More Than a Miracle

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Good morning. My name is Catherine St. Clair.

Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel according to John 2, verses 1-11, as found in your liturgy.

John 2:1–11

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, 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 twenty to thirty gallons.

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 realize 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 of Galilee

was the first of the signs

through which he revealed his glory,

and his disciples believed in him.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Hello.

Good morning, Christchurch family.

Happy New Year.

Happy 2022.

For those of you here for the first time,

normally you'd find Pastor Jonathan

or Pastor Andrew up here preaching,

but today you've got me.

My name is Jesse,

and I work in the church office.

I'm here because a few months ago,

Pastor Andrew asked if I'd like to preach

on December 26th,

which was last Sunday,

or today, January 2nd,

and I picked today because I thought

it would give me an additional week of preparation.

But it just turned out

I had an additional week of procrastination.

So today is not only the first Sunday of the new year,

but it's also my first time preaching here at Christchurch.

I've preached at some other churches.

I've preached a few times before,

but it's my first time preaching here,

and depending on how things go

in the next 30 minutes or so,

we'll see if it might also be my last time preaching here.

So today's sermon text is John 2, verses 1 through 11,

John 2:1–11

where we see Jesus performing his first sign,

turning water into wine.

And even though turning water into wine

is a miracle,

it's miraculous,

John, the author of this gospel,

calls it a sign.

And why is this a sign?

Why is it something that's more than a miracle?

So for two reasons.

One, it is a foretaste of the age to come.

And two, it is a glimpse of God's glory.

A foretaste of the age to come

and a glimpse of God's glory.

We'll also talk about the significance

of this sign happening at a wedding.

And we'll talk about the significance of wine.

So the four keywords you can keep in your head

as you're listening are foretaste,

glimpse, wedding, and wine.

All right, let's start our exploration

of today's passage by going to the last verse,

verse 11,

where it says,

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee

was the first of the signs

through which he revealed his glory.

And his disciples believed in him.

Now, what does it mean that this was a sign?

To help explain this,

I'll talk about a store that

most of us know about

and some of us might even love.

This store is known for its bigness.

The stores themselves are big

and the items for sale in the store are big

because they're sold in bulk.

So what store do you think I'm talking about?

Costco, yeah, you got it.

Costco.

Costco is known for being big, right?

But Costco is also known for something small.

And that thing that's small that Costco is known for

are small samples, right?

How many of you, when you go to Costco,

try to get a few samples?

Yeah, most of us.

And

turning the page here.

In case you've never been to Costco,

if you've never experienced the wonder of free samples,

what it is is

throughout the main aisles of the store

or scattered in the main aisles of the store

are these stations

where there's a Costco employee

kind of giving out free bite-sized pieces

of some type of food item that's for sale

at that store.

And

so for example,

let's say they're selling frozen ravioli at Costco.

So if there's a sample of this ravioli,

there'll be an employee who's heating up the ravioli

and then kind of apportioning it out

into little bite-sized pieces.

Now,

you might be wondering,

what does ravioli have to do with the Bible?

Well,

I'm going to ask you a question,

which is,

what is the purpose of a sample of ravioli?

The purpose,

what is the purpose of a sample?

The purpose of a sample

is to give you a taste of a larger item

and to point you towards it, right?

A sample is supposed to give you a taste of the item

and point you towards it.

The same for a sign.

Another example of a sign is

if you drove here today

and you took the freeway,

you might have seen a sign on the freeway

that says University Avenue

or Telegraph Avenue, right?

And that sign is not the road in itself, right?

The sign that says University Avenue

isn't University Avenue.

It's meant to point you towards it.

So, in the same way,

in the Bible,

when we see something that Jesus has done,

called a sign,

it's supposed to give us a taste of something larger

and to point us toward a larger reality.

Also, if you look at verse 11,

it says,

the first of the signs.

What's kind of interesting is that the Greek word

that we translate here as first,

it's the Greek word archa,

which can also be translated as beginning.

So, you could also translate this as

the beginning of the signs.

And the word archa is a pretty important word in the Bible.

At the beginning,

at the opening of the Gospel of John,

at the opening of the Greek translation

of the book of Genesis,

how do those two books begin?

They begin the same way, right?

In the beginning.

And in Greek,

that term is N-R-K.

So, by calling this

the beginning of the signs,

we have kind of a connection

that connects us to creation,

that connects us,

that kind of lets us see that

it's a hint that Jesus

is the creator God.

Jesus is God.

The same God who created at the beginning,

the same God who is preexistent and eternal.

Now, the miracle itself,

the sign,

turning water into wine,

also connects us to God's creation

in Genesis 1,

where God creates the universe

out of nothing.

And this doctrine of God creating out of nothing

has a Latin phrase,

has a Latin name for it.

Does anyone know it?

Yeah, some of you are nodding.

Yeah, creatio ex nihilo.

Pardon my pronunciation.

But I think it's pronounced creatio ex nihilo,

which means creation out of nothing

or creation from nothing.

And there's an aspect of that

to this miracle that Jesus does here,

turning water into wine.

What I mean is that

some of the key and necessary ingredients

that make wine,

wine,

are simply not present in water.

or to look at it from another perspective,

let's think about healing, right?

We know Jesus healed people.

With the human body,

we know that if we give the body enough time,

it kind of can naturally heal from many injuries.

Not all of them,

but the human body can heal.

Or if you have a broken bone, right?

I've actually had a fractured middle finger before

from a motorcycle accident.

And I know that if you just kind of put things back

and give it enough time,

the bone will heal.

The human body can heal itself.

But with this sign,

with this miracle of Jesus turning water into wine,

no matter how much time,

no matter how much time you give it,

no matter how long you wait,

water will never become wine.

The ingredients for wine simply are not present in water.

Water doesn't have sugar

that can be broken down by yeast

to create alcohol.

Water doesn't have pigment from grape skins

to give wine its color.

Water doesn't have the flavor compounds

that make grape juice taste grapey

and wine taste whiny.

Should have revised that one.

So without spending too much time on this topic,

when Jesus turns water into wine,

he is demonstrating some aspect of creatio ex nihilo.

He's creating something out of nothing.

He's demonstrating the power of God

to create something out of nothing.

So with this sign,

which is more than a miracle,

which is the beginning of his signs,

Jesus is revealing to us that he is God.

The same creator God

who is preexistent, internal,

who created the universe out of nothing.

Now that we've established what a sign is,

let's explore today's passage from the first verse.

We'll look at the first two verses.

Feel free to follow along in the Pew Bibles

or on a Bible app,

or in the liturgy.

Verse one,

What's the setting?

The setting here is a wedding.

And Jesus,

his disciples,

and his mother

have all been invited.

Although we don't know if Jesus

was a friend of the married couple

or their families,

in that time and place,

it was customary

to invite

the entire village

to a wedding,

and even people from neighboring villages.

Jewish weddings

often lasted for seven days

and included music

and dancing.

The groom's family

normally hosted the wedding

and would try to invite

as many people as possible,

especially distinguished guests

like a religious,

like a well-known religious teacher.

One commentary suggests

that the host of this wedding

was probably well-off

because of the presence

of servants

at the banquet

and the large amount of water

in these stone jars.

Six jars doesn't sound like

a lot of water,

but remember,

each jar held between

20 and 30 gallons.

So if you do some math,

how much water in total is that?

120 to 180 gallons.

So,

you're probably expecting

a lot of guests.

Let's look at the next two verses,

verses three and four.

When the wine was gone,

Jesus' mother said to him,

they have no more wine.

Woman, why do you involve me?

Jesus replied,

my hour has not yet come.

If you feel surprised by this

or find it hard to understand,

you're not alone.

Bible scholars

and pastors also admitted

that this passage,

especially verse four,

can be hard or perplexing

for modern readers

to understand.

Actually, let's go back

a little bit.

Going back to this wedding.

We see in verse three

that the wedding

has run out of wine, right?

Jesus' mother says to Jesus,

they have no more wine.

Now, why is this a big deal?

So, the Middle East,

then and now,

is a shame

and honor

culture.

And the family

is the fundamental

unit of society.

So, it's a little bit different

than here in the West,

where the individual

is the fundamental

unit of society.

And although we do have

some aspects of shame

and culture,

we're kind of relative

to the Middle East

or other Eastern cultures,

we're kind of more of a

guilt and innocence culture.

So, shame and honor culture

in the Middle East.

To run out of wine

at a wedding

is to fail

to be a good host.

It's to fail

to live up

to that expectation

of hospitality.

So,

to run out of wine

at a wedding

could bring

lasting shame

to the groom's family.

So,

that said,

let's go back

to verse 4,

where Jesus says,

Woman, why do you involve me?

My hour

has not yet come.

So,

Jesus says,

Woman,

and

the Greek word

used there

is kind of equivalent

to the English word

ma'am.

It's respectful,

but it creates

distance.

Then,

when Jesus says,

why do you involve me?

The Greek there

is just four words,

which if you translate

word for word,

says,

what,

me,

and you.

What,

me,

and you.

And when you look at

other occurrences

of this phrase

in the Greek version

of the Old Testament,

it creates

distance

between the speaker

and the hearer.

So,

taken in total,

Jesus is creating

a distance

between himself

and his mother.

And then,

at the end of verse 4,

Jesus says,

My hour

has not yet come.

And what is he

talking about here?

Well,

in the Gospels,

when Jesus talks

about his hour

or the hour

or my hour,

he's referring

to his crucifixion

and the time

and events

surrounding it.

So,

his arrest,

death,

crucifixion,

resurrection,

and ascension.

The word hour

is spoken of this,

in this way,

in the Gospel of John

seven more times

and also

in the other three Gospels,

Matthew,

Mark,

and Luke.

So,

when Jesus says

to his mother,

my hour

has not yet come,

he is telling her

that his primary task,

his primary mission

on earth,

has not yet arrived.

All the signs

and miracles

that he's done,

those are important,

but what is most important

for us,

for humanity,

to be saved,

what is most important

for our relationship

with God

to be restored,

was,

one,

Jesus' death

on the cross

as sinless

and fully God

and fully human,

two,

his resurrection,

and three,

his ascension.

Putting all these ideas together,

when Jesus says to Mary,

woman,

why do you involve me?

My hour

has not yet come.

These words

prepare us

for what

is about to happen.

They prepare us

for what

Jesus is about to do.

He's saying that

he's not merely

obeying

his mother's request,

but it's also

not the fulfillment

of his mission

on earth.

It's like we're talking

about two ends

of a spectrum.

What Jesus is about

to do at this wedding

is not merely

a small-scale

act of salvation

for this married couple

and their families,

but it's also

not the cosmic-scale

act of salvation,

this history-changing

act of salvation

for humanity

and creation.

Jesus' hour

had not yet come.

Let's look at

the next two verses,

verses 5 and 6.

His mother said

to the servants,

do whatever

he tells you.

Nearby stood

six stone jars,

the kind used

by the Jews

for ceremonial washing,

each holding

from 20 to 30 gallons.

Let's talk about

the stone jars here.

The text says

that they're used

for ceremonial washing,

and we see

some more information

about that

in the Gospel of Mark,

Mark 7:3

chapter 7,

verse 3.

The Pharisees

and all the Jews

do not eat

unless they give

their hands

a ceremonial washing,

holding to the tradition

of the elders.

The ritual

involved here,

here involved

servants

pouring water,

taking water

out of these stone jars

and pouring it

over the hands

of guests.

spirits.

And there is

some significance

to these stone jars

that we should

discuss further.

The ceremonial washing

done using

these stone jars

was part of a larger

system in Judaism

of ceremonies,

sacrifices,

and rules.

These rules

included rules

on what people

could or could not eat.

And elsewhere

in the New Testament,

in Hebrews,

this is written

after the

death,

resurrection,

ascension of Jesus.

Probably written

around 68 AD.

And it's written

to Christians

who came from

Jewish backgrounds.

Hebrews,

Hebrews 9:10

chapter 9,

verse 10,

says,

speaking of these

rules and laws,

they are only

a matter of food

and drink

and various

ceremonial washings,

external regulations

applying until the

time of the new

order.

And then going

on a few more

verses to chapter 10

in Hebrews,

verses 1 and 2,

it says that the law

is only a shadow

of the good things

that are coming,

not the reality

themselves.

For this reason,

it can never,

by the same sacrifices

repeated endlessly

year after year,

make perfect

those who draw

near to worship.

Otherwise,

would they not

have stopped

being offered?

For the worshipers

would have been

cleansed once for all

and would no longer

have felt guilty

for their sins.

I mention these

because

the ceremonial

washings

were a reminder

of people's need

to be cleansed,

washed of their sins.

But they could never

actually cleanse

people from their sins.

that required

a Savior.

And now we're

starting to get at

more of why

Jesus' act of

turning water

into wine

at this wedding

was more than

just a miracle.

It gave the people

at the wedding

and gives us today

a glimpse

of who Jesus is

and what he came

to do.

It shows us that

Jesus is the

promised Messiah

who would fulfill

Old Testament law

and prophecy

and give humanity

true and lasting

cleansing from sin.

and that he would

usher in

the promised age

to come

when good wine

would be abundant,

when evil

would be no more,

and when God

would be fully

among his people.

And we'll talk

more about this

later.

Let's look at

verses 7 through 9

in today's passage,

but we'll start again

at verse 6.

Nearby stood

six stone jars,

the kind used

by the Jews

for ceremonial washing,

each holding

from 20 to 30 gallons.

Verse 7,

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.

We'll stop there.

All right,

let's do some math there.

Let's do some math here.

We have six stone

jars,

each holding

from 20 to 30 gallons.

So in total,

120 to 180 gallons.

And each jar

was filled

to the brim

with water.

And all of the water

became wine.

So how much wine

are we talking

about here?

So here is

a bottle of wine.

It's empty.

This is kind

of a standard

size bottle of wine.

And who knows

what's the volume

of a standard

bottle of wine?

Yeah.

750 milliliters.

So that's

0.75 liters,

which will help us

later on

because we're going

to do some math.

So if you bottled

all the wine

that Jesus made

at this wedding,

how many bottles

of wine would that be?

Okay.

Oh, I should have

passed out some

scratch paper and pencils,

but no worries.

I did the math

for you already.

So each jar

held between

20 and 30 gallons.

Let's pick the lower

number, 20 gallons

per jar.

That's 120 gallons

in total.

How many liters

is 120 gallons?

The answer is

454 liters.

Now, how many bottles

of wine is 454 liters?

So 454 divided

by 0.75 equals 605.

So that's 605 bottles

of wine.

That's the low end

of this calculation.

What about the high end,

right?

If each jar holds 30 gallons,

that's 118 gallons.

In total,

118 gallons is equal

to how many liters?

681 liters.

681 liters.

How many bottles

of wine

is 681 liters

of wine?

Okay.

Crunch the numbers.

908 bottles

of wine.

So on the high end,

Jesus created

908 bottles

of wine.

I mean,

imagine what that

would look like

if we saw that.

900 bottles

of wine.

So I think

this little math

exercise helps us

kind of sense

how much wine

Jesus produced.

It was exceedingly abundant.

So earlier,

we talked about

the significance

of these stone water jars.

And now we're going

to talk about

the significance

of wine

and the significance

of this miracle

occurring at a wedding.

And when we consider

all the meaning

behind these things,

we'll see that truly

this was more

than a miracle.

It is a sign

that gives us

a foretaste

of the age to come

and a glimpse

of God's glory.

Wedding.

Why is it significant

that this sign

occurred at a wedding?

Jesus could have chosen

another setting

to display

his first sign,

the beginning

of his signs,

but he chose

a wedding.

wedding.

And remember

that a sign,

I'll put this

wine bottle down,

remember that a sign

is a foretaste

of the age to come.

And in several places

in the Bible,

in both the Old Testament

and the New Testament,

when Scripture

speaks of the age

to come,

it often uses

the language

and imagery

of wedding

and marriage.

For example,

in the Old Testament

in the book of Hosea,

God commands

the prophet Hosea

to marry

a woman

that the text

describes as a

quote,

promiscuous woman,

unquote,

so that their relationship,

Hosea's

and his wife's relationship,

would be a visible

illustration

of how Israel

was unfaithful

to God

and yet,

despite Israel's

unfaithfulness,

God would be

faithful and loving

God would reconcile

his people to himself

and restore them

and be with them

forever.

Also in the Old Testament

in the book of Isaiah,

we find more

wedding

and marriage-related

language and imagery.

Okay,

if you go to

Isaiah 54

Isaiah 54:5–6

verses 5 through 6,

Isaiah 54

Isaiah 54:5–6

verses 5 through 6,

it says,

for your maker

is your husband,

the Lord Almighty

is his name,

the Holy One

of Israel

is your Redeemer,

he is called

the God

of all the earth.

The Lord

will call you back

as if you were

a wife deserted

and distressed

in spirit.

And then,

a few chapters

later,

in Isaiah 62

Isaiah 62:5

verse 5,

it says,

as a young man

marries a young woman,

so will your builder

marry you.

As a bridegroom

rejoices over his bride,

so will your God

rejoice over you.

And moreover,

in the Gospels,

we see Jesus

identified as the groom.

In John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

John the Baptist

refers to Jesus

as the bridegroom,

and John the Baptist

refers to himself

as a friend

of the bridegroom.

In Mark chapter 2,

Mark 2 · chapter mention

Jesus refers to himself

kind of in an indirect way

that he is

the bridegroom.

And we see

from these verses

throughout the Bible

that God

has promised

that there will be

a time in the future

when God will

fully be with his people

as a groom

is with his bride.

And we see

that Jesus

is the groom

who has inaugurated

this restoration

of relationship.

Now,

let's talk about

the significance

of wine.

Why is it important

that Jesus' first sign

involves wine?

First,

let's look at

what kind of wine

Jesus created.

John chapter 2,

John 2:9

verse 9.

The master

of the banquet

tasted the water

that had been

turned into wine.

He did not realize

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 kind of wine

did Jesus make?

So,

we know that this

was a big wedding,

it was a big event,

and they even had

a master of the banquet,

a professional,

a professional

in food and drink.

And when he tastes

this wine,

he calls it

the best.

Right?

He mentions that

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.

The words

in our English translation,

choice and best,

here in this verse,

are actually both

the same word

in Greek,

kalos.

And kalos

is where we get

the name kalista.

Kalos,

so I looked up

this word

in a Greek lexicon,

and it says that

the word kalos

was,

quote,

applied by the Greeks

to everything

so distinguished

in form,

excellence,

goodness,

usefulness,

as to be pleasing.

Hence,

according to the context,

equivalent to

beautiful,

handsome,

excellent,

eminent,

choice,

surpassing,

precious,

useful,

suitable,

commendable,

admirable,

unquote.

So the wine

that Jesus

has made

in exceeding abundance

is really,

really good wine.

It's beautiful,

excellent,

admirable.

Now,

more about wine.

In general,

what makes

good wine

even better?

Time,

age.

So what's

another,

what makes

this miracle

even more impressive

is that

Jesus has made

new wine,

but it tastes

really good,

as if it's

aged wine.

He's made

900 bottles

of wine

that somehow

paradoxically

is both

new and aged.

Now,

to a Jewish

person of that

time and place

who was familiar

with Scripture,

when you talk

about wine

that's new

and aged,

very,

very good,

and in

exceeding abundance,

what would

that person

think of?

They would

have remembered

Old Testament

Scriptures

that talked

about this

kind of wine.

They would

have remembered,

for example,

Amos 9

and Isaiah

25.

So Amos 9

Amos 9:13–15

verses 13

through 15

say,

The days are

coming,

declares the

Lord,

when the

reaper will

be overtaken

by the

plowman

and the

planter by

the one

treading

grapes.

New wine

will drip

from the

mountains

and flow

from all

the hills

and I

will bring

my people

Israel

back from

exile.

They will

rebuild

the ruined

cities

and live

in them.

They will

plant vineyards

and drink

their wine.

They will

make gardens

and eat

their fruit.

I will

plant Israel

in their

own land,

never again

to be uprooted

from the

land I have

given them,

says the

Lord your

God.

Isaiah

25,

and I'll

read verses

1, 6,

and 8.

Lord,

you are my

God.

I will

exalt you

and praise

your name,

for in

perfect faithfulness

you have

done wonderful

things,

things planned

long ago.

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.

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.

So,

let's

look at

the language

in those

two passages.

Amos 9

says,

the days

are coming.

So,

we know

that this

is referring

to sometime

in the

future.

Then we

see language

such as,

never again

to be

uprooted,

the sovereign

Lord will

wipe away

the tears

from all

faces,

and the

Lord will

swallow up

death

forever.

And today

when we

think of

a time

that has

those three

characteristics,

when God

will wipe

away every

tear from

every eye,

when we

will never

again be

uprooted,

when death

will be

no more,

what are

we thinking

of?

We're

thinking of

the age

to come

and the

kingdom

to come,

a time

and a

place where

death

will be

no more,

where we

will not

be exiles

or displaced,

but we will

be fully at

home,

a place

where God

will wipe

away every

tear.

And bringing

together all

these ideas,

plus the

idea of

wedding and

marriage,

we turn to

the book

of Revelation.

Your Bible's at

the end,

and the book

of Revelation

talks at length

about the age

to come and the

kingdom to come.

And in

verse,

excuse me,

in chapter 21

of Revelation,

let me turn

there.

It says,

Revelation 21,

then I saw a

new heaven and

a new earth,

for the first

heaven and the

first earth

had passed

away,

and there was

no longer

any sea.

I saw the

holy city,

the new

Jerusalem,

coming down

out of heaven

from God,

prepared as a

bride beautifully

dressed for her

husband.

And I heard a

loud voice from

the throne saying,

look,

God's dwelling

place is now

among the people,

and he will dwell

with them.

They will be his

people,

and God himself

will be with them

and be their

God.

He will wipe away

every tear from

their eyes.

There will be no

more death or

mourning or crying

or pain,

for the old order

of things has

passed away.

Today we've

looked at this

short passage from

the Bible,

from John chapter

John 2 · chapter mention

2,

but hopefully we've

seen how full of

meaning it is,

how dense and

rich with

significance it

is.

What Jesus did

there was more

than a miracle.

It was a sign.

It gives us a

glimpse of God's

glory.

It gives us a

foretaste of the

age to come.

When a wedding

2,000 years ago

was on the brink

of failure because

they were about

to run out of

wine,

Jesus performed

a small-scale

act of salvation

by turning

gallons of water

into gallons of

wine,

and thereby

spared these

families from

likely lasting

shame and

preserved their

honor.

It was a

miracle,

but it was

more than a

miracle,

because he gave

them and he

gives us a

foretaste of the

age to come

and a glimpse

of God's

glory.

The passage

in John also

says that Jesus

was invited to

the wedding,

and remember it

says that Mary

told the servants,

do whatever he

tells you.

Likewise,

we need to

invite Jesus

into our lives

and do what he

says.

We need to

invite Jesus

into our lives

and do what he

says.

And remember

what the

master of the

banquet says

after he

tastes this

water that

had been

turned into

wine.

He says,

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.

You have saved

the best till

now.

And this

reminds us that

God's way is

not the

conventional way.

God's timing is

not always our

timing.

God's ways are

unexpected and

sometimes contrary

to the ways of

the world.

But when we

have experienced

and tasted what

he has done for

us, we will

see that his

way is the

best.

And we

will have

hope.

We have

hope because

we know that

the best is

yet to come.

When we

invite Jesus

into our lives

and we do

what he says,

we have

hope, we

have the

promise that

the best is

yet to come.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.