THE S7GNS: The Wedding

Aug 14, 2016 by: Sam Hestorff| Series: THE S7GNS
Scripture: John 2:1–11

A wedding . . . John says that Jesus’ first sign took place at a wedding. Makes sense though. Weddings are a place of beginnings. What better place to begin a ministry than at the beginning of a young couples lives. John says that’s where it took place.

Weddings then, like they are now, were very festive occasions. All the stops were pulled out. This nameless young couple from Cana put aside their work in the fields and religious fasting and solemn remembrances for a day that they would remember for the rest of their lives.
This was a day of feasting, a joyous celebration, and a day which had been thought out in meticulous detail. The wedding gown had been carefully picked out along with the bridesmaid’s dresses. The groom and grooms men were sized up for their tuxes and the invitations had been sent. In fact, it says that Jesus’ mother and Jesus were invited along with Jesus’ disciples.
The food was elaborate and the wine was abundant for all of the guests to celebrate. And then it happened. They ran out of wine. It was a social nightmare, an embarrassment “what, no wine to serve to the guest’s?”
But Jesus was there. He instructed some of his servants to fill some large stone jars with water; the kind used for ceremonial cleansing. Then he said, “Now draw some and take it to the chief steward”
And when he tasted it, he couldn’t believe it; it was even a better vintage than they had served earlier and everybody knows that you serve the cheap wine at the end of the party after everyone has already had too much to drink, not the best stuff.
This first sign in John’s gospel portrays Jesus transforming the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Now I don’t want to suggest that turning water into wine was small feat . . . I mean, I can’t do it and I’m pretty sure that none of you can either . . . but you would think that Jesus’ first sign, his big entrance, would be a little more spectacular. You know, like making the lame to walk, the blind to see, or even raise the dead to life.
Even Mark in his gospel has Jesus beginning his ministry with an exorcism . . . that’s more like it!
But maybe this Sign has nothing to do with turning water into wine. In fact, maybe none of the 7 signs have anything to do with the miracle itself.
You see, signs in the gospel of John do not have a life of their own. They always point to something else, something greater, something more eternal – or certainly longer-lasting – than itself.
When Jesus fed the multitudes in the wilderness, it was a really cool event. I mean, imagine what it might have felt like to have been there. Talk about goose bumps.
But when the next mealtime rolled around, the very stomachs Jesus had filled were hungry again. No more goose bumps; just growling stomachs.
When Jesus made the lame to walk, when he gave sight to the blind, and even those he brought back to life . . . it brought great joy to those people in the moment.
To walk again, to see again, to breathe again . . . How awesome is that?
Yet, eventually, they all died and the obvious result of Jesus' miracles was short-lived.
Even in this story, the steward, who comments on the quality of the wine, understands what happened only on the surface level. One minute they've run out of wine, the next they have enough to last a couple more weeks, and it's the best stuff they've served yet.
There is a deeper meaning here. There has to be a deeper meaning here, and very few who attended the wedding that day understood it.
The last thing Jesus is interested in is helping the bridegroom to save face. It's for certain he has more important things to do. Then why did Jesus bother? Because every miracle, every sign, pointed to something beyond itself, something that was far greater than just the miracle itself.
Each sign Jesus performed gave a glimpse of how it is in the kingdom of heaven where there is not a single limb that is crippled, not an eye that cannot see, not a soul that cannot breathe. The point of every miracle was to show Jesus in his glory, not just to make life better for the one who happened to be in the right spot at the right time to take advantage of his power.
And when it comes time for Jesus to show such glory, such power, he will do it in his time. And when he finds himself in this embarrassing social situation at the Cana wedding, he informs his pushy mama that his hour had not yet come. It's too early to show his stuff, to reveal his power, at least to the multitudes.
He knows that when he does such a thing as a miracle or sign, things happen . . . eternal things, heavenly things, Godly things. He doesn't take his power for granted, and he doesn't want his mother or anyone else to do so either. There will be enough time for him to perform his signs so that everybody can see. But now isn't that time.
Then he turns right around and does it anyway. It's almost as if he lets his mother have her way, against his better judgment. As our young folk would say, what's up with that?
Well, let's keep going . . .
All that water is there because of the ritual of purification. The Jews had it right: weddings were times of worship. When the first-century Jews worshiped, first they purified themselves. They prepared.
As they entered the synagogue or temple, they dipped their fingers into the water set aside for the purification rite. It didn't take much. It was more a symbolic gesture than it was hygienic. It only took about a cup of water to purify a hundred men.
But John almost goes out of his way to let us know there's a lot of water here. Six stone jars, he says, each holding about ten gallons.
Let's do the math: six jars, twenty to thirty gallons each . . . There could have been as much as a hundred-and-eighty gallons, at minimum a hundred-and-twenty. That's a lot of water, especially in such an arid part of the world where water is not taken for granted.
If one cup of water could purify one hundred men, imagine how many a hundred-and-eighty gallons would serve! What is John saying? There's enough water here to purify the world, the whole world! And it is at Jesus' command.
The point of the story is not that Jesus can take plain drinking water and make it 20 proof, it is that those who once found access to God by means of the ritual of purification now find their way to God through Jesus.
He is indeed the way, the truth, and the life. He hasn't had the opportunity to reveal that just yet. After all, he's just getting started. His hour has not yet come. This sign is just the beginning.
Every story about Jesus that is told in John's gospel will continue to reveal his glory, his purpose in coming into the world. His hour will indeed come when he will be revealed for who he truly is.
But not now. And for that reason, it is only his disciples – perhaps as few as three or four – who see what, happens. But because they do, they believe in him.
Now, there are at least two clues that pull this idea together.
The first has to do with the way John opens the story. He says it was "on the third day." He's not merely offering a timeline, he is using terminology that points to something else, and in this case the something else is the resurrection.
In any of the gospels, any and all references to "the third day" point us to an empty tomb.
The other clue is found in the reaction of the steward. He makes the remark to the bridegroom, "Everyone serves the good wine first but you have kept the good wine until now."
The best is saved for last. He's merely commenting on the quality of the wine. But John takes his remark and gives it a theological twist. God saves the best for last, and now – after Abraham and Moses, after the law and the prophets – God gives us his very best. And the best is Jesus.
No one knew that more than Jesus. So, he tells his mother that "his hour" has not yet come. What hour? The hour of his glory when he will be lifted up to the cross.
This story, as simple as it appears to be, points to his death on the cross and the resurrection that follows.
You've got to hand it to Mary, she's pretty cool about all this. When Jesus tells her his hour has not yet come, she turns to the servants and says, "Do whatever he tells you." She's content to let her son be in charge, to stand back and give him room to do his thing.
There's a message in that, isn't there? Are we content to let Jesus do his thing in us?
After all, turning water into wine, while impressive, is also pretty trivial considering the more important demands facing Jesus. He has people to heal, the hungry to fill, death to conquer. Think of the demands he has yet to face. There's always somebody wanting yet another bite, and it has to be on their terms.
Jesus doesn't respond to us based on our terms. He always does what his Heavenly Father wants him to do. That is his hour.
Jesus gives us his best, his glory. Are we willing to receive it?
When we come to worship, what are we looking for?
Better self-esteem, peace of mind, answers to our problems?
You may find it, but that shouldn't be what you come to church for. If so, all you see is water turned to wine. But if you come to worship and honor God, and to follow Jesus, you see not only the sign but what the sign points to, a way of life that leads to the cross.

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