"Oh Wow!"

Title: “Oh wow!

Text: John 2:1-11

Thesis: The miracle at the wedding at Cana of Galilee happened in part to save the day, but primarily so that Christ would be glorified and people would believe in him as the Son of God.

The Second Sunday after Epiphany:

The Season of Epiphany is a period of time in which we reflect on the ways God made Christ known. At the baptism of Christ God spoke from heaven saying, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” Today the bible tells us that following the miracle at the Wedding at Cana in which Jesus turned 6, 30 gallon jars of water into 180 gallons of wine, “This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” John 2:11

In our text today we will be looking at why this miracle happened.

Introduction:

This week I took some time to read about some various wedding customs around the world.

In China the Tujia people prepare for a wedding one month before the wedding day by weeping. The bride begins by weeping for one hour a day, and is then joined by her mother 10 days later. The after this, the grandmother must join in and this continues until all the females in the family are crying for an hour every day. They say they are shedding tears of joy.

In Congo, if you want to ruin a wedding… smile. In order for the wedding to be taken seriously the bride and groom are not allowed to smile throughout the entire ceremony.

Let’s begin this morning with a YouTube video clip that would not fly in the Congo… “Waffle Wedded Wife.” (Play YouTube clip)

You probably will not fully appreciate this joyful occasion unless you also go to YouTube and watch the follow-up clip: “Laughing Bride Tells All.” They are a good and godly young couple who did things right and you will be blessed by their story.

The text today is again, a primary text for the Season of Epiphany. This story takes place in the context of John 1 where John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, “Look! The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!” He went on to speak of Jesus’ baptism and then he said, “I testify that Jesus is the Chosen One of God!” John 1:29-34

The story is about the first of Christ’s many miracles and falls under the heading of “The Wedding at Cana.” It is the story of how Jesus turned 180 gallons of water into 180 gallons of wine. C.S. Lewis once remarked, to the effect, that when teaching on this text we need to resist the temptation of to turn the wine back into water. (Ralph C. Wood, in a review of Lewis biographies in Books and Religion, Spring 1991, Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 9)

G. K. Chesterton once said, “The world is not lacking in wonders, but in a sense of wonder.” (G.K. Chesterton, Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 4) And this, like any and all of the things Jesus did were and are intended to arouse within us a sense of wonder…

I imagine there have been few times in history when people were amazed by the developments around them… perhaps now as much if not more than any other time. Steve Jobs, American entrepreneur, co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Apple, Inc, was a man who lived on the growing edge of technology all his life. Yet, the last words of this man, a man revered as a futurist, visionary and master innovator, there surrounded by his family were, “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”

We can only speculate as to his experience in death… but whatever it was, it was awe-inspiring. I hope this morning that when we are finished here, we too will have a sense of “Oh wow.”

Why did Jesus do what he did? Why was Jesus at this wedding? What did Jesus do at this wedding and why is what he did important?

First of all Jesus was a joyful participant in the lives of people.

I. Jesus joyfully participated in the lives of people

The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.” John 2:1-2

I wasn’t there so I can only speculate but I doubt that Jesus rolled out of bed that morning, put on his bathrobe and slippers, shuffled out into the kitchen where his mother had a big platter of buttermilk pancakes and turkey sausage links waiting for him. I doubt that he plopped down in his chair across from his mother and said, “Mom, do I gotta go?” And I doubt Mary said, “Yes, Jesus, you do. Now eat your breakfast and get dressed. We leave in an hour.”