The Gospel of John series #05. An exposition of John 2:1-11. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, November 21, 2010.
Introduction
Have you ever felt insecure, isolated or unimportant? Have you ever been in a difficult spot and wondered if anybody really cared? Do you ever wonder if God cares? Do you ever find yourself thinking, “Well I know this is important to me, but I can’t bother God with it. I mean He has His hands full with famine, poverty, war and all that other stuff. Why would He be concerned about my problems?” That’s a legitimate question. Why would He? Think about it. In the grand scheme of things how important are you?
You are one of a few billion people on the planet. When it comes to planets and solar systems ours is one of the smallest. We get virtually all our energy from the sun. Yet we receive only one half billionth of the energy that leaves the sun. That’s understandable considering that energy travels some 93,000,000 miles to get here. Light traveling from the sun at 186,000 miles per second takes 8 minutes and 19 seconds to reach us. Light from the nearest star? Four years. From the center of our galaxy? Thousands of years. Yeah, in the grand scheme of things, who are you?
Your thinking, “Thanks pastor I was a little down this morning when I got here, now, thanks to you, I’m suicidal!” Hold on, stay with me. I want you to think. God spoke and this vast universe came into being. He holds all of it together by His power. Does He have time for you? What effect does the details of your life have on the history of the world? If you’ve ever wondered if God cared. If you have ever wondered if you matter. There is someone I want you to meet. I don’t know their names. I really don’t know anything about them other than they understand the extent of God’s great love. One day they were on the verge of a great embarrassment. What could have been the most humiliating day of their lives became instead a day of great rejoicing. We read about it in the second chapter of John.
Text: John 2:1-11
John wrote his gospel from the city of Ephesus.
He wrote sometime between 55-95.
He wrote to reveal something of the heart of the Lord Jesus.
Gospel = selective history with a purpose.
Purpose – 20:30-31 – evangelistic, “…that you might believe…”
Only John tells us about this wedding in Cana of Galilee.
Here we find John’s account of the first of our Lord’s earthly miracles.
There are many surprising things about this miracle. Not the least of which is that it is so private. This is not what I would have done for my first miracle. I think you need to open with a bang. Burst on the scene with an eye-popping miracle. You need some fanfare, some publicity you need a crowd. Just a few people were in on this. Most had no idea what was going on. How are you going to build a following like that?
Another shocking this is the context of the miracle. No famine. No great tragedy. No cripple. No blind person. No child to pull at the heart strings. Just concern for a young couple who where about to be embarrassed on the most important day of their life. It’s not how I would have done it but I’m sure glad He did it that way because it reveals a glorious truth.
Thesis: Jesus’ first miracle forever settles the extent of God’s love and compassion.
If you’ve ever wondered if God cared. If you’ve ever felt insignificant or unimportant you need to take a trip down to Cana of Galilee. Two great truths are revealed there.
- God, in love and great compassion, is concerned about the details of your life. (2:1-5)
- God, in power, can turn your tragedy into triumph. (2:6-11)
Conclusion
But let’s not loose sight of the greater lesson. This same Jesus who turned water into wine wants to transform your life. He that converted water to wine desires to change you from sinner to saint. He desires to deliver you from the bondage of sin and death.
John’s purpose in telling this story is not just to reveal the love of God for us. But to remind us a new day has dawned with the coming of Messiah. It is no insignificant thing that our Lord used those purification pots. The water of Old Testament purification has been changed into the wine of the new covenant. Types and shadows now give way to the reality of God’s Deliverer. In this section down through chapter 4 John is beginning to unfold the glory of the One made flesh as he demonstrates the truth of Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians 5:17.