Theme: The Wedding at
The little town of
Here, Jesus and His disciples
have come, because of the wedding of a relative of the family. The tradition
was that, on the day of the wedding the wedding party would move through the
town; and if you happened to be a passer by, the tradition was that you were to
join the wedding party. The wedding day and the wedding ceremony were very
important in
Here was Jesus, with
disciples. And here we notice right away a difference in the ministry of Jesus.
The home of John the Baptist was the desert, the empty echoing silences of the
desert. Where John walked alone, in prayer, in the presence
of God.
But from the beginning we find
the Lord Jesus in the world - we see the Lord in the midst
of all the movement and bustle of daily life. We see the Lord coming amongst ordinary
men and women - sinners like you and me and touching their lives.
And here it was, at a village
wedding, however, in the joy and festivity of a village wedding that for the
first time, as the gospel says:
Jesus revealed His glory and
His disciples put their faith in Him (2.11).
We know the story well. The
wedding celebrations were well under way, because they were already nearly
finished the wine. Even though the reception had grown so big with the additional
guests, according to wedding traditions in
There were six jars of water
standing there. These were essential for the purification regulations of
What is the miracle
?
At first sight, we might think
that this miracle is simply a wonder, a demonstration of the power Jesus has. Here, at the
wedding, there was a problem, and by His power, Jesus has acted and removed the
difficulty. However, in John’s gospel, the miracles of Jesus are never just
powerful things done - they are signs of the deeper things of the kingdom. The
miracle that took place when the water was changed into wine is not simply a
wonderful example of the power of Jesus. It is a sign of the
So, what is the changing of the
water into wine a sign of ?
Well the Church has always
looked at the changing of the water into wine, the changing from clear, ordinary
water - to rich, deep, dark wine as a transformation.
The changing of the water into
wine for those men and women present, is a sign of the
great, deep, and wonderful change from the Law to the Gospel taking place in and
through Jesus. A sign of the transformation taking place in the change from the
plain, clear, Law, to the rich, deep dark wine of the Gospel in and through Jesus
Christ.
The first two chapters of John point to this. From the very beginning of his gospel John leaves us in no doubt that a new era has begun in Jesus. A new era has dawned in Jesus Christ. A new order in the history of God’s purposes for this world. Jesus, the gospel declares is greater than Moses, greater than Abraham.
He is the one that the One of whom the great prophecies of old spoke.........He is the One for whom the prophets of old looked, with aching, longing hearts,
the
One who would bring God’s new age, a new era.
The law came through Moses, but says John, grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
That’s what the miracle of the water into wine is a sign of.
The much greater transformation taking place in and through Jesus.
God has acted to bring about the great movement,
from the Law, to the Gospel.
The Law........
We may think of the law in the
first five books of the Bible, as rules for daily life in
In the law given through
Moses, is laid out what God requires of His people
So, you could sum it up like this, the law in the Old Testament, reflects the glory of God Himself, His majesty, His perfection.
But here’s a wonder, here’s a fact that brings us to a halt...........
There is no one in the history
of
No one, not Moses, not Joshua, not David,
Elijah, not Daniel,
No one who walks always with God,
no one who knows and does His will perfectly,
no one who is righteous.
And, in the end that’s no surprise is it,
there is no one righteous
we already know that
if we know what men and women are like,
we already know that if we know ourselves...........
there
is no one righteous........
The Gospel.....
But the New Testament, the
good news, proclaims this:
That God has acted . God has done something in this situation. He has sent His own Son, Jesus. And if you look at Jesus, if you know anything at all about Jesus, you will know that He has lived the only, holy and perfect, righteous human life,
living
in perfect love and trust in God. Here is one human being who does walk always
with God, who’s life matches and fits the Law
perfectly. He, Paul glories in this in one of his letters, He knew no sin. He
knew no sin - May the Lord be praised.......!
So, Jesus in His own life has lived the Law in all its perfection, completed it,
lived it out......... on our behalf,
now the new era has begun........... and obviously the new era we are in is going to have Jesus at its centre........
The law came..... says John, now grace and truth have come through Jesus
Christ.
Let us take our gaze from the glory of Jesus and come back to us
Back to us....... for a moment
Among us, there is no one who walks always with God,
no one who knows and does His will perfectly,
no one who is righteous.
And, in the end that’s no surprise is it,
there is no one righteous
we already know that
if we know what men and women are like,
we already know that if we know ourselves...........
there is no one righteous........
A great
who said..... I would come to Church, except it’s full of hypocrites,
Arthur said to him, well come along anyway, there’s always room for one more........
there is no one righteous........
As the letter to the Romans
declares, all of us have sinned, and all of us fall short of God’s glory, we
are far away from God’s glory. But God has acted to do something about this our
situation. Something promised right through the Scriptures. That God would
bring about a new situation, God Himself would break in,
and
offer a new way in place of the old.
And that is exactly what He
has done.
By the power of the Cross of Jesus.
At the Cross, Jesus has taken our place, taken our sin upon Himself, the sins of the whole world are laid upon Jesus Christ, and are taken away. The power of the Cross of Jesus is this: that it is there where our sin, all our sin is taken away once and for all.
No - there is no one who is righteous........ not one of us.
But the glory and the power of the Cross of Jesus is this: that it is there that all our sin, all our sin is taken away once and for all.
God has made a way for us to come to Him.........
with
all our sins are forgiven. We come to the Cross and find its secret, mystery
and power - forgiveness, and healing, healing for our souls.
The law came..... says
John, now grace and truth have come
through Jesus Christ.
it is at the Cross of Jesus that we find God’s grace,
in the Cross of Jesus heart healing, life renewing, unshakeable truth
there is no one who is righteous, no.........
but One,
Jesus, Jesus, the name above all names...........
but at the Cross,
the Word of God declares,
He who knew no sin, was made sin for us............
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him
AMEN.