John chapter two

Sermon #3 John's Gospel

A WEDDING MADE HAPPY
A CHURCH MADE CLEAN

A message by Pastor Donald Sheley
Church of the Highlands

Chapter 2 (Living Bible)
Two days later Jesus' mother was a guest at a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee and Jesus and his disciples were invited too. The wine supply ran out during the festivities, and Jesus' mother came to him with the problem. "I can't help you now," he said. "It isn't yet my time for miracles."
But his mother told the servants, "Do whatever he tells you to."
Six stone waterpots were standing there; they were used for Jewish ceremonial purposes and held perhaps twenty or thirty gallons each. Then Jesus told the servants to fill them to the brim with water. When this was done he said, "Dip some out add take it to the master of ceremonies."
When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it came from (though, of course, the servants did), he called the bridegroom over. "This is wonderful stuff!" he said. "You're different from most. Usually a host uses the best wine first, and afterwards, when everyone is full and doesn't care, then he brings out the less expensive brands. But you have kept the best for last!"
This miracle at Cana in Galilee was Jesus' first public demonstration of his heaven-sent power. And his Disciples believed that he really was the Messiah.
After the wedding he left for Capernaum for a new days with his mother, brother, and disciples.
Then it was time for the annual Jewish Passover celebration, and Jesus went to Jerusalem.
In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices, and money changers behind their counters. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out, and drove out the sheep and oxen, scattering the money changers' coins over the floor and turning over the tables! Then, going over to the men selling doves, he told them, "Get these things out of here. Don't turn my Father's House into a market? Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: "Concern for God's House will be my undoing." "What right have you to order them out?" the Jewish leaders demanded. "If you have this authority from God, show us a miracle to prove it."
"All right," Jesus replied, "this is the miracle I will do for you: Destroy this sanctuary and in three days I will raise it up!"
"What? they exclaimed. "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you can do it in three days?" But by 'this

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sanctuary' he meant his body. After he came back to life again, the disciples remembered his saying this and realized that was what he had quoted from the Scriptures really did refer to him, and had all come true!
Because of the miracles he did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many people were convinced that he was indeed the Messiah. But Jesus didn't trust them, for he knew mankind to the core. No one needed to tell him how changeable human nature is!

Message:

When John wrote his gospel, he carefully selected 'signs' or special actions of Jesus that would put his eternal glory on display.

John 20:30-31
"And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

Here, in chapter two, after John tells the beautiful story of the Wedding and the water turned into wine, he makes this statement:
Verse 11
"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed in him."
Had we been asked to select the one which seemed most appropriate to stand as the frontispiece of his earthly ministry, we should have selected the raising of Lazarus, or the calming of the storm, or the feeding of the five thousand...but most likely our last selection of the display of His glory would have been this humble scene at the village wedding!
So, let's visit the wedding scene and view His glory!
Cana of Galilee is so called to distinguish it from Cana in Coelo-Syria. It was a village near Nazareth. At the wedding feast, it seems Mary held a special place. She had something to do with the arrangement, for she was worried when the wine began to run low and she had the authority to solve the problem.

Some of the later gospels, which never got into the New Testament, add certain detail to this story not mentioned by John. One of the Coptic Gospels from Egypt tells us that Mary was a sister of the bridegroom's mother. And it is suggested in other documents that the bridegroom was none other than John himself! His mother was Salome, the sister of Mary. These observations are unprovable to John's Gospel.

In the story, Mary alone is mentioned and there is no reference to Joseph and the explanation given by most Bible scholars is that Joseph had died before this event took place. In fact, it is reasoned that Joseph died when Jesus was quite young thus, His remaining at home until He turned thirty years old, was due to His responsibility of supporting the family.
In Palestine, a wedding was a really notable occasion. It was the Jewish law that the wedding of a virgin should take place on a Wednesday. This is interesting because it gives us a date from which to work back; and if this

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wedding took place on a Wednesday, then it must have been the Sabbath day when Jesus first met Andrew and John and when they stayed the whole day with him. In Palestine, the wedding festivities lasted for far more than a day. The wedding ceremony itself took place late in the evening, after a feast. Then, after the ceremony, the young couple were conducted to their new home. By that time, it would be dark and they were conducted through the village streets with the light of the flaming torches and with a canopy over their heads. They were taken by as long a road as possible so that as many people as possible would have the opportunity to wish them well in their marriage.

In Palestine, a newly-married couple did not leave for a honeymoon immediately following the wedding. They stayed home for one week and their home became an 'open house' where they were constantly entertaining their visitors! They wore crowns and dressed in their bridal robes and were treated like king and queen. In fact, they were addressed as 'king' and 'queen.'
It was a happy time like this when Jesus shared in the home and which John, under divine inspiration, chose to use as Christ's first display of glory.

Another historical observation: for a Jewish feast, wine was essential. But, drunkenness was, in fact, a great disgrace and they actually drank their wine in a mixture composed of two parts wine and three parts water.
The problem: the wine began to run low! And Mary was deeply concerned. At any time, the failure of provisions of wine would be a terrible shame, for hospitality in the East is a sacred duty. There are some ancient records that indicate that lawsuits were not uncommon if guests were shamed by a feast which did not provide sufficient wine and food!

Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." Some believe Mary was not assuming Jesus would perform a miracle, but simply hoping that her son would help solve this major problem and find some wine. As we have already noted, tradition says that Joseph, Mary's husband, was dead. So, she was probably used to depending on her son's help in certain situations.

"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee?" It was not that the Savior resented Mary's inviting his aid, but a plain intimation that she must allow Him to act in His own way. Christ here showed that His season of subjection to Mary and Joseph was over, His public ministry had now commenced and she must not presume to dictate to Him.

Many have wondered why Christ, here addressed His mother as "Woman." Scholars tell us that at the time our Lord used this word, it would not sound harsh or rough. It was a designation commonly used for addressing women of all classes and relationships and was sometimes employed with a great reverence and affection.

One Bible scholar suggests that our Lord chose this word, "woman" with Divine discrimination. He was calling attention to the fact that He was more than man, that He was none less than the Son of God. To have addressed

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her as "mother" would have called attention to human relationships but, calling her "woman" showed that God was speaking to her.

Matthew 12:46-50
"While he yet talked to the people, behold his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister, and mother."
Verse 6
"And there were set there three waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece."
The six stone waterpots were normally used for the ceremonial washing of hands as part of the Jewish purification rites before and after meals. According to the Jews' ceremonial law, people become symbolically unclean by touching objects of everyday life. Before eating, the Jews would pour water over their hands to cleanse themselves of any bad influence associated with what they had touched.
The number six and the water jars have been allegorized by various commentators throughout church history. It is often enlightening to inquire about the reason behind Jesus' use of elements like mud, spittle, bread, water, fish, etc. in his miracles. In this case, the empty waterpots (normally used by the Jews to purify themselves) may symbolize the emptiness of Jewish ritual when true faith is absent.

William Barclay, in his wonderful commentary, writes:
"In all his gospel John never wrote an unnecessary or an unmeaning detail. Everything means something and everything points beyond. There were six stone waterpots; and at the command of Jesus the water in them turned to wine. Now according to the Jews. seven is the number which is absolute complete and perfect; and six is the number which is incomplete, unfinished and imperfect.
The six stone waterpots stand for all the imperfections of the Jewish law, and to put in their place the new wine of the gospel of His grace...this was the reason why Jesus came! Jesus, by His coming, turned the imperfections of the law into the perfection of grace!"
John notes the fact that each waterpot held about twenty to thirty gallons. And when Jesus turned that water into wine, there was approximately one hundred and eighty gallons! No wedding party on earth could drink one hundred and eighty gallons of wine. John was telling us that when Jesus pours out His matchless and eternal grace, there is no limit! There is a superabundance in the grace of Christ.
Jesus did not come to earth solely to satisfy our desires or to make us happy, as this first miracle might lead some

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to conclude. Jesus did perform a miracle, but it was in his time and in his way. And the lavish supply of wine was a picture of the salvation he came to offer and a revelation of who he was. In Christ we are promised life; the abundance of that life is indicated by the fact that it is eternal. Jesus said that he came to give us life abundant and life eternal!

Verse 11
"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him."
In this miracle we see the authority of Jesus over the physical universe. But the happening points beyond itself. A door to spiritual reality has been opened. Our understanding of who this is that commands the servants to draw some water out is deepened and enlarged. He authenticates Himself by what He does. He is the Word made flesh, the "Christ who is the Son of God," not simply the teacher of a few disciples who show up at a wedding. What John wants us to see here is not that Jesus once turned some water into wine; he wants us to see that whenever Jesus comes into a life, there comes a new quality which is like turning water into wine. Without Jesus, life is dull and stale and flat; with Jesus, life is thrilling and wonderful and exhilarating. And the real question is...have we let Jesus make that dramatic change in our life?

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:16-18, "So stop evaluating Christians by what the world thinks about them or by what they seem to be like on the outside. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, merely as a human being like myself. How differently I feel now! When someone becomes a Christian he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same any more. A new life has begun! All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him." Peter, through the Holy Spirit, writes these words when describing our new life with Christ: "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not; yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." (1 Peter 1:9)

When Jesus prayed in the garden just before going to the cross, He prayed:
"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (John 17:20-21)

In the Application Bible, we find this explanation of Christ's glory which convinced His disciples to believe: "What was this glory of Jesus that people glimpsed in the miracles? It was as if, for a moment, the miracles drew back the curtain and allowed people to see a fuller view of Jesus, including his divine power and authority. Jesus' divine nature became apparent to those willing to see.

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The sight was dazzling, compelling, and overwhelming. The Gospel writer summarizes what those who were with Jesus Came to understand: 'We have seen his glory, the glory as of a Father's only Son, full of grace and truth' (1:14).

John's invitation to us is to look through the eyes of the disciples and allow ourselves to be convinced by the glory of Christ. In this wonderful chapter, John takes us to Jerusalem with Jesus' disciples, His mother and His family."

Verse 12
"After this he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples; and they continued there not many days. And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem."
Just a passing observation concerning the Passover:
The Passover celebration took place yearly at the temple in Jerusalem. Every Jewish male was expected to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem during this time (Deut. 16:16). This was a week-long festival--the Passover was one day, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted the rest of the week. The entire week commemorated the freeing of the Jews from slavery in Egypt.

Exodus 12:1-4
"And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying,
In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. And if the household be too little for the lamb, let his and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish; a male of the first year; ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats; and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment; I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I. will pass over you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the

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Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."
When Jesus arrived for the Passover Feast. He saw something that angered Him!

Verse 14
"And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting...."God had originally instructed the people of Israel to bring from their own flocks the best animals for sacrifice. (Deuteronomy 12:5-7)

This would make the sacrifice more personal. But the temple priests instituted a market for buying sacrificial animals so the pilgrims would not have to bring their animals on the long journey from their homes. Given the distances traveled by pilgrims to Jerusalem, the provision of a local animal supply was probably well-intended, but what had begun as an informal farmer's market along the road coming into Jerusalem, had gradually become institutionalized until it took up the very place of sacred worship! In addition, the merchants and money changers were dishonest. The business people selling these animals expected to turn a profit. The price of sacrificial animals was much higher in the temple area than elsewhere. In order to purchase the animals, travelers from other lands would need local currency, and the temple tax had to be paid in local currency; so money changers exchanged foreign money, but made huge profits by charging exorbitant exchange rates.

Jesus was angry at the dishonest, greedy practices of the money changers and merchants and he particularly disliked their presence on the temple grounds. They were making a mockery of God's house of worship. The effect was somewhat like having loan officers at the back of our churches so that worshipers could obtain money to place in the offering plate! Human nature has not changed! Men and organizations and ministries still misuse the House of God for the purpose of personal greed and merchandising! Many radio and television ministries have become little more than marketplaces for religion. Oh! How this must hurt the heart of Christ!

Verse 15
"And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise."
Jesus' response to the desecration of the temple was deliberate and forceful. He was intent on scouring the temple. This messianic purging of the temple was foretold in Malachi 3:1-3:
"Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come, says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in

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righteousness."

Jesus did not lose his temper; his action expressed anger, but he was clearly in control of himself. Jesus was zealous for the reverence due to God the Father and he knew that the irreverent marketplace within the very courts of God's temple would not be expelled without the use of force. Any view of God that subtly makes him incapable of anger reduces him to a status equal with pagan gods. When sin required anger, Jesus exercised the appropriate response. Jesus saw the temple as belonging to his Father, His own rightful claim to ownership was unmistakable. But the religious leaders of that day were trespassers--turning it into a place of business and money-making. People had created an environment that, in essence, put a price on what God intended to be free. Access to God is not for sale. Giving the impression that God's favor can be bought shows disrespect toward both God and those he loves.

Worship without reverence can be a terrible thing! It was this kind of irreverence that angered the Christ. There is possibly a deeper meaning in the cleansing of the temple. It may well be that Jesus acted as He did in order to show that the whole paraphernalia of animal sacrifice was completely irrelevant. For centuries, the prophet had been saying exactly that! "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? said the Lord; I am full of the burnt offering of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats...Bring no more vain oblations." (Isaiah 1:11-17) "They shall go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord but they shall not find him." (Hosea 5:6)

It may well be that Jesus acted as He did to show that no sacrifice of any animal can ever put a man right with God. Jesus got an immediate response from the temple merchants!

Verse 18
"Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?"
In essence, Jesus replied....When I conquer death in my resurrection...that will reveal my authority for doing what I have done! Jesus would not give his generation the kind of sign they demanded; he himself was the sign, for he was the Son of God come from heaven to earth! John concludes this chapter with these words from Jesus: "But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." Jesus can see right through us! He knows our human nature, our fickleness, our selfish motives. The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jesus can! We will not fully appreciate his grace until we recognize that he sees us and knows us exactly as we are and he loves us anyway. Part of trusting Jesus is acknowledging that he understands us better than we understand ourselves! John points us to the Christ who changes our lives into joy and who is patient with us even when we fail Him so much of the time! Oh! Wonderful Christ!