His First Miraculous Sign

Introduction

Good morning, how we doing this morning?

We are continuing in our series today called “CHRISTos” which is the Greek Word of Christ. We have said how this was not Jesus’ last name, but was the Greek version of His title. The Hebrew version would be Messiah. So far, we have walked through the ancient prophecies of the Messiah, his humble birth in the manger and even what little we know of his growing up years. Then over the past couple of weeks we have seen the launching of his public ministry. First his baptism at the hands of his cousin John the Baptizer. Then his time of Temptation where He proves Himself to be the new Adam, the better Adam. And then last week we saw him recognized as a Rabbi who began to call his Disciples to “Follow Him” instead of waiting for them to call out to Him.

Tension

So now that Jesus has at least a good portion of his team of disciples together, He will slowly begin to reveal himself to be the Christ, to be the long awaited Messiah. And I use the term “slowly” very intentionally because despite the urgency in our need for a Savior, Jesus’ life and ministry was never in a hurry. Not like most of ours. There was a heavenly set time table that Jesus was aware of and working within.

How do we know this? Well the Gospel writer John makes this the plainest for us to see in his account of Jesus’ life and ministry. Remember John wrote his gospel decades after the other Gospel writers and his goal was not so much to communicate the information of Jesus’ life with his audience, in fact he write assuming that they have already heard much of the story. John’s goal was more to inspire his readers to recognize for themselves that Jesus is in fact the long awaited Christ. One of the ways that he did this was to emphasize how Jesus’ life follows a very intentional heavenly time table.

We are first introduced to this idea in our text for today when Jesus is speaking to his mother...

John 2:4 ESV

4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

and throughout John’s Gospel, at key moments this similar language is again used. In John 7:30 Jesus’ teaching was upsetting the religious leaders...

John 7:30 ESV

30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

And again Jesus was arguing with the Pharisees, this time in the Temple and

John 8:20 ESV

20 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.

But eventually that “hour” would come. In John 12, Jesus begins to explain to his disciples how and why he must die...

John 12:23 ESV

23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

And again in chapter 13

John 13:1 ESV

1 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.

And finally in John 17, Jesus prays His priestly prayer that he knows will initiate the events of his torture and crucifixion.

John 17:1 ESV

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,

John wanted us to know that every step of the life and mission of Jesus the Christ operated on this pre-set time table. But it’s important to recognize that this plan was not just about having a plan, but about having designed a plan that would Glorify God in the fullest most perfect way. Everything that Jesus did was to bring more and more glory to the Father and all of this reached it’s pinnacle in Jesus’ final act of submission and sacrifice. His death on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

And in our text for today, this is what John begins to give us a taste of when he quotes Jesus as having said...”My hour has not yet come.”

So let’s take a look at this story, it is only given to us in chapter 2 of the Gospel of John. It’s on page 887 in the Bibles in the chairs. I’ll pray and then we will see how this plays out together.

Truth

Depending on your translation you probably have a title heading for this story that reads something like “The Wedding at Cana” or “The Miracle at Cana” or “Jesus changes Water into Wine”, and these all give us a good picture of what was happening here, but John wants to make sure we understand the significance of this story so he ends it with this summary found down in chapter 11: .

John 2:11 ESV

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

I know, it doesn’t seem right that I would start us out at the end of the story, but it’s important that we realize that this story was about more than just marking the first of Jesus’ many miracles. This miracle, and every miracle that Jesus did, had a pre-designed purpose.

One of the other things that John does differently than the other Gospel writers is he uses the word for “sign” much more than he uses the word for “miracle”. In Greek the word for “miracle” is δύναμις (dynamis) and it means a demonstration of power, might or supernatural strength. Think of “dynamite” being powerful and certainly Jesus did display the power of God working through Him.

But John more often uses the Greek word σημεῖον (see-mee-own) in his description of Jesus’ supernatural acts. “see-mee-own” is a sign, indicator or miracle. And he wasn’t trying to discount the power behind the act, but just to communicate that the power was meant to point to something. It was meant to be a sign of something. A sign that Jesus was more than just a great teacher or Rabbi, and even here at the first one of these miraculous signs, at least his disciples believed in him.

With that in mind, let’s go back to the beginning of the chapter and walk through the story. Our first theme for we see in this story is that:

1. We can trust Jesus to act for the glory of God alone (John 2:1-5).

John 2:1–2 ESV

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.

So we are still here in Galilee and specifically we are in the city of Cana. There are actually a few modern day sites that all claim to be the “Cana” that played host to this first century wedding, but what they all have in common is that they are close to the city of Nazareth where Jesus grew up. So this wedding was probably a close friend or even a relative of Mary. The point is that she is not just another guest who turned in her RSVP, she is one of those working behind the scenes to make sure everything is just right.

As you might expect, there are some significant differences between the way weddings were performed in Jesus’ day and the way that we experience them today. Where a wedding might take a Friday night and the bulk of a Saturday for us, weddings in Jesus’ day often went for a week. Which is a long time to host a party, but it was the honor of the groom’s family to do so.

In fact to run out of food or drink before the guests have all left was a terrible dishonor to the family. And this is exactly what happened to this family, and as Mary was one of the wedding planners, when she found out and she went to her Son to see what could be done.

John 2:3–5 ESV

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.”

I gotta say that Jesus’ response to his mother is one instance where the words may get in the way of the meaning. A “lost in translation” kind of thing. I can’t imagine what my mother would say if she asked me for my help and I said, “Woman, what does this have to do with me.” And kids, I would not recommend trying it!

Especially because we know that Jesus is not being disrespectful to his mother here. In fact some translators have been so concerned over how this might be misunderstood that they impose the words “Dear woman, ...” because that does give more of the idea of how Jesus is speaking to his mom, even though the Greek word for “dear” is not found here.

That being said, there is a sense here in which Jesus is teach and lead His mother. Similar to when he was a young boy in the Temple and Mary came to rebuke him, Jesus is again lovingly distancing himself from the will of his mother, in order to show her how He has not fully committed himself to the will and time table of his heavenly Father. This is why He says: “My hour has not come”.

Many times I have read this exchange giving Mary a modern mother’s voice. You know, one that hears her son’s words, but then lovingly overiding his response to have him do what he wants anyway. Do you know what I mean? I enjoy that idea as I think of my own mother, but I wonder if there isn’t more here than that. I think at least to a degree, this is Mary recognizing the change in the relationship and submitting to her Son. Because she doesn't take charge of the servants herself, but tells them to “do whatever he tells you”.

Either way, it is beneficial for us to consider these words of Mary. Last week we talked about what it looked like to become a disciple of Jesus and certainly being a servant is a part of that, is it not? As disciples we are called to be servants, right? So couldn’t we also receive the instruction from Mary to the servant’s that day? The instruction to “Do whatever he tells you”.

I think that is one of the best definitions of being a follower of Jesus that we have, and to have it from Jesus’ mom. I mean who knows the character of a son better than his mother. Especially when you think of what the angel told her, the Shepherds told her, the Prophets in the Temple told her, the wise men told her…and even Jesus as a young man told her when He stayed behind in the Temple that day. Mary knew of her son’s mission. She trusted that Jesus would act only for the glory of God, and so she says, “Do whatever he tells you”.

This brings us to our second theme for the week, where

We can trust Jesus to meet our needs for God’s glory (John 2:6-8).

So the servants turn their eyes from Mary to Jesus awaiting his instructions, and this is what happened next...

John 2:6–8 ESV

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.

The hosts at this party had a need, and Jesus stepped up to meet that need, but it was about more than just saving the reputation of a groom’s family. It was about setting the reputation of Jesus.

Doing some quick math we can see that this was a lot of water that was used to make a lot of wine. How much effort do you think it would take for these servants to acquire 150 gallons of water? It probably depended a lot on how far away the well was, but even if it was fairly close by that would be a lot of trips.

Archaeologically, they have unearthed “stone water jars” like this, even this one that was uncovered at one of the spots that we believe most likely to be the Cana that hosed this wedding. They were cut on a huge lathe from one stone. So you can just imagine how heavy it would be to move them, and they probably didn’t but they did work very hard to bring the water in to fill the... But I am not sure that was the more difficult of the two tasks that Jesus asked of them.

Do you catch that in the reading. Two things that Jesus asked the servants to do.

1. Fill the jars with water.

2. Draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.

I mean yeah, the first tasks was physically taxing, filling all those jars to the brim…but consider the second instruction that Jesus gave them.

We don’t know exactly how or when the many gallons of water turned into wine. Did it happen when they poured the buckets of water into the stone jars or was it only after all the stone jars were full that the room began to smell of wine? Maybe it wasn’t even until the servant drew out some for the “Master of the feast”. However it happened it took a great deal of faith for a servant to bring that cup to the Master of the feast.

And that is how it is when we seek to be servants who “Do whatever Jesus tells us”. Sometimes that “doing” involves very physical things. There are so many physical things that we have done here as a Church in obedience to Jesus. I think of all that went into building this building that we are blessed to have to do ministry in. So many people invested their time, energy and resources into making this place happen. And over the years there have been other physical projects that we have tackled together as a Church. Putting on a new roof, putting in new carpet, installing a playground, landscaping all around the building. Many of us are ready and willing to tackle those kinds of projects. In fact, many Churches find that they experience a season of growth during significant building projects because there is an energy and sense of expectancy and ownership when we can roll up our sleeves and contribute to some physical work where the results are expected adn measurable. Fill the jars with water…to the brim? I am on it!

But this is often less true when Jesus calls us to make more of a faith investment than a sweat investment. Give us a measurable task to do and we make the plans and we will make it happen - but challenge us to step out in faith on something that we can’t see how it will end...and the volunteers are not so eager. It’s one thing to do something where you can calculate the outcome, but what happens when Jesus asks you to take a step beyond filling up the jars with water. What happens when he asks you to step out in faith, without being able to see how things will work out.

I submit to you this morning that it is more in this second kind of obedience that we will truly see our deepest needs met. When we come to the end of our ability to see the results of our actions and purely trust Jesus with the outcome. That is when we will find ourselves the closest to living for the glory of God.

So let’s see how the rest of the story unfolds:

John 2:9–10 ESV

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.”

Our final theme for the week is that...

3. We can trust in Jesus as the revealed Messiah (John 2:9-11).

So we probably should talk for just a moment about the fact that Jesus and his disciples not only appear to be drinking wine themselves, but Jesus just made a whole lot of it for others to drink. For those of us who have had bad experiences when it comes to the abuse of alcohol this can be a difficult thing to reconcile.

I want to be clear that the Bible condemns drunkeness to be the destructive force that it was in Jesus’ day as well as it is today. That being said, some well meaning theologians, in their desire to be sensitive to those who have been hurt by the abuse of alcohol have attempted to explain away the wine by saying that it was really just grape juice or it was horribly watered down to the point that the alcohol content was not a factor. And while we can appreciate the attempt to be sensitive, there is no Biblical or historical evidence that supports this idea.

That is not to say that no one ever watered down their wine supply to make it go further. In fact, this is exactly what the Master of the feast was expecting and if we somehow make the wine of the Bible into something less than wine then this part of the story no longer makes sense. What was so surprising to the Master of the banquet was not just that more wine showed up, he didn’t even know that they had run out, but that this new wine was even better than the first.

And notice that Jesus didn’t correct the Master of the feast who gave credit for the quality of the wine to the family of the bridegroom. He just let it go. He just let his very first miracle be known to only a few people. Only his mother Mary, the servants who did what He said and of course His disciples.

And that is what brings us back to the verse we started with:

John 2:11 ESV

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Why didn’t Jesus declare to everyone at the wedding what He had done? Or at very least allow his disciples or even the servants to do so? Because of what he told his “dear mother”: My time has not yet come. Jesus was not in a hurry. He was operating on the time table designed by the Father. A time table that would “slowly” reveal Jesus to be the Messiah in God’s perfect time. Still, this first sign did point some people to the identity of Jesus. The disciples were beginning to see that Jesus was more than any other Rabbi they had ever heard of. Eventually they all would be convinced that Jesus was the revealed Messiah, and then they would go out to share this message to the ends of the earth...even all the way to you and I today.

Gospel Application

And what of our lives? Certainly as disciples of our Rabbi who are charged with learning and living out His lifestyle, we too are called to live every step of our lives for the glory of God. We are called to “do whatever He tells us”

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Kind of a fitting verse to couple with a wedding feast.

The big idea being that just as Jesus did everything for the glory of God, as His disciples we should be after the same. Asking in every circumstance we find ourselves:

How might God want to use me here, in this moment, to bring Him glory.

Whether you are pressed for a deadline at work, settling an argument between your kids at home, trying to stay focused in “zoom” school or sitting in a tree stand this afternoon...we should always be asking God what we can do in each moment to bring Him glory. And when we ask such questions we can know that God will answer us. He will show us our appointed “hour” to walk in faith for the glory of God.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans

Romans 13:11 ESV

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

While this was written to Christians some 2,000 years ago, we too know our “times” and we know that today we are even closer now to the return of Jesus than we ever have been. Because of this, those of us who are Christians should be even more vigilant in sharing the good news of the salvation that we have.

Of course I can’t assume that just because you are sitting here, you would even call yourself a disciple of Jesus. Maybe you are here for other reasons. Maybe you are here out of tradition or just to fulfil family obligations of some sort. If this is you, then let me ask you a question from the book of Hebrews:

How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

At the wedding at Cana, Jesus knew that his hour had not come yet, but he knew it was coming. He knew that he would die an excruciating death on a cross in order to give us this “great salvation”. If you are not trusting Jesus, then what are you trusting in? What is greater than this free gift of salvation that God has provided for us?

This plan was put in place by God, told to us by Jesus and his first disciples and today it lives on through the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those of us who believe. You see that verse from Hebrews continues to say...

Hebrews 2:3–4 ESV

3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

signs (see-me-own) miracles (dynamis)

Landing

If you have never trusted your live to Jesus then today would be a great day, what could you possibly be trusting in that is greater than the salvation that Jesus has purchased for you?

If you are trusting in Jesus, then the Holy Spirit has given you gifts, according to his will, and he wants you to discover those gifts and operate in them for the glory of God. That is the only way we can be like Jesus: our Rabbi, our Savior our Lord.

And in this our lives can be “signs” even “powerful miracles” that point people to Jesus. Amen?

Let’s pray into this together.