We invite you to turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, Chapter 2. The Gospel of John, Chapter 2, we'll be looking at the first 12 verses. And it's in these verses that we hear Jesus performing. demonstration of the glory that He possesses. And its intention, as we will see, I think is directed most forthrightly to the disciples. He had just called disciples in chapter 1. We'll go over some of that in the message. And in chapter 2, those disciples are going to have these witnesses of how great the glory of the Lord is. So let's read the first 12 verses, hear the word of God. On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding, and when they ran out of wine, The mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wife. Jesus said to her, Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever he says to you, do it. Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast. And they took it. 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, and said to him, Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when his guests have well drunk, then the inferior. But you have kept the good wine until now. this beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. After this, He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples, and they did not stay there many days. beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ. This morning we continue our study or survey of the Gospel of John and come to Chapter 2. In Chapter 1 we heard recounted the events that followed Jesus being recognized by John the Baptist. Remember how John says, when he sees Jesus coming, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John the Baptist was fulfilling his principal purpose. This was his principal task as the forerunner of the Christ, the way-preparer, if you will. And he did this by preaching a baptism of repentance. And the principal job that he had was to identify the Christ. In fact, He was told, He tells us, that the One on whom you see the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and alighting upon Him, that One is the Christ. And as Jesus came, and we know this is part of His being baptized, right, on a different account, the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove and rests upon Him. is the Christ. In fact, when He says, Behold, it's actually an imperative. Look there. Look right there. That's the one. You do, is the Greek word. And so He focuses His attention. He focuses the people's attention. And in the second part of chapter 1, His disciples are with Him. And He says, Look, that is the Christ. Behold, the Lamb of God. And so his two disciples, two of his disciples go and follow Jesus from then on. We learn that one of those two disciples was Andrew, the brother of Simon. And so it was that Andrew goes to Simon and says, we have found the Christ. We have found the Christ. We have found the Messiah. And he brings him to Jesus. And what does Jesus do? He gives him a new name. He says, You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas, which means stone. And I think that there is, I don't want to make it explicit here, but I think there is certainly the implicit realization that who has authority to name? Right? Adam, in the Garden of Eden, was brought all the animals, and he did what? He named them. So also do we see Jesus knowing the names, giving names to His apostles. Remember when Nathanael comes? This is Nathanael, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no God. How does he know that? Where does that come from? Those are all revelations of what God knows, or what the Lord Jesus knew. Before the end of the chapter, we're introduced to Philip as they go to Galilee, and Philip finds Nathanael, and then Nathanael comes and also follows Jesus. So what we will see in John chapter 2 is that Jesus turns water into wine. Why? He turns water into wine to reveal himself to his disciples. help them realize that they might grow in their faith and confidence that He is the Messiah. Remember what He said to Nathanael? You hear My words and you believe in Me. You'll see much greater things than these. You'll see the heavens ascending and descending from heaven. What are we seeing here? But a manifestation that Jesus demonstrates for His disciples why He came and what He was going to do. So we'll look first at Jesus reluctantly fulfills His mother's request. Jesus proficiently accomplishes this miracle. And then thirdly, Jesus intentionally reveals Himself to His disciples. First, the proximity question. The first verse of Chapter 2 begins on the third day. You read a phrase like that, and you wonder, well, what does it mean? On the third day. And I don't know that we have an absolute, for sure, answer, but we have three references in chapter 1 about the next day, the next day, and the next day. Well, the first time is when John sees Jesus. Behold the Lamb of God. The second, verse 35, Again, the next day, the day after that first day, John stood with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus, as He walked by, said, Behold the Lamb of God. And then down in verse 43, it's again, the following day, Jesus wanted to go to Galilee. So my surmise, and it may not be, but it makes the most sense to me, is that chapter 2 begins three days after this interaction that takes place with Nathanael. So now three days later, on the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. So now we're changing location, right? One of the commentators said that Cana is not mentioned in the Old Testament, which I thought was kind of interesting. As many of the cities are and have different names, but in this case, there is a wedding there that, and we're told that Jesus' mother was attending. And then the after statement of that is that, verse 2 of chapter 2, now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And so it seems likely, if you will, that this was a relative, a friend, Mary seems to have an investment in how things are going to go at this wedding, because when they run out of wine, what does Mary say? She says, Jesus, they ran out of wine. And that, of course, will result in a response. And eventually, He will give instructions for what is to take place. Jesus responds. And it's hard to know exactly how to take it. I mean, it's not a sharp review, so I think it is a mild correction. And the general thrust is this. Jesus is telling Mary, I'm not here to do Your will. My responsibilities, my time is coming. And I don't think it's necessarily a bad review, because when Jesus is on the cross, remember, Jesus is dying, and He says to John, And woman, here is your son. So he uses the same, and there, certainly loving connotation. And so I don't think it's necessarily, but I think it still does have a bit of, this isn't gonna be a common thing. This is not how it works, in other words. And yet Jesus, perhaps out of respect for his mother, honoring your father and your mother, was paid homage to her in what he says and what he does. Our second point is that Jesus proficiently accomplishes this miracle. In verse 6, actually we need to deal with verse 4 first, don't we? Jesus said to a woman, what does your concern have to do with me? And it's kind of a play on words, what do your concerns have to do with my concerns? And so he's just distinguishing himself and his work. And then he says, My hour has not yet come. My time of ministry is not yet come. And so there is this realization, this recognition, that as time passes, he is not here to do his mother's bidding. We mentioned this a little bit earlier. between Mary and Jesus and the wedding party, if you will. But it seems likely that there is a concern of family. It's not a direct concern, but it is a tangential concern of Mary and Jesus. And so he indicates that he is not yet beginning or just barely beginning his public ministry, I think is really where that goes. And then the last thing we hear is Mary says, and I thought one of the commentators said, well, she didn't say no, but he didn't say yes, but at any rate, his mother says, verse five, said to the servants, whatever he says to you, do it. And then, verse 6, kind of a narrator comment, Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, each containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Now, Jesus gives instructions, and He tells them to fill them with water, And I've commented before that one of my favorite parts of Scripture are narrative comments. We're learning information, and really this is just straight from the Holy Spirit, because it's details that we may or may not have known, except as information is included and revealed to the Apostle John in this case. Jesus tells him to fill them with water, and they promptly do so. And without drawing attention to, you know, no hocus pocus or anything like that, he simply says, take some of the water, dip off some of the water, and bring it to the emcee or the master of ceremonies, the person in charge. Well, they do this, and the water, we find out, is miraculously changed into wine. In fact, you read the Master of the Feast, and it's pretty clear that he's impressed. He says, most people bring out the good wine first, and then bring out the inferior wine later. But you have saved the good until now. By this we can be sure that the wine Jesus miraculously made hit a pretty high bar. And that was kind of what I'm trying to put. When I say proficiently, he changed the water to wine. He made a vintage from grapes from, well, in effect, what we're talking about is creation ex nihilo. He's making this out of nothing or transposing water to wine. I think it's parallel or similar to what he did at the feeding of the 4,000 and the feeding of the 5,000. He fed with fish, those that were hungry, with fish that most likely never swam in the ocean or the water. Remarkable. How much wine did he make? Well, let's just do a little bit of math. Six times 20 would be 120 gallons. Six times 30 would be 180 gallons, so somewhere between there is the amount of wine that Jesus made. In the remainder of our account here, we hear kind of the outcome, or I think the actual explanation for why Jesus did this miracle, fundamentally or foundationally. Look at verse 11. This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him. holding back the veil, as it were, of His humanity, and doing a miraculous sign or wonder, in this instant, He was principally focused upon His disciples. That they would grow confident and aware of what would be done. And again, what is verse 11? Another narrator comment. Editorial, if you will. Explaining. And in this, we have some pretty substantial statements, right? This beginning of signs Jesus did in Canaan of Galilee. For some 30 years, Jesus had remained pretty much in seclusion. No doubt, He was still traveling to the feast. He was still, most likely had worked with His Father and so on, as they say, as a carpenter, doing these things. And yet, this first sign that Jesus did is pretty clear. There are what's called pseudepigrapha. We talked a little bit about what about these writings that are outside the Bible. Well, there's different classes of books. There's some that are intentionally telling stories that are, in fact, fabricated. There are others that are written with an agenda trying to convince or win an argument by having this authority that has been given. Well, for instance, there's a story that Jesus made birds out of clay and then turned them into real birds. Nice story. Most likely not true. Certainly not part of the revealed Word of God. Because here we have this statement. This is the first sign, the first miracle, that Jesus did. And I think, in a simple reading of it, that means that Jesus hadn't done other signs and wonders before. Which does add an interesting insight that Mary had, that she could make this request of Jesus. Had she heard about the events of the last few days? Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, is unveiling this revelation that Jesus is the Christ, and the Zion, as a confirmation of what she had been told by the angel Gabriel, and the angels and the shepherds that sang at Jesus' birth, of how God protected them by leading them down to Egypt, and then back to the Promised Land, and up to Galilee, to live in a place that was safe in all this? Well, all this has the purpose of demonstrating that Jesus was the Christ. Other passages about Jesus' adolescence, pretty far and few between. In Luke chapter 2, there's the account where Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem after the Passover, and goes and sits in the temple and asks the questions of the masters and the teachers there. Remember, Joseph's family, or Jesus' family, head back for Galilee. And they're three days' journey. So today, tomorrow, and the next day, before they turn back to find Jesus. And there he is, sitting in the temple. And what does Jesus say? Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business? my father's things, and then we're told that he learns obedience. I mean, it's an interesting thing, how he is corrected and then he responds accordingly. And then Luke 2.52, one of the first verses I remember memorizing, teaching our kids, and Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and men. Well, that explains how Jesus grew and matured as a young man. Well, in the last part of verse 11, I guess mostly the middle part, I'll get it now, "...and manifested His glory." Demonstrated, showed who He really was. That He was the Christ. That He was the Anointed One. That He was the Messiah. And of course, kind of quoting from John chapter 9 and the blind man, no one could do the things that he did unless God was with him. In fact, all the miracles recorded in the Gospel of John are a record with purpose and intent. The purpose and intent of this sign and this wonder is principally for His disciples to see and know that He was the Christ, that He was the Messiah. In fact, all of these things are put to the service. Remember that verse? I'm not sure I'll get to it in every sermon that I preach from John, but John 20, verses 30 and 31. Why are these things written? That you might know what? Anybody? That Jesus is the Christ. That Jesus is the Son of God. And that believing in Him, you might have life. in His name. As with all Scripture, there should be for us kind of an awe and a wonder of what is taking place. The story, or this account, is part of the Bible's big story. In fact, there's a song in the hymnal, Tell Me the Story of Jesus. Tell me the story most precious that was ever told. Well, that story is the story of the Gospels. It's the story of Jesus' life, His birth, His ministry, His suffering, His death. It's all of those things. Tell me the story most precious. How Jesus, how they laid Him in the tomb. Indeed. And to what effect was this miracle in sign? direct hit. The last phrase in verse 11, And the disciples believed in Him. They believed that He was the Christ because He would do, He could do, and did do, signs and wonders in their presence. This was one of the signs that He would do. As we conclude, look at the last verse. Again, it's information, inspired information. After this, he went down to Capernaum, on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. He, his mother, his brothers, and his disciples. And they did not stay there many days. What do we learn? I think this indicates that Jesus' father, Joseph, most likely an older man, when he was born, had already passed. It's not explicit, and actually Joseph is referred to as Jesus' father within the context of the Gospel messages. So I don't think that he died long ago, but it is pretty likely that this listing, Mary, his mother, his brother, went down to Capernaum, and they did not stay there many days. In other words, we are being told that they went, and basically his father is out of the picture. So we conclude, one, Jesus' first miracle takes place at a wedding. And most wedding ceremonies that I've preached or used make mention of the fact that Jesus attends this wedding and is there approving of the institution of marriage. In fact, Jesus says this in Matthew 19. It's not good for man to be alone. It's not good for woman to be alone. And so a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. was first stated in Genesis 2, but Jesus repeats it. And I think that Jesus is asked about the divorce. And Jesus says, It was not so in the beginning, when God made them male and female. So in verses like that, what we really have is Jesus' view of the early chapters of Genesis. What does Jesus think of those passages? Are they a story? Are they poetic? No. They're reality. And He definitively says, And so it is that He reveals these things to our benefit. Secondly, the miracle Jesus performed was a real miracle. Remarkable. Will He do greater miracles? Surely. But in the end, a miracle is a miracle. Will He raise the dead? Will He give sight to the blind? Will He give speech to the dumb? Will He cast out the demons? Surely. But His first sign is here, turning water into wine. and he does that as a lesson to his disciples. The miracle, no, Jesus didn't just attend the wedding ceremony. I think there's something notable about that. What did he do? He sat and participated in the feast that followed. Ecclesiastes says there is a time to eat, drink, and be married. And celebrating the union of a husband and a wife is an occasion for joy, and gratitude, and thankfulness to the Lord. And it might be a stretch, but I think it fits here. Part of it says, Mary is a meaningful word. Psalm 104, verse 15 says, 15 God made the wine that gladdens the hearts of men. And I think at least there's a conclusion that the fermentation process wasn't a surprise to God in the design and the fabric of the world. Rather, it is a part of it. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 talks about there will be abominations in the last day or false teachers. And what do they teach? all that you shouldn't eat certain foods, and you shouldn't get married. And that's described as the man of sin, the way of rebellion. For God made all things to be received with thanksgiving. And I think that's a part of this as well. So our theme, Jesus turns water to wine to reveal himself and his glory to his disciples, that they might grow in their faith that Jesus is the Christ. But is that all? I think it clearly is that, because what it says, right? And they grew in their faith. They believed what Jesus did and said. But I think there's something more. It's not only for the disciples, right? But as we read and study these verses, what's happening to us, by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, a historic account of what Christ did can have the same effect on us. It's not the whole story, but certainly this part of the story is to be believed, is to be received. is to be understood as the means by which God conveys His will and His purposes to the Son of Man. The nature of special revelation is what? Well, it will respond, and we will respond in one of two ways. It will draw us, it will harden us, it will bear witness that this is true. The Holy Spirit will affirm this and confirm this in our hearts and minds. or it will repel us. I can't believe that. And both of those are the intended purpose of God's Holy Word. And so our response ought to be praise and glory to God, who has done all things well, as He has revealed these things to us. And so it is. A passage like this will strike our heart and our soul I think remarkably, intentionally. And I think, as this is just the beginning of our study of Jesus' signs and wonders in the Gospel of John, hopefully it whets our appetite. Well, if that was this, and this is for that, what's next? And so we continue our study in the weeks to come. Every passage, as described, connects to the preceding and the following. And I think as we read and study, we will want to hear and learn what God has revealed for us in the remainder of the Gospel of John. Amen. Father in Heaven, we are grateful to You for Your Word. We thank You for the events described in this chapter, in these verses. Lord, might it not just be a story that we might tuck away as a memory of what Jesus did, but that we might recognize that this is a part of the whole, which apart from this part would not be as full and as clear as it is. So we ask your blessing. We pray for the furtherance, the advancement of your grace in each of our hearts. Help us to see and to know and to discern, and let your word have its intended effect upon us. In Jesus' name, amen. At this time, we will receive what tithes and offerings you have brought for the continued ministry of Omaha Reform. You. I'm going to change to that song that I quoted, Tell Me the Story of Jesus, number 234. 234.