Water Into Wine

Welcome to another online church service here at Becclew.

It's always a pleasure to welcome our church family

and then to know that there's family and friends from different places

joining with us so we hope we'll all hear God together

from his word as we spend some time singing, praying, reading the Bible,

hearing how the Bible speaks to our lives.

I want to begin with some verses from the Old Testament,

from the book of Isaiah, a promise that we'll come back to actually

as we think about John's Gospel.

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples,

a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wines.

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,

the sheet that covers all nations.

He will swallow up death forever.

The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces.

He will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth.

The Lord has spoken.

Wonderful promises of hope as we begin our time together.

Now we're going to read in our Bibles.

We're moving from the Gospel of Matthew to the Gospel of John.

We're beginning a series looking at the signs that Jesus performs,

that John records.

There are seven signs recorded in his Gospel.

And we come to the first of them here in John chapter 2.

John 2 · chapter mention

And we're going to read from verse 1 to verse 11.

And the words will come on the screen.

On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.

Jesus' mother was there.

And Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

When the wine was gone and Jesus' mother said to him,

They have no more wine.

Woman, why do you involve me?

Jesus replied.

My hour has not yet come.

His mother said to the servants,

Do whatever he tells you.

Nearby stood six stone water jars,

the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,

each holding from 80 to 120 litres.

Jesus said to the servants,

Fill the jars with water.

So they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them,

Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.

They did so.

And the master of the banquet tasted the water

that had been turned into wine.

He did not realise where it had come from,

though the servants who had drawn the water knew.

Then he called the bridegroom aside and said,

Everyone brings out the choice wine first,

and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink.

But you have saved the best till now.

What Jesus did here in Cana in Galilee

was the first of the signs

through which he revealed his glory,

and his disciples believed in him.

So there's the first sign that Jesus is recorded as doing by John's gospel

as he turns water into wine.

Our wedding meal,

a good number of years ago now,

started with a bang.

Quite literally,

we were having some beef,

and just before it was served,

the glass covering over the beef to keep it warm,

it smashed,

sending shards into all those fine cuts.

And so we were unaware of this.

We got served first,

and so we had 15 minutes of,

I can't,

oh God,

what's going on?

Before the kitchen staff saved the day

and everything was absolutely fine.

The last time

that I had the chance to speak on John chapter 2,

John 2 · chapter mention

it was at a wedding.

Kellen,

our music maestro,

and Sarah,

it was their wedding last summer.

That was a time of great joy

and celebration for friends and family of the church,

a time of feasting,

all those things that we associate with a wedding.

Well,

here,

what have we just read?

Here is a wedding party

that threatens to go out,

not with a bang,

but to go out with a whimper.

And Jesus,

an invited guest,

shows his glory.

John has introduced Jesus as the word

who comes revealing glory already.

In John chapter 1 and verse 14,

John 1 · chapter mention

the word became flesh

and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory,

the glory of the one and only son

who came from the father,

full of grace and truth.

And here,

Jesus shows his glory in this,

the first of his signs.

He shows that he is the true Lord of the feast

who brings joy.

We see in verse 11 of what we just read

that John likes to use the language of signs.

In the other gospels,

there's a great focus on miracles.

John talks about signs.

And in fact,

he says that his gospel

has a focus on his signs

and the purpose for them.

So towards the end,

in John chapter 20,

John 20 · chapter mention

we read Jesus performed many other signs

in the presence of his disciples,

which are not recorded in this book.

But these,

so the ones that we have,

are written that you may believe

that Jesus is the Messiah,

the Son of God,

and that by believing,

you may have life in his name.

John has recorded what happened at this wedding

so that we might believe

Jesus is the Messiah,

that we would see he's the Son of God

and that by believing in him,

we would have eternal life.

So we need to think about signs.

When John talks about signs,

what is he talking about?

He's thinking of a sign

as a mark of authenticity.

Just like the Old Testament prophets,

here is a sign

that shows that Jesus is from God,

that he is revealing God

in his words,

in his actions.

These are called signs

because they are also pointers,

symbols towards

deeper eternal realities.

And we'll see that each week

as we study.

So they are signposts

speaking to us

of the identity of Jesus

as the Son of God

and his authority

and his mission

to be Messiah,

to be Saviour.

So when we see Jesus,

the guest,

putting this wedding feast right,

saving the day,

it's going to be a sign for us

of how he will put everything right.

So to help us to see

what this sign reveals

in a little more detail,

we're going to go backwards,

as it were,

and we're going to look at

three sets of people

to help us with that.

So first of all,

let's think about the experience

of the bridegroom.

And we'll see that Jesus,

by his generosity,

turns shame to honour.

Now, weddings are a big deal

in our day

and maybe we know people

who are concerned

because of the virus,

whether their wedding can happen.

Now, weddings in Jesus' day,

they were massive.

Massive to the couple,

biggest day of their life.

Massive to the whole

extended family and community.

So there would be typically

a feast lasting anything

up to a week.

And so we read that Mary is here,

the mother of Jesus.

Jesus is here.

His disciples are there.

Here is Jesus,

the eternal Son of God,

who's just begun

his public ministry

and he's at a wedding.

It's the beginning

of his public ministry

and he's going to help

out this bridegroom.

Now, the bridegroom's job,

weddings in Jesus' day,

presumably same as ours,

to kind of stay out of the way,

largely.

But also,

it was his job

to provide the wine.

You've got one job,

bridegroom,

make sure there's plenty of wine.

So what happens

in verse three,

when Mary,

Jesus' mother says,

they have no more wine,

this is a total disaster.

In an honour,

shame culture,

this couple,

they are never going

to live this down.

Their marriage,

in a sense,

is going to be tainted

from day one

because of this disaster.

But in steps Jesus.

Notice,

when Jesus speaks

to his mother

and says,

why do you involve me?

He's,

in a sense,

saying,

I don't need

to get involved.

And that highlights

the fact that Jesus

is choosing

to get involved

in this man's

problem,

in his crisis.

And how does Jesus

meet the need?

Well,

first of all,

we're told in

verse six onwards

that Jesus provides

generously.

There was those

huge stone water jars

holding around

about a hundred litres.

Six of them

get filled to the brim

and then are turned

to wine.

So that's about

600 bottles of wine

that Jesus produces

in his lavish generosity.

And in verse 10,

we discover

he provides

the very best.

You have saved

the best

till now.

So the master

of the feast,

who has presumably

tasted the good wine

at the beginning,

he's like,

whoa,

you've saved

the best

till now.

So this wedding,

it's not going to

go down in shame,

not going to be marked

by embarrassment

and dishonour.

It's going to continue

with joy

and celebration

and this bridegroom

is going to be honoured.

Now,

what's the deeper

reality of this sign?

What can we say

at this stage?

Well,

it becomes clear

in Jesus' ministry

that he comes

to bring in

the kingdom of God.

He comes to bring in

the new age.

And what's that like?

Well,

it's marked by

God's generous provision,

God's grace,

a love and a kindness

that we do not deserve.

It's marked by

the bringing of

deep joy.

Jesus enables

celebration,

true celebration.

celebration,

just ask this bridegroom.

His shame,

his failure to provide,

has been generously

covered by Jesus.

So now this bridegroom

is being honoured.

He's totally unaware

of what Jesus has done,

but he's being honoured

and so he can share

the joy

and his guests

also get to share

in joy.

His experience

is a picture

of what Jesus came to do.

that shame,

that guilt,

that stuff we want

to hide.

Those things in our life

that we know

are wrong

and that we deserve

judgment for,

Jesus came to remove

that from us,

to clothe us

with honour

so that we can have joy.

We read in Isaiah 25

of what the Lord Almighty

would do.

He would prepare

a rich feast.

Jesus is Lord

of the feast.

He provides

the feast.

He has come

to end death

and sorrow.

He has come

to bring in

a kingdom

of eternal glory

and joy.

You think of it

the best wedding

or the best feast

you've ever been at

and we know

there'll be friends,

there'll be family,

there'll be laughter,

there'll be joy,

there'll be celebration,

there'll be love

and that's all there

in what Jesus

wants to provide.

This wedding feast

in a sense

is a little window

into heaven

because Jesus came

to establish

the kingdom of God,

to establish

in the fullness of time

when he returns

the world

we all want.

A world where sorrow

and death is gone,

a world where love

and joy

are complete

and never ending

and Jesus promised

he's come to do that

and that sounds amazing,

doesn't it?

But how

will he do that?

How can

he

do that?

And that takes us

to the servants

in verses 5 to 9

and what happens

in the conversation

between Jesus

and the servants

is we see Jesus

replaces

the old

with the new.

Now before we even

get there,

there's that really

interesting dialogue

between Mary

and Jesus

and we'll touch

on it very briefly.

When Jesus

is approached

by his mother

and she says

the wine,

they have no more wine,

Mary clearly appreciates

Jesus is able

to help.

Jesus is the one

to turn to

when we need help

and that's a wonderful

reality

that I hope we all

come to recognise.

and then

Jesus says,

woman,

why do you involve

me?

And his mother

said to the servants,

do whatever

he tells you.

And that's great

advice.

That's great advice

for the life

of discipleship.

We are called

to follow Jesus,

our master,

to do what he

tells us,

to do what we

find in his word

and it's also

a sign of her faith

and Jesus responds

to her faith

and begins a

conversation

with the servants.

So what are the

servants to do?

There are those

six stone jars

and what those

stone jars were

for was for

ceremonial washing.

Jewish ritual,

Jewish law

was very aware

of uncleanness

as a symbol

of spiritual

uncleanness.

So there had to

be washing

for public events

and we have

become very

aware of

cleanness

and hand washing

recently,

haven't we?

There's a reminder

for all the guests

for the bridegroom

include,

even at the

wedding,

they come as

a people who

are unclean

before God,

a people who

need washing.

Now what does

Jesus do with

those stone jars?

He says fill them

and they fill them

to the brim

and then he says

draw some of the

water out and

take it to

the master of

the feasting

and it becomes

wine.

By a miracle

Jesus changes

this water

used for

washing,

uncleanness,

and turns it

to wine

which is a

great symbol

of joy.

What's the

deeper significance

of what's going

on here?

Well what the

water

and what the

law could

never do,

it could never

truly cleanse

from guilt

and cleanse

from sin

because the

problem isn't

on the surface,

as the

problem lies

in our

hearts.

Jesus has

come to

perform that

washing.

And this

miracle reminds

us that by

making people

clean, by

providing that

deep washing,

making us right

before God,

he will then

at the same

time provide

deep joy.

The joy of

knowing and

being known and

loved by God.

You listen to

psychologists or

you listen to

health professionals

and they will

at times speak

about the

crippling

effects of

personal guilt

on emotional

and mental

well-being.

King David,

who wrote many

of the Psalms

in Psalm 32,

talked about a

time in his

life when he

was silent

before God,

he wasn't

confessing his

sin.

And he uses

really vivid

language, he

talks about his

bones wasting

away, he

talks about

groaning, he

talks about his

strength being

sapped until

he confessed,

until he knew

the joy of

being forgiven.

Now we don't

need an expert,

do we, to tell

us that there

is guilt in

our lives.

We know

this, we

know that there

are things in

our lives that

at times, maybe

even right now,

stop us from

sleeping because we

feel awful.

We can think

about relationships

that have broken

down because of

problems that we

have created in

our words or in

our behaviour.

We can think

about love that

we have failed to

show to others

and when we're

honest we know

that we have

not loved God

as he deserves.

We also, I'm

sure, know that

it's painful to

look inside

ourselves.

It's painful to

have that sense

of exposure, to

be honest about

the fact that we

are not half as

good as we think

we are or how

we try and

project to

others.

It's a lot

easier to

distract ourselves

with entertainment.

It's a lot

easier to try and

minimise the

problem or to

compare ourselves

with others so

that we can feel

good about

ourselves again.

But here's the

truth as we find

it from Jesus.

When we make

that honest look

to expose our

need, to

expose our

guilt and sin,

to show us

that we cannot

be good enough

for God,

that honesty

is then the

pathway to

joy when

it leads us

to look to

Jesus as

our saviour,

to trust him,

to ask him to

remove our

sin and to

give us the

joy of

salvation.

Now let's

return to

Jesus'

mother and

let's think

about Jesus'

hour and

Jesus'

wine.

Again,

Mary provides

an example

for us to

follow when

she brings

the needs

of others

to Jesus.

That's one of

the things we

do with

prayer.

We pray for

ourselves because

we know we

need it but

we also pray

for our

family, we

pray for our

colleagues, for

our neighbours,

we pray for

our nation.

notice how

Jesus answers,

woman, why

do you

involve me?

My hour

has not yet

come.

Now when

Jesus calls

his mother

woman, he's

not being

disrespectful but

there is a

sense of

distancing and

the question

is why?

And in

a sense

it's hard

to pin

down exactly

why but

perhaps it's

helpful to

think in

these terms.

Remember Jesus

has just

begun his

public

ministry.

Perhaps this

is a message

to Mary that

now that my

public ministry

has begun I

must be about

my father's

business and

I need freedom

to follow

God's

timetable.

But notice

he says my

hour has

not yet

come.

And that's

a theme

in John's

gospel, the

hour of

Jesus.

He talks

about it

often and

it becomes

clear as the

gospel progresses

that he's

talking about

his suffering

and death

and then his

resurrection and

return to glory

beyond.

But this much

we can say

from the

beginning of

his public

ministry

Jesus is

aware of

its end.

Jesus begins

his ministry

knowing it

will climax

at the

cross.

His public

ministry will

end in

the cross

and then

three days

later the

resurrection.

Now I want

us to think

about the

hour and

the wine and

think about

how this

wedding reveals

Jesus'

glory.

Now the

new age

that was

promised in

the Bible

pictured as a

time of joy.

Think back to

Isaiah, a

feast of the

best of

wines.

Central to

that hope

is that God

and his

people would

be united

together

forever.

one of the

images that

God himself

uses is

that he is

the bridegroom

and his

people is

the bride

and Jesus

uses that

in his

stories

also.

So central

to future

hope

is the

picture of a

wedding and a

wedding feast.

And so here

we find

Jesus at the

beginning of

his public

ministry and

he's at a

wedding.

And what do

we find?

We find that

he is looking

ahead.

He's looking

ahead to

that great

future hope

but he's

very aware

of the

great cost

to him.

For the

joy of

that wedding

Jesus

must

provide

the

wine.

And for

that wedding

the wine

won't be

produced by

a miracle.

It will

be produced

by Jesus

dying

on the

cross.

The Lord's

Supper that

we share

as a church

when we're

able to

meet together

is a

visible

reminder

that we

can feast

in the

presence of

Jesus.

that we

can know

him.

He is the

Lord of

that feast

but we

can know

him and

enjoy him

only because

he died

for us.

Only because

he was

willing to

sacrifice

himself to

pay the

price for

our sin

to take

the judgment

of God

to set

us free.

So in

this sign

we're being

reminded actually

that Jesus

is the

true bridegroom

who wants

to provide

for our

joy.

And how

will he do

it?

He will do

it by

covering

our shame,

covering

our sin,

covering

our rebellion

and rejection

of God

so that by

that act

of love

and grace

we receive

honour.

That knowing

him,

being bound

and united

to him

brings

eternal

joy.

joy.

This sign

says to

us,

Jesus

will bring

joy

but only

by losing

his.

And Jesus

knew that

from the

start.

He knew

there would

come a

point where

he would

feel forsaken

as he took

and went

under the

judgment of

God so

that we

might be

welcomed,

we deserve

judgment,

but instead

through faith

in Jesus

we can be

welcomed

into

God's

kingdom.

So the

wine,

the wine

of this

wedding,

the wine

at the

wedding of

Canaan,

in a sense

it was a

means to

an end

because it

led to

joy

continuing,

it led

to celebration

continuing.

For

Jesus,

the cross

stands as

a means

to an

end.

and what

it means

for us,

the cross

is the

means to

your

eternal

joy,

to my

eternal

salvation.

If I

trust that

Jesus went

to the

cross to

pay for

my sin

and my

shame,

that he

died for

me and

then rose

again to

give me

new life,

if we

believe that

then the

cross is

the means

to an

end for

your

eternal

joy.

joy.

So here

is Jesus

sitting in

the middle

of a

picture of

joy,

a wedding

feast,

but he

is anticipating

suffering

so that

you and

I can

cope with

our

present

suffering,

and I

know some

of us

are suffering

in really

extreme ways,

but we

can sit

in our

suffering

anticipating

future

joy.

Because of

what Jesus

promises here

at this

wedding feast,

Jesus is

the bridegroom.

Christian,

look at the

cross,

see how

much he

loves you,

see how

much he

delights

in you,

see the

price he

paid that

he might

be united

with you

eternally.

And if

you're not

a Christian,

let me ask,

does the

removal of

shame and

guilt

sound like

good news?

does that

sound like

an invitation

to joy?

Is the

prospect of

eternal joy

in the

presence of

God rather

than eternal

judgment

separated from

God, does

that sound

like something

that's good

news and

something you

want?

Well, if

so, come

to him.

He is your

king.

Trust in

him and

receive this

gift of

love.

May all of

us come to

Jesus as

the wonderful

Lord of

the feast.