Last week we read of Jesus meeting a skeptic. This week we continue and see Jesus' encounter with another group of people -- people at a party, who weren't at the party to seek Jesus, but He found them. What can we learn from this encounter?
(A)Jesus provides more wine: drinks the cup of justice in order to share the cup of joy with us (John 2:1-8)
The narrative begins with Jesus at the wedding with His mum and disciples (John 2:1-2). In the previous chapter, we read about Jesus going around to ask people to follow Him, and these people became His disciples. Why do you think the writer included the detail that Jesus was at the wedding with His mother? Jesus was a real man with real relationships. It also gives us a glimpse into the relationship with His mum. She knows Him intimately, so it will be interesting for us to see how she views Jesus and His work.
When the wine ran out, His mother approached Jesus with this social embarrassment (John 2:3). Would you do so to the living God? Probably not. But we can learn something from here! it shows that Jesus was probably approachable even in His sovereignty and character as God.
How did Jesus reply to His mother's statement? Jesus spoke of His hour not coming yet (John 2:4b). What is this hour? Later on in His life in John 7:30 and John 8:20, we see that people kept trying to arrest Him but He managed to escape capture because this hour had not yet come. Nothing could push it closer or delay it. It will happen in the right time. This hour is explained in John 13:1. It is about His crucifixion and saving work. He loved his own, loving them to the end. Why is this necessary? We are people that are separated from God and cannot be brought back to this God on our own terms and we need saving.
John goes on to draw out attention to six stone water jars there for purification purposes (John 2:6). The water stored in these jars was used for the purification rites and symbolic of the inward cleansing needed. Up to this point, all the Israelites had were these rites and the water to make them clean superficially. But after His hour, His
death, He achieves a deeper cleansing through His blood. No longer do they have to rely on practices that do not really clean them. Jesus commands the servants to fill these jars with water and when they drew water out from it and it was tasted by the master of the feast, the water had become wine (John 2:7-9).
The Bible uses the theme of marriage to explain the relationship between God and His people. Jesus loves His people like a husband loves His wife. This is the future reality for God and His people. It is not possible now due to the separation due to sin, and a purification needs to be carried out. The end goal of purification is not purity itself, but this purity allows for God to be with His people, in the same way that any groom wishes to be with his bride. Jesus wasn't just thinking about this awkward social situation at this wedding. He was also thinking about His wedding feast with His bride. He will drink the wine and provide wine at His wedding feast with His people.
"YOLO. This life is all you have." This is what the world tells us. But is this life really all about the Y in YOLO, about us trying to achieve everything and satisfying ourselves? Is your life really about you?
(B)Jesus provides better wine: bringer of festival joy (John 2:9-10)
Jesus turned the water into wine (John 2:9) and it wasn't just a lot of wine that He made. Jesus made good wine. The master of the feast tells us the usual principle that people abide by at weddings (John 2:9-10). People assume that the good wine is served first and the poor wine is kept to the end when people are drunk and can’t tell the difference. Yes, Jesus could have just made more wine of the same grade. But He did not! Jesus made better wine. Does this surprise you about God? Jesus doesn’t condemn the party people. He doesn’t call them to straighten up or to stop enjoying. In fact, in Isa 25:6-8, we are given a promise and a picture of the better wine, the better party that is beyond this age. Christ promises a time when He will return and take away sin. The people were focusing on the now, and experiencing the good things in front of them because you never know what will happen later. But this focus is limited and temporal. Jesus is saying that there is a time after that, where He will provide something better.
So much of this wine and food language is about tasting and experiencing God. It is not about just knowing. Who is this God that you believe in? Do you reject Jesus because He represents a religion of rules and things you can or cannot do? Perhaps you’re rejecting the wrong Jesus. In fact Jesus promises something good because He knows that what we have is not good enough.Will you taste and see that the Lord is good, that what He has is better than what we can conjure and fight for ourselves in this life? Many times we are stuck on what this life has to offer. We think about what we can buy or what relationships we have in this life but Jesus calls us to something more. But what if there is something more to live than the now? Even in suffering, what if there is joy beyond the real problems of life such as unemployment, health issues and pain? Will you take a chance to get to know God, since He already knows you?
(C) Jesus the Lord of glory: calls us to believe and put our trust in him (John 2:11)
Notice that only the disciples and the servants at this party knew of this first miracle (John 2:9, 11). Jesus began His ministry in a quiet, gentle and humble way, revealing it to the unlikely, and to those that are close to Him. The sign was performed for a specific purpose. It wasn’t to impress and it wasn't to gain a following. It was to point to the Giver of the good gift. The sign served to show His disciples and to help them to believe in Him. Jesus manifested his glory so that His disciples could see and believe (John 2:11). These signs weren't for show or for fun. Jesus wasn't just interested in saving the party and the point is not to enjoy the good wine while it lasted. Rather, He used it to point to so much more, and to call them to believe in Him, and what He came to do.
These signs call us to respond. Do you see and believe? What is stopping you from finding out and tasting and believing? Will you consider that this life might not be
only about you, but be about Jesus Christ?