“Finding Joy” - ending =Something to Believe In
John 2:1-11
SOMETIMES, it seems like we are running on “empty” … AMEN? There are times when we lose our “joy”.
I brought some “joy” with me this AM. (Do not tell it is a bottle of JOY detergent, an Almond Joy, a Joy Stick).
Offer Joy to anyone who would come take it.
Give Detergent
Offer again.
Give almonds. Not the same as the goods; the almond joy. Its just nuts.
Joy stick. Give out stick from outside. Hook up joystick game to projector. Ask what seems to have more joy?
Maybe you are here this AM, and you’ve lost some of your “joy”. Something is bothering you … troubling you. You’ve got a worry that just won’t go away. You’ve been disappointed, hurt, or grieved. You’re running on empty. You’ve lost your “joy”.
John is going to tell you how Jesus restored “joy” to those who attended a marriage celebration in Cana. Jesus can do the same for you here this AM.
TEXT: John 2:1-11
How can Jesus restore your “joy”?
I. BE WHERE JESUS IS – 2:1-2
“third day” – 3 days earlier, Jesus had just called His first 5 Disciples to follow Him. It wasn’t very long until the 6 of them were invited to a marriage celebration in Cana.
“marriage” – Jewish weddings lasted for a whole week.
It began with a parade, when the father of the bride would bring his daughter to the groom’s house. The whole town would join in on this parade … it was a huge celebration. When they got to the groom’s house, the marriage ceremony would take place at the front door.
THEN … the feast began … which lasted for 7 days (paid for by the groom’s family). There was no honey-moon … they had an “open house” for a week … lots of food, wine … a week-long party.
Jesus liked social events … He liked being around people, and parties … He liked having a good time. Jesus was a much sought-after dinner guest. He was the life of the party. People were comfortable around Him. Jesus was even once criticized by the Religious leaders for His love of life and people. Listen to their unjust accusations. Matthew 11:18-19 - "For John (the Baptist) came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ’He has a demon!’ [19] (But) "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ’Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!’“.
Jesus brought JOY to people’s lives that’s what happens when you are where Jesus is.
LESSON: The further away you are from Jesus in your spiritual life, the further away you are from the fullness of joy. The closer you are to Jesus, the more joy you will experience.
Psalm 16:11 – “You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand..”
Neh. 8:10 – “for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
If you’ve lost some of the “joy”, you need to spend some time around Jesus.
II. BE AWARE OF THE NEED – 2:3-4
2:3 - Mary went to Jesus with a PROBLEM … “They have no wine”. This was a very serious thing to happen in a Jewish wedding feast. The groom’s parents were responsible to make sure there was enough wine to last the whole week. For some unknown reason, they ran out. We don’t think of this as too big a deal, but in that day, it could ruin a families reputation forever … they could even be sued!
It was a DISASTER. CARLS JR =no burgers?!
Weddings usually have something go wrong … that’s what makes them interesting!
I did sound for one where a kid pulled the fire alarm in the middle of it. I did one wedding where the Bride was 45 minutes late. At one wedding, we forgot to light the center unity candle ahead of time. That’s what makes weddings interesting!
The mood changed at this wedding. The JOY was gone (wine is a symbol of “joy” in the Bible). You could feel the tension in the air. The wedding feast was about to become a DISASTER. Mary came to Jesus with the problem.
LESSON: Jesus is interested in your every need. If it’s important to you, it’s important to Jesus.
If you’ve lost your sense of JOY … if you’ve got a problem that you can’t solve … JESUS CARES. Go to Him, because He wants to bring back the “joy” in your life.
2:4 – On the surface, this seems like a rather HARSH statement from Jesus to His mother Mary. Ladies, what if you told your son to carry out the garbage, and he told you, “Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.” I think your son would soon realize that his hour HAD come … and he’d better take out the garbage … NOW!
This statement isn’t as harsh as it sounds. Jesus is letting Mary know that He has just begun His public ministry, and that she has to detach herself from Him … cut the apron strings. Jesus doesn’t call her “Mom”, but calls her “woman” … a term of RESPECT, but letting her know that His goal in life isn’t to please her … but His Heavenly Father.
Jesus tried to prepare them for this when He was 12 years old and they found Him in the Temple in Jerusalem. Luke 2:49-50 – "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" 50But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Jesus is NOW beginning His earthly ministry … which won’t be over until it leads to the cross … “Mine hour is not yet come.” See John 17:1.
Jesus is telling His mother Mary: “I can no longer do what YOU want … I have to begin My Father’s ministry now.” NOW, Jesus has to live the rest of His life, NOT as the son of Mary, BUT as the Son of God.
HOWEVER, Jesus isn’t going to ignore His mother’s request … or the need at the wedding feast. Mary made Jesus aware of the need … their “joy” was gone … Jesus could do something. You can IGNORE the fact that you’ve lost your “joy” … OR … you can take it to Jesus.
III. BE OBEDIENT – 2:5-8
2:5 - Mary had the right idea … let Jesus handle it … turn to Jesus. She didn’t know what Jesus would do, but she had full confidence in Him. Jesus had never performed a miracle before – 2:11. Mary had either heard about or saw the baptism of Jesus - Luke 3:22 – “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” She knew that her son Jesus would handle the situation.
2:6 – There were 6 large 30 gallon stone water-pots nearby … about 180 gallons. The water was used to wash their hands before they ate, according to the law. With a party that lasted 7 days, they needed a lot of water.
2:7 – By this time, much of the water was gone … Jesus told them to fill them up to the top. This wasn’t an easy task … they had to make quite a few trips to the well, which may have been a long way off.
They didn’t need WATER … they needed WINE. They didn’t understand HOW this would solve their problem … BUT … THEY OBEYED – 2:8.
Do you want to have the “joy” in your life restored? THEN … obey Jesus! Have you seen very many happy Christians who are out of fellowship with Jesus? When do we lose our “joy”? When we live in disobedience to Jesus and His Word.
“water” is a symbol of the “Word of God” in the Bible. Ephesians 5:26 says we are “clean with the washing of water by the Word.” Jesus told His Disciples in John 15:3 – “Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you.”
If you deliberately disobey Jesus, you won’t find it much “joy” to be around Him. You’ll be avoiding Him … because you’ll feel GUILTY and ASHAMED for not living according to His Word. 2 Tim. 2:15 – “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Maybe they didn’t UNDERSTAND WHY Jesus wanted the water pots full of water. How would that bring back “joy” to the party? They obeyed Him anyhow.
LESSON: You don’t need to understand everything in the Bible before you can start obeying it. Just DO what you KNOW. The more you KNOW, and the more you DO … the more JOY you will find.
You can’t find “joy” in your life by running away from Jesus. You’ll be miserable if you continue to disobey what Jesus wants you to do. You’ll never find peace if you ignore Jesus. BUT … you’ll find yourself getting back the “joy” that you’ve lost …
IV. BE THE BEST – 2:9-10
USUALLY, they served the best wine at the beginning of the feast … to make a good first impression. If you served day-old coffee at the beginning of the meal, you wouldn’t have too many takers when the pie is served at the end of the meal. If the coffee got a little strong toward the end of the meal, it wouldn’t be as noticeable.
NOTICE … this was the BEST wine they had ever tasted. Jesus took wash water … and turned it into GOOD WINE. I don’t drink a lot of water (though I know I should). Water is for taking a bath in. I have a hard time drinking the same stuff that I use to bathe with. That’s why God invented Diet Coke and coffee and lemonade!
Let me ask you something this morning … “Are you the BEST you can be for Jesus?” Be honest, now. Why not?
LESSON: If Jesus can take wash-water, and turn it into the best wine … think what Jesus can do to you.
Do you want God’s BEST for your life? Most of us would probably settle for God’s 2nd BEST. The problem is … we’ve settled for God’s 42nd BEST … or His 142nd BEST … or His 442nd BEST.
Where do you find the “joy”? You find the JOY in getting the BEST that Jesus has to give you. We are like the stone water-pots in 2:7. I think Jesus had them empty the water-pots before they filled them to the top with fresh water.
The Bible calls us “earthen vessels”. He wants to fill us. THE PROBLEM: Maybe we’re so full of wash-water, that there’s no room for the wine. Maybe we’ve got some PRIDE in us that needs to be emptied out … some BITTERNESS … some GUILT … some SORROW … some RESENTMENT … some SELFISH LIVING … Maybe you need to come to the altar this morning and EMPTY some things out of your life … so Jesus can FILL YOU with the “joy” of His blessing.
NOTICE: That Jesus didn’t perform this miracle until their resources ran dry. When you’ve come to the end of your rope … when everything you try doesn’t work … when you have nowhere to turn … JESUS OFFERS YOU HIS BEST.
Do you want God’s BEST? Are you ready to come to Jesus? Have you found out that life without Jesus doesn’t bring “joy”? If Jesus can take wash-water, and turn it into the best wine … think what Jesus can do for you.
V. BE READY – 2:11
One of the reasons that Jesus performed this miracle, was to show that He was the very Son of God. His new Disciples had just begun to follow Jesus. They had never seen Him do a miracle before. NOW, He “manifested forth His glory” … and … “His Disciples believed on Him.”
Can you imagine what His Disciples must have thought? They must have been EXCITED! “Wow, this is going to be an exciting journey! Jesus can perform miracles! There’s nothing He can’t do! This is just the BEGINNING of a new and exciting experience with Jesus!”
CONCLUSION:
Have you LOST your excitement? Have you lost the “joy” of being a Christian? David said in Psalm 51:12 – “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;”
Be ready, Christian … Jesus wants to bring you along on an exciting journey. He can do the same thing in your life, that He did for those at the wedding feast in Cana.
How can you restore the “joy” that you’ve lost?
1.- Be Where Jesus Is - don’t run from Him … get as close to Him as you can.
2.- Be Aware Of Your Need – Jesus knows your every need … if it’s important to you, it’s important to Him … bring your need to Jesus.
3.- Be Obedient – You can’t be filled with “joy”, if you’re filled with shame and guilt.
4.- Be The Best – Don’t settle for a 2nd rate Christian life … that’s not what Jesus has for you.
5.- Be Ready – Jesus wants to bring you along on an exciting journey.
Empty your vessel of all that dishonors Jesus … and He will fill you with His “joy”. There is Something To Believe IN
