Amen. Today’s sermon, we’re going to be talking about the first miracle that Jesus does of turning water to wine. So we have free wine for no, just kidding. All right. So we’re studying through John. Today we’re talking about the first miracle of turning water to wine. So what is this all about? I’m going to ask you this question.
Where is
Where Did Your Joy Go
the joy in your life? Have you been through that time where you lost it?
Can you remember that? Can you remember? Maybe it wasn’t just like one event that just killed you on the inside. Maybe it was a slow decline of everything losing its joy. And if we’re not careful or if we don’t figure this out, we can descend into what you call depression or you know such pain that sometimes people even think death is the only way out.
And it’s awful. We’ve all been there.
Where it’s like, what am I doing? What’s the point of life? I’d rather end it all. Or I’d rather I don’t know what I’m doing. And so maybe we dive into substances to numb that pain and numb what we’re going through. Or maybe we dive into sinful living and sinful choices to see if we’ll find joy in those things. Or we become more religious. We become austere, and we’re like, I guess God wants me to be this way. There’s no joy in following God, but it’s something I have to do because my grandma and grandpa told me, my parents told me this is what we have to do. And if you don’t go to church, you’re gonna go to hell. And if you do this and you do that, you’re gonna go to hell. And everything gets so messed up inside us, and it grieves us because there’s something inside you that longs to rejoice.
There’s something inside you that knows that you were created for joy. So why does it get taken away from us? Jesus came to give it back. That’s what this miracle is about.
And when he looked around at this wedding that we’re gonna see, he’s at this wedding, they run out of wine. You guys know the story, but if you don’t, we’re gonna study it today. And he says, they you know, they tell him, you know, we’re out of wine, and I can just picture Jesus saying, I know. You’ve been out of wine for a long time, haven’t you? Because it’s not about the wine at this wedding. It’s really not.
It’s about our hearts.
And Jesus came to fix something to bring us joy in a place that no one else can reach. And it’s the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see today. You with me? Are you ready? Alright, let’s let’s study the word for John chapter 2, verse 1. On the third day, man, God likes doing awesome things on the third day, right? Do you think that’s an accident? I think that those words right there will preach a sermon, but not this sermon. There was a wedding. On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. Okay, so for our story,
Why A Wedding Matters
we have a setting. The setting is a wedding, right? It’s supposed to be the most beautiful, joyous thing, and weddings are all about relationships. I heard a story this morning uh as I was getting coffee about a wedding where the there was a fight, and the wedding didn’t happen because there was a fight. And um, so but they got to eat a good meal. So it was a really funny story. I don’t know how much I should share about it, so that’s all you’re gonna get right now. But um, weddings are supposed to be fun, and they’re all about relationships. It’s about celebrating relationships, right? The we celebrate the greatest thing in all of life, which is a relationship of two people being made one, the union of love, the exchange of love between two people. This is literally the biggest fireworks show in the world. When two people choose to love each other, that is the purpose of life. Like it is the greatest thing because it’s all symbolic. The husband and the bride and the relationship that they’re celebrating, it’s all symbolic. You know, the families come together. This is all really super important, and Jesus chose this symbolic union to do his first miracle. Because all marriages speak of what he wants with us, our his union with us. If you think an earthly wedding can be happy, just wait till you see a heavenly wedding. Just wait. Because the joy that he is gonna have, and the joy that we’re gonna have, is going to be a billion times what any earthly wedding can show you. This is the very reason we were created was to be his bride. This is such a vital thing in theology that we are the bride of Christ. So, of course, Jesus would love to go to an earthly wedding and celebrate with them because he’s gonna do this life-changing miracle that’s gonna show what he, the change that he wants to bring to the world, the joy he wants to bring to the world. And this one wedding is literally gonna be a part of changing the whole course of human history, just like maybe your wedding was or will be. Weddings are that powerful. A marriage produces children, and those children, shaped by the love of their parents, go out into the world and change the world and create more families of love and joy. And that’s how we’re supposed to take over the world, not with force, but with love, right? So, John 2 3, our the next verse says, When they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine.
What’s the big deal?
In that day, a wedding was the biggest event in the community ever. Okay, there was nothing else bigger than weddings. And a wedding should never run out of wine. It was a disgrace
When The Party Runs Dry
to the host, it was a disgrace to the family, it was a disgrace to your guests. In fact, they could sue you. They could sue you for damages if you ran out of wine. So that’s how serious this was. It was dishonor on you, dishonor on your family, dishonor on your cow. Right? That was for John. Right? So this is really sad. This is kind of an emergency, it’s a it’s a failure. And again, I want you to picture Jesus saying, Yeah, I know, I know. But Mary, his mom, is bringing it to him, like, hey, what’s going on here? What are you gonna do? See, but wine doesn’t just grow on trees, it grows on vines, right? Uh you can’t just go and buy this much wine at the market, right? The market was granny over here. That you literally you had to plan an event like this from growing the grapes and then crushing enough grapes, and then the harvest. So the planning of this was so far in the future, this is not something that is fixable. Okay, but what’s the real thing going on here? This wedding represents the whole world.
They’ve all run out of wine. The world has.
Because wine represents joy and the celebration of life. And the world is plumb out of it.
How you ask?
That’s a good question. For most people in that community, and it’s the system of knowing God was was a law and religious system. So when they said, How do you follow God? They’re like, Well, you you go to church and you read the Torah and you that was what they think.
And that system had lost its life. Does that sound familiar?
You ask someone, how do you follow God? What is the typical response? Well, you go to church and you read the Bible. What’s going on here? I think it’s the same thing. The law, the religious system of sacrifices, there was no joy in any of it anymore. The priests were bitter, angry old men who were married to bitter, angry wives, who had bitter and angry children, and an entire nation was out of hope, and everything sucked. The joy was gone, the celebration was over, the life had disappeared, they were depressed, despondent, and hopeless. Now I want to pause the story and go all the way back to another wedding in the book of Genesis. The first wedding between Adam and Eve. They were happy too. They were so happy. God literally said, Here’s a naked woman. Adam was like, Whoa, man. They were happy
The First Wedding And The Fall
for maybe like a day until they sinned and they chose to be self-sufficient, and they lost their connection to the source of their joy, the real source of joy. And and just as God said, the day you eat this, you’ll surely die in his warning to them. We’ve all been out of wine ever since. Every human that is descended from Adam and Eve has been born in the state of the nakedness that we have to try to cover, and we we’ve lost the joy, the party, there’s been no life in the party ever since. So sad. So back to our story in John chapter 2, verse 4. Jesus said to her, Woman, now this is not being respectful, ladies. Not being disrespectful, I should say. Not being disrespectful. He’s not like woman. It was a respectful term, but it wasn’t mother. It wasn’t mother. And that’s really, really, really important for what comes next. Okay? He says, Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour
Mary Steps Back So Jesus Leads
has not yet come. So he changes how he speaks to his mom at this day. He would have spoken in the loving family turn of mother, but here he says, Woman. So what is going on? Jesus is indicating that there has been a change in his relationship with his mother, or between him and Mary. If she sought his help now, it she she can’t seek it on the relationship between mother and son, but on messiah and and human, right? So it’s he said, okay, things are now different. I obviously would do anything my mother asks me to do because I honor her. But mother, woman, I now have to listen to my heavenly father because I’ve been baptized and I’ve started this public ministry now. I’m gonna change the world and I’m the Messiah, which you know. So he flips it around and says, I’m gonna have to do what my father tells me to do first. Because that includes you. I have to save you also. So do you see the subtle twist twist there? He’s not being rude to her, he’s including her in the miracle he’s about to do. Mary just simply wants to fix the problem and bring joy back to the problem. She’s joy back to the party. You know, she’s a fixer. And Jesus will, he’s gonna do that, you know, spoilers. Um, but he’s gotta deal with one thing first, right? He’s like, You’re my mother, but I must do the will of my father. He says, What do you want, Mary? What’s your concern? Do you know what it’s gonna take for me to truly fix this problem? The fact that joy has been missing from human beings since Adam. Do you know what that’s gonna take of me? Do you want me to die on the cross tonight at this party? That would be a buzzkill. Now I’m going to do that, but I need you to understand that I can’t do that tonight. My hour has not yet come. That’s what that means. Okay. I’m gonna bring something called the new covenant of grace, and I’m gonna give you a taste of it tonight. That’s what I’ll do. Right? Right here, right now, you get a sip, you’re gonna get a taste. Let’s see how it goes. Verse 5. So his mother said to his servants, whatever he says to you, do it. I want you to underline that in your Bibles when you when you get home or if you have your Bible now, whatever he says to you, do it. Pretty much the greatest advice you’ve ever heard from anybody, whatever Jesus says to you, do it. Okay? If you just go to church and they tell you that, that is a good church. That’s like awesome.
Okay? Now, she changed, she changes plans here.
Instead of, you know, so she says, instead of us like working together, I’m gonna back out, I’m gonna let you do your thing. She understands what he’s saying to her, so she chooses faith. She’s like, All right, I’m your mom. I’m a I’m like a great woman, a woman of faith, so I’m gonna choose faith. How? Because she knows Jesus, she loves him, and since he’s already begun and announced that he’s the Lamb of God and the Messiah, uh, he’s gonna start showing it now. So she acts in that faith by telling these guys, hey, whatever he does, you whatever he says, you just do him. She directs people to Jesus. Let me say that again for everyone who grew up Catholic like me. She directs people to Jesus. Whatever he says to you, do it. This is really serious, okay? Should we pray to Mary? That is a really important question. Along church history, about three, four hundred years after Jesus, the Catholic Church started to veer away from Orthodox theology and started to say that the Pope and the Bible are equal. And if the Pope says something that disagrees with the Bible, you have to listen to the Pope. And one of the things the Pope said was that you can pray to Mary, you can pray to the saints, and they can help you out. And so they spend time praying to Mary and the saints, right? You ever heard of the Mother Mary, full of grace, like prayer that they pray? Right? Now, is that in the Bible? No. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell you to pray to Mary. Um, in fact, if you listen to her words, she says, Whatever he says to you, do it. I’m I’m not involved. She steps back. She says, Whatever he says to you, do it. This has been a major error in the church for many years. Uh, most people who come out of that church and start reading the Bible for themselves realize that, and so it’s not really that much of a debate anymore. Um, you see, because Jesus brought us this new covenant, and there’s one mediator between God and man in the new covenant, and it’s not Mary. It’s not any human being, it’s Jesus. And so, us as believers, we have direct access to the Father. Why does there need to be why is it why is it like God your father isn’t gonna listen to you? He wants you, he begs you to come and talk to him. And and this whole getting other people involved thing is a pure distraction, false, and just needs to be forgotten about. Okay, we go directly to God through Jesus because Jesus is God and He’s our mediator, and He told us how to pray. How did Jesus teach us to pray? Mother Mary or our Father, right? He told you, go directly to your father. That’s that’s how this works. So Mary is honored in in scripture as the mother of Jesus, but she’s still human. In fact, she says that God, that the Messiah would be her savor, savior also. So she knows that she wasn’t sinless, that she had other kids. Jesus had brothers and sisters after uh after he was born. They had kids, her and Joseph, and then Joseph died at some point, and now Mary is, you know, Jesus has been taking care of her. And uh, but the New Testament, the Bible, is very clear. We pray to God, she’s not involved. So this just kind of reinforces that for us, right? But this is where our story gets really truly amazing. And in verse 6, now there were set six water pots of stone according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing 20 or 30 gallons apiece. All right, what does this mean? Well, there these were special pots that they used in purification rituals according to the law. Okay, so
Empty Water Pots And Empty Hearts
in the law, you know, Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, uh, they had these pots and they would use them for washing ceremonies. Picture being wash, you know, washing my sins clean. Washing, you know, I want to have a relationship with God, I want to be pure and holy, and I’m sinful. And so God required purity and holiness. So we had these pots, and they were part of this ceremonies that they would do. But the problem with washing the outside is no one could wash their hearts. You can’t open up and wash the inside heart, right? So what do they do about their heart?
Well, this, what we just described, is religion, law-based, performance-based religion.
Religion. Religion only deals with the outside, religious actions. When you have to do something for God, it only deals on the outside. So you have to really understand this to get this miracle, okay? This culture was obsessed with cleaning and washing hands, and and they really believed that cleaning the outside made them good people on the inside. But their pots were empty. Did you notice that? They had to fill the pots with water, so they weren’t even doing these washings, or there would have been water, right? So their pots were empty, which is the perfect illustration of what was going on inside all of them. They were all empty, they were empty inside. Their hearts were missing the joy and the life. And Jesus, you can just picture him just tears welling in his eyes saying, I know. I know how empty you are. I know how dry you are. I know you. Right? Last week he already knows. So they were dry. Maybe they’ve given up washing, which is not necessarily the worst thing in their situation. It was just religious things anyway. So maybe they’re just like, you know what? Even our religious washings aren’t working. So we’re just we’re trying to manufacture our own joy here and it’s not working out. Now notice how many pots were there? Six. Alright, good answer. It was right there. Not that hard. Six in the Bible is always the number of man or incompleteness, or you could kind of say failure. Six is the number of man in the Bible. So the picture here that’s being painted for us by John, the author, is really super clear. Man has failed to be pure, and so man has no joy. Man is a failure, which is why Jesus came. Verse 7. Now Jesus said to them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, Draw some out now and take it to the master of the feast. And they took it. Right? Uh what is water gonna do for us? Our party is out of wine. So what’s going on here, right? Well, Jesus is pointing to something. Remember, he’s using the water pots. The water pots speak of cleansing. So when he says, fill the water pots with water, he’s saying, Hey guys, remember you’re supposed to be pure.
You’re not. That’s the big problem here.
Life is gone because your purity is gone, and you were born that way. So I’m not even telling you you can fix this. I’m just showing you the reality of the situation that joy is gone because the purity is gone. You all, your hearts are so far from God. That’s what’s going on. And then he says, fill them to the brim, the very top, right? What does this speak of? This speaks of not a little supply. There’s there’s uh you as much as you can possibly put in these people, that’s what God’s preparing to give. And this speaks to us of the abundant life that Jesus promised. Jesus is gonna bring joy, Jesus is gonna bring life, and he’s not just halfway filling you up, he’s gonna fill you up to the brim where you’re gonna spill in on everyone around you the joy. That’s the abundant life. Just remember that. John 10 10, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come to give life, and that life abundantly. Where’s the abundant life in all these people? It’s not there, they don’t have it. So when Jesus solves a problem, he solves it all the way. Look at verse 9. When the master of the feast tasted the water that’s made wine, he did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and then when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. So, but you have kept the good wine until now. So Jesus miraculously turns the water into wine, but not just any wine, as you guys know, the best wine.
Law To Grace Through The Best Wine
It was truly a blessing for everyone, right? And the master of the feast, he doesn’t know, but the servants know. So, why? What does this mean that Jesus turned it into wine? Jesus did not come to improve the old system of the law. He didn’t come to just improve it, he came to fulfill it and completely transform it into something new. So these water pots they represent the law and the religious system of the day. The the you gotta go to church, you gotta keep the Ten Commandments, and that’s how you cleanse the outside of you. And Jesus is saying, through this miracle, we’re scrapping all that. Instead of all that religious stuff, I am going to transform you from the inside, and all you’re gonna have to do is drink it in by faith. He did not come to improve the old system, he came to fulfill it and transform it. Look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 1. It says, For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, but not the very image of the things, could never, with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually, year by year, make those who approach perfect. The law could never meet our needs because it could never cleanse our heart. The law is old, but grace, the new covenant of grace, is the new way. Water was used in this purification rituals. Wine is the new life of grace that Jesus will give to us as a shared experience with him of relationship. So he’s not even gonna tell you this is what you have to do. He’s telling you, I’m gonna come, we’re gonna get married, and my life is gonna flow through you. We’re gonna be one life. That’s what this wine means, that’s why it’s at a wedding, that’s what this all means. It’s rituals to reality, it’s law to grace. It’s a picture of you in Christ and Christ in you, which is the opposite of religion. It’s relationship, but a real relationship. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, kind of like water to wine. Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. Jesus is not just about cleansing. Yes, there’s gonna be cleansing in the new covenant, but he’s gonna use his blood to cleanse us, not just water. And the blood speaks of life, so it’s not just cleansing, but a whole new life. And this is what most Christians don’t understand. I become a Christian because I know I need to get my sins forgiven. So I say, Jesus, forgive me, and I know that he forgives me and I get joy for a little bit, but then my life still sucks, so what do I do? And Jesus says, You’re missing a huge part of the new covenant of grace, which is not just that you’re forgiven, but that I want to live my life through you, in you, I want to live your life for you, and that’s this union that we get with him. That’s what grace is wine, speaks of his blood, which speaks of his life. Wine represents the blood of Jesus, which represents his life. It’s kind of a three-layer image, okay? I’ll take that. Why, but why wine? Because that’s why. Luke 22, 20. Says, likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. The new covenant is called the new covenant of grace. So this new covenant of grace is always represented by wine, because it points to his blood, and his blood always points to life. In Leviticus, way back, God taught us this in Leviticus chapter 17, verse 11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. So in Hebrews, it says the law was a shadow of what Jesus gives us. The wine is a shadow of the blood that Jesus gave to us. This miracle of the water being turned into wine is simply pointing us to the cross. It’s pointing to us to what Jesus is going to pay for us, give for us his blood, his life. His blood pays for all our sins. It cleans us up. Like water should on the outside, but the blood does it all through us, inside and outside, and that’s what’s different. Look at Colossians 2 14. Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, his death becomes our death. We share. So think of a wedding.
When you get married, your debt is shared now. Also your wealth is shared. There’s no such thing as prenups in the Bible.
Jesus didn’t sign a prenup with you. He says, I take all of your debt upon me. And we are getting married. And I in turn am going to give you all of my life. It says he was rich in grace, yet he was rich, he became poor for your sake, so that through his poverty you might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8 9. So he wants to share, transfer his new wine to you. His wine. That’s good wine, his delicious wine. At the right time, Jesus gave his new wine for us. His resurrection life is what this is talking about. It’s so good, it’s so sweet. In Hebrews chapter 7, verse 18, it says, For on the one hand, there is an annuling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness. That’s the law. The Bible calls the law, the Ten Commandments, weak and unprofitable. Isn’t that interesting? That’s what’s that’s what the Bible says about the law. Why? Because Jesus came to give us something so much better. For the law made nothing perfect. You can only truly rejoice in something when it’s perfect. That’s what God does. He only rejoices in something is perfect. If there’s any spot, if there’s anything messed up, God says, I reject it, I do not rejoice in it. That’s why God has to make you perfect. And the law makes nothing perfect. Only his blood, the perfect blood of the perfect spotless lamb, can make us perfect. On the other hand, there’s a bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God. That better hope is this grace of Jesus, this wine. It’s the new covenant of grace. And it says it brings us near to God where there is fullness of joy. So imagine a husband and a wife coming near, and that’s when they truly can rejoice when they get married. The two become one. Every marriage and the joy that erupts from that marriage is a simple foreshadow of our union with Christ. Jesus knew this. It’s his purpose to bring the joy he enjoys to us. This will blow your mind. In Psalm 47, verse 45, verse 7, it says, You love righteousness is talking about Jesus. It’s a prophecy of the Messiah. It says, You love righteousness and hate wickedness. You’re pure. Jesus is pure. Therefore, God, your God, so he calls Jesus God, but he also references the Father, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. What does that mean? Jesus was the happiest man that ever lived.
Why? Because he invented humor.
I think he was the funniest man who ever lived, too. He invented joy. He is the source of all joy. And because he has purity, he literally can express joy in all things. He is the joy of his father, and the his father is his joy. And in that relationship, he has perfect joy, and he just exudes joy in everything he does and everything he says. It is his identity. He is the most satisfied and joyful person that has ever lived, and he wants to give that to you. That is his promise. Is it found by going and finding water pots and washing up? No, it’s only found in wine. And you’re like, I knew we had church in a bar for a reason. The joy he had was in God, his father. That’s why we can’t have idols. We can’t idolize man’s wine because God offers us wine that’s real. The life, his life is pictured as this joy. That’s what real life is. So his relationship with God is the substance that all marriages point to. It’s real love, it’s real leadership, it’s real surrender, it’s real honor, it’s real submission, it’s real humility, it’s real delight and satisfaction. Every marriage points to this, whether it wants to or not. Even the worst failure of a marriage can at least serve as a bad example of what it’s supposed to be. Chapter 2, verse 11. This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. They believed in him. They came away from this thinking, I believe Jesus can do all things. I believe Jesus knows all things. I believe Jesus will reveal all things. I believe Jesus will restore all
Believe And Receive The New Life
things. I believe Jesus is the source of all joy. And he’s offered us the abundant life that he alone can give. What qualifications do you need to have to be able to drink of his wine?
He said, Are you at the party? Then all you have to do is believe.
Receive his life, receive his one. That’s the point. Believing is how all this happens. Jesus offers this new life as a free gift of grace. He’s completely doing away with the old system of rules and regulations and Jewish things and temples. It’s completely going away, being annulled. And so learning this new system of how to draw near to God, in reality, come to our wedding with Him. How does it really work? Well, for us it’s simple. It’s humility and faith. God gives grace to the humble, and we have access to the grace in which we stand by faith. It’s this is not about Jesus making parties better. It’s about new life through grace in his blood and faith in him, right? So you are commanded today to drink of his wine, and you will have his life.
Amen. Amen. His life is better than all other life.
He claims that. It’ll always leave you dry because there’s no purity in any of it. But if you want the pure, the good stuff, it’s only found in getting on your knees and saying, Jesus, I believe and I receive what you give me. And I turn my back on the world and I choose you instead. Amen? Let’s all stand up. We’re going to respond to Jesus by singing a song, by offering him our hearts.
Father, we we lift our hearts and hands to you.
We’ve been dry. We’ve been thirsting for other things. Maybe we’ve even been trying to taste other things and getting involved in things we shouldn’t. Things are
Prayer For Repentance And Renewal
not pure. And Jesus, I pray that there would be a wave of repentance that flows through our hearts, our church, all the people of this island, this community, this nation, this continent, and this planet. Jesus, please draw us to you. Help us understand that your wine is better than life. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Jesus, we will sing to you. We worship you because there is no other life besides you. Amen.