Our message from the Lord this evening comes from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, John chapter 2, verses 1 through 11. May the Lord bless the reading and understanding of His Word. On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine. Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My time has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he 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, though the servants who had 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. But you have saved the best till now. This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory. And his disciples put their faith in him. This ends the reading of God's word. This little account of Jesus and the wedding feast that ran out of wine is a short story. It's only 11 verses long, but it's a very important story for us in the church. In it, we are told that this is the first of Jesus' miraculous signs. And because it is the first, we need to understand what Scripture intends for us to learn here. All Scripture, as Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3.16, is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. This is the Word of God. And we know that when our Lord and Savior came to live among us and came to die among us, he did not spend his time idly wandering around with no set purpose in mind. Instead, we know that everything recorded in Scripture has a purpose for us, his people. John's purpose in recording the events of the Cana wedding for us is stated clearly in his gospel at the end of the gospel in John chapter 20 verses 30 through 31 where he tells us Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name this also is God's Word. So I ask you, why did God plan this little event from all eternity, a wedding festival in a remote area of Galilee as the occasion for the first miraculous sign revealing Christ's glory? To understand the answer to this question, we need to look at more than the miracle itself. We need to look at the sign and we need to look at where this sign points. When we do this, we will see that at this wedding, our Lord began his mission to do away with the old and replace it with the new. He began to do away with the empty ceremonies of the law and he began to inaugurate his kingdom of grace. The wedding at Cana points to the new wine of the new covenant and it also points to the incredible depths of God's forgiveness. Our attention here is first drawn to the miracle, the making of wine out of water. What does Jesus use in the process of this miracle? He uses the empty ceremonial stone jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing. These jars have a purpose for these people. Observant Jews were required to keep ceremonial clean. Jewish law required that this water be kept in clean jars, free from impurities. Interestingly, some historians state that wine is one of the specific substances listed in the Pharisees' law as objectionable, a substance that would destroy the cleanliness of the water for ceremonial washing. Now, to take a moment and focus our attention on the importance of the conversion of the water into wine by Jesus in this first miraculous sign, let's take a step back and look at the setting and the background of the story of the little wedding in Cana, which occurs almost at the start of the Gospel of John. In the first chapter of his Gospel, John has set the stage for this wedding scene In an amazing way, the first chapter of John covers an incredible amount of time. John begins his gospel with the words of creation from Genesis 1.1. John takes us back to the beginning and he says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made. without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. So says the opening of the Gospel of John, and then in a marvelously few words, John evokes the entire story of creation, of sin, of the world's failure to recognize Jesus, who is the light and the life of the world, Emmanuel, God with us, and also the world's failure to understand him. By the end of this first chapter, Jesus has already started to put together his little band of disciples. And in responding to Nathanael's amazement that Jesus already knew him, Jesus stated, you shall see greater things than that. And right after this promise to Nathanael, Jesus began his public ministry at the wedding in Cana. Once the wedding begins, we are immediately reminded of the law that Jesus has come to fulfill. What are we reminded by? The empty ceremonial stone jars. Masterfully, John has set the stage for this story, and we are shown the first of the greater things that Jesus promised. The first miraculous sign. There are a lot of different views about what this sign is. To understand this text, we need to discover exactly what this miraculous sign is, as well as what it is not. To answer that question, we need to take a minute and clarify the meaning of the Greek word translated here as miraculous sign, because this word is not of itself clearly either a sign or a miracle. The same word translated simply as sign in some places in our gospel is translated in other places as miracle. Regarding the specific event we're looking at here, among our modern translations, some speak of the first of his signs. Others speak of his miracles. Our Pew Bible, the New International Version, calls it a miraculous sign, which it is. And this is probably the best translation. However, we need to keep in mind that this translation might cause us to focus more on the miraculous aspect than on the sign aspect of Jesus' actions here. The miracle is the transformation of water into wine. But why does the Lord also call this a sign? And if it's not just a miracle but also a sign, where does a sign point to? This is important because John doesn't say just that Jesus performed his first miracle here, but his first miraculous sign. An important distinction. A sign of itself is not a miracle. A sign points somewhere else to somewhere beyond it. When we drive north on Interstate 5 and we see a sign that says Los Angeles, 30 miles, we don't think we're there yet. The sign tells us what's up ahead, perhaps tells us we're on the right road. And we need to recognize here that John's focus is on the sign, not the miracle. And that the miracle serves the purpose of highlighting this sign. If a sign points somewhere else, somewhere beyond itself, what does this sign of the Cana wedding point to? First, we'll look at where it doesn't point before we look at where it does. Some would say that Jesus uses this miraculous sign as a way to persuade people to follow Him. Does He? Does the first sign show that Jesus performed miracles as a way to draw people's attention to him through a mighty display of his powers? Is this a sign pointing to a Jesus who was willing to do whatever it took to somehow persuade enough people that he was who he said he was so that they would follow him, so that he could have a successful ministry? No, clearly not. That's not where it points. If it did, why would Jesus carry out the miraculous conversion of the wine into water in such a quiet, almost hidden way? Why not with some thunder and lightning? Maybe a proclamation of let there be wine. The one through whom all things were made, as John tells us at the beginning of his gospel, was certainly capable of that. And as men, we know how much more immediate attention, a dramatic first sign, might have captured from the people. However, the text very pointedly indicates that few of those present even knew of the miracle. Verse 9 says that not even the master of the banquet knew about the miracle. And verse 11 says only the disciples put their faith in him because of it. Also, many times in his ministry, we know, Jesus pointedly rebukes those who demand a sign has a condition for believing in Him. So that is not where this sign points. Others claim that the first sign points to Mary as having some special ability to influence Jesus' thoughts or actions or affections. Is the purpose of the sign to show Mary's ability to instruct or guide the Lord? No, it does not. Jesus said to her, Why do you involve me? That's a rebuke. That's not, yes, mother. Jesus does not encourage Mary to tell him what to do. No, the first sign does not point to Mary as our intercessor, the way to get Jesus to listen to us, to hear for us, or to care for us. Jesus hears by his Spirit, not by the work of men and women. Liberal churches would say that the purpose of this sign is to show us that Jesus was a do-gooder. They would only see him as a mortal man who walked through the ancient Holy Land as a human example for us to follow, learning how to behave. They would not see him as God incarnate. This is the view of liberal churches who would strip Jesus of his divine nature, making him into a fellow creature. Does the first sign point here to a mere man that we must follow because he did such good and beautiful works? Of course it doesn't. Jesus is immeasurably so much more than that. Yes, Jesus blessed the marriage with his presence. And he gave it a good gift, a gift of abundant wine. He is, after all, the maker of wine that gladdens the heart of man according to the Psalms. It was a very good gift. Historians tell us that wedding parties at this time lasted about a week, and it was considered a serious breach of etiquette to run out of wine. Jesus' gift was needed and it was good. And he not only provided the needed wine, he provided it abundantly. Six big jars of 20 or 30 gallons each. That's a lot of wine. 120 to 150 gallons. A generous blessing. But the miraculous way that he gave the gift of the wine clearly shows that these are not merely the actions of a good man. The first sign clearly does not point to the liberal Jesus, the mere man who, like Confucius or other sages, attempted to teach others how to live in peace and harmony with his fellows. On the contrary, Jesus, instead of planning a feel-good, let's-get-along type of religion, Peter instead demanded such devotion that he said, as stated in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 14, verse 26, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and child and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. So that is not where the sign points. Some find significance of the sign and the obedience of the servants. Does the first sign focus our attention on these servants who so willingly do the work of the Lord? That is, does the sign point to works, righteousness, salvation, which is the belief that we can work our way up to God through our own efforts, or that we can at least work hard enough to draw His attention down to us to be counted among His chosen children. Does it indicate, as so many think, that the forgiveness of sins depends on our good works? And again, no, it does not. There are certainly works here. These works show us the need to be obedient to Christ's words, but they don't indicate that these works save these workers. Jesus made the wine through the actions of the servants whose instant and enthusiastic obedience provided the water that Jesus used. And we in the church today can certainly learn from this type of obedience displayed here. So in one sense, these servants are wonderful models for us. When Jesus commanded, they obeyed. They didn't tell Jesus what to do. They didn't tell Jesus how to get wine, where to get it. They didn't delay. They didn't send someone else. They filled the jars, and they filled them to the brim. This is enthusiastic obedience. They didn't sit on their hands waiting for Jesus to bring the water. They heard, and they obeyed. And remember, they weren't looking for water. They didn't want water. They wanted wine. Jesus said, bring water. So they brought water. This is an important reminder for the church today that our Lord is to be obeyed. But we also know that Jesus is perfectly capable of producing wine all by himself. He didn't need these servants, but he chose to do his work in a way that incorporated, that brought in their work into his own. Think of the tremendous love of our God here. He lets his sinful creatures participate in his work of revelation and mercy. We're blessed here with a picture of Jesus' life among us as a man, a living story of Jesus, clearly showing his desire to live and work among the people, among his people, a people he clearly loves. This is also a model of Jesus' teaching that we see in later gospel accounts. Sometimes when Jesus performs a miracle, He commands obedience as part of the process of the miracle. We are reminded that even though He can do what He wants without us, He sometimes graciously chooses us, His people, as the means by which He works. Like the man with the withered hand. Jesus could have healed the withered hand with no participation from the man, but he did not. He commanded the man, stretch out your hand. He did so, and his hand was restored. The man was told to participate in the unfolding of this miracle, of the restoration of his hand. And in his participation, Jesus cured his hand. Yes, Jesus uses the servants to draw the water for the wine, but we also note that in the end, they really provided exactly nothing to the miracle. He graciously allowed them to participate in the first miraculous sign. But he who made the wine out of water could have just as easily have made it out of air. So we are in serious danger if we conclude, as many do, that the purpose of this story is to teach us to try to approach Christ through our works, our good deeds, or that good deeds will somehow be the key to the door to salvation. And yes, our works are important to the Lord, as stated clearly and succinctly by John, 1 John chapter 5, verse 3. This is the love for God to obey his commands. Yes, working for the Lord, following His commands, is truly important. Good works are the evidence of being God's child. But our own good works do not make us into His children. They do not save us. There's no indication here that the servants who carried the water at Cana became followers of the Lord. They may have at some point followed Him, or they may not. We don't know. We're not told. No one is saved by works, but by grace through faith. No, the sign does not point to good works as the way to Christ. As our brother Nali Malabuyu reminded us this morning from Romans 3.10, there is no one righteous, no, not even one. So, we have seen what the sign is not, where it doesn't point. It doesn't point to any of those things, not to salvation by works, not to Mary as an intercessor between God and man, not to Jesus as the liberal, non-divine, do-good example for us to fall, nor to the needy Christ who would use his supernatural powers to draw all and sundry to him. The first miraculous sign points somewhere else entirely. So having discarded the many false leads, the false views of the story of Jesus' first sign, let's look now at where this miraculous sign does point. This sign, the starting point of Jesus' public ministry, points to the fulfillment of the law and it also points to the forgiveness of our sin. It points to who Christ is and to what he has done for us. He is the one who fulfills the law, the law that could not forgive, that did not forgive. And he is the sacrifice for our sins, the one who brings grace. The miraculous first sign points not only to the fulfillment of the law, But it also points to the incredible depth of God's forgiveness of us. Remember the other time in Scripture when God turned water into something else. Through Moses, God turned the waters of the Nile into blood as a sign of judgment. But here, Jesus did not convert the water into blood, a sign of judgment, but into wine, a sign of joy and grace. As Psalm 104 tells us how the Lord provides for us, He is the one who makes grass grow for the cattle and plants for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth and wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. The first wine that Jesus poured out for us at the happy occasion of the little wedding party in Cana was not, praise God, a sign of judgment, but it was instead a sign of his grace. By turning the water into wine, Jesus gave us a picture of the new covenant. The one that he will announce later to his disciples when holding out the cup of wine at the Last Supper. He will say, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. That is the first place where the sign points to the new covenant. In this first miraculous sign, Jesus has dismissed the ceremonial use for the jars, which were the very picture of empty ritual. That water will no longer be necessary. Instead of the ritual outward cleansing of the law, Jesus Christ himself will become the appointed means of cleansing all who believe in him. And not just the outside like the water. He will purify our hearts through faith, through the cleansing of His blood that He will shed for us, pictured in the wine of the new covenant. Here in Cana, we are pointed to the beginning of the process of sanctification, not the outward ceremonial washing of the body, the whitewashing of tombs containing corruption within, but the inward cleansing which follows the new birth of man as a child of God. the internal exercise, development, and nourishment of the human soul by the Holy Spirit, killing off our sinful disposition, the evil that man wants to do in his heart before it is washed clean, as the process of sanctification cultivates faith, hope, and love within us. That is one thing that we see at Cana, The empty law in the form of the empty stone jars versus the new wine of the new covenant. On the one hand, the ritualistic ceremonial washing of hands with water versus the coming shed blood of Christ, which will truly wash away our sin. That is the first place that the first miraculous sign points to. And the next place that the miraculous sign of the festive wedding party in Cana points to is forgiveness. Forgiveness for us, planned from all eternity, by the one who gave us the best wine, the good wine, in his first sign, but who will later receive back insults, humiliation, pain, And finally, not good wine, but bitter wine and death from men. The wine that Jesus gave to the wedding party at Cana also foreshadows the wine He will be given on the cross. As he is dying on the cruel Roman cross, John tells us, chapter 19, verses 28 through 30. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, It is finished. With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Thus says the Word of God, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 69, 21, And for my thirst, they gave me sour wine to drink. Here, brothers and sisters, is true forgiveness. God planned from all eternity to give the gift of good wine to man in his son's first miraculous sign at the little Cana wedding party, even knowing that man's last gift to his son would be bitter wine not refreshing good wine as he was stretched thirsty on the cross but cheap bitter vinegar wine for him to slake his thirst while thirsty as in agony and humiliation he died for us this is a picture of the depth of God's forgiveness our God loves us so much he sent his only son to live and die for us And in his life, his son gave us good wine, the best wine, even knowing that in his death, his creatures, his creation, would only give him back bad wine along with bitter, humiliating taunts, physical agony, and death. There is no love greater than this, to know us so thoroughly and completely and to forgive us and love us anyway. Our Lord knew us, He knew what we would do, and He forgave us anyway. Love this great is beyond our understanding. we can barely comprehend the love and forgiveness that we enjoy here today. Once you have come to the call of Christ, the one who loves you and forgives all your sin, you are washed clean, not in the stale water contained in stone jars, ceremonial jars, but in his blood, the wine of the new covenant. And remember what John said of this miraculous sign, the story of the wedding at Cana, it was written, brothers and sisters, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name. Let's pray. Father, thank You for blessing us with Your Word. Thank you for the word that you have given us that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, your son, and that by believing in him, we may have life in his name. Thank you for your great love for us, for the mercy of your forgiveness. Keep us and hold us to you this week. And as we prepare our hearts for the celebration of the blessed sacrament of the Lord's Supper, God willing, next week, help us to prepare our hearts, knowing and trusting in Jesus alone for our salvation, knowing that our sins are wholly forgiven by grace for the sake of his sacrifice on the cross. Thank you, Father, that in a world of changing and ever-changeable things, a world with no sure foundation where we can put our feet here, that you are our one sure foundation for us, your people. Guard us, Father, preserve us, and strengthen us throughout this week in love for you and also for one another. In your Son's name, amen.