The Wine Maker

The Wine Maker

Series: The Grave Robber

John 2:1-11

Everybody has days that will define the rest of their lives. Days that will leave us different than we were the day before. Choosing which college to attend or what to major in, getting married, having kids, the death of a loved one, etc… In a brief moment, life is divided into before and after. There’s no going back, and the future that lies ahead of us rushes in like a hurricane. It’s a new day. It’s a new normal. It’s the first day of the rest of your life. This was that day for Jesus. For nearly thirty years Jesus had worked in His father’s carpentry shop; for as long as He could remember, people had always known Him as a carpenter. But on the third day of a weeklong wedding feast, this cabinetmaker became the Wine Maker.

Read John 2:1-11

Our passage this morning opens with the words: “On the third day.” Through the telling of this story, I believe that John may have been pointing to the resurrection of Jesus. I believe that John is preparing us for what he is building up to throughout his Gospel: that Jesus Christ would be buried, and on the third day He would rise from the dead. He would then make preparations for the great wedding feast of the Lamb of God, when He would gather together all those who would be His guests in the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ first sign would point to His final sign through which He would reveal His glory.

After Jesus and His disciples arrive at the wedding, Mary approaches Him and says, “They have no wine.” Some scholars believe that the bridal family may have been His relatives, or maybe it was even the wedding of one of His younger sisters. They also believe that Mary wasn’t asking for, or even expecting, a miracle, but instead she was saying, “We don’t have enough wine for you and your disciples, you’re gonna have to send some of them to the store to buy some more.”

But I believe that Mary has known all along who Jesus was and what He was capable of. Keep in mind, up to this point in His life, Jesus hasn’t performed any miracles yet. But Mary sensed that His public ministry began with His baptism and the calling of the first of His disciples. So she expects that He’s going do something amazing. And so, even though Jesus was reluctant to begin His ministry before its time, Mary tells the servants: “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

The first point I want to make regarding our passage this morning is that: Miracles happen when we understand that…

Jesus cares about our everyday requirements.

Mary knows that Jesus cares about people. He cared enough about the newlyweds that He didn’t want them to be unnecessarily embarrassed. He cared enough about those in attendance that He wanted them to enjoy themselves.

Jesus cares about our everyday needs, both big and small. There’s nothing too predictable or routine to pray about. Now, If He was the little god that many people make Him out to be with their cut-and-paste Christianity, then He would only be able to take care of the big things. But since He’s the big God that He is, He’s able to take care of everything in our lives. Listen to what Jesus said:

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Mt. 10:29-31)

If God cares about these little two-for-a-penny sparrows, then surely He cares about every detail in our lives. His care is so exact that it includes a running count of the number of hairs on our heads. Now that may not mean much to someone like me, but for most folks it would fall into the same category as things like what they’re going to cook for dinner, or when they’re going to find time to wash the car. You see, God is interested in everything. We have a BIG God that specializes in small things.

Around the time of the founding of our country, there was a popular religious movement called Deism. Deism is different than Atheism in the fact they believe that God created the world, they’re just opposed to Christianity’s personal idea of God. They believed that God set the world into motion and then forgot about it to attend to other things. But that’s a god who is too small to be God. My God lives and moves and reigns over everything. He’s so personal that He promises to live inside us if we just ask Him. He’s so big that He’s involved in every single detail of the ongoing process of life on this earth. He knew which tie I was going to where this morning before (I) Michele even picked it out. He knows your name and He knows your need. This is the mighty God we serve.