John 2:1-11 (Water into Wine)
Intro:
Here we have the first Miracle of Jesus:
A) Now I want you to think about this, if you were writing a letter to
someone trying to convince them that Jesus was the Son of God
B) And you wanted to tell
them about some of His miracles, which one would you
start with?
1)
Lazarus being raised from the dead
2)
Demon possessed boy
3)
Man at the tombs
4)
Blind Bart
C) Water
into Wine? – A Miracle at a wedding ?
Why?
D) Because it gets right the
heart of what Jesus came to do, and that is to bring
His Transforming Power into peoples lives. RD V. 1-11
Set
the Scene: 3 days after Jesus meets Nathaniel – he is invited to a wedding
celebration.
A)Jesus was invited to this
wedding ceremony.
B) Encourage you invite
Jesus to your celebrations – Weddings birthday
1) Bachelor parties / Bridal
showers – Invite the Lord to be a part of that
C)
I had to get on some of our young guys a few yrs ago – Pranks
1) Example to the younger
guys
D) Jesus was invited to this
celebration: Might have been for a relative -
The
fact that Jesus went tells us that Jesus was into CELEBRATIONS.
A)Contrast to the religious
leaders of the day.
B) They had a separatist mentality – Spiritual people didn’t
associate in that type of activity.
1) The message you got from
them was that spirituality had to be separated from
REAL LIFE.
C) Spirituality couldn’t
survive under normal conditions.
1) But Jesus takes
spirituality to the place where it is needed most{ everyday life!
This
drove the religious leaders of his day – crazy! A)they called
him a glutton and a drunkard - friend of
tax collectors and sinners
B) This doesn’t mean that
Jesus got drunk:
1) but it means he enjoyed
himself with everyday people – and this bothered the religious crowd.
C) Which are you more like
the Pharisees or Jesus ?
1) You
can be serious about Jesus but still have fun
Also
the Fact that Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding was a way of
putting his stamp of approval on Marriage
A)He is saying that what God
established in the garden of Eden – Stands even to this day.
B) Marriage is a union
SACRED UNION – between one man and one woman
“Therefore a
man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and
they shall become one flesh.”
Jesus speaking
2,000 yrs later said – nothing has changed
4 And He
answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the
beginning 'made them male and female,' 5
and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one
flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
C) Isn’t that obvious: But
there are those in our society today who say: Doesn’t matter
1) As long as two people
love each other – two men / two women /
Man and a young girl / boy
D) Marriage
is under attack – This week vote in the senate { Define marriage in the
Constitution …
1) Let our senators know
E) Reading the Paper
yesterday: Democratic Senator was criticizing President Bush –
1) Tomorrow – encourage
support
"Ages
of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and a wife to
love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the
stability of society," Bush said in his Saturday radio address.
"Marriage cannot be cut off from its cultural, religious and natural roots
without weakening this good influence on society."
Senate Minority
leader Harry Reid Criticized President Bush & Senator Bill Frist for taking
the time to address the amendment .
“Our country faces great
challenges record high gas prices, sky rocketing healthcare cost and the war in
Basically what he is saying
is the economy is more important than Morality ! WRONG -
CALL YOUR
Call the
to the Senators from your
state (202) 224-3121
FRC .org - Sign Petition – take you 2 minutes
Back
to the Story – In the course of the celebration they run out of wine.
A)A Jewish wedding was a huge ordeal, people would come from
miles around, they would bring their whole clans, & so when they came, they
stayed.
B)The average wedding feast
lasted about 7 days officially and more often then not,
1)people
hung around unofficially even longer.
B)And
of course the host of the wedding, the bridegrooms father, had to provide
everything for all who came. { Today 25-30 thousand – 3 day events
1)
Father of two daughters I would like to go back to that tradition – Let the boy’s
father pay for everything.
C)
Hospitality was a huge thing in this culture, but beyond that, a family could
actually be fined for inviting guests to come to a wedding feast and then not
taking care of them.
D)
So running out of wine wasn’t like a
small bummer – this was a major ordeal
1)
There was a lot at Stake – Family fined / embarrassment of this couple
2)
Not the way to start off life together.
Well
Mary gets wind of the Problem and immediately goes to Jesus
A) She was expecting Him to do
something.
Aa)Now don’t be thrown off
by Jesus response to Mary v.4
"Woman,
what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."
B) That sounds harsh/
disrespectful – WOMAN ……… It wasn’t
1) the word used here in the
Grk is Gune { Respect and tenderness
2) Same word Jesus used at the Cross – Woman
behold your son
C) It was almost as if he
was saying” Mother – you know my hour hasn’t come yet? Not time for me to be
glorified
D)
I picture a smile on his face as he says it – I think the text supports that
1) Mary immediately turns to
the servants and says – Whatever he says do it
E) Great advice: Whatever he
says do it.
Jesus
instructs the servants to take 6 large stone water pots used for purification fill
them with water and take it to the Master of ceremonies.
A)This whole scene is a
wonderful picture of what can happen in a life / in a marriage.
B) Wine in scripture is
symbolic of Joy { Lose our Joy
1) Joyless walk / Joyless
friendship / Marriage
C) Sometimes our walks and
our lives become like those stone water pots dry and lifeless – Sterile
D) We need the Joy of the
Lord to fill us again.
Billy Sunday said, “If you
have no joy in your religion, there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere.”
“Joy is the echo
of God's life within us!”
“Joy is the
most infallible sign of the presence of God!”
Joy
is important! Are you joyful?
Many have the
righteousness down, & even the
peace, but what about the joy?
One of the fruit of the
spirit is JOY!
Psalm
32.11 “Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”
Psalm 16.11 “In Your
presence is fullness of joy;”
The
life of the Christian is to be characterized by Joy! Marriage characterized by
Joy.
A)Sometimes
that is not the case – sometimes – Dry
B) Lose
Joy for varies reasons:
1)
Life : trials cares / concerns / responsibilities
2)
Sin
3)
Compromise
“if our heart
does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.”
C) Sin
& compromise no confidence / no Joy
1) How do we get it back?
D)Listen again to the words
of Mary to these servants – Whatever he says do it.
1)
That is the Key – the answer is in following the Lord’s direction
What
can be learn from these servants:
#1
They listened to Jesus. A miracle was the result
A)Some people are willing to
listen to everyone else but the Lord
B) Advice on life from Oprah
/ advice on marriage from Dr. Phil
C) Begins with listening to
Jesus – His heart
D)Miracles are the hand of
God extended into our world.
E)
But notice, who facilitated the miracle, the servants.
1)
The miracle came from the heart of Jesus, but flowed out through the lowly
servants at this feast.
#2 They
obeyed Jesus.
A)Note What he asked them to
do wasn’t easy.
it was hard, physical work.
B)“fill
up the water pots, all six of them” These pots were huge: held – 20-30
gallons – like a big trash can.
1) No faucets – They had to
go to the well.
C) This was going to take
some effort.
D)
A lot of people never see God move
because they are too lazy to do the work that will allow God to move.
We Pray, “ Oh God
bring the miracle of salvation to our community.”
A) But then we are too lazy
to get involved
B) The servants were willing
to do the hard work that set the stage for the miracle to happen
#3
They did it with enthusiasm
A)They filled the pots up to
the brim.
B)I like that, they didn’t just
do the minimum, they did the maximum,
1)
they filled them up as full as they could get.
C) You know what bugs me, it
is seeing people labor for God with lousy attitudes,
1) putting
out minimal effort in their service like they are doing God a favor.
D) When I see that I say, “Why even do it, God’s not stoked, and He is certainly not
going to honor it.”
1)
No, what pleases the heart of God is when we labor for Him with exuberance,
with Joy and enthusiasm.
E)That is what sets the
stage for the miracles of God.
#4 They
stepped out in faith:
A)The test came when Jesus
said – not going serve it to the master of the feast – Still water
B)they
stepped out in faith and they drew out the water and gave it to the master of
the feast
1)
There will be no miracles with out faith.
C) It took faith Peter and
John had to say, “in the name of Jesus stand up and walk”.
D) It took faith Peter had
to say to Tabatha who was lying stone dead, “Tabatha, arise
E)
Crossing
These
are 4 things that sets the stage for the miracle working power of God to be
flowing in you,
A)What do you think would
happen in
B)you followed this pattern?
I think that we would see a move of God that would blow our minds.
C) What would happen in your
marriage and family if you – did this.
Now
John tells us in v.11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
A)
John says this miracle was a sign -
Signs are meant to show us
something
B)That is what John means
when he says that this miracle was a sign.
C) What it pictured was the normal outcome of
the combination of human and divine activity.
1)
Men can fill water jars; only God can turn water into wine!
D) Men do the ordinary, the
commonplace, the normal activity,
1)
but God touches it, and brings it to life and gives it flavor, fragrance and
effect.
That
is the meaning of this sign:
A)It
is an indication of what the ministry of Jesus is going to be like whenever he
touches a human life,
B)
not only during his lifetime on earth, but also through all the running
centuries to come, whenever his ministry would be present in the world.
C)
Bring God into your situation and all the humdrum, commonplace activities are
touched with a new power that makes them fragrant, flavorful,
enjoyable and delightful, giving joy and
gladness to the heart. That is the meaning of this sign.