Wedding at Cana

John 2:1-11

John 2:1–11

Last July I had the honor of performing the wedding ceremony for my daughter and my now son-in-law. It is a timeless celebration that has changed over time. It’s the first institute from God going all the way back to Genesis 3. Its what completes the image of God. Marriage is seen as permanent, lasting, God ordained. It is one of the analogy used to describe Christ and his Church. Today we are going to start the part of John’s Gospel called the Book of Signs, chapters 2 – 12. Here Jesus reveals his glory. The other “book” is the book of Glory, chapters 13 – 21; Jesus receives His glory.

As we begin – lets pray

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.

I. THE WEDDING—vv. 1–2 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.

A. Delight—v. 1. Weddings are always a time of rejoicing. During Jesus’ day, after the time of betrothal was the wedding; and the celebration could last up to seven days of food, music and dancing. This was probably a close family friend since Mary was concerned about the lack of wine only 3 days into the festival.

B. Disciples—v. 2. Jesus and the disciples were invited. Jesus had not yet chosen all His disciples. How many He had chosen at this point is not known. But the fact that He and his new disciples were invited to attend indicates the close relationship to the wedding party, more specifically the groom. Also, Jesus brought His new disciples to a family function; a wedding. Let’s not lose the significance of this. We can so easily just read over these words and not understand the deep impact that His, what some might call small decisions, have. God approves of marriage—Genesis 1:28; 2:24; Ephesians 5:22–33. Marriage is sacred. It is intrinsic to creation. It is not on a “trial-basis,” but for life. Kingdoms have fallen and relationships destroyed, careers ruined over failed marriages. Marriage is at the center of creation and now has become a major division in our country. We need to remember that Jesus said when they hate you, remember that they hated me first. Nothing, no other religion causes more divisions and is under more attack than Christianity, and everything that God has ordained. Life and marriage are from the very beginning of creation important and ordained by God Himself. Here Jesus starts His public ministry, His first miracle at a celebration of marriage. His first sign, in this section called the book of signs is tied to the sacred union of marriage. And as we look, Jesus does not seem upset that this celebration is going in. Jesus does not appear mad that there is dancing and singing and eating taking place. Nor is Jesus displeased that there is wine, alcohol being served. Here Jesus rested. He had just journeyed out of the desert; he just started his ministry of calling men to disciple. His knew that His human body needed rest and relaxation. Jesus finds it here, at a wedding. Jesus is an active participant. This is different from when he returns to Nazareth; then they want to throw Him off a cliff, but no one here seems upset or disappointed that Jesus is there. There is happiness and celebration and God was invited here. We should not allow the enemy to fill us with guilt when we are happy and we celebrate. Jesus is not a kill-joy but as we can see here, is actively participating in the celebration and everyone is ok with Him and His friends there. One aspect of the movie The Passion that struck my soul was the memories Jesus had and Him smiling and laughing with his mother as he built a tall table for someone of importance. We tend to view Jesus as this serious, stick in the mud, kill joy; we tend to forget that He was fully human and experienced every human emotion, including happiness, joy, laughter, fun.

So, the first point we have was the wedding and hopefully we now see the importance of His first miracle occurring at The Wedding. Weddings create opportunities for families to glorify God and witness their faith. Our second point is

II. THE WANT—vv. 3–5 3When 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.”

A. Problem—v. 3. John does not use Mary’s name anywhere in His Gospel account, probably so there would be no confusion with the other Mary’s that are a part of Jesus’ life and ministry. Here, Mary, Jesus’ mother notices that there was not enough wine. It was not a good sign if the bridegroom runs out of wine; especially in a society that shames people – this would not be good. And the fact that the financial responsibility for the wedding celebration fell on the groom and Mary is concerned about this turn of events, also indicates that the groom is a close family friend or relative. She sees a need. And if we are honest all of us, all people will at times be in need. But God will meet all our needs—Philippians 4:19 – And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Do we have the faith to act – do we have the faith to ask?

B. Plan—v. 4. When Jesus said to Mary “Woman” He didn’t mean any disrespect. The term gynai, best translated as “Dear woman,” is not a normal greeting and could have been like in the south “Madam.” He says the same thing to Mary on the cross, “Woman this is your son.” So it seems, and most scholars agree that it was a respectful and light rebuke. I picture a loving son, looking over at His mom, basically saying mom, ma’am. In translating from such a rich vocabularic language as Greek to a language like English, we tend to lose the emotional connection in greetings and words because we just don’t have those word in our language. Why does this concern me? When He said “my hour” He meant it was not yet time to show His power. His purpose was to bring glory to the Father. Something else to consider is timing. Jesus at other points of His ministry delayed or initially refused to help but then does; the man seeking his son’s healing in John 4, Lazarus’ death, the Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon possessed in Matthew 15. He delayed going to Lazarus, He initially denied the Canaanite woman only to bring forth and have evidence of strong faith demonstrated.

C. Plea—v. 5. “But his mother told the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you to’ ” Mary already knew what Jesus could do, she trusted Jesus would handle it. Notice she did not say, Jesus do this or say that. She let God know her concern and God decide the best course of action and trusted in it. She saw a need, asked God to handle it, and turned it over to Him

We have the Wedding, we have the Want, and with the want we see that Weddings create opportunities for service to God. So now we have

III. THE WORKING—vv. 6–8 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.

What we notice here or should take away from here is that obedience always requires work. Obedience always requires action on our part. Obedience is not passive. Laziness and indifference often come as the result of disobedience.

A. The pots—v. 6. Six water pots of stone. A firkin was 27 gallons. Each waterpot was 9 gallons. Altogether there was 162 gallons. This shows that a large number of people attended the wedding. For seven days that is almost 25 gallons a day of wine. That’s 2400 servings, 350 glasses of wine a day.

Also note that John emphasizes that these jars were there for ceremonial Jewish rites of purification. Being stone was believed to not contract uncleanliness. The correlation between uncleanliness and the requirement for sacrifice for our sins – Jesus showing the glory of God and instituting His ministry here leading – pointing to the cross – the final sacrifice and a new era of cleanliness – cleansed by His blood. We would no longer have to participate in ritual sacrifices or cleansings because Jesus did it all on the cross. As our body is a temple – Jesus turned cleansing water into eternal-saving wine. Don’t miss the symbolism here that God uses to connect the past to the present to the future.

B. The plan—vv. 7–8. The command was to fill the pots with water. No doubt some wondered and questioned, “Why?” They could not comprehend what he was going to do. But, they didn’t negotiate with Him. They didn’t question Him. They went and did. They probably even felt silly. But they obeyed. God spoke – they did. When Christ tells us to do something—don’t question, OBEY HIM! How much do you trust God? When society says it doesn’t make sense; God’s actions rarely do in human eyes – look here at the wedding – look at the cross – how much sense does that make in our minds? You were on His mind – your sins – your salvation over 2000 years into the future were on His mind as they were driving the nails in. God’s plan rarely makes sense in our mind, but as we see here, the waiters did not care – God spoke – they did.

We see that at this wedding, there was a want, a need and that God did a Working. Weddings also create opportunities for US to glorify God. And we can when we see…

IV. THE WONDER—vv. 9–11 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.

A. The problem solved—v. 9. The water was changed into wine by Christ. In Bible times, people drank wine like we in America drink coffee, tea, or soda.

B. The pleasure—v. 10. “‘This is wonderful stuff!’ he said, ‘You’re different from most! Usually a host uses the best wine first, and afterwards, when everyone is full and doesn’t care, then he brings out the less expensive brands. But you have kept the best for the last!’” Sin does this. It throws its best at us to trick us to trap us and then when our senses are dulled and we become comfortable it brings in the cheap stuff. God on the other hand keeps providing for us and saving the best for last. On this side of heaven, we won’t get the best – the best, saved for last – is Heaven – is being fully in His presence – experience His love free from sin and temptation and to see Him through uncontaminated eyes, like He created Adam with before sin entered Him. That is the best – Heaven

C. The power—v. 11. This was the first of many miracles performed by Christ.

Christ had the power to turn water into wine

Christ had to power to raise Himself from the grave on the third day

Christ has the power to change, to transform your life – are willing to let him?

Jesus clearly understood his purpose – do you?

As we’ve seen – weddings create opportunities for families to bring glory to God – but you don’t have to wait for a wedding to do so – Fathers – create opportunities for you and your family to bring glory to God.

Weddings create opportunities for service to God – but you don’t have to wait for a wedding – as a child of God – there are constant opportunities to serve God – are you listening – are you looking – are you willing to serve God – at home, at work, at school, with friends etc.

As we leave this morning – where is your faith level, what’s your faith thermometer? When God responds with a question, do you give up or are you persistent? When God calls you to do something crazy – do you question Him, stall or doubt or do you move forward and do it to extreme? The waiters not only filled the jars, but filled to brims – so much that no more could be added. When you do go do you go halfheartedly or to extremes?

Christ is saving the best for last for us – are you willing to be a part of that celebration – do you need to respond to His invitation whether its to worship Him, witness about Him or work for Him?