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(upbeat music) - Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotions. Hi, I'm Pastor Tom
Holliday, and this is chapter two, week two of our study of the Gospel of John.
First day of our look at this chapter, we're going to be looking today at verses
one through six.

As we're starting chapter two, let me just remind you of last week. Last week,
as we looked at chapter one of the Gospel of John, it was a whirlwind of truth.
We began with the word, and the beginning was the word, and then we had the
Baptist, and everything about John the Baptist, and then the call of all of
Jesus' disciples.

In light of that, it's interesting that John the second chapter begins with the
words, "On the third day. " John chapter two, verses one and two says, "On the
third day, a wedding took place in Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and
Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

" What's this about the third day at the very beginning? Well, it goes back to
chapter one. Chapter one, towards the end of the chapter, John begins to show us
a week in the life of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry.

If you look back to chapter one, verse 19, you see that day one in this week is
John the Baptist being questioned about who he is. Day two is John pointing to
Jesus as the Lamb of God. And day three, John introduces Andrew, and John to
Jesus, and Andrew brings Peter.

And they go through the days of this week so that we see how God is working in
the life of Jesus throughout this week. So this third day of this week after
what had happened with the introduction of Jesus to his disciples is this
wedding that takes place in Cana of Galilee. It's interesting that John begins
the gospel by showing us a week in the life of Jesus because it's a reminder of
two things.

It's a reminder of the week that God took to create in the beginning. Since John
started the gospel in the beginning, you have to think he had that in mind when
he showed us a week in the life of Jesus. Just like God took a week to create,
here's a week in the life of Jesus and what he was doing as the creator of God
who's come into this world.

It's a reminder of the week that God started everything with, but it's also a
reminder of the last week. At the end of the gospel of John, John chapter 12
through chapter 20, we're going to see that John extends out what happens in this
last week of Jesus' life. So the gospel of John begins with a week in the life
of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry and the gospel of John ends with an
extended look at a week in the life of Jesus at the end of his ministry on this
earth.

It is obvious throughout this that Jesus is on a divine schedule, but he's not
hurried. And it's also obvious, don't miss the obvious of what happens at the
beginning of this second chapter, it's obvious that Jesus went to a wedding.
Jesus' mother was there, his disciples were there, they were all invited to this
wedding.

It was a party and Jesus was there. Now you have to realize as you read about
this wedding that the idea of a wedding, what happened at a wedding in Jewish
times, even today in Eastern cultures is very different from our Western idea of
a wedding. In Jewish weddings, first you have the wedding ceremony and after
that ceremony, it would be night by that time and they'd have this tremendous
torch procession out to the bride's home, to her parents' home.

And at that home, there would be speeches made, there would be well-wishings,
there would be things said about the bride and the couple, all the things that
happen at weddings. The kinds of things that you see happen at a reception at a
wedding today, the toasts that are given. After that, it wasn't over.

After that, the procession would then move to the groom's home and that's where
the party really began. That's where things really focused. This is where you
see Eastern weddings and Western weddings is very different.

In Western weddings, the bride is the focus, as she should be. In Western
weddings, the groom is sort of like a necessary evil. And in Eastern wedding,
the groom is generally more of the focus.

And the focus is on this great feast at the groom's home. They would process to
the groom's home and this feast would go on for two or three days, oftentimes
for a week. Later, we're going to find out that when Jesus does a miracle at
this wedding, he creates a lot of wine.

This was not some two hour reception. This was oftentimes a seven day feast with
people celebrating the whole time. This great celebration, they knew how to
celebrate a wedding.

I don't want you to miss this, this celebration, this wedding. In chapter one,
Jesus chose his first six disciples, Andrew and Peter and John and the others.
And these are men that are going to turn the world upside down because of their
faith.

And the first thing that he does with these six men is he goes to a party. If
you think, oh, we don't have time for parties if we're going to be serious about
our faith, then you also have to think, how could Jesus do this? You also have
to think, maybe I've missed the point.

What's the point? People are at parties. And Jesus wanted to be where people
were because he came for people.

Jesus came to serve people. Don't miss the fact that this also was a wedding.
And here is Jesus Christ at a wedding.

Jesus attends this wedding to sanctify it and to show us the value of the normal
experiences of life. You might be planning a wedding right now. Know somebody
that's planning a wedding.

The first person on your guest list should be the same person who was at this
wedding. Put Jesus Christ on your guest list. He's going to be there anyway.

So you may as well put him there. Recognize him as there. Recognize that Jesus
Christ is the most honored guest at any wedding.

He needs to be the most honored guest at any wedding. In chapter three of John
chapter two, the Bible says this happened at that wedding. When the wine was
gone, Jesus' mother said to him, they have no more wine.

They ran out of wine. This is a big deal. You didn't run out of food or wine at
a Jewish wedding.

You just didn't do that. It was so serious, it was literally a crime. Not just
figuratively a crime.

You could be fined by the authorities for running out of food or drink at one of
these celebrations. This was a huge embarrassment. Then Jesus' mother sees this.

And so she says to Jesus in verses four and five. She says to Jesus, they've run
out of wine. And then Jesus says to her in verse four, dear woman, why do you
involve me?

Jesus replied, my time has not yet come. And then his mother says to the
servants, do whatever he tells you. Now this whole exchange sounds very strange
to us.

Jesus' mother says, they don't have any more wine. Why do you involve me, woman,
Jesus replies. My time hasn't yet come.

And then Mary says, do whatever he tells you. The whole conversation doesn't
seem to fit to us. Here's how it sounds to us.

Mary suggests something. It looks like there's not enough wine, Jesus. Jesus
resists, why do you involve me?

Mary insists, do whatever he tells you. And so Jesus just sort of does it. Sort
of a mom and son kind of thing.

But that is not at all what is happening here. Jesus uses some Hebrew idioms,
some Hebrew ways of saying things that we're not used to. And when you
understand them, you can really see what's going on here.

First, Mary suggests, Jesus, notice there's no more wine. She knew. She knew not
only that there was no more wine, she knew who Jesus really was.

She'd never seen him work a miracle, but in a moment she's going to see him work a
miracle because she believes in him. And she always knew he could do miracles
because she knew that Jesus was God in human flesh. And then Jesus says to her,
woman, now to a lot of us that sounds like a sort of a rude, disparaging
comment, but you need to understand, and I like the fact that some translations
say dear woman, that the phrase woman in the Hebrew language is a term of
endearment.

It's a revered way of speaking. Jesus used this phrase on the cross. Woman,
behold your son.

It's like saying fine lady or something like that. He wasn't being rude. He's
being kind to his mother.

And then he says, what have I to do with you? This is a Hebrew language thing
that's going on here. Literally this phrase is what to me in you.

That's the literal translation. So what does that mean? The meaning of this
Hebrew idiom is that my idea or opinion and your idea or opinion, they're far
apart from each other right now.

We have different ideas and they did. As much as Mary knew that Jesus was the
son of God, was God himself. She still had all the same expectations about
Jesus, the promised one that most people in her area did at that time.

He was the Messiah who was going to come and he would kick out the Roman empire. He
would bring in the kingdom of God. Everything would be wonderful again in
Israel.

And so when she says, Jesus, what about a miracle? What about showing yourself?
He's saying to her, we've got different ideas.

It's not time yet. My time has not yet come. All throughout the gospel of John,
this idea of the right time is there again and again.

We're going to come across it again and again. And Jesus was saying to Mary, first,
you don't understand all that I'm going to do. It's much more than you can
understand.

And second, it's not the right time for me to do it. And so then Mary says, do
whatever he tells you. Now, that's not a Hebrew way of saying, I'm not listening
to him.

That's a Hebrew way of saying, I submit to what he's saying. When Mary says
that, she's not pushing Jesus. She's submitting to Jesus.

She's saying, I trust you to do what's right. I trust you to know the time
what's right. And so she says to the servants, what he tells you, not what I
tell you.

What he tells you, that's what you do. And then Jesus works this incredible
miracle, which shows that Mary did have something right in her heart. She knew
that the time was right for something.

Now, let me remind you that in this miracle, this great thing that Jesus is
going to do in just a few moments, this miracle arose out of a simple human
need. It's going to teach us some things about who God is, about who Jesus is,
about what God wants to do in your life. But don't miss the point that this
miracle arose out of a very simple human need.

And so Mary begins by saying, do whatever he tells you. One of our research team
wrote about Mary, I'm amazed at the faith required for her to give up this
mother-son relationship and to relate to him as Messiah God, which is exactly
what Mary did. And so the miracle begins.

In verse six, nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for
ceremonial washing, each holding from 20 to 30 gallons, six jars. As we end our
study today, very briefly, we're told three things about these jars. We're told
what they held.

They held from 120 to 180 gallons. And each thing that we're told about these
jars, there's a lesson in each of these things. The lesson here is that Jesus
bestows his gifts lavishly.

Fullness, where there's emptiness, joy, where there's disappointment, it wasn't
a little wine that he made here. It was a lavish gift. We're told that these
jars were used for ceremonial washing.

At the Jewish meal, the Jewish feast, they would have a way of washing where
they would wash the water over their hands and let it drip off of their elbows.
That's still done in Israel today many times. And the fact that Jesus used those
jars as an example of the fact that he bestows his gifts purposefully.

He had a purpose for even the water jars that he chose. He was moving from the
old ceremonies to new wineskin, new ways of doing things, new miracles that only
he could work. And then we're told what these jars were made of.

Simple clay pots. It's a reminder of the fact that Jesus bestows his gifts not
only lavishly and purposefully, but also unexpectedly. He wouldn't have expected
such a great miracle to happen in simple clay pots.

I've noticed that Jesus often, often bestows his gifts in unexpected ways. The
sources that I would think his gifts would come from, the pipeline that I think
it would come through would be a lot fancier, but it's not. He uses very common,
very ordinary people, very common, very ordinary circumstances to bestow his
gifts.

Now, tomorrow we're going to look at this great miracle that Jesus worked. As we
pray today, I'd like to focus on the fact that Jesus as the miracle worker wants
to meet the ordinary common needs in your life today. Let's pray together and
just say to him, "Jesus, you see my life, "and it may seem like a very small
need to me, "and some embarrassment in my life, "like that wedding, the host was
embarrassed "at not having enough wine for the guests.

"It may seem small to me, "but Lord, I know it's important to you. "So thank
you. "Thank you for seeing the need in my life today, "for caring about the need
in my life today.

"And help me to trust you for the answer, "not just trust myself, but to trust
you. "I ask this, Jesus, in your name, amen. " Well, join us tomorrow.

We're going to look at the miracle. Look at verses seven to 10.