Miracle at Cana

Seeing Jesus in His Miracles—Part 1 of 7

January 8, 1989

John 2:1-11

Introduction:

From now until just before Easter, with a number of interesting special services and guest speakers and a revival series interspersed along the way, I propose to preach a series of sermons about Jesus; specifically, "Seeing Jesus in His Miracles." I propose to take the miracles of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of St. John, and look at them one by one as we ask ourselves the question: "What does this miracle reveal to me of the person and character and purpose of Jesus Christ my Lord?"

When Philip "discovered" Jesus, he wanted to tell his friend, Nathaniel. When Nathaniel found out Jesus had been living in Nazareth, he asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" And Philip's answer remains valid: "Come and see!" See for yourself! And that is what we want to do again: to see Jesus!

And to begin this morning: THE MIRACLE AT CANA.

I. JESUS DEFIES COMPARISON OR 'NEAT' CATEGORIZING

We have to meet and know Jesus for ourselves!

Probably every devout Jew had an idea what Messiah should be, and do. A Messiah should be a strong man to bring political deliverance; or else an ascetic like John the Baptist. He should be "this," or He should be "that!" But who would ever think that the Messiah would perform His first miracle at a common wedding in a little out-of-the-way hill village far away from the center of things?

We had better be careful in 'assuming' we know 'all about Jesus!'

We love to categorize people and institutions. It helps us to pigeonhole them in their "proper" place in our scheme of things; and to some extent it gives us power over them, at least in our own minds. This is an inner arrogance, this being so sure that we understand other very complex people.

And if it is sad that we do this quickly with each other, it is even more sad when we think we know all about the Lord Jesus even before we give Him a chance to be Himself, and say for Himself what He has to say.

JESUS IS NOT TO BE NEATLY BOXED, AND 'EXPLAINED' AND TAMED!

When we meet the living Jesus, we are meeting Almighty God Himself! We are dealing here with MYSTERY! - Jesus cannot be "owned" and "packaged;" He must own me!

Jesus is NOT capricious. He can be depended on to keep His word. But at the same time Jesus is never limited to our predictions. (Why would He do the thing with wine?)

SO, THIS IS HOW JESUS INAUGURATED HIS MIRACLES, HIS MASTERY OVER THIS UNIVERSE!

It is a "dawning." It gives a hint at what shall follow. It is not out of character with Christ, even though it is surprising to many that Jesus would begin here, in this way.

It was an unveiling. It brought a glimpse of His glory to His disciples; and they believed on Him.

II. JESUS SET THE EXAMPLE OF JOY - OURS IS AN AUDACIOUSLY JOYFUL WAY !

  1. The very nature of salvation is that it must deal with sin, and guilt, and the darker side of existence that robs us of real life. But our God does NOT delight in GUILT! Jesus came to destroy the works of sin! There is a time and a place to face up to sin. But a religion that is habitually long-faced, and always engrossed in ascetics is NOT the faith Jesus manifested here.
  2. The ascetic way seems harder. Somehow it seems more pious to keep on wearing the hair shirt. It denies pleasures; it boasts of what it gives up; it revels in sacrifice. Actually it is self- centered! It refuses to let go control! It has set, rigid rules; it determines who can or cannot "enter into the kingdom."
  3. Jesus' way is not asceticism, but holiness. Christ's way does not deny pleasures, it denies self! And that is different from denying pleasures! Yes, there is a cross. But there is also JOY at the goal; and there is wonderful FELLOWSHIP ALONG THE WAY— and there is laughter and there is love!

III. THE MIRACLE AT CANA REVEALED A PATTERN OF ABUNDANCE

[... But why did He have to make His first miracle about 'wine'? !!!]

Abundance? Why it was even OVER-ABUNDANCE!: 6 times 20 or 30 gallons ...120 or 180 gallons times 4 (quarts per gallon) = 480 or 720 quarts of wine. At $10.00 a quart there was $5,000- 8,000 worth of wine ... WHY?? Was it ...a gift to the couple? ..a message about the Holy Spirit ? ... was it a pre-curser of the message that "faith is wealth?"

  1. We "spiritualize" these truths— and say they have NO application in material things . . . life is to be "hard here" but we persevere. To those who would be "Essenes" and retire from life and living and fast all the time Jesus spoke by His example: I do not deny the finer things of life. I can enjoy social times; I endorse marriage; there are times when the thing to do is simply have a good time!
  2. Or, we go to the other extreme, and "materialize" all the promises: we say, "God intends us to live in luxury!" "Health and wealth indicate great and pure faith!" To those who would go to the other extreme and use faith to serve self and procure material things, Jesus spoke clearly: Seek ye first the kingdom of God ... The Son of Man was a homeless person much of His life!!
  3. But Jesus "actualizes" His abundant life! "All things are YOURS!" And no one savors life [more], even here and now, like people who are in love with Jesus Christ!

John Wesley said: "Christ does not take away human society, but sanctifies it. Water might have quenched thirst; yet our Lord allows wine; especially at a festival solemnity."

His people LIVE even here, in the NOW! And His people have the assurance about the THEN, too!

IV. THE MIRACLE AT CANA BEGAN TO REVEAL THE AUTHOR OF LIFE

"Whatever He says to you, do it!" Advice from Mary that we may well heed: and as the disciples OBEYED they saw Christ's GLORY, and they BELIEVED!

  1. To obey Christ, and to reveal Him, is the ESSENCE of Christian faith: and we will not get to know what Jesus is like until we begin to trust and obey Him.
    1. Go, carry water, fill the pots there!
    2. Now, carry some to the governor of the feast! ... as the miracle unfolded, the disciples believed!
  2. To obey Christ, and to reveal Him, is the EVIDENCE of the Christian faith: and OTHERS will never know who Jesus is until we begin to obey Him in the little and big things of life!
    1. Christ will bless others through our obedience!
    2. But there is risk involved! We cannot "carry miracles" if we compromise in the obedience! ... the GLORY of Christ and His POWER and AUTHORITY was evident as the disciples obeyed!
  3. To obey Christ, and to reveal HIM, is the EVANGEL of the Christian faith: when we come to KNOW WHO JESUS IS, others will want to know Him, too!

[ Jesus lived in a real world. The life of JOY and ABUNDANCE begins the moment HE, JESUS, comes into our lives. God's world— we don't deny the good things— we DENY SELF! That is a lot more radical than denying self OF THINGS! But Jesus says: DENY SELF...AND ALL THINGS ARE YOURS, AND YE ARE CHRIST'S AND CHRIST IS GOD'S.]

Conclusion: WHAT DO WE SEE OF JESUS IN THIS MIRACLE AT CANA?

And how can what we see make an impact on our lives?

  1. I SEE A TENDER, LOVING, JOYFUL SAVIOR.

    Don't mistake: we need the discipline of fasting; we need the times of extra prayer, and waiting before the Lord. BUT, do we tend to have the self-centered ethic of asceticism?; if only we pray harder, or if we dig in, we can do anything we want! Do we begrudge a day in the mountains— or try to make an evangelistic message out of every sunset, rather than simply enjoy being with God and with His people? GOD WANTS WHOLE PEOPLE! The JOY of the Lord is our strength!

  2. I SEE A SELF-GIVING SAVIOR, LIVING EVEN IN HIS "OFF MOMENTS," HIS TIMES OF JOY FOR OTHERS!

    [Rather than being fanatical about fasting and abstaining from the pleasures of life, we are more likely to have the self-centered ethic of easy- believism. Many Christians would never say it, but they ACT AS IF God exists to make all our water into wine, so why should we work hard? Why bother about the cross? THIS isn't the Jesus you are seeing at Cana!]

    Can we come to the place where we will simply OBEY Him? I want to obey Him every time I know that it is Jesus Who is speaking. I want to be attuned. "Go fill the pots with water!" Why? How can that help? What do You want me to do that for? Seemingly futile actions in obedience to direct command; as well as risking personal embarrassment if something miraculous doesn't happen.

  3. I THINK MAYBE JESUS CHOSE TO BEGIN HIS MIRACLE-WORKING AUTHORITY AT A WEDDING BECAUSE HE WANTS US TO REMEMBER THAT IF WE FOLLOW HIM WE WILL ONE DAY END UP AT ANOTHER WEDDING FEAST!

    Do we dare to follow this Jesus away from the "expected" into the fullness of abundant life?

"Whatever HE says to you— DO IT!" The LAST will be better than the first! He will be our 'security!'

#46 He Hideth My Soul (At least verses 1 & 2)