WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.959 Father, thanks for being such a great God. 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:06.000 Thank you for adopting us as your very own children. 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:07.040 We praise you for that. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:07.919 We thank you for that. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:11.599 Holy Spirit, we just thank you for being our teacher and our counselor. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:13.039 Open up your word today. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:14.080 Teach us. 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:15.919 Teach each of us. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:19.839 Give us something that we can leave that we with that we know is from you. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.440 And Jesus, we love you. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:23.199 We thank you for saving us. 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:25.199 It's in your name that we pray. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:26.160 Amen. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:29.039 Well, it's a new year. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:30.879 It's a great time for a fresh start. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:33.359 It's kind of exciting and it's challenging. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:40.320 At the same time, you know, in the middle of the summer, you're going through the year and you need a change, and it's difficult to turn the page sometimes. 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:45.679 But you know, when the calendar turns in this beginning of the year, it's a great time to do it. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:50.320 2010 was a tough year for a lot of us. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:57.280 And so it's great to get that behind us, and it's great to be here looking forward to 2011. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.560 Now you might be needing a fresh start. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:02.640 It might be a complete new life that you need. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:05.599 It might just be an area of your life. 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:10.640 But with God and with each other, we will do it. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:11.840 Fresh starts. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:12.879 That's what we're talking about. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:22.799 Last week we we talked about how God started everything, what his original plan was, and how it was not rules and regulations and lists of what is good and what is evil. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:29.760 How his plan has always been life and relationship and love with God and with each other. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:33.840 If you weren't here last week, I'd encourage you to listen to the podcast. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:35.359 It's free. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:39.120 It's on our website, it's on our Facebook wall. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:45.280 You can go to iTunes and and uh and search His Hands Church, and it's uh there free. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:50.079 Um you can always get a CD of whatever we share on Sunday morning um at the source as you leave. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.760 Those are a couple dollars, which covers the cost of uh making them. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:57.599 This morning, another start. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:01:58.719 An important start. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:02.319 It's how Jesus introduced himself to the world. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:10.319 Where Jesus did his first miraculous thing. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:12.960 He turns water into wine. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:19.280 John 2, it says, The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:25.439 Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:31.120 Most of us know the facts of this story, but there is so much more that we will see. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:41.680 A Jewish wedding in Jesus' day was a lot different than what we have experienced in weddings here today. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:48.240 When a Jewish man found a young woman that he wanted to marry, he would first talk to his father. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:54.960 His dad would get with the girl's dad, and they would agree to a dowry, and they would work it all out. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:57.039 It was all arranged. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.840 But it was not an arranged wedding like we think of an arranged wedding. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.960 It was not a coerced wedding. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:08.960 The girls still always had the choice to say no. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:10.879 And you see that through the Bible. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:16.479 When Isaac uh proposes to Rebecca, those around her are saying, Are you sure? 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:18.800 You know, just like some of us parents, are you sure? 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:22.719 Are you sure this is uh this is the one that you want to marry? 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.520 See, all the arrangement did was put things in place. 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:32.159 All it did was give the groom the opportunity to propose. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:36.080 The girl would still say yes, or no. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:42.400 Well, once the prospective groom got permission from the father, you know, he got the go-ahead. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:47.039 The way they proposed in Jesus' day is especially important. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:57.199 The groom would meet the potential bride, and he would pour a glass of wine for her, and he would place it in front of her. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:00.400 He then would wait. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.800 He would sit there and nervously wait. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:06.319 It's how it was always done. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.800 It was how they proposed at Jesus' time in his day. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:17.120 And he was waiting to see if the girl would take a sip. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:22.560 Because when she took a sip, that meant yes. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:26.800 That meant yes, I will marry you. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:31.279 And then the groom would give her a ring, and they would be engaged. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:34.160 Now then they would have a year-long engagement. 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:37.279 During that time, the groom would build a place for them to live. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:39.920 It was usually at the father's house on their property. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:45.600 He'd build them an apartment, a special room kind of for the uh for the honeymoon. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:58.079 And neither the bride, this is kind of different, but neither the bride or the groom knew the exact day when the wedding would be. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.639 It was the groom's father that got to pick it. 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:07.519 See, and they all knew when about it was, you know, when things were getting ready and it was about that time. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:14.639 But the father would wait until he saw what he thought was the perfect time. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:16.079 Everybody'd be on alert. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:19.279 The groomsmen, the bridesmaids, the families. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:22.480 They're all on alert. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:26.079 But the father would announce it in the middle of the night. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:32.160 He would literally wake up his son in the middle of the night and say, It's time. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:34.879 Now's the time. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:38.480 You know, it's different than what we're used to, but it's kind of fun. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:47.759 You know, every night the Jewish bride would go to sleep wondering if this was the night that she gets awakened for the wedding. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:50.879 Then one night it happens. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:59.199 The father, the groom, and his friends and family would have a lamp-lit parade all the way over to the bride's house. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:17.600 The bride would be uh woken up, she would slip on her dress, and then she and her friends and her family, and the groom's family and friends would all have a bigger parade back to the groom's house. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:25.439 The couple would then have a six-day honeymoon, and everyone else would celebrate for six days. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:36.000 Not every minute of the day, but the friends and the relatives and the closest family, they would all celebrate for six whole days. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:42.800 On day seven, the bride and the groom would come out, and now they would invite all their friends. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:44.000 Often the whole town. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:48.639 If it was a small town, they would invite the whole town, and they would have a huge feast. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:56.399 They would have a short ceremony, and the groom would again pour a glass of wine. 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:00.720 But this time they would drink it together. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:07.839 And when they had, the groom would place the glass on the ground, and he would stomp on it. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:10.720 And the party would begin. 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:16.879 A huge party, a huge feast, dancing and celebrating and fun. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:24.240 This is the occasion that Mary Jesus and his followers are at. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:28.639 The huge party, the huge feast, day seven. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:31.360 There's a problem though. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:39.040 It says the wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus' mother told him they have no more wine. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.279 They've run out of wine. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:43.920 Okay, it's not the biggest crisis ever. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.519 You know, it's not world hunger. 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:54.240 But to this bride and groom and to their parents, I mean, they've invited everything to everyone to this big party and they don't have enough. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:59.279 If they don't have enough, it is probably because they can't afford it. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:02.720 Otherwise, they would have just told somebody to go out and buy more. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.879 Or else they would have made sure that they had extra ahead of time. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:09.199 But they've run out of wine. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:16.879 A year of preparing is this young couple's big moment, and instead it's going to be humiliating. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:22.639 But someone notices it's Jesus' mom, Mary. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:28.240 And she simply turns to Jesus and says, They have no more wine. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:35.039 Now there must have been a facial expression involved because Jesus knew that she expected him to do something about him. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:38.480 Kind of the mother-son thing. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:41.360 They get those looks figured out. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:45.919 But it struck me how Mary didn't come up with a solution. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:48.960 She just laid out the problem. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:59.440 And it got me to thinking how often when I have a problem, I come up with the solution first, and then I ask Jesus to implement it for me. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:05.120 How much simpler to just tell Jesus the problem. 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:09.519 I mean, his solution's going to be something we couldn't have thought of anyway. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:13.440 It's going to be something more than we would have come up with. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:17.360 Mary just points it out. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.000 She says, they have no more wine. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:22.799 So Jesus has an unexpected response. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:26.399 Dear woman, that's not our problem, Jesus replied. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:29.279 My time has not yet come. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:31.600 What's going on? 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:33.759 I mean, that's odd, isn't it? 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:38.799 I mean, Jesus is usually so much nicer than that. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:41.600 I mean, was he having a bad day? 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:45.600 Was he like a lot of guys, he doesn't want to go to a wedding? 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:52.480 Why was it that Jesus did not want to get involved? 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.000 He wasn't having a bad day. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:00.399 We'll see a little later exactly what was going on. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.559 But his mother told the servants, do whatever he tells you. 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:10.960 Standing nearby were six stone jars that you were used for Jewish ceremonial washing. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.000 Each could hold 20 to 30 gallons. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.440 Jesus told the servants, fill the jars with water. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:19.919 Now that shows the size of this party. 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:29.919 They had a hundred and eighty gallons of water just to do a ritual hand washing for each of the guests. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.799 Now, this to me is one of the most interesting parts of the whole story. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:36.240 It's the jars. 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:40.320 Jesus picked these jars on purpose. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.759 They were there for a ceremony that they did before every meal. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.919 It was a purification ceremony where they washed their hands. 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:54.799 And the ceremony had become a law to the Jewish people. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.879 But it was not a law to God at all. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:10.240 It was a man-made rule that they had decided was a requirement from God, and they expected people to do it every single time. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:26.960 What they'd done is they'd taken a single verse from the Bible where Elisha helps Elijah wash his hands, and they had decided that to wash your, you that you had to wash your hands that way in order to please God. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:29.440 But they didn't understand God. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.200 He is not about the outside stuff. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.919 And the problem is that there are a lot of people that don't understand God. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:47.759 And they're more than happy to take a single verse from the Bible and turn their ideas into laws. 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:58.799 And pretty soon they had a whole list of things that they either could not do or they had to do if they were going to please God. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:01.759 And it's the same today. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:04.879 It's the same today. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.320 We have to come to church dressed a specific way. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:15.120 You can't drink, you can't smoke, can't dance, you can't have long hair, you can't have tattoos. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:19.360 You have to be at church every time the doors open. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:22.639 I mean, you can't even watch teletubbies. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:26.879 I mean, there's a bunch of rules. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:28.080 R-rated women. 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:29.759 I mean, R-rated women. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:35.360 Oh man. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:42.080 I was just thinking the other day, this is how life goes. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:53.679 I was just thinking, see, I do that kind of stuff all the time, but I was thinking how much opportunity I have to do that when I'm talking with a lot of people every Sunday. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:57.840 And I was just so thankful that I hadn't done that much. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:03.360 But uh I got a feeling that's gonna be memorable. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:07.840 Okay, what I was gonna say, I got ahead of myself. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.200 What I was gonna say, see, we're talking about these bunch of rules. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:19.519 I was gonna say R-rated movies, and that women can't lead. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:28.000 See, that seems like a good idea when it's a bunch of men getting together and making all the rules. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:33.279 But the problem is those rules are not from God. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:38.000 They are man-made rules. 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:41.919 Just like ceremonial hand washing. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:44.639 So is it really a big deal? 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:48.639 I mean, what's wrong with a few man-made rules? 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:51.039 Well, it was a big deal to Jesus. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:55.759 I mean, it was definitely a huge deal to Jesus. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:57.360 In Matthew 15. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:03.679 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:09.120 They asked him, Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:14.960 For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:24.879 So Jesus talks to him about the difference between tradition and God's law, and he sums it up this way You hypocrites. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:35.840 Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:45.919 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:50.639 That was the thing for Jesus. 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:53.919 That's why he picked those jars. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:08.480 Cleaning up the outside. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:10.799 But they didn't know God. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:28.399 See, and Jesus takes those same jars, intended to clean up the outside, and he miraculously fills them with something that's gonna satisfy them from the inside. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:38.159 It had to be the most incredible wine that anyone ever had tasted. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:43.120 I bet we all get to taste it in heaven. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:50.799 And so when the jars had been filled, he said, Now dip some out and take it to the Master of Ceremonies. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:53.519 So the servants followed his instructions. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:16:04.639 When the Master of Ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from, though of course the servants knew, he called the bridegroom over. 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:08.879 A host always serves the best wine first, he said. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:14.960 Then when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:18.720 But you have kept the best until now. 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:24.080 And so he gives the groom a tremendous compliment. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:25.840 You're different. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:29.600 You have saved the best until now. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:34.480 And for this groom, Jesus had done what Jesus does. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:47.279 He had taken a point that was going to be a point of lifelong shame in this small town of Cana. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:54.559 Oh, you're the couple that ran out of wine halfway through your wedding feast. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:59.120 And he turned it into a point of honor. 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:07.519 You're the couple that served the best wine that anyone had ever tasted. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:11.680 Shame to honor. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:14.640 It's what Jesus does. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:15.920 It's what he does. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:24.799 From you're the drug addict to you're the one that is helping so many people get clean and sober. 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.440 Oh, from you're the folks that went bankrupt. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:31.359 Oh, you're the ones that are so generous with so many people. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:36.880 From you're the girl that got pregnant to you're the woman that is such a great mom. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:41.279 From you're the one that's so depressed all the time. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:47.279 Oh, to you're the one that's so cheerful and brings joy to so many people. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:49.599 Shame to honor. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:54.720 That's what the miracle was for this bride and groom. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:02.400 It is a miracle that Jesus does every single day, and he'll do it for you. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:08.240 The account of this wedding finishes in verse 11. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:17.440 This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:22.720 There's so much in this story of Jesus' first miracle. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:31.759 And each week I want to make sure that we notice some things that are practical, that we can go right out, that we can practice and apply right away. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:38.880 Things like if you have a problem or even worry about someone else's situation, you don't have to have the solution. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:40.960 Talk to Jesus. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:42.079 Just talk to Jesus. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:42.960 Give it to him. 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:45.839 He knows the solution. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:51.440 Things like when Mary told the servants, do whatever he tells you. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:54.640 Oh man, was that great advice? 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:57.440 Do whatever he tells you. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:05.759 If Jesus is telling us something to do, and we're 100% sure that it's him, just do it. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:07.359 Do whatever he tells you. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:10.079 You know, for the servants, you know what that looked like? 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:11.279 Hard work. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:13.440 It looked difficult. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:19.519 180 gallons of water that they had to pull up out of a well. 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.440 But it was going to be a miracle. 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:25.039 It was going to be a miracle. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.400 Just do what he tells, what Jesus tells us to do. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:32.000 It can turn into a miracle. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:35.039 And don't live in regret and in shame. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:46.160 God so often takes our point of humiliation and turns it into a useful point of honor. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:51.039 And one last thing before we take the Lord's Supper. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:55.599 And it's why Jesus didn't help right away. 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:01.279 Remember how a Jewish man would propose marriage? 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:07.279 The father would give the okay, and the groom would offer the bride a glass of wine. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:13.440 He would place it in front of her and wait to see if she'd drink. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:24.240 Well, the reason Jesus hesitated that day in Cana is because there were two weddings that Jesus was concerned about. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:31.839 The one he was at that day and the one that he came to invite us to. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:37.119 The old law, the old covenant was all about rules. 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:40.480 It was intended to teach us that we can't do it alone. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:48.240 The new plan was about a relationship with us and Jesus. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:54.960 It's a relationship that the Bible consistently refers to as a marriage. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:21:06.559 In fact, one chapter later in John chapter 3 says, You yourselves know how plainly I told you, this is John the Baptist talking, I am not the Messiah. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.599 I am only here to prepare the way for him. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:13.519 It is the bridegroom who marries the bride. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:18.559 And the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:21.680 John was happy just to be the best man. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:24.720 Jesus is the groom. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.359 Jesus is the groom who has come to propose to all people. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:39.759 As a guy, that can be a little bit hard to get our minds around Jesus as a groom, us as a bride. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:42.079 But it's not the exact same thing. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:43.279 It is an expression. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:46.799 It is an expression of Jesus' great love. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:53.519 It's an expression of his commitment and the type of relationship that he wants to have with all of us. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:58.720 And on that day in Cana, he had not expressed it yet. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:04.480 When he did his first miracle, it was gonna blow the lid off. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:12.480 And like a Jewish marriage proposal, he didn't know if he should yet. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.720 Because the father gets to decide the time. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:21.759 And so Jesus' mom says they have run out of wine. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:28.559 And Jesus says, My time has not come yet. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:36.480 And you know Jesus had to be torn wanting to please his mom. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:39.920 Wanting to help the young couple. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:43.279 You can almost see the frustration on Jesus' face. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:50.160 And somewhere in the moment, that moment, God the Father says to Jesus, It's okay. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:52.240 It's time. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:57.200 And his expression turns to a grin. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:04.079 And his mom sees it and she says, Quick, do whatever he tells you to do. 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:09.200 It was time. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:21.519 And just like in the Jewish marriage proposal, Jesus pours a glass of wine and he places it in front of the world. 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:27.839 It's a hundred and eighty gallons of perfect wine. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:31.519 He says, I love you. 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:32.960 I want to be with you. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:34.240 I will never leave you. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:37.599 I'll do anything for you. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:43.920 And then he waits to see if we'll say yes. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:53.279 It's all been arranged, but we still get to decide if we're going to say yes. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:58.640 So by saying yes, well, it's saying yes. 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:04.559 And God fills us with his spirit, and he starts changing us from the inside out. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:09.599 And if you've never done that before, you don't have to walk down an aisle. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:14.480 You can say yes to Jesus in your own way, in your own words. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:20.400 And this morning we don't have to just learn about the proposal. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:22.880 We get to participate. 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:26.160 It's the Lord's Supper. 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:33.359 See, it starts as the Passover, it was part of the old law, and it foretells Jesus' coming. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:38.720 But it turns into a proposal ceremony. 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:41.279 Here is a cup of wine. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:42.559 Will you drink it? 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:44.799 Will you remember me? 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:46.559 In John 14. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:50.319 Remember how the groom goes back and prepares a place? 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:54.079 In John 14, he says, There's more than enough room in my father's home. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:58.720 If this were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you? 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:04.960 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:07.200 Just like in a Jewish wedding. 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:12.319 Jesus said that he doesn't even know the hour or day that he will come. 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:14.640 The father gets to decide. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:24.240 And it's going to be a lightning-lit parade with Jesus and his family and his friends all the way here to get us. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:31.279 And then we're all going to parade back to the place that He's prepared. 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:33.920 Just like a Jewish wedding. 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:50.400 And in Matthew 26, Jesus finished explaining the Lord's Supper by saying, Mark my words, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:54.880 Just like a Jewish wedding. 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:03.839 That will be quite a day. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:14.720 I once told Jesus the same thing that I want to drink wine again till I drank it with him in heaven. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:18.799 But that was a personal choice I needed to make. 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:20.400 It wasn't a law. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:23.680 But I'm looking forward to that day. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:26.319 That will be quite a day. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:30.480 It's when we all get to taste that perfect wine. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.599 Sharing a glass with Jesus. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:42.240 And what the Bible describes in Revelation 19 as the wedding feast of the Lamb. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:48.480 If the worship team will come up, we'll take the Lord's Supper together in a second. 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:55.359 You know, if you if you didn't get juice or bread earlier and you'd like to now, feel free just to run over. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:57.759 It's on the sides to get it. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:00.799 We'll see if we can find the bread. 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:03.359 This is uh this is kind of like the Passover feast. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:09.920 In the Passover feast, they would hide the bread, and then the kids would run and find it. 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:13.440 So it could be in your pocket, it could be in your purse. 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:35.119 The bread represents that Jesus physically came to earth, that he paid the dowry. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:37.599 See, we were all supposed to. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:39.519 We were supposed to pay. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:44.160 It's the bride side of the family that pays the price. 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:50.000 But instead, Jesus paid the price. 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:56.559 He came physically, he died, and it was all arranged. 00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:58.880 He could propose to the world. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:00.720 So let's eat the bread. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:24.880 Now, this is not the perfect wine. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:29.359 In fact, it's so imperfect, it's just grape juice. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:42.079 But it represents something, it represents the proposal from Jesus to us. 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:46.640 The arrangement part of the wedding was pretty tough. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:53.680 Jesus died so he can make us this offer. 00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:58.079 But the cup of wine is placed in front of us. 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:06.799 And when we drink this cup, we remember his love, his commitment, his proposal. 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:09.279 And we say yes. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:14.079 It's symbolic, but it's also spiritual. 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:16.400 And it's powerful. 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:26.000 And it's a reminder that Jesus' desire is an intimate relationship with each of us. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:29.359 And we say yes. 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:37.039 Jesus, thank you. 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:39.200 Thank you for saving us. 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:41.359 Thank you for loving us. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:48.799 Thank you that right now, at this very moment, you are preparing a place for us. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:53.920 Jesus, we are looking forward to that day, the wedding day. 00:29:54.079 --> 00:30:04.960 We're looking forward to that day when we get to physically, literally share that cup of perfect wine with you. 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:07.680 We thank you. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:09.759 We love you. 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:11.039 Amen.