Jesus: The Master of Joy and Abundance
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Now, there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. And Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. And 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 and said to him, everyone serves the good wine first. And when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you can drink the good wine first. And when people have drunk have kept the good wine until now." [00:37:38] (40 seconds)
"This miracle that Jesus is about to do, we're told, was a sign. A sign is a symbol, a signifier of something larger than itself. This sign was meant to show this community and the world who Jesus is. Now, think about, candidate for office or an entrepreneur or advertiser who's launching a brand, a musician with an EP, a company going public. Enormous care is given to such events, such encounters. Details are controlled to when and where and how. What you say, how you do it. For Jesus, the miracle of Canaan did not involve somebody who was sick or dying. Nobody was possessed by a demon. There was no power struggle with the scribes and the Pharisees. Nobody is starving and hurting. Instead, Jesus kicks off his redemptive work by being Mary's plus one at a wedding party. It seems, reading, that the miracle is happenstance." [00:42:52] (59 seconds)
"Why would he use his supernatural power to make good wine? And not just a little wine. Six stone jars, each with the capacity of 25 gallons, four quarts in a gallon, one quart a day. And so the miracle of Canaan is approximately six glasses of wine, giving this wedding feast 22 ,160 glasses of wine." [00:44:21] (24 seconds)
"Why else would John start out our story of Jesus's ministry this way? Now, a few vintages this morning we can offer to ourselves and our world. First, verse nine, Jesus is the master of the feast. The master is the wedding planner, DJ, mother of the bride, all wrapped up into one person. The master is called, calling people to celebrate. He made sure all the conditions were right and in place. And most importantly, he was to make the party great." [00:45:47] (32 seconds)
"And to make matters worse, the party favorer for the event was a 150 mugs, of which only 50 party goers got coffee. Now, imagine that. You have this coffee cup that you're giving out to everyone. Everyone's going to use it to drink their coffee. And the coffee runs out. Shame and embarrassment. And so the first vintage of wine in this passage to smell, to put in your mouth, to swirl around in your palate, is Jesus is the host. And when Jesus turns water into the wine. Jesus is saying, I'm the master of the banquet. I'm the DJ. I'm the wedding planner. I'm the Lord of the feast. And if you know the Jesus story, you know that Jesus came to suffer and to die, to suffer for our sins. And so the role of Lord of the feast seems antithetical to that. It doesn't seem to fit with Jesus. And maybe this is why it's his first sign. Jesus is us, the end of the story. He wants the guest at the party and us to see at the outset of his ministry how the story is going to end. The sign is a foretaste, a taster. Like what we did as we prepared for Jane's wedding, we went to a bunch of different caterers and they all had this tasting menu out for us to taste. So we taste different foods and decide what we liked and what we didn't like. We decide if we want to be with, use this person or not this person. What Jesus is offering is a foretaste, a taster. And the Bible uses century language to talk about God and salvation. In Psalm 34, David says to his readers, taste and see that the Lord is good." [00:47:28] (104 seconds)
"Jesus has come to make the sad untrue. The Bible says that this is what Jesus is going to do. He's come from heaven and he's bringing heaven with him. And he's going to bring earth and heaven together in such a way that the tears will be wiped away and the sad will become untrue." [00:49:52] (16 seconds)
"Here, Jesus is saying, I am that one, the Lord of the feast. I've come to bring joy. Joy is my calling card. And my purpose is to set everyone revelry." [00:50:08] (12 seconds)
"Jesus takes the ceremonial jars used for washing, cleansing, and fills them with new wine. In the Old Testament, there were rights and regulations which required many courses of various physical cleansings and purifications. These washings in themselves were signs. Signs relating to the holiness of God and to our humanity, our sinfulness." [00:51:45] (27 seconds)
"To connect with God, to be atoned for sin, cleansing and pardon were needed. One didn't just walk into the presence of God. So the purification jars were used to wash so one might be cleansed. So when Jesus used the jars normally used for ceremonial washing, he is saying, I've come into the world to accomplish in reality what the ceremonial and sacrificial laws of the Old Testament point to." [00:52:12] (31 seconds)
"John wants you to see here at the beginning of his gospel, what you'll hear later in his gospel, that the only way you can meet God is by the gracious doing of Jesus Christ for you. He is your justification." [00:55:03] (16 seconds)
"Abundance of the best wine. All the Old Testament prophets talk about this. And John wants you to see, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ into the world, that God is making good on his promise, to his people." [00:57:12] (14 seconds)
"When Israel languished in exile, convicted of their own sin, convinced God had abandoned them for breaking their vow to him, God chooses a marriage supper, a wedding party, and the image for how God will redeem his sinful people and reconcile all creation. And when you realize this wedding party at Cana is meant to point to the marriage supper of the Lamb, new creation, heaven, eternal life, everything that God has ever spoken into existence, only when you see that this is the way that God has spoken into existence, you realize that this is a sign of that marriage supper to come. You can begin to laugh at God's indiscriminate grace." [00:57:26] (38 seconds)
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"This miracle that Jesus is about to do, we're told, was a sign. A sign is a symbol, a signifier of something larger than itself. This sign was meant to show this community and the world who Jesus is. Now, think about, candidate for office or an entrepreneur or advertiser who's launching a brand, a musician with an EP, a company going public. Enormous care is given to such events, such encounters. Details are controlled to when and where and how. What you say, how you do it. For Jesus, the miracle of Canaan did not involve somebody who was sick or dying. Nobody was possessed by a demon. There was no power struggle with the scribes and the Pharisees. Nobody is starving and hurting. Instead, Jesus kicks off his redemptive work by being Mary's plus one at a wedding party. It seems, reading, that the miracle is happenstance." [00:42:52] (59 seconds)
"Why would he use his supernatural power to make good wine? And not just a little wine. Six stone jars, each with the capacity of 25 gallons, four quarts in a gallon, one quart a day. And so the miracle of Canaan is approximately six glasses of wine, giving this wedding feast 22 ,160 glasses of wine." [00:44:21] (24 seconds)
"Why else would John start out our story of Jesus's ministry this way? Now, a few vintages this morning we can offer to ourselves and our world. First, verse nine, Jesus is the master of the feast. The master is the wedding planner, DJ, mother of the bride, all wrapped up into one person. The master is called, calling people to celebrate. He made sure all the conditions were right and in place. And most importantly, he was to make the party great." [00:45:47] (32 seconds)
"And to make matters worse, the party favorer for the event was a 150 mugs, of which only 50 party goers got coffee. Now, imagine that. You have this coffee cup that you're giving out to everyone. Everyone's going to use it to drink their coffee. And the coffee runs out. Shame and embarrassment. And so the first vintage of wine in this passage to smell, to put in your mouth, to swirl around in your palate, is Jesus is the host. And when Jesus turns water into the wine. Jesus is saying, I'm the master of the banquet. I'm the DJ. I'm the wedding planner. I'm the Lord of the feast. And if you know the Jesus story, you know that Jesus came to suffer and to die, to suffer for our sins. And so the role of Lord of the feast seems antithetical to that. It doesn't seem to fit with Jesus. And maybe this is why it's his first sign. Jesus is us, the end of the story. He wants the guest at the party and us to see at the outset of his ministry how the story is going to end. The sign is a foretaste, a taster. Like what we did as we prepared for Jane's wedding, we went to a bunch of different caterers and they all had this tasting menu out for us to taste. So we taste different foods and decide what we liked and what we didn't like. We decide if we want to be with, use this person or not this person. What Jesus is offering is a foretaste, a taster. And the Bible uses century language to talk about God and salvation. In Psalm 34, David says to his readers, taste and see that the Lord is good." [00:47:28] (104 seconds)
"Jesus has come to make the sad untrue. The Bible says that this is what Jesus is going to do. He's come from heaven and he's bringing heaven with him. And he's going to bring earth and heaven together in such a way that the tears will be wiped away and the sad will become untrue." [00:49:52] (16 seconds)
"Here, Jesus is saying, I am that one, the Lord of the feast. I've come to bring joy. Joy is my calling card. And my purpose is to set everyone revelry." [00:50:08] (12 seconds)
"Jesus takes the ceremonial jars used for washing, cleansing, and fills them with new wine. In the Old Testament, there were rights and regulations which required many courses of various physical cleansings and purifications. These washings in themselves were signs. Signs relating to the holiness of God and to our humanity, our sinfulness." [00:51:45] (27 seconds)
"To connect with God, to be atoned for sin, cleansing and pardon were needed. One didn't just walk into the presence of God. So the purification jars were used to wash so one might be cleansed. So when Jesus used the jars normally used for ceremonial washing, he is saying, I've come into the world to accomplish in reality what the ceremonial and sacrificial laws of the Old Testament point to." [00:52:12] (31 seconds)
"John wants you to see here at the beginning of his gospel, what you'll hear later in his gospel, that the only way you can meet God is by the gracious doing of Jesus Christ for you. He is your justification." [00:55:03] (16 seconds)
"Abundance of the best wine. All the Old Testament prophets talk about this. And John wants you to see, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ into the world, that God is making good on his promise, to his people." [00:57:12] (14 seconds)
"When Israel languished in exile, convicted of their own sin, convinced God had abandoned them for breaking their vow to him, God chooses a marriage supper, a wedding party, and the image for how God will redeem his sinful people and reconcile all creation. And when you realize this wedding party at Cana is meant to point to the marriage supper of the Lamb, new creation, heaven, eternal life, everything that God has ever spoken into existence, only when you see that this is the way that God has spoken into existence, you realize that this is a sign of that marriage supper to come. You can begin to laugh at God's indiscriminate grace." [00:57:26] (38 seconds)
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