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.”
Life is not one big round of parties. It isn’t for us and it wasn’t for Jesus. But if the Scriptures are to be taken seriously, how often do we see Jesus interacting socially with people at some kind of party or celebration?
A. Jesus hung out with people socially
1. The wedding of Cana is billed as a celebration, John 2:1-11
2. Jesus had dinner at Matthew’s house, Luke 5:29-32
3. Jesus had dinner at a Pharisee’s house, Luke 7:36-50
4. Jesus had dinner at the Leader of the Pharisee’s house, Luke 14:1-24
5. Jesus ha dinner at the home of Zacchaeus, Luke 19:1-10
If there was something going on, people wanted to be around Jesus.
B. Jesus was criticized by his critics for being too social with people
1. Jesus speaking to a crowd of people said, “John [the Baptist] didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard [winebibber in the KJV], and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!” Matthew 11:18-19
C. Some of Jesus primary teachings were about celebrations
1. The Parable of the Great Feast, Luke 14:15-24
2. The Parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-31
The Father was so happy to see his wayward son come home that he ordered his servants to “bring the finest robe in the house. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. Kill the fattened calf. We must celebrate with a feast.”
3. At the Last Supper Jesus said, “For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.” Luke 22:16-18
We understand that to refer to what the angel said to John in the Book of Revelation 19:9, “And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. These are true words from God.”
Indeed, it is true, Jesus wept over the spiritual condition of the people before the triumphal entry. And Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus. Prophetically, Isaiah spoke of Jesus as “despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Isaiah 53:3
But there is more about Jesus. Jesus came that we might have life and not just life but abundant life. John 10:10 Jesus told his followers that his wish for them is that they be filled with his joy. John 15:9-11 If Jesus is our example and if his Word is true, Christians are to be joyfully happy people.
In our text today we find Jesus attending a wedding celebration. “Oh wow! Jesus is a joyful person.”
The second thing we see about Jesus is that he cared about people.
II. Jesus cares about people and intervenes in their circumstances to help.
The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”
Jesus was reluctant to let the cat out of the bag… he was reluctant to make himself known as the Son of God before the time was right. But his mother brushed it aside and instructed the servants to do whatever Jesus instructed them to do.
So it was that Jesus sent the servants to bring the six stone jars used for Jewish ceremonial washings, had them fill each jar with water and then asked the servants to take a sample to the master of ceremonies.
It was an amazing moment when he tasted the wine. The master of ceremonies called the bridegroom over and said, “Wow! Usually the host brings out the good stuff early on in the celebration, then when everyone has had a lot to drink, then he puts out the cheap stuff. But you have saved the best until now.” John 2:3-10
So what was the big deal?
In our first church there were a lot of young couples our age. One Sunday Bonnie and I invited two couples and their children to come to our home for lunch. Bonnie had brought out the good China and the table was set for a feast. She had prepared a delicious pork chop dinner. We all sat around the table, I said grace and passed the platter of pork chops. When the platter reached one of the guys, kind of a burley young farmer, he took the platter and used his fork to slide six pork chops onto his plate.
Bonnie and I had never seen anything like that in our lives. We looked at each other not only in disbelief but terror. We were both in panic wondering, “What if we run out of pork chops before everyone is served?”
How often have you thought, “Better to prepare more than enough than to run out of food?” That’s what happened at the wedding celebration Jesus was attending.
In our culture we have a relatively short ceremony followed by a reception. It may simply be some mixed nuts, mints, cake, punch and coffee or it may be a sit down dinner. But it’s over by ten o’clock and we all go home.
In Jesus’ culture weddings went on for a week. I would guess that guests brought in food but the host was responsible to ante up for a good wedding celebration. The wine was supposed to last for the duration of the party. The running out of the wine was not supposed to signal the end of the party.
What Jesus did was an act of kindness for his mother and the bride and groom. Jesus’ life is typified by acts of kindness. Jesus liked people. Jesus enjoyed being with people. Jesus cared about people.
My guess is that those servants who had poured in the water and dipped out wine were thinking, “Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow!”
But there is more…
III. Jesus revealed, for the first time, his glory – making himself known
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 the story, Phenomenon, George Malley is a small-town mechanic whose life changed dramatically after being knocked unconscious by a bright light from the sky. When he woke up he gradually began to see that he had new powers of perception and understanding. He became a voracious reader on a variety of subjects. He had become a genius.
One night while reading, he accidently discovered that he could move physical object through the power of his mind. He could turn the pages of his book my merely placing his hand over the page… Becoming a bit alarmed he closed the book to see if he could raise the hardcover of the book without touching it and he could.
In the story he jumped to his feet, ran to the back door, looked into the night sky and yelled, “Is somebody trying to tell me something?” (Phenomenon, Touchtone Pictures, 1996)
In our text today, God is trying to tell us something. The miracles of Jesus are intended to be signs that point to who Jesus is. Miracles are intended to be indicators that Jesus is the Son of God… In John 14:11 Jesus said to Phillip, one of his disciples, “Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me or at least believe because of the work you have seem me do.” Miracles are intended to instill belief.
There are seven miracles recorded in John’s Gospel:
1. Turning the water to wine, 2:1-11
2. Healing the official’s son, 4:43-54 (This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did…)
3. Healing the man who had been crippled for 38 years, 5:1-15
4. Feeding the 5,000, 6:1-15 (On this occasion Jesus said to the people who had just enjoyed their meal, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understand the miraculous signs.”)
5. Walking on water, 6:16-21
6. Healing the man born blind, 9:1-41
7. Raising Lazarus from the dead, 11:1-44
When Jesus stood at the tomb where Lazarus lay stone-cold on a slab… he had the stone to the entrance of the grave rolled away and then he prayed, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I say it out loud for the sake of these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” And then he said, “Lazarus come out!” And the dead man came out… John 11:40-44
Apparently Jesus generally prayed silently but on this occasion he prayed aloud so those who were watching would understand the significance of this miraculous sign pointing them to faith in Christ.
After which I suspect the people said, “Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow! Jesus is the Chosen One of God!”
Conclusion
1. Jesus was a joyful person who interacted socially with people.
One take away today would be an understanding of Christ being very human… just like us. We are capable of the entire spectrum of emotions and so was and is Jesus. Jesus was always serious but he was also always sociable and one of the gifts God wants to give us is the gift of joy… “The fruit of the Spirit in our lives is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” There is no hint of grumpiness being a fruit of the Spirit of God.
2. Jesus cared for people and intervened helpfully in their circumstances.
So another take away today might be the realization that when our wine runs out and we feel like we are all but done-in, Jesus cares and is there to turn our sadness into joy, despair into hope, grief into comfort, guilt and shame into forgiveness, confusion into wisdom, sour into sweet, bitterness into peace, hatred into love, anger into calm, our frustration into patience and so on…
3. Jesus’ miracles are designed not only to help people but to bring people to belief in him.
Following his resurrection in John 20:29 Jesus was talking to “doubting” Thomas. He said, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing.” That would be us…So the third take away today is simply this: “Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow! I believe in him and I commit my life to being a follower of Christ.”
