John 1:1-3 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:16 - For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
John 20:30-31- Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
“That Jesus attended the celebration reveals His ministry to be markedly different than that of His forerunner, John the Baptist (Matt. 11:18–19). Instead of being a voice in the wilderness, Jesus had the more difficult task of mingling socially with the people and ministering to them in their daily activities.” (John 1-11, John MacArthur, p. 78)
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…
skenoo – to live in a tent
3 responses to a Messiah who cares about what’s happening to you
I. Celebrate the Glory of Jesus’ Obedience – vv. 1-5
A. The ideal setting for joyful celebration - vv. 1-2
“A wedding was a major social event in first-century Palestine, and the celebration could last as long as a week. Unlike modern weddings, which are traditionally paid for by the bride’s family, the groom was responsible for the expenses of the celebration. The wedding marked the culmination of the betrothal period. During that period, which often lasted for several months, the couple was considered legally man and wife (Matt. 1:18–19 refers to Joseph as Mary’s husband during their betrothal period), and only a divorce could terminate the betrothal (cf. Matt. 1:19). They did not, however, live together or consummate the marriage during that period (cf. Matt. 1:18). On the night of the ceremony (usually a Wednesday), the groom and his friends would go to the bride’s house. They would then escort her and her attendants to the groom’s house, where the ceremony and banquet would be held (cf. Matt. 25:1–10). The whole celebration ended with the actual wedding.” (John 1-11, John MacArthur, p. 77)
“A wedding celebration could last as long as a week, and the financial responsibility lay with the groom (cf. 2:9-10). To run out of supplies would be a dreadful embarrassment in a ‘shame’ culture; there is some evidence it could lay the groom open to a lawsuit from aggrieved relatives of the bride.” (The Gospel According to John, D.A. Carson, p. 169)
B. Wedding woes that turn our attention to Jesus – v. 3
John 2:3 - When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
John 2:4 - And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.”
C. Obedience to the Father surpasses family interests (v. 4-5)
John 2:4 - …My hour has not yet come.
John 4:23 - But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
John 8:20 - These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Philippians 2:8 - Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
John 2:5 - His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
II. Savor the Bounty of the Best Bridegroom
“Wise is the couple who invite Jesus to their wedding.” (Warren Wiersbe)
A. Gives abundant provision
John 2:6-7 - Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.
Amos 9:13 - “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; when the mountains will drip sweet wine.” (cf. also Isa. 25:6, Jer. 31:12, Joel 3:18).
B. Creates new wine from water (v. 8-9)
John 2:8-9 - And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew)…
Luke 1:37 - For nothing will be impossible with God.
C. Serves better wine bestowing honor (v. 10)
John 2:9-10 - …the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
“It is good to run short that we may be driven to Christ with our necessity.” (D. L. Moody)
III. Believe the Purpose of Jesus’ Sign (vv. 11-12)
A. The first sign of many
John 2:11 - This beginning of His signs…
John 21:25 - And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.
B. To manifest His glory
John 2:11 - This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory…
John 1:14 - …and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
C. The disciples believed
John 2:11 - This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
John 20:30-31 - Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
- practically every married couple has at least one story about something unexpected, or difficult, or downright disastrous that happened on their wedding day…
- you might want to ask married people about that later and I would be very surprised to hear of anyone who would say, no, everything went just like we planned, no surprises at all…
- Kris and I were married the summer after I graduated from Bible College…in 1982…
- the plan was that in the fall I was going to start an MDiv program at Grace Seminary, so we selected the date of August 7th so I could work building pools as long as possible to save up as much money as we could, have the wedding and our honeymoon, and then move immediately to Warsaw just before the fall semester started…
- I was from the Gary/Merrillville area – Kris was from Elkhart…so all the planning was being done long distance…
- and I know this will be hard for some people to imagine…but this was long before cell phones, and text messages, and instant communication…
- and yes we had telephones…and more accurately, a telephone that hung on the wall at our parent’s houses…but long-distance charges were very expensive, so you didn’t just pick up the phone for any ole reason…so planning an event like that was challenging…
- there was also the issue that 13 of my buddies from college were coming to the wedding from all around the country – about half of them were actually in the wedding…so I wanted to get some time with them as well…
- this was also before I became more relaxed and reasonable in my planning expectations…so let’s just say that the schedule was pretty tight…
- it was going to be a Saturday evening wedding…so my friends and I who were in the wedding were going to meet in Elkhart Friday afternoon where we would pick up our tuxes, go to the wedding rehearsal, along with Kris and her friends, and then have a nice rehearsal dinner in Elkhart…
- then the guys and my parents were going to drive back to Merrillville Friday night….which was an hour and a half away…where we would meet the rest of our buddies who weren’t in the wedding
- we were going to spend the night in my parent’s Living Room…
- Saturday morning – the plan was to wake up and play golf together…including playing the final hole not with traditional foursomes, but with all 13 of us playing the same hole at the same time…
- then we were going to drive to Chicago for lunch – which was the opposite direction from Elkhart – but I wanted to show my out-of-town friends what Gino’s East pizza was like because they had always heard me talk about it in college…
- then we would drive back to Elkhart – about 2.5 hours from Chicago…get dressed for the wedding…after the wedding, Kris and I drove back to Chicago Saturday night, because we had a 7 am flight out on Sunday morning to leave on our honeymoon to Bermuda…
- all of that to say – there wasn’t a lot of time built into the schedule for problem solving…
- things worked very well until we got back to my parents’ house late Friday night and we were greeting all my other buddies we hadn’t seen all summer…
- and at some point someone said…should we hang up our tuxes so they don’t get wrinkled…
- and I thought – that’s probably not a bad idea – where did I put that thing?…
- at some point, it had been thrown in the trunk of my car…which not surprisingly if you know me, was an old car whose truck wasn’t that clean just because of its age…
- and the tux had some lightweight plastic over it…but it’s possible that some golf clubs were thrown in there too…
- anyway, when I brought the tux in, someone noticed that there was a blob of black grease on the back of my white tux…I don’t mean a spot…I mean a blob…like enough to perform a grease job on your average size vehicle…
- those are the kind of problems that happen at practically every wedding that has ever been held…
- or on the day of the ceremony itself…when we’re on the platform and the pastor who was marrying us was in the middle of his wedding message…and we heard this sound like brushfire burning…you know that cracking sound?...
- and I looked over to see that one of our candelabras was positioned right under an air conditioning duct which was blowing air, which had made the candle burn down more rapidly than it should have, igniting some of the greenery that has been there as a decoration…
- again I say…those are the kinds of problems that happen at practically every wedding that has ever been held…
- now here’s my question…does Jesus care about the crazy details of everyday life like that?...has Jesus ever even been to a wedding?...
- and more importantly, does Jesus care about the more significant problems that people like you and I might be facing now or in the days ahead?...
- with that in mind, please open your Bible to John chapter 2…
- our church’s theme this year is Enjoying Life in His Name…
- this is a verse by verse study of the Gospel of John…
- so far we’ve studied the prologue in chapter 1 which gives us an amazing summary of the Person and work of Jesus Christ from this reliable eye-witness the apostle John…
- who says things like…
- John 1:1–3 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
- John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- John 1:16 - For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
- the second half of chapter 1 gives more explanation to the life and ministry of John the Baptist and then the initial calling of several of Jesus’ disciples who also become witnesses of what Jesus would say and do…
- and please keep in mind why all of this was being recorded by John… John 20:30–31- Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
- now, we’re going to move into chapter 2…and see that yes, Jesus Christ most certainly did attend a wedding…and what transpired, at least in that culture was a whole lot worse than a greasy tuxedo or a burning candelabra…we’re talking about the social disaster of the groom’s family running out of wine…
- with that in mind, please follow along as I read beginning in John 2:1 – [read 2:1-12]
- so we’re talking this morning about Savoring the Glory of the Best Bridegroom
- and with the time we have remaining, let’s look for Three responses to a Messiah who cares about what’s happening to you.
- this passage shows that Jesus’ ministry is going to be far different than John the Baptist’s…
- That Jesus attended the celebration reveals His ministry to be markedly different than that of His forerunner, John the Baptist (Matt. 11:18–19). Instead of being a voice in the wilderness, Jesus had the more difficult task of mingling socially with the people and ministering to them in their daily activities (John 1-11, John MacArthur, p. 78).
- whenever you do that…you just run the risk of getting involved in all sorts of sticky situations…
- I mentioned a couple of the challenges that occurred on our wedding weekend…but when you’re a pastor…it is much more likely that your catalogue of unfortunate wedding stories goes up exponentially…
- like early in my ministry when a young man from Purdue asked me if I would marry he and his fiancé in his home state of Michigan…
- they were a fine young couple…I had met his parents a few times when they had visited their son at Purdue…the father was an executive in the golf industry and he and his wife were very sweet, kind people…
- the bride was from India…she had come here to study at Purdue…so many of her family members were coming from India to Michigan for the wedding…
- so it was quite an honor to be asked to conduct their wedding…
- so on the appropriate Friday I jumped in my car to drive 5-6 hours to the groom’s home in Michigan…
- and this family was very well off financially…and they weren’t ostentatious, but everything they did was just thoughtful and first class…
- so I arrived Friday afternoon, and spent a little time with the groom and his parents, and then it I went upstairs to get ready for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner…
- this was going to be a morning wedding which would allow me time to get back to Lafayette for my Sunday responsibilities…
- so they had things all laid out in the upstairs room where I was going to be staying…all the towels and toiletries and a thank you note for coming and some chocolate mints…everything was just first class…
- so I showered and went to get ready and the good news was that the casual sport-coat I was going to wear for the rehearsal was in my suit bag…
- my shaving kit and everything I was going to need for that evening and the next day…
- except one thing…the suit I was supposed to wear for the wedding the next day…
- I had my shirt…my tie…which I had even purchased to match the color scheme of the wedding…I had shoes, a pair of socks…everything but my suit…
- and I’m standing there thinking…I’m going to have to walk downstairs in this beautiful house, and tell this wonderful family who was so well-organized they even remembered to put chocolate mints on my pillow…that this guy from Indiana they asked to perform the wedding wasn’t even smart enough to remember his suit…
- those are the kinds of problems that happen at weddings…and remember, John told us in chapter 1, John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…
- you may recall that we pointed out several weeks ago the word “dwelt” is the Greek word skenoo – to live in a tent…
- Jesus took on flesh and pitched His tent right in the middle of sin-cursed humanity and then entered into our human existence with all of our embarrassing social problems…
- including a groom’s family who just ran out of wine…
- Three responses to a Messiah who cares about what’s happening to you.
I. Celebrate the Glory of Jesus’ Obedience – vv. 1-5
A. The ideal setting for joyful celebration - vv. 1-2
- there’s no question that a wedding ceremony is extremely important in our culture, but that was even truer in Bible times, at least from the perspective of how long the event could last…
- A wedding was a major social event in first-century Palestine, and the celebration could last as long as a week. Unlike modern weddings, which are traditionally paid for by the bride’s family, the groom was responsible for the expenses of the celebration. The wedding marked the culmination of the betrothal period. During that period, which often lasted for several months, the couple was considered legally man and wife (Matt. 1:18–19 refers to Joseph as Mary’s husband during their betrothal period), and only a divorce could terminate the betrothal (cf. Matt. 1:19). They did not, however, live together or consummate the marriage during that period (cf. Matt. 1:18). On the night of the ceremony (usually a Wednesday), the groom and his friends would go to the bride’s house. They would then escort her and her attendants to the groom’s house, where the ceremony and banquet would be held (cf. Matt. 25:1–10). The whole celebration ended with the actual wedding (John 1-11, John MacArthur, p. 77).
- you can imagine the amount of planning that would go into an event that would last that long…we’re not talking about a sheet cake and a package of those butter mints from Gordon’s here…
- D.A Carson explained the significance of what was happening…”A wedding celebration could last as long as a week, and the financial responsibility lay with the groom (cf. 2:9-10). To run out of supplies would be a dreadful embarrassment in a ‘shame’ culture; there is some evidence it could lay the groom open to a lawsuit from aggrieved relatives of the bride” (The Gospel According to John, D.A. Carson, p. 169).
- that would be a bad way to start out any marriage, you know?...where the new in-laws are suing the groom’s family because they ran out of wine…imagine how awkward that would be at the first birthday party for the eventual first grandchild…
- but thankfully the story doesn’t end there…
B. Wedding woes that turn our attention to Jesus – v. 3
- John 2:3 - When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
- it would appear that Mary had some sort of role in assisting the groom’s family with catering the event…which suggests that this was a wedding of family members which would also explain why Jesus was there in the first place…
- but please just imagine how amazing it was that the incarnate Son of God is attending someone’s wedding…
- there’s also an incredible number of unanswered questions…
- like, where was Joseph?...and the assumption is that by this time, Joseph had died, and perhaps Mary was used to leaning on her eldest son…and as one write pointed out, what a son he must have been…
- but the text doesn’t say what Mary expected Jesus to do…it was almost a “he’ll know what to do” moment…
- you also have to decide what to do with Jesus’ response… John 2:4 - And Jesus *said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.”
- I realize Jesus calling his mother “woman” makes us recoil…the challenge is that there really isn’t a great way to translate that word into English…perhaps Maam is a better equivalent in our culture…
- we know it couldn’t have been sinful…but there’s no question that it was a mild rebuke, or at least a redirection of her thinking…
- because if she was in any way suggesting that Jesus do something that would publicly proclaim to everyone that He was the promised Messiah of Israel…Jesus made it clear…
C. Obedience to the Father surpasses family interests (v. 4-5)
- John is introducing us to a phrase and a concept that comes up often in the life of Christ…His focus on the timing of His Father in the accomplishment of His plan…
- so like here… John 2:4 - …My hour has not yet come.”
- or His words to the woman at the well, John 4:23 - But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
- or John 8:20 - These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
- part of what we’re seeing in our passage in the hard transition Mary is having to make as Jesus moves into His public ministry…
- He loves her – and he will demonstrate that even while He is dying on the cross…but every decision large and small has to be made through the lens of obedience to His Father’s plan…
- please think about that both backwards and forwards in the Gospel of John…
- I mentioned this verse a moment ago from the prologue – John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- we’re seeing one aspect of His glory on grand display…and that is His glorious obedience to His Father…and why would that become so important?...we know the answer to that question, don’t we…
- remember what Paul told the Philippians?... Philippians 2:8 - Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
- it’s also interesting that Mary responded ideally to what Jesus said…by telling the servants what?...
- John 2:5 - His mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
- those are truly fascinating words – because she agreed that the heavenly Father’s purposes and timing in the matter were of utmost importance…she also believed her Son would address the problem in a way that was consistent with those purposes…
- here’s a question to consider – when’s the last time you thanked the Lord for His obedience?...for His steadfast commitment to accomplishing His Father’s plan for our redemption?...
- and on the heels of that…how much focus and value do you place on obedience to God and the authorities He has placed in your life?...
- so, let’s celebrate the glory of Jesus/ obedience…
II. Savor the Bounty of the Best Bridegroom
- Warren Wiersbe said – Wise is the couple who invite Jesus to their wedding – Warren Wiersbe.
- and that’s true on many levels, isn’t it?...
- I always love it when a young couple says when planning their wedding…please help us place the major focus of this period of time on our relationship with the Lord and how we can establish a Christ-centered marriage and family…
- young couples like that chose one another not primarily because of externals and feelings and outward appearances…but they were drawn together because of their joint love for their Savior…they want to enjoy life in Jesus’ name together…
- so young couples like that work hard on their pre-marital counseling…
- and they ask Christ to help them honor Him during their engagement…
- they want to understand what Scripture says about their roles in the home and they ask their obedient Savior to help them learn to obey God’s Word in those matters even when it’s hard…
- even the ceremony itself is primarily vertical, not horizontal…
- sure they put some amount of attention on the clothes, and the pictures, and the food…but items like that didn’t consume them…and distract them…
- Wiersbe’s right – Wise is the couple who invite Jesus to their wedding…
- and what do they find their Lord and Savior to be?...One who…
A. Gives abundant provision
- John 2:6–7 - Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus *said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.
- we don’t have to do the math because John does it for us…120-180 gallons of wine…
- wine in the Bible is often used to picture joy and gladness and the message of the Old Testament was that in the Messianic Kingdom, wine would be available to the King’s subjects in abundance…so we have passages like…
- Amos 9:13 - “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; when the mountains will drip sweet wine.” (cf. also Isa. 25:6, Jer. 31:12, Joel 3:18).
- anyone who had ever wondered how that could be possible had that question put to rest…
- the Messiah was going to be God Himself…so the issue of ability and resources is no longer a concern…
- of course we know it won’t be long until the Messiah is rejected, and the full expression of His kingdom will be delayed…
- but John wants us to see the character of the Lord and Savior we’re being encouraged to trust…
- He doesn’t just care…He cares about all sorts of garden variety problems that in the grand scheme of things might not make it on the evening news…but it’s certainly important to you at the time…
- and He doesn’t just provide…but He provides with abundance…
- that’s one of the points we tried to make at our last church family night…without a doubt this has been a challenging season for all of us…we’re tired of viruses and masks and social distancing…we miss being together in large groups as a church family…
- but even in hard times God has blessed in abundance…so Sunday night we had a delightful group of people who were baptized to celebrate their new life in Christ…
- others who know the Lord and had already been baptized gave their testimonies as they requested to become part of our church family…
- and there was great joy that came even though most of us were participating virtually…rejoicing in God’s abundant blessing to our church even during a pandemic…
- we were able to celebrate the official final payoff of the NCC which in any year would have been a major accomplishment but during a pandemic…God’s provision has been amazing…
- then we reported that a foundation that was unknown to us a few months ago, through one of our members who works for that company, gave our Men’s Restoration Ministry 100K to expand their sawmill and hardwoods business…
- then the city came and offered to give our CDC several building lots at no cost…
- next we were able to announce another dream come true as an alternative school is moving into the NCC – and we will have the privilege of not only ministering to those 40+ high school students…but also to their families…
- and on top of that we celebrated what has happened with our BCTC, with now over 1800 persons registered for our virtual conference…
- friends – I hope we’re not missing the obvious point – Jesus doesn’t just provide for His people – He provides in abundance…so He…
B. Created new wine from water (v. 8-9)
- John 2:8–9 - And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew)…
- Do you remember what the angel told Mary when she asked how she could have a baby if she was a virgin?...Luke 1:37 - “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
- friend – do you believe that?...have we become so used to phrases like “the water which had become wine” that they don’t impact us like the way they were intended?...and this wasn’t just a matter of quantity, was it?...
C. Serves better wine bestowing honor (v. 10)
- John 2:9–10 - the headwaiter *called the bridegroom, and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
- that’s what happens when men and women choose to enjoy life in Jesus’ name…
- I’m not suggesting it’s a life that’s problem free…
- but D. L. Moody was right when he said, It is good to run short that we may be driven to Christ with our necessity – D. L. Moody.
- and the lesson from John 2 is that Jesus both cares about our need, and He is more than able to abundantly meet it…
- I realize I have a habit of starting stories without finishing them…and I know that some people find that a bit irritating…
- it was late Friday night when I saw that big blob of black grease on the back of my tuxedo…the place we rented it was 1.5 hours away…and I had a full slate of activities…
- and I’ll never forget what my dad, who was my best man, and had no interest in playing golf or driving to Chicago the next day said to me…just have fun with your friends, I’ll take care of it…(one of many times my dad had to quietly bail me out of bad decisions I had made)…
- I learned later that he just went to a local tuxedo place in our town Saturday morning…showed it to the owner of the shop who was about my dad’s age…they both just shook their heads and the guy came back with a rag and some special solution…and my dad said the guy wiped that grease off the jacket, rubbed the solution over the stain…and you could not find where that spot had been…
- every second I had spent worrying about that problem Saturday when I was with my buddies…was time wasted…
- when the greenery caught fire…Pastor Gellatt had conducted a lot of weddings in his day, and he calmly looked back to the guy in the sound booth and said, would you mind shutting off the air conditioner…
- the greenery stopped burning and we went right on with the ceremony…
- what about the young pastor who forgot his wedding suit…
- I worried about that all through the rehearsal…
- I couldn’t eat a bite at this beautiful restaurant where we had the rehearsal dinner…
- every time one of the bride’s family members would come to me and thank me for make their daughter’s day so special…I kept thinking – just wait till tomorrow, you’ll see how special I can make something…
- when we got back to the groom’s house late that night…the groom’s dad who was a business executive and used to solving problem said…you’re about the same size as my son…he has a black suit which he’s obviously not wearing tomorrow because he’s going to be in a tux…let’s see if it fits…
- that thought had not crossed my mind…
- I took that suit and put it on…and it fit like it had been tailored just for me…
- right down to the pants being the perfect length and what was especially interesting to me…it was a much nicer suit than anything I owned at the time…
- and I strutted into that wedding ceremony the next day as if I was all that and a bag of chips…and we had a marvelous time…
- God is capable of providing for His children, and He often does so in abundance…
- the last response is to…
III. Believe the Purpose of Jesus’ Sign (vv. 11-12)
A. The first sign of many
- v. 11 – This beginning of His signs…
- that’s another evidence of His grace – not only that He performed miracles, but that He performed multiple miracles to put us in the best possible position to believe…
- throughout this gospel, John will highlight eight of them, but he actually concludes the book by saying - John 21:25 - And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books that *would be written.
- His purpose wasn’t to record them all, but to give people like you and me plenty of reasons to believe…
B. To manifest His glory
- John 2:11 - This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory
- that’s what chapter 1 had promised -- John 1:14 - …and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- stories like this give us a better understanding of what our God is like…
- and by the way – for anyone who has a problem with Jesus being able to do a miracle – your problem isn’t with John 2, it’s with John 1…
- If Jesus truly is the God of God, the eternal 2nd member of the trinity….then changing a little water into wine wouldn’t even make Him break a sweat…
- it’s just like my dad said to me the night before my wedding – Don’t worry about it sin, I’ll take care of it…
- and of course the ultimate way our Savior blessed His children was by walking up the hill of Calvary and dying in our place…
- the same Messiah who cares about and is able to daily problems…also cares about and is able to solve our ultimate problem of sin and separation from the Father….
- and thankfully the passage ends by saying…
C. The disciples believed
- John 2:11 - This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
- John 20:30–31 - Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
- can I ask you this morning – have you believed?...
- that was part of what was so delightful at our recent CFN…person after person stood before their church family and said in essence – I believe…
- Christian friend – are you enjoying life in His name?...if He’s compassionate and powerful enough to turn water into wine, He’s compassionate and powerful enough to meet you at your hour of need as well…
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