My wife lovingly encourages me sometimes to be more open about revealing things about myself.
For example, I’m the author of two books. Many people don’t know that. Also, I have a doctorate degree, meaning I’m technically a doctor (just not the kind that can help you). A lot of folks don’t know that.
I also enjoy hunting and fishing. I love the outdoors. For some reason, many people are surprised to find out that I enjoy the outdoors.
There are parts of who I am that I don’t always reveal to others, mostly because I don’t enjoy talking a lot about myself.
In today’s passage, Jesus is going to reveal some of who He is to others.
He’s going to begin to reveal Himself with a miraculous sign that will be followed by many more signs to come. In John 2, the signs will begin.
Today, we’re going to learn about the first sign of Jesus. Before we do, let’s pray together.
(prayer)
Ok, let’s remember that the introduction of the Gospel of John introduced us to Jesus as the Word: the preeminent force in all the universe, who at the beginning was with God and who was God.
Jesus the Word was also proclaimed to be the Lamb of God and Son of God by John the Baptizer.
The early disciples proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. They also proclaimed Him to be the Son of God and the King of Israel.
As we get to John 2, Jesus was starting to become known, but not on a large scale yet. That began when he started to perform public miraculous signs, the first of which is in this passage.
So, let’s notice three things that are apparent in this passage as we learn about this first sign.
First, we learn about an . . .
I. Apparent need.
Look at verses 1-3:
1 On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.”
Let’s try to understand this wedding in ancient Israel.
This was not a wedding like we have today, where you have a ceremony followed by a two-hour reception.
Ancient Jewish weddings often invited the entire community. There could be 50-150 guests celebrating for multiple days.
Also, wine was a regular part of people’s diet in the ancient world, and the people of God regularly consumed wine.
To be clear, drunkenness is an obvious sin in the Bible, and some of us with addictive personalities need to stay far away from any alcohol.
I come from a line of men with addictive personalities, so I don’t touch alcohol.
However, it was not unusual for people in the Bible to drink wine.
So, we have lots of people celebrating together for multiple days, and then we see the apparent need.
We learn that they ran out of wine at the wedding. This was potentially a big problem because the guests were to be treated well, yet they were out of wine.
I remember at my own wedding that we had small appetizer-type foods with small plates. However, I come from a people who are good eaters, so people just piled up food on those little plates, and we ran out of food. That was a problem for us. So also, it was likely a problem that they ran out of wine at that wedding in Cana.
So, Mary, the mother of Jesus, took action. I love when people take action to fix a problem or meet a need.
Mary said to Jesus, “They don’t have any wine.”
That was the apparent need: no wine for the wedding celebration.
What is the apparent need in your life?
Are you struggling with your health?
Do you have family problems?
Are you living with anxiety or fear?
Does addiction have a hold on you?
Are you lonely or hurting?
Do you have doubts and uncertainties in your life?
What is your apparent need?
What is the apparent need in our community?
What is the apparent need in our world?
What is the biggest apparent need in all of humanity?
It’s a relationship with God, isn’t it? We need to be loved by the God of the universe. More on that a little later.
So, first, we see the apparent need.
Second, we see . . .
II. Apparent belief.
We’re going to see two displays of belief here, then a third a little later.
Look at verses 4-8:
4 “What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 “Do whatever he tells you,” his mother told the servants.
6 Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons.
7 “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.” And they did.
First of all, I want to point out that Jesus was not being rude when He referred to His mother as “woman.”
The translation of this word from the original language into English makes it come across a little harsh.
In fact, I wouldn’t recommend that you speak to your mother or wife by saying, “What does this have to do with me, woman?”
However, Jesus would have never disrespected His mother.
Rather, Jesus is pointing out something: His hour (or time) had not yet come.
This idea of Jesus’ hour is a repeated theme in the Gospel of John.
As we learn about the life and ministry of Jesus, we see certain times or hours that accelerate the mission of Jesus. Each time something happens, it’s sort of like Jesus pressing the gas pedal to speed up His mission.
Here are a few examples of this type of language in the Gospel of John.
Of course, we have the example here in John 2.
Also, John 7:30 says:
“Then they tried to seize him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.”
John 12:23 says:
“Jesus replied to them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.’”
John 13:1 says:
“Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father.”
John 17:1 says:
“Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.’”
So, these are a few examples of John (or Jesus Himself) pointing us to the reality that God had appointed specific times for specific things to happen in the life and ministry of Jesus.
However, this is Jesus’ mama speaking to Him. For most men, their mamas hold a special place in their hearts.
It’s as if Mary knew that Jesus would grant her request, because she simply replied, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Mary believed in Jesus. She believed that He would grant her request, and more importantly, she believed that He could grant her request.
Brothers and sisters: Do you believe in the miraculous power of Jesus?
Jesus can not only turn water into wine, He can do anything!
Next, we see that Jesus instructed the servants who were there to fill up these stone jars with water.
These jars were used for ceremonial washing; they were for a special purpose. However, they were about to be used for a much more special purpose, the first sign of Jesus the Messiah.
Let’s be clear, this is a pretty odd request. If someone said, “Hey we’re out of Coco-Cola,” and someone else said, “Go fill up those five-gallon buckets with water,” you would probably think that person was crazy.
Yet, there’s no indication that the servants hesitated at all at following the instructions of Jesus.
Jesus told them to fill the jars to the brim and take some to the head waiter.
Look at the end of verse 9. It says, “And they did.”
These servants, at least on some level, believed enough to obey the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mary’s belief, and the belief and obedience of the servants, led to something special, which is the third thing we see.
III. Apparent glory.
Let’s read the rest of the passage.
Look at verses 9-12:
9 When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom 10 and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.”
11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this, he went down to Capernaum, together with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.
Here we see the glory of Jesus on display. He miraculously turned water into wine.
Think about this for a second. What if Jesus had taken freshly-squeezed grape juice and turned it into wine? That would have been miraculous, right?
If I held a handful of potatoes and instantly turned them into french fries, you’d be impressed.
If I turned a live turkey into a Publix sub in just a few seconds, you’d be impressed.
However, Jesus didn’t turn grape juice into wine. He turned water into wine. The One who made water in the first place, the One who created grapes in the first place, the One who created the process of fermentation, just bypassed the entire process and basically said, “I think I’ll go straight from A to Z.”
What He did was absolutely miraculous, and it revealed some of His glory.
Remember, glory is when we see the God-ness of God on display.
Jesus displayed some of His God-ness. Only the power of God could do this miracle.
Notice this, the servants got to witness the glory of Jesus.
Never forget that God often uses the lowly and less honored people in society to accomplish His purposes.
Here, the headwaiter didn’t know what had happened, but the servants did. The servants were able to witness the apparent glory of Jesus.
The disciples did as well. Verse 11 says, “He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.”
At this point in this ministry, Jesus did not totally reveal His glory.
We see progressive revealings of His glory, including when He called His disciples back in Chapter 1.
However, Jesus revealed His glory a bit more here, and it resulted in the belief of His disciples (I told you I would come back to one more example of apparent belief; here it is).
Don’t forget what the Apostle John said back in Chapter 1. He said in John 1:14:
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
As John was introducing his Gospel, he was telling His readers, “We saw the Word. We saw that He was God. We saw His glory.”
The disciples saw the glory of Jesus, they believed in Him, and they followed Him. It all began with moments like this first sign of Jesus in Cana.
Listen, brothers and sisters: If you believe in Jesus, demonstrate it by obeying and following Him.
If you believe in Jesus, you’ll have a chance to witness the glory of Jesus.
Listen to what Jesus said about belief. He said in Mark 9:23:
“Everything is possible for the one who believes.”
Church: See what is possible if you believe.
Take your needs to Jesus. Faithfully believe in Him and His ways. Witness the revealing of His glory.
That takes us to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: The glory of Jesus is revealed to those who believe and follow Him.
Every little blessing that happens in your life is a gift from God.
Every time Jesus meets your need, or is with you in your need, is a gift from God.
Jesus is revealing His God-ness in your life. He is showing His glory. Are you looking for it? Do you notice it?
Weekly Challenge: Display your belief in Jesus.
Mary believed in Jesus. The servants believed. The disciples believed.
Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe He can meet your greatest needs? Do you believe He is full of glory?
Display your belief in Jesus this week.
What’s our most apparent need? Sin. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died and rose to make you new, then you can have that greatest need met, and you can witness His glory.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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