John 2:1-12

Why did Jesus turn the water into wine? What can we learn from this miracle that He did? Find out today on Daily Delight!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, turning your Bibles to John chapter two, and we're going to look at verses one through twelve today. The Bible says here, and the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there, and both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto them, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bear it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus of Cana and Galilee, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him. 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 so I want you to look at verse 11 again, and this uh passage, this uh chapter here in the book of John, and this first miracle that Jesus did, uh, it's often taken and used as uh for people who desire to uh drink alcohol and get drunk and things like that, and they they kind of emphasize the fact that Jesus turned the water into wine and that that makes it okay. And and I just want to share before I get into uh verses one through twelve, I just want to share with you why I believe he didn't turn it into an alcoholic beverage. Um uh it but the emphasis here is not necessarily on him turning the water into wine, but I want you to notice what verse 11 says again. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cain of Galilee, and notice what it says, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him. And yes, the miracle was done, and the miracle is emphasized, and he definitely changed uh this one substance of water into another substance of wine, uh, as the Bible says here. But I don't necessarily believe that the wine always uh is necessarily talking about an alcoholic beverage. And here's one reason I believe that. And I I always try to listen, I try to use the Bible to uh to understand the Bible. In other words, we compare scripture with scripture. And the Bible tells us in the book of James something about God and how he does not tempt us to do evil. And it says here in James chapter 1 and verse 13, let no man say when he is tempted, I'm tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. And so I just I really, and I know there's people that use wine to take the Lord's Supper and things like that. I'll just be perfectly honest with you. I don't believe that that's right. I don't believe that, uh I don't believe that's what the Lord intended uh for this. Certainly, this isn't the emphasis here is is whether somebody can get drunk or not. That's not what God is emphasizing here in this passage of scripture. Uh He's emphasizing the fact that he did a miracle and he manifested forth his glory. And that, I believe, is what God is emphasizing. And it's the fact that he changed something. And as we get into this passage, I just want you to notice that, hey, the Lord took something on the inside of these water pots, and he changed it. He made it new, he made it different, and he can do that with you and I as well, which we'll talk about here in just a minute. But I want you to notice some things here about the marriage at Cana and the first miracle in verses 1 through 12. First of all, we see the attendants that are mentioned in verses 1 and 2. We see the mother of Jesus. Uh Jesus was called and his disciples. So his disciples were there. Jesus, of course, was there. The mother of Jesus, also a bride and a bridegroom, and certainly other guests, I'm sure, as well. In verse 5, it mentions the servants that were there. Uh, there was the governor of the feast in verse 8, and then possibly his brethren, because it says 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 so we see the attendance of this wedding and this marriage uh and this first miracle. And then I want you to notice that in verses three through seven, first of all, there was something that was missing from this wedding. It says in verse three, and when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Uh Jesus rebukes his mother in verse four. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. And so uh his mother gives good advice to the servants, and and I believe uh we'll see that here in just a second. It says here in verse 5, his mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And can I just say that um, you know, I don't know, again, I don't know who all listens to these podcasts. Uh I do get to see statistics and things like that. So I know that there are people that are listening, and I and to be honest with you, I'm I'm confident that there are people I don't know because there's places uh that I don't know that of people that live there that I know of anyway. But uh nevertheless, it doesn't matter who you are. Listen, can I encourage you today that uh give you some advice from the mother of Jesus? Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Listen, however, God is speaking to your heart from his word, and and listen, all I'm trying to do is I'm trying to expound the scriptures. I'm trying to preach and teach to you the scriptures and and tell you what the Bible says. But I'm gonna tell you something about this book. This book is God's book, and it is God's word, and this is how God has chosen to speak to us in this day and age that we're living in right now. Um the Bible says we saw in the first chapter of John, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And the Bible tells us in the book of uh, I believe it's 2 Timothy, all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And listen, what is whatever God speaks to you about, listen, respond to that. That's what faith is. When God speaks to us and we respond in the way that he wants us to respond, that is faith. That is us believing what God says and acting upon it. And Jesus' mother here, Mary, she gives good advice to the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. You can't go wrong doing that. But we see there was something missing from the wedding. Jesus rebukes his mother. His mother gives good advice to the servants. Now, what do you do when something is missing that you can't provide? And I've shared my testimony on here uh time and time again. And listen, I can just be perfectly honest with you. Before July 16th of 2006, there was something that was missing from my life. There was something that wasn't there that needed to be there. And uh that something was actually a person, and his name is Jesus, the Son of God. Uh, but there was there was something missing from these water pots of stone as well. In verses six and seven, it says, And there were set there six water pots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three fercins apiece. And those are just amounts of measurement of ferkin. Uh and Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water, and they filled them up to the brim. This uh purifying that's mentioned in verse 7 has to do with the tradition that the Jews had of washing their hands before they ate, and that's uh in Matthew 15, 2 and Mark 7.3, and also Luke 11, 39. Uh, it's interesting that Jesus chose these and changed what was put in them. Their traditions really did nothing to change what was in their hearts. And listen, they did have outward things that they did, and there were things that God had told them to do as far as uh methods and things like that. There were things and actions that they were to go through and all those things. But I'm gonna tell you something. You can do all those things, and you cannot have something on the inside. Listen, all the time people go to church uh and and maybe they've never been saved. I'm confident that there are people that go to church that do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And they think that because going through that ritual or that uh that routine, that um religious uh ceremony or whatever it is, they may think that because they are doing those things, that that is making them clean, that that is making them acceptable to God, and that does not make anyone clean, that does not make anyone acceptable to God. Listen, the only thing that is gonna be acceptable and pleasing to God is when the inside is changed, and we're gonna see more about that here in just a minute. But hey, listen, you can go through a baptismal ceremony, you can go uh step in front of a church and sign a card and uh get a certificate and all those things. But I'm gonna tell you something right now. If you have never been changed on the inside, if you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I'm gonna tell you right now, you have not been born again, you have not been saved. And listen, whether you go to church, you've been to church your whole life, and I've talked to people like this. They say, Well, I've always been a Christian. You have not always been a Christian. Maybe you've been in church every day of your life, but that does not make you a Christian. Uh what makes you a Christian is what Hebrews chapter 10, verse 16 and 17 here says. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Listen, that inward change that takes place is what God does to a believer, and that is what makes us acceptable to God. When a person says, I confess that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, I know I'm a sinner. I believe he died for my sins, was buried and raised again the third day, and I'm accepting the payment that he has paid for my sins. Listen, when a person by faith accepts that, confesses with their mouth the Lord Jesus and believes in their heart that God has raised him from the dead, that is when that inward change comes. And he says there, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Hey, listen, there's a there's a slew of people that I went to school with. There's a slew of people that I grew up with that they remember some of the things that I've done. They remember the sins, they remember the iniquities and uh all those things, but I'm gonna tell you, God has a record book, and that record book has been blotted out. Those things that are in my past, they have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, and I don't care who you are, and I don't care what you've done and how far away you may feel from God today, that there is a God in heaven who will save you if you'll call upon him, and he will change you on the inside and make you clean. And now I want you to notice also we can also we also can have what's in our stone-like hearts changed by the Lord Jesus. But again, uh continuing that thought, 2 Corinthians 3 3 says, For as much as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, notice what it says, not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And so that's talking again about that inward change that happens. Has that happened to you? Has there been a day that that God changed you on the inside? It's coming up again, and I talk about it all the time, but I I just can't help it. It just it it was it was forever the day that changed my life. July 16th, 2006. I remember the day that God changed me on the inside. There was something that happened to me the day that I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior and realized what he had done for me. And by faith I was saved. By grace through faith was I saved that day, and you can be as well. Second Corinthians 3, 14 and through 18 says, But their minds were blinded, and speaking of the children of Israel, those that didn't trust Christ, their minds were blinded, for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it, speaking of the heart, shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now, the Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Listen, I'm gonna tell you something. Uh when these when Jesus spoke and when these servants acted, something happened. Uh they filled the water pots to the brim, as we're gonna see here in just a minute. And and when they did what the Lord told them to do, that is when the change took place. And the and what was on the inside of those pots became something different. And listen, you may be out there and you desire, you're so sick and tired of your life, and you're so tired of the things that you do that you know are wrong, and and and you don't you wish you didn't do those things and you struggle with those things. I'm gonna tell you something right now. If you by faith will take what God's word says and you'll believe on him, he will change what is on the inside. And praise the Lord for that. Now, let's look at the application in verses seven through eleven. Again, notice what verse five says, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Amen, that's good advice. Verse 7 and 8. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water, and they filled them to the brim. And he saith unto them, draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it. Now, I want you to notice it was complete obedience. They filled them up to the brim. That word filled, it means to fill entirely. Hey, listen, they didn't cut any corners. They didn't try to uh say, Well, listen, we we have a better way to do this, Lord. We're gonna we're gonna go about it this way. And listen, in our service for him, he gives us the guidelines, he gives us the manual, he's given us his word about how we should serve him and the way that we should serve him and all those things, and he certainly has given us, praise God, the Holy Spirit to be able to enable us and help us to be able to do those things. But the application here, it was complete obedience. They filled them to the brim. He said, Fill them up, boys, and they filled them up. And then I want you to notice it was carried out in verse 8, and it says, And they bear it. The Bible tells us in James chapter 1 and verse 22, but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Hey, listen, praise the Lord. That word doers, it means a performer, all right. Uh listen, you may be someone that listens to the Bible and reads the Bible and studies the Bible and all those things, but I'm gonna tell you something right now. If you do not apply the things that God speaks to you about, you are deceiving yourself. If you think that that that just the reading of that, and God's word does cleanse us. I'm telling you right now, I know from experience, it changes the way we think, it changes us on the inside. But when we don't put that into action, we are deceiving ourselves, and we are not uh doers of the word. Listen, these these servants, Jesus said, fill them up. They filled them, and it says they bear it. They picked it up, they took it, and did what Jesus told them to do with it. And then I want you to notice it was changed only by the Lord. Notice in verses nine through eleven. And when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine. And when men have well drunk then that which is worse, but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him. Listen, our uh our pastor uh that we had before Pastor Shoemate, his name was Lonnie Moore, Pastor Lonnie Moore, he often praised this prayer and would pray this prayer before he would preach. He would say, Lord, help us to do what we can do and trust you for what we cannot do. And I'm gonna tell you something. Listen, there are some things that are supernatural. Those servants could not change that water into wine. But I'm gonna tell you what they could do. They could do what the Lord told them to do. And he told them to get the water, fill it up, and bear it, and they bear it. And they did exactly what he said, and there was a change that came. And listen, you may be out there and maybe you're a believer and you're frustrated and you're struggling, you're like, why, why, why does my life not ever change? Why why are these things the same in my life and and I'm not uh different like I want to be? I'm gonna tell you something right now. If you're not hearing the word and doing the word, that change is not gonna come. Yes, you've been born again, and and I do believe that when a person trusts Christ, uh they are a new creature, and old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new. But listen, I'm gonna tell you something. You have to apply the word of God. You have to do what the Lord tells you to do. And maybe He's maybe you've accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, maybe you've never followed Him in baptism. Why don't you do what He says to do? Hey, listen, maybe you've trusted Him as your Lord and Savior and you followed Him in baptism, but you you've never you've never been a part of the local New Testament church. Hey, find that church, be a part of that church, and serve in that church. Maybe you're out there and you're saved and you've never done what he's told you to do about witnessing, about telling others about Jesus, about sharing your testimony. Why don't you do that today? Why don't you tell someone, listen, these servants could not have changed that water into wine. All they could do is put the water in and bear it when Jesus said to. But there's there's so many, so many applications here in this passage passage of scripture. But I'm gonna tell you something right now. Listen, you may be like that old empty water pot. And I know how that feels. Again, I spent so many years of my life, and I tried to fill, I tried to fill my life, and I tried to fill my heart with so many things that I thought would satisfy me, and it was nothing. It was like dumping spoonfuls of dirt in the Grand Canyon. I always felt so empty. But I'm gonna tell you something. When when Jesus Christ, when I heard the good news that Jesus Christ had manifested forth his glory to this world, that he died on a cross and was buried and raised the third day so that we could have eternal life. And and I believed that message. I accepted Christ as my Savior. The finished work that He had done, that He has done, there was a change that came inside of me, and I've not been the same since. And He can do the same thing for you. It doesn't matter. Listen, you you it does not matter how far away you think you are, or how bound by sin you think you are, the Lord Jesus Christ can help you and he can change you. And again, the emphasis here is on verse 11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory. And here's the key and his disciples believed on him. His disciples believed on him. That word believed as we go through this gospel of John, you're gonna see that that word is used over and over and over again. And and the whole purpose of the miracles of Jesus, it was an authentic it was to authenticate who he is. He would do a miracle and and and and he would teach and all those things, and the miracle was a sign to let them know that, hey, this is the one that God has promised. And listen, he is still the one that God has promised. Yes, he's gone from this earth and he's ascended up to the right hand of the Father, but the Bible tells us that he ever liveth to make intercession for us. And if you'll call upon him today, he will save you. He will save you. Listen, if we can be a help or a blessing to you, please uh find the fan mail section on uh on your podcast there and reach out, and I'll be glad to try to be a help and a blessing to you. But may the Lord bless you and have a good day.