Jesus Restores Fellowship
Text: John 2:1-11 Speaker: Pastor Matthew Ude Festival: Epiphany Passages: John 2:1-11
Audio Sermon
Full Service Video
John 2:1-11
The Wedding at Cana (Listen)
2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.1 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
Footnotes
[1] 2:6
(ESV)
There are many ways the bible has to picture the problem of our sin and the effect that sin has on our life. One of the ways that the Bible speaks of this problem is as a broken relationship.
Isaiah 59:2 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
We who were made to walk with God in the evening and know him as closely as a child ought to know his father, do not know him at all. Jesus death on the cross heals this broken relationship.
Ephesians 2:13 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
But our relationship with God is not the only one that is broken by our sin. Our relationships with one another are also severely broken, especially our marriages and family relationships. These relationships ought to be the greatest source of encouragement and strength in our life yet because of our sin they are often the greatest source of discouragement. The blood of Christ that fixes our relationship with God is also able to heal our relationships with each other.
Listen to the beautiful words which the Holy Spirit inspired through the Apostle John
1 John 1:3-4 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
What does this mean? It means that when our relationship with our Father in heaven is broken than also our relationships with each other cannot be what it should. But since Jesus has restored our fellowship with the Father, now through Jesus it is also possible for us to have true fellowship with one another. True fellowship with one another begins with true fellowship with our Father. When we are in fellowship with the Father then and only then will our “joy be full” in our fellowship with one another. Without that heavenly fellowship our earthly one cannot be the fullness of joy we desire.
Jesus came to restore fellowship with one another, including but not limited to our marriage.
In our text a young couple is desiring the wonderful blessing of marriage, yet their wedding is missing something. We do not know if it was someone’s fault or if it was just one of those things that happen and there is not much you can do about it. Some might say that it is a little thing, that it is an earthly thing, that the amount of wine isn’t what makes a wedding joyful. Partly they would be right, yet it is a thing that helps to make the wedding more joyful, and Jesus does not disdain this celebration. Rather when He is asked Jesus gladly blesses this wedding, even though all they ask for is more wine.
This is an earthly blessing and an earthly thing that Jesus does here, but it reminds us of the more important spiritual truth. He fulfills our joy. His blessings heal what we broke. And afterwards the wedding is better than it was before.
If Jesus was so willing to bestow earthly blessings how much more will He not bestow spiritual. If His earthly blessings made the wedding better after than it was before, how much more will His spiritual blessings.
Our fellowship, our relationships, especially our marriages, but not limited to that, are severely lacking. When this couple was lacking what they needed for a successful wedding they asked Jesus and Jesus supplied what was missing. If we ask Jesus to bless us with what is lacking is there any doubt that He will provide greater blessings than he gave this couple. What happens when Jesus blesses us with what is lacking? The latter is greater than the former.
John 2:10 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now
The master of the feast is surprised that this later wine is better than the former. For many people it is hard to imagine a relationship that not only lasts but also grows better and better with age. From an earthly perspective it seems that a relationship must always be better at the start than latter on. Yet Jesus promises us the same thing He gave to this couple. Through His blessings are relationships can grow so that the latter is far greater than the earlier.
NKJ Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
Vanessa and I were out cross country skiing the other day. This is an activity that I did when I was younger but Vanessa doesn’t have a lot of experience with.
She kept asking me, “How do I stop?”
To which I replied, “Why do you need to stop, just go with it.”
She said she didn’t want to run into a tree.
We don’t like to let go. We often like to be in control because we are afraid of where we are going to end up if we let go. We are afraid we might run into a tree. But the truth is that we are going to crash if we insist on being in control. If we relinquish control to God that is when we won’t crash.
I can imagine that there are some people who if Jesus offered to change water into wine, they would respond, “Well that’s ok Jesus. I’m not really sure if you would make it into the right kind of wine, or how good the quality is going to be. I’d rather go pick it out myself so that I know its what I want.”
A lot of people approach relationships and especially marriage with exactly that attitude.
“I’m really not sure the kind of relationship you want me to have is really what I want. I’d rather just be in control myself and I’ll make sure I get the relationship I want.”
Some of us may not have mastered XC skis to avoid running into trees. But none of us can master our relationships. When we insist on being in control we will crash. When we let God be in control and submit to His will only then can we avoid the trees.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
You know what God’s plan is for our marriages. That wives submit to their husband’s, and that husbands be willing always to sacrifice their own interests for their wives. You know what God’s desires for our relationships, that we forgive, forgive, forgive, forgive and pray for one another. Sometimes even though we know what God wants we really don’t want that. However remember the blessings which God has promised to you.
Jeremiah 32:38-39 38 `They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 `then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.
Isn’t this exactly the relationships we want. One people, one heart with God and each other. This is what God promises us if we listen and trust Him.
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to heal that which was broken. This includes our relationships with Him and with one another. Submit to the Lord and let His will be done in your life and the later wine will be better than the former. The Lord can and will heal all that is broken.
Malachi 4:2 2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings;
Amen