John 2:1-12 | Wine About It

Introduction: The First Sign

If you have a Bible, go and grab it and open it to the book of John. We’re continuing our way through the Gospel of John, particularly the first three chapters. If you don't have a Bible, you can use the Pew Bible in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, that's our gift to you. We'd love for you to just own a copy of God's word that you could take home with you and read for yourself. We believe that these are the words of life coming from God himself. So we would love for you to be able to have a copy of God's word and be able to read it.

We'll be in John, one of the Gospels in the New Testament, looking at chapter 2:1-12. It says this:

On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.” “What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.” “Do whatever he tells you,” his mother told the servants. Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons. “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.” And they did. When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. After this, he went down to Capernaum, together with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days. — John 2:1-12 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, your word tells us in 2 Corinthians that we display your glory with an open display of the truth. So we ask, Lord, now as we come to your word, that you would reveal your glory and that we in turn would believe in you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Finding True Joy in Christ

Are you a happy Christian? Sometimes following Jesus can feel like a drag. After all, following Jesus means that you have chosen not to follow other things, and a decision not to follow other things requires real sacrifice, real discipline. Each week can sometimes feel like a Groundhog Day of obedience. You go on your phone, you go on social media, you watch reality television or soap operas, and sometimes your mind can drift and wonder what life might have looked like if you just picked a different path. Still following Christ, but you wonder if there’s something enticing or glimmering out of the corner of our eyes.

To many, to be a Christian and to be happy are oxymorons. They believe that true freedom and true delight are found in pursuing whatever your heart desires. And what Christians have done, it seems, is we've taken all the joy that we can obtain in this world and we have traded it in exchange for posthumous fire insurance. So what are we called to do? Are we called to live a life of happy guilt or sad obedience, to go with a life of sinful joy or a life of godly misery?

What Jesus promises you and I this morning is something even more: that following Christ, following his saving work, is where you and I can find true fulfillment and true joy. So this is the main idea for us this morning: to trust in Christ's saving, promise-fulfilling, joyous sign – or the display of his glory. This story really follows three phases as Jesus reveals himself and what he came to do: first, we'll look at a special need; second, we'll look at a special sign; and third, it all encompasses itself in a special day.

A Special Need: Understanding Our Deepest Longing

Let's start with point number one: a special need. Read with me from verse 1 again: "On the third day, a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus's mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. When the wine ran out, Jesus's mother told him, 'They don't have any wine.'"

It's a wedding day in Cana. We don't know who was getting married, we just know that someone was. And just like most marriages today, weddings were quite the celebration. I just found out last week that the average wedding in America right now costs $35,000. That's a lot of money! Weddings back then were no joke either. They were celebrations, often lasting multiple days, and people would enjoy a wedding feast to celebrate this occasion of one man and one woman coming together in a covenant commitment for a lifetime. That is something worth celebrating; that is something that God designed, and he designed it to be good.

Except, in this celebration, there's a problem: they were running out of wine. Now, most Baptists might say "amen" to the thought of them running out of wine, but this passage isn't an apologetic against alcohol or even for it. We know that the Bible explicitly forbids drunkenness, but it doesn't explicitly speak out against the use of alcohol. In fact, Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy to have a little wine to help with his aching stomach. So John isn't trying to make any commentary here in terms of the use of libations.

But the wine here is really a symbol, something greater. It represents celebration. It represents joy – that you want those in your party to have a good time, to provide for them, for them to have a good meal and celebration. And that means that if your wine is running out, then your good vibes are running out as well. This wedding isn't really starting this marriage off to a good start if the people are disappointed in you.

So Jesus's mother goes to Jesus and tells him, "They don't have any wine." Do you ever do that? Use a statement that's really a command? "The kitchen sink is getting really full." "Wow, I didn't realize how dirty the toilet was." It's a statement, but really there's a passive-aggressive command underneath: "Clean the dishes!" "Scrub the toilet!" And Jesus's mom hits her son with, "They don't have any wine," meaning, "Jesus, do something about this wine!"

And Jesus responds in verse 4: "What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?" Jesus asked. "My hour has not yet come." Sounds rude, doesn't it? If Jesus's mom is demanding, it seems as though Jesus is dismissive. I mean, he literally says, "Why are you coming to me? What does this concern of yours have to do with me?" Have you ever done this—gone to Jesus with a request that has nothing to do with him?

I mean, don't get me wrong, I think the Lord delights to hear our needs, including our practical ones. I love that in our Sunday nights, we get to share real needs going on in our life and go before the Lord and practice daily dependence on him. But if that's all that we ever go to him for, what does that say about the God that you and I believe in? If someone could hear all of your prayers from this last week that you brought before the Lord, what would they conclude about your God based on what you ask him? Would Jesus look like the Savior of the universe or a village god who serves you as a supernatural butler?

Jesus looks at his mom and her superficial urgency and asks her, "What does this concern have to do with me?" But he goes beyond that. He doesn't say, "Mom, I'm busy right now." He doesn't even call her mother; he calls her "woman." I don't know if you've ever called your mom "woman," but I promise it's not going to go well. But Jesus isn't depersonalizing her; he's actually pointing to something greater. The key to unlocking this mystery comes in that second statement that Jesus gives to his mom. He says, "My hour has not yet come."

This phrase, "the hour" or "my hour," is talking about a specific time, a specific hour. This is not Jesus hiding his Messiah badge and saying, "Mom, not yet. I'm not ready to out myself yet." That's not what's going on here; it's not like Jesus is trying to hide, he ends up doing the miracle in the next coming verses. The hour that comes up here, and the hour that comes up all throughout the book of John, is about the hour that he gives up his life: the crucifixion. In fact, he doesn't say that "the hour has come" until John 17, just before his crucifixion. In other words, this hour is referring to Jesus's death.

Now, unlike Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the other Gospels that you see in the Bible, the book of John has no reference to the Last Supper or the Lord's Supper. Communion is not here in the Gospel of John. But I don't think it's because John doesn't believe in it or doesn't think that it's important. I think John knows exactly what he's doing here. In chapter 2, Jesus's mom goes to Jesus and asks for wine; Jesus hears her request as a request for his blood – the blood of the new covenant. And his answer is, "Not yet. My hour has not yet come. It's not time for that yet."

What do you think your biggest need is? Sometimes we get so caught up in the hurry of what's in front of us that we forget what really matters. Our biggest need isn't anything that shows up on your calendar this week or your schedules this week. Our biggest need is grace, because our biggest problem is our sin—a rebellion against a holy God. And because of our sin, we are deserving of eternal punishment in hell forever. Ever since the Garden of Eden, when man decided to disobey God's commands and rebel against him, all of us have been in need of this kind of grace. And because of our sin and rebellion, we deserve to be condemned in hell for all eternity. That kind of grace, that kind of grace that we desperately need, can only come from one person. What you and I need isn't wine. What we need is forgiveness. We need the blood.

It's no wonder that Jesus, in looking at his own mom, calls her "woman"—that the daughter of Eve would come and ask for blood. And when Mary goes to Jesus with practical urgency, Jesus looks at her and sees her as spiritually needy. What do you really need? Mary switches her tune pretty much immediately. You can see that in verse 5: "Do whatever he tells you," his mother told the servants. Mary switches from demanding what she wills from Jesus—"this is what I want"—to telling the servants, "Do whatever he wants, do whatever he wills." Because if you understand your real need, your true need, you will do whatever Jesus demands of you. If Jesus is the only one who could provide for our deepest, most real need, then we need to listen to whatever he says, to do whatever he tells us to do. Mary goes from demanding that her needs be met to writing Jesus a blank check: "Do whatever he tells you." Because Jesus does what none of us could do.

A Special Sign: The Blood of the New Covenant

And he does it in our second point: a special sign. Look at verse 6:

Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons. “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.” And they did. When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.” — John 2:6-10 (CSB)

Six large stone water jars, and they're used for purification. Now, these water jars hold a lot of water; they're 20 or 30 gallons in each one. And this isn't about physical cleansing. It's not like these jars are used for baptism, not like dunking people into these jars with all this water. It’s actually not even about physical cleansing; this isn't like jars that you use to wash your hands. Think about it: if you actually did it that way, they would get disgusting really quickly. It's about spiritual cleansing, about being spiritually pure. It's a bit of a weird jar to have at a wedding ceremony.

And what's odd is for Jesus to command these servants to fill the jars to the brim. That's a ton of water. Like a kid who filled up their water cup a little bit too much, right? Water's just spilling over the brim, all the way to the edge. 20 or 30 gallons of water. The whole scene would look absolutely ridiculous, especially to the servants who have to go get water, bring it in these cups, and fill these jars for purification. But most miracles look stupid, until they don't. And God doesn't make mistakes. Jesus isn't just going to use the stone jars to purify; he's going to point to something greater.

The headwaiter tastes the water, and the water isn't water anymore. It's wine. And the headwaiter tries this wine; he tastes it and goes, "This wine is way better." Jesus doesn't just provide any kind of wine; he isn't just checking the box in terms of the needs of this wedding, but he brings the finest of wine. Why does Jesus bring such fine wine? Did you notice that the moment that the water turns into wine actually isn't there? It already turns into wine by the time the headwaiter tries it. You don't see the moment that happens in the story because the emphasis is in just how rich this wine is, not showing the water turning into wine, but showing the reaction to the wine.

But more than that, Jesus is pointing to something greater. If Mary is asking for wine and Jesus responds with grace, then this water that turns into wine isn't just wine—it's referring to his blood. Can you think of a time in your Bible where water gets turned into blood? In Egypt, that's right. In the first plague in Egypt, God turns the Nile into blood in judgment against Egypt to deliver his people. And now, in contrast to the first plague, Jesus performs his first miracle in his ministry. And just like God delivered his people from the bondage of Egypt, Jesus is going to deliver his people. He hears the cry of the woman for deliverance, and he will answer. And the very first thing he does is by turning water into blood.

That's why this wine is greater than any other wine in the wedding before. That Exodus that happened in the past in the Old Testament, that you may see in films that sound really awesome, as though God is more active in the Old Testament, that kind of Exodus has nothing on the New Exodus. This wine is the finest kind of wine, that the deliverance that Jesus gives is going to be greater than freeing Israel from the shackles of Egypt. He's coming to deliver souls from the clutches of hell.

But in the Exodus, the way that God saves Israel is through the judgment of Egypt. The Nile turns to blood as an indictment against Pharaoh's evil against the Israelite people, as a testament, as a foretaste of the judgment that is to come on an evil nation. In the new covenant, that blood comes from Jesus himself. In fact, wine—this idea of wine in the Old Testament—is used as a metaphor for God's wrath. This is what God says in Isaiah 63 about his judgment:

Why are your clothes red, and your garments like one who treads a winepress? I trampled the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with me. I trampled them in my anger and ground them underfoot in my fury; their blood spattered my garments, and all my clothes were stained. For I planned the day of vengeance, and the year of my redemption came. I looked, but there was no one to help, and I was amazed that no one assisted; so my arm accomplished victory for me, and my wrath assisted me. I crushed nations in my anger; I made them drunk with my wrath and poured out their blood on the ground. — Isaiah 63:2-6 (CSB)

That's what God would do to all evil. He will trample on evil like a man standing on a winepress, popping grapes under his feet as he crushes them. That's exactly what you and I deserve: to be crushed under the mighty arm of God for our sin, for our rebellion against a holy God. But in this wedding, when Jesus turns water into wine, the one who's being crushed isn't you. It's himself. It's Jesus. It's no wonder that Jesus said his hour had not yet come, because it's his blood, it's his wine that gets pressed under the judgment of God. And Jesus gets crushed under the wrath of God. That means you don't have to.

That's the good news of the gospel, friends. Not that God's wrath somehow cancels itself out because God decided to be a nice guy. His justice is real. His wrath is unrelenting. But the only way that you could be saved from that kind of judgment, the way that you can be spared from the winepress, is if someone else goes in there for you. And the good news of the gospel is that Jesus did. You can turn from your sin and trust in Christ. If you're not a Christian and you're here today, there's no greater news for you to hear. God's wrath is real, but so is Jesus's wine.

It is no wonder that the headwaiter tastes this wine, has this redemption, and says, "This is better than anything that happened in this wedding before." Because Christ's blood isn't just forgiving; it's good. It does something that nothing else in your Bible possibly can do. In fact, all of those redemptions, as epic as they may look, were all just a foretaste of this finest wine that now finally came. The headwaiter calls it fine. It overwhelms the senses. Have you tasted that the Lord is good? Have you felt this heartwarming, weight-lifting, all-encompassing joy of knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior? We don't just follow Jesus because he's mighty, even though he's certainly that. You don't just follow Jesus because he's holy; he's certainly that. We follow Jesus because he's good, because he's good. Because we can taste and see that Jesus is good.

When you know how bitter your sin is, when you know how dark your plight was, you see how complete Jesus's salvation is. You see the goodness of Christ. That's what we celebrate in baptism. A guy going underwater is not that impressive. The reason why it's good isn't because we decide to give David a bath. It's good because Jesus is good. Because his salvation is good. Because our redemption is great. But this headwaiter had no idea where this wine came from. The highest in status, the one who's running the wedding, making sure everyone's taken care of—he doesn't know, but the lowly servants do. Do you know where this wine came from? Because if you do, you would respond the same way that the disciples do in our last point.

A Special Day: The Wedding Feast to Come

A special day. Look at verse 11:

Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. After this, he went down to Capernaum, together with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days. — John 2:11-12 (CSB)

Jesus does his first miracle. And John describes this miracle, turning water into wine, as revealing his glory. That Jesus didn't just supply drink; he revealed his glory as the Son of God. And the disciples, in response, believed in him. That is the only proper response to a miracle like this. That when you've seen your need, when you've tasted of his grace, that God can cover you with his blood, when you've seen the glory of the Son of God, you believe in him. That's what you do. You trust in him. You place your trust in this God.

That's not where the story ends. This pericope actually ends in verse 12, where Jesus goes back to Capernaum with his family and his disciples for a few days. It's like a weird ending to a story like that. You would want the ending to be where Jesus reveals his glory and his disciples believe in him, but then it goes, "and then afterwards we went home and we chilled there for a little bit." It's like a weird ending, like the ending to The Lord of the Rings; it just kept going. Why does he do that? Why talk about going to a different place and then spending a few days there? Because in the next story, they're not even in Capernaum. It doesn't make sense. Why do that?

Well, God makes no mistakes. And Jesus is using these days to point to something greater. Notice what day it is in verse 1. It says, "On the third day." Ah, now before you get too excited, there's more to it than just what happens on the third day. This is not actually a reference to the resurrection. This actually isn't the third day. We want to be careful Bible readers because John doesn't start counting days in John chapter 2 verse 1. He actually starts counting days in chapter 1.

I've been saving this goodness till now. John 1:19-28 is the first day when John stands up in front of these Jewish investigators and says, "I am not the Messiah." But notice what happens in John 1:29, day two: "The next day, John saw Jesus was coming towards him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" Day three is in John 1:35: "The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. And when Jesus was passing by, he said, 'Look, the Lamb of God!'" Day four is in John 1:43: "The next day, Jesus decided to leave for Galilee and he found Philip and told him, 'Follow me.'" Day one, the next day, the next day, and the next day. How many days is that? Four days.

In chapter 2, verse 1, it then says, "On the third day." If you add those up: Day 1 (1:19-28), Day 2 (1:29), Day 3 (1:35), Day 4 (1:43). Then a "third day" *after those four* would be the seventh day. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven – the seventh day. And what happens on the seventh day of the week? If you're a Jew, the Sabbath, the day of rest, the day that God rested from creation, the promised rest that we all long for, this true relief, this true joy, this true peace that on this blessed seventh day, Jesus reveals his glory. He shows that he will fulfill his promises by pouring out his blood for sinners like you and I. He shows that this is indeed a special day.

And it is a special day. It's no accident that this Sabbath has a wedding. This kind of day that satisfies the wrath of God, but also brings sinners and God together in joyful union. We know that marriage points to something greater. Ephesians 5 says that "the mystery is great, but it is about Christ and the church." And Jesus is trying to say more than just salvation; he's trying to say, "I'm trying to join us back together." This Sabbath day is a good day. It is a day of salvation and of celebration, of union.

In fact, in the Old Testament, God judging evil and celebrating with his people are intertwined. I think John is referencing directly from Isaiah 25:6-9. You could turn there in your Bible if you would like. Isaiah, as he's prophesying, is envisioning what the Lord of Armies will do for the people of Israel on the day that he redeems them. It says this in Isaiah 25:6-9:

On this mountain, the Lord of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, fine vintage wine. On this mountain he will swallow up the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all the nations. When he has swallowed up death once and for all, the Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove his people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken. On that day it will be said, “Look, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he has saved us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him. Let’s rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” — Isaiah 25:6-9 (CSB)

See what Jesus is saying with his first sign? Nothing is an accident. Whether it's the wine, whether it's the need of his blood, whether it's even the wedding day on the Sabbath, Jesus with his first miracle pointing to his crucifixion shows that in his crucifixion will come the great celebration that all of us long for, where he comes to us, wipes the tears from our eyes, and says that the time that you've been waiting for is now.

That is the promise of the Christian life. We're not just trying to be made right with God; we're trying to be made new. This is more than just salvation; this is a celebration, a wedding feast where there's real joy, a real hope that's set before us. And friends, that is way better than fire insurance. That's why we gather every Sunday, not just to celebrate what Christ has done, but to celebrate the reality that we are now in as we look forward to that wedding day that is to come. Because while Jesus's hour did come, that day is still coming. And we can look forward to that kind of day. So every Sunday, every Lord's day, as we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes, look forward to that real day where you can taste that fine wine and see your Savior face to face.

Let's pray. We thank you for your word. We thank you for this promise that we have of true delight, of true joy in the blood of your Son. Pray, Lord, that you would help us to trust in that good news even now as we celebrate resurrection and new life that you have had with one of our members. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.