Sermon for 1/16/22 19 Minutes "On the Third Day"

John 2:1-11

This morning I'll be reading John chapter 2 verses 1 through 11. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. John 2:1–11 This is the first miracle of Jesus' ministry. And it occurs in Cana of Galilee,,, even though the exact location of Cana is still unknown,,, but it must have been near and above Capernaum,,, since it says in the beginning of verse 12,,, After this, He went down to Capernaum. John 2:1–11 (HCSB) 1 On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and 2 Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding as well. 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother told Him, “They don’t have any wine.” 4 “What has this concern of yours to do with Me, woman?”Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.” 5 “Do whatever He tells you,” His mother told the servants. 6 Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained 20 or 30 gallons. 7 “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the chief servant.”And they did. 9 When the chief servant tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom 10 and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people have drunk freely, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.” 11 Jesus performed this first sign in Cana of Galilee. He displayed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last week we looked at Isaiah 43:1-7 and we seen the words that Isaiah gave to the Israelite people.

These were words that gave them comfort during a time when it was really needed.

Words that can comfort us as well if we take the time to truly study them,,, and pay attention to them.

But that’s what happens so many times,,, we can read the words in the Bible,,, but we don’t allow them to guide us like we should.

That’s why that we need to strengthen our relationship with God and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us as we continue to learn.

This morning we will look at these verses in John and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 1 and 2 say: 1 On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and 2 Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding as well.

On the third day,,, this caught my attention as soon as I read it this week and it seemed like God was trying to get my attention so I looked into this further.

As most of you are familiar,,, the most famous third day usage,,, and,,, I might add,,, the most important,,, is of course when Jesus Christ rose on the third day,,, but there have been many other times when something happened on the third day.

My Dictionary of Biblical Imagery,,, says that there are nearly 4 dozen references to the third day,,, and when you add references to events that happened on the third day but it doesn’t specifically say,,, on the third day,,, for example,,, you add up what happened on this day,,, then what happened on the day after,,, and then it says that the next day after that this happened,,, you come up with numerous times that this is mentioned.

Then you can begin to see that the four little words,,, On the third day ,,, become important,,, if we are paying attention.

As I began looking into the references to the use of the third day,,, I can begin in Genesis 1:9-13 where on the third day we have our first reference to biological life,,, after the water and land are separated so that things begin to grow.

Then in Genesis 22:4 the resurrection of Isaac is unnoticed,,, or we may not catch it,,, when it states: “On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.”

Isaac was supposed to be offered as a sacrifice,,, but we know that God supplied a substitutionary offering,,, and the author of Hebrews shows that this event points to the resurrection where it says in Hebrews 11:17–19 “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and he was offering his unique son, the one it had been said about, Your seed will be traced through Isaac. He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead, and as an illustration, he received him back.”

So we can see that the author of Hebrews is giving an example of the faith that Abraham had,,, that even if he offered Isaac as a sacrifice and God allowed that to happen,,, that God would raise him from the dead to fulfill the promise that God had made to him,,, but we of course know that God had taken care of that in His own way,,, and a ram was provided as a substitution for Isaac.

We also have an example when Joseph’s brothers were released from prison after three days,,, in Genesis 42:18 it says “On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God —do this and you will live.”

Many times when the third day is mentioned,,, it’s a matter of life or death.

We can’t forget Jonah in the belly of the fish for three days,,, especially since Jesus made reference to this as well.

And there are many more references but it would take a considerable amount of time to list all of them,,, so,,, what does this mean for us today?

First,,, it means that God has given us glimpses of His plan to save us from ourselves all throughout the Bible.

We can see that there are references to this from many different authors,,, over a time span of hundreds of years so that there can be no doubt that the Holy Spirit would have to be guiding each different author as they wrote so that it would all tie together when we begin to study it.

That’s why the Old Testament is so important to our full understanding of the New Testament.

When we can see the way that God’s plan has been revealed through the ages by so many different writers,,, it helps us in our understanding and believing that God’s word is true.

And it’s that type of education that can help us in so many ways.

So we see that Jesus,,, His mother,,, and His disciples,,, are invited to this wedding,,, of a couple that is never named.

Their name isn’t important apparently or it would have been remembered,,, but the things that happened at this wedding are important,,, that’s why we have these words to look at today.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 3 says: 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother told Him, “They don’t have any wine.”

In Jesus’ day,,, it was considered a serious mistake for the groom to run out of wine before the wedding party is over.

This would have been very embarrassing for others to know.

Jesus’ mother apparently intends for Jesus to help,,, even though I’m guessing that she has no idea what He would do.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 4 says: 4 “What has this concern of yours to do with Me, woman?”Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.”

I’ve thought before that these words of Jesus to His mother were almost rude in nature,,, but that isn’t the way that it was explained in many of the commentaries that I looked at this week as I studied for today.

My Believer’s Bible Commentary explains it this way,,, The word woman used here is a title of respect,,, similar to the way that we use the word “lady.”(1)

But,,, Jesus mainly wanted her to know that He was following God’s timeline,,, not an earthly,,, or a worldly,,, timeline.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 5 says: 5 “Do whatever He tells you,” His mother told the servants.

Mary understood this apparently,,, and she instructs the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.

She knew that Jesus would do what was right and she didn’t need to be the one giving orders,,, but for the servants,,, and us today as well,,, to listen to Jesus,,, and do what He tells us to do.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 6 says: 6 Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained 20 or 30 gallons.

These stone water jars were used by the Jews to wash and purify themselves before and after meals.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says that the contrast between the old order and the new way becomes evident after this.

For reference it used John 4:13 “Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.” ,,, the same way that man must continue offering sacrifices over and over.

John 7:38-39 “The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been received because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” This is the Holy Spirit residing inside us each day,,, teaching us and guiding us if we pay attention.

And these were written examples of the old,,, and the new.

Just as these jars will contain new wine after Jesus,,, we will have the Holy Spirit in us after our encounter with Jesus.

These jars also hold an extremely large amount of wine after Jesus has changed the water to wine,,, which leaves us with the impression that we will be blessed beyond measure as well,,, after we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 7 and 8 say: 7 “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the chief servant.”And they did.

The chief servant here would have been the one that oversees the wedding feast.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 9 and 10 say: 9 When the chief servant tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom 10 and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people have drunk freely, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.”

The chief servant would have never tasted the wine if he knew where it came from,,, but the servants knew.

So he taste the wine,,, then he calls the groom and says that most set out the fine wine first,,, then the inferior,,, but you have kept the fine wine until now.

We can see this looking back to the Old Testament.

The laws concerning the sacrifices were looking forward to this time,,, and now it is here,,, better than the old,,, and much better for us today!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 11 says: 11 Jesus performed this first sign in Cana of Galilee. He displayed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

My Believer’s Bible Commentary says,,, “Changing water into wine was a sign,,, that is,,, a miracle with a meaning.

It was a superhuman act with a spiritual meaning.

These miracles also were designed to show that Jesus was indeed the Christ of God.

By performing this sign,,, He manifested His glory.

He revealed to men that He was indeed God,,,—,,, manifest in the flesh.

His disciples believed in Him.

Of course,,, in one sense they had believed in Him previously,,, but now their faith was strengthened,,, and they trusted Him more now,,, than before.

Cynddylan Jones points out: Moses’ first miracle was to turn water into blood; and there was a severe destructive element in it. But Christ’s first miracle was to turn water into wine; and in it,,, there was a soothing,,, solacing element in it.(2)

And I believe that we can all agree,,, that Jesus’ miracle was much better as well.

----------------------------------------------------------- So as we prepare to begin our new week,,, we should remember how the 4 little words,,, On the third day,,, helped us to see the importance of these scriptures and the way that God had everything planned out for us,,, and we can see how all of that comes together by looking from Genesis all the way through the Old Testament to the New Testament.

And by doing so,,, these things should strengthen our faith and help us in our walk with God.

Because it’s the continuous learning that we do that helps us to build that relationship with God on our journey towards,,, perfection.

A journey that we may not finish until we reach the end of our life here on earth,,, but a journey that will be so much better because of the relationship that we maintain with Jesus Christ,,, a relationship that will last,,, for eternity.

----------------------------------------------------------- Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- 1 - MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Ed. Arthur Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995. Print.

2 - MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Ed. Arthur Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995. Print. -----------------------------------------------------------