John 2:1-25 (From One House
to Another)
On the third day [ Third day is significant many
times in scripture of Rez or Restoration
] there
was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both
Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of
wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."
I
like this: There was a problem and Mary Knew where to go – She went to Jesus
A)Woman of faith - Catholics too high / Protestants maybe not
high enough
4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, [Gune- Respect and
tenderness – Mother] what does your concern have to do with Me?
My hour has not yet come."
B) Jesus spoke often in the
gospels about His Hour
1) Specific time when He
would be glorified – Not the way men thought – but in death
C) Removed Himself from
those times they tried to make Him King!
D)
So here he says to his mom – Mother – it is not time for this ……
1) I picture a smile - her
response!
5 His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you,
do it."
C)Great
advice: You want to see the Lord bring Joy to your heart / marriage / life /
family/ Business
1) Whatever he says – do it!
6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to
the manner of purification of the
Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them,
"Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of
the feast." And they took it. 9
When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did
not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew),
the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him,
"Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests
have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until
now!"
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
This miracle presents a powerful picture for us.
A)A Picture of the new work
that Jesus came to establish – new Covenant/ He came to set up.
B) The fact that he choose
those stone water pots is significant –
1)V.6 Used for the
Ceremonial washings for purification: [Many
washings – great ritual.]
C) It represented everything of the Old covenant
with it’s laws / rules / rituals
1) But those stone pots were
dry –
D) Jesus came to transform
the old into something completely new –
1) Covenant not based on
Washings and Duty but based on the Miraculous
E) What I love about this:
There was an over abundance –
1)
They didn’t need 180 gallons of wine – 180 milk Jugs
Picture
of life in the Spirit – Life in the New covenant – Overflowing – abundance.
A)More than we can handle –
more than we can contain / more than enough
B) Blessing under the New
covenant the Lord says I am going to
give you a new heart –
1) New
Power / Overflowing Joy
C) This miracle is a picture
of that ! The new work that Christ sought to do for us!
12 After this He went down to
D) Perhaps a little family time! Short reprise
1) Little get aways{ Don’t
forget that!
V.13
Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to
A)Passover feast was annual
feast to commemorate the deliverance from
B) Scholars estimate more than 2 million pp
may have crowded into
1)The Jews would for one month
carefully repair roads, rebuild bridges, even white wash tombs.
C) Truly
a Spring cleaning. They’d even make sure they were ceremonially clean.
1)
They just forgot to clean one thing...THE TEMPLE!!!
D)That’s like having guests
over & cleaning every room except the living room.
14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and
doves, and the money changers doing business.
Jesus
goes to the temple [ here is the word hieron] = the Courtyard area! Naos –
enclosure itself
A)So Jesus goes to the
temple – courtyard – finds a swap meet of sorts is happening there.
B) 2 problems: [1] Selling of
animals!
1) See Everyone needed an animal for sacrifice, to come & worship God. It
was supposed to be w/o spot or blemish. INSPECTED
C)
Sheep and Oxen were normal sacrifices – Doves were for the Poor.
1) So the animals were
inspected and if a blemish was found – Sell you one { people came from far!
D)Abuse: They ripped them off, this was highway robbery!
1) Some mechanic shops –
Find 50 problems
The
selling of the animals for others was just a matter of convenience.
A)They didn’t have to go
thru the hassles of raising it yourself – trekking with it on a long journey
B) We will just buy it when
we get there!
1)
This was “Worship made easy” at its finest!
C) “Drive up, grab a
sacrifice, do some worship, we’ll get you home before the game!”
Q: Does Christianity have to be easy for you? Are you being carried along
by your spouse or friend?
Q: What if serving the Lord becomes hard? There becomes persecution?
Where would your commitment be then?
D)Be careful of that “drive through religion”, “worship made easy!”
So that was the first problem!
[Problem
#2] Money Exchangers!
A)Problem:
Only a temple ˝ shekel was accepted at the
B)Roman
& Greek coin was not accepted. Which were the common currencies of
the day.
C)Solution: Money was exchanged right there at the temple.
1) Abuse: Exchange wasn’t the problem. The
RATE was!
D){sometimes up to 50% above the face value of the coin being
exchanged}
Like
flying into the airports of the world they have the “foreign currency exchange”
in the airport…
A)Rip off! You exchange for
a price & if you have any left over the get you again!
B)They were using God,
religion, & worship as a means for personal gain!
1)
Thanks for not doing your business here…that’s not why assemble!
C) So Jesus shows up and is grieved by what He
sees
1) people are getting ripped
off – taken advantage of and it was being done in the courts of God’s house
D) His reaction to Chrsitian
TV!
Pick up v.15
15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the
temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and
overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these
things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"
Now
I want you to put yourself in the sandals of those there that day.
A)This practice of buying
and selling in the temple had been going on for yrs / Possibly Decades
B) It was the norm! It was
just accepted –
1) Jesus shows up and in one
small swoop – says NO MORE!
C) This was radical – People
blown away
1) Disciples were
moved.
17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal
for Your house has eaten Me up."
There
were basically two reactions to what took place.
A)The Disciples saw it thru
the lens of Scripture.
B) Psalm 69:9 Messianic
Psalm – Zeal has eaten me up
What
bugs you enough to “eat you up?”
A)Look what consumes Jesus…a love for His Fathers house.
B)What are you
zealous for? Everybody is consumed by
something?
1)Some
are consumed w/alcohol - (they think they are consuming it, but it
is consuming them!)
B)Others are consumed w/sex
– It occupies their mind non-stop, it becomes slavery.
C) Some are consumed w/ambition
– or loneliness, or hurting, or relationships.
Like
Jesus, may zeal for Gods house consume you!
D) Jesus is
zealous for his Church –
1) We are down
on the Church we are out of sync with Him – His heart !
That
is how the disciples viewed this: Thru the eyes of Scripture. Zealous for his house
A)Good way to view things
thru the eyes of scripture
The Word the Logos
B) His heart – His way!
C) The religious leaders
viewed this thru the eyes of their religion. - Pick
up V.18
18
So the Jews answered and said to Him,”What sign do You show to us, since You do
these things?”
19
Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I
will raise it up."
20
Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,
and will You raise it up in three days?"
A)The reaction of the religious leaders is a
great example of the attempts of men to understand spiritual things – naturally
instead of scripturally
B) To the natural man the things
of the spirit seem foolish
C) This was foolish to them
– Looking at Herod’s temple – took 60 yrs to Build
{ 18,000 workers
1) They were in the 46th
year of Construction
D) They were looking at
things naturally instead of supernaturally
E) What is interesting is
that these men were men who studied the scriptures
1) Seemingly knew way more
than apostles – but not really.
F) They had a view of the
messiah and Jesus didn’t fit that view!
People
can have the same problem today! They see things wrong. Why do people do that?
A)Their own outlook – Messiah wasn’t supposed to suffer.
B) Put God in a box – this
is what he does / how responds – Not open to
anything else
1) Conveniently deaf - My kids – Sorry didn’t hear you
C) Another reason: They have
their own agenda
1) So they pick scriptures
that correspond with their agenda but ignore the ones that don’t
D) You can’t do that are
really grow!
Now
When Jesus uses the word –
A)But John clues us into the
spiritual meaning
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore,
when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this
to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
B) Later the disciples would get clued in – Oh
that is what He meant.
C) Sign
of Rez! - Same Jonah
1) Always the Proof
D)
Risen Savior ! THE DIFFERENCE
E) Our authority is in His
resurrection
1) The Key the Crux
Now Before we wrap this up I
want to consider the significance in why The HS
inspired John to put these two events back to back in his gospel.
A)In the miracle of turning
water into wine we learn about the blessings of faith & obedience.
B) When we obey God when he gives us something to do,
something human, or ordinary,
1)a
commonplace thing that we as human beings can do.
We can fill the jars with water!
C)But when we draw from it
we will discover that something has happened to it:
1)
it has become full of flavor, fragrance, effect and zest.
D)Transformation happens
when we are faithful to do what He calls us to do – in Faith.
1)It
has become wine; it is no longer water.
“Human ability
put into God's hands, touched by his touch, will accomplish far greater things
than mere human beings could ever do.”
But
here in this story Jesus is saying the opposite.
A)Here
is a picture of what happens – when we resist the Lord – ignore His word – deaf
ear to His Spirit
B) He is still going to work
– He is still going to cleanse – But it will be rough.
1)
We might suffer the consequences of having our lives turned upside down.
C) It is going to hurt – It
might be painful.
D)The revelation the disciples
learned was that the Lord of that temple cares about the inward clutter,
1)
The confusion and immorality that may be there, and he will not make peace with
it.
Finish
– interesting insight
Now when He was in
They
were ready to believe in Him – but He knew their hearts – did not commit –
literally – He didn’t believe in them
A)Parable of the sower –
Stones – Shallow
B) Jer 17:10 I the Lord search the heart & test the mind.
C) He knows our hearts !
D) Matthew 7:21 Heavy
passage { Turn
Matthew 7:21-23
"Not
everyone who says to Me,'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your
name?' 23 And then I will declare to
them, 'I never knew
you; depart from
Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Who does the Lord commit
himself to?
A)Perfect hearts – No
B) Sincere / Surrendered
C) Paul the things I want to
do I don’t do
1) Golf -