April 28, 2024
Morning Service

Joh 20:30-31 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; (31) but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

            I think it is important for us to remember that John is writing this letter to us with a purpose.  He is not trying to tell the entire story of Jesus’ ministry, he tells us there is much more to it, but he is hand picking events that will build our faith that Jesus is the Son of God.  As we enter into chapter two this morning, we will read of Jesus’ first public miracle which moved His ministry into action.  This is the first of seven John shares with us in his gospel.

 

 Joh 2:1-5 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  (2)  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  (3)  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  (4)  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."  (5)  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."

            First we see Jesus was invited to this wedding.  He knew this family and came to celebrate with them as an example for us.  It is good for us to enjoy life in moments like this as we are not called to always be serious and prayerful, but it is okay to have a good time.  Mary comes to Jesus and reveals to Him that this family, whom He knows, has run out of wine which would be a great embarrassment to them.  Jesus addresses His mother as “Woman,” which is in that time a title of respect, and reminds her that His “hour has not yet come.”  This is not the only time Jesus uses this phrase, there are four other places, which reveals to us He was on a schedule with a purpose in mind.  Mary commands the servants to do whatever He tells them to.  This makes my mind wonder what she has seen already to be able to make that command?  Jesus clearly does not take His orders from His mother, but because she made the request and He knows the consequences of running out of wine, His miracles begin with an act of compassion.

Joh 2:6-10 Now there were set there six water pots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  (7)  Jesus said to them, "Fill the water pots with water." And they filled them up to the brim.  (8)  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it.  (9)  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  (10)  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"

            Notice Jesus has the servants to fill the pots with water and they do “to the brim.”  He could have created the wine out of nothing but, as He often does, He lets the servants play a part in the miracle.  Their part was to act in obedience.  God sometime waits on us to make the first move before He acts.  He commands us in order to receive, we must first ask, to find, we must first seek, and to enter we must first knock.  He is looking for people to follow Him who will “diligently seek Him.”  We don’t perform miracles, but it is through our faith and obedience (doing not hearing only) that creates the opportunity for God to move.

  The transformation was instant and the wine was not just okay, it was the best of the night and there was at least a 120 gallons of it!  The common practice was to give the best wine first and then as the night goes bring out the lesser wine, but Jesus, as He often does, goes beyond the minimum and gives us much more than we even ask for.  Do you find this to be true?  This also is an image of this time period.  The Jewish nation was in period with very little joy or hope, drinking inferior wine, but now the Messiah was here and life would change for them as they begin to partake of the best wine.

What do we learn about God and about us through this miracle?  We find Jesus has compassion on us with the everyday issues life has (wedding planning) and will act to help us when asked.  He shows His power over the physical properties of this world as wine takes time to ferment, but this change was instant.  Finally, we see that God allows us to play a part in all that He does.  When He acts in this age of time, He will do it through us, His church.  We need to build our faith to be catalysts for God to move, believing and trusting as Mary was in this moment.  Fully trust Him to move in the manner that is best for us, not necessarily always in the way that we want.  Would Mary have less faith or would Jesus be less God if He chose not to change the water to wine?  Absolutely not!  But we have not, because we ask not but we must trust God to move according to His will not ours.

 

Joh 2:11-13 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  (12)  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.  (13)  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

            This event is important because it was the first and from here there is no turning back.  Notice Jesus did not call everyone at the wedding to witness the miracle, but only the few servants who would tell others about it setting a pattern that He follows never taking the attitude of “look at Me” drawing the attention of everyone.  He is seeking those, again, who will “diligently seek Him” in Spirit and Truth as “many are called but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14) John now tells of Jesus’ visit to the Temple during a Passover celebration.

 

Joh 2:13-25 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  (14)  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  (15)  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  (16)  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  (17)  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE HAS EATEN ME UP."  (18)  So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  (19)  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  (20)  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  (21)  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  (22)  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  (23)  Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  (24)  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, (25) and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

            As a devout Jew, practicing the Law of Moses, Jesus came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover which commemorated God bringing Israel out of bondage in Egypt.  John shows us here that Jesus began His ministry cleansing the Temple and ended it by doing that during the Passion Week.  As we said during that study, if you want to make the Shepherd mad, take advantage of His sheep.  Jesus had no compassion for those people who were in the Temple to make a profit taking advantage of these true worshippers.  They would charge high prices for animals to sacrifice and also cheat those from other countries as they exchanged their money for Temple currency.  Many like to paint Jesus as a weak, passive person but here He shows He is not as He, in righteous anger, chases these profiteers from the Temple area.  Notice how John sticks in this into verse 17 (read).  After the fact the Holy Spirit revealed to them (they remembered) how many of the things Jesus did lined up perfectly with prophecy.  Notice also in verse 23, John tells us “many believed in His Name when they saw the many signs that He did.”  We can assume then that Jesus perhaps did some healings, but John makes clear Jesus did not stand and pronounce Himself as Messiah to the crowd.

            Here now we see Jesus’ first encounter with the religious leaders as they ask Him for a sign, seeking some miracle from Him.  Jesus offers to them the prophecy that they will kill Him and in three days, He will rise from that grave.  Again He is not performing on demand, but only when the miracle can impact the ones He has chosen to believe and follow.

            What do we learn from this event?  It is necessary to be angry at times with righteous anger as Jesus displayed.  He saw something that was wrong and acted upon it.  The culture today encourages us as Jesus Followers to remain silent and keep our opinions to ourselves.  They claim that when we speak up against society changes, we are displaying hate and judgement towards them.  It is the total opposite in that it is in love, not hate, that we speak truth to them without judgement, but in bringing light into the darkness that is surrounding us.  If we see evil, we must identify it as such.  If we do not, who will?  We are to be bold to speak out, but always in a loving manner, shining the light of God’s truth into an evil world’s agenda.

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us and being a God who is close to us, not far away.  Help us to learn from these scriptures to seek and trust You in all things.