Introduction (Personal story)
It was a life defining moment. It was the Fall of 2013 when I received a phone call in my office. It was the nurse at the doctor’s office where my wife had had an appointment and she said I needed to come to the hospital. Earlier that week, my wife had felt a lump in her breast and had gone in to have it examined. It concerned the doctor so he sent her next door to have an immediate sonogram.
On that day we sat in that sonogram room as the tech examined the image of the lump before she finally said, “It has all of the hallmarks of breast cancer. We need to set up an appointment to have a biopsy done as soon as possible.” Three days later the biopsy was completed and the surgeon confirmed it was cancer. And while they thought it was a simple case that was caught early, he ordered a PET scan just to be sure.
The PET scan revealed the cancer had spread to some of the vertebrae on my wife’s back and to her femur on her right leg.
I share this story not for sympathy but because no one wants to hear the diagnosis of cancer. And one of the things such a life defining moment does is it almost forces a person to pray. Early in November of that same year, my wife’s femur broke in the spot where the cancer had been. The surgeon who performed the surgery didn’t pull any punches. He said he could insert a rod in Dee’s leg to join the break, but he said due to the radiation treatment and the dead bones from the cancer that the fracture would never heal properly.
Six weeks later the screws holding that rod in place snapped. Four weeks after that the rod in Dee’s leg broke in two. It just seemed to be getting worse. Now I believe that God has the power. I have faith that God can accomplish the healing. I believe miracles are possible and that they still happen. So I got down on my knees to beg God for a miracle for my wife.
Have you been to the point in some life’s situation where you have asked God for a miracle. I said “God you can bring what is dead back to life. You can heal my wife’s leg completely. You could even remove that rod in her leg if you wanted to and you could glorify your name. Lord, I am asking for a miracle.” It didn’t happen. My wife still walks with a cane.
Have you been there? It can lead us to make some conclusions about God. Maybe God is incapable of handling it. Maybe he doesn't care. Maybe he's not there. How do we handle it when the miracle we desperately want fails to happen?
If that’s you I want to explore today’s passage to see if we can find an answer.
Text:
John 2:1-12
Context
Today’s Passage is about a wedding. So to better understand the story, we need to know a little about 1st Century Jewish weddings.
Weddings in Jesus Day
Marriage in Jesus' day began with a betrothal period, up to a year before the marriage celebration. The man and woman enter into a binding agreement to marry, in fact more binding than our "engagements" in our Western culture today. In Jesus day, the man would give the bride's father a bridal gift, a form of compensation to the father (some of which becomes a dowry the father gives to the daughter at the marriage to help provide economic stability to the marriage bond).
During the betrothal period, the couple doesn't live together or consummate the marriage though they are considered husband and wife, and the bond cannot be broken without an official certificate of divorce. Once that period is over, the marriage is celebrated. The groom and his friends go to the bride's home, and then escort the bride in a festive procession to the groom's home, where a grand celebration takes place. There is probably some kind of exchange of vows and some kind of religious ceremony, we aren't sure.
The groom probably gives his bride gifts. And after the marriage feast, the bride and groom enter the nuptial chamber and the marriage is consummated. It’s important to realize that the festivities could go on sometimes for a week or more. It appears this is the case in our text today.
John 2:1 starts with
“On the third day” - what does that mean? If we use the last chapter as a guide, it would have been on the third day since the calling of Phillip to be Jesus’ disciple.
So on the third day,
John 2:1
…a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
(Note Enough Wine)
I want us to stop here for a moment to explain because we might not appreciate the problem explained in this passage. In our culture, we could take a quick trip to Wal-Mart or a 24 hour liquor store to solve the problem without any fuss. But you remember that wedding ceremonies often went on for days. That would require a great deal of wine, and there were no 24 hour liquor stores. There is no way to get enough wine quickly enough.
And it would have been an huge embarrassment to the groom and his family to only supply water to drink for the festivities -- especially at a time when the groom's ability to be a good provider is so clearly on display. So to the people in this story, this is a larger crisis than not enough booze!
So Mary, the mother of Jesus, intervenes. She seems to be aware of the situation; she seems to be involved in the details of the wedding celebration. She goes to Jesus and tells him about the problem believing he might be able to provide the solution.
And men, Mary has that same skill that my mom and my wife have – I think it is a woman’s gift – she asks for help without ever directly asking for it. “Uh Jesus. There’s no more wine.” Did you notice that. There’s no request. Just an open ended statement.
And then she looks at her son waiting for his answer. I like to imagine that there’s probably a second or two of silence as Jesus processes this. And once it hits Jesus that his mother is hoping he will help, he responds. (vs 4)
John 2:4
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
This verse is packed full of questions. First, what tone did Jesus use when he said “Woman.” Was it the Archie Bunker tone? Did Jesus snap at His mother? WOMAN, what are you thinking by involving me.
If we read this in the Greek, the word for woman in this text does not denote any disrespect. I don't think it was an Archie Bunker moment. Instead, I think it was how some translations have opted to put it. They use the phrase “Dear woman.” That likely catches the tone.
The second question is this. Why did Jesus address his mother as “Woman.” Since he was talking to his mother, you’d expect him to say “mom” or at least “mother.”
I think it’s possible that Jesus does this intentionally. What do I mean? I think Jesus addresses her as women instead of mother to make a distinction between her being family and her request. I think Jesus was making a distinction with Mary about using family requests to drive his ministry. Jesus was verbally making sure Mary knew that his ministry was driven by his own agenda and not by hers.
The third question comes from Jesus’ phrase, “My hour has not yet come..” What does that mean? This is important because I think it is the key to the passage. There are some who say Jesus was not ready to start his public ministry. The author tells us this is Jesus first (public) miracle. But after I studied the phrase, "My hour", I don’t think that totally captures what Jesus means.
Jesus used the phrase "My hour" or "My time" five other times in the gospels. What I discovered is fascinating. Every other time Jesus used “My hour” or “my time” in reference to himself in the gospels, it was always a reference to his final hours on the cross. There are no exceptions.
Now consider that in light of this passage. The wine at the wedding has run out. Mary seeks Jesus intervention. And Jesus replies, “Woman, why are you getting me involved. My hour has not yet come.”
I don’t think we can define the meaning in terms of simple reluctance to start his ministry. Instead it is a pointed statement addressing his real purpose for coming. It indicates that Jesus knew even before he performed his first public miracle that his ultimate purpose would be fulfilled through the cross and an empty grave. Keep this statement in mind as we complete the story.
Mary hears Jesus statement and she says in vs. 5
John 1:5
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
In light of what we just learned, we can see that Mary is not baiting her son into doing something he doesn't want to do. Instead, she comes to Jesus in faith and submission. She humbly defers to the authority of Jesus as she looks at the servants and says, "Do whatever he tells you." She has given up control of the situation.
John 2:6-10
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
This fascinates me. Back in the middle ages, it was believed that all matter consisted of four elements. Wind, Water, Air, and Fire. So some industrious nobles got the idea that if you mixed items consisting of these different elements together, you could make different elements. So they employed people known as alchemists.
They’re hope was to find the elemental recipes for precious metals like silver and gold. They didn’t discover gold and silver. Instead, what they discovered was is that there are a number of different elemental items – If you have heard of the periodic table or the table of elements, that is what was developed from this science.
And they discovered if you combine elements, you don’t get new elements, you get what we call compounds. Things like sodium cloroxide (salt) and
The ability to transmute objects had always fascinated people.
In this passage, there is an unexplained transmutation that takes place. There is nothing added to the water – it simply changes from water to wine. Whatever Jesus said or did caused the atoms and molecules of that water to rearrange in an unexplainable way. And then we see that that newly created wine is good. When it’s brought to the head master, he tastes it and exclaims “this is really good stuff.” And he exclaims, “Usually the hosts bring out the good stuff first and when the guests taste buds have been dulled by drinking too much, they bring out the cheap stuff-- but you have saved the best till last.
Notes
Now I have to stop here to identify another potential question / an ethical conflict of sorts. There are people who read this passage and use it as justification for drinking and partying. Their logic goes “When the alcohol ran out, Jesus didn’t just go buy a keg, he created one.” And if Jesus created alcohol from water at a party, then he must be okay with partying in general. And that term "partying" almost always means "consuming excess alcohol."
Let me reply. First, my household is alcohol free. However, the only restriction against alcohol consumption in the N.T. is against getting drunk. That said, if you use this passage to justify partying and that’s the point you are getting from it, you have missed the deeper, richer picture this passage develops. In verse 11 we will see that Jesus created the wine for a completely different reason than to keep the party going.
Second, the head mast gives us a "this is how the world usually does it" case when he exclaims about the quality of the wine. That’s why he is surprised that this party is different. He is not saying “This is how it is supposed to be.”
If I preached a message about let’s say speeding – and I said “usually people speed unless there is a cop around.” and you took that to mean that “it’s okay to speed unless there is a cop around” I would tell you that’s not what I meant. I never said that.
And if I had the power of Jesus and made you a brand new Mustang and you said “Oh, he must be okay with me doing 120 through town. He gave me a Mustang”, how do you think I would respond when you get arrested and blame me? I going to say, “What you do behind the wheel is your responsibility.”
Please don’t take what the head master says as moral law. We cannot make the mistake of substituting a historical observation (or truth) with a moral truth. The head master was observing the norm of society, not making a morality statement about getting drunk. And please don’t rob this passage of its deeper meaning by misapplying the text to partying.
Let’s get back to the text. I said the text will tell us the reason Jesus turned the water into wine. Look at verse 11 and 12.
John 2:11-12
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
The reason Jesus turned the water into wine was to reveal who he was to his disicples. They knew where the wine came from. The head waiter did not – he simply knew the results. Jesus grants his disciples a special revelation of His identity. John tells us this would be the first (of many miracles) the disciples would witness.
Jesus uses this miracle to help build his disciples’ faith.
John says, “and his disciples believed in him.”
Application
In this passage I see two lessons we can take home.
Lesson one
I. The miracle we seek is not always the best miracle.
Let me explain. In our text, Mary was looking for a “miracle” lower case “m” when she comes to Jesus with the problem of the family running out of wine. Mary sees her son as an answer to an immediate pressing need. Jesus responds to her as woman, not mom, and basically says, “That’s not my purpose – My hour is different – I came to provide a MIRACLE (CAPITAL M)”
Jesus role is not to solve every dilemma that you and I bring before him. Instead, he came to cure mankind from the curse of sin. That is what his hour is all about.
And that is something that we as followers of Jesus should be able to see clearly from our side of history because we see the cross. We can look back and see it.
I think we pray sometimes and our greatest hope is that we will see a miracle (little m),
But that wasn’t Jesus primary purpose. We should see the cross and the empty grave and know that God has provided the capital M miracle through it.
Personal Application
I pray every day that my wife’s cancer will remain in remission. To me it’s a miracle – small m. It’s not a capital M miracle because I realize that even if my wife was declared cancer free that one day she is going to die – I’m going to die. I am so grateful that even when I don’t see the answer to the Little M’ request about complete healing, that the Big M miracle is waiting.
So Despite things like cancer, or dementia, or strokes, or arthritis, God through Jesus guaranteed a new life, a new creation, through the cross – that we have new life because the tomb is empty.
When we come before Jesus with requests for miracles, we as followers of Jesus should always keep a Capital M perspective on Jesus’ ministry. I’m not saying that little “M” requests are wrong. I’m just saying that when we genuinely seek to discover the Big M miracle, that one is always revealed.
Lesson 2
II. Jesus doesn’t play hide and seek with people who seek to discover Him.
I said last week that the word “glory” always carries with it the idea of something revealed. He is always ready to reveal his glory to those who are earnestly seeking him. When we read in the context of the last chapter, it almost seems that the writer is giving an illustration of what he said earlier in chapter one – We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only sent from God, full of grace and truth. John says “this was the first case of Jesus revealing his glory to the disciples.”
So if you are out there in this worship time and you don’t know Jesus, but you genuinely seek him, he will reveal himself. He wants you to come to him and believe his claims about who he is. If you will investigate, he will show himself to you.”
Invitation:
