wine was superior just proves even further that the Lord Jesus is all powerful, he is God and as God he is not restricted by the laws of physics, he can create something out of nothing, he can turn water into wine.

The first truth- Jesus Christ is thr divine Son of God, he is the second person of the Trinity, He is God manifest in the flesh, God the Son, co equal and co eternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, One God in three persons.

Jesus Christ is Very God of Very God.

Thats the first and most obvious truth that this miracle points to.

The second truth is less obvious but probably the main point that this sign is making.

When we look at the details of the account we have an idea of the truth the sign is pointing to.

The Lord Jesus filled waterpots that were used for purification rites, and filled them with new wine.

This new wine was superior to the old wine.

D A Carson in his commentary is helpful when he says “the water represents the old order of Jewish law and custom, which Jesus was to replace with something better (cf. 1:16).”

The waterpots that were used for ceremonial washing were filled with water, this represented the Old order of the law, the Lord replaced the water with wine which represents the new covenant that Christ would make with his blood.

Again Carson says “John’s point is simply that the wine Jesus provides is unqualifiedly superior, as must everything be that is tied to the new, messianic age Jesus is introducing.”

The Lord Jesus Christ was bringing the new covenant, this covenant would be open to gentiles as well as Jews, this covenant was the fulfiilment of the Old Testament prophecies as we read in “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah”

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

This sign is poiting to the truth already expressed in “16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Christ had come not to destroy the law but to fulfill it, he was introducing the better covenant.

God in his infinte wisdom had kept the best till last. Christ was bringing in a better covenant.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

As the Master of the feast said to the bridegroom ““Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

As part of this new and better covenant all who come to Jesus Christ are changed and made new just like the water that was changed into wine.

says “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

All who are part of Christs kingdom are given eternal life, those who were dead in sin are made alive in Christ.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

So this miracle pointed to two truths about Christ. Firstly, he is God manifest in the flesh, he has power to create, he controls nature.

The wine that Christ provides is superior

Secondly, he brought in a better and new covenant, the Old Jewish law and ceremonies were fulfilled in Christ, he made a new covenant in his blood.

When he died upon the cross and rose again he opened the way for all to come to God, if they come through him.

Finally in verse 11, John summarises this miracle and then records for us how the disciples repsonded.

We have seen the problem- no wine, the miracle- new wine and now we see the response- Come and drink.

III. come and drink v.11

Look with me at v.11;

11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

Here we have the summary of the sign that Jesus performed. We learn that this was the first sign that he had performed, there in Cana of Galilee.

We are also told that through this sign Jesus manifested his glory. This is what we have just seen.

Then after this summary statement. We have the response of the disciples.

V.11 says “and his disciples believed in him.”

The disciples witnessed the miracle, they saw the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, they saw his power and they saw that as the Messiah he was bringing in a new and better covenant, what was their response?

They believed in him.

Through this sign the Lord Jesus displayed his glory and his disciples believed in him.

App-

The obvious application here is; Do you believe in him?

Those who believe become partakers of this better covenant, they enjoy all of the spiritual blessings that Christ gives.

Forgiveness of sin.

Peace with God.

Eternal life.

Those who believe in him become part of his kingdom.

I wonder do you believe?

On the last day, when the final trumpet sounds, Will Christ say to you come into my kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world or will he say depart from me, I never knew you?

Have you repented of your sin and do you believe in Jesus?

If you are a believer in Christ this morning, then you should rejoice at this reminder of the better covenant that Christ has made in his blood.

All of God’s promises in Christ are yes and Amen.

Becuase of Christ we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Our response should be humble gratitude towards God and ceaseless devotion towards Christ, we should cheerfully take up our cross and follow him.

Conclusion

So here we have the first sign that Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee.

There was the problem- now wine

There was the miracle- new wine

There was the response- Come and drink

From this sign we learn that Jesus is the divine Son of God, the creator of all things who stepped into his creation to redeem it from sin.

We also learnt that he was introducing a new and better covenant, this covenant he was making by shedding his own blood on the cross so that all whi come to God through him have full pardon for their sin.

Part of this new covenant means that all who come are made new. Those who were dead in sin are made alive in Christ, those who were spiritually dead receive eternal life.

If you are a believer this morning then we should be humbled by the fact that by God’s grace we have been made able to partake of this new and better covenant which Christ has made by his blood. We have free and full forgivenss and pardon from sin.

If you are not a believer this morning then I urge you to come and drink. Come to Christ who gives living water, come to Jesus who gives eternal life to everyone who believes.

Turn from your sin and turn to Jesus Christ in true repentance and true faith.

I will finish with some words from the book of Revelation.

“And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”