Talk 2: The Wedding at Cana

0:00 · Speaker 1 In John chapter 2 verse 1 to 11 it says, tells you, nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial 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. They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, the servants who had drawn the water knew. Sorry, drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink.

1:14 · Speaker 1 But you have saved the best till now. This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory and his disciples put their faith in him.

1:31 · Speaker 2 thanks man thank you max great job appreciate that i was listening to an interview on a podcast earlier on in the week called speak life maybe some of you have listened to it in the past between the host a guy called glenn scrivener again who some of you might have heard of and his guest ian hersey ali again some of you might know who she is. Her conversion to Christianity has been the talk of a number of news stories and interviews and debates over the last year or so because in the eyes of a watching world, she is the most unlikely of people to have chosen to make Jesus Lord and Savior of her life. She was brought up as a Muslim in Somalia. She ended up in a refugee center in the Netherlands when she was about 11 and she grew up there. She rejected that Muslim faith after the events of 9-11. And then over time, she became an author and an activist. She was a politician in Holland.

2:38 · Speaker 2 She moved to America. She went on to be a central figure then in the new atheist movement, along with people like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, who described her once as the most important public intellectual probably ever to come out of Africa. And so when she wrote an article entitled Why I Am Now a Christian last November, it was quite a shock to many. But at the heart of her story, a very human story, was that in the midst of a seemingly successful life, a decade-long struggle with depression and anxiety and self-loathing, which she eventually came to see as being centered on what she called her spiritual bankruptcy. Her spiritual bankruptcy. The short story, and you can find a longer one in a number of different places of this one, who is a new and learning Christian, is that she found the answer to that spiritual bankruptcy in the person of Jesus Christ and his invitation in the new life with him. Now, some people might be shocked at that story. Certainly, she was in a conversation with Richard Dawkins a few weeks ago, and he appeared shocked.

4:06 · Speaker 2 I am not at all, Because I am hearing and continue to hear story and story of the most unlikely anti-Christian, anti-God, anti-Jesus people encountering for the first time, not some sort of caricature of Jesus that has been built up in their minds, but the real, the beautiful, the deeply surprising Jesus found in these gospel accounts of Matthew and Mark and Luke and in this account that Max just read from his beloved disciple John. And in the encounter that Max has just read for us, we see at this wedding, Jesus revealing his glory and illustrating through this sign that he has, that he is the answer to the spiritual bankruptcy that is the reality for each and every one of us. So let's get in to the story. We find ourselves at a wedding, a wedding in Cana on the third day after Jesus has told Nathanael, if you were here last week, who was from Cana, that he would see greater things. It didn't take long for Nathanael to start seeing greater things and in his home village, no less. Let's picture seen. A Jewish wedding in Jesus' day was far removed from a Northern Ireland wedding in 2024 in a deeply connected small community where a marriage was strengthening family and community ties.

5:47 · Speaker 2 The wedding was not simply about the couple. It was about the whole community, about the whole village. Typically, it would have begun on a Wednesday evening. The bride and groom would have been paraded through the village streets with torches and a canopy over their heads. And this would have been followed by a feast, by a celebration party that would have lasted, imagine this, seven days. Seven days. I attend quite a few weddings. I struggle to get to the first dance.

6:24 · Speaker 2 Never mind seven days. But that's what happened in these first century Jewish weddings. Jesus and his disciples were guests at the wedding. I love just a little bit of the surprise in this. Jesus enjoyed seven-day parties with his friends. Some people would think that could never be the case. His mother, Mary, was also a guest. And reading between the lines, it's likely that the groom was a close friend or relative of Mary and Jesus.

6:51 · Speaker 2 given Mary's close involvement or key involvement in the catering arrangements that are taking place at the wedding. But this was a wedding that was in serious trouble summed up by Mary's statement to Jesus. They have no more wine. Now, in our context, if that happened in a wedding that I'm going to do later on in the summer, that probably wouldn't be much of a big deal. There might be wine on tables at the reception for the toast. There might not, depending on the context, but to run out of wine in this situation. Well, if we're trying to think of something akin to that in our context, it's more the equivalent of only having enough turkey and ham to feed half your guests and asking the rest of them to go out to McDonald's drive-thru and bring their food back. It's that sort of thing.

7:42 · Speaker 2 Can you imagine the shame of that? And in this honor and shame culture of first century Judea, this would bring not temporary shame, but long lasting shame, specifically on the groom whose responsibility it was to make sure that there was enough wine. There was a Jewish saying, where there is no wine, there is no joy. And it would have brought deep shame on the groom, on the couple, on their families. It would be what they would be remembered for in the village for the rest of time, the wedding that ran out of wine. And it's into this context of a wedding and trouble then that Jesus performs his first sign. John makes this clear in verse 11. What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of his signs through which he revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him.

8:43 · Speaker 2 And we'll come back to the significance of John calling it a sign. rather than a miracle in a while. But for now, let's just follow the story and see what Jesus says and does. First, there's this little intriguing conversation between him and his mother, Mary. She tells him they have no more wine. And there's no indication here, we can sometimes sort of read backwards, I think, but there's no indication here that Mary expected her son to do something miraculous to deal with the problem. Remember, this will be his first sign. She's no context for that.

9:17 · Speaker 2 it's far more likely that her husband Joseph has passed away, that she is a widow, that Jesus is her eldest son, and that he's the one that she turns to in times of trouble, in times of crisis, and she's doing that again because he's there at the wedding with her. But Jesus, we see from his responses, on a totally different page than Mary. He's thinking on a totally different plane. He is starting his ministry. He's gathering his disciples. He's beginning the process of revealing who he is, revealing his glory as the word made flesh, the light of the world, the son of God. And he knows where that revelation will culminate. It will culminate in his death on the cross and what he calls here his hour that is coming.

10:09 · Speaker 2 That's the plane of his thinking. That's what's in his mind. And so what he's saying in response to Mary here, whenever it's translated here as woman, why do you involve me? That's what's in his mind. What he's saying is that any choice to reveal something of his glory must be according to God's timetable. Not anyone else's, not even his mother's. Hence why he seems to gently rebuke her. Although the translation here might sound more harsh than it actually was, F.F.

10:46 · Speaker 2 Bruce, the theologian and writer, actually suggests the more affectionate Ulster phrase for this. Woman dear. Woman dear. As being a helpful translation of a gentle and affectionate rebuke. Plenty of sons do that to their mums. Woman dear, anything I do must be according to the father's timetable. not anyone else's. And it's unlikely, again, that Mary understands exactly what he's talking about.

11:18 · Speaker 2 But she knows Jesus. She knows her son. She trusts her son. And so she doesn't allow the fact that she can't see the whole picture to diminish her trust, her faith. And she makes this wonderfully simple yet wonderfully profound statement to the servants at the wedding, do whatever he tells you. do whatever he tells you and Jesus responds must become clear to him that this wedding was actually part of the father's timetable his first miraculous sign surprisingly because if you were the writer and you were making something up what would you choose first would you you know raising somebody from the dead perhaps that's not what happens here doesn't heal anybody either. He doesn't carry out some sort of very visible public sign of great power.

12:10 · Speaker 2 His first sign would be to quietly, and actually when you read the story, somewhat surreptitiously, save someone from shame and keep a party, keep a feast, keep the joy going. It's part of why John's account is so convincing. Who would make that up as the first sign? unless it was true. And it's so important that we do pay close attention to what Jesus did and how he did it. He could have simply made, let's be honest, he had the power, could have simply made lots of wine just appear in front of him. But that's not what he does.

12:54 · Speaker 2 He points out the six stone jars sitting nearby, jars that would have been used at the beginning of the feast for the religious ceremonial washing, jars that had long been forgotten about as the party develops. And he directs the servants there to fill them with water. They come back with these jars filled with a brim. And he tells them to draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet, the emcee of ceremonies. Can you imagine being one of those servants? I think Mary must have held some sway with them without doubt. But the MC tastes what Jesus has miraculously turned into wine. Very hard to believe if you don't believe in miracles.

13:39 · Speaker 2 Not hard to believe if you believe what John's already said, that Jesus is the word made flesh, the word who has created everything. And the MC congratulates the bridegroom. Remember, it was the bridegroom's responsibility. He congratulates the bridegroom for saving the best wine until now. and just think of the quantities talked about here, the abundance of the best wine, somewhere between 500 and 750 liters, or if you're somebody who's used to thinking about wine in terms of bottles, somewhere between 650 and 1,000 bottles, far, far, far more than would be necessary to keep the feast going. Jesus first sign rescuing a groom from deep shame keeping the feast going with an abundance of the best wine that's what he does and that brings us back to John's choice to very clearly and very specifically call what Jesus did a sign this was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him remember last week I mentioned the end of John's gospel John 20 where he talks about the purpose the why of his writing this account Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book but these are written that you may like the disciples

15:15 · Speaker 2 believe that Jesus is the Messiah the son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name these are pieces of evidence that John is holding up to you about the reality, about the truth of who Jesus is. And for John, the miracles he records in his account are signs. They are not simply raw displays of Jesus' supernatural power. That's not what he's about here. They are specific. They are significant in how they point beyond themselves to a deeper and a more profound reality of who Jesus is and what he came to achieve as the word made flesh. And so what we see with this sign is that Jesus has come to rescue people from lives where the wine has run out.

16:13 · Speaker 2 Remember that Jew saying, where there is no wine, there is no joy. Lives where joy has run dry. Lives like Ayaan, Hersey, Elise. Seemingly successful. Seemingly fulfilling on the outside, but on the inside, in our own words, anxious, empty, unendurable, nearly self-destructive.

16:53 · Speaker 2 spiritually bankrupt. Ayan came to terms with the same reality that many before her and many since will that we do not have the spiritual resource within ourselves to keep the wine, to keep the joy flowing. The reality is this, that our own sin our own evil, our own guilt, our own shame, our own brokenness, our own selfishness, our own hearts, but also the sin of others and the evil of others and the brokenness of others and the selfishness of others and the hearts of others. Some of these create tiny cracks in our joy containers. some of them create catastrophic ruptures and we are simply helpless to stop the joy leaking away we are helpless to stop the wine running out it happens in our relationships it runs out in our relationships

18:11 · Speaker 2 it runs out in our marriages it's not insignificant that this sign takes place at a wedding it runs out in friendships and relationships it runs out in academic or career success it runs out in the pleasure of material things like we talked about with Nathaniel's fig tree last week and so often what we're left with is the residual dry cynicism and disappointment and bitterness and sense of pointlessness and meaninglessness and this sign of Jesus providing an abundance of new wine in this situation where the wine has run out is his revealing himself as the only answer to the problem we all face as the one person who can bring us true abundant lasting joy as the one person who can bring us true fulfillment, who can give us wine that will not run out. And his choice of the religious ceremonial washing jars is deeply significant. That wasn't an unimportant part of this story. Because by using them, he's demonstrating that nothing we try to do externally is going to deal with our problem.

19:45 · Speaker 2 Not the fastidious religious observance of these Jews, that's the core point that he's making there, this water that can tidy up the outside but does nothing on the inside. But it goes further than that too. It's the same in our context with anything from the outside, Whether that's self-help or seeking external pleasures or changing our circumstances or reinventing ourselves in some way. Because none of this, none of it has any impact at the deepest level of our hearts where that sin and where that brokenness is. And by getting the servants to fill those specific water pots, Jesus opens our eyes to the truth that he has come to replace the poverty of all of that with his new wine. Come to replace water that tidies up on the outside with wine that genuinely transforms on the inside. He has come to perform a miracle in each and every one of us. A miracle of transformation and regeneration of our hearts.

21:04 · Speaker 2 A miracle brought about by what we've been singing about this morning, our reconciliation to God through Jesus, our coming, our peace with God through Jesus' sacrificial death and the pouring out of his love into our hearts through his Holy Spirit. The miracle that this sign points to is Jesus himself indwelling by his spirit those who invite him in and then his indwelling spirit working on the inside, cleansing, enlightening, empowering, encouraging, sustaining. working on our shame and our guilt and sustaining through all the struggles and sufferings and challenges and heartaches of life new wine that's what he's offering an abundant overflowing resource of Christ himself by his spirit that's what's on offer to all of us and that's what this sign points to and you might be sitting here this morning and like Ayaan Hirsi Ali you might recognize

22:34 · Speaker 2 as this is laid down in front of you that you're the same you are spiritually bankrupt you do not have the resource within yourself and I hope that you're asking and I pray that you're asking how do I receive this new wine well it's pretty simple I bring you back to Mary's simple but profound words to the servants in his story do whatever he tells you do whatever he tells you doing whatever Jesus tells you begins with, like Mary, trusting in him, saying yes to him, accepting his offer of grace. It begins with, in Jesus' words at the beginning of Mark's gospel, repenting and believing in him, admitting to him that you are spiritually bankrupt, admitting that you are too sinful, that you don't have the strength, you don't have the goodness to keep the joy going in life, admitting that you need him, and then asking him to come in. To be your savior, to be your rescuer, to be your king. And asking him to fill you with his spirit, with a new wine of him and relationship with him. This is all about relationship.

24:02 · Speaker 2 It's not about things to do and not to do. It's not about hoops to jump through. It's about relationship with the Son of God. But then those same words, do whatever he tells you are central. They're central to remaining in his love and remaining in his joy. And all of us need to contemplate that little phrase of Mary's today. Because the reality that we all know, of course, is that in our sinful nature, that remains in our broken bodies, we still end up getting it wrong. And we still end up looking for joy and fulfillment and satisfaction in the wrong places or the wrong people.

24:53 · Speaker 2 But by his spirit, Jesus has given us the resource in our hearts. That's his promise. The new wine to be able to obey him. And obedience to him. is not some drudgery. Obedience to him is a demonstration of our trust in his love. Later in John's gospel, Jesus will say to his disciples, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, listen to this, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.

25:42 · Speaker 2 That's what Jesus is about. Trust, obedience, joy in the spirit. They're all connected. The deepest joy in this life is found in and through spirit-impowered obedience to the word who created us and the word who saved us and the word who knows us so much more than we know ourselves as the story with Nathaniel made us realize last week. And the question then for us is are there areas of our lives today? Are there things in our lives that we need to right now hand back over to Jesus and ask him by his Holy Spirit by that new wine to help us obey, trusting that obedience leads to joy, trusting that obedience leads to life, and life in all its fullness.

26:45 · Speaker 2 As I close, let's come back to where this sign took place. Took place at a wedding. And that is deeply significant. We can't ignore that. And it's significant because it promises that there is far greater transformation, far greater renewal, far greater joy still yet to come. Because this wedding at Cana, as is the case with all weddings, it's a little image. It's a little, if you remember film cameras, a little negative. Do you remember this?

27:27 · Speaker 2 This will tell your age. A little negative, or if you can't remember those, a little thumbnail image. You see how I'm talking to all ages here. A little image of the ultimate wedding to come. The wedding feast of the Lamb, the wedding where Christ will be the bridegroom. And we, his church, will be the bride that he delights in. And we read about it in those famous words in Revelation 21 that I know I read often. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband.

28:10 · Speaker 2 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, look, God's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new. And I wonder, I've no way of answering this, but I wonder, was Jesus contemplating any of this at the wedding feast in Cana? as the feast that he kept going there continued.

29:05 · Speaker 2 The pastor and theologian Edmund Clowney wrote these words which I love. Jesus sat amidst all the joy at this wedding, sipping the coming sorrow, the sorrow of his hour to come of the cross so that today you and I can sit amongst all the world's sorrow, sipping the coming joy. Such a major part of us experiencing present joy is by the power of his spirit in us, us consistently and persistently reflecting on and enjoying and worshiping him for that coming joy, that future joy that is ours guaranteed by his resurrection. when our relationship with Jesus the bridegroom will return for his bride when our relationship with God will be fully restored when we receive all the joy our hearts can take and abundantly more than that and we're going to do that after I've prayed we're going to sing a song that focuses on that. We will feast in the house of Zion the promise that is ours. But before that let's pray together. Can I invite you to stand with me?

30:31 · Speaker 2 Let the band come back up. And again just to take a moment to reflect on this story, this sign and its significance and how God by his spirit might want to use his word in our lives very specifically today. Do you recognize in yourself that spiritual bankruptcy? Jesus gives you an invitation. He offers you new wine.

31:20 · Speaker 2 and the beginning of that is doing whatever he tells you and admitting your need of him and repenting and believing and trusting in him but these same words do whatever he tells you those words might resonate with you in a very specific way today because by his spirit Jesus is pointing out an area or areas of your life where your joy in him is being compromised by persistent disobedience. And he's saying to you, you need to listen to my voice over and above all of the others because I am the one that can be trusted and I am the one in whom there is genuine life and genuine joy. Perhaps there's something you need to hand over to him in that way today as his spirit prompts you. Like I said, feel free to go to our prayer room even during this closing song if you want somebody to pray with you. and for now let's pray Father very simply by your spirit

32:50 · Speaker 2 use your powerful and mighty word to speak into our lives and to speak into our hearts today we pray in the name of Jesus Amen Amen.