“Mary’s Great Sermon”
John 2:1-5
INTRODUCTION:
Happy Mother’s Day! I am glad to see all of you moms and grandmas who are here with us today, and we thank God for you.
If I were to ask you who the most famous mother in history was, who would you think?
• June Cleaver
• Marge Simpson
• Mother Theresa
Well, I believe that by far the most famous mother in history belongs to the most famous person in history, Jesus Christ.
His mother’s name was, of course, was Mary
What do we know about this extraordinary mother? We know that Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God, that she gave birth to Jesus in a stable, that she brought Him up and had a part in His ministry, and she was there at the foot of the cross when Jesus called to John, His apostle, and said, “Son behold your mother, mother behold your son”. She was present at Jesus’ resurrection and was in the upper room on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit fell as tongues of fire on the believers.
ILLUSTRATION:
“The Passion of the Christ” The many of you who have seen the ‘passion’ movie will probably agree that one of the most touching moments in the film came when Christ fell under the weight of His cross and Mary ran to His side. She lifted up His bloody face and remembered a part of His childhood. Though this scene is not found in scripture, it did remind us of a part of Christ’s life we often do not regard much – The relationship He shared with His mother.
Mary knew Jesus, probably better than anyone else. Remember He was thirty years old when His ministry began, and up until this time He was a carpenter like His earthly father, Joseph.
He had spent thirty years in an earthly family. Anyone who shares a good relationship with their mother knows that when you become an adult, the relationship is like a friendship. Mary was not only Jesus’ mother, but was also His friend.
In our text today, Mary gives us a short and powerful ‘sermon’ about Her Son Jesus.
*She went to the men working the wedding feast and said simply, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
We look back on this simple statement and can make one key observation – she was not just talking to the men at the feast – she was talking to you and to me…
“Whatever He says to you, do it.”
The statement is simple, yet powerfully profound – because to heed her words and ‘do what Christ says to do’, we have to know what Christ has told us to do.
What has Christ told us to do?
His very words can be found in the Gospels.
I. HE TOLD US TO BELIEVE IN HIM
a. Most of us can quote John 3:16 [Say together, “For God so loved…]
i. A little lower to John 3:18 we read:
ii. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
b. Now what does it mean to ‘believe’?
i. That word ‘believe’ in the Greek is “Pisteuo (pist-yoo’)”
ii. The literal definition of that word is “to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in”
iii. I like the last example, because I believe that is what Christ wants us to do above all else: Place our confidence in Him
iv. “Believe” appears 99 times in the Gospel of John alone
v. To believe, ultimately, is to have faith
c. Some people say, “I have faith, just not in Jesus”
i. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
ii. Notice He did not say that He is ‘a way, a truth, a life’ but He stated He was ‘The Way, The Truth, The Life’
iii. JOKE: “Warnke and the believing atheist” Christian Comedian Mike Warnke once told a story of an atheist he met while serving in Vietnam. He said by the fourth week there the guy walked up to Warnke with a chain on his neck that had a cross, a Buddha, a star of David, a star in crescent, and an Indian arrow head. He looked at Warnke and said, “I believe!” Warnke said, “What do you believe in? I can’t tell from that chain” and the guy answered, “I don’t know, but in my position I can’t afford to make anybody mad!”
iv. ILLUSTRATION: ‘Going to Savannah’ Folks, if I said I was going to Savannah, and then went out on I-95 and headed south, I would not make it to Savannah. Why? Because Savannah is north of here. I would be headed the wrong ‘way’! I can have all the faith in the world I am going to Savannah, but I am going to end up in the Ocean before I reach Savannah, because South is not the way.
v. It is not enough to simply have ‘faith’; We gotta have faith in Jesus
d. Still others today echo the words of Thomas and say, ‘Until I see His nail scarred hands, I will not believe”
i. Don’t ever forget what Jesus said to Thomas after He resurrected:
ii. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”
e. How are those who believe blessed?
i. We are blessed because our belief saves us from being condemned to spend eternity without God
ii. Many people hear a Christian say, “I got saved”, and not knowing what it means they question, “Saved from what?”
1. The Bible says that we all have sin in our lives
2. It also says that sin separates us from God
3. Jesus paid the price for our sin (that we could not pay) by dying on the cross
4. By placing our faith in Him, He comes into our lives and ‘pays’ the price for our sins
5. He said, “he who does not believe is condemned already” because if you haven’t put your faith in Jesus, you are still in your sin
6. *REMEMBER If you are waiting to see the nail scarred hands to believe, it will be too late – We will all see those hands when ‘every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord’, but at that time there won’t be a chance to decide to believe – It will be too late!
f. Jesus tells us first and foremost that we must ‘believe in Him’ – and we should do what He says
II. HE TOLD US TO REPENT
a. Luke 13:3 “…unless you repent you will all likewise perish”
b. Repentance means you ‘turn away’ from your sins
i. Many of you may say, “My sin has a strong hold over me, I do not know if I can turn away”
ii. You’re right, you don’t have the strength – You can’t do it on your own
iii. When you place your faith in Christ, The Holy Spirit gives you the power to turn away from your sins
c. The problem with some of us is that we will never admit that we sin
i. ILLUSTRATION: “Conviction from the ten commandments” Actor Kirk Cameron has an interesting ministry called, “The way of the Master” in which he goes out and asks people questions about the Ten Commandments and uses their answers to mirror their sin. He might say:
1. Have you ever told a lie? Then that would make you a liar
2. Have you ever stolen anything? The that would make you a thief
3. Jesus said that if you have ever lusted in your heart, you are an adulterer. Have you ever lusted in your heart?
ii. When the person says, “yes”, Kirk then says, “By your own admission you are a lying, thief and an adulterer in your heart
iii. Though this is a very bold approach, it shows how we are all under sin until we believe in Christ and repent
d. The Bible says that none of us are righteous and we must all come to repentance
i. There is no one who has ever lived, except Christ, who is without sin
ii. Even when we come to Christ we will not live a perfect life
iii. But God’s word tells us that after we are saved we live under the blood of Jesus that covers our sins and the conviction of the Holy Spirit to keep us from sinning
iv. The Bible says that God chastises His children when they do wrong and if someone is able to sin without chastisement, he does not belong to God
e. Jesus told us all to turn away from our sins – and we should do what He says
III. HE TOLD US TO FOLLOW HIM
a. Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
b. By this Christ was telling us to ‘follow’ His example
c. To follow His example means we:
i. Love God with our whole heart
1. Jesus had such a relationship with God the Father that He called Him, “Abba” which is almost like a child saying, “dad”
2. We can have that same love relationship with God by going through Jesus and accepting His adoption into God’s family
ii. Love our neighbor as our self
1. In today’s world the motto is, ‘look out for #1’
2. Christ told us to make other people #1
iii. Forgive others when they wrong us
1. Someone was once quoted as saying, “Forgiveness is easy, until someone does something to us that needs to be forgiven”
2. Christ said our forgiveness will be measured by how we forgive others
iv. Allow God to use our lives as He wants
1. Christ, in perfect obedience, went to the cross to fulfill God’s plan
2. God has a purpose for you – you will never experience your full potential until you let God take control
v. Minister to those who are in need
1. Jesus healed the blind, fed the hungry and even raised the dead
2. We are not here on this earth only to preach to people, but also to minister to their needs – REMEMBER: No one cares what you know until they know you care
d. Jesus has called us to follow after Him, and while we will never be able to be perfectly like Him, we should work everyday toward being more in His image
e. Jesus said to follow Him – and we should do what He says
CONCLUSION:
Mary sure said a mouthful when she said, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
You must remember that she gives us the greatest testimony as to who Christ was, because if anyone knew for sure, it was Mary
Are you willing to listen to her ‘sermon’ today?
Are you willing to do what Christ has told us to do?
Have you placed your faith and trust in Him?
Have you repented of your sins and can now stand before God cleansed?
Are you following Christ?
You are the only one who can answer these questions
INVITATION:
