180 GALLONS OF GRACE
John 2:1-11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. RUNNING THE SHOW -- Michael McPherson
“I am a deputy sheriff assigned to courthouse security. As part of my job, I explain court procedures to visitors. One day I was showing a group of ninth-graders around. Court was in recess and only the clerk and a young man in custody wearing handcuffs were in the courtroom.
"This is where the judge sits," I began, pointing to the bench. "The lawyers sit at these tables. The court clerk sits over there. The court recorder, or stenographer, sits over here. Near the judge is the witness stand and over there is where the jury sits. As you can see," I finished, "there are a lot of people involved in making this system work."
At that point, the prisoner raised his cuffed hands and said, "Yeah, but I'm the one who makes it all happen."
2. CHICKEN SCRATCH -- Tony Belmonte
Our nephew was getting married to a doctor's daughter. At the wedding reception, the father of the bride stood to read his toast, which he had scribbled on a piece of scrap paper.
Several times during his speech, he halted, overcome with what I assumed was a moment of deep emotion. But after a particularly long pause, he explained,
"I'm sorry. I can't seem to make out what I've written down." Looking out into the audience, he asked, "Is there a pharmacist in the house?"
B. TEXT
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." 4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." 5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. 8Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, 9and 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 10and 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."
C. THESIS
We’re going to look at why it’s better to abstain from alcoholic beverages, then at Jewish wedding customs in N.T. times, and lastly at 5 foreshadowings of Christ’s first miracle at this wedding.
I. DID CHRIST CONTRIBUTE TO DRUNKENNESS?
A. WHY ABSTAIN FROM ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
1. Today I’m speaking on the miracle of Christ turning the water into wine at the Wedding of Cana. Inevitably, when this passage is brought up, some think that Christ’s actions legitimize drinking alcohol or at least social drinking. Nothing could be further from the truth.
2. I want to briefly state why I believe every Christian should abstain from the use of alcoholic beverages. I don’t think that one glass of wine or beer will send you to hell, but I believe every Christian should avoid alcohol as they would a snake. Prov. 23:32 says, “In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.”
3. On your first handout, “Why Abstain from Alcohol?”, are listed ten reasons Christians shouldn’t drink:
a. Harmful to the Body b. Bad Stewardship
c. Destroys Testimony d. Drunkenness – a Sin
e. Bad for Spiritual Growth f. Devil’ Foothold
g. Other Christians Stumble h. Brings Disgrace
i. Is for Glory of God? j. Not Necessary
These alone should be sufficient to compel most people to quit drinking.
B. WHY N.T. CHRISTIANS DRANK “WINE”
1. The second handout is titled, “Wine Drinking in N.T. Times” by Robert H. Stein. This handout makes clear, from dozens of quotes from antiquity, that N.T. “wine” was no more than purified water. The only other method of purification was boiling which was too costly & time consuming. For “wine” that was 3 parts water and one part wine to get the effects of two martinis, you’d have to drink 22 glasses, which would affect the bladder long before it affected the mind!
2. Secondly, I believe the wine produced by miracle at the Wedding of Cana was non-alcoholic, the first-ever Welch’s grape juice! I have heard supposed scholars say that it wasn’t wine unless it was alcoholic. Those scholars didn’t study the Word on it.
3. There are four Bible words used of “wine”:
a. Shekar – “strong drink.” This is used of every kind of drink that is intoxicating. Its use is condemned in the Bible with one exception; Proverbs 31:6, as a painkiller for those in grief or physical suffering.
b. Tirosh – grape juice, “new wine found in the cluster,” Isaiah 65:8. The juice inside the grape, when it is still inside the grape, is called “wine”! “The presses break forth with new wine”(Prov. 3:10) – it’s called “wine” when it is just forced out of the grape, even though it hasn’t had time to ferment. Yet it is called “wine”.
c. Yayin – it may or may not be intoxicating. It is used like the word “drink”. In Isa. 16:10 it is used of grape juice; “no one treads out wine at the presses.” In Isa. 20:1 it is used of intoxicating drink. So you can only tell which one by the context.
d. N.T. Oinos – is sometimes intoxicating and other times not intoxicating.
4. So any juice that was in the grape, or had just come out of the grape, was regularly called “wine” in the Bible. Welch’s Grape Juice would have been called “wine.”
II. DISTURBANCE AT THE CANA WEDDING
A. JEWISH WEDDING CUSTOMS
1. Weddings in Jesus’ day were week-long festivals. Often the whole town was invited and everyone came, because it was an insult to refuse a Wedding Invitation.
2. Weddings can be tricky. I heard about one minister whose wife asked, “How did the wedding go?” He answered, “Everything went fine, until I asked the Bride if she would ‘obey’, and she responded, “Do you think I’m crazy?” And then the Groom, in a sort of stupor, said “I do!” Then things began to happen!” [But back to the story…]
3. To take care of so many people, careful preparations had been made. To run out of food & drink was more than embarrassing, it was a social disaster. Evidently, a lot more people showed up than the groom was expecting. The seven-day celebration was probably halfway through when word came to the Groom, "We're out of wine."
4. That’s like Burger King running out of hamburgers or the Donut Wheel running out of donuts! It would be a terrible insult to his guests and his reputation would be shot. It would've almost been better if he hadn’t gotten married! The happy occasion would soon turn into an embarrassment. Like the wine, his hopes ran out.
B. INTERVENTION BY MARY & JESUS
1. Into this nightmare stepped the perceptive heart of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Remember, she herself had experienced public shame connected with her own wedding so many years before. She didn't have the means or ability to solve this dilemma, but she knew that the time of Jesus’ revealing had come, and that this situation might be the catalyst of His first miracle.
2. Years before, when Jesus was 12 and told her, “Don’t you know I must be about My Father’s business?”(Lk. 2:49), she had been God’s agent to hinder His striking out too early in ministry. Now, with his reaching the age of thirty, his baptism by John in the Jordan and the calling of the first of his disciples, she again acted as God’s agent, this time to launch Him/ encourage Him to step out.
3. Mary approached Jesus and said, “They have no more wine.” His reply sounded like a refusal; but it wasn’t. As a human, He was King David’s son & hers; but as God He was David’s Lord and hers, and His ministry couldn’t begin except by the Father’s word. Mary, in confident faith that the hour of God’s will had arrived, instructed the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.” The implication is, “Even if it what He tells you to do sounds odd (like serving water for wine), do it anyway!”
4. We know what followed, “the first of His miraculous signs” (2:11). [This tells us that Jesus never performed any miracles before this. Some apocryphal gospels, which supposedly record childhood miracles of Jesus (fashioning a bird out of clay, then making it come to life and fly away), are spurious.]
III. FIVE MEANINGS OF THE MIRACLE
This unusual miracle teaches us some rich and unusual truths…
A. MIRACLES OCCUR WHEN WE TRUST HIM WITH OUR NEEDS
1. Jesus cares about your everyday needs, not just our spiritual needs. Jesus said His life mission was that his joy might be in us and that our joy might be complete (John 15:11).
2. He’s just as concerned about the little problems of your life as he is the big problems. He sees every sparrow each time they land on the ground. He keeps track of the number of hairs on your head. He calls the stars by name. He is a great God who is big enough to know about every detail of your life.
3. He is so personal he promises to live within us if we only ask him. He holds the world together. He knows your name and he knows your need. That’s the mighty God we serve.
B. MIRACLES OCCUR BECAUSE JESUS CAN TRANSFORM THINGS
1. Jesus did not come to give us information; he came to give us a transformation. He has a way of taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.
2. The water didn’t just appear to be wine; it was transformed into wine. Our God is in the transformation business.
3. The world wants us to get a new hairdo or a new wardrobe. Society tells us to get a better job or learn a new skill. People want to lose weight or get a face lift. But Jesus does not want to change your looks, he wants to change your heart.
4. God doesn’t just want to give you a new suit; he wants to make you a new person. He does not want to rearrange you; he wants to transform you. You want to look better on the outside, and he wants to make you new on the inside. And when that transformation takes place on the inside, it will show on the outside.
5. Jesus is the God over Nature. Jesus has power over all the various forms of matter. He recreated Malchus’ ear by touching him. He stilled the winds and the waves by His command. He multiplied a little boys lunch to feed 5-7,000 people.
6. At this wedding He did even more: He altered the atomic/ chemical/ cellular basis of water until it was transformed into wine. He never touched the water or spoke to it; He simply “wished” it to be so, and it was!
C. THIS MIRACLE PICTURES THE CHANGE FROM LAW TO GRACE
1. The 6 stone jars represented mankind, created on the sixth day, who through the Old Testament law are only clean outwardly. The inside of man was still unclean.
2. But through the Gospel Christ’s atoning death, the wine of His blood could be applied to our inner lives, washing away our sins and trespasses! They became Vessels of Celebration!
3. The deadness of the Old Testament law was made alive with the wine of the new covenant that Jesus came to bring. Wine is the symbol of God’s grace that comes into our lives undeserved, and transforms us from the inside out.
4. He says, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5). The old system of having to live up to an impossible legal code has been replaced by the wine of God’s grace which washes our sins away.
D. THIS MIRACLE SHOWS JESUS’ EXTRAVAGANT NATURE
1. When Jesus does something, it is never ‘just enough’; there’s always plenty left over. The six jars contained up to 30 gallons apiece, that means as much as 180 gallons! That is a lot of wine. There is no way the guests could have consumed that much wine.
2. Why did Jesus give so much wine? Because he is an extravagant giver. It was a probably a kindness to the new-married couple. Remember as poor widow Elisha had poor oil to redeem her sons? She didn’t receive just enough oil to pay her debts, but was given so much extra she support herself & her family for some time (2 Kgs. 4:7).
3. When Jesus multiplied the little boy’s lunch of five loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 men and their families, there were twelve baskets of undistributed portions left over for those who had no reserves! He gave abundantly!
4. Paul experienced God’s extravagant grace, for he said, “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief(1 Timothy 1:13).
5. The Message Version translates Psalm 145:16, “Generous to a fault, you lavish your favor on all creatures.” That’s what “grace” means: God is generous to a fault. He’s thrown open the Doors of heaven and gives everyone a free pass – all we must do is trust Christ for our sins.
6. To a dying thief on a cross he gave the gift of paradise. To a woman caught in adultery he gave the gift of amazing grace and forgiveness. To a grieving father he gave back a child from the shadow of death.
7. What gift do you need from Him? He is lavish with his gifts. Come with your requests, he gives abundant life here and eternal life in the life to come.
E. THIS MIRACLE ANTICIPATES THAT GOD’S BLESSINGS ARE ONLY STARTING
1. When the master of the banquet tasted the wine, he 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” (John 2:10).
2. Jesus always saves the best till last. The world puts its best up front and things go downhill from there. One day as we enter his kingdom we’ll see sights we never dreamed possible.
3. We will hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. . . enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:23). Rapturous joy will overtake us and we will say, “You have saved the best till now!”
4. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). The best that the world has to offer now cannot be compared to what God has prepared for us!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Experience Grace
1. Dwayne Savaya left work early so he could have some uninterrupted study time right before the final exam in his Bible School Youth Issues class. When he got to class, everybody was doing their last minute studying.
2. Dwayne said, “The teacher came in and said he would briefly review with us. Most of it was familiar, but some things I‘d never heard of. When I questioned him about it, he said that they were in the book and we were responsible for everything in the book. We were all nervous about it.
3. Finally it was time to take the test. “Leave them face down on the desk until I tell you to start,” the professor instructed. When we turned them over, every answer on the test was filled in!
4. The bottom of the last page said the following: “This is the end of the Final Exam. All the answers on your test are correct. You will receive an 'A' on the final exam.
5. The reason you passed the test is because the creator of the test took it for you. All the work you did in preparation for this test did not help you get the A. You have just experienced...grAce.”
6. He then went around the room and asked each student, “What is your grade? Do you deserve the grade you are receiving? How much did all your studying help you achieve your final grade?” Dwayne said, “Now I am not a crier, but I had to fight back tears when answering those questions and thinking about how Jesus had passed the test for me.”
7. The Prof said he had never done this kind of final before and probably would never do it again, but because of the content of many of our class discussions, he felt like we needed to experience grace.
8. Have you experienced the forgiveness and unmerited love of God in your life?
B. ALTAR CALL
1. Do you need transformation? Are you tired of being limited to your own resources? Do you want something more from God?
2. Prayer.
