Summary of sermon by Erlo Stegen, 8 February 2015
John 2:1-11
1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
We spoke on this text last week, but there’s more.
The Jewish weddings would last a whole week. Many people came to the wedding to rejoice with them.
It also wasn’t like in the West where they send many wedding invitations, but all who can come are welcome. Yes there were special invitations for VIP, but in general all were welcome.
Jesus, together with His disciples were invited to this wedding at Cana in Galilee, close to Capernaum. Cana wasn’t known for anything special, it was quite insignificant. Jesus chose this insignificant place for His first miracle.
Jesus was also different to John the Baptist, in that He did attend feasts and ate and drank what was there. John the Baptist was in the wilderness and ate locusts and wild honey.
Mary thought she would honour Him by asking His help when the wine ran out, remembering how He was born. It’s agreed generally by commentators that Mary didn’t know that He would change the water into wine. But she did know that He was the Messiah and her Saviour and that no problem was too difficult for Him.
And how true it is that the one who has a problem can go to Jesus for help! Run to the Lord Jesus. He will help you.
But the answer of Jesus was itself a problem. Even the commentators have difficulty in explaining what Jesus meant. What we do know is that Jesus didn’t do anything without His Father.
We do know that children are to honour their father and mother, and those who don’t honour their parents are not serving God no matter if they claim to do.
Mary’s interference came between Jesus and His Father and He won’t allow it. No one should come between you and God, not even a parent. Jesus said if you love father or mother more than Him you cannot be His disciple (Matt 10:37). But Mary simply refused to take offence and told the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them.
These days the pope made the statement that it’s ok for parents to give their children a hiding. The whole world was horrified, but there are children who have gone astray because parents refused to use the rod (Prov 13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13, 14; 29:15).
Remember Jesus has His own time. He works sovereignly. If He doesn’t answer your prayer the way you think, allow Him to work in His own way (Is 55:9).
These jars in our passage, were jars used for purification. The Zulus have a similar way to wash hands before they eat, where they bring you a towel and bowl to wash your hands.
So too when you want to go to the Lord Jesus in prayer first come to Him for cleansing. Maybe that’s why your prayers aren’t answered, because there’s unconfessed sin in your life (Matt 5:24).
Jesus told them to fill these jars to the brim and take it to the master of ceremonies. The master of ceremonies immediately called the bridegroom and asked him why he had kept the best wine for last.
Do you see how wonderful it is when you come to the Lord Jesus with your problems? The last becomes better than the first.
Even your marriage becomes better every day and your children are transformed so that others would see Jesus had changed that family. Even parents will marvel at the change in their child when Jesus comes into that child’s life.
After this His disciples believed in Him the Bible says. But the wine of this world changes decent people into pigs and causes those who had believed to stop believing.
As we related last week, when Mr Dube got converted the change was so dramatic that his neighbours came and asked what magic potion we have that have changed him so much. We told them we didn’t use any magic potion, but we have the Lord Jesus.