Sermon Tone Analysis

John 2:1-11

“The Old Made New” Wedding at Cana

Read John 2:1-11

Pray

Intro - I hate New Years resolutions.

But that’s my problem.

As a child and teenager I was pressed to have one each year and they seemed to always end in failure.

Mainly because the hardest thing for a child and teenager to do is be consistent.

In fact, I dislike New Years resolutions so much, that I saw New Years coming and decided to make a new commitment to exercise a month before the New Year started so it wouldn’t be a New Years resolution.

-Your pastor is a strange one.

Transition to Big Idea … Whether it is a New Years Resolution or not, God is in the transforming business.

He is is about making he old in our lives new.

Coaching - By God’s common grace you have been given times during the natural cycle of the year where it is more natural to make changes.

To make new commitments.

To make the Old - New.

New Years, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Changes of seasons

I want to challenge you to make a Spiritual Commitment at the beginning of this year.

Either in time with God- 1) in scripture or 2) Prayer, 3) Focus on sharing your faith.

God desires to constantly be reNEWing you.

Helping the Old become New.

Big Idea - Christ came to take what was spiritually old and ineffective in our lives and transform it to something new and glorious.

Our scripture today speaks of Jesus taking the old and ineffective and making it new.

Here is the set up to our story.

The Wedding and the water to wind miracle happened in Cana.

Tiny tiny village in north Galilee with a population of maybe 15 people.

Cana made Vidette look look like a metropolis.

It was 4 miles away from Nazareth.

Nazareth was an small town which had at most a population of 500.

Transition - Our passage today starts with this Wedding Party

Party, vs 1-2, Cana was a very agricultural area where people or families meet up.

And not many people lived.

The people of Nazareth and Cana grew up together.

It was a tight knit community.

Jesus and Mary would have known the families who’s daughter and son were getting married.

It is even possible that Mary could have played a role in helping at the wedding party.

In Bible times wedding parties would last 3-7 days.

End with the bride and groom privately consummating their marriage.

Jesus is at this wedding with some of the disciples maybe John, Nathaniel, Simon Peter, James (Jesus brother).

I. Problem, vs. 3 & 5

The wine ran out.

Wine was a necessity.

Water was impure and needed something to purify.

-Not having wine at a 3-7 day party is like losing your source of drinking water.

Your party is over.

This is a catastrophe.

In Bible times water was mixed with wine at a ratio of 1 to 3 or 1 to 10 to purify the water.

-The groom and his family is in charge of making the preparations for the week long party.

-The groom and family has royally dropped the ball.

-In an honor shame culture, running out of wine is a major embarrassment.

-Some historians say that this shame the groom brought on the wedding and the bride would be reason for a lawsuit against the groom and his family.

-No wine was a huge deal.

-It was a Problem.

Transition - It was not just a problem for the party, but Mary made it a personal problem.

II.

Personal Problem, vs. 3-5

A. Mary turns to Jesus for a solution.

Why?

-Jesus is the greatest problem solver that Mary has ever encountered.

-Mary was in need of a great problem solver in her life.

-The last time that we saw Joseph (Jesus earthly Father) was when Jesus was 12 years old in the Temple.

When Mary and Joseph lost Jesus.

-Joseph is never seen again in any of the Gospels.

-It is a very good assumption to think that Joseph has died.

-This would leave Jesus (the oldest) as the head of the household.

-Mary would have depended on Jesus to make money in carpentry to pay the bills.

-To provide practical leadership and spiritual leadership.

-To help give guidance to Jesus’ brothers and sisters.

-To be helpful and creative at solving problems.

-Don’t you know that Jesus was the greatest and most creative problem solver any son has been in the history of the world.

-He was the most intelligent, the most patient, the wisest, and the most creative problem solver ever.

-He never had a bad idea!

SO, when a massive problem arrises at a wedding, when one of your friends or distant family members could be humiliated by the lack of planning and not having enough wine it is only natural that Mary would turn to Jesus and ask for help.

-She could have easily been one of the hostesses.

Transition - And we see a very odd response by Jesus.

John 2:4 “4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?

My hour has not yet come.””

Transition - The problem is much deeper than finding a solution to not having anything to drink.

-Things become personal.

B. Jesus relationship to Mary is changing

-Jesus responds to Mary in a very unusual and disappointing way.

-Mary will discover that Jesus intimacy and loyalty to the family is beginning to diminish.

(x2)

- Vs. 4, Jesus responds to Mary as “Woman”.

-In the southern vernacular would us the word Ma’am in a non-intimate way.

Not as a child saying to his mother Yes, Ma’am.

But as a stranger being referred to as Ma’am.

In the grocery store, to a worker, “Excuse me ma’am.

Would you please tell me where to find the spices.”

-Jesus referred to Mary as “woman” in a non-intimate manner.

-Jesus is signaling that His formal ministry was beginning.

His relationship to his human family (mother) was changing.

How is it changing?

-Jesus is no longer being influenced by His mother.

He is now ONLY listening to His heavenly Father.

John 5:19 “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.

For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

Matthew goes on to give us even a deeper sense of this family separation.

Matthew 12:46-50 says this, (Speaking of Jesus) “While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.

48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!