Rev. Alan J. Meenan
Jesus had been invited to a wedding. It was a Wednesday night. Jewish law legislated that a virgin should be married on a Wednesday. We don’t know whose wedding it was, but we surmise that it was the wedding of some relative, because Mary held a special place of honor. It seems that she was responsible for the arrangements. Indeed, one Coptic gospel from Egypt goes so far as to suggest that Mary’s sister was the groom’s mother. Still other traditions tell us that the groom was John the apostle. Regardless of whosever wedding it was, the story is obviously retold by an eyewitness.
The festivities would have continued long into the night, for many days. In ancient times, the community treated the bride and the groom like a queen and king. In those days of difficulty and hardship, when life was onerous and most people lived in great poverty, weddings were the most joyful occasions in life. Everyone looked forward to this special time of celebration. So you can imagine on this particular occasion when disaster struck, people were humiliated and shamed. They had lacked provision. They had run out of wine. You may not think that is too terrible a thing. However, you should know that the old Rabbis used to say, “Without wine there is no joy.” It was a humiliating experience for this Galilean family of meager means.
Jesus was there. He was part of the life and the vitality of their celebration. He was part of the fun. Dare I say that, Jesus shared the wine? He shared the music. He shared the laughter. He probably shared in the dancing as well. And, very quietly and unobtrusively, He does something quite remarkable. Those who were there had never seen anything like this before. This was the very first miracle that Jesus ever performed. Wine, full-bodied and sweet, flowed in abundance from jars that formerly contained water for ceremonial purification. What a wine it was! So the festivities continued with few people ever knowing how great the crisis avoided.
Look at verse twelve and you will see that after this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples. They must have been excited about what they had witnessed. There, on the lovely shore of the Sea of Galilee, they could share perspectives. Certainly, they had learned a great deal about Jesus. Can you imagine the conversation? They'd never seen Him having so much fun. “don’t you think He was the life and soul of the party?” one said to another. “Did you hear that crazy joke? He laughed so hard!” the other replied. So the conversation would go.
Jesus Christ was never a sanctimonious killjoy. To see many of the followers of Jesus Christ, one would think otherwise. So many people who call themselves Christians are suspicious of joy and happiness. When they sing the hymns, you'd think that you asked them for a kidney. They are always moaning, groaning, and complaining. No wonder the hymnist wrote those lovely words:
Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts,
Thou Fount of life, thou light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts,
We turn unfilled to Thee again.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, “an individual who has no geniality about him had better be an undertaker and bury the dead, for he will never succeed in influencing the living.” There was nothing dull about Jesus! Children loved Him. Teenagers followed Him. He was admired by young and old. The greatest need of the church in American today is to rediscover the joy. Real worship is exciting and vital and full and free. We need to be able to say with meaning, that joy is the banner I fly from the castle of my heart when the King is in residence. If Jesus Himself was an awful lot of fun, then following Him should be fun as well.
This little consortium in Capernaum was also impressed by the humility of Jesus. Some asked the question, “Why did He work the miracle quietly and auspiciously?” The vast majority of people at that wedding never even knew that Jesus had saved the day. In fact, even the toast-master didn’t know. The master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine and didn’t know where it had come from. He called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first. Then, when the guests are drunk, they bring out the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best for last.” We might wonder why He didn’t choose the vast hungry crowd of Jerusalem for His first miracle. He could stir the emotions and do something sensational for everyone to see. If you had to choose the miracle most appropriate to inaugurate the ministry of Christ on earth, which one would you have picked? The feeding of the five thousand? The raising of Lazarus? The stilling of the storm? I dare say that no one would have picked the miracle of changing water into wine in a remote village in Galilee. Yet here is Jesus, touching the ordinary things of life, and making them extraordinary. Jesus can take the ordinary things of your life, and by grace He can make them extraordinary. He did it to save a humble Galilean family from hurt and humiliation. Grasp the significance of what John is saying. The Lord of life, the Creator of the Universe, the King of Glory, used all the power that He had at His disposal to save a simple Galilean family from shame and humiliation.
Jesus Thou art all compassion.
Pure unbounded love Thou art.
Visit us with Thy salvation,
Enter every trembling heart.
If we wish to be a follower of Jesus Christ, His personality, His perspective, and His purpose must be ours as well. If we are really going to reflect who Jesus Christ is in Los Angeles, California, we ought to be joyful, compassionate, and humble. I presume that it was quite an interesting discussion around that campfire on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Notice, however, the responses of those within the group. It is quite enlightening. First of all, Jesus' brothers were scathingly skeptical. I imagine this to be a great tragedy as we read elsewhere that His brothers did not believe in Him, and I wonder why. Was it that they were too familiar with Him? Was it that they had heard the gospel too many times, and they simply were not impressed? My heart sinks as I realize it is a parable of many within the church of Jesus Christ today. There are so many who go through the motions, but they never really believe. But at least one of the brothers became a devout follower of Jesus. He even sat down and wrote one of the Books of the New Testament. His name was James. His is a story of God’s love breaking through the barrier of skepticism.
Still others in the group believed. Look at verse eleven: This, the first of His miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples put their faith in Him. You might be thinking, the disciples believed already. They did. They were absolutely thoroughly convinced that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. If they hadn’t believed in Him, they would have never left to follow Him to Cana in Galilee. Now, though, John is referring to a different concept of belief. In his Gospel, John uses the word belief in two ways. First he uses it to connote belief with the mind. He also uses it to connote belief with the heart. In verse eleven of chapter two, it is the latter that he speaks about. Up until now, the disciples had believed intellectually that Jesus was the Messiah. They were very sympathetic to what He was saying and doing. They were willing to follow Him. They believed with the mind. Now, though, there is a surrender of the heart. It is not adequate to believe Jesus with the mind. You can have a Ph.D. in theology. You can believe all kinds of doctrines, but there is a deeper level of belief. It is believing with the heart.
Understand that believing with the heart does not take the place of believing with the mind. One needs to believe with both the mind and with the heart. But, it is essential to believe with both. The question that I am compelled to asked is not so much whether or not you believe. I could go out onto Hollywood Blvd. and ask all manner of people, “Do you believe in Jesus?” "Oh, yes.” they would answer. Even the devil believes in Jesus. The question then is, “How do you believe?” How deeply are you committed to this Christianity? How deeply are you dedicated to the work of the kingdom? Is yours only a head-knowledge? His disciples believed with the heart.
Finally there was Mary. She sat among that group by the shores of the Sea of Galilee listening intently to all the conversations. She listened to what people were saying about her son. Was there anyone there who knew Jesus better than Mary? Did she not nurse Him as a baby? Did she not sing him lullabies as a child? Did she not play peek-a-boo with him? Did she not watch Him struggle with His consciousness of divinity? Did she not smile at His infectious little laugh? No one knew Jesus better than Mary. More than all the rest, she had touched the body of a man and had felt the Spirit of the Lord. Notice how she interacted with Him during the miracle. That will be the clue to our understanding of how we can best know Him and love Him.
Jesus was the one to whom Mary turned when things were going wrong. Catastrophe had struck this Galilean home and Mary, being somewhat responsible for the arrangements, turned to Jesus. She knew that He could solve the problem. She didn’t understand how or why, but somehow she knew, in her heart, that Jesus could take care of any situation. He’s the one to turn to when things go wrong. Second, even when she didn’t understand what was happening, she kept trusting Him. Finally, hers was a ready acquiescence to His will. In verse five, she turns to the servants and instructs them, “Do whatever He tells you.” Those three traits embody the life of faith in an incredible way. Understand that Jesus is the one to turn to when things go wrong, and when things are good. Even when you don’t understand the situation or how God can extricate you from the problem, keep trusting Him. And, do whatever He tells you to do. What an example that is for us. Turn to Christ. Believe in Christ. Do whatever it is He says.
We must leave the excited little group at Capernaum. That invigorating discussion must have continued long into the night. They had experienced a remarkable thing. Water had been turned into wine. And as the discussion continued, they realized that they had crossed the watershed. One way or another their lives would never be the same again. If you turn to Christ and believe in Him and do what He tells you to do, your life will never be the same.
This is the "Year of Discovery" at Hollywood Presbyterian Church. We believe that God wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. The exciting thing is, in the past two weeks, there are people who have given their lives to Jesus Christ on this campus. We're looking for God to do it again and again and again. Because this is a God of miracles! He can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary! I invite you to faith. And in so doing…I offer you Jesus.
Jesus had been invited to a wedding. It was a Wednesday night. Jewish law legislated that a virgin should be married on a Wednesday. We don’t know whose wedding it was, but we surmise that it was the wedding of some relative, because Mary held a special place of honor. It seems that she was responsible for the arrangements. Indeed, one Coptic gospel from Egypt goes so far as to suggest that Mary’s sister was the groom’s mother. Still other traditions tell us that the groom was John the apostle. Regardless of whosever wedding it was, the story is obviously retold by an eyewitness.
The festivities would have continued long into the night, for many days. In ancient times, the community treated the bride and the groom like a queen and king. In those days of difficulty and hardship, when life was onerous and most people lived in great poverty, weddings were the most joyful occasions in life. Everyone looked forward to this special time of celebration. So you can imagine on this particular occasion when disaster struck, people were humiliated and shamed. They had lacked provision. They had run out of wine. You may not think that is too terrible a thing. However, you should know that the old Rabbis used to say, “Without wine there is no joy.” It was a humiliating experience for this Galilean family of meager means.
Jesus was there. He was part of the life and the vitality of their celebration. He was part of the fun. Dare I say that, Jesus shared the wine? He shared the music. He shared the laughter. He probably shared in the dancing as well. And, very quietly and unobtrusively, He does something quite remarkable. Those who were there had never seen anything like this before. This was the very first miracle that Jesus ever performed. Wine, full-bodied and sweet, flowed in abundance from jars that formerly contained water for ceremonial purification. What a wine it was! So the festivities continued with few people ever knowing how great the crisis avoided.
Look at verse twelve and you will see that after this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples. They must have been excited about what they had witnessed. There, on the lovely shore of the Sea of Galilee, they could share perspectives. Certainly, they had learned a great deal about Jesus. Can you imagine the conversation? They'd never seen Him having so much fun. “don’t you think He was the life and soul of the party?” one said to another. “Did you hear that crazy joke? He laughed so hard!” the other replied. So the conversation would go.
Jesus Christ was never a sanctimonious killjoy. To see many of the followers of Jesus Christ, one would think otherwise. So many people who call themselves Christians are suspicious of joy and happiness. When they sing the hymns, you'd think that you asked them for a kidney. They are always moaning, groaning, and complaining. No wonder the hymnist wrote those lovely words:
Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts,
Thou Fount of life, thou light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts,
We turn unfilled to Thee again.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, “an individual who has no geniality about him had better be an undertaker and bury the dead, for he will never succeed in influencing the living.” There was nothing dull about Jesus! Children loved Him. Teenagers followed Him. He was admired by young and old. The greatest need of the church in American today is to rediscover the joy. Real worship is exciting and vital and full and free. We need to be able to say with meaning, that joy is the banner I fly from the castle of my heart when the King is in residence. If Jesus Himself was an awful lot of fun, then following Him should be fun as well.
This little consortium in Capernaum was also impressed by the humility of Jesus. Some asked the question, “Why did He work the miracle quietly and auspiciously?” The vast majority of people at that wedding never even knew that Jesus had saved the day. In fact, even the toast-master didn’t know. The master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine and didn’t know where it had come from. He called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first. Then, when the guests are drunk, they bring out the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best for last.” We might wonder why He didn’t choose the vast hungry crowd of Jerusalem for His first miracle. He could stir the emotions and do something sensational for everyone to see. If you had to choose the miracle most appropriate to inaugurate the ministry of Christ on earth, which one would you have picked? The feeding of the five thousand? The raising of Lazarus? The stilling of the storm? I dare say that no one would have picked the miracle of changing water into wine in a remote village in Galilee. Yet here is Jesus, touching the ordinary things of life, and making them extraordinary. Jesus can take the ordinary things of your life, and by grace He can make them extraordinary. He did it to save a humble Galilean family from hurt and humiliation. Grasp the significance of what John is saying. The Lord of life, the Creator of the Universe, the King of Glory, used all the power that He had at His disposal to save a simple Galilean family from shame and humiliation.
Jesus Thou art all compassion.
Pure unbounded love Thou art.
Visit us with Thy salvation,
Enter every trembling heart.
If we wish to be a follower of Jesus Christ, His personality, His perspective, and His purpose must be ours as well. If we are really going to reflect who Jesus Christ is in Los Angeles, California, we ought to be joyful, compassionate, and humble. I presume that it was quite an interesting discussion around that campfire on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Notice, however, the responses of those within the group. It is quite enlightening. First of all, Jesus' brothers were scathingly skeptical. I imagine this to be a great tragedy as we read elsewhere that His brothers did not believe in Him, and I wonder why. Was it that they were too familiar with Him? Was it that they had heard the gospel too many times, and they simply were not impressed? My heart sinks as I realize it is a parable of many within the church of Jesus Christ today. There are so many who go through the motions, but they never really believe. But at least one of the brothers became a devout follower of Jesus. He even sat down and wrote one of the Books of the New Testament. His name was James. His is a story of God’s love breaking through the barrier of skepticism.
Still others in the group believed. Look at verse eleven: This, the first of His miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples put their faith in Him. You might be thinking, the disciples believed already. They did. They were absolutely thoroughly convinced that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. If they hadn’t believed in Him, they would have never left to follow Him to Cana in Galilee. Now, though, John is referring to a different concept of belief. In his Gospel, John uses the word belief in two ways. First he uses it to connote belief with the mind. He also uses it to connote belief with the heart. In verse eleven of chapter two, it is the latter that he speaks about. Up until now, the disciples had believed intellectually that Jesus was the Messiah. They were very sympathetic to what He was saying and doing. They were willing to follow Him. They believed with the mind. Now, though, there is a surrender of the heart. It is not adequate to believe Jesus with the mind. You can have a Ph.D. in theology. You can believe all kinds of doctrines, but there is a deeper level of belief. It is believing with the heart.
Understand that believing with the heart does not take the place of believing with the mind. One needs to believe with both the mind and with the heart. But, it is essential to believe with both. The question that I am compelled to asked is not so much whether or not you believe. I could go out onto Hollywood Blvd. and ask all manner of people, “Do you believe in Jesus?” "Oh, yes.” they would answer. Even the devil believes in Jesus. The question then is, “How do you believe?” How deeply are you committed to this Christianity? How deeply are you dedicated to the work of the kingdom? Is yours only a head-knowledge? His disciples believed with the heart.
Finally there was Mary. She sat among that group by the shores of the Sea of Galilee listening intently to all the conversations. She listened to what people were saying about her son. Was there anyone there who knew Jesus better than Mary? Did she not nurse Him as a baby? Did she not sing him lullabies as a child? Did she not play peek-a-boo with him? Did she not watch Him struggle with His consciousness of divinity? Did she not smile at His infectious little laugh? No one knew Jesus better than Mary. More than all the rest, she had touched the body of a man and had felt the Spirit of the Lord. Notice how she interacted with Him during the miracle. That will be the clue to our understanding of how we can best know Him and love Him.
Jesus was the one to whom Mary turned when things were going wrong. Catastrophe had struck this Galilean home and Mary, being somewhat responsible for the arrangements, turned to Jesus. She knew that He could solve the problem. She didn’t understand how or why, but somehow she knew, in her heart, that Jesus could take care of any situation. He’s the one to turn to when things go wrong. Second, even when she didn’t understand what was happening, she kept trusting Him. Finally, hers was a ready acquiescence to His will. In verse five, she turns to the servants and instructs them, “Do whatever He tells you.” Those three traits embody the life of faith in an incredible way. Understand that Jesus is the one to turn to when things go wrong, and when things are good. Even when you don’t understand the situation or how God can extricate you from the problem, keep trusting Him. And, do whatever He tells you to do. What an example that is for us. Turn to Christ. Believe in Christ. Do whatever it is He says.
We must leave the excited little group at Capernaum. That invigorating discussion must have continued long into the night. They had experienced a remarkable thing. Water had been turned into wine. And as the discussion continued, they realized that they had crossed the watershed. One way or another their lives would never be the same again. If you turn to Christ and believe in Him and do what He tells you to do, your life will never be the same.
This is the "Year of Discovery" at Hollywood Presbyterian Church. We believe that God wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. The exciting thing is, in the past two weeks, there are people who have given their lives to Jesus Christ on this campus. We're looking for God to do it again and again and again. Because this is a God of miracles! He can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary! I invite you to faith. And in so doing…I offer you Jesus.
