John 2:1-12 - Caleb Richardson

Let's start off in prayer today. Lord, as we

come before you, I pray that our hearts are soft

and surrendered to you, that whatever's going

on in our world today, that we can kind of just

set that down, fix our gaze upon you and your

word, and just ask Holy Spirit that you do a

work inside of us. Help us to listen to what

you're saying to us this morning. Amen. Well,

grab those Bibles, hang on to them, get your

pens out. We got a lot of cool work. This is

an awesome section of Scripture and one of my

favorites. So I got to start off, though, before

we jump in, I want to ask you a question. And

when I ask you a question, I want you to respond.

So real loud so everybody can hear because my

head is, you can tell. I got a head cold today,

which means my ears are plugged. So on top of

the fact that I can't hear anymore, I've got

this. So you're going to have to be real loud.

So here's the question. When you think of a wedding,

what kind of emotions are going on in that wedding?

What are people feeling? Joy. What else? Huh?

Love. Love is in the air, right? What else? Huh?

Excitement. I'm coming down some closer. Huh?

Hope. What else? Celebration. Yeah. I mean, when

you think about a wedding, and these are our

weddings, they usually involve this ceremony

where people are coming together and they're

making a covenant with one another. And then

there's an after party where everybody's celebrating.

having stupid comments said, and a dance, and

a great food, and whatever it is, right? Celebration.

A big wedding is the setting for our story, but

it's bigger than anything you can imagine, okay?

So let's just jump in, not like our North American

weddings. This is different, and I'll explain

some of that, but let's start with verse one

and two. On the third... day, a wedding took

place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus' mother was there,

and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the

wedding as well. Pretty much that's the setting.

You see, in Jewish culture, the wedding celebration

was considered to be the most grand event in

your life. It was a massive, it was a big deal.

Now, we think it's a pretty big deal, but to

them, Many, because people lived in poverty or

whatever, everything was focused. Like this was

your day or your week. So it was a really big

deal. A typical wedding would last for an entire

week. Can you imagine that? Not an entire day.

Not starts at noon and ends up at 7 or 8. All

week long. And during this week, the bride and

the groom were considered to be king and queen.

And they actually wore crowns and dressed in

bridal robes. And their word was actually considered

to be law. Yeah, it was that serious. This event

was considered to be the most supreme occasion

of their life. And just like a side note, Jesus

and his disciples are part of this party. Now

Jesus had just gathered his disciples together.

And they go to a party. So I'm not sure what

your view of Jesus is. I think this is actually

a really important question. What is your view

of Jesus? Well, one of the things we discover

about Jesus in the Gospels is that he liked a

good party. He liked a good party. I don't know

what's happened many times with Christians, but

we kind of go the other direction. We're not

very good partiers. We're not very good celebrators,

like, oh, you don't got to be a good person.

No, Jesus was considered the opposite. Like,

not bad, but he liked a good party, and it's

evidence. In fact, people would get upset with

him because of who he, who and where he went

and who he hung out with. Jesus was without sin,

don't get that, don't miss that, but at the same

time, he hung out with sinners. And he hung out

where they hung out. And so Matthew chapter 11

Matthew 11:19

verse 19 says, the son of man came eating and

drinking and they say, look, a glutton and a

drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

People didn't like this about Jesus. Joby Martin

says this, he said, the people who weren't like

Jesus, liked Jesus. That's pretty significant.

It wasn't that Jesus was conforming to this world.

He was a light in this world. But because he

was a light in this world, people that were living

in darkness in a sense went, huh, I like that

about Jesus. But it started with Jesus going

to people that didn't know Jesus, that didn't

know him. He was a friend of sinners. So it's

not a surprise to see Jesus at a huge wedding

celebration. You remember John the Baptizer,

who we talked about earlier, kind of had a different

way of operating, right? He was out in the wilderness

and dressed really crazy and came as a prophet

and only ate weird things and didn't drink any

wine or anything. Jesus is the opposite. Jesus

shows up at a party and says in verse 3, look

at this, and when the wine ran out, Jesus' mother

told him, they don't have any wine. Now, before

we go any farther, I've got to say something

about this text. This text has been poorly used

throughout history. It's got two sides to it.

One side loves to use this to justify the fact

that they can drink. Right? They say, see, Jesus

drank. I can do whatever I want. And then others

will say, grossly miss it, by saying, he actually

wasn't wine. It was grape juice. It was diluted.

Guys, both of those are incorrect. That's not

what this is about. So in Jewish wedding feast,

wine, not juice, was essential. Not so that the

guests could get drunk or have a good time. It

was because of what it symbolized. See, it was

a symbol of exhilaration and celebration. In

the scriptures, wine is used. I hope you catch

this. This is really important for today. In

this Bible, the wine is used as a symbol for

joy. Here is just a few examples. Psalm 104 verse

Psalms 104:15

15 says, wine gladdens the heart of man. Isaiah

51. 55 verse 1 says, come everyone who is thirsty,

come to the water and you without silver, come

buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without silver

and without cost. Judges 9 verse 13 says, should

Judges 9:13

I stop giving my wine that cheers both man and

God and man and rule over trees? Kind of a weird

statement. So to the Jew, wine represents, symbolizes

joy. And without wine, there is no joy. Keep

that in your mind as we go through this text.

Without wine, there's no joy. So in this wedding

celebration, something went wrong. The host,

who is the bridegroom, runs out of wine. Now,

this presents two massive problems. First of

all, See, in a high honor, high shame culture,

which is not really what ours is, this is a massive

embarrassment that would be marked the rest of

his life. He was the guy that ran out of wine.

Number two is that even worse, the groom could

actually face a lawsuit for this. That's how

serious a deal it was. And so, there's a serious

problem. Doesn't seem that serious to us. You're

not paying for it, right? We ran out of wine,

sorry. But the problem is big, and Jesus' mother

hears about this dilemma and is having compassion

on the bridegroom, and she immediately goes to

Jesus. It's important to understand that Jesus

has not yet done a miracle. He hasn't shown his

power. He hasn't done any of that yet. But unlike

the others, Mary, Jesus' mother, knows who Jesus

is. And she believes in Jesus. And she's been

waiting in anticipation. From the day that she

was told that she's carrying Jesus in her belly,

she's been waiting. And so, she comes to Jesus

and presents a problem. And basically says, do

something. Fix it, Jesus. They've run out of

joy. They've run out of joy. And Jesus responds,

look at verse 4. What has this concern of yours

to do with me, woman? Jesus asked, my hour has

not yet come. Now these, like I said before,

John is loaded with meaning. The whole way we

go through this. You've got to slow down, underline,

circle, because these things matter. See, this

response is a little strange. Especially for

our reader. Some of the versions start off with

woman. You're like, what? So it's a little strange.

But it could be translated this way. Dear woman,

why do you involve me? It sounds a little harsh

to our ears. But Jesus' remarks here are actually

very tender. Jesus addresses Mary the same way,

this way, when he hangs on the cross and tells

John to take care of Mary. The same one language.

It's great compassion. He turns to her. He says,

my hour has not yet come. Now this is really

significant. He's referring to the hour. He is

crucified. Whenever Jesus uses this language

of my hour has not yet come, he's talking about

the hour upon which he hangs on the cross and

he takes our sin upon himself. And he's telling

Mary, he says, my hour has not yet come. Why?

This man, the groom is going to be greatly shamed

if he runs out of this wine. So Mary comes to

Jesus and says, can you do something to fix his

shame? Can you do something to fix the joy problem,

his shame? And ultimately, Jesus is going to

do something about this sin and shame as he goes

to the cross. But he's saying to her, my hour

is not yet. It's not yet come. Look what he said.

Psalm 34, our verse that we get radiant church

from, Psalm 34 verse 5 says, those who look to

Psalms 34:5

him are radiant, they're with joy. I love the

CSB version because it says they're radiant with

joy. Their faces will never be ashamed. If you're

gripped, church, if anyone in this room is gripped

with shame, where does shame come from? It comes

from sin. The sin in our life causes shame. Jesus

can take it from you and give you joy. Then he

says in verse 5, she says to those around Jesus,

Mary says this, do whatever he tells you, his

mother told the servants. Underline that, do

whatever he tells you. This is the best advice.

This is the best advice ever. Do whatever Jesus

tells you. If you want to be a disciple of Jesus,

you want to grow in your faith, do whatever he

tells you. Right? Jesus is telling you, if there

is sin and you need to repent, repent. Maybe

he's telling you that it's time to stand up and

actually step forward and get baptized. You've

been kind of hiding out in the corner. Do it.

Maybe he's telling you that it's time for you

to share your faith. Don't be a chicken. Get

out and tell somebody about the Jesus you love.

Maybe he's telling you it's time for you to step

up and stop being a spectator in the church and

be an active participant and belong here. I don't

know what he's telling you, but whatever Jesus

is telling you, it's going to line up with Scripture,

and you better do what he says. So Mary says,

Do whatever he tells you. Look at verse 8 or

6. Now there were six stone water jars had been

set there for Jewish purification, which contained

20 to 30 gallons. Fill the jars with water, Jesus

told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then

he said to them, now draw some out and take it

to the head waiter, and they did. Okay. First,

we need to unpack a couple things in this. We

need to unpack the crucial role that these stone

jars, not clay jars, stone jars, played into

what Jesus is doing. They symbolize a powerful

transition from the Old Testament covenant to

a new covenant. Why? These jars... We're there

for Jewish custom purification. Why? Because

of my sin, I'm dirty, right? I'm unpure. I'm

unholy. Because God is holy and we are not, we

cannot enter into the presence of a holy God,

so I need to be purified. And so they took this

ceremony very seriously because they realized

they're broken sinners and they need help. So

before a meal or a celebration, the guests would

pour water or dip their hands into these big

jars, symbolizing the removal of spiritual defilement.

When Jesus points at these jars and says, I want

you to use those jars, fill them. He's talking

about, I want you to fill them to the brim, totally

full. They're probably not empty. They probably

had their hands all... doused in them. So it's

not exactly maybe your cleanest, purest water.

When Jesus uses these jars and he says, fill

them, and he changes them to wine, he's testifying

that the old religious rituals were dead and

that he was filling these jars with new life.

A new age had come, a new and better joy. Jesus

is saying that That he is a better joy. And you'll

see how this plays out as we see what he does.

That Jesus is a greater and better joy. That

could be the statement that summarizes this whole

text. That Jesus is the greater joy. And the

joy he gives is abundant. and overflowing with

the best coming last. What Jesus is offering

is way better. Look at verse 9. So when the head

waiter tasted the water, after it had become

wine, he did not know where it had come from.

Though the servants who had drawn the water knew,

he called the groom and told them. Everyone sets

out the fine wine first. Then after people are

drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine

wine until now. What he's saying is, this cheap

stuff, the two buck chuck stuff, is what you

normally have at the end. The really good stuff

is what you start with. Why have you flipped

it? The joys of this world, church. will always

run out. They will not satisfy. And Jesus brings

the great joy. Jesus brings the greater joy.

And it's a simple metaphor. It's a simple illustration

to see that you can run after the things of this

world to find your joy, to find your blessing,

to find your hope, and it will never satisfy.

It will always run out. I think it's so cool

that Jesus says, see, I'm the greater joy. What

I have to offer is much fuller. And you will

experience blessing upon blessing with me. Verse

11. Jesus did this. The first of his signs in

Cana. He revealed his glory. And his disciples

believed in him. And after this, he went down

to Capernaum together with his mother and his

brothers and his disciples and they stayed there

only a few days. See, now John tells us his purpose

for all of this. This was Jesus' first sign or

miracle. Many of your Bibles, I think right in

there will say the first sign. And as John goes

through John, you're going to see that there's

multiple signs. The first sign, and then he...

group of signs that are there. What in the world

is going on with signs? Throughout John's, we

see this pattern. Jesus does a sign and that

sign shows us his glory that we would believe.

Remember I said that last Easter we talked about

how that sunrise was coming up and that it was

just a glimpse. And what John wants to do is

just bring it brighter and brighter and brighter.

He wants to bring Jesus front and center for

you. And every time there's a sign, he's saying,

I want you to see his glory. I want you to see

so that you would believe. Your belief goes deeper.

It's not just shallow. That your belief goes

deeper and deeper and deeper into who Jesus is.

So. The purpose of Jesus' miracles is not just

to show his power or just to help that person

or whatever. Although both are true. We see his

power and we see his compassion and his love

for people. But the main point is to show us

his redemptive purpose. That God is on something

greater and that his glory is massive. I want

to close. Our time by going back to John chapter

John 1 · chapter mention

1. You can flip over there. And I want you to

look at these two verses together. Verse 14 and

verse 16. Look what it says. The word became

flesh. That's Jesus. Remember we talked about

this part of John is the prologue or the entry

or the foyer to John. Which means we need to

keep looking back to that first section. Because

what John does is blows up this massive view

of who Jesus is. And then he's going to bring

it down to everyday walks of life of Jesus. He

says this, the word became flesh and dwelt among

us. The creator of all things became flesh, dwelt

among us, walked among us, and we observed his

glory. The glory of the one and only son from

the father full of grace and truth. Now verse

16. Indeed, we have all received grace. Upon

grace from his fullness. Because of Jesus, we

have received grace. We talked about this the

first time. We've received grace upon grace upon

grace upon grace upon grace. It just goes like

that. That's you and me. Jesus is the greater

joy. So at the wedding in Cana, Jesus gives us

this first sign. He says, my hour has not yet

come. His first sign is pointing to a greater

joy that comes when Jesus goes to the cross and

becomes death and his burial for us and his resurrection

all happen. His death, burial, and resurrection.

He says, that's what I'm coming for and that's

what will bring greater joy in you. My hour has

not yet come. And then at the Last Supper, just

before Jesus goes to the cross, he's with his

disciples. And I think this is so cool. He took

the bread and the wine. And we're going to explain

something different here today. But he took the

bread and the wine. And he has it there with

his disciples. And he has this to say. As they,

Matthew 26, verse 26 through 28 says this. As

Matthew 26:26–28

they were, Jesus took the bread, blessed it,

and broke it, and gave it to his disciples. He

says, take ye, this is my body. Then he took

the cup, the cup of wine, greater joy. He says,

this cup. And after giving thanks, he gave it

to them and said, drink from it, all of you,

for this is my blood of the covenant. which is

poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus says, what I offer is the greater joy.

His body and his blood is poured out for you

that you might experience a greater joy. If you

are not yet a follower of Jesus, to you I want

to encourage you. This morning to put your trust

into Jesus. What Jesus did for you when he hung

on that cross, he paid for your sin. When he

rose on the third day, he proves that his new

life is found in him. Putting your faith in Jesus

means he is your savior and he's your Lord. And

if that's you and you're just sitting there,

man, I've never done that. Right today, when

we go into our time of response, let me just

encourage you to pray a simple prayer. Just talk

to God. Say, Father, I'm here. I admit that I'm

a sinner. I believe that when Christ died on

the cross, that it counted for me. And I confess

Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. When the

Bible says what you believe in your heart and

you confess with your mouth, you're saved. For

those of us who have a relationship with Jesus,

what is it that Jesus is asking of you? See,

what is he asking of you? We went through some

of those questions earlier. Maybe there's conviction

of your sin in your life. Every one of us in

this room struggles with sin, don't we? Are you

pushing it away like it doesn't exist? If that

sin is in front of you and you see it, the Bible

says repent. Turn from that. And Jesus is saying

to you, don't play around with it anymore. Then

I encourage you right where you sit today to

say, okay, here it is, Lord. I give it back to

you. I lay it down at your feet. Maybe it's time

for you to... Get off the edges. Whatever you're

doing. Maybe it's time for you to get baptized.

Maybe it's, what is it that Jesus is saying to

you? Do whatever he says. Like Mary says, do

whatever he says. Why? Because real joy is in

Jesus. Real joy. We're going to take a respond.

The band, you can come up here now. But take

this time of response. You guys have a moment.

In the next, we're going to do three songs. You

have a moment in your busy day just to pause

for a minute. You and Jesus have a conversation.

Take a time in this. Take a minute here just

to have that moment. And surrender to Jesus.

And then we're going to celebrate communion.

I want to talk about this really briefly. We're

doing it different. And I really apologize. Easter

Sunday, we ran out of communion. So we decided

this is a good reason to change it up. In the

back, there will be a cup like this somewhere.

And there's bread that has been broken. And so

when you go up, if you are following Jesus and

you're participating, you take one of these and

you dunk it in, and that's where you go. No little

cups anymore. We're going back to the old way

Radiant used to do it before COVID. And part

of this is that... It makes it simpler for us.

But I just wanted to be clear on that. But when

you celebrate communion, you're celebrating the

greater joy that you have in Jesus. So if you're

a follower of Jesus, you get to take communion.

You get to celebrate that greater joy of what

Christ did for you. And then as we respond, as

we take our time to respond to the Lord, like

we give our tithes and our offerings to Jesus,

not to this church, but back to him. And then

we sing. We sing with our voices loud. To a Jesus

who has greater joy for you. Let me pray for

us and then we'll do that. Lord Jesus, we come

before you. It's a real simple but really important

message that we understand that everything we

have comes from you. That you are the greater

joy. That we don't have to chase after the things

of this world to find our satisfaction or joy.

But that you provide that. So we run to you with

everything. I pray for those in this room that

are wrestling with whether or not they fully

surrender to you, Jesus. I pray today, right

where they sit, that they will surrender their

lives to you. For those that know that God has

been speaking to them, Jesus, you've been speaking

to them and they can hear it in their soul. They

will do what you say.