The Wine Maker
Series: The Grave Robber
John 2:1-11
Everybody has days that will define the rest of their lives. Days that will leave us different than we were the day before. Choosing which college to attend or what to major in, getting married, having kids, the death of a loved one, etc… In a brief moment, life is divided into before and after. There’s no going back, and the future that lies ahead of us rushes in like a hurricane. It’s a new day. It’s a new normal. It’s the first day of the rest of your life. This was that day for Jesus. For nearly thirty years Jesus had worked in His father’s carpentry shop; for as long as He could remember, people had always known Him as a carpenter. But on the third day of a weeklong wedding feast, this cabinetmaker became the Wine Maker.
Read John 2:1-11
Our passage this morning opens with the words: “On the third day.” Through the telling of this story, I believe that John may have been pointing to the resurrection of Jesus. I believe that John is preparing us for what he is building up to throughout his Gospel: that Jesus Christ would be buried, and on the third day He would rise from the dead. He would then make preparations for the great wedding feast of the Lamb of God, when He would gather together all those who would be His guests in the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ first sign would point to His final sign through which He would reveal His glory.
After Jesus and His disciples arrive at the wedding, Mary approaches Him and says, “They have no wine.” Some scholars believe that the bridal family may have been His relatives, or maybe it was even the wedding of one of His younger sisters. They also believe that Mary wasn’t asking for, or even expecting, a miracle, but instead she was saying, “We don’t have enough wine for you and your disciples, you’re gonna have to send some of them to the store to buy some more.”
But I believe that Mary has known all along who Jesus was and what He was capable of. Keep in mind, up to this point in His life, Jesus hasn’t performed any miracles yet. But Mary sensed that His public ministry began with His baptism and the calling of the first of His disciples. So she expects that He’s going do something amazing. And so, even though Jesus was reluctant to begin His ministry before its time, Mary tells the servants: “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
The first point I want to make regarding our passage this morning is that: Miracles happen when we understand that…
Jesus cares about our everyday requirements.
Mary knows that Jesus cares about people. He cared enough about the newlyweds that He didn’t want them to be unnecessarily embarrassed. He cared enough about those in attendance that He wanted them to enjoy themselves.
Jesus cares about our everyday needs, both big and small. There’s nothing too predictable or routine to pray about. Now, If He was the little god that many people make Him out to be with their cut-and-paste Christianity, then He would only be able to take care of the big things. But since He’s the big God that He is, He’s able to take care of everything in our lives. Listen to what Jesus said:
Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Mt. 10:29-31)
If God cares about these little two-for-a-penny sparrows, then surely He cares about every detail in our lives. His care is so exact that it includes a running count of the number of hairs on our heads. Now that may not mean much to someone like me, but for most folks it would fall into the same category as things like what they’re going to cook for dinner, or when they’re going to find time to wash the car. You see, God is interested in everything. We have a BIG God that specializes in small things.
Around the time of the founding of our country, there was a popular religious movement called Deism. Deism is different than Atheism in the fact they believe that God created the world, they’re just opposed to Christianity’s personal idea of God. They believed that God set the world into motion and then forgot about it to attend to other things. But that’s a god who is too small to be God. My God lives and moves and reigns over everything. He’s so personal that He promises to live inside us if we just ask Him. He’s so big that He’s involved in every single detail of the ongoing process of life on this earth. He knew which tie I was going to where this morning before (I) Michele even picked it out. He knows your name and He knows your need. This is the mighty God we serve.
The second point I would like to make about this story is that: Miracles happen when we understand that
Jesus changes our everyday realities.
Jesus didn’t come to bring us comfort, He came to bring us change. He has a way of making our impossible situations possible. He didn’t come to bring new ideas; He came to make new people. Jesus didn’t just make the water look like wine; He completely changed the water into wine…and not just regular wine, it was the best of the best of wine. Some people have trouble believing in miracles like these, but that's only because they don’t understand the kind of God we have.
We have a God Who is in the business of change. The world’s definition of change is to get a new hairdo or a new wardrobe. Society tells you that in order to be successful you need to get a better job or learn a new skill. People want to lose weight or get a face lift. But Jesus doesn’t want to change your looks, He wants to change your heart. He wants to make you a new person. And when that change takes place, it’s gonna show on the outside. When Jesus changed the water into wine, the bridal family’s shame was turned to joy. The mood of the entire party was turned upside-down. And the disciples were changed also. The Bible says,
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. (Jn. 2:11)
This is what Jesus came to do. He came to change people. He came so that people would believe in Him and put their faith in Him.
Jewish custom was all about being ceremonially clean. So these water jars that Jesus used were mostly empty because the guests had used the water inside them to wash their feet and hands as they arrived, but it wasn’t so they would be physical clean. It was for ritual purity; to fulfill the Old Testament requirements for ceremonial washing. You see, John had a way of mixing events with figures of speech. So these jars represented the Old Testament law and its inability to make a person truly clean.
When Jesus came into contact with these jars, he changed their contents. He filled them with His new wine. What the Old Testament law couldn’t accomplish was changed with the wine of the new covenant that Jesus came to bring. Wine is a symbol of God’s grace that comes into our lives undeserved, and changes us from the inside out. In Rev. 21:5 we read:
“Behold, I make all things new.”
The old system of having to live up to an impossible legal code has been replaced by the new wine of God’s grace which washes our sins away. We are cleaned from the inside out. Our sins aren’t just forgiven, we’re given a new heart that desires to love God and live for Him.
There’s no limit to God's grace. I’ve heard people say before, with good intentions, that “God always seems to give me just enough to get by”. NOT MY GOD! My God never gives just enough, it’s always more than enough…with plenty left over. If you don’t believe me, just look at creation:
He didn’t create just enough trees; He created more than enough.
He didn’t create just enough mountains; He created more than enough.
He didn’t create just enough ocean; He created more than enough.
He doesn’t give just enough life and joy; He gives more than enough.
If Jesus can turn water into wine…surely He can turn your sadness into joy, your fear into faith, and your death into life.”
The third point I would like to make concerning this story is that: Miracles happen when we understand that…
Jesus caters to our everyday requests.
Keep in mind that there were six jars containing somewhere between 20 and 30 gallons a piece. So altogether the jars contained anywhere from 120 to 180 gallons of wine. That’s a lot of wine! There’s no way the guests could’ve drank that much wine. So why did Jesus give so much? I’ll tell you why, we just talked about it…because our God is an over-the-top giver. He never gives just enough; he always gives more than enough. What the guests had only tasted before, they now drank in abundance. It’s the same thing Jesus did when he fed the multitude. He multiplied five loaves and two fish so that 5,000 men and their families were fed. And when everyone had eaten all they could stomach, there were still twelve baskets of bread and fish left over. He gave them more than they could possibly eat. But that’s the way God gives.
Paul experienced this kind of abundant grace, when he said,
although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. (1 Tim. 1:13-14)
Jesus said,
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (Jn. 10:10)
I love what the Psalmist says about the abundance of our God,
You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Ps. 145:16)
God’s grace means that he is generous to a fault, meaning that God owes us nothing yet He gave us everything when He gave us His Son.
The Bible says He is…
able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, (Eph. 3:20)
He loves to bless those who, by the world’s standards, don’t deserve to be blessed.
To a dying thief on a cross, He gave the gift of paradise.
To a woman caught in an immoral act, He gave the gift of God’s amazing grace and forgiveness.
To a grieving father, He gave back a child from the grip of death.
To the one who denied Him, He gave the keys of the kingdom.
He caters us with His gifts. And to anyone who comes with their requests, He gives the promise of abundant life. Both in the here and now, and for eternity.
When they filled the jars, they filled them to the brim. And when the master of the feast tasted the wine his eyes lit up. He couldn’t believe what he was tasting.
And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” (Jn. 2:10)
Jesus always saves the best for last. The world puts its best up front and things go downhill from there. But when God shows up things go from good to best. John wrote:
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. (Jn. 1:16)
We have been filled to the brim with the grace of God. One day, as we enter His kingdom, we will see things we never dreamed possible. Everything you’ve ever been afraid of will be gone, and in place of it will be the best of everything you can imagine and much, much more. Heaven is the place where our deepest desires will be met. We will be overcome with joy and we’ll say, just like the master of the feast , “You’ve saved the best til now!” The Bible assures us that the best the world has to offer us now is only a hint of what is yet to come. The difference will be as different as water is to wine.
I find it interesting that Jesus waited until their resources had run dry before He performed the miracle. Only when people come to the end of their supply are they ready to receive what Jesus has to offer. Do you want what Jesus has to offer, or are you satisfied with worldly things? Are you satisfied with yourself and your television and your computer and your job and your family?
The cost of the new wine that Jesus offers is thirst. Are you thirsty? Do you want something more? If that’s you then you need to come to Jesus, because He is the God of abundance and life. As you stand there with your empty life, I invite you to follow the instructions of Mary when she says, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Don't seek miracles. Follow Jesus. And if you follow Him long enough and far enough, you'll find yourself in the middle of some miracles!
