Scripture: John 2:1-11
Sermon Series: Mary, He called her Mother – Sermon 08
Most weddings are planned with great detail nearly trying to achieve perfection. They rarely go that way. Nearly every pastor has stories to tell about weddings they’ve officiated. Too often the perfect plan becomes a Wedding Gone Wrong.
For example, fainting is very common in weddings. In one the bride fainted during the wedding, four times. At another wedding the bride’s uncle sent a request in since he couldn’t attend. He asked for someone to read 1 John 4:18: There is no fear in love; instead perfect love drives out fear. Unfortunately, the reader got confused and read John 4:18 instead: For you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.
My all-time favorite is from a wedding my mentor, Dad Cummins, officiated. Because they were tight on funds, rather than buy colored candles – she spray-painted them. During the ceremony, as the candles burned, the fumes were toxic. The wedding party started falling like Dominos. The groom kept himself from passing out by dropping down in the middle of the ceremony and putting his head between his knees. They had to stop the wedding, open the windows and restart. After that, the bride said that she was ready for anything in her marriage.
In John 2 Jesus’ mother, Mary, is at a wedding. It appears she may have been helping with catering. It’s in the town of Cana (map), about eight miles from Nazareth. Jesus and His disciples were invited to attend.
But the wedding is nearly a tragedy and that’s where Jesus performs His first miracle. The fact that the miracle, His first one, was done at a wedding is very significant. By His attendance, Jesus places His stamp of approval on the marriage covenant. With His miracle Jesus shows from where the blessings in a marriage come from. The love and joy inherent in a wedding are characteristic of the ministry of Christ, who came into this world because of His love and brought joy to all who trust and commit their lives to Him.
God created marriage. God created sexual intimacy for marriage. It’s a sin to have sexual relationships outside of marriage.
Ours is an anti-marriage culture. One of the most common problems in the church are couples cohabiting. They profess to know Jesus but disobey Him in this matter of sexuality in marriage. Often unbeknownst to them, it costs them and hurts the testimony of Christ. If there are children, the lack of commitment can damage them for a lifetime. It’s one reason why if there are children in an unmarried home, I’m quicker to perform the wedding. I do it because it’s right and for the children. They need the security.
When couples cohabit, they’ll often justify it with “we’re engaged.” The question is: “Great, what’s the date of the wedding?”
It seems no one today is talking about the cost of cohabitation. If there is a break-up, even in our liberated day, the woman usually is the big loser. In a breakup, a man’s household income drops by 10%, while women lose 33%. The percentage of women living in poverty increases from 20 to 30%, while men’s poverty level remains relatively unchanged.
But unlike divorce, cohabitation offers no economic protection for either party. For married couples, there are precedents, formulas and divorce court. It’s up to the cohabiting couple early in the relationship, to set the stage and make preparations for what would happen in the event of dissolution. Yet starry-eyed young lovers don’t like to think of that possibility. It’s amazing how many young adults in their early to late 20s go through this. Most go into a (live-in) relationship with a positive outlook, thinking nothing bad will happen. The girl typically thinks, this is going to be great, we’re eventually going to get married, and some do. But the woman is typically the one who moves out, has to find a place to live and buy furniture.
God’s plan for us began with marriage. It hasn’t changed. Marriage protects you spiritually, emotionally, even economically. In John 2, Jesus endorses it.
Weddings in Judaism were mega-events. Families saved for years for one. They were huge and you didn’t trim the guest list. You invited the whole village. A wedding was a great weeklong celebration that usually kicked off late in the evening. On the evening of the marriage the bride was led, usually by a spectacular torch lit procession, from her parents’ home to the home of her new husband. They’d sing and chant as they walked along. All of the wedding guests were part of the procession.
Once they arrived at the groom’s home, the marriage formula was pronounced, and legal documents were signed. Then, the marriage feast began. The bride and groom remained dressed in their finest bridal clothing and treated like a king and queen. In fact, they were actually addressed as a king and queen. They wore make believe crowns made from flowers. There was lots of feasting. In a life where there was much poverty and constant hard work, a wedding week of festivity was one of the supreme occasions.
Weddings are times of joy and festivity, and Jesus was on the invitation list. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples (John 2:2). The fact Jesus was invited doesn’t fit the picture many people have of Jesus or of Christians. They picture a dour Jesus or grumpy Christians, the ultimate party poopers (picture). I doubt any Pharisees were invited but Jesus was. By the way, grumpy and Christian don’t go together.
Maybe your perception of Jesus is something a little different than Him attending a wedding and a weeklong celebration. He’s too holy to have fun, right? But Jesus wasn’t a killjoy. He had a terrific sense of humor that he was usually unleashing on the religious leaders. He was the God-Man who loved life! We need to follow His pattern and smile…a lot.
Children laugh 400 times a day…adults 20. If I were a pagan, looking at some Christians, I don’t know if I’d want to be one. Some Christians, if they ever find themselves with people having fun, suspect that the cause must be sinful. Not Jesus. Here He’s an invited guest to the wedding. And this is where it all gets sticky. Family honor was of vital importance. Since weddings usually lasted seven days, food and wine supplied by the bride’s and groom’s families flowed freely. To run out of either implied a bad host. It would bring dishonor to the family name. It was a huge faux pau. But here in this Wedding Gone Wrong, it happens.
This is a social catastrophe, a cultural insult. A groom could be sued for running out of food or drink. In a Jewish wedding wine was essential, not so guests could drink in excess but because wine was a symbol of joy. Psalm 104:15, God provides wine to gladden the heart of man. And this is where gracious Mary steps in. And she’s a model for us. What does she teach us?
1. Mary was someone who saw other’s predicaments
When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine” (John 2:3). That Jesus, His mother and disciples were invited to the wedding suggests that it was the wedding of a close relative. Perhaps Mary was the hostess. Afterall she was the first to notice the lack of wine. Mary doesn’t have a lot of words in Scripture but here they are.
At the World Championships in Budapest in June of 2022, USA’s Anita Alvarez (picture) sank to the bottom of the pool. Looking across the deck, then noticing she was under way too long, her coach, Andrea Fuentes immediately dove in after her fully clothed, pulling her to safety. Anita was unconscious and didn’t have the capacity to kick, paddle, or help herself in any way. If Andrea hadn’t noticed, she’d have drowned. But she knew Anita, looked for her, and quickly noticed she was under too long. She dove in without thinking twice. Do we notice when those around us are drowning?
Who do we think about the most? Who do we talk about the most? Sadly, it’s ourselves…but that’s not Mary.
This needs to resonate with us. When you’re under too long, who are the people that will look for you, notice, and dive in to pull you to the surface? Who would do that for you? And can someone count on you to be the one looking and noticing when they’re under too long, diving in to support them when they’re all out of fight to swim in these turbulent waters we call life?
It takes some things. It takes using your eyes as they were intended to look outwards. Mary noticed what others missed. Other guests were caught up with the party. Mary sees that the party is about to crash and burn.
Then, Mary was mindful of the needs and struggles of those around her. Are we? Do we see the lonely, the depressed, marginalized? Do we see the children and the elderly?
Yet, it’s not only noticing someone’s needs. It’s taking concrete steps to help. That’s Mary. We can hear the distress for them in her words. “They have no wine.” The drama was intense. Having no wine goes beyond lack of refreshments at a wedding. It defines human experience without Jesus Christ.
Life without Christ is like life without wine. In Scripture wine is a symbol of joy and fulfillment. To the Jews, wine symbolized joy. The rabbis had a saying, Without wine, there is no joy. At the wedding in Cana, the joy had run out. That’s the universal experience of mankind without Christ. A time comes when the wine runs out. The joy and exhilaration of life are gone.
No matter who we are or what we’ve tasted in life, a time comes when the exhilaration and excitement run out. For some it comes sooner, for others later. Often, it’s when life is at its very best, like a wedding celebration, but then the wine is gone. Other times it’s in a crisis and we’ve hit bottom. Is the wine running out of your life? Is that you?
Mary noticed. She reached out to Jesus. Because only Jesus can produce the wines of joy.
2. Mary was someone who knew how to “pray”
Taken at face value, the miracle at Cana happened when Jesus’ mother called His attention to a social dilemma. She knew who to go to with an unsolvable problem. Do you? Where do you run? Who do you run to?
Sadly, too often for most of us, prayer is a last resort, not a first choice. I wish I could say that I pray first. I’m growing but I’ve got a long way to go.
Recently, I had something heavy on my heart. I was thinking about it. I was planning and preparing (maybe scheming). And it was as if the Spirit whispered in my heart, “Scott, have you prayed about it?”
Mary is a rebuke to me. I’m going to surmise that she’s a rebuke to most of us. We’re planners, not prayers. Her response and who she goes to turned the key in Jesus’ first miracle. How this goes down confuses us, shocks us. We’re taken back by Jesus’ response, And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4).
It’s most likely Mary was not assuming that Jesus would perform a miracle. He hadn’t done any other miracles yet, but He’s her oldest son. She was simply hoping that He’d help solve this major problem and find some wine.
Tradition says that Joseph, Mary’s husband, was dead, so she was probably used to depending on her oldest son’s help. Although Mary didn’t know what Jesus was going to do, she trusted Him to handle the problem.
Jesus’ reply strikes us as abrupt, even rude. But woman was not rude in that culture. Jesus used the same word to speak tenderly to Mary from the cross. It was a term of respect, though it wasn’t a customary way for a son to address his mother. But Jesus was indicating to Mary that there was now a new relationship between them as He entered His public ministry. He was now out from under her authority and totally under the authority of His heavenly Father. Thus, she must not presume upon Him or dictate to Him how He must act. She must allow Him to minister in His own timing and way. Jesus reminds her that she is just another woman, and that He, as God, cannot comply with her wishes if and when they are not in His time.
So, our Lord neither abruptly nor arbitrarily turns His mother down. He doesn’t say, “No,” nor does He say, “Yes.” He simply reminds her of the change in their relationship. He’s the Messiah, who must obey His Father. He’s very sensitive to the timing of His “debut” and informs His mother that it is not yet “His time.” He refers here to “His time” as the time of His public ministry as the promised Messiah, not His death on the cross.
3. Mary was someone who had faith
I love verse 5. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5). She would obey her Son, just as she had obeyed God all of her life. She doesn’t know how, but she has faith in God’s Son. She perseveres.
Jacky Hunt-Broersma holds the world record for consecutive marathons with 104 marathons in 104 days. She accomplished that in 2022. Oh, and she’s an amputee ultra runner (picture). A South African who resides in Arizona with her husband and children, Hunt-Broersma lost her lower left leg to a rare form of cancer in 2001. She has perseverance. That’s what Mary had. God always honors perseverance. If there is any place that we need perseverance, it’s in prayer.
In faith, she tells the servants to follow Jesus’ commands. This is the only command ever issued by Mary in the Bible. It’s excellent advice! Just do as Jesus says! The lesson for us is clear! When problems arise, and troubles toss our lives, the best thing we can do is simply do what Jesus says to do.
Mary submits and obeys Jesus. Why? He’s God and she’s human. It’s the same for us. He’s God and we’re human. So, the Bible says to us about Jesus: Do whatever He tells you.
4. The glory of Jesus’ first miracle
Jesus told the servants to take the six stone jars used for purification and to fill them with more water. The servants knew they were out of wine, so this must have seemed crazy. They expected Jesus to say, “Go down the street and borrow or buy some more wine.” That would have made sense. Or He could have said, “Go search the storeroom again and see if you missed any of the wine.” But Jesus told them to put water in the purification jars.
It’s an important point easily missed. These big pots didn’t contain drinking water. They held water for ritual hand washing every Jewish man practiced. It’s wash water. Even though the servants didn’t understand, they obeyed.
Chances are these pots already had water in them, so they took more water and filled them up to the brim. That was the easy part. Then Jesus said, “Pour out some of it and take it to your boss, the headwaiter, to sample.”
Would you have done it? It’s a big risk. If I had been one of the servants I probably would have said, “But sir, it’s only water…and it’s wash water. If I take him a drink, he’ll probably spit it out and fire me!” The Bible says that the servants obeyed Him. They poured what they thought was wash water into a goblet and handed it to the headwaiter. Then, they watched anxiously for his reaction. These servants are role models for us. When the Lord tells us to do something, and we don’t understand why, we must obey Him in faith.
Jesus could have created wine out of nothing, but He didn’t. He involved the servants, human beings. He does the same today, He uses us. As His servants, we must do everything we’re told to do by Jesus, trusting God to do what only He can do.
Jesus eliminated all the natural process it takes for juice to ferment and did what nature takes years to do, and He did it instantly. He changed the physical elements of water and made wine. It was a miracle. Yet, no one noticed this miracle but the servants, the disciples and Mary. Jesus’ first miracle was a quiet event at a wedding, but His last miracle was a public event after a funeral when He raised Lazarus from the dead.
Note this contrast. In John 1:17, we read, the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Remember Moses’ first miracle? Turning water into blood. It was a sign of judgment. Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine. It’s a preview of the coming Messianic age where food and wine will be abundant. Joel 2:24, The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
Trusting Jesus always results in transformation. This is the first of 35 miracles Jesus did that are recorded in the Gospels. Jesus’ greatest miracles are still occurring – changed lives. It’s why we’re here. It’s our mission.
This filling to the brim showed that nothing could be added to the water. When Jesus performed the miracle, all of the water was changed to wine. Wine was not added to the water. It shows the abundance of Christ’s gracious work. You can’t add anything to Jesus’ work. It’s Jesus only. It’s the cross only. It’s salvation by grace alone. You can’t add morality, obeying the ten commandments, baptism or anything. Jesus not only has the power to change physical elements, He has the power to transform lives. Jesus did something only God can do. It’s the same with salvation, only God can do it.
God isn’t in the reformation business. He doesn’t want you to clean up your life. He wants to give you a new life. It’s transformation. The world wants a facelift. But Jesus doesn’t want to change your looks, He wants to change your heart. He doesn’t want to give you a new suit; He wants to make you a new person. He doesn’t want to rearrange you; He wants to transform you. You want to look better on the outside, He wants to make you new on the inside. And when that transformation takes place, it will show on the outside.
When Jesus changed the water into wine, He didn’t just change the color and fool people’s taste buds — He actually changed the water into wine. When the water was turned to wine, the shame of the bridal family was turned to joy. The mood of the party was transformed. And Jesus’ disciples were transformed. This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him (John 2:11).
Trusting Jesus always gives the new to replace the old. The headwaiter is like the master of ceremonies. He takes a goblet of the miraculous wine and tastes it. He says, “Something’s wrong here.” Everyone gets quiet. I’m sure the servants are thinking about getting fired. He said to the groom, “What have you done? At every other party, the host always serves the best wine first. Then when everyone has had plenty to drink, they bring out the cheap stuff. But you’ve saved the fine wine for the last. This is excellent! Delicious. Good show!”
Jesus doesn’t offer the bare minimum. He loves and serves generously, filling the jars to the top. Before this, they were running short. Now they have 180 gallons of wine. It could fill a small hot tub. It’s more than enough for the wedding party. Maybe after the wedding, the groom bottled and sold the remainder on eBay. And it’s better than the old wine. Trusting Jesus and living for Him is always better than anything this world or our old life has.
Jesus didn’t just turn water into wine. He turned water into fine wine. He created the finest wine ever served. Jesus always saves the best for last! It wasn’t cheap stuff. I’m sure the groom’s eyes lit up when he heard that great quantity and quality of wine that mysteriously arrived in his hour of need.
This was the first time Jesus revealed His true identity by doing something only God could do. He did it to show compassion to an unknown young couple living in a small rural town. And Jesus always saves the best for last. First there’s the cross, then there will be a crown. First there is the race but then there will be the rest. Now there are burdens, but next will be blessings.
Conclusion
The story isn’t finished. Jesus’ wedding story will be finished in the book of Revelation when all those who have trusted in Jesus come together. There will be a great feast before the Lamb, a great wedding feast of the Lamb. And at the great wedding feast what will happen?
The new Jerusalem will come down from heaven adorned as a bride and at that point God will wipe away “All tears from their eyes.” Jesus is in the wedding business and what He is saying to us in this earliest of miracles is to show us who He really is and what He will really do if we will trust Him, if we commit our lives to Him.
Ask anything of Him and His will is to provide everything that you need in this life to be rid of sin and shame so that you can live with Him forever. And in that wedding, there will be eternal life with Him so that when the things of this earth grow strangely dim, as hard as they’ve been, our hearts continue to rejoice because we recognize the One who’s vowed to us as the one who is in the wedding business—whether in sickness or in health, plenty or in want, sin or shame—we are His both now and forever. That knowledge is what enables us to yield everything to Him. We recognize the one who secures forgiveness and eternity for us.
But please don’t miss it. One woman, Katie Demko (picture) missed her wedding. She was supposed to get married in Belize on December 30, 2023. But she missed her wedding after Southwest canceled her December 27th flight. She said she “cried all morning” on her wedding day after she missed the event because of a canceled flight.
Katie and her fiancé, Michael, had planned a destination wedding in Belize. He went to Belize ahead of her, but just before Demko’s flight was supposed to board, the captain announced it had been canceled. She was unable to find another flight to make it to Belize on time for the wedding.
Someday the “flight” to heaven will be canceled. There will be no more hope. but that’s not today. Please don’t miss it. Jesus is the only way to heaven. He said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).
Everyday there are almost 7000 weddings in the United States. But there is coming a wedding for the ages one that will outshine all the others. Your wedding invitation is John 3:16. To go to this wedding you must commit your life to Christ. You must admit that you’re a sinner with no hope except for His cross and His paying for all of your sins.
Have you accepted His invitation? Have you committed your life to Christ? Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you accepted His invitation to that great coming wedding?