“Transformed!”
John 2:1-11
So, it’s good when you start, to start at the beginning. The miracle we just observed is the famous miracle at the wedding of Cana. The changing of the water to wine. John tells us this was the first time Jesus revealed His glory. So we arrive at the belief that this was the first miracle Jesus performed. He would then go on to perform nearly 40 miracles we have record of. But be reminded of what John tells us in this same gospel: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
But this was the first. This was when His ministry is launched into the public eye and this miracle changed the course of His ministry and nothing would ever be the same again. It’s interesting to me that Jesus chose to perform this, first miracle at a wedding. However, we don’t think He went there with the intention of doing so. In v. 4 we read his reply to Mary, “dear Woman, that’s not our problem. My time has not yet come.” I sense that already there was a tension beginning to build in Jesus’s ministry where some were ready and others were not. The time space between when Jesus was at the temple at the age of 12 has not been almost 20 years and we are reminded that less than a week has now gone by since Jesus appeared in the desert. A week. John had prophesied Jesus was coming and pointed him out and said, “Behold the lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world.” Up to this point this is some of the biggest news to ever be spoken/announced. A system was taught in the OT for hundreds of years; man would search for the perfect sacrifice; a lamb perhaps; no blemish. The lamb would then be sacrificed, blood was shed; man was forgiven. Still to this day we live by the verse---without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.
Now Jesus has arrived and the course of history changes.
We can’t know how many guests were there but clearly this was a family event for Jesus; not only was his mother, Mary present, so were his brothers. (Verse 12) John gets right to the pointy—there was a problem—they had run out of wine so Mary goes to Jesus. Now, remember, at this point we have no record of any miracle Jesus has performed; this was his first. But two things do come to mind for me… (1) Perhaps Mary had seen something privately---we don’t know but (2) also; there was His birth. Mary gave birth to Jesus knowing she was a virgin. Certainly by this time, Mary was aware that her son, Jesus was the very Son of God, Himself.
His response to Mary is interesting to say the least. Here it is. “Woman, that’s not our problem.” There are certain phrases that don’t seem to easily translate into English and this is one of them. This term “woman” as used in the day of Jesus was like the word Mam. Yes mam and no mam. Thongs are beginning to change. Mary, apparently expecting this need to be taken care of (I picture she sorta winked at Jesus at this point; like you know Jesus do your stuff/thing.” ? Then she says do whatever He tells you. That’s still a great truth to live by … in fact let me elaborate on that.
• Do whatever he tells you. Mary knew Jesus could do whatever was necessary as long as the servants obeyed. Their obedience was all that was necessary. Same today.
• Jesus is more than able to do whatever is needed in your family life.
• Jesus is more than able to do whatever is necessary to heal a relationship; to heal a sickness. Anything.
And the public is about to see that for the first time. Get this. Jesus, the miracle worker can take anything that is broken and fix it. There is a huge truth we need to see here. When Jesus was teaching on the subject of fasting he asks an important question, “Who would patch old clothing with a new cloth?” Now many of us would say, I know who would. My mama! If you ripped a hole in your jeans as a kid she sewed a patch on it. But if you remember, it probably didn’t last very long. Jesus says the new patch will shrink and rip away from the old cloth and leave a bigger hole than was there before. Further he says that’s why you don’t put new wine into old wineskins. They just can’t hold it. Here’s the truth. The old clothing, just like our old life, can’t be fixed. It can’t be mended. It has to be replaced. Jesus doesn’t call us to turn over a new leaf; He calls us to get a new life.
Now, look at what Jesus does. There are 6 of these stone jars and they hold 20-30 gallons. So, at a minimum we have over 120 gallons of water here. More, I believe because they are told to fill them to the brim. No room for anything to be added. No food coloring. No Kool-aid. Just water. Now, Jesus tells the servants to draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. The main guy because he would taste it before serving it. Now, doing the math—a gallon of wine weighs just over 8 pounds so each one weighs over 200 pounds---there are 6 of them. So there would be more than just a few people carrying these. But picture this because we don’t know exactly when everything changed. So there were more than just a few men carrying these. Because this is over 1000 pounds.
So the host asked for wine and they bring water. It happens sometimes. Hey, I ordered sweet tea you know the stuff dripping with sugar. This is unsweetened tea. This is terrible. Or I ordered Coke, not Diet Coke. The host ordered wine--- they were bringing out water course they were just doing what Mary had told them to do-Jesus had told him as well and so they were just following orders. We know it was water when they left the kitchen with it so we kind of have to conclude that the water became wine somewhere between the kitchen and the head table at the banquet.
It’s like the waiters walking out of the kitchen carrying a whole side of beef and he says I need you to become a nice ribeye, medium well by the time we get to the table. That takes faith and obedience. It’s difficult to do what God tells us to do when we look at the situation. The circumstances. It often looks virtually impossible. But as much as we desire to ask so many questions, to dot every “I” and cross every “t” and know every single detail. God says just do what I told you to do. And that is what Mary had said and what Jesus had requested. This is what the master of the banquet, not Jesus, I’m speaking of the master of ceremonies— and told them to do.
So they discussed it with no one and they marched out with it. They took it over to the master of ceremonies. Since he was responsible-he had to make sure all the food and drink was acceptable. So, when he tasted the wine the Scripture says he did not know where it had come from. The master is obviously surprised because this wine actually taste better than the wine they had earlier. You see was customary to serve the best wine first-then when people didn’t care is much what it tastes like you would bring the lesser wine-the one that was not so good.
For me I stay away from alcohol in any form. Champagne, wine, beer, liquor-I drink none of it and have not for well over 40 years. I do not know what you choose to do... That is between you and God but if you have problems in this area,
• If you drink and don’t know when to stop; then it’s too frequent
• If there is a history of alcoholism in your family or you have a personal history then I encourage you to completely abstain. It’s simply not worth it. I cannot count the number of homes that have been destroyed by alcohol.
Again, that is between you and God but I will say this—I have never seen one good thing that has come from alcohol use. But I have seen a lot go wrong.
Look at verse 11. This is an important verse because it reminds us that every miracle Jesus performed had a purpose. It was never simply a display of power. John said Jesus performed this first sign in Cana. What is a sign? When you’re traveling down the highway and you see a road sign, that sign is always pointing you towards something is about to occur. Ridge road. Uneven lines. School zone. Slow down. Curve in the road. Get prepared. Ice on the roads. Slow down. Trouble is ahead. But signs are not always negative. If you’re traveling down the highway there also positive signs. Cracker Barrel ahead. Rest stop ahead.
Several things happened as a result of this miracle.
(1) Jesus revealed his glory. The glory of God was revealed that day.
(2) His disciples put their faith in him; apparently for the first time. Remember, his brother James did not believe until the resurrection. Their faith was solidified at this moment and now they were ready to follow him anywhere
(3) The Law of Moses was exchanged for “amazing grace.” That’s not just a song, you know? It’s a reality. Grace is in fact, nothing short of Amazing. There are all all kinds of definitions of grace. The Greek word is charis. We usually say that it means unmerited favor. In other words we didn’t do anything to earn it. But I like to think of it as “just plain free.” Undeserved. It’s when somebody cuts you some slack. Things could have gone this way but instead they went a better way; all because of grace. We have heard of the ceremony of the washing of hands. Probably a ceremony in your house. “Hey, wash up, it’s time to eat.” ? That is what these jars would have been used for, that were present. Made from stone because according to the Law of Moses, if they were made from pottery the water would not remain pure. If they were made from stone, the running water, also called living water because it moved, would be considered pure and could be used for purification purposes. So this was purified water according to the law. Now once Jesus touches it, it’s pure anyway, right? I mean the touch of Jesus always makes a difference. It did then and it does now.
It’s hard NOT to talk about wine in this story but that is not what the story is really about. It’s about change. The wedding event is an amazing picture of the grace of God; giving us something completely undeserved. And why? Because He loves you and me. You’re probably His favorite. ? Your picture is likely on his refrigerator.
Another thing about the OT law. I had a discussion this week with someone who told me that the blood wasn’t necessary for us to be saved. Never mind that the Bible says in the book of Hebrews: “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.” So there’s that. The problem in the OT was that the final sacrifice had not been (yet) paid. That would come on the cross. So the sacrifice of blood had to be paid over and over; every time. For most of us we would be killing a lot of animals, probably daily to take care of our sin. So the sacrificial system in the OT was temporary. But pictures were given at times that gave them a glimpse of what it really means to be forgiven. And one of the best in my mind was that of the scapegoat. Leviticus 16 describes this in detail. After the family was purified by a sin sacrifice to deepen the picture of what had happened, this is what then took place. Two male goats were to be presented at the entrance to the Tabernacle. Lots were cast and one goat was reserved as an offering to the Lord. The goat was also then sacrificed for forgiveness. The other goat was then sent away, kept alive but gone from their presence. That goat was in fact the scapegoat. We know that term right. The scapegoat bears the sin so that we don’t have to. Do you see; Jesus became our scapegoat; he took all our sin, all our blame, all our guilt and sent it away, never to be seen again. So a bit of advice; stop picking something back up that isn’t even there anymore. Receive the grace and receive all the benefits as well.
