Notes for tomorrow

“The Wedding Feast”
John 2:1-11

The Main Points of the Passage

1. Jesus, his mother, and the disciples were invited to a wedding.
2. They ran out of wine.
3. Jesus and his mother have a rather cold exchange.
4. She informs the servants to do what he says.
5. The servants fill 6 purification jars with water and when they draw some out, it is wine.
6. The master of the feast is amazed.
7. The disciples believe.

The Obvious – Water into Wine

Many of us know the passages of scripture that deal with the use of alcohol, both acceptable and unacceptable which is not the focal point of any of today’s message. But have you ever looked at the number of times wine is present during celebrations through out the Bible? Wine is symbolic of God’s blessings being poured out upon His people and is used to celebrate those blessings. Here’s what we know from this passage.

1. They had wine there at the wedding.
2. They ran out of wine which would be of great embarrassment to the bridegroom.
3. Jesus turned the water into wine. This is because He is not only celebrating this marriage, but blessing it as well. Why would Jesus bless this marriage? Because He is the one who ordained marriage.

Marriage Biblically

1. Genesis 2:18 – Man needed a helper. God gave man one.
2. Genesis 2:24 – For this helper, man will leave his father and mother and they will become one.
3. He will HOLD FAST to his wife.
a. This is why we do not covet our neighbor’s wife. Exodus 20:17
b. This is why we are to rejoice in the wife of our youth. Proverbs 5:18

4. Ephesians 5:21-33
a. Wives are to submit as the church submits to Christ.
b. Husbands love as Christ loved the church.
c. Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church.

Now I want to look at the first 7 points of this passage again.

1. Jesus, his mother, and the disciples were invited to a wedding.
a. John 3:16, Acts 2:21
2. They ran out of wine.
a. Man’s efforts fall short. Romans 3:23
3. Jesus and his mother have a rather cold exchange.
a. Jesus has left His mother for His bride. Genesis 2:24
4. She informs the servants to do what he says.
a. Mary and the servants are submitting as the church should. Ephesians 5:22
5. The servants fill 6 purification jars with water and when they draw some out, it is wine.
a. We are to be purified. 1 John 1:9
6. The master of the feast is amazed.
a. Not that Christ is shocked, but pleased. Matthew 25:21
7. The disciples believed.
a. I was amazed at the amount of times Jesus talked about belief. 51 times in the Gospels, he uses the word belief. Usually by asking “Do you believe?” or saying “You do not believe.”

Jesus is still asking “Do you believe?” Jesus is still convicting “You do not believe.” But what are we to believe? We passed over an important aspect of marriage. Yes, we discussed submission but not sacrificial giving. Jesus Christ gave himself sacrificially for you and for me. Paul in 1 Timothy 4:6 and Philippians 2:17 references how is feels as though he is being “poured out as a drink offering.” Another important function of wine in the Bible is as a drink offering. It would be poured out over the altar as yet another sacrifice to God. I can’t help but picture Christ on the cross. As the spear went through His side and the water and blood sprayed from the wound (John 19:34), He was our drink offering poured out upon the altar of the cross. He was our bridegroom sacrificing all for his bride.
According to John, this was the first of Jesus’ public signs. Sometimes this is lost as we read this passage. I have to ask, if this is the first, what is the last? Listen to what John writes in the Book of Revelation.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9And the angel said£ to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Revelation 19:6-9

And

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
Revelation 21:9

Friends, Jesus asked many people if they believed. Do you believe? “These words are trustworthy and true…” Revelation 22:6