The Glorious Wedding John 2:1-11 BBC 1-9-22
In March of 2004 a group of Boy Scouts were on their annual excursion into Northern Utah’s Logan Canyon
The scouts had carved snow caves deep into a snow ridge at an elevation of 7,400 ft.
Randy Maurer, a father of one of the scouts was quoted as saying
You’re pretty cozy inside of them
You’re completely oblivious to what’s going on outside
After the 39 scouts and leaders went to sleep Friday night
A huge 500 foot overhang of snow collapsed just before 4 am
It buried the entrances to the caves under 6-8 feet of snow
Insulated by the thick snow around them, the scouts were unaware of the problem
One group awoke and realized the entrance was buried
They managed to escape by digging out through the vent hole for their snow cave
The landscape of the mountain side had completely changed
They started probing the snow with their shovels in order to find their fellow scouts caves
Other scout leaders, sleeping in a nearby trailer heard the collapse and called the sheriff’s department
They only had an approximate location to where the caves were
Emergency crews used shovels and snow probes to locate the scouts
Some of the boys, ages 12-16, awakened when they were jabbed by the avalanche probes the rescuers were pushing into the snow
By 7:05 am, everyone had been pulled from the caves uninjured
Some of these scouts were woke to the news that they had been rescued from a danger they knew nothing about
One of the most famous events in the Bible involves a young couple that needed a rescue
And they probably had no idea that a rescue was called for
While they were enjoying the afterglow of their wedding ceremony
Jesus was organizing a rescue party for their reception
READ JOHN 2:1-11
This wedding has a major problem on its hands
And Jesus is on the scene
When Jesus is on the scene, our problems can become His Glory
This – first of His signs, manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him
The Glory of Jesus, the carpenter, had not yet been seen
But it was about to burst onto the scene
Occasion of this Sign
A marriage in Cana
This event takes place early in Jesus’ ministry
It says on the third day
And this probably means 3 days after He called Philip and Nathanael
Cana, a town near Nazareth would have been well known by Jesus
And apparently Jesus was well know, hence His invitation
Wedding feasts often lasted 7 days
And we thought wedding receptions are crazy long nowadays
But, as it so often does, something went wrong at this wedding
Something always goes wrong
For me and my wife, Jayna, we made the mistake of choosing a song for our candle lighting ceremony that was almost 4 minutes long
How long does it take two people to light a candle?
30-40 seconds?
That makes for over 3 minutes of just standing there staring at each other
In front of the whole church
Trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the moment
There is a story of a young couple very much in love who were getting married at a church
Sue, the bride was very nervous about the big occasion
So, the Pastor chose one verse that he felt would be a great encouragement to them. 1 John 4:18 which says
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear”
Rather unwisely the pastor asked the best man to read it
And to say that the pastor had felt that this was a very apt verse for Sue and that he would be preaching on it later in the service
However, the best man was not a regular churchgoer and so he did not know the difference between John’s Gospel and the first letter of John
So he introduced his reading by saying that the pastor felt this was a very apt verse for Sue
But he read John 4:18, which says
“You have five husbands and the one you now have is not your husband.”
There is a lesson in there for all us preachers
Something always seems to go wrong at weddings
This wedding was no exception
This wedding ran out of wine
Mary, the mother of Jesus brings this to the attention of Jesus
Lesson here, when you have a problem, take it to Jesus
Did Mary expect a miracle? Seems unlikely
Who knows, Mary had not yet seen any miracles done by her Son
As we read in vs. 11, this was the first of His signs
She knew her child was special
If angels announced the birth of your son you would think he was something special
She did know that He was the Son of God
But, Jesus’ answer to His mother seems strange to a modern reader
Woman, is that like WOMAN?!?
Mothers, what if told your son to take out the trash and his reply was
Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come
I think this child would soon realize that his hour HAD INDEED come
And he had better take out the trash!
But Jesus’ statement here is not as harsh as it sounds
No, it was a polite, kind and respective expression
In John 19:26 we see Jesus use the same term while on the cross
Woman, behold your Son
However, the phrase that follows
What does this have to do with me
Was also a common expression
In Greek it referred to a difference in realms or relations
Demons used this Greek expression when they were confronted by Christ in Mark 1:24
What do you want with us
What does this have to do with me is paired with
My hour has not yet come
Mary had to learn a painful lesson
Jesus is telling her
I can no longer do what you want
I have begun My Father’s ministry
Jesus was committed to God the Father’s will
The time for His manifestation was in His Father’s hands
Jesus saying His time had not yet come occurs 5 times in the Gospel of John
Later, the fact that His time HAD come is mentioned 3 times
He had to wait on His Father’s timing
Mary, knowing Jesus could remedy the wine issue somehow tells the servants
Do whatever He tells you
Good advice, do whatever Jesus tells you to do
Little did they know, what was about to happen would be amazing
This is the occasion, the setting, of the sign
But we are about to see the
Meaning of the Sign
It was the manifestation of 3 things
Glory of His All-Sufficient Grace
The first word of Jesus’ involvement into the problem is
FILL – fill the jars
He who is full of His grace as we read in John 1:14
Delights in giving is a fullness of blessings
My cup runneth over
There are six 20 to 30 gallons jars filled to the brim
That is 120-180 gallons of water
To fill these was no easy task
The servants couldn’t just pull a hose over and fill them
They had to get buckets
Dip the water from a well or stream and carry it to the jars to fill them
And they would have had to make quite a few trips
Now, less than 120 gallons might have sufficed
I mean, changing a glass of water into wine would have made His point
But this was a manifestation of His all-sufficient grace
So He gives exceeding abundantly above all their expectations
Every jar was filled
He gives us as much of His grace as we have room for
The fact that these jars are mentioned as being for Jewish rites of purification is significant
They were literally used for ceremonial cleansing before and after meals
This represented Israel’s commitment through the Old Covenant to the ceremonial law
The people’s commitment to external ceremonies
Was neither sufficient nor satisfying spiritually
And yet, here in their midst is Messiah
Who had come to help them
The water was a picture, a symbol, of being cleansed
But here among them say the one who could truly cleanse them of all their sins
This contrast between the old order and the new way is amazing
And this miracle being the first at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry signifies the start of the new way
The New Covenant
Because of the Glory Jesus possesses the old way had passed away
The new has come
The ceremonies were just a picture and held no glory
Jesus has all the Glory
And because of that, He has all the grace
His all-sufficient grace
And he received glory in that
Next we see
Glory of His Transforming Power
Growing up, one of my favorite cartoons was Transformers
I watched it everyday
And I had to toys to go along with it
Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock the T-Rex, Soundwave, and a bunch more
In fact, I still have them, some in their original boxes
I loved playing with these toys
Transforming them from robot to vehicle
Or from robot to dinosaur and back again
From one form to another
Dr. Cliff Lewis puts it this way…
When looking at Jesus first miracle, in some respects
It seems like it is a little underwhelming
He’s turning one beverage into another
So what, we might say
But this isn’t squirting some flavoring into your bottled water
This man, who walked and talked like the rest of us, is revealing a glory such that it evoked the fear, love, and trust of the disciples
They “believed in him” (John 2:11)
We will get back to Dr. Lewis in a second
The water was made wine
In contrast, the miracle of Moses turning the Nile River to blood in Exodus
That was a sign of judgement
Jesus’ miracle, turning water into wine, was a sign of joy
Wine often symbolizes joy in the Bible
So blood speaks of judgement, the wine speaks of fullness of joy
But Jesus transforming water into wine
Using that word transform, I don’t think goes far enough
You students know, or should know, the difference between physical change vs chemical change
Science class time
Physical change – a usually reversible change in the physical properties of a substance, like freezing water
However, a chemical change – is usually irreversible chemical reaction involving the rearrangement of the atoms
This is actually what we see here in this miracle
Back to Dr. Lewis
At a molecular level, the water, basically hydrogen and oxygen, was changed into wine that contains sugars, yeast, and water
Which contain carbon and nitrogen along with oxygen and hydrogen
Thus, by changing water into wine Jesus demonstrated his authority over even the atomic structure of atoms by
Commanding oxygen and hydrogen atoms to disassemble and reform into other atoms of different configurations
The amount of energy it would take to perform this atomic deconstruction and reconstruction is staggering
This inter molecular energy being released is the source of the explosive energy from an atomic bomb
However, since Jesus caused the wine atoms to come back together
He would have to put this astronomical amount of energy into the atoms in order to have them reconstruct
To do so without any visible energy transformation of the liquid (John does not say anything about people noticing the transformation)
Indicates a mastery of natural law far beyond our current comprehension
And he accomplished it with no physical exertion
Thank you Dr. Lewis
This miracle is no less impressive than any others that Jesus performs later in His ministry
So Jesus’ first miracle, chemically change water into wine brings joy
His first miracle was a gracious indication of the joy which He provides by the Spirit
The sign points to Jesus as the Word in the flesh
Who is the mighty Creator
Think about this
God’s creation, each year turns water into wine and juice
Using the agricultural process
Here in John 2 He simply did the process immediately
These 120-180 gallons of fine wine were His gift to this young couple
His transforming power is His gift to the world
He transformed common men like Peter and John
By His wonder working power into vessels for use by the Father’s hands
Every soul converted to God has been as definitely and successfully operated upon by the Lord Jesus Christ as when He turned water into wine
The performing of this sign was the evidence of His ability to make all things new
To summarize Romans 12:1,2; present your bodies as a living sacrifice, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind
The Glory of His Transformation Power
Finally we see
Glory of His Unparalleled Character
Vs 10 you have kept the good wine until now
First off, this statement proves this was a sober party
They weren’t all falling down drunk
Proverbs 23 describes someone who is drunk with win
Proverbs 23:33-35
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter perverse things.
34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.
35 “They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I must have another drink.”
Since they could tell this wine was good wine, they had to be sober
A drunk wouldn’t know the difference
The banquet master found it to be superior to what they have been drinking
In contrast with the common custom in which the best wine was served first and the lesser quality later
The significance of this miracle is that Christianity is an advance over Judaism
God has kept the best gift – His Son- until now
It also shows us that the converted life is better than the purist of unconverted lives
Living a life as a saved person is the best, compared to a life without Jesus
Christ could do nothing else but give “the best”
As His words and works are true manifestations of His real Character
Christ alone is the maker of that wine which brings gladness without sorrow
All other wines, manufactured by others to cheer the heart of man are inferior imitations
Christ gives the best
The best joy
The best peace
The best hope
The best promises
The best friendship
The best reward
That is because of His unparalleled character
All He can give is the best
No one ever cared for me like Jesus
The first miracle – a transformation – pointed to the kind of transforming ministry Jesus would have
It also showed all that were in attendance His power and glory
It shows all of us who He really is, the Son of God
As good as His wine was at this wedding
As good as His gifts are now
There is yet something better kept for us
When we shall gather at the “marriage supper of the Lamb” we read about in Revelation 19:9
You have kept the best until now
There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and was given 3 months to live
As she began getting her things in order she visited her pastor to discuss certain aspects of her funeral
She told him which songs she wanted sung
What scriptures to be read
And what dress she wanted to be buried in
She also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible in her left hand
Everything was in order and as she got up to leave she remembered one last request
She said this is very important to me
I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand
The pastor obviously answered ooookay?!?
She explained
You see pastor, in all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners
I remember that when the dishes were being cleared after the main course
Someone would inevitably lean over to me and say
“Keep your fork”
It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew that something better was coming
Like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie
Something wonderful to end the meal
The pastor listened intently a smile coming across his face
She continued So I just want people to see me there with a fork in my hand and want them to wonder
What’s with the fork
Then I want you to tell them
Keep your fork, the best is yet to come
The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman goodbye
He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death
But he also knew that she had a better grasp of Heaven than most did
She knew and trusted that the best WAS yet to come
At the funeral every one that walked by the casket saw her wearing a beautiful dress with her favorite Bible in her left hand and a fork held in her right
Over and over the pastor heard the people ask the question
Why is she holding a fork, what’s with the fork
And his smile began to get larger and brighter each time
During his message the pastor told the people about their conversation
He explained the fork and what it symbolized to her
The pastor told everyone how he could not stop thinking about that fork
And how he hoped that they would not be able to stop thinking about it either
The best is yet to come
If your life has not yet been changed by the power of Jesus Christ
The best is yet to come for you
O, taste and see that the Lord is good
Give your life to Jesus today
Accept His gift of forgiveness and eternal life
He paid the price for your sins on the cross
Was dead and buried
But the best was yet to come
Just like how our Bible story began today in John 2:1
On the third day
On the third day Jesus rose again
Defeating death and the grave
So that we might have eternal life with Him
This was a glorious wedding
But that will be a Glorious Day
