A Reason to Put Faith in Jesus
John 2:1-11
Pastor Jim Luthy
It’s not only possible, but even probable that some of you came this evening struggling to put your faith in Jesus. Some may have come with a friend or with your parents with a general idea of who Jesus is and what Christianity looks like. You’ve seen good things and bad, good Christians and bad Christians, and heard inviting things about Jesus and other things that only make you scratch your head. Maybe you are the teenage son or daughter of someone who believes and you are struggling to put faith that is your own into Jesus. It could be that you’ve put your faith in Jesus, maybe even years ago, but in certain situations you struggle to trust him and obey or have confidence that he can or will make a difference in your life.
As we continue with our “long walk with Jesus,” we come across an event in Jesus’ life that caused his disciples to really trust him. My hope is that you, too, will put your faith in him completely so you can begin to discover new and greater joy by walking further and deeper and more completely in relationship with the now risen Jesus.
Consider the experience of young Daniel in the movie, “The Karate Kid.” Daniel finds himself a little out of place when he and his mother move from New Jersey to California. When a group of tough guys beat him up, he enlists the help of Mr. Miyagi, an elderly Japanese gardener from his apartment complex, to teach him karate for self-defense. Mr. Miyagi agrees to teach Daniel and takes him out to his home. Instead of jumping in to the lessons, Daniel is put to work painting a fence, waxing Mr. Miyagi’s car, and sanding the floors. Daniel is growing quite frustrated with his experience, much like some of you who are frustrated with your life experiences. He thought he was supposed to be doing something else.
What Daniel didn’t know is that Mr. Miyagi was teaching him all along. The movements from the chores he was doing were the basics of karate. When Mr. Miyagi demonstrated that he was actually teaching the young student all along, Daniel was amazed and put his trust in him. From that day on, Daniel put his faith in Mr. Miyagi to teach him karate and much more.
In the same way that Daniel discovered in that garden that Mr. Miyagi was the master teacher, the disciples discovered that Jesus was more than a master and teacher at a wedding in Cana. The Bible describes the event as the first miracle Jesus performed. In John’s account, concluding with verse 11, we learn that Jesus “thus revealed his glory and his disciples put their faith in him.” Let’s consider this story from their perspective.
For a moment, let’s forget all that we know about Jesus and the Scriptures except what has been encountered by those ordinary fishermen and laborers who attended this wedding with Jesus. Being Hebrew and under the rule of the Roman Empire, they were in a culture that had high expectations for a coming deliverer—a “braveheart” like William Wallace who would rise up and restore them as a nation. It was this expectation that led them to the wilderness to hear the message of John the Baptist. It was this expectation that caused their ears to perk up when John proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. Expecting to learn from Jesus, they called him “Rabbi,” which means “teacher.” After spending the day listening to Jesus, Andrew went and found his brother, Simon, and said, “We have found the Messiah.” Between their belief in the credibility of John the Baptist and the force of Jesus’ own character and quiet confidence, these otherwise unschooled, ordinary men decided to follow Jesus to see more about him and what he would do.
On the third day of following him, they found themselves with him at a wedding in a small town called Cana in Galilee.
Let’s pick up the story in John 2:3. “When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, 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 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."
Imagine, now, that you are one of those followers of Jesus. To this point you’ve been curious. You’ve been strongly attracted to Jesus. They’ve said he’s the Messiah. You have little idea what that means, but if it means something other than what life is like now, you’re interested. You heard him down by the river and along the shores of the sea of Galilee and you were impressed. He restored some semblance of hope to your world polluted by the religious oppression of the Jewish leaders and the political oppression of Caesar and the Roman Empire. It’s kind of like flipping through the channels of the television set and you come across something interesting and you say, “Hey, what’s this?”
A couple of days later, you’re at a wedding two counties over and how you got here all seems so surreal. Your “Messiah” has a mother and her big concern is that the party has no wine! What in the world did you get into?
Then Jesus does his thing and you only have one response. “Whoa!!!!!” You feel like dancing! If you had a football, you’d spike it. In total awe, you suddenly realize that this wasn’t one of those fleeting shot-in-the-dark, I-hope-God-is-in-this, grass roots political movement you’re on. God is here! Forget Elvis, God is in the building!
Sometimes our familiarity and our historical perspective blind us from the wonders of our God. We’ve read and heard the stories of Jesus’ many miracles. At least those of us who have been in church a while are familiar with statements Jesus made, like “I and the Father are one” and “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” We expect Jesus to look and sound like God, but to those disciples he was, at best, an exceptional man. The disciples hadn’t heard that Jesus was one with the Father. They hadn’t seen other miracles of Jesus or even heard about any. He hadn’t performed any yet! So imagine their awe when the servants dipped into those pots and pulled out wine. We would do well to recapture some of that wonder.
We also have the benefit of knowing how this whole “Messiah” gig is going to turn out. The disciples still didn’t understand that Jesus would die on the cross to satisfy God’s wrath for their sin. They didn’t know that Jesus’ final act would be a disappearing act from his own grave. For all they knew, this might be the movement that shakes up the Jews and shakes off the Romans and transforms their culture and their hope. With one miracle—with one dip of these religious cisterns—they learn that whoever this Jesus is, whatever he was, he had the power of the Almighty about him and he could be trusted.
This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. (NIV)
Our response to the miracle in Cana has to be the same. When we see Jesus changing water into wine, we, like the disciples, find a reason to put our faith in Jesus. First of all, the miracle itself ought to cause you to put your faith in the power of Jesus.
The idea of miracles invites us to spirituality. An ABC.com poll suggests that more than 90% of respondents believe in miracles. Benny Hinn, a popular televangelist and faith healer, attracts people to his ministry with the line, “This is your day for a miracle.” We look for miracles because they validate our belief in God. How many have told God at one time or another that if you could just witness one more miracle, you could do away with whatever unbelief exists in you?
Let me tell you, that is not the answer to your unbelief. Miracles are like money—you can never have enough. Do you want a miracle? Here’s a miracle—water turned into wine. Do you need another miracle? Jesus walked on water. Do you need another miracle? Peter walked on water! Do you need another miracle? I once was a promiscuous, drunken, selfish, and hopeless punk and Jesus changed my life with his amazing grace. That’s my miracle!
We can do one of two things with the miracles we see. One option would be to ask for another one, and keep asking for another one, and keep asking for another one, until you’ve taken faith completely out of the equation. The alternative is to look upon the miracle at Cana with the eyes of the witnesses who were there and look upon the miracles of our day, especially the miracle of transformed lives, and put your faith in Jesus. John comments (John 20:30-31),
“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, tapped into the power of the Father to change water into wine. Jesus would spend his life performing more miracles—calming the sea, healing the sick, raising the dead, and then, miracle of all miracles, the Father exercised that power and raised Jesus himself from the grave. When they rebuilt the Bionic Man, they said, “We can rebuild him. We have the technology.” Jesus can rebuild your life. He doesn’t need technology. He has the power. Put your faith in the power of Jesus.
Furthermore, this first miracle invites you to put your faith in the purpose of Jesus. You see, the miracle at the wedding also serves as a picture of the purpose of Jesus. Jesus took a party of impending gloom and restored joy to it. That’s what he wants to do in your life, too. He wants to restore your joy. In Psalm 4, the Psalmist expresses his delight in the greater joy found in God. He begins with a “my-party’s-out-of-wine” lament (Psalm 4:1):
“Answer me when I call you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.”
In other words, “Oh God. I’m out of wine!”
Verse 6 -“Many are asking, ‘Who can show us any good?’ Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.”
“Oh God. The guests are getting restless!” Then comes the miracle of God’s intervention.
“You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:7-8)
When the Psalmist put his faith in God, he tasted the better wine of greater joy. When the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine, he said, “You have saved the best till now.” When you and I put our faith in the purposes of God, we will see that Jesus purposes for us to drink in greater joy. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”(John 10:10).
Jesus purposes for you to have greater joy than any religion has to offer, including religious Christianity. It is worth noting that the jars Jesus used were “the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing.” They weren’t used for real washing, but for ceremonial washing. It was a rite of passage into the party meant to make everyone feel better about their cleanliness. That’s all religion is. It is this activity or that activity meant to make you feel better about yourself and your cleanliness before God. Whether it’s washing your hands before you enter a wedding ceremony, praying five times a day facing east, burning incense, praying on a rosary, or wearing holy undergarments, religious ceremony will never give us life. Jesus offers us a relationship with him, and walking in an intimate relationship with the Almighty gives greater joy than any religion.
Jesus also purposes for you to have greater joy than any worldly wealth offers. He spoke about money more than anything because he knew of our tendency to put our faith in the things we can see. Jesus offers us greater joy than the accumulation of our possessions and positions.
And finally, Jesus purposes for us to have greater joy than the folly of our sin. Whatever it is--that godless thing you’re tempted to do, the allure of the adulterous woman, the cheap thrill of the internet porn site, the compromise of your integrity that pledges that you’ll get rich quick—whatever pleasure it promises does not compare with the greater joy Jesus has in store for you. Put your faith in the purpose of Jesus for your life.
I can think of three great ways to demonstrate that you have put your faith in the power and purpose of Jesus for your life. The first response is confession. Confess that you have been looking for joy in sources other than the power and purpose of God for your life. The first commandment tells us that we are to have no other gods before Jehovah Elohim—the Lord our God. He wants you to trust him to be the source of your joy. He wants you to trust that there is joy in worshipping him, there is joy in serving him, and there is joy in obeying him. If you’ve laid down your cross for other sources of joy, he is quick to forgive and restore you to his purpose for your life. But you must have a change of heart. Confess it.
The second response is profession. Claim the power of Jesus to transform your life and commit to the purpose of his divine will. His purpose is to give you life—to give you new wine. Claim his power! Enter into his purposes! Have you been living without his guidance? Are you feeling as though the circumstances of your life will always keep you down? Today is your day to put your faith in Jesus. Claim the power of God to change your life. Tell God that you desire nothing less than to do what he has prepared in advance for you to do.
James 2:14-19 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-- and shudder.” Enter into the abundant life Jesus came to give by professing that Jesus is and always will be Lord of your life and start following him.
The third response is commission. Have you seen what God can do in the life the person who puts their faith in Jesus? Then by that faith, go and tell the world that you have found the Messiah. Let them know that he has the power to change their life. Let them know that his purpose for their life is to give them greater joy than anything this world has to offer.
Listen, all of you know someone who needs a miracle. I know a God—THE God—who is more than able to do the miracle they truly need in their life. You know people who need a miracle in their marriage. Jesus can do miracles. You know people who need a miracle over self-destructive habits or addiction. Jesus can do miracles. You know people who need a miracle of healing in their body. Jesus can do miracles. You know people who need a miracle just to believe that there is a God who loves them and has prepared an eternal home for them. I know a God who loves them so much that he sent his only Son, that whoever would believe on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. That is a miracle! As you are going, tell the world about the miraculous power and the marvelous purpose of Jesus for their lives. That is putting your faith in action. That is putting your faith in Jesus.
