“Replenish” (John 2:1-11)

The First Sign

Welcome back to the Gospel of John! Once again we are gathered to hear God’s Word. As a follower of Christ, each time we return to the Gospel, we see wonderful things in the Word, and we find that Christ becomes a little bigger and greater. It’s something like Lucy’s experience with the lion Aslan (the Christ symbol) in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, as she again gazed into his large, wise face.

“Welcome, child,” Aslan said.

“Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.”

“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.

“Not because you are?”

“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”[1]

In this gospel John uses the word “sign” (σημεῖον). There are six or seven signs written in John’s gospel. Today’s story – the wedding at Cana – is the first sign (v. 11). As we know, the signs “point us to something beyond themselves.” For instance, suppose you drive in the highway near Woodstock. You will see the traffic sign, saying “Houlton Me.” The sign itself is not “Houlton,” but it points us to “Houlton.” That’s the purpose of the sign. That’s the purpose of today’s passage. That’s the purpose of the entire book, John’s gospel:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name (20:30-31).

My prayer is that as we work our way through the signs of this book one by one, we may find Christ bigger and bigger and bigger.

Wedding without Wine

Today’s story goes like this: one day Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. In Jesus’ time the wedding celebration was considered to be the pinnacle of life. Instead of a honeymoon, the bride and groom had open house for a week. They were considered to be king and queen. Oftentimes all the people in town were invited to celebrate together. It was the whole town celebration. At the wedding banquet wine was essential. At that time to the Jewish mind, wine was a symbol for joy. So “without wine, there is no joy.” But in today’s passage something happened. The wine ran out. “They have no more wine!” the mother of Jesus said. Running out of wine during the wedding celebration brought shame to the family. But even more than that, it meant joy had run out.

Spiritually, a life without wine is life without Christ. If we think about our own life and the lives of people around us, often it is when life is at the pinnacle that the wine runs out. We are full of health; money increases; we have plenty of food, plenty to drink, and a warm place to sleep. But somehow the wine fails. And we are searching for joy. It can happen to the youth. It can happen to young adults. It can happen to the middle aged. It can happen to seniors. Ultimately it catches everyone. If you feel like your life lost its sparkle, if you are still wandering and searching for joy, for the meaning and purpose of life, today’s story is for you.

Water into Wine

Many of us in this room already invited Jesus into our hearts, but oftentimes we treat him as our guest, perhaps special guest at best, but not as the Master. There is a clear limit and boundary for guests. They are not allowed to get involved in our private matters – such as our family matters and finances. In today’s story at first Jesus was invited as a guest. So at the beginning he couldn’t do any might work there, even though he was the Son of God Almighty (cf. Mk 6:5). But later, we see some people who believed in Jesus and treated him as their Master. First, Mary believed in Jesus as her Master and said to servants, “Do whatever tells you.” Second, the servants. At the wedding banquet there were six stone water jars, altogether holding up to 180 gallons of water. And Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up, not to half, but to the brim (v. 7). They showed complete obedience. Then Jesus said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the chief steward.” And they did. They showed immediate obedience. There is no logical relationship between turning water into wine and filling the jars with water and taking it to the head steward. There is no logical relationship between looking to the bronze snake and being healed (cf. Num 21:9). But the key is “obedience.” When we trust Jesus as our Master and obey him, he turns our water into wine, he turns our tasteless, insipid, sparkeless life into rich, satisfying, joyous life.

In Robert Munger’s classical book, My Heart Christ’s Home, one young man invited Jesus into his house. He gave Jesus access to the library, the dining room, the living room, the work room, and the rec room. He thought that Jesus had finally finished the remodeling and was comfortable living with him there. But then, one day he found that Jesus was waiting at the door. Jesus said to him, “There is a peculiar odor in the house. There is something dead in here, in the hall closet.” The man knew about that closet, but he had the key to it and wanted to keep it off limits. He certainly didn’t want Christ to see what was in there. In fact, he was angry with Christ and thought, “This is too much! I’m not going to give him the key!” All of us in this room have our own “hall closet.” But, as long as we have the key to it, Jesus is our guest, at best a special guest. As long as Jesus remains as our guest, he has no authority to run the house. He has no authority to make changes in our lives although he is almighty God. Only when we transfer the title, he turns water into wine.

If I say, “I am 85% faithful to my wife Joyce,” then I am not faithful at all. In the same way, there is no such thing as 75% loyalty to Christ. It’s all or nothing. Jesus is either the Master or a guest. Tim Keller compares the Lordship of Jesus Christ to “a life-quake.”

When a great big truck goes over a tiny little bridge, sometimes there’s a bridge-quake, and when a big man goes onto thin ice there’s an ice-quake. Whenever Jesus Christ comes down into a person’s life, there’s a life-quake. Everything is reordered… any view, any conviction, any idea, any behavior, any relationship. He may change it, He may not change it, but at the beginning of the relationship you have to say, ‘In everything He must have the supremacy.’[2]

Joy, Joy, Joy!

Our Christian journey is a long obedience in the same direction. We come to know Jesus more and more through this long obedience. When I was in seminary, there was a life-quake. Jesus asked me, “Are you willing to give up your denomination and your prestigious school for me?” In 2018 there was another life-quake, when Jesus came to me and asked, “Are you willing to abide here in this place for decades for me?” And recently, there was another life-quake. Jesus asked, “Are you willing to give away your 401(k) and your college savings plan for me?” Indeed, each time Jesus came into my life, there was a life-quake. Everything had to be reordered. And I struggled. But every time I surrendered and obeyed, always there was joy.  

As I close, I want to share the story of one man whose life turned from a life like “insipid” water to a joyous life – a life with wine. His name was Blaise Pascal. He was perhaps the most brilliant mind of his generation. At the age of 19 he invented the world’s first mechanical calculator. He achieved both wealth and honor at a very young age, but for some reason at the pinnacle he felt miserable. He felt something was missing. There was no joy, no peace. Though he considered himself a Christian, to him Jesus was only a guest. On November 23, 1654 he got a horse carriage accident, but miraculously he was saved. He saw this as a warning directly from God. That night he humbly surrendered his life to Christ and encountered him in his room. In his journal Pascal said:

FIRE. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of philosophers and scholars. Certitude, heartfelt joy, peace. God of Jesus Christ. God of Jesus Christ. "My God and your God." . . . Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy. . . Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. May I never be separated from him!

That night Jesus became from a guest to the Master. Since Jesus came into his life as the Master, he always carried this note in his coat until he died. Since that day, in everything Pascal put Jesus in the center of his life. He listened to the Master and obeyed him day after day.

Obedience leads to knowing Jesus. In today’s passage all the people at the wedding feast saw the miracle and tasted the best wine. But for many of them it was just a miracle, not the “sign” pointing them to Christ. Only for those who obeyed – Mary, the servants, and the disciples, it was the sign. They saw the glory of Christ through the sign and they believed in him (cf. v. 11). And it’s a journey. It’s a long obedience in the same direction. As we receive Jesus as our Master, walk with him, obey him daily, may we continue to find Jesus bigger and bigger. May we be filled with joy, joy, joy, tears of joy! Amen.

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[1] C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian (London, Collins, n.d.), 124. quoted in Hughes, R. Kent. John: That You May Believe (Crossway), 483.

[2] Tim Keller, “The Lordship of Christ is ‘A Life-Quake,’” Preaching Today,  https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2016/march/3031416.html