Jesus and the Wedding Feast: The First of the Signs

John 2:1-12 Jesus and the Wedding Feast (The First of the Signs) Introduction: If you were writing your personal memoir or a biography wouldn’t you want to begin with something gripping? This seems like such an obscure passage and miracle to highlight. I have heard many studies on Jesus turning water to wine, and you probably have too; what does it mean? Why did he do it? And why does John highlight this event of all things? The key to understanding this passage is found in verse 11. "This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” Remember John’s purpose in recording the events in this book: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 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.” - John 20:30-31 So this is not just a random miraculous deed that Jesus did, it has purpose, and according to John, it’s a sign. In John’s gospel a sign is more than just a wonder; it is a powerful act for the one who has eyes to see because it points to the reality of who Jesus is; a sign that manifest’s his glory. So what is the sign pointing to? How does the sign encourage us to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and give us life in his name? I’ll give us a hint. In scripture wine (but never drunkenness) is used as a picture of joy, prosperity, celebration and God’s blessing. This wedding ran out of wine - the joy, prosperity, and celebration was coming to an abrupt end- Jesus intervenes, turning water into wine, so that the joy, prosperity, and celebration can be restored and go on. 1. The Wedding Feast 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.” 1. The wedding feast or marriage ceremony of those days was a community event that lasted sometimes a whole week. Most everyone in the town would be invited to this celebration. Marriage and family was the core of ancient societies, especially for the Jews, as goes the family, so goes society. Marriage was not viewed as being primarily for the joy of the two individuals but to bind the community together and raise the next generation. Marriage was concerned with the good of the commonwealth. 2. Since the marriage ceremony was such a community wide event to run out of wine was not just inconvenient, (essentially meaning that the party was over), it was an oversight, a lack of care for the community, a social disaster and a disgrace (Remember this was a shame/ honor culture). The family would have to live with the shame of it for a long time to come; the bride and groom might regard it as bringing bad luck on their married life. 1. Many have seen the wine running out as a picture of spiritual bareness. 2. Jesus and Mary 1. 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.” 1. Jesus response to his Mother’s need seems rather harsh: “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not come.” Maybe you’ve heard it before that in that culture and time it was not a disrespectful term for one’s mother, but one of respect, but at the same time distancing himself from her. Also you might have heard said, Jesus is responding this way because he wasn’t ready to begin his ministry, it wasn’t his time… But I still don’t think that clears the air. Jesus language makes it clear, he doesn’t want to be involved. He is essentially saying, I want nothing to do with this. I am not ready to face the cross! 2. The Hour 1. The key to understanding what is going on here is found in Jesus reference of “My hour has not yet come”. This term “The hour” will come up again and again in John. 1. “These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.” -John 8:20 2. “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….27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” - John 12:23-28 3. “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” -John 13:1 1. “The hour” that Jesus speaks of is the hour of his glorification - his rejection, death, resurrection, the completion of his work - that will become more clear as John’s testimony unfolds. It is the purpose he came, to give his life, to bring us into the new life in God, he came to fill up our lives with an eternal joy through the pouring out of his life. 2. But what does this whole scene have to do with the cross? 3. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb 1. Jesus is quite possibly doing what most single people do at a wedding, he is thinking about his own wedding - “The Marriage Supper of the Lamb”. 2. According to scripture this is how history will end, and life of the new age (Eternal life) will be inaugurated: 1. “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Revelation 21:2 2. “Then the angel said to me, “write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” -Revelation 19:9 3. “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” -Isaiah 25:6-9 1. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb -“celebrates at long last the intimate and permanent union of people who love each other. And this is how history ends: this is what Jesus came to accomplish. We the bride, the people Jesus has loved, will finally be united with him. The most rapturous love of a wedded couple on earth is just the dimmest hint and echo of that cosmic future reality.” -Tim Keller 4. But why would Jesus want nothing to do with it, why does he not want to get involved yet? What is his apprehension? Jesus knows that in order to bring about the marriage supper of the Lamb in order to bring us into that eternal joy and union, he will have to die the horrific death of the cross, he will have to take upon himself the shame and guilt of sin. 1. “He will become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” 4. Water to Wine 1. “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. 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.” 1. Present at this wedding feast are six stone jars of water and we are told they were for Jewish rites of purification. The Jewish levitical law gave the Jews many customs for diet, and health - but any Jew knew the Law was deeper than that. The Law was not just for being clean, for keeping the dirt off your hands, it spoke to a deeper truth - It was a constant reminder of their internal dirtiness, they had sin, They could not approach God without cleansing; they needed to be purified. 1. Many of us know that feeling - the feeling of shame or guilt, we know something is wrong with us, sometimes we just don’t have a name for it. Each of us has things about ourselves that we know aren’t right, something is wrong with us….Why do we feel incomplete? Why can’t we produce joy for our lives, or consistent happiness? Although we as Americans don’t live in a shame/honor culture, we still know what it is to experience shame and guilt. 2. According to cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict, shame is a violation of cultural or social values while guilt feelings arise from violations of one's internal values. 1. Shame arises when one's 'defects' are exposed to others, and results from the negative evaluation (whether real or imagined) of others. 2. Guilt, on the other hand, comes from one's own negative evaluation of oneself, for instance, when one acts contrary to one's values or idea of one's self. 3. Simply put: A person who feels guilt is saying "I did something bad.", while someone who feels shame is saying "I am bad”. 1. All humans have this feeling of inadequacy, of not measuring up, whether to society’s, religious or personal standards. 2. The Bible teaches that what is wrong with us is that we are separated from God, and this feeling of shame and guilt comes from that. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, the immediate thing they felt was shame, the need to hide themselves from one another and from God. 2. How do we get relief from these feelings of shame, guilt, and inadequacy. How do we get Joy? 1. The clue or the sign is seen here in the water pots. Jesus is going to take the Jewish washing pots of purification and he is going to do something new with them. He turns the water of purification into wine, not just 2 buck chuck, but into great wine! 2. What does the wine represent in his mind? What will it take to remove the shame of the world and to bring us into ultimate joy? It will take more than ceremonial cleansing, more than the blood of bulls and goats, more than all the sacrifices and washings of the Jewish levitical system, it will take the shedding of Jesus' own precious blood. Jesus would later say, “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.” -John 6:55-57 5. Conclusion: Each of us has things that we have done or that have been done to us that make us feel shame and guilt, we try and cover them up, we try and cleanse ourselves, and return the joy or peace we maybe once had, but it only last for a time. Jesus intervenes, turning water into wine, so that the joy, prosperity, and celebration can be restored and go on. Jesus intervenes, removing our shame, not with the ceremonial washing, but by taking our punishment, and shame, washing us from our sins in his own blood, and thereby restoring the joy, prosperity, and celebration of the whole creation! Do you see why this was Jesus first sign showing his glory? - He is essentially telling who he is and what he has come to do: He is the Master of the Feast come to bring and restore ultimate joy and fulfillment to our lives, he came to give us a living hope of a glorious future - The Marriage Supper of the lamb - The restoration of all things. Communion - anticipation of the marriage supper of the lamb, of the future God has in store, of the joy to come.