John 2 - Sunday 10-17-21 - Pastor Gilman
John 2 Sunday sermon
John 2
Begins with the first miracle of Jesus. Turning water into wine
Dear Lord, we are gathered here today..this morning, to honour thee and to express your word as you have revealed it to us.
Help us Lord to have the wisdom to impart these sacred truths to others in your name.
We ask this morning for your continued blessings upon us. We understand that you are saving the best for last, which is eternal life. We are thankful and grateful for your mercies toward us and your everlasting patience with us..
Bless us this day …”everyone”. Open our hearts so that true fellowship can be ours.
We ask these things in Jesus’ name..
Amen
Jesus says
“Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.” What hour was he referring to ? to paraphrase he said why is this my problem? It’s not my time or it is not time… But , Mary, not responding directly to Jesus, turned to the servants and said..” Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” By saying this Mary is implying.. ok son your in charge but you should do “something”… whatever he says to do , do it… and presumably she walked away…. She left Him in charge but the message was to “take charge”.. Mary knew He was the Christ but she gave birth to him, loved him, protected him and if you ask any mother they will tell you that their babies, even grown men and women will always be their babies.. So she shared her motherhood with God the father and today gave Jesus a little motherly nudge… I have to smile when I think of it.. Incidentally, God has left us also in charge of our lives but will we Take Charge of it for Christ ? Are we complacent… are we just sliding by ? God wants us to take charge, To seek Him in prayer, to love our neighbours, to teach our children to cherish our families and to lead by the example of Christ everyday in all that we do..He wants us to take charge…..
So Mary walked away leaving Jesus in charge by telling the servants to do whatever he says to do..
So what happened?
Jesus instructed the servants to fill the 6 stone water pots with water… The six pots contained between 2 and 3 firkins.. This term “ firkins” comes from the Hebrew and was used as a measurement of their bath water…It was a measurement of liquid… One furkin equalled about 9 gallons or about 34 Litres… Even at 70 litres a pot ( and I think it was more than that on average) , that is 420 litres, right? Nobody would ever drink that much wine at a wedding.. It just wouldn’t happen. So what was Jesus thinking.? Of course we don’t know that but lets look at what he did…
8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 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, 10 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. He says you have kept the best for last….Isn’t that what Jesus promises us. He gives us many gifts while we’re on this earth but he saves the best for last.. eternal Life…
Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the man in charge of the banquet.” Called here “The Governor of the Feast” So they did.
9 When the man in charge of the banquet tasted the water that had become wine (without knowing where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called for the bridegroom 10 and told him, “Everyone serves the best wine first, and the cheap kind when people are drunk. But you have kept the best wine until now!”
The governor of the feast thought that the bridegroom was just surprising them with the good wine.. So we know it was good wine a better wine …The creation from this miracle was better than their best which had already been served first….
The bridegroom probably just took a bow and wondered to himself where this wine came from also…He never realized that it was a gift from Jesus.. I would like to know what happened to this bridegroom but the scriptures does not say.. Of course we know now that all that we have and all that we are, are gifts from Jesus. But of course this bridegroom, witnessing the first miracle of Jesus was totally unaware… The timing was perfect. All of the best wine had been served by the party of the bridegroom and then Jesus provided for them the best of the best and more than they could thirst for. A gift to all but only to a few was it understood as a miracle…..Not surprising as we reflect on the words of Jesus AS He was instructing his disciples in…….
Matthew 7:13
“ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Who was witness to the miracle? The servants right..? We can assume that this made believers of them since they’re the ones who filled the jars with water in the first place….. John writes… 11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
Now we know why he did this… His new disciples then believed him… His first disciples now trusted that Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Joseph the carpenter, was actually the “ Son of God “.. Later they understand more fully that Jesus “is” God, in the flesh…. It was the first step toward “ faith” for them..
Remember , in chapter 1 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Undoubtedly stunned ,”49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.”???
Jesus knew that these 5 brand new disciples need some foundation for their faith.. Reasons to believe…
It was important because believing in Him is the foundation to salvation… isn’t it?
So why so much wine? Jesus not only promises us enough but more than enough to meet our needs.. "My cup runneth over" is a quotation from the Hebrew Bible (Psalms:23:5) and means "I have more than enough for my needs", and indeed they had enough that day to meet their needs and more… And it was the best of the best…. His blessings are unique…
And so , at this juncture, Jesus begins his trail of miracles ….12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
Capernaum is where Jesus came to headquarter his ministry but it was now the time of passover… verse 13 And the Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting there…. (Explain this )
What did he do?
When he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Psalm 69:9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. Written by King David 1000 years before Christ was born….. So now their beginning to understand that Jesus is the fulfilment of the old testament.. They are recognizing correlations .. Jesus doesn’t waste time. And nobody teaches so many lessens to so many people at the same time as Jesus…Soo the disciples see this and are thinking and …….
18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. He was reading their black hearts….
I am quite sure that from this moment in time the chief priests and high leaders in the temple wanted to get rid of Him… Perhaps they could have killed him this day for doing what he did….Jesus knew their hearts…So he was referring to his body as the temple… In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.. “19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” This was Pauls message going forward just a few years.. It was part of his message to the first churches….That something to think about when you eat your gunay or take your exercise .. If we treat our own bodies with respect than we show reverence to the temple of the Lord and what he has created. created on the outside of us but also within us…
Jesus spoke to his disciples about the very thing that he told the high priests in the temple… He talked about or referred to his resurrection right from the beginning..Verse 22
22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. The scripture and the Word..
They are bringing it together… Luke 24:44 The scripture is about God..The Word “is” God….
Jesus said following his resurrection , “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” It was his mission here on earth so that all that who understood would believe…
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. Jesus got their attention but had no interest in being their entertainment…
600 hundred years prior Jeremiah writes:
Jeremiah 17:9-10
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” God never changes down through the ages or even transformed into human flesh. His messages are the same. Jesus said a lot during his ministry about listening..
1 Kings 19:11-13
God’s Revelation to Elijah in a still small voice..The voice of God…
1 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. This will be the Lord whispering in your ear.. Listen and you will hear…
Jesus said many times those who have ears let him hear… Listen to Him.. Open your ears to the Word and your hearts and if we do our cup will also runnith over….When we give our hearts to Jesus we embrace something better than we had before. Like the wine at the feast. The bridegroom put out his best wine but the gift from Christ was the best of the best…..
For next week we will begin with Nicodemus in John 3. He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus' teachings (John 3:1–21). This is a revealing tale of the nature of salvation…
The second time Nicodemus is mentioned, he reminds his colleagues in the Sanhedrin that the law requires that a person be heard before being judged (John 7:50–51).
Finally, Nicodemus appears after the Crucifixion of Jesus to provide the customary embalming spices, and assists Joseph of Arimathea in preparing the body of Jesus for burial (John 19:39–42).
An apocryphal work under his name—the Gospel of Nicodemus—was produced in the mid-4th century, and is mostly a reworking of the earlier Acts of Pilate.
Dear Lord,
We ask these things in the name of Jesus who died leaving His example of how to live…
Amen
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