They Have No Wine

I invite you to turn this morning in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, the Gospel of John chapter 2, as we are making our way through this book, and this morning we come to the wedding at Cana, and we will read together the first 11 verses of John chapter 2. You'll find that on page 1129 if you're looking for that in your Bibles. Let's give our attention this morning to God's holy and inspired Word. On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine. And Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever He tells you. Now, there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water, now become wine, and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew, The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, Everyone serves the good wine first. And when the people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. This first of his signs Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. And there ends the reading of God's word. What a beautiful text in front of us this morning that most of you know so well. You're all saying, right now I've heard this preached a hundred times. What in the world is he going to tell me this morning that I don't know? Do you know this passage? Do you understand this passage? It's one of those that I always say the Gospel of John, everyone assumes, is so easy and simple, and it is. But there are layers to it, and the deeper you go with it, the more you see that this book is profound in its depth and profound in its help to us. But I want you to think a little bit about this question. Do you really understand this particular miracle of Jesus that is set right up front as he heads out into his earthly ministry? And I think the answer to that is found in the effect that this passage has on us. What is the consequence of this passage? Do we understand that? And what does it bring to us? What kind of effect does it have on us? I was struck again this week working through this, how easy it is to miss the basic point here. How easy it is to do that. What is the basic point? Well, Jesus turns water to wine. Clearly, a great meaning is intended for us. That's what we see so far in this and everything that John's gospel has been showing to us has been declaring to us that the new era has come. The time of the new creation has arrived. It is in full effect. Everything the Old Testament told us to look for has now come in the person and the work of Jesus, our Messiah, our King, the Son of God. That means that we have now entered a time of fulfillment. All the promises of the Old Testament, everything that looked forward and everything that the prophets, the law and the Psalms preached about, now has come as Jesus is standing in front of us, and that means we should expect something great. Don't you expect something wonderful? I think you should. What do you expect? What are you looking for? You say, well, I just don't feel much in my Christianity. What are you looking for? what do you expect the old testament saints had nothing compared to what you have in fulfillment oh they had many wonderful things as they looked forward but they all said wow we would love to be where you are seeing as you see and understanding as you understand even john the baptist didn't have that so so this is this is a big moment in the Gospel of John, and I want to challenge you with that today. I want to let this story build a little bit so that you can appreciate just what's happening here and understand what's happening here through the coming of Jesus in history and in time and in this place. As we open up the text, we read, on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The book into this is verse 11 that says this was the first of the signs that Jesus did to manifest his glory. Through chapter 12, this is called the book of signs. And we'll be looking at that emphasis if you're breaking down the book. Through John 1 through 12 is called the book of signs. The purpose of signs were always to signify some greater reality. And that means that this first sign of water to wine has a huge meaning for us that we need to grasp. Imagine the scenario just with me for a moment. It's a grand scenario. It's a fascinating scenario. It's a wedding day. The Son of God is attending your wedding. It's really just a chilling thought, isn't it? You know how highly charged weddings are. Everyone wants everything to go perfect. I like weddings, but they are a big challenge, I want you to know. Dads are absent for many reasons. Moms are tolerable, and wedding planners are ruthless. I don't get along with any of the wedding planners ever. There is one problem at this wedding, and it's a big problem. They've run out of wine. So many guests, places full, and there's no wine. there must have been a lot of wine there and a lot of guests the master will say in the middle of this look what are what has happened you guys brought out the bad stuff at the end this doesn't this doesn't or the good stuff excuse me at the end but here we are mary the mother of jesus obviously knows the uniqueness of her son They've run out of wine. They need good wine. Mary knows that her son is going to be called great. She knows and believes that he has the power to remedy this great problem. So she comes to him. She comes to him. Son, they've run out of wine. They have no wine. She's setting him up a little bit, isn't she? I know. I know that you can do this. She's a mom. She wants the greatness of her son to be seen. She had listened to the angel. She's a real mom. Jesus gives this perplexing answer in the middle of all of this that is somewhat surprising to us. Because of cultural difference, it feels somewhat cold and it really didn't come across that way to her, I promise. This was a standard address, but it was a serious question and something that really did press his own mom as to what is the meaning of what he just said. Woman, what does this have to do with me? The standard way of address. My hour has not yet come. Seeming to ignore it, it feels cold, but that's not his intention. Mary runs off to the servants and says, you do whatever he says, you do it. she knows he's going to act so sitting there are six large stone pots for washing remember the jews were fastidious to keep a large body of oral and written tradition about rites for purification they had made their own laws for purification later the mishnah and the talmud would have some 30 chapters on washings and and rinsing of pots and vessels and there would be a section even on hand washing that you know would come up in Jesus's ministry. It had nothing to do with germs. It had everything to do with ritual cleanliness, had everything to do from being kept from defilement by coming into contact with Gentiles. Jesus doesn't, John doesn't hold back the details in telling us that each of these big pots had 30 gallons of water. Those are massive pots, aren't they? Jesus walks up and Jesus says to them, make sure they're full to the brim. With just a word, a simple word, He commands them to draw out the water. And when they draw them out, the water out, wonderful wine is made automatically. The wine is then taken to the master of the feast, and the master of the feast tastes the wine, and he says, wow, I've never had wine like this. This is the best wine I've ever tasted. He is ecstatic. I preached this years ago, and a Dutchman walked up to me and said, I know he wasn't Dutch because he would have put out the bad wine first and hoped everyone would leave before he put out the good stuff and then save it for his second daughter's wedding. I didn't say that. I didn't say that. It's a bad passage to attempt, by the way, to show that Jesus was against alcohol. I have to say that in follow-up. This is not the master saying, this is really good grape juice. He's just not doing that, is he? That's not the culture. You don't know anything of the culture of fermentation either in that time period. The master fully realizes, right, that this conundrum that is here, he says it here. Notice what the master of the feast says when he says this. everyone serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then they bring out the two-buck chuck. That's what they do. This has a big meaning for us, a huge meaning for us. 120, think about this, gallons of water automatically turned into the best wine that anyone had ever tasted. Where is this from? Where does wine like this come from? This is the first of his signs that he did. Jesus did at Cana and Galilee and manifested his glory. What a moment in John's gospel to which you stand back and say, what does this mean? What is this about? I want to begin then with this thought that the prophets all throughout the Old Testament were eagerly waiting for this day of the abundance of new wine. This was not a foreign concept throughout the Old Testament. This day of the abundance of new wine. Jeremiah 31 in the day of the new covenant said, therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the Lord for wheat and new wine and oil for the young of the flock and the herd. Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden. Your souls shall be like that. In this day when the wine comes. And they shall sorrow no more at all. That's a remarkable statement. And those are the promises in the Old Testament that somewhat baffle us because they're just so glorious and just so wonderful. And what does it mean? What will this look like? What is this? On the mountain, there would be streaming goodness of the Lord in the new wine what does wine represent in the bible well clearly throughout the scriptures wine always was was given to represent at least when it spoke of it positively obviously it warned against drunkenness didn't i have to say that um but but but that's not what we're talking about here wine in the scriptures represent when it speaks positively of it of joy of happiness wine was equated with making us happy think of the psalm psalm 104 wine gladdens the heart wine was always equated with happiness and with with joy christianity was always meant to be a joyful religion christianity always had as its design that you would be a happy people a fulfilled people what's the problem in this text what's the problem well don't miss it there were six stone pots there for purification why were those there well because the scribes and the pharisees had made the whole system a system of their own righteousness before god a way of trying to please God. They had made their own way. And this stuff, Jesus ran up against all the time. Jesus fought against this all the time. Remember Matthew 15, when the scribes and the Pharisees came all the way from Jerusalem to attack Jesus and his disciples for not washing their hands properly when they ate bread. It was a religion that was dead. It was a religion that was lifeless. It was a religion that's joyless. It was all about conformity and forced submission. If you asked the Jews and their children, coming up to the worship of the Lord, what they had created with their rules was a system of, we have to be here. It says nobody wanted to be there. What a joyless religion Judaism had become. Martin Luther once said, the way that God always dealt with this problem was the law of God. He said, this monster of self-righteousness, this stiff-necked beast needs a big axe. And that's what the law is, a big axe, to strike down the pride of people. Now, before we American churchgoers come along and say, ah, yep, yep, yep, those legalists, The irony was here that the Pharisee, who was shown to us in the Scriptures, is a mirror of ourselves. They had stony hearts. Wasn't that always the problem in the Old Testament? Stony hearts? That the Lord said, I needed to give a heart of flesh. I needed to change the heart out of stone to life. This is all John. It's all about life in this gospel. This is Nicodemus. We're going to get there. This is the woman at the well. I've got to change stony, dead hearts. The irony was, is that as we look at ourselves in this, and I look at me in this, so I include myself in all of this, the irony was, is that the result in their religion was a bunch of grumpy, complaining people who hated the worship of the Lord, which should cause us caution, shouldn't it? who hated his ways, who were always bitter against his ways. So they created in their minds an idea of what would bring true happiness and true freedom. It wasn't about God. It was all about them. That's legalism. That's legalism. We've ever struggled with that, which I've struggled with. Sometimes I just don't feel joy in my Christianity. Don't miss this. Joy in doing what? What I want to do? What is joy? What is joy? Let me give you a test. If I said to you today, you shall honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy. which means that you should come to the worship of the Lord, call the Sabbath a delight, whenever it's called. How do you feel if I press you on that a little bit? Legalism. That's legalistic. And I'm going to say, no, that's the law of God. That's not legalism. There's a problem right there. Legalism is when people disregard the law of God and push their own ideas, creating their own ways to try to find the happiness they think they will achieve. And then make that the standard for acceptance with God. Now you can do that with the law of God, there's no doubt. But in what Jesus is dealing with here, it was them creating their own system of righteousness to try to please God and they were comfortable in that and don't you press me on that. This is what Jesus condemned their worship for. and he condemned worship. He condemned other people's worship when he said, in vain do they worship me, teaching as commandments the doctrines of men, their own ideas. We redefine freedom on our own terms, and that's when we get into all kinds of joyless stuff. I don't think we talk enough about what infuriated the religious authorities. What infuriated the religious authorities was the freedom and the happiness that Jesus brought, actually. Joy is such a centerpiece of this passage. And I struggled preaching it because I thought today joy is equated, the reaction against joy and what joy should be. Everyone thinks of anything formal as joyless. And you've got to run up against that. Is that really what this is all about. What is joy? Think with me just for a minute. What is joy? What is Jesus teaching us here? What is this all about? And this is a challenge to us of what joy is in Christianity. What do you think accomplishes joy? You know, in the next section, would you think this would demonstrate what we're showing here in verse 15 when he goes into the temple? In making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and oxen, and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away and do not make my father's house a house of trade. Zeal for my father's house has eaten me up. That would bother us if we saw that. You'd say, that's not somebody who's bringing in a joyful religion. Let's get to what joy is. This is an important passage to understand it. Joy is this. It's rejoicing in your Savior. It's rejoicing in Him. That you have Him. What did Jesus just say to them in this miracle? As He turned the stone water pots and turned the water in them to wine, He's saying to them something very clearly and very powerful. I'm here! I'm here! In my presence, there is fullness of joy. In my work, there is joy. And it's not just a future thing. A Christless life shows itself in a life right where you are of fullness of bitterness and complaining. That's a Christless life, a never satisfied life. The Pharisees were never happy with God. They were never happy with his ways. For them, it was all dull and boring. But truth be told, their own system that they had created had created the most dull and boring life ever. They were looking for happiness in all the wrong places. Most people think they can purchase it or create it or construct it. Or create an outward system to make us experience it. And you can't do it. You can't do it. You cannot do it. Joy is finding satisfaction in Him. You saw it in the last sermons. Did you hear Philip and Nathanael when they met their Messiah? We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. These men are yelling it everywhere. We have found him. We found the Savior. It's because he found them. We looked at that. I have come, said Jesus. You know what he's going to say in John 15? I have come, and here's what I've done. I have spoken to you. I have preached to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. How did He give joy? Through announcement, through His presence. Joy is a knowledge of your Messiah. Joy is a knowledge that He has come for you and that you know Him. You want to know whether it's true joy, you know, even when you're suffering. even when you feel like coming to worship and don't feel like singing the praise song and have to pick up a song of lament and say, my God, my God, I feel like you've forsaken me. Even when you're in a deep valley and you're not experiencing anything good, even when there seems to be no answer and there's nothing but pain, you can still say, in the recesses of my heart, there is a calmness and a peace because I know that God is for me and that will not be taken from me. That's joy when you don't feel it. It's a joy that has overtaken you and can't be robbed. You have your Savior. It's this inward calm of a knowledge that He loves you and that nothing in this life at all can separate you from His love. And that God of heaven and earth is for you and that He gave His Son to die for you and has forgiven all your sins and has a way better path than anything this sad life has to offer. That's joy. Joy is what Paul says in every single circumstance of life. As confusing and difficult as it all may be, I will rejoice and again, I will rejoice. without the pots changed, without the hearts changed, you will have a stony life. And the evidence will be a complaining spirit, a spirit who's never satisfied with the Lord or His ways. Does your life show that you have had the change of heart from a stony to a heart of flesh where it's brought this kind of joy in your Savior. Not artificially created. Not artificially constructed. Not the stuff from your own vineyards. Not the wine from your own vineyards. Not the wine you purchase from your own vineyards. A life satisfied with Jesus, not just to purchase elevated emotions, but true joy in what has been spoken to you. You know, some of you need a glass of wine. Jesus' wine. Him. And that gives us the satisfaction that we're all looking for. The first act of Moses, when he walked into Egypt, was in those water pots to take water and turn it to blood. the law came through moses grace and truth came through jesus the first act of jesus when he comes on the scene is to turn water not into blood and judgment on you but uh blood to a water to wine so that you would be a happy people you don't have to face the judgment of god what has that done for you it should do everything it should change everything. Notice what, Joel, I've got even better news this morning. I've got even better news. There's more to this. Notice the emphasis in verse 1 on the days. On the third day, you know what John has done since outside of the prologue, verse 19, he has charted seven days for you. This starts in Jerusalem, and there's a repetition of time to the next day, verse 29 the next day, verse 35 again the next day, verse 43 the following day. If you study this closely, he arrives in Galilee on day four, so when we read on the third day, there's a wedding in Cana, that is the third day of his entrance into Galilee, which John wants us to tally, and the scholars have all done this, and the marvel of it is he has arrived and turned water to wine on the seventh day. Seven times in the gospel of John, he will say something so important, and notice he begins it here. They have no wine, she said to Jesus. Jesus says, my hour has not yet come. Consider a few of them. Then Jesus cried out as he taught in the temple saying, you both know me and you know where I am from and I have not come of myself but he who sent me is true whom you do not know but I know him for I am from him and he sent me. Therefore they sought to take him but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. There it is again. John 12. He answered them saying, the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Most assuredly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. My soul is troubled, John 12 again. What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I have come to this hour. John 17, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that your son may also glorify you. And then John 13, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Woman, my hour is not yet. What are you pushing me for? Why are you pushing me? My hour has not yet come. My hour for what? My death leading to my celebration where I gather my bride and we go in and feast in eternity forever. It's not yet. It's not yet. You understand this? A day is coming when the bridegroom will take his bride into the chambers. You are that bride. And there will be a grand wedding feast. And you will be in celebration for eternity. This was the prophecy of Isaiah 25. And in this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast choice of pieces, a feast of wines on the leaves. He will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of his people he will take away from the earth. For the Lord has spoken and it will be said in that day, behold, this is our God. Jesus is our God. We've waited for him and he will save us. This is the Lord. We've waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. See it? Whenever this day comes, when He returns again, the rebuke and curse will be taken away forever, and it will be a day when everyone comes together in the grand reunion and the grand feast, and where the Lord will say, I have saved all of you and we are entering in to the heavens that I've prepared and you will have a feast forever with peace and joy now seeing me face to face. See, this is what he's saying. This was the promise. I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. This is Revelation 19. Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and the bride has made herself ready. Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Woman, it's not my supper yet. It's not my marriage feast yet. But I'll tell you what I'm going to do. My joy can't be stopped. So I'm bringing it in right now. And that's what you enjoy. That's what you have. Right now, with the Lord, there is fullness of joy and more joy and more joy coming and then the fullness when we enter that feast on that day to enjoy Him forever. That's the beauty of this passage. Everywhere Christ spoke of a wedding, He associated them with the wedding feast that would come at the end of this age. My hour has not yet arrived. You're going to see him so intent to go to this hour and die for you with a love, he says, that can't be broken, a love that will shed his own blood for you. He will shed his blood so that you get to drink wine. That's the gospel. That's what gives us joy. That's what gives us joy. You know one day you're going to gather around the throne and see him face to face? Thompson thought, how wonderful is it going to be? Will my Savior actually come up to me and take notice? Will he gaze his resurrected eyes on my resurrected eyes? And the answer is yes. He will come and talk to you. And He will tell you that He's always loved you. So respond to Him today with joy. Isn't that what the Scriptures are telling us? I want to close with this thought. I was thinking of what should my Thanksgiving message be. And last night I was reading for devotions in my family. And now I'm kind of binding myself to this, so I don't know if I should have done that. But listen to this. A psalm of thanksgiving. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God. It is He who made us and we are His. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever. and His faithfulness to all generations. That's the basis of your joy right there. And that's the reason we rejoice. His hour came, and today He's raised, and He's coming back real soon. And this feast is going to be open real soon. Make sure you've believed and your stony hearts have been changed to hearts of joy by believing in your Messiah. And you watch how it changes this whole place. I mean that. People will come in from the outside and say, wow, I see people who want to be here. I see people who are singing from the heart. I see people who are giving themselves to love one another in service. That's how united we will make a difference. It will be by that kind of joy in us, starting with us. If you're a joyful person and don't feel that we're as joyful as we should be, teach us more how to be joyful. I think this is a joyful place. And I see saints every week who come with great joy on their hearts to worship. Let us serve the Lord with gladness and joy, for that's what His salvation has brought to us. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I praise You and thank You for such a glorious passage that shows us what we have in Christ. The words that have been spoken to us bring joy to the full. For you have just announced your favor and not curse. You have just announced that you are not shedding our blood and turning water pots to blood like you did on Egypt, but that you are turning water to wine so that we might celebrate in the one who shed his blood for us. What a grand announcement. What a wonderful Savior. Let's not artificially try to construct this. it only comes by faith having a heart changed to believe the gospel so do that great work oh lord here and around the world today and let us be satisfied in the lord and the gift that you gave us in your wonderful son in jesus name we pray amen