Chemistry 101- John 2:1-11

Thank you, worship team, and good morning. Thank

you so much for being here. We are excited you

are here. If this is your first time here, I

just want to introduce myself to you. My name

is Daniel. I'm the lead pastor at Cornerstone,

and we're really glad you're here. At this time,

kids are dismissed. Junior high and high school,

you guys are dismissed to head back to your class.

And if you are not in one of those age ranges,

then I want to ask you to turn with me in your

Bibles to John chapter 2. to the book of John

John 2 · chapter mention John 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. We're really excited you're here.

We believe it's no accident that you're here,

and this week we are starting our new summer

sermon series looking at the seven signs of John.

But before you get there, as you're turning your

Bibles to John 2, I just want to bring up two

or three things real quick from your bulletin.

First, we've got a members meeting this evening

at 6 30 with some snacks beforehand. It's six,

so come to that if you're a member. May 21st,

there's a women's ministry dinner at 6 30. They're

going to Baxter's. Men, this is new as of 20

minutes ago. Men, we are going to go to Hickory

River Wednesday night. Kids are also welcome

to come with us to Hickory River. So we'll have

a men's ministry dinner at Hickory River at 630.

Women's ministry dinner at 630 at Baxter's. So

keep that in mind. And also, June 1st, there

is the dessert auction. We're raising money for

student ministry for camp and other parts of

student ministry. I've been asked a couple times,

is there a sign -up sheet? Do I need to tell

you what I'm bringing? No. Just bring a dessert.

bring something, come have a good time. We're

raising money for a great cause, so come and

join us June 1st. Let me open us with a word

of prayer. God, thank you so much for today,

and God, we just thank you so much for what took

place in John 2, 1 through 11, God. God, thank

you for showing us who Jesus is, God, for showing

us Jesus's power, for showing us his great provision.

God, we're just thankful for that. And so this

morning, God, as we come to you and come to your

throne, God, I just ask that you would quiet

our spirits, God. God, I ask that you would remove

any distraction from us, God, and that you would

help us just to focus entirely on you, God. Lord,

thank you for bringing us here today. God, thank

you for bringing us together. And God, I just

ask that you would move, that you would strengthen

our souls, God, that you would encourage us to

draw closer and closer to you, God. I ask this

in your name. Amen. So like I mentioned, we're

starting this new sermon series looking at the

seven signs in the gospel of John. So I just

kind of want to take a quick minute just to talk

a little bit about why John does this, because

there's a reason that John does this. It's not

just pure coincidence or accident that John does

this. See, John has seven signs he records throughout

the gospel of John with a very clear purpose.

Each one of these seven signs shows us another

part of who Jesus is. Each one of the signs is

going to show us something else about Jesus,

something else that we need to understand about

who Jesus is. And that matters because John writes

his gospel with the explicit goal of making clear

that Jesus is the Son of God. If you hear nothing

else about the gospel of John today, hear that

if you read the gospel of John, you will come

away from understanding that Jesus is the Son

of God, that Jesus is fully God and fully man.

In fact, that's exactly what we see in John 1,

1 through 14. is this beautiful passage that

John writes talking through how Jesus is both

God and Jesus is man. And so John shows us these

seven signs to show us different parts of what

we need to know about Jesus. John loves the number

seven, I'm convinced, because also throughout

the gospel of John, John records seven I am statements.

There's seven statements that Jesus makes where

he says, I am this, I am this. For instance,

I am the vine, I am the good shepherd. And John

loves that number seven. But this summer, we're

looking at these seven signs, seven things that

Jesus does that we need to understand that teach

us more about who Jesus is. And so this morning,

our main point kind of summarizes what that is

we're going to learn about Jesus today. Here's

what it is. It's Jesus has authority and power,

and miracles show this. Jesus has authority and

power, and miracles show this. You know, so often

we read John 2, 1 through 11, when we see the

miracle that's going to take place, we get so

caught up by what happens that we almost miss

the greater meaning of it. But unfortunately,

the truth is that John 2, 1 through 11 is not

just about a wedding. That's a little spoiler

alert. John 2, 1 through 11 is really about who

Jesus is. It's really about what Jesus has done

for us and what Jesus continues to do for us.

It's about how Jesus has authority and how Jesus

has power. And so as we start our series looking

through these, I just want to give us a very

quick word of context about where we are in the

gospel of John. So John 1, 1 through 14, like

I mentioned, tells us in a very poetic way who

Jesus is. It tells us what the gospel of John

is going to talk about, about why it matters,

and then how we should respond to it. And then

John 1 begins to switch its focus a little bit,

starts to tell the story of Jesus. It explains

to us Jesus's life. And it starts by switching

its focus to John the Baptist, who's going around

testifying about who Jesus is. That John the

Baptist recognizes Jesus is Lord, and he does

so, in fact, actually in front of two of his

disciples. One named Andrew, and then one is

John, who would later go on to write the Gospel

of John. Now, interestingly enough, John does

not talk about himself by name in his Gospel.

He instead prefers to use other titles, such

as the other disciple, or my personal favorite,

the disciple whom Jesus loved. Which is a beautiful

thing, but also makes me laugh a little bit inside.

And he doesn't use his name actually on purpose.

It comes from a place of humility, but it also

shows that John is an eyewitness of what he writes.

So when we see something like the events of John

2, 1 through 11, when we read something that

seems too good to be true, we can actually have

confidence. We can have confidence because we

know this to be true, because John who writes

this was actually there. John who writes this

was physically present for this event. And so

Jesus talks in John 1 to Andrew and to John.

He calls them to be disciples. Andrew goes and

tells his brother, who later is renamed as Peter.

And then Jesus also calls Philip and Nathaniel

to be his disciples. And that's where chapter

1 ends. And then chapter 2 picks up with something

else. It's only recorded in the Gospel of John.

There's something so beautiful, I think, so helpful

for us as we consider who is Jesus about the

events of John 2. So look at John 2, verses 1

John 2:1

and 2 with me. It says this, 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. So a few

days later, at some point during the week, there's

a wedding. Now, we read this. It says the wedding's

on the third day. That's on a Tuesday. And if

you're like me, you're thinking, who gets married

on a Tuesday? That makes no sense at all. Why

would you get married on a Tuesday? I remember

when Hope and I were choosing out dates for our

wedding, and we're going between Friday, Saturday,

Sunday. And we're like, what's easiest for people

to make it to? Tuesday never crossed our mind.

We never thought, well, you know what we'll do?

We'll go get married on Tuesday. But in Jewish

culture, that was actually a very normal thing.

It was normal for brides who were virgins to

get married on the third day, that's Tuesday,

and then for widows who were getting remarried

to get married on the fourth or the fifth day.

So it's also important, though, to understand

just how different a Jewish wedding at this time

was. When Hope and I got married, our ceremony

started at 5 after being delayed by 30 minutes

by our DJ, and then it ended at 10. And by 10,

when I say it ended, I mean we were gone. Everything

was gone, everything was cleaned up, everyone

was gone. They were home, they were back at their

hotels. But in Jesus' day, wedding feasts were

decadent. They could last for up to a week, depending

on how wealthy the couple getting married was.

These were large crowd events with drinking and

eating and singing and praising God and giving

to the poor and more. In the traditional Jewish

wedding, we could summarize like this, it was

different than what our modern weddings are today.

See, so often we read this, oh, they were at

a wedding, we think, well, they were at the ceremony.

But in reality, the ceremony was a very intimate,

close, family -only event. So maybe he's at the

ceremony, maybe he's not. But this is really

taking place at the reception. They're invited

to this wedding reception in Cana of Galilee.

And Cana is about 11 miles southwest of the Sea

of Galilee. Now Jesus spends a lot of his ministry

by the Sea of Galilee. Some of his most famous

miracles happen in this area. And here he is

with his disciples in Galilee just before the

wedding. Now let me be clear on something. We

don't know whose wedding this is. If you're like

me, you would love to know whose wedding this

is. And you're probably curious, well, why does

it matter so much that Jesus is at this wedding?

And why does Mary care so much about this wedding?

Whose wedding is it? But the purpose of this

passage isn't really to think about who is getting

married and who had Jesus on their guest list,

but instead the purpose is to show us something

about Jesus. Remember, the purpose of a miracle

is simple, and here the purpose of this miracle

is to show us that Jesus has authority and power,

not just that Jesus has family and friends who

got married. Before we get to the actual sign

that we go through, let me just take note of

something and really highlight something that

we need to understand from this passage. John

records that Jesus goes to this wedding with

his disciples, including John. This matters because

John was actually an eyewitness of what happened.

So how do we have confidence that this happened

when we read something that sounds honestly pretty

wild? We have confidence because John witnessed

these events. John actually saw this miracle

take place. And if you're like me and you ever

took Chemistry 101, you know that we don't typically

talk about water becoming wine. There's a missing

ingredient there. Something's got to come and

change water to wine. And so when we read this,

if we don't know where John is, if we don't know

that anyone actually saw this, we can begin to

be tempted to think, did this really happen?

But because we know that John is there, we can

have confidence knowing that this truly happened.

It gives validity to what we're about to read

in John 2, 3 through 11. So John 2, 3 through

5 sets the scene for what's about to happen,

for what this sign is about to be. So read this

with me. It says, When the wine ran out, Jesus'

mother told him, They don't have any wine. What

is this concerning of yours to do with me, woman?

Jesus asked. My hour has not yet come. Do whatever

he tells you, his mother told the servants. So

as the party goes on, the wine runs out here

at this wedding, and Jesus' mom, Mary, comes

to him and says, hey Jesus, I need you to fix

this for me. And we don't know exactly why she

does this. In all likelihood, as best as commentators

can tell, this is probably some sort of a family

wedding, and Mary was worried they would bring

dishonor on their family by running out of wine.

In other words, she was worried they would look

bad. And we know from Luke chapter 2 that Jesus'

Luke 2 · chapter mention

family is not wealthy to begin with. We see that

the sacrifices they offer when they dedicate

Jesus are the sacrifices given for a poor person

to offer. They don't have a lot of money. They

probably didn't get enough food or wine, honestly,

for the wedding feast. And so Mary comes to Jesus

and she comes to him and says, listen, they don't

have any wine left. Let me make this clear on

something. Mary is expecting Jesus to do something

here. I honestly don't... think Mary knows what

she's expecting, but she's expecting Jesus to

do something. Whether that's going and buying

more wine, whether that's finding more wine somewhere

else, whether that's making a deal with somebody

to get some wine, somehow Mary is expecting Jesus

to come up with some wine. When we read that,

we're kind of like, man, that really stinks for

the party. Like, out of wine, out of fun, that's

a bummer. But really, Mary is saying something

like this. Listen, Jesus, I'm your mom. I'm telling

you what to do. Do this for me. Mothers, you

might have done that sometimes to your children.

Parents in general, you might have done that

to your children. Listen, I'm your parent, so

obey me. Just do this for me. That's kind of

what she's doing here. But here's the thing.

Jesus didn't do miracles just to make people

happy. He didn't do a miracle to make his mother

happy because Jesus wasn't a performer. Jesus

is the Son of God. Jesus did miracles to bring

glory to God and to bring people to repentance.

And so Jesus responds to Mary, and when we read

it in English, it sounds really weird because

if I said this to my mother, my mother would

never speak to me again. And I'm really not making

that up, especially the part where he calls his

mother woman. But in reality, what we need to

understand is that Jesus's response is really

a cultural idiom of sorts. It's an idiom inside

of Aramaic, and then he actually is addressing

his mother in a respectful way. Jesus is essentially

saying this, ma 'am, I'm an adult now. I'm not

under your authority, and so you need to treat

me as another adult. So it's not about him being

rude or not being rude. Instead, the emphasis

is on how Jesus gets to make the call about what

is going to happen, that Jesus gets to make the

decision, is there going to be more wine here

or not? No longer can his mom say something like,

Jesus, do what I tell you to do because I told

you so. And then Jesus says this, my hour has

not yet come. When he says that, Jesus is making

clear that he works on God's timing, not on Mary's

timing. To say this another way, this interaction

back and forth is really significant because

it shows that Jesus has his own authority. That

Jesus is authoritative, and of course he is,

because Jesus is fully God. As we read last week

in Matthew 28, 18, Jesus has all authority in

heaven and on earth. That Jesus has all authority,

all types of authority. But notice what Jesus

doesn't do here, even as he has all authority.

Jesus doesn't say, no, he's going to do something

here, but he's going to do it for a reason other

than just making his mother happy. He's going

to do it because of how it's going to bring some

people to faith. See, so often when we read John

2, 1 through 11, we think the key verse is really

like verse 8 where the miracle happens, or the

key verse is here in verse 4. But really, the

key verse of John 2, 1 through 11 is verse 11.

And just to skip ahead real quick, verse 11 ends

with this, he being Jesus revealed his glory

and his disciples believed in him. That is the

purpose of this miracle. He's doing this miracle

because he's going to bring people to faith.

And so Mary in this moment, I don't know if she's

fully grasping what Jesus is talking about, you

know, we don't have the non -verbals here, but

she looks at the servants and says, listen, whatever

Jesus tells you to do, just go ahead and do it.

Just obey Jesus, whatever he says, get it done.

And so then we pick up in John 2, 6 through 8.

It says this, now six stone water jars have been

set there for Jewish purification. That was a

part of the wedding ceremony. And each contained

20 or 30 gallons, that's between 160 and 250

pounds of water. It says, fill the jars with

water, Jesus told them. So they filled them to

the brim. And then he said to them, now draw

some out and take it to the head waiter. And

they did. So John tells us some more details

setting the scene here. There's these six stone

water jars set up for purification, which is

part of the wedding feast. Understand purification,

which is something we see in Leviticus 12 and

13, had to do with sin and people showing their

desire for spiritual renewal or for their desire

to have a closer walk with God. So part of the

wedding ceremony was about renewal and saying

as a couple, we need more of God. We want to

walk in obedience to God. We need to follow God.

And further, this step called the mikvah was

a reminder of Israel's constant need for a savior.

It was a reminder that the Israelites needed

something greater. Is it any coincidence that

Jesus, the one and the true Savior, uses these

jars that reminded this entire wedding of their

need for a Savior to do his first miracle? Absolutely

not. Absolutely not. In fact, the writer of Hebrews

actually uses very similar language in Hebrews

1, 3, ending this verse saying this, after making

purification for sins, Jesus sat down at the

right hand of the majesty on high. There's that

word again, purification, kind of linking what

happens in John 2. all the way to what Jesus

does for us. See, Jesus came to earth to make

purification. Jesus came to earth to save us,

to make it so we no longer needed some ritualistic

form of purification. And John tells us that

each of these jars could hold 20 to 30 gallons

of water. Let me be abundantly clear on something.

These things are absolutely huge. A gallon of

water is 8 .3 pounds. So these jars are about

250 pounds, just with the water weight. And then

you add in the additional weight of a stone jar,

a dense stone jar. These are absolutely massive.

I don't know about you guys, but typically when

I read this passage, I've read it and kind of

pictured in my head these servants going and

filling up like a pitcher, like we have a potluck,

and they bring it to Jesus. I'm like, okay, Jesus,

we did what you asked us to do. And in reality,

they're taking these massive jars and thinking,

this takes time, this is a lot of work. They're

moving hundreds of thousands of pounds of water.

But notice, they obey. They do whatever Jesus

tells them, because Jesus, once again, clearly

holds all authority. Jesus is in charge, and

Jesus is the one calling the shots here. So once

they're filled to the brim, Jesus gives these

waiters their next instruction. They take some

of the water out and take it to the head waiter.

Now, I don't know about you. Personally, if I

was them, I'd be a little confused. Jesus, I

just filled up this massive jar with water. It

is only water. This is a purification jar, Jesus.

This has never been used for anything other than

holding water. There's no way this is anything

but water, Jesus. So I will obey because you

have authority. I've been told to obey you, but

nothing has happened. Nothing's changed. You

didn't put anything in these, Jesus. what are

you expecting this to be, Jesus? Like, they ask

for wine, not more water. That doesn't make sense

to me. But nonetheless, they do it. And they

do it, why? Because Jesus has authority. See,

we see Jesus' authority throughout his ministry

as a whole, honestly. We saw just a few weeks

ago in Matthew 7, 28, and 29, through his teaching.

We see it through his miracles. We see it through

so many different things that he does. But here

is yet another example of Jesus' authority. that

he speaks and people obey. And yes, they're servants,

let's be clear. But they've also just been told

to bring water to their boss, and their boss

asked for wine. I don't know about you, I would

hesitate on that. But let's see what happens

in verses 9 and 10 with the head waiter. We read

this. When the head waiter tasted the water after

it had become wine, he did not know where it

came from, though the servants who had drawn

the water knew. So he called the groom and he

told him, everyone sets out the fine wine first,

then after the people are drunk, the inferior.

But you, you have kept the fine wine until now.

So the head waiter, this is the guy in charge

of the entire event, the day of coordinator,

to use modern terms, takes this water and he

starts to drink it. But it's not water anymore,

it's wine. Jesus has changed this from water

into wine. And listen, I was not incredible at

chemistry, but I was pretty good at it. I passed

it really comfortably. And water has a very different

chemical structure than wine. Something has to

happen. Some change has to take place to go from

a barrel of water to a barrel of aged wine. There's

a missing ingredient there. And here's the missing

ingredient. The missing ingredient is the power

of God. Only the power of God can do that instantly,

to take a barrel of water and turn it into a

barrel of wine. And the head waiter is absolutely

stunned because he has no idea where this wine

comes from. The servants know, though. The servants

know. Imagine what their response must have been

like. The sheer surprise they're feeling as they

realize what Jesus just did. That Jesus just

took this barrel of water and turned it into

wine. That's not normal. Purification jars don't

just often spring up wine. In this moment of

surprise, the head waiter goes over to the groom

and he gives him a bit of a hard time, honestly.

See, we read this so often. It's like, oh, you

must be super rich because you saved the good

wine for last. He's actually kind of giving the

groom a hard time here. Why did you give out

the bad wine first, dude? That makes no sense.

Because by this point in the party, people are

no longer paying attention to the quality of

the wine, so cheaper wine is served later on.

And for this groom, he's thinking, wait a second,

I thought we already did serve the good wine.

What are you talking about? But once again, this

isn't really about the wine. This is all about

Jesus's power. Because Jesus's power is magnified

when he takes water and turns it into wine with

nothing else happening. It's not possible any

other way. It's a true physical impossibility

for water to immediately become wine with nothing

being added into it. I can't say that enough.

But I want to challenge that this miracle should

bring our mind to something more than just what

Jesus did here. See, in a way, this miracle should

remind us of something that takes place in the

Old Testament. See, in the Old Testament, there's

this link between blood and wine. Genesis chapter

Genesis 49 · chapter mention

49 talks about the spilled blood of a savior,

but how the savior's garments will be washed

in wine. Kind of another Old Testament reference

I think our mind should go to. In Exodus 7, we

see the first plague that God sends to Egypt.

God is bringing his people out of their bondage

to slavery, out of their bondage and slavery

to the Egyptian empire, to this evil ruler who

persecutes them and who keeps them from truly

worshiping and having a relationship with God.

And God sends ten plagues on Egypt before they

let the Israelites go. And the first plague is

that God takes the water of Egypt and turns it

into blood. God turns water into blood. God can

turn water into wine. And remember, there's this

Old Testament link between this wine and blood.

But it doesn't end there. Instead, think about

another thing with me. As Jesus is hanging on

the cross, as he's just about to give his life

for you and for me, what has he offered to drink?

He's offered wine. See, in a way, this miracle

is a small foreshadowing of Jesus' true mission,

that Jesus' mission and purpose was always to

redeem us and to save us from slavery to sin.

See, when we boil this miracle down to just being

about wine, we've missed so much of what's going

on. We miss out on the power of God. We miss

how Jesus is announcing who he is, and we miss

how Jesus is foreshadowing what he's on earth

to do. And what is Jesus on earth to do? Jesus

is on earth to save us. That just as Jesus can

turn water into wine, that Jesus' blood is going

to buy us back from sin. That Jesus' perfect

blood will be spilled for us. It will take our

place. It will take our punishment that we deserve

for sin. And it will save us. So as we look at

John 2, 1 -10, don't get caught up on the wine.

Instead, see the bigger picture. See Jesus' authority

and His power. See how Jesus foreshadows what's

going to come later. See how Jesus is pointing

us towards what's going to happen on the cross.

That Jesus is going to give his life. That his

garments are going to be covered in wine, so

to speak, to use Genesis 49 language. That his

blood is going to be shed for us so that we can

be saved, just as the Israelites were saved from

Egypt, but so much greater. Because we're not

just saved from some earthly ruler. we are saved

from an eternal punishment, an eternal separation

from God. And so with that in mind, let's look

at John 2, 11. It says this, Jesus did this,

the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He

revealed his glory, and his disciples believed

in him. Simply put, this is what John 2, 1 -10

was immediately and all about. This miracle,

as with all miracles, makes God's glory great

and reveals it to people. Jesus, understand,

did not change water into wine because his mother

asked him to. Jesus did it to reveal his glory.

And notice what happens when the disciples see

Jesus' glory. They believe. They see who Jesus

actually is. That Jesus isn't just another teacher.

Jesus isn't just another rabbi. Jesus is so much

more. And they believe. They recognize and believe

that Jesus is something more. This part. This

part is the key of the entire passage. Because

the miracle was never about the wedding party

having enough wine to drink. It was never about

Mary telling Jesus what to do. It was never about

the head waiter not understanding. This miracle

was always about showing Jesus his power and

glory. And I love even more about this is that

in miracles there's always an audience. And Jesus

does this miracle with a very specific audience

in mind. And that is his disciples. These disciples

that he's just called. They would see his glory

revealed, and they would believe. If you think

about it like this, when Jesus feeds the 5 ,000,

his audience is the 5 ,000 people who are there.

His audience isn't somebody over randomly in

Spain in that moment. His audience is the people

who see this. That's the same thing here in John

2. His audience is his disciples. They see his

glory, and they believe in him. And in addition

to that, In addition to showing who he was, showing

that Jesus was powerful, Jesus used this to start

putting a little bit of foreshadowing in front

of us, to start putting a little bit of foreshadowing

in front of his disciples, to show us that something

more was going to happen with Jesus. That something

more was going to happen. Because the purpose

of this was always about bringing glory to God.

I don't know if you're like me, but sometimes

on Instagram, random things show up in my feed.

My favorite are when it's like the back hills

churches in West Virginia that are like doing

like the snake talking and stuff or they're like,

you know, some dude who's like punching people

in the face like you're healed now. Like you're

not healed, you're just, you've got a sore face

now. So you don't think about your foot hurting.

But here's the issue. When people do this, when

people record this, they start trying to chase

after miracles and turn miracles into being about

them. Their power, their holiness, their goodness,

their authority. But miracles are never about

us. Miracles are always about God. Because miracles

shine a spotlight onto God. Once again, how can

water become wine? Only through the power of

God. Only through the power of God can water

become wine. And listen, that's going to bring

us to our time of application. If we can go ahead

and put the first slide up there. Jesus' miracles

call us to believe. Jesus' miracles call us to

believe. When we see who Jesus is, our first

response has to be faith. Our first response

has to be to do something differently. When we

see Jesus' authority in front of us, we have

to recognize that it's calling us to something

greater, something that's different than where

we were at beforehand. Otherwise, Jesus would

have just skipped over the miracle part, but

he didn't. So what do we do? How do we respond

to this? Well, see, as humans, we all live in

this state of brokenness. This place where we

are hurting, where we don't have enough wine

at the wedding. We don't have the money that

we think we want. We've got needs and cares and

concerns. Maybe we don't know exactly what's

going on in our life. Maybe things feel a little

bit out of control. And there's a reason for

all of that. And the reason for that is sin.

See, all the way back at the very beginning of

the Bible, Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan

and they listened, and in pride they disobeyed

God. And from that day on, every person ever

born has been born with a sin nature or a natural

proclivity to run after themselves rather than

running after God. And throughout the Old Testament

we see this system of sacrifices to remind the

people of Israel of how much they need God, of

how desperately they need God and they need to

walk with God. But it's never enough. It's never

enough. Think of somebody like David. David is

called a man after God's own heart. Even David

goes off and has his issues. David runs after

Bathsheba in pride. David goes off and counts

his fighting men to try to see how powerful he

truly is. And all throughout the Old Testament,

we're promised something greater. We're promised

a Savior going all the way back to Genesis 49.

That someone from the tribe of Judah will come

and his garments will be washed in wine or covered

in blood. And friends, that somebody is Jesus.

Jesus' miracles shine a spotlight onto Jesus

and who he truly is. That Jesus is where we need

to put our faith. See, Jesus came to earth and

he lived a perfect life. He never sinned. Sin

is anything that misses the perfect mark of God

and we do it all the time. All the time we sin.

The time that that person cuts you off in traffic

and gets super mad and says some stuff you probably

shouldn't say, that's sin. And if you're like

me, that happens pretty often on Neal Street.

Should I stop driving on Neal Street? Listen,

sin happens all over the place. That time you

get angry with your wife or your husband when

you shouldn't have. That lie you told when you

were a kid where you told your parents, oh, I

totally went and cleaned my room. And deep down

you know you did not clean your room. That lie

is a sin. And we sin constantly. But there is

hope. And there is hope because of Jesus who

never sinned like us. There is hope because Jesus

went to the cross. That Jesus lived this perfect

life and then gave it up on the cross. That he

was punished like a criminal. And while he was

on that cross, he took on the weight of all of

our sin, of all of our guilt. And Jesus died

on that cross. But Jesus did not stay dead. See,

Jesus dies on Friday, but on Sunday morning when

the women go to the tomb, there is no body anymore.

because Jesus has risen. And when he rises from

the dead, he does a couple things. First off,

he defeats sin and he defeats death. He makes

it so that we can be saved. So we no longer have

to live as slaves to sin, but now we've been

set free from sin. And so I want to challenge

you this morning, if you are here and your faith

is not in Jesus, put your faith in Jesus today.

Don't wait. Don't wait until next year or next

month. Don't say, well, listen, I just don't

think about this stuff because it just seems

kind of scary to me. Today, behold, Jesus is

who he is. Jesus, who can take water and turn

it into wine. And my favorite part from all the

commentaries I read this week is every single

one of them was a little surprised Jesus made

good wine. Because Jesus has all of the power

and all of the authority. And so just as Jesus

can make the best wine there, Jesus can turn

your life around. Jesus can take your hurt and

your pain and your suffering and be with you

in it. And no longer is it terrible, now you've

got hope. So let me challenge you today. When

I say that Jesus' miracles call us to believe,

first, believe. Do you believe? And if you don't

believe, today, put your faith in Jesus. Here's

the second sub -point under this. When we have

news this good, When we have news this good that

Jesus can do all this, that Jesus has authority

and that Jesus has power, we need to take this

with us. We need to take this with us to the

world around us. I don't mean do it in a weird

way where you just drop a track on somebody's

door and hopefully they listen to you. I mean

we take this with us every day when we go to

work, when we go to lunch here in a little bit.

We take this great news with us. We look for

opportunities to share this with the people around

us, that we invest in the people around us with

the goal of being able to share this great news.

that Jesus loves them, that Jesus has authority

and power, and that Jesus has set them free.

So let me challenge you. Who can you take this

to this week? Here's our second application point.

Jesus' miracles call us to deeper faith. Jesus'

miracles call us to deeper faith. Just as we

need to believe and take that with us, it also

calls us to deeper faith. You could summarize

it like this. We need to grow in our faith because

we can count on Jesus. What we see in the miracles

is that we can count on Jesus, that at all times

we can rely on Jesus and who Jesus says he is.

So I want to give us kind of two practical takeaways

from this. Two practical takeaways. First, this

should shape the way that we pray. How do we

go to God on a daily basis? Well, it should be

shaped in part by what we see here in John 2.

See, Mary goes to God with this expectation,

this idea that she could kind of call the shots

and tell Jesus, you're going to do this, now

you're going to do this, now you're going to

do this. That's not how we approach God. But

we do approach God in full confidence. I love

what John, the same guy who wrote the Gospel

of John, says in 1 John 5. He says this, this

is the confidence we have before him, before

God. If we ask anything according to his will,

he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever

we ask, we know that we have what we have asked

of him. So here's the difference. We go to God

in confidence, trusting that our prayers are

answered according to God's will. Jesus and Mary's

interaction in John 2 teaches us a lot about

how we go to God. We go to God in humility first,

but also in complete faith, knowing and trusting

that God will provide. So how does that help

us go deeper in our faith? Listen, we are reminded

that we are to bring our requests to God and

that we can have confidence as we do that. We're

reminded that we have confidence not because

of anything that we've done, but because of what

God has promised us. And that matters because

if you're like me, sometimes when you're going

through a difficult season, you get this temptation.

You start to think, if I just prayed a little

harder, if my prayers were just a little bit

better, if my prayers were just a little bit

more perfect, then God would do what I'm asking

God to do. But that's not the case at all. That's

not it. No, instead we go having total confidence.

Total confidence that if what we are asking fits

God's will, that God has already provided it.

We have total confidence because like we see

in John chapter 2, it's not a matter of whether

John 2 · chapter mention

or not we ask in the right way or whether we

say all the perfect things. Instead, it's a matter

of trusting God and having confidence in God.

So let me challenge you this week. I just asked

you, who's that person you can take the gospel

to? What if in addition to that, What if you

lift them up in prayer? What if you set a goal?

Every day this week I'm going to pray for that

person. And what if you prayed confidently for

that person? Saying, God, I trust you. And God,

I know you. And God, I want so and so to get

saved. God, I want them to walk with you. And

God, I want to just bring them to you and lay

them at your feet, God. God, would you move and

would you open doors so that I can go, so I can

confidently bring the best news of all time of

what Jesus did? Let me challenge you to pray

that in confidence, because God will open that

door. I promise you that God will open that door.

It may not be Tuesday, it may be next Tuesday,

but God will open that door. And so let me challenge

you, take that person you just thought of under

that last application point and bring them down

here, and let me challenge you to pray for them

this week. Pray for them in confidence. And secondly,

this passage challenges us to respond with praise.

This passage challenges us to respond with praise.

That's what we see out of the disciples, that

God revealed his glory in Jesus and that Jesus'

disciples believed in him. See, Jesus does this

sign for a specific reason, a specific audience,

and the disciples see Jesus' glory. And this

morning, we have seen Jesus' glory, seen how

Jesus, with all of his power, can take water

and turn it into wine, something none of us can

do. And so friends, let me challenge you. This

passage challenges us to praise God because of

the glory and the authority of God. This passage

challenges us to praise God because it shows

us who Jesus is. It shows us the power and the

authority that Jesus has, the love that Jesus

has. This passage shows that to us, and that's

something to give praise for. So how do we do

that? How do we do that? Let me challenge you

with this. One of the best ways to give praise

to God is to live differently. To live differently

in life. You know, I feel like we talk about

anxiety a lot, and that's because there's a lot

of anxiety in the world. But sometimes as we

move into a new season of the year, whether that's

summer or maybe, you know, just continue on at

work, but things are a little different at work

in the summer, sometimes it can bring up a little

bit of anxiety. There's new deadlines, there's

more deadlines, maybe there's fewer deadlines.

Sometimes they bring up some anxiety. let me

really challenge us that the way that we handle

our anxiety speaks to the faith that we have

in Jesus. The way that we handle those moments

where we're feeling overwhelmed speaks to the

confidence that we have or don't have in Jesus.

And see, John 2, 1 through 11 should be one of

those passages that reminds our souls that we

can count on Jesus. Because if Jesus can turn

water into wine, how much more can Jesus get

us through that meeting that we have that we

don't want to go to? Infinitely more. And so

friends, let me challenge you. Live differently.

Live with that confidence that comes because

of Jesus. It's not an empty confidence. It's

not a cockiness. But live with that confidence,

knowing that even as people around you maybe

are nervous about something, that you don't need

to be. That in a series of transitions or in

a season of change, that Jesus is with you. That

Jesus has already provided for you and that Jesus

is going to provide for you every single step

of the way. So let me challenge you with this.

John 2, 1 through 11 teaches us this. Jesus has

authority and power. And Jesus reveals his glory

as he turns water into wine. Let me challenge

you. How do you see God's glory on a daily basis?

Father, God, I just ask that you would be, God,

that you would just be with us today, God. God,

I just ask that you would be glorified, God.

God, I just ask that you would help us to see

your glory clearly on a daily basis. Lord, I

confess it is so easy for us to get busy with

life and with work, God, to keep our eyes off

of you, God, and to be filled with concern. But

God, I just ask that you would remind our hearts

this week. Remind our hearts this week of how

you are with us, how you have all authority,

and how we have confidence and can have confidence

in you because of that. God, we just thank you

so much for this example in John 2, 1 through

11. This very real event that took place where

Jesus turned water into wine, where his glory

was revealed, and where... his disciples put

their faith in him. Lord, I ask that you would

help us to go. You help us put our faith in you.

You give us confidence this week, God. Would

you move in the people around us and help them

put their faith in you? Would you reveal your

glory all around us, God? We ask this in your

name. Amen.