WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.879 John chapter 2, verses 1 to 11. 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:06.160 God's word says this, follow with me as I read. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:12.000 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.679 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:20.239 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:24.399 And Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:26.960 My hour has not yet come. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:32.159 His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:38.560 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:43.920 Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water, and they filled them up to the brim. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:47.840 And he said to them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:01:07.840 So they took it, and when the master of the feast tasted the water, now become wine, and he did not know where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine, but you have kept the good wine until now. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:18.879 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:21.599 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:23.920 A. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:24.159 W. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:33.280 Tozer in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, an excellent little devotional that I've seen tucked under the arms of a number of Manual Bible Church members in the last couple weeks. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:36.400 He begins that book with this justly famous quote. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:43.680 He says, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:46.879 I think you could quibble with that a little bit. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:53.280 Maybe you would say, maybe not the most important thing about us is what we think about God, but what God thinks about us. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:55.920 And we could have a bit of a debate about that. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:06.640 But I think that Tozer's words hit the mark in this respect that they're, I think they echo pretty closely the Apostle John's words as he concludes this gospel. 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:12.639 In John chapter 20, at the end of this book, John tells us the reason that everything in this little gospel was written. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:25.520 In John 20, in verse 31, he says, These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:40.960 Everything that's written in this book is written in order to put Jesus on display for you, so that you might see the truth about Jesus, and that you might believe the truth about Jesus, and by believing in him, you would have life, life eternal. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:48.000 In other words, the most important thing about you is that you know the true Jesus and you trust in him. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:52.400 And so John begins to undo that from the very opening lines of his gospel. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.360 He begins to unfold before us the truth about Jesus. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:02.000 And he begins, of course, in chapter one with this incredible prologue where he describes Jesus as none other than God himself. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:08.240 You know the famous opening lines of this gospel where he says that in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:10.639 And so Jesus is distinguished from God the Father. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:12.960 He's with God, and yet he is God. 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:20.560 In the beginning was the Word, and he was with God, and the Word was God, fully divine, all the fullness of God dwells in him. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:26.319 And this word who was in the beginning with God and fully God has become flesh. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:34.719 And in verse 14, John says, We have seen his glory, glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:43.520 And this book is concerned with unpacking and displaying before us the glory of Jesus, the glory of grace and truth, the only Son of the Father. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:48.639 For from his fullness we receive grace upon grace. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:55.759 And that's the only place that you can receive grace is in Jesus, the Jesus unfolded before us in this book. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:06.719 So that the rest of chapter one concerns with setting up the scene wherein Jesus will begin to act in order to reveal his own glory, to manifest his glory so that we might see it and believe it. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:16.079 So the rest of chapter one, Jesus is beginning to reveal himself through the witness of John the Baptist, and then he begins to call disciples to himself. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:40.879 And the end of chapter one, you'll notice just the last couple verses before our text, if you look down in your Bibles, he's just called Philip and Nathaniel, and he displays his glory before them, and they begin to believe in him, and he says to Nathaniel in verse 51 of chapter 1 Truly I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:46.959 This Jesus, who's going to be displayed before us as we read through this book, is unlike anything you have ever seen. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:49.120 He is himself the gateway to heaven. 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:55.600 He is himself, God made flesh, revealing his glory and giving you grace upon grace. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:00.879 Chapter 2 is the beginning of Jesus' revelation of his glory. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:15.920 Throughout the book of John, John unfolds before us a number of signs wherein Jesus reveals something of his power and his glory, and each sign follows with a dialogue in which Jesus explains the meaning of the miracle, the meaning of the sign. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:19.199 So we have in chapter two he turns water into wine. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:21.839 We have in chapter four he heals a person. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:30.240 And on through the rest of the gospel, we see Jesus healing, raising the dead, and finally the grand culminating miracle when he resurrects from the dead himself. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:36.480 Chapter 2 is the first of these signs, the first of Jesus' self-revelation of his glory. 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:43.360 And interestingly, it is the only miracle in which he doesn't have a dialogue following it explaining the sign. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:46.560 This is the one miracle that is so self-evident. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:53.360 It so self-evidently reveals what Jesus is like, who Jesus is, that it doesn't even need explanation. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:59.360 I think it's also interesting to note that as the first of his signs, it's carefully orchestrated. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:12.800 You can imagine if you were beginning a new job, if you were beginning some kind of public campaign for political office, when you're beginning some new endeavor, your first steps towards that endeavor are carefully planned, aren't they? 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:14.639 You want to put your best foot forward. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:18.959 You want to display something that's at the heart and the center of who you are and what you're going to be about. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:23.439 And in John chapter 2, the first of Jesus' miracles, that's exactly what Jesus is doing. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:32.319 The first of his self-revelatory signs is going to reveal something that's at the very heart of who Jesus is and how he relates to us. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:40.800 What I want to do is walk through this chapter with us in three chapters, three stages in this story as it unfolds. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:49.120 And as we do, we'll get a picture of who Jesus is and how he reveals his glory in the form of grace to us. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:51.360 Three stages along this journey. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.800 There's a celebration, there's a conversation, and there's a revelation. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:56.319 We'll take them in in turn. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:59.839 First, the first thing we see in this text is there's a celebration. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:01.199 It's in verses 1 and 2. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.800 You look down in your Bibles at verse 1, there's a celebration in verse 1. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.920 On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana and Galilee. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:14.879 Now the third day is the third day since Jesus has gathered these disciples and he's told them, I'm going to show you things that you can't even imagine. 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:18.959 And this is where Jesus is going to begin to do just that. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:23.920 And this wedding is where he's going to begin to display his glory. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.519 And this wedding takes place, the text says, in Cana in Galilee. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:32.240 Now, if you've read the Gospel of John before, you've heard of that. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.720 But other than the Gospel of John, you would never have heard of Cana in Galilee. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:40.959 Cana in Galilee is about eight miles north of Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:46.079 Nazareth is a hodunk little village in the backwater of Galilee in the north of Israel. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:48.399 There's nothing good from there. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:57.360 That's what Nathaniel says, the disciple that Jesus calls at the end of chapter 1, he calls Nathanael, and Nathanael says, Can anything good come from Nazareth? 00:07:57.519 --> 00:07:59.360 That's who Jesus had been introduced to him as. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.959 Philip, Nathaniel's brother, says, We have found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:09.040 And Nathaniel's just gut reaction is, can anything good come from Nazareth? 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:24.000 At the end of this book, in John chapter 20, tells us that Nathaniel is from Cana, which is just a couple miles up the road, and it's even smaller than Nazareth. 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:34.159 So when Jesus says at the end of John chapter 1 that Nathanael is a Jew in whom there is no guile, I mean he's speaking the truth. 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:37.679 Nathanael doesn't say, can anything good come out of Nazareth? 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:46.639 Because he's looking down his nose at Nazareth, but because he himself is an inhabitant of one of these forgotten little villages in the north backwater of Israel. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:51.679 And as a resident of this little village himself, he knows there's nothing important here. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.279 Nothing worth noting ever takes place where we live. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.399 Nobody from where we grow up ever amounts to anything. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:03.600 We are just forgotten, humble farmers, carpenters, tinkers. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:04.399 That's it. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:08.559 Nobody even knows where we live. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:17.039 But in this forgotten little village, is exactly where Jesus wants to begin his ministry. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:29.600 This is where Jesus, the God who made the universe, who holds the whole universe in orbit, with a word of his power, wants to reveal his glory in Cana. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:38.799 There's something about the intimacy of Jesus Christ revealed just in the location he chooses to begin displaying his glory. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:42.559 He's a God who knows the details of his people's lives. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:48.720 Jesus is in Cana, and it says that in verse 1, it's a wedding where he's going to begin displaying his glory. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:53.840 It's a wedding where the mother of Jesus is, and of course, people are going to be invited to this wedding. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:58.080 A wedding is the largest event in the life of a small village. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:12.960 And so if this town is just a few miles up the road, there's maybe 500 inhabitants, probably not even that number, then many of these folks would be related, they would all know one another, they would know the inhabitants of the neighboring villages. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:16.559 And the nature of a wedding is that everyone would be invited. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:22.000 And so, of course, Jesus' mother would be invited, and of course, Jesus and his disciples would be invited as well. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:26.559 And I just want to note before we go any further that you'll notice that Jesus' mother is invited. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:32.000 And if you're familiar with the Bible at all, in your mind you automatically say, Mary. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:34.720 But it doesn't say Mary. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:46.559 Mary in this gospel, the Gospel of John, is only mentioned twice here and in chapter 19, when Jesus is being crucified, he looks at her and he hands care of his mother over to his beloved disciple John. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:49.039 Only two times she's mentioned in the whole gospel. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.159 And here, she's not even mentioned by name. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.080 She's just the mother of Jesus. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:57.759 And what John is emphasizing is that Mary's not the point. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:01.039 What matters is her relation to Jesus. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:03.279 What matters is her love for Jesus. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:05.919 Jesus is on display in this text. 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:14.559 And so Jesus is invited as well to this wedding, which I said is the largest event in the life of a small village and of all its inhabitants. 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:21.120 Now, of course, all of these Jews three times a year would have traveled to Jerusalem for the major festivals. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:30.399 But outside of that, life in the village would have centered around the daily grind of work and the occasional wedding, which would have been a major celebration. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:43.600 The way that a wedding would be arranged, and most of them would have been arranged, was by a betrothal, a legally binding process in which the bride and the groom would have been arranged to be marriage, and the groom would have then been responsible to prepare a home. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:52.720 He would have spent at least a year laboring and laboring to build a home and to prepare everything that was necessary to receive his bride and to begin their life together. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:12:00.080 And the culmination wherein they would consummate the marriage, there would be a great feast that would last often up to a week. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:09.440 A week celebration when all of your friends, all of your family, everyone from the village and the neighboring villages would come and they would celebrate with you as you begin your new life. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:16.240 This public, this public covenant ceremony wherein the two become one, one flesh for life. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:20.320 It's celebrated publicly, communally, and you know what? 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:23.039 The groom's responsible for all of it. 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:29.919 The nature of this feast is that it is the groom's responsibility to provide for all of his guests. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:34.559 And it's absolutely crucial that he do this and do it well. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:48.559 The rabbinic texts that shortly follow the time of the New Testament tell us that the groom is expected not just to provide for his guests, but to provide so that there will be abundant leftovers after the guests are done a week later. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:55.200 And any groom who fails to sufficiently supply for his guests is listed among the worst of thieves. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:11.759 Which means it would be a big deal if this groom fails to adequately provide for his wedding guests, which is exactly what happens, and it leads us to the next scene in the story: a conversation. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:12.720 A conversation. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:16.720 We've seen a celebration, and now we see a conversation. 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:18.960 Look down at verse 3 in the text. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:22.639 It says, When the wine ran out. 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:23.440 Uh-oh. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:35.519 I mean, this is in this groom's mind, in his family's mind, in his friend's mind, this is the worst thing that could possibly happen in his life. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:54.159 This is the one event, the one time that he is responsible for the care of everyone around him, and he has just utterly and entirely failed to perform his duty to demonstrate that he is capable of providing for his bride and raising a family and doing anything worthwhile in society. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:03.279 This would put his marriage at jeopardy, it would put the start of his life at jeopardy, it would put his reputation in jeopardy and his community for all time. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:13.600 Because as sometimes as Westerners were reminded that one of the features of an ancient Near Eastern society was a high level of honor and shame. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:25.840 This is one of these ultimately shameful acts that you could commit in the eyes of your fellow villagers and the eyes of your family is to fail to supply for your wedding guest. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:27.600 You're a dirty thief. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.519 Everything is at stake in this man's mind. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:39.039 And so Mary goes to him with this little problem, and she says, Jesus in verse 3, they have no wine. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:50.799 And you notice she doesn't plead, she doesn't grovel, she doesn't lose her mind, she just goes to Jesus and she says very simply, Jesus, they don't have any wine. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:54.320 Why does she go to Jesus? 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:56.480 I think we know why she goes to Jesus. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:08.240 I mean, Jesus is probably about 30 years old at this point, and it's likely that Mary has become a widow at some point between the last time we saw Jesus when he was about 12, and he begins his public ministry at age 30. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:10.240 It's likely that Mary has become a widow. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:13.840 Joseph doesn't show up anymore in the story at the end of Jesus' life. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:20.960 It seems that he's been responsible for caring for her as the firstborn in the family, and then he transfers that care to his disciple John. 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:27.600 It's likely that Mary has become very much accustomed to Jesus taking care of her needs. 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:34.159 And beyond that, Mary has spent 30 years with this man who has never had a single bad idea. 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:40.159 There's never been a problem that he didn't know the solution to. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:50.639 Mary has gotten very accustomed to there's a problem. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:51.519 It's okay. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.039 Jesus is here. 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.440 And more than that, Mary knows what nobody else knows. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:00.559 She knows how Jesus came into this world. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.000 She knows that she was a virgin at his birth. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:11.360 She knows that he is the Son of God who has come to redeem his people, to save his people from their sins. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:18.879 And in the last chapter, Jesus, it seemed, had begun to act, to fulfill his messianic mission. 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:22.080 He'd begun to reveal himself through the witness of John the Baptist. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:23.279 He'd gathered disciples. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.039 The disciples are here at this wedding. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:28.960 It seems like Jesus is ready to reveal himself as Messiah. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:33.600 And so she just calmly says to him, Jesus, there's no wine. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:38.159 I don't know what you're going to do, but I know that you will do something. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:41.759 It's a very reasonable response. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:46.320 But Jesus' response is, I think, at first glance, very unexpected. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:48.240 Look at what he says in verse 4. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:52.480 Jesus says to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:54.879 My hour has not yet come. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:57.039 Now I know what you're thinking. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:05.359 When you read this English text, it sounds a little bit like woman? 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:11.920 That's how I read it. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:14.559 And yet that's not at all what he's saying. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:20.559 You'll notice as you read through the Gospel of John and the other Gospels that Jesus uses this address half a dozen times. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:26.400 Woman, and it's always courteous, it's always loving, it's always kind. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:30.480 It's the way he addresses women before he heals them. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:41.920 So in Matthew in chapter 15, and on and on, we could find times when Jesus addresses woman, great is your faith, be it done to you as you have asked, and he heals someone. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:44.400 It's not a rude response. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:48.240 Even in though in modern English, you would not address your mother this way. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:56.160 In other modern languages, in Espanol, for instance, to say mujer, to say woman, in many instances is not rude. 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:57.440 It's perfectly courteous. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:06.400 And so Jesus is being perfectly courteous to his mother, but it is highly unusual for a son to address his mother this way. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:10.559 It's courteous, but it's putting distance between him and his mother. 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:13.920 And you see this even in the way that he follows up his address. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.640 He says, Woman, what does this have to do with me? 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:18.400 Literally, what to you and to me? 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:21.759 It's an expression that's it's a very Semitic expression. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:27.359 It's used in the Old Testament, it's used a couple places in the New Testament to indicate that there's no dealing between us. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.400 We're not partners, we're not equals, we don't have a share in this. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:38.720 What he's doing with his mother is he is affirming to her the nature of their relationship. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.559 He's saying, I am sovereign here. 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:50.319 I am not your servant, I am not even merely or primarily your son. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:52.319 I'm your savior. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:53.759 I'm your sovereign. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.359 I'm your Lord. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:03.680 Some have said that the way to translate this maybe would be to say, ma'am, or there we've come up with a number of different ways to translate it. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:11.440 And yet I don't think any of them are quite adequate because all the ways that you would otherwise translate this little expression seem to be looking up. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:14.880 A son looking up towards his mother and addressing her respectfully. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:17.440 But Jesus is actually, if anything, looking down. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:32.480 And he's telling Mary, Mary, I am sovereign, I am good, I am powerful, I am free, and I am going to fulfill the prerogatives, not of my mother, but of my heavenly father, and right now you just need to trust me. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:38.400 And that's what he says in the following expression as well, where he says, What does this have to do with me? 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:40.720 My hour has not yet come. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:44.160 And you ask, what hour is he talking about? 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:48.799 And this is an example of John being a very good author. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:51.519 That hour begs the question, what hour are we talking about? 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:55.039 And as you continue reading, you find that this is a motif through the rest of the gospel. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:59.519 Jesus continues to talk about his hour, his hour, his hour, his hour. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:10.240 And as you read through the gospel, it becomes clear what Jesus is talking about is his mission to die for the sins of his people, resurrect from the dead, and be glorified at the right hand of the Father. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:19.839 He tells us exactly in John 17 what he's talking about when he begins his prayer to the Father in John 17 with these words Father, the hour has come. 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:23.279 Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you. 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:34.240 He's talking about his messianic mission to fulfill all the covenants and the promises of God, to save his people from their sins, to be glorified at the right hand of the Father for all of eternity. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:35.279 That's what he's talking about. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:39.519 What Jesus is affirming to Mary is, Mary, you know exactly who I am. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:42.640 You know I'm not just a really good problem solver. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:44.319 You know that I'm the Son of God. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:48.880 And I'm here firstly and primarily to fulfill my Father's will. 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:52.319 I'm going to be glorified over all the universe. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:54.000 That's my prerogative. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:56.480 You can trust me, Mary. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:59.039 I know there's no wine. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:01.119 Don't worry. 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:10.400 Whatever I'm going to do will be wiser than you could have imagined and better than you could have imagined, but I'm not here to serve you. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:13.519 And look at Mary's response. 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:15.279 Verse 5. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:21.519 She doesn't argue, she doesn't complain, she doesn't say, you don't understand how important this is, Jesus. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:27.279 She just says, okay, and turns to the servants and tells them, do whatever he tells you. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.160 That's the response to the real Jesus. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:33.119 Just do whatever he tells you. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:36.079 It's incredible faith. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:37.359 It's an incredible response. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:41.200 This is the nature of a genuine, saving response to Jesus. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:43.200 Just do whatever he tells you. 00:21:44.480 --> 00:22:04.880 We're gonna come back to this as we come to the end of the story, but this conversation then leads to a revelation because, in fact, after Jesus has Mary rather has revealed this problem to Jesus, and Jesus has asserted that he's going to fulfill his father's prerogatives, it turns out Out that Jesus, in fact, does want to begin revealing himself at this exact moment. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:08.240 But he's gonna do it in a most mysterious way. 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:10.160 So look at verse 6. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:18.799 Verse 6 says, now, just as an aside, there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:20.559 That's a lot of water. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.079 On your 30 gallons, it's over 500 liters. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:27.119 That's a lot of water. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:32.240 In verse 7, Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:36.720 And so they filled them up, and they filled them up to the brim, which is an interesting little note. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:41.440 And it certainly precludes the possibility that Jesus was pulling a trick here when he turns the water into wine. 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:51.279 The way that wine works in the ancient world is there's no refrigeration in the ancient world, and so you could make wine with basically any fruit available, and the ancients did make wine with many different fruits. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:23:04.880 This area is a major area for viticulture, and so grapes were the most common fruit used for wine, which won't blow any of your minds, but they would make wine and it would ferment, but they would not drink straight wine. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.799 They would not make drink unmixed wine. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.680 That was a barbarian act to drink unmixed wine. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:10.880 They would dilute it. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:17.039 And they would dilute it either between one part wine and three parts water, or one part wine and ten parts water. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:21.279 It's not like what you would get off the grocery store shelves in modern America. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:23.519 It was a different kind of a drink. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:35.440 And so if you have these water jars that are not entirely filled, then this miracle would be subject to the objection that, well, Jesus just dumped in a little bit of wine and made mixed wine, and then that's that's not a miracle. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:42.319 But Jesus makes sure that they fill the jars all the way to the brim. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:48.559 And then in verse 8, he says, Wine. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:52.880 Or abracadabra or anything. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:54.799 He doesn't do anything. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:55.680 Nothing. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:24:02.240 He just has them fill the jars and says, now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:03.599 And they took it. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:07.119 It's just that's unbelievable. 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:12.400 There's nothing out of the ordinary here. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:15.440 It's so unbelievably understated. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:19.920 Jesus isn't concerned with drawing anyone's attention. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:23.359 He isn't concerned with overwhelming you with his sleight of hand. 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:26.799 Jesus is just providing for people's needs. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:29.440 And that's exactly what happens in verse 9. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:37.119 As you see in verse 9, so they took it, and when the master of the feast tasted the water that had now become wine, where had it become wine? 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:42.160 Well there's where what? 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:52.160 This this sovereign power of Jesus, Jesus is not, in some ways, he's not impressed with it. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:54.799 He's not here to be a magician. 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:56.640 He's not here just to gather a crowd. 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:59.920 He's here to provide for his people. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:02.400 You see this in the rest of the text. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:03.279 So look at verse 9. 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:07.680 It says that this water had somehow become wine. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:12.319 The master of the feast doesn't know where it had become wine. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:14.079 He doesn't know that it used to be water. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:21.440 And that's pointed out to you in order to demonstrate that this is an objective judge who's going to try this wine and say, This really is wine, and it's really good wine. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:23.759 But the servants who had drawn the water knew. 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:31.359 And so the master of the feast called the bridegroom and he said, Everyone serves good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:34.000 But you have kept the good wine until now. 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:35.920 Which just makes sense. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:38.079 That's the way that you would do anything. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:52.880 What this master of the feast, this wedding coordinator on steroids, you could say, what he's attesting is that this is unbelievable wine. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:56.799 This is better than anything I have ever had. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:25:59.440 And it just makes sense. 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:11.119 What Jesus has done is he has subtly, calmly, entirely patiently, without any effort whatsoever, supernaturally created wine out of nothing. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:13.119 Kingdom wine. 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:18.799 Wine that bypassed seed and soil and vine and harvest and fermentation. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.839 Straight to the finished product, absolute perfection. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:33.599 What he's doing is he's giving just a slight whisper, a tiny taste of what life with Jesus in his kingdom is like. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:40.000 And in this miracle, he has absolutely fulfilled every need of his friends. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:42.559 He's taken away the shame of the groom. 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:45.200 He has restored the name to his family. 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:50.640 In fact, he's enhanced it because this guy is dealing out the best wine anyone has ever had. 00:26:53.039 --> 00:27:00.240 This is what Jesus is doing is a supernatural miracle to reveal something of his care for his people. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.319 That's what his disciples see in verse 11. 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:05.119 See, verse 11 says, This is the first of his signs. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:09.119 And notice the way the text is constructed, it's a little bit awkward if you read it in English. 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:10.400 At least I think it's awkward. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:14.000 This, the first of his signs, here's the emphasis. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:21.359 Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:24.559 In this miracle, Jesus reveals his glory. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:37.920 Not just his glory to powerfully create out of nothing, but in the location he chooses to do it, the people for whom he chooses to do it, he reveals his glory, the glory of grace and truth. 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:56.799 What is revealing is life with this Jesus, life with this Savior, is a life marked by overflowing and abundant joy. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:27:58.799 It's a life marked by love. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:01.039 It's a life marked by celebration. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.079 It's life in his kingdom is a life of intimacy. 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:05.440 It's a life of goodness. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:07.680 It's a life of satisfaction. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:10.160 This is the king. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:16.640 This is the Messiah who has come into the world to reveal the nature of God, to reveal what God is like, to reveal who God is. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:24.079 And the first thing that he's going to do is intimately at this tiny little town that no one has ever heard of, he is going to fulfill his people's needs. 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:28.880 He is going to satisfy them and give them great and abundant joy. 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:31.119 That's the king that has come into the world. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:32.160 That's the Messiah. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:33.839 This is Jesus. 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:36.640 Jesus, the giver of joy. 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.519 Jesus the giver of all things good. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.240 This is the real Jesus. 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:57.279 Now, this is the picture that I think Jesus wants us to see of himself, but I said we were going to come back to the end, at the end, to the response to this Jesus that Mary demonstrates for us in verse 5. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:00.640 The text ends by saying that the disciples believed in him. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:03.440 I mean, how can you not believe in a Jesus like this? 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:08.640 How can you not believe in the Messiah who's come into the world to give his people joy? 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:19.440 But I think that response, the response to Jesus, is even more fleshed out to us by this first of his disciples, his mother, Mary. 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:25.279 Now Jesus has already in the text, as we walk through it, shown Mary's role in his ministry. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:28.720 He's clarified her relationship to him and her role in his ministry. 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:32.720 She is not a participant, she's not co-redeemer in any way, shape, or form. 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:36.000 Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:42.079 Mary is not a means of accessing him, but she's a fellow worshiper with us. 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:47.920 Just as she confesses in her magnificat in Luke's gospel, she rejoices in God, her Savior. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:49.759 That's who she sees in Jesus. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:59.440 She's a fellow worshiper with us, but as such, she pictures for us the right and the appropriate response to this amazing Jesus. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:02.720 And she does it in one simple sentence. 00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:10.079 So just for a couple minutes to close our time this morning, I want to go back to Mary's little sentence and I want to walk through it part by part. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:13.839 This is the way to respond to Jesus. 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:17.440 Whatever he tells you, do it. 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:23.519 And I've just reversed the order that's in our English translations because this is actually the word order in the Greek. 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:26.799 Whatever he tells you, do it. 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:29.359 It's an incredible response. 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:30.880 Notice what she says. 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:36.000 Whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever he tells you, do it. 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:38.160 Look at the context again at verse 5. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:43.519 In verse 5, Jesus has just told her, Mary, don't worry, I'm Jesus. 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:44.799 You can trust me. 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:49.119 And so she turns to the servants, and the servants probably aren't professional servants. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:53.599 They may well just be relatives who maybe have a little skin in the game and they're worried and they're concerned. 00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:54.960 Like this is a big deal. 00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:56.480 We got to get this straightened out. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:59.359 And she says, Whatever Jesus tells you, do it. 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:06.640 Almost like she knew that Jesus was about to tell them something that would sound off the wall crazy. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:12.319 Because that's what Jesus says in verse 7 sounds like. 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:14.000 It sounds crazy. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:15.920 Look at the text. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:22.079 It says verse 6, there are six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification. 00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:26.240 This has nothing to do with winemaking. 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:34.160 These giant stone jars, stone because stone was considered to be ritually pure and they wouldn't be contaminated. 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:41.519 And you would fill these giant jars up with water and use, you would use them for purification ceremonies, rites, rituals. 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:43.759 You would wash your hands between meals. 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:47.680 You would use this water to wash the pots and the utensils. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:50.480 This has nothing to do with COVID caution. 00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:55.200 This has everything to do with ritual purification. 00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:58.960 Nothing to do with wine. 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:00.960 Nothing to do with wine. 00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:09.279 Can you imagine how this would have grated against the ears of these servants when they are so concerned that their world could be crumbling? 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:15.359 And they looked at Jesus, the one person that Mary says can help them. 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:19.519 And he says, go fill those purification jars with water. 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:24.960 What? 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:27.200 Did you hear? 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:30.079 We're out of wine, Jesus. 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:32.720 Wine, not water. 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:35.599 They're not that similar, Jesus. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:40.559 Do you not underst I don't think you understand where wine comes from, Jesus? 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:42.480 What are you talking about? 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:52.319 Yeah, Mary says, Jesus is the kind of person that whatever he tells you, you do it. 00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:55.200 That's why the second part of her statement is so important. 00:32:55.759 --> 00:33:02.799 Because there will be things that Jesus says to you that grate against your ears that sound like they have nothing to do with the problem as you have identified it. 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:06.079 You have identified this major problem that you need taken care of. 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:15.599 Things are falling apart, or things can't be fixed, or things need to be made right, and you see the solution, and yet Jesus says, fill the water pots. 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:16.400 What? 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:36.799 And yet Mary says Jesus is the kind of person that whatever he tells you, no matter how irrelevant, no matter how hard, no matter how unnatural, no matter how painful that sounds, whatever he says, do it. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:43.519 He is the kind of person that you can trust and you can do whatever he tells you. 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:48.400 And look at who Jesus has just shown himself to be in this text. 00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:55.039 He is the God of joy, of goodness, of intimacy, and love. 00:33:55.200 --> 00:34:01.599 He has supplied all the needs of his people through this seemingly absolutely irrelevant command. 00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:05.599 And Jesus knew what he was doing. 00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:09.679 He wasn't just sh putting on a display. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:16.079 Jesus was supplying every need even better than they could have possibly hoped or thought or imagined. 00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:18.880 And yet he did it in his own sovereign way. 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:24.320 This is a Jesus that you can trust. 00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:26.079 This Jesus who gives joy. 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:28.880 Whatever he tells you, do it. 00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:44.320 You see this also, not just in his fulfilling their needs and supplying the wine and celebrating with them, but you see it even in this little whisper of what he's going to do ultimately in his messianic ministry in verse 5, or verse 4 rather, where he tells Mary, My hour has not yet come. 00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:54.400 And he tells Mary, Mary, the whole reason that I have come to earth is to supply the needs of my people more than they could ever have imagined or even asked for themselves. 00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:56.079 You're concerned about wine. 00:34:56.159 --> 00:34:57.920 You're concerned about your reputation. 00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:00.719 I'm concerned with restoring you to God. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:05.519 I'm concerned with satisfying the just wrath of God that is upon you for your sins against him. 00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:09.119 I'm concerned with restoring the breach between you and God. 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:12.559 I'm concerned with restoring restoring your relationship with him. 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:16.559