Lesson 5

Miracle At A Marriage

John 2:1-12

When I was a young teenage boy, growing up in church, I distinctly remember a church service when the Holy Spirit had touched me and I felt summons to respond during an invitation. But for some reason, I didn't go forward. Later on, after the service was over and we had gone home, my mother spoke with me about what had happened. She told me that it was obvious to her just from observing my body language, that I was thinking about going forward during the invitation. And then she added, "Son, whenever God speaks to you, you should always obey." Good advice from a godly mother.

I always thing about that moment in my life, when I read John 2:1-12. This passage tells us about a mother who spoke similar words to some young men. She advised them that whatever Jesus said to them, they should respond in obedience. "Whatsoever he (Jesus) saith unto you, do it" (John 2:5).

The woman was, in the words of the text, "the mother of Jesus". Her name is not used in this text but we know it to be, Mary.

Let's read the text about a mother, a marriage, and a miracle.

I have to tell you that this is not an easy text for me. Instead of answering questions it raises soem questions. For instance, it seems innocent enough for Mary to simply report to Jesus in verse 3, "They have no wine." But Jesus' response doesn't seem to fit her report. John 2:4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. We can unquestionably assume that Jesus' words contain absolutely no hint of disrespect for his mother. Jesus did not break the command in Exodus 20:12. Jesus obeyed every command of God, including the one to honor his mother. There was no discourtesy in his words. The scholars all affirm that for Jesus to use of the word "Woman" to address her here and other places in the gospels has not the hint of harshness or impropriety. So even though we can eliminate that from this exchange, but what do His words mean? It isn't obvious to me.

It seems to me that two things are being brought to surface by Jesus' statement. Jesus introduces us to an oft repeated phrase, "Mine hour."

John 7:30 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

John 8:20 These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

John 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.

The momentous andf mysterious hour at which Christ would most display his glory was not going to be at a wedding but on a cross. Mary knew that Jesus was the Messiah, she understood that He was going to save His people from their sins, but she did not fully understand neither the timing nor the means through which this would be accomplished.

The other part of Jesus statement to His mother - "What have I to do with these?"- explains the nature of the relationship between Christ and Mary. The day would come when the Roman Catholic church would proclaim Mary as having been immaculately conceived, free from original sin and a perpetual virgin. The fertile imaginations of men would claim that she would be exalted bodily to heaven. She would be given the old Babylonian religious title of the "Queen of heaven." She would be called "the Mother of God." She would be proclaimed as co-redemptrix. The devout would be urged to pray to her because she was the Lord's mother and had influence over him and could get Him to do what she wanted. Miracles would be attributed to her. People would look for appearances of her on earth. Beads would be counted and "Hail Mary's would be said in penance for sin. But Jesus said, "What have I to do with thee?" She was His mother in a human sense, but He was her Master and Messiah and the one Mediator between God and man, Jesus' words here allow us to see that the spiritual relationship between Jesus and Mary overshadows any human relationship.

There is a second question that is raised just from reading this text. Not only the question of the woman, but also the question of the wine. Everybody who drinks tries to justify the consumption of alcohol on the basis of Jesus turning water into wine. "There's nothing wrong with drinking, after all, Jesus turned water into wine." We must understand that when our Bible was translated into English, the word "wine" had a very generic meaning. The beverage referred to by the term "wine" might or might not have been alcoholic. Today, when we speak of nog or or cider, we may or may not have an alcoholic drink in mind. I do not believe that the beverage that Jesus created at that wedding was intoxicating for these reasons. The Bible absolutely condemns drunkenness and magnifies total abstinence from strong drink. In fact, in the Old Testament Book of Habakkuk 2:15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also. Jesus would not, could not contribute to the intoxication of those guests at the wedding. When someone seek to defend drinking by saying that Jesus turned water into wine, tell them what the converted coal miner from Kentucky, a man who was saved out of the throes of drunkenness said. He said, "Well, at my house, Jesus has turned wine into food and furniture and clothing for my children." This passage does not defend the consumption of intoxicating drinks..

There is one other question that needs to be addressed. Perhaps you haven't thought of this one, but I found myself wondering not only about the woman and the wine, but also about the wedding. Why did Jesus perform his first miracle at a marriage feast? That seemed kind of odd to me. Was the purpose of this miracle only to spare a family of the potential embarrassment of running out of beverage for the guests? Big deal. There must be something more it this than that! After all, of all the myriad of miracles of Jesus, John has selected just eight of which this is the first to prove that Jesus is the Son of God.

The results seem to be much more far-reaching. According to verse 11, this first miracle manifested the glory of Christ and deepened the faith of his disciples. How so? Well, for one, turning murky water into the finest of wine demonstrates the creative power of Christ. The power to create belong only to God and thus, if Jesus can create, He must be God! But this miracle not only demonstrates Christ's power, it also displays Christ's grace. Jesus brings joy. Moses' first miracle was to turn water into blood, brought judgment, but Jesus' first miracle turning water into wine, brought joy to an otherwise not just embarrassing but socially humiliating situation. This miracle reminds us that with Jesus, the best comes last, v. 10. Without Jesus, the first is always best. Without Jesus, the last is always worst. Sins gives the best at the beginning and gives the worst last. The pleasure of sin comes first gives way to the pain of sin - death, judgment, hell and eternity without God. But Jesus saves the best in life for last! Prov 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.. Perhaps, it is also worth mentioning, as ministers often do at marriage ceremonies, that Christ's presence at the wedding, was his endorsement of marriage and the family. He was invited to a wedding and he attended! I invited Jesus to my wedding and He was there!

Well, so much for the difficult questions from this passage. What I really want to emphasize from this passage is the practical applications. This passage calls upon all of Christ's servants to obey Jesus.

The Mother's Advice, 2:5

"Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it"

If anyone would know the identity of Jesus it would be his mother. Consider the statement of her advise.

"Whatsoever he saith" - obedience requires faith. We must obey entirely, without question. Partial obedience is complete disobedience.

"Unto you" - Obedience is a personal matter. It involves you, and what Christ tells you to do.

"Do it" - obedience must be specific. Must not do "it" not something like it but it.

Now that was what Mary said. But consider the soundness of this advice. God has always required obedience. Deut. 10:12-13 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? Obedience is man's greatest need. Eccl 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Obedience recognizes the Lordship of Christ. Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Obedience reveals our love for Christ. John 14:15, 23, 24 If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. John 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. Obedience brings blessing to our lives. Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments. Obedience ultimately leads to happiness. John 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. To hear what Christ has to say and then to not do it is the greatest form of self-deception. James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

The mother's advice was very sound and significant - "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it."

The Men's Actions, vss.7-8.

They obeyed immediately. Procrastination is a subtle form of rebellion and disobedience.

They obeyed completely. "fill, draw, bear". Such commands required a good deal of work. This was a substantial amount of water. There were six stone water pots, used typically, the text says, "after the manner of the purifying of the Jews", that is for washing feet and taking baths, each of which would hold 2-3 firkins or 20-30 gallons of water. If you average that out to 25 gallons per pot, there would be 150 gallons of water, made into 2400 cups of wine. This was a big feast, but it also required a lot of work to draw and fill and carry the water. But they obeyed immediately and completely.

The Messiah's Authority

The servants did what they could do. Jesus did what they couldn't do. Jesus did the miraculous. The miraculous works of God are strangely connected to the obedience of men. All because these men followed Mary's advice and obeyed Christ, miracle was performed and much more, the glory of Christ was manifest.

"Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it" What is Christ saying to you today? Salvation, baptism, Membership, Rededication, Witnessing

Antiochus Epiphanes was conquering lands and peoples and cities throughout the middle-east. he took his army down to Egypt and beseiged the city of Alexandria. That was a big mistake for the region around Alexandria was the breadbasket of the Roman empire. Their grainery and wheat fields were along the Nile. The Roman Senate sent Gaius Laenus Popilius to confront Antiochus Epiphanes in 165 B.C.. Gaius stood before Epiphanes and said, "The Roman senate demands that you desist from this campaign, that you take your armies out of here and that you return to Antioch where you came from or else face war with the Roman legions."

Antiochus Epiphanes said he needed time to think about it. At that Gaius took a staff and drew a circle around Epiphanes and said, "Before you step out of that circle you will give men an answer that I can take back to the Roman Senate." Epiphanes wisely decided to leave Egypt.

God has drawn a circle around this service. He has spoken to you by His Holy Spirit. Before you leave this service you will make some decision about your obedience to Christ. I hope that you will follow Mary's advice and "Whatsoever Christ says unto you, do it."