Sermon
Jesus: The Ultimate Wedding Guest | Come and See
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Well, hey, lemme start this morning by just saying thank you guys for all the texts, for all the messages. I seem to be making it through the plague from the last couple of weeks, and it is good to be back this week and a big old shout out to Chip last week for bringing the word on our behalf this week. Look, if you got a copy of scripture this morning after a little brief sick week last week, join me back in John chapter two. John chapter two is where we're gonna be this week as we track with the Apostle John in this series where quite frankly, we're just walking with him as he shows us who Jesus is and as he shows us a glimpse into his character and his love, and his mercy and his grace, and how Jesus wants us just to walk with him.
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Now, here's what I wanna say about today's message. We're gonna walk through one of the coolest miracles in all the Bible. Actually, John chapter two is the start. The start of that chapter is The Wedding Miracle, where Jesus, his first miracle, where he steps in and he makes wine out of water. And it's more than just an event, okay? It is a cool event, but it's more than an event because it gives us a glimpse, once again into Jesus's character and into who Jesus is. Now, lemme say this as you're finding in John chapter two, weddings are big deals. Can I get an amen? They are big deals. In fact, just by show of hands, how many of you in the last couple of years have either had a wedding where you have been a part of it, or you got married or you've had to do a wedding for somebody in your family?
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Any hands in the room? Anybody? All right. So there's a, a lot of 'em. Listen, as a pastor, I've been a part of a lot of weddings, and when I say a lot, I don't even know how many at this point, one personally, but a lot as a pastor. You know what I'm saying there, right? I've been a part of a lot of weddings, and here's what I know about weddings. There's always, I don't care who you are, there's always a maximum level of stress. There's always a maximum level of personality. There's always things that come out in people that you have never seen before in a wedding. There's always opinions, there's always pressure, and there's always a to-do list, a mile long, amen. You know what I'm feeling in this? And listen, the, the same was true during Jesus' Day. The same was true about those kind of things.
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But on the other side, weddings looked a little bit different during Jesus' day. In fact, most of them were arranged. In other words, your parents got together and made a good decision for you. All right? They were arranged. They had a betrothal process as part of the wedding. In other words, there was a year long process that you stepped into the wedding, all right? And also, on top of that, the couple would go to the synagogue at the beginning of this petal process, and they would make their vows at the synagogue, and then the lady would go home to her family. The guy would go back to his family and begin to build their home onto the family's compound. All right? That's just how it worked. And then when the time was right, when the house was built, when the preparations was made, when the money was saved, then and only then the groom, the guy would get his guys together.
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They would go off in this little merry party and go all the way to the lady's house, grab her up in a good way, of course, grab her up and bring her back to his home for the wedding. All the while, while he was gone to get his, his bride, the parents of that groom would be making the rest of the preparations, going through the list, making sure everything was right, making sure all was well in the place, all in a culture. That hospitality meant everything. Now, for our culture, being in the south, hospitality is a deal. We kinda lost it a little bit along the way. That's a whole nother message, right? But in their day, hospitality meant everything. And not to be a good host or not to be a hospitable person and show somebody all of what's expected was a very big disrespectful moment.
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And you would never live it down. So, in other words, their weddings looked a little bit the same, but they looked a lot different because the pressure of a wedding was a lot higher than it is today. So in today's text, what we're doing is we're jumping into a wedding celebration that actually had a really big problem, had a really big problem, but one of the people on the guest list is Jesus. And like Jesus does, so often, Jesus is there to save the day. So here's what I want you to see. Today is way more than just an event. It really points to who Jesus is. And what John wants us to know is the more we understand Jesus, the more we understand that he wants to step into our emergency wedding need. He wants to step into our issues. He wants to step into our problems.
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And the more we know Jesus, John says, the more we will allow him to do that. Alright? Man, I'm incredibly excited about this text because it's really not taught that much in the church. Why? 'cause it gets a little dicey talking about wine, right? In the church, right? But it has some amazing, amazing truths. Alright? Now, John chapter one, lemme remind you, since we had to skip last week, Jesus has been declared God, he's been declared that. And because he is God, everything else can make sense. All other powers can make sense, right? So Jesus has been declared God. He's also been called the Word, the Lamb of God, creator, Messiah, light, King of Israel, one and only, and Son of man. All of that is in chapter one. In other words, he's so much more than a good teacher. He's so much more because he's come to earth as God.
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All right? Chapter one has showed us all of that, and it showed us him calling these first five disciples, the first five guys around him. And at the end of chapter one, Jesus refers to himself as the Son of man, alright? The Son of man. Now, to us, that's a little bit confusing because we're like Son of man, I thought he was the son of Mary, right? No, he is, but he's also the Son of man. Now, to them, they knew exactly what this meant because of the prophecy in Daniel chapter seven that said that the Son of man would come and he would come in power and he would come as eternal God of the universe that walked the earth. So when Jesus refers to himself as the Son of man, which it happens 83 times in the Gospels, I might add, it's his favorite term for himself.
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Nobody else ever calls him that when he refers to himself as the Son of man. What Jesus is doing is he's planting a pole in the ground saying that I am the one that you have been waiting on for all times, for all places. I'm God. So when Jesus closes chapter one, and he refers himself as the Son of man, he claims to be all that He had all that they had been waiting on. This whole chapter one is this Christological chapter that describes Jesus. But then we get to chapter two that not only describes Jesus, it shows us who Jesus is. Alright? So chapter two is this wedding celebration. Now, when we enter into chapter two, we're already a few days into the wedding. These things could last up to seven days. I don't, I've been a part of some weddings that I felt like lasted seven days, but these literally could last up to seven days.
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And the grooms biggest fear in this moment is about to happen. All right? So let's look at the text, John chapter two, starting in verse one. Here's what it says, John two, one, it says this. It says on the third day. Now pause right there. 'cause I don't know how many times I've ever read this, and I just have skipped over that. But how cool is that? That Jesus is showing up at this wedding on the third day? On the third day? You get that this chapter is showing us the third day. Jesus say, Matt, that's taking it a little far. I don't think so because in verse 19, because chapter is gonna end with Jesus proclaiming that he is going to rise on the third day. How cool is that? Another proclamation. This is not just a man, this is the Savior of the universe is entering in the scene.
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'cause We serve a third day resurrected Savior. Watch this verse one. On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there and Jesus and his disciples had also don't miss this little point here, 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? I love, that's the second question that Jesus asked, right? First one was the disciple was like, what do you want? Now he's like, woman, what about me? Why me? Right? Jesus replied, watch what He says, my hour has not yet come. Now, so much have been made out of these verses. Why? Really? Because there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of endearment in this conversation with mother Mary, right? I mean, after all, she is the lady that's on everybody's like statue on their, on their mantle, right?
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I mean, not much is made of it. It doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of love coming back from Jesus here, right? But really and truly, this is just an Aramaic way of saying, my lady or in the South, it would be, ma'am, right? Nodle Ew, it is not my mother. There's not there. There really isn't like a whole endearment of love, but don't think of it as derogatory. Think of it as somewhere in between, right? It's not really disrespect. But then Jesus, after she says, Hey, they're outta wine, Jesus pretty much looks at her and he's like, well, what does that have to do with me? Right? I mean, what does that have to do with me? It's like me being at your house one day and you're like, Hey, we're outta a diet Coke. I'm like, I don't care. What? What does that have to do with me?
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Right? Get some water, right? Jesus looks at it and says, what does that have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. Now, if you're a New Testament person, you've read the Gospels a lot, you know that my hour has not yet come, is a phrase that Jesus uses often, really speaking of the fact that the time for him to go to the cross has not yet come. In other words, the time for him to be resurrected and glorified has not yet come. And he uses that right here pointing towards the cross. But Mary asks Jesus to help. Now, we don't know if this possibly could have been of distant family member 'cause it's the next little village over from them. We don't know if Mary was in some kind of host role or their close friends, right? But Mary did not want this family to be humiliated in this moment and literally cut off from society.
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Say, man, that's going too far. No, no, no. That's really how the Middle Eastern culture worked during this time. If you did not adequately host me, if I came to your home for an event, in other words, a couple days I'm there for this event, did you know the law actually said that I could sue you for that? For not being hosted? Well, so I'm not talking about you didn't have my favorite drink available. I'm talking about I could actually take you to court. You could actually be thrown out of society for not living up to this responsibility. And I love how Mary comes to Jesus and says, Hey, they, these people just need help. They're about to have to call the celebration off. The groom is about to be humiliated and they need help. But Jesus is there and Jesus doesn't like directly just jump onto the scene.
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No, he has a little bit of a comeback to Mary, doesn't he? But then at some point, Jesus had to have a, have a conversation with the Father. Now, I'm not talking about Joseph. He had already passed away at this point. I'm talking about the Father God. 'cause At some point, the Father had made a message, had given Jesus a message that, yes, you need to act while your time has not yet come for the cross. Your time is now here to show these people. Here it is who you are. 'cause That's what the miracle's about. And that's what Jesus does, right? I mean, after all, Jesus has just been baptized. Jesus has just been verified by the Father and the Spirit at the baptism. Jesus has just called these disciples that are now following him. And now it's time for Jesus to show these people, not just tell these people, show these people who he is.
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So then the rest of the story, watch this. I love this. Watch what Mary does. Verse five, his mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. Now, I don't know about you, but that's where the star in your Bible, that's worth an underline. That's worth an arrow. That's where the doodle off to the side. Why? Because write this down. This is the biggest principle that I wanna give you this morning. Here it is. Write down the primary indicator of a true follower of Jesus is simply to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. That's it. Church. Listen, this message from Mary right here, this has to be the most profound thing that ever came out of this lady's mouth. And this lady had the baby Jesus. I mean for gonna say she grew up with Jesus. But now she is teaching us the foundation of all theology, of all Christianity, of all walking with Jesus and all knowing how to serve him as his disciple.
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And that is primarily that we are called to just do what Jesus tells us to do. This one phrase could make so much of complicated life. So simple, right? Why? 'cause Mary is teaching us right here that it's not about my preference. It's not about my feeling. It's not about me weighing in with my opinion as a believer in Jesus Christ. I am primarily number one first and for all called to just do what Jesus tells me to do. Listen, that's Christianity 101. Christianity 101 is not knowledge. It's not attendance. It's not how I deal with everything else. It is doing what Jesus tells me to do. Well, Matt, what's God's will for my life? I don't know. Just do what Jesus tells you to do. Matt, how do I know Jesus? How do I follow Jesus? Just do what Jesus tells you to do.
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Matt, how do I walk with Jesus? How do I experience Jesus' power? It all works. Just do what Jesus tells you to do. Matt, how do I know what Jesus tells me to do? It's in the book. That's why we talk about Jesus so much because this is the foundation. Let me ask you a question this morning. Is your primary mentality of a believer and follower of Jesus here, Jesus, I'm just gonna do what you tell me to do. Or, or, or. Or do you always have a comeback? Or do you always have an opinion? Mary's like, Hey, hey, hey servants. Listen, listen, listen, listen. Just do what he tells you to do. Just do. Man, I love this in Mary because you gotta think. You gotta think. You gotta think. Man, think about the anticipation in Mary's mind right here. Jesus is like 30 years old at this point, right?
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This the timeline, right? It's been 30 years, 30 years since Jesus has been born. It's been 30 years in Mary's life, right? Since the, since the angels came to her. It's been 30 years since the shepherds came, right? It's been 30 years since the birth. It's been 30 or, well, 28 years since the Magi, right? At this point, she's been living this mundane life with Jesus other than the fact that he didn't sin, which a childhood of no sin that would be really cool, amen. Out there. But now she's like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. It's time for these people to know what I know and what I know. The secret to life is to do what Jesus tells me to do. She had heard about his baptism. She'd heard about the confirmation moment of the Father speaking over him. She had knows now that his followers are following him.
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And now she wants other people to know that this is not her kid. This is God. This is God. Man, I love that. Do what he tells you to do. All right you can go to sleep. As long as you get that, we're good. All right? Look at verse six. Here it is. Some of you're already there. Here it is. I can see you here. It's verse six says, nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by Jews for ceremonial or purification, washing each holding from 20 to 30 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. So they did. So verse nine, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
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He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn it knew. He called the bridegroom over to the side and he said, listen, everybody brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink, but you, oh, I love this next line. But you have saved the best till now. Man, man, man, that's good. We're gonna get back to that. But I want you to see some commentary from John here. Look at verse 11. It says this, 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, I love that of the 39 miracles, John only covers seven of the miracles of Jesus prior to the resurrection. So again, you can see John's rationale here is not a tell all of what Jesus did, because Jesus probably did something every day according to chapter 21, that could have been written in this book.
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But what John does is way better because he gives us a snapshot through these seven signs, these seven miracles, that point to a who and point to Jesus. And they not only point to a who, but they point to what he wants to do in you. So it points to a who, and it points to a what he wants to do in you. So this is what I wanna do this morning. I wanna break this down. This whole text down into six things about Jesus. Six things. Jesus teaches us six things. Jesus encourages us when, and six things which in turn show us what Jesus wants to do in us. So write these down. Here's the first one. Number one, Jesus steps in, oh, I love this for the text. Jesus steps in when it seems like nothing else can help. That's what Jesus does.
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That's how Jesus operates. Right? Or you could say it like this, looking at the text that Jesus steps up when the party is about to end. Jesus steps up when the ceremonies or the religiosity right, had left them empty. Now, don't miss this. A couple things about what this means. I don't want you to miss the fact that Jesus is actually at the party. Okay? He's at the party. You say Matt why, why does that make a difference? It makes a big difference. Why? Because Jesus wasn't some hermit, alright? He wasn't some hermit off living in a cave isolated away from people who had no friends, who was never at anything. No. You can't read the book, the Gospel of Luke without seeing that Jesus is either going to a party at a party or coming home from a party. It's who Jesus was, right?
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It's how he operated. Jesus liked people, and people listen to this people liked Jesus. They wanted him around. They invited him. He didn't walk around with a scroll yelling at people standing at the top of the steps at the college that you're gonna turn or burn. That was not Jesus. If there was a party, he was on the invite lift. And when Jesus shows up to this party, when he shows up to this event, what's about to happen? This party is about to die. This joyful new celebration of new life together and new fellowship and wedding together is about to die. It's about to go from joyful new beginnings to party ending irresponsibility on behalf of the groom's family. That's what we're seeing right here. So what does Jesus do? He looks around and he sees these six stone water pots that are used to hold water, but not just any water.
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They were used to hold water. So when you invited someone into your home, invited someone into your complex that you could help them go through the Jewish rites of cleansing their hands, of washing their feet, of going through the rituals, the purification rituals. That's what these pots were about. They gave a symbol of cleanliness, but they were really just dirty water. So we have a scene, right, that the joy is almost gone. And Jesus says, listen, that's where I often do my best work. Are you seeing this? Jesus often steps into situations where it seems, but all is but lost. But yet now Jesus is invited in. That's what we're seeing in the scene, right? This is a claim of Jesus saying, Hey, listen, this is supposed to be a joyous moment, but it's never joyous until I step into the scene. Let me ask you something this morning, just based on that. Man, what hopeless situation are you walking through in your life right now that you just need to invite Jesus into?
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What hopeless situation in your life are you walking through right now where it seems like you've tried everything else? You thought you had everything laid out, it didn't go according to plan, but now you have nowhere to turn except for Jesus. But listen, Jesus steps in when it seems like nothing else can help. That's where he does some of his best work. But not only that, watch what Jesus does. He looks over at these water jars and then write this down. Number two, Jesus starts his work often with the very little that we have to offer. That's how he works with the very little listen, no matter how insignificant it seems, you see Jesus can and he will use whatever it is that we bring to him. Listen though, as long as it's our best, that's how he works. And many, many, many, many times, Jesus is just waiting on us to move, just waiting on us, his children, to take that step of faith.
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In this miracle of verse six tells us what tells us. It's just six common stone water pods. Everybody had 'em. You see, Jesus wants to start with the part of us that we all have. He wants to start with the part of us that he has created, that he has given. Do you know what that means? That means that Jesus has given you something to offer to him. Now, for some of you, he has blessed you with means beyond means. Beyond means. And what he's asking of you is your best. For some of you, man, you're in a rough spot. You're in a rough situation, whether it's financially help, socially, whatever. But what he's offered asking of you is your best. Jesus starts his work often with the very little or with the best that we can offer. Have you ever noticed that it's really not in the times of success that we grow in our faith the most? Have you ever noticed that? That's really when God steps in the most. You see success a lot of times can drive us away to make us think that we have it all, that we're more gifted, that we're better than that. In the church world, we would say I'm blessed, right? But what is the story showing us? It's showing us that when this party started to tank is when Jesus could step in. You know what I realized this week? That if this party was a success, then Jesus was just another guest.
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If there was no need for a miracle, we would've not seen the Messiah. Church, that's our lives in a lot of ways. It's in the brokenness that Jesus steps in. Listen, if they would not have been broken, Jesus would not have needed to change anything. So let me ask you this morning, is there a spot in your life where you just need to say, here is all I have, Jesus. Use it. He can use you in your success, and he can use you in your struggles as long as we offer it to him. In fact, write this down about that. Number three, Jesus asks for our obedience even when it doesn't make sense. Even when it doesn't make sense. If you follow the story, the servants are the ones that are asked to fill up the pots, right? That's what, that's what Jesus asked us to do.
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Now, we're not told that anybody else knows what's going on here. In fact, this is a private miracle. I mean, this is, the first miracle was it was private. It was for Mary. It was for the disciples, and it was for the servants. The master of the ceremony doesn't know. The people don't know. They don't know what's going on yet. They will later, but not right now. The disci–, the servants, and the disciples were being shown this lesson of obedience. Why? Because that is what he's teaching in this passage at this point. We've just heard the titles of Jesus. And now it's kind of been seared into their soul that it's only through being obedient with Jesus, will Jesus begin to move and do miracles and make us into who we should be. In fact, look at what Jesus does in verse seven. Jesus says this, Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water.
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So they filled them to the brim. To the brim. Jesus just said, Hey, go. Go fill those things up completely. And what did they do? These service, they didn't ask any questions. They didn't have a comeback. They didn't go like Jesus. What does it matter? There's a cup of water there. What? Why do we need more water? Everybody's feet have already been washed. They're already here. What does it matter? No, they obeyed. They not only obeyed, but they recklessly obeyed. I never really paid attention to the language here where it said, so they filled them to the brim. The brim. You know what that stands for in the Bible? They filled them up so much. You could not put any more in them. The service didn't do the miracle. They don't even have all the info. They don't have a full understanding of what Jesus is gonna do right here.
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But you know what they did that we should do? They just trusted. They just trusted. They just believed. They just obeyed. And what did they do? In a sense, they just stepped out in faith and did what Mary told them and what Jesus told them to do. Man, I'm just, let me just ask you this morning, is that what your relationship with Jesus looks like? Is that what your walk with Jesus looks like? Do you obey even when it doesn't make sense? When God says, Hey, you need to do this. Man, can I tell you some of the craziest things that God has ever asked me to do or God has ever asked me to offer up have been some of the hugest blessings that he has given after the fact. 'cause He's like, Hey, do you trust me? 'cause I'm God. That's faith. That's faith.
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And that's what Jesus wants to do. He wants to take us and use us. In fact, write this down. Number four, Jesus adds his extra to our ordinary to make the extraordinary. And now I wish that was mine. It's not all right. I read it this week. I need to say that out loud. Okay? But that's what Jesus does. That's what Jesus does in the story. And that's what Jesus does for us, right? That's how he does it. Jesus can pause the natural order or he can create something outta nothing. It makes no difference to him. But that's what he does. And you know what he can do? He can take the ordinary water right here in this pot, and he can make it into joyful celebration wine. Now, notice this. I've never really paid attention to the fact that it says that they filled it to the brim.
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But you know what I read this week? Man, I love this. I, I just, I say kinda had to sit in this for a minute this week. It means that Jesus didn't add anything to the water. Jesus, watch what he did. He changed the nature of the water. He changed the absolute molecular structure of what was in that pot. What did he do? He took the ordinary dirty foot, washing water, and he made it extraordinary. Jesus radically changed the nature of the water. And you know what he can do? He can radically change your nature as well. That's the point. No matter how broken, no matter how dirty, no matter what your past is, no matter what your water jar looks like, Jesus, when we offer him the ordinary, he can make it extraordinary. He can make it absolutely His. In the Bible world, we call that transformation where Jesus wants to transform us. Say Matt, you're taking that too far. It's a water pot we're talking about here. Okay? Did you know that you're made up of 60 to 70% water?
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That's what Jesus is saying. Jesus is looking at me, and he is looking at you, and he is saying, Matt, you're the average water pot. But if you'll step out and if you'll just do what I tell you to do, Matt, I can make you extraordinary. I can transform you into something you never thought you could be. I will transform. This is what Jesus offers us. You into something that you've been created to be not just good, right? That's what we saw in the text. It's beyond good and not just beyond good. This is what Jesus wants to do. Lasting, in fact, talking about lasting. Write this down and we'll talk about it. Number five, Jesus meets not only our immediate needs, but Jesus. He gives abundantly. He gives abundantly. You say, Matt, how? How in the world would you see that in, in this water to wine text?
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Okay, watch this. Watch, watch, watch this. Oh, I stumbled upon this this week. Watch this. Think back to the pots for a minute with me. Okay? Verse six, right? Lemme read it to you again. It says this. Now, there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each holding 20 or 30 gallons. All right? Now, get in your minds. Get in your minds with me. All right? Look up here at me. All right. We got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. We got six of 'em. All right. Let's say they're, let's say they're 30 gallons each. All right? Let's say they're 30 gallons each. Now, now, now hold on with me. Oh, this is good. Watch this. There's six of them. If my math is right, I want you to see what Jesus did right here. Alright? I want you to see what he did. Six of them at 30 gallons. All right. What is that? That's 180 gallons of wine. Now, that's a lot of wine, all right? I don't care what college town you're in, that is a lot of wine. Okay? Right there. Okay? Now let's think of it in, in another terms, that's 900 bottles of wine. Had to look that up this week, but it's 900 bottles. Let's go even one more time down from there. That's 4,500 glasses of wine right here in a town that might have had 30 people.
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Woohoo. Whoa. Good party. Now, a couple things. Couple things on that. Couple things. Jesus didn't just bless them for that moment. This is gonna last. Does that make sense? Do you know why? 'cause Jesus doesn't just want to bless us today. He wants to give us abundantly. Man, think about this young family. They are gone. They have gone now from brokenness and being thrown out of society to now be in the house. Amen? I mean, they are the ones. Think about this young family, what Jesus has now done for them. He has set them up with a clean drinking source, with a story to tell, with celebration wine, with plenty to tell, with so much of a story of we had nothing, but we offered what we had, and that man named Jesus has now given us life. Listen, church, that's what he wants to do in you.
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That's what he wants to do in me. That's what Jesus will do, and we let him work. He doesn't just meet our needs, he gives it to us abundantly. Jesus doesn't just wanna rescue you and barely gets you outta shame. He wants to bless you. He wants to give you abundantly. He wants to reach in and give you more than you ever thought you could have. This is John 10, right? Verse nine, where Jesus said, Hey, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and go in and out and find pasture. Now, find pasture means nothing to us, but it means abundance to them. It means grandiose to them. It means life to them. Watch what he says. Verse 10. It's the thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus says, I have come that they may have life and what and have it abundantly. Man, I'm so tired of defeated Christians.
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(33:16):
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Not only just defeated Christians, defeated Christians that have just given up and are not giving back to him and not offering up to Jesus and not letting Jesus work in their life and not inviting Jesus to the party, and then being all whiny about how terrible their life is where Jesus is going. All I'm asking is you offer yourselves to me and give me life. That's what he wants to do. But the question is, will we let him? Listen, Church, he wants to give you life, hope and joy, but the question is, will we remember that first word we talked about when we started reading? Will we invite Jesus to the party? That's the question. Or will we continually just try to do this thing on our own? Not only will we invite him to the party, will we recklessly just obey Him? Even in the stuff that doesn't make sense, say, I don't know.
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(34:11):
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This is what he's asked of me. Because when we do, look at John two, nine again, look at these last words. When we invite him to the party, what happens? These last words go to the very last words, but you have saved the best until now. Number six, write this down. Jesus promises the best is never experienced until he shows up, and that's my favorite part of this whole story, is they thought they had it all together. They thought they had everything planned. They thought they had all the stuff. Wasn't until Jesus showed up till the best was able to come. Let me ask you this, as we close this message today, and have you invited Jesus to the party? Has there been a moment in your life where you've invited Jesus to be your savior, where you've given him your life and where you've said, Jesus, forgive me. Be mine. If not, here's the good news about this. The reason that John gave us this book and told us this story, is so that we could hear this message about Jesus and that we could turn our lives to him and just give him who you are.