The Second Sign, At Cana

Our text and scripture for tonight comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 4, verses 46 through 54. Please attend to the reading of God's Word. And once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official there, whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, Jesus told him, you will never believe. The royal official said, Sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus replied, You may go. Your son will live. The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that the boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour. Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, Your son will live. So he and all his household believed. This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee. This ends the reading of God's Word. Christmas season is a good time for us as God's people to reflect on the teachings about signs and wonders. We're so powerfully reminded in Scripture of the signs and the wonders of the coming of the Lord. the glory of the angels, the announcement from heaven, the glorious and wonderful signs of the fulfillment of prophecy, signs of power and might. And also the sign of the baby in the manger, as we were reminded yesterday during our Christmas sermon, an unexpected sign of great humility. These signs have tremendous power. They draw our attention. We learn from them. God uses them powerfully in our lives, even after so many years. And John reminds us in his gospel account that the signs and wonders recorded there are not just random accounts of Jesus' activity, but that they are written for a specific purpose. They're written for our benefit. Our text tonight is also about a sign from our Lord, The second sign at Cana, where Jesus had turned the water into wine. Strangely, however, in the middle of this account of this sign and wonder, the Lord admonishes us, reproaches us about our desire to see miraculous signs and wonders. Why did he do that? What was that all about? The more we study the Bible, the more we delve into God's Word, the more amazed we are at the wonderful, loving efficiency of our Lord as He packs so much information into these very, very few pages. So here at the same time that we see Him teaching us about our relationship to Him through signs and wonders, He is also reminding us where to focus our eyes, our ears, and our hearts. Not on the signs or the wonders, but on Him. Our text tonight is the second sign that Jesus performed in Cana, having come from Judea to Galilee. Our text reminds us of this twice. This is the second sign at Cana. The first and second signs at Cana are the only ones in Scripture given any number. There were, of course, many more signs, but none of them are accounted or assigned a numerical relationship to each other. And these two signs have many common elements, so they seem to be meant to be taken together, side by side. And when we study God's two signs at Cana together, we find the light of God's truth shining into our own dark hearts, showing us that His grace and His grace alone is sufficient even for the worst of us, even for the most sinful of men who can be made beneficiaries of God's grace. The two signs given by Christ at Cana show that God will give us His grace. He will give His grace on those whom He chooses. It is not our decision who gets called to Him, but His decision alone. And it is not because we are good or even a little bit better than our neighbor, even when we are in our hearts of hearts. We suspect that may be the case. Now, these two miraculous signs give us a remarkable picture of our relationship with the Lord, which is based on His grace, His mercy, His glory, and requires our obedience, humility, and faith in His Word. In a prior sermon, we'd considered the first sign at Cana, which, as you may recall, occurred when a wedding party at Cana ran out of wine, And Jesus supplied the wine, but he did it in a very unusual way without telling anybody why. He told the servants to fill six large water jars with water, which he turned into wine. Well, you weren't supposed to do that. These jars were special. They were supposed to contain pure water for the Jewish ceremonial washing. Any liquid other than pure water would contaminate the jars, making them unfit for the ceremonial washing. Any liquid, but pure water, would not do. Jesus used the wine in the ceremonial water jars to show the coming fulfillment of the law and of the old rites of external purification. No more ceremonial washing of the outside of the cup only for his people. Our Lord had begun in the first sign his mission to do away with the old and replace it with the new. He had begun to do away with the empty ceremonies of the law and he began to inaugurate his kingdom of grace. The first sign at the wedding in Cana points to the new wine of the new covenant of the Lord's grace. It also shows us that he gave us the best. You may remember it was the best wine. And he did give us the best, even knowing that we would give him not the best, sometimes much less than the best, even the worst. With that in mind, we need to look at the second sign to see how the two signs together make a complete message for us. Tonight's text pointedly reminds us that the signs occur in the very same place. Cana doesn't appear to have been a very large town, so possibly some of the same people were present at both signs. Both signs involve obedient responses on the part of people. In both signs, Jesus speaks his miracles into being through his word. And in both signs, he brought people to faith. Both signs involve a rebuke, an admonition. In the first sign, Mary was admonished by Jesus. In the second sign, the royal official, and apparently everyone in earshot. There are some important differences between these two signs. The first one occurred at a festival of joy, a wedding. The second sign occurred at a scene of desperation, anxiety, and fear. In the shadow of death has the father pleaded for the life of his son. The first sign involved a change in a physical substance, close at hand, water into wine. The second sign involves a change at a distance and from the edge of death to life. In the first sign at Cana, Jesus began revealing God's love and his glory to the Jews. And in the second sign, he began revealing God's love and His glory to the world, even here, especially to someone despised by the Jews. The first sign begins the fulfillment of Jewish expectations. The second sign begins the fulfillment of John 3.16, God's great love for the world demonstrated here in the calling of the royal official. In each of these two different signs, Jesus demonstrates important parts of his mission. After the first sign, he had left the area. He began traveling, revealing himself in ever wider circles. After the Cana wedding, he went to the temple, which he cleansed. He also went to the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem, where we are told in John chapter 2, verses 23 and 24, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. And while in Jerusalem Jesus had spoken with Nicodemus, a ruler, a Pharisee, and therefore a salvation by works man, to whom Jesus had revealed God's infinite love in some of the most famous words of Scripture. John 3, 16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Since the wedding at Cana, Jesus has been busy teaching, correcting his people. And now he's traveled back through the Judean countryside and when our story begins tonight he has just returned from Samaria from the meeting with the woman at the well where we are told some believed because of her confession that Jesus knew everything that she had done. A sign. But were many more believed because of his word. And now he's back in Cana where he had turned the water into wine and where the royal official comes to him seeking his help. Who was this man? Why is he significant? Why did he come to Christ? We read that he was a royal official, some sort of court official, who came to Jesus with a request. His son was dying, was at the point of death, and he wanted Jesus to come to his house to save him. Now, most likely, this man was an official in the court of Herod, the only local king. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that some officials and even relatives of Herod lived in nearby Tiberias. And we know that there were also Roman soldiers in the area. As we're told in Matthew, that Jesus also performed a miraculous cure in Capernaum, a nearby city, also involving an official. But that account is about a very different type of man who astounded Jesus with his great faith. In the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, We were told that a Roman centurion had asked Jesus to cure his servant. And when Jesus offered to go to the centurion's home, the centurion said, Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. And when the centurion told Jesus that he understood obedience to his superiors, Jesus, the text tells us, was astounded and said to those following him, I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. Now, our royal official doesn't approach the Lord in the same way as his Roman centurion counterpart. The tone of the whole conversation is very different. The centurion came to Christ, told his need, but already showing complete faith in Jesus' word. Unlike the centurion, the Roman official came to Jesus with a presumption of authority, asking Jesus to come to his house so that he could perform the cure there. It obviously never occurred to the royal official that he himself might be unworthy to have Jesus come under his roof as it did to the centurion. Nor did it seem to bother the centurion to ask, excuse me, nor did it seem to bother the royal official to ask Jesus to travel what is apparently a day's journey away. He not only doesn't seem to know much about the Lord, he didn't even understand that a mere word from Jesus would save his son. These are some of the things that we observe about this royal official. We can also see that the royal official was an outsider. He wasn't one of the people. Remember, Jesus is in Cana among his own people, and we're specifically told in the text, these people had even been to the Passover feast with him. The royal official was not one of them. He was an outsider, and not just an outsider to them. To them, he would have been considered a very evil man. Now, we know that we cannot judge the state of what his heart was because we're not told. But we do know that all men are sinful, and that therefore this man was not only sinful, but we're told that he kept himself in terrible company. It would be hard to imagine a man that would be more feared or despised by the local people than a royal official. And this man was royalty, either a member of Herod's family or at least an official, a person with power in the court of King Herod, A most despicable position. The family of Herod were traitors to the Jewish people. Herod's title, king of the Jews, wasn't given to him by the Jewish people, but by the Roman Senate and the family ruled by the will and power of Rome. Herod was a bloody tyrant who had killed members of his own family. He's the son of the same king, Herod, who killed all the boys in Bethlehem for fear of another king. And it's even possible, although we're not told, that at this point in the text, this king, Herod, has already imprisoned, perhaps even murdered, John the Baptist. Whether the royal official was of the family of Herod or merely a lower-level official, we have no way of knowing. Nor do we know his nationality. He could have been a Greek, a Roman, or a Jew. any one of which would have been contemptible to these people because he was either one of the foreign oppressors or he was a Jew who collaborated with them. In any case, no matter where he came from, he was a member of this terrible tyrant's court. He was a man of the world. And what do you think it must have meant to the inhabitants of Cana to see Jesus not only talking with this man but actually giving him what he asked for. We have seen from a few words of the text that maybe some of the local people may have seen that the man knew very little about the Lord. Perhaps he'd only heard about a miracle worker up in the hills in Cana. To our eyes and perhaps to theirs, this man not only doesn't seem to know much about Jesus, he apparently just came seeking him. for the miracle. And he thought Jesus had to come with him to care his son. But we observe a few more things about this royal official. We see that he came seeking Jesus. And even though we're told he had servants, he came personally. And he didn't try to plead his own works to Jesus. Instead, his appeal to the Lord is simple, heartfelt, and direct. And he persevered even after a rebuff. And he persevered humbly, not reacting as he may have felt. He was entitled to react due to his worldly position. Instead, he submitted. He obeyed instantly. He didn't insist that Jesus come with him. He took Jesus at his word with no special sign and no special wonder having been performed. And it isn't until he's almost home that he gets his first confirmation. When the servants tell him that his son lives, then he gets a sign. Confirmed by the miraculous recovery of his son. Perhaps thinking of this, these signs, these wonders, we might be surprised at Jesus' interjection about signs and wonders. Because Jesus rebuked not only this man, but everyone there. Remember the text says, you people, meaning plural, everyone present. And right in the middle of the royal official's plea, Jesus' words seem to be a harsh response to a man pleading for the life of his son. So we know that Jesus must have had a very compelling reason to give them. And the reason is that Jesus did not come to give us signs and wonders, but he knew that in our weakness we are very attracted to them. That's why Jesus rebuked not only the royal official, who hadn't even asked out loud for a sign, but also the other people listening. There were other times in his ministry that Jesus rebuked those who demanded a miracle from him to prove who he was. In the 12th chapter of Matthew, verses 38 and 39, we recall, Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you. He answered, A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Now these wicked people had demanded a sign, thinking that Jesus couldn't produce one. They hoped to discredit him, to trick him. But that isn't the case here. This man, the royal official, has not made that type of demand. Jesus did not rebuke the man because he was demanding miraculous proof that Jesus could cure his son. The man hadn't asked for proof of a cure. So why the rebuke? Because there is a problem here. We see, first of all, the royal official did not come to Jesus like the Roman centurion, expressing his faith in Jesus' word. In fact, it appears that he had just heard of miracles, and that's why he came. Now we, who are blessed with the fullness of God's revealed word, know that the real reason the royal official came to Jesus is because the Father drew him. As Jesus tells us in John 6, 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And just as we're also told in John 6, 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me, And whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. So we know that the Father drew the royal official to Jesus. We know by the fact that the man came to faith in Christ along with his whole household. So clearly, Jesus' rebuke about the signs and the wonders was not meant to drive this man away. Because those whom the Father gives to Jesus, he never drives away. The father had drawn the royal official to Jesus, and as he was drawn, we can see the work of the Holy Spirit becoming evident, teaching him to be humble and to believe Jesus' words. He responded to Jesus with a verbal sign of submission after the rebuke. Sir, as he repeated his request. Think about it. A royal official saying, Sir, to a humble Jewish preacher. In a moment, the court official was transformed. Instead of repeating his request that Jesus come with him, he went exactly as he was told, without a sign, without a wonder, but with something far more important, Jesus' word. The royal official went from mere belief in the miracle-working power of Jesus to faith in his word and finally to faith in his person as demonstrated by his salvation. Jesus' purpose in the rebuke was for all the people present. Recall from the opening of our text that when Jesus came back to Cana, the Galileans had welcomed him. But why had they welcomed him? There's something wrong with the welcome. The text seems to indicate that they welcomed him because they had seen His miracles. Chapter 4, verse 45 tells us, When He arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him. They had seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, for they had also been there. And we were informed in chapter 2 of John that many people had seen His miraculous sign that He had done at the Passover feast and that they even believed in His name. But we are also told that Jesus would not entrust himself to them, as our Pew Bible, the New International Version, has it. A better sense of this phrase might be, he did not have confidence in them. So Jesus rebuked everyone present about their desire to see signs and wonders because their faith was misplaced. Jesus came to live and die for them, and they wanted to see miracles. They misunderstood who Jesus was. He did not come as a miracle worker. He came to save the ones that his Father gave him, and his signs, wonders, are merely tools. But he himself is the miracle. He is the bread of life, the resurrection and the life, the light of the world. The second sign at Cana shows us that we must not confuse the sign and the thing it signifies. The sign doesn't save. It's not even necessary for salvation. Think of the thief dying on the cross next to Jesus when he's crucified. The thief didn't see any signs or wonders. Quite the opposite. All the thief saw was Jesus dying a miserable criminal's death just like his own. But the thief, while in pain and dying, confessed his own sin, submitted to the Lord, and he saw Jesus in paradise that same day. No sign, no wonder, just humble submission to the Lord in faith. So in the account of the second sign, we are told of the belief of the man in his household. He and all his household believed. The court official began in ignorance, but he was drawn to the Lord. He prayed for what he thought was most important, the life of his son. He sought, he found, and he learned from Jesus not to expect signs or wonders in order to believe, but to believe and then to receive the true miracle, which is life eternal with the Lord. Now let's go back and look at this second sign from the point of view of the people of Cana, The ones who were the beneficiaries of the first sign. The ones who drank the new wine of the new covenant. That was a wonderful sign for them. Fulfillment of the sterile law, a new age of grace was being inaugurated among them. That was a kind of sign you can enjoy. But what would they have thought of the second sign there in Cana? Had any of them understood the words of Jesus that he had told the Pharisee, Nicodemus, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Here in the second sign at Cana is a manifestation of that incredible love. The royal official, not a loyal Jew at all, but a servant of the hated and feared power of Rome, was loved by God, was drawn by God. He submitted himself, he humbled himself before the Lord, and he was saved along with his whole household. This is how the two signs come together into one message. Jesus came to fulfill the law, bringing the new covenant of his grace. The first sign, not just to the Jews, but to the world. The second sign, so that all who believe in him shall have eternal life. Did any of the people at Cana consider that when Jesus said that his father so loved the world, that he might have had someone like this royal official in mind, Who among them would have thought that the Lord would take delight in such a man as an official from the court of Herod? Who would have thought that the royal official would become a follower of the Lord? That is the lesson of the signs of Cana. The first sign taught us about the coming fulfillment of the law and the grace of the Lord. And the second sign shows us that even the likes of us, men and women of the world, could, as our call to worship from Psalm 149 reminded us this evening, we could be crowned with salvation and even a delight to the Lord. In spite of our sins, when we respond to the call of the Lord to humbly repent and believe, we not only become His, we also become His delight. The second sign teaches us where to place our faith. In his word, not on our own devices such as our feelings or other false gods. No, not even in signs and in wonders, but in his death and resurrection for our sin. The second sign at Cana points to the faith and the word of the Lord to be received in humbleness of spirit. And it points to our salvation because we too, just like the royal official, beloved, We too, each and every one of us, we are people of the world. We are engrafted into the church, not because we are good, not because we are a little bit better than our neighbor, but by the grace of God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and ask that through your Holy Spirit you will not just fill our minds but also our hearts with knowledge of you with faith in you and love for you strengthen us we pray guiding and teaching our hearts keep us pressing forward in our daily walk loving our neighbors as you have commanded we thank you again for your great love for us for us in the name of your son who died for our sins Amen