The Lord of Our Joy

Transcript

Well, it is a joy to be here with the saints at Trinity Church once again. I greet you along with my family. We greet you in the name of the risen Lord Jesus Christ and it is truly my honor to be able to preach God’s word this morning. Question, have you ever run out of something that left you in a messed up situation? Have you ever run out of something and it left you in a messed up situation? I have many times. In fact, just this past week I woke up in the morning, went downstairs, made a nice fresh hot cup of coffee. I poured it into my mug. I went to the refrigerator to grab the half and half, saw the container, grabbed the container and it felt a little too light, like there wasn’t enough in there. But hope against hope, I take it and I pour it into the cup and lo and behold it’s just a couple of drops.

a couple of drops and I like a lot of half and half in my coffee. And then I looked over to the sugar and there was nothing in the sugar bowl. That was a messed up situation. Now I know, I know we’re in Portland and so some of y’all are judging me for using half and half and sugar in my coffee, but there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, amen? Some of us would be more familiar with running out of power in our phone or charge in our phone or our laptop at a very inconvenient moment. Even more embarrassingly for me, one time I ran out of gas. Now I was traveling from Philly to Baltimore for an event and I barely made it to Baltimore and realized at the last minute, wait a second, there is no more gas in this car.

And it’s, it’s embarrassing because running out of gas is kind of like the, it’s like the tax for fools who procrastinate because it’s, it’s really impossible almost to run out of gas without driving past a whole bunch of gas stations along the way. Well this morning we’re going to look at an embarrassing situation in the scriptures where people ran out of something. This happened early on in the Lord Jesus’s ministry and it took place at a wedding that the Lord was attending. It’s the famous story of the Jesus turning water to wine. So if you have your Bibles, I want to encourage you to turn to John chapter two. John chapter two, and I’m going to read from verses one through 11, John two, one through 11. I’m going to read the passage and at the conclusion of the reading, I will say, this is God’s

word and you already know, please respond, thanks be to God, if you believe that this is God’s word. On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. And Jesus said to her, woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. 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. 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 they have drunk freely then the poor wine, but you have kept the good wine until now. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. This is God’s word. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray again. Let’s pray. Our father in heaven, we give you thanks for your word, which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And so Lord, as we spend this time in your word, we pray that you would show us wonderful

The Setting: A Wedding

things from the gospel. And Lord, we pray that in this time, the spirit of God would use the word of God to reveal the son of God. And we pray that you would do this for our joy and for the glory of your beautiful name. In Jesus name we pray, amen, amen. So we’re very early on, like the first few days of the Lord Jesus earthly ministry. And just before this in chapter one, Nathanael had an encounter with the Lord where Nathanael was blown away by Jesus having supernatural knowledge of seeing him under the fig tree. And the Lord Jesus told Nathanael in chapter one, verse 50, he says, you will see greater things than these. And so that’s why in verse one of our text today, it says on the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. It’s three days after Jesus’ interaction with Nathanael, and Cana is Nathanael’s hometown.

So if you’re taking notes this morning, I have two points. One, it is the setting, the setting, which is a wedding. Second is the sign, the sign, which is water to wine. So the setting, which is the wedding, and then the sign, which is water to wine. And when we look at the sign, as we look at it, we’re going to see what that reveals about us, what it reveals about Jesus, and how Jesus fulfills our greatest need. So first, the setting, which is a wedding. Verse 11, we see that John calls this the first of Jesus’ signs. Now it’s instructive for us that of all the places that the Lord could have chosen to do the first sign, he chose a wedding reception. Does that surprise you that’s the place that Jesus chose to do his first sign? Jewish weddings were a big deal, not only for the family, but for the whole community.

So we’re not talking about a couple going down to City Hall or Justice of the Peace kind of doing it on the low. No, this was a big deal. Cana was a small village, so everyone would have known about this wedding. And often the receptions would go as long as seven days, so this was huge. And in this passage, the bride isn’t mentioned by name, and the groom is mentioned only in verse 9 and not by name. We don’t know who they are, but we do know that this would have been the biggest celebration of their lives. And I love the simplicity of verse 2. It says, Jesus was invited. Jesus was invited.

Perhaps Jesus was a close family friend or a relative. Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth was only about eight miles away. Whatever the case may be, Jesus was invited. In the most joyful moment of this couple’s lives, this family wanted Jesus to be there. By the way, Jesus being invited is what distinguishes Christian joy from worldly joy. The world wants to enjoy God’s stuff while leaving God out of the picture. In the secular mind, God has no place in human affairs. Or people may try to stuff God into the religious box. So it’s okay maybe at church, maybe at Christmas or Easter, maybe at a funeral, but otherwise when it comes to this fear of human interaction, the secular mind says, leave God out. This is why conversations with our unbelieving friends and family can get really awkward really quickly when Jesus is brought up. But Christian joy, Christian joy does not try to leave God out.

Christian joy recognizes God as the author of our joy and invites him in. And this is what we see at this wedding. Jesus was invited. He was there. We see his mom, Mary is there in verse 1. We know that his disciples were there. Most likely the five disciples from chapter 1, Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathaniel, and John. Obviously the bride and the groom are there. We see the master of the feast mentioned in verses 8 and 9. The master of the feast, that would have been the equivalent of the best man or the master of ceremonies who was emceeing the event. The men and the women would have likely been in separate groups and everyone would have been taking in the festivities. And then in the midst of all of this, the unthinkable happens. Verse 3, when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine.

Now it’s hard for us to appreciate it today, but this would have been an absolute disaster. In that culture, it was the groom’s responsibility to provide wine for the feast. This is why the master of the feast says what he says to the groom in verse 10. Running out of wine would have reflected poorly on the groom, on the bride, and on both families. And we’re talking about an honor-shame society where the actions of one person are felt by the family in a different way than perhaps in our more individualistic society. Evidently, we’re talking about a prominent family because we see that they had servants in verse 7, so that would have only increased the shame. And so this is a problem. Now Mary, Jesus’ mom, was probably connected in some way because she had this behind-the-scenes knowledge that they ran out and she brings it to Jesus.

And in verses 4 and 5, we see one of the more confusing interactions in the whole Bible. I see three problems in verse 4. First, the way that the Lord addresses her, woman. Second, his explanation, my hour has not yet come. And third, her response, do whatever he tells you. Let’s look at those one at a time. First, woman. So he doesn’t call her mom, doesn’t say mother, he says woman. And it kind of sounds a little disrespectful, like he’s talking to his mother. What is this woman thing about? And I don’t think it’s as soft and tender as many make it out to be. So in some translations, it says dear woman or dear lady. I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. This is actually a gentle rebuke to Mary and we know this because of the question that follows. What does this have to do with me?

Do Whatever He Tells You

More literally, what to me and to you? Whenever this phrase is used, it’s always meant to create distance between the one who’s saying it and the person that they’re talking to. Jesus is asking her, why are you coming to me with this? So both the woman and the question are meant by Jesus to create distance between them. The statement, my hour has not yet come, is explained elsewhere in John. Remember Jesus’ hour is spoken of in John, it’s referring to his death. A number of times people tried to kill Jesus, but it says they couldn’t because his hour had not yet come. We see this in John 7 30 and John 8 20. So the people were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. But then the night just before his death in John 13 verse 1, it says now before the feast

of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. So when Jesus says my hour has not yet come, he’s referring to his death. But that only makes the interaction seem more strange. Think about it. They’re at a wedding, Mary comes to Jesus and says, they’re out of wine. Jesus says, woman, why are you involving me? It’s not time for me to die yet. And then Mary says, do whatever he tells you. Like what is happening here? As often is the case in John, people speak to the Lord on a natural level as the Lord is speaking about spiritual things. We see this with Nicodemus in chapter 3 when Jesus talks about being born again and Nicodemus is confused by that.

We see it with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 where Jesus is talking about living water and the woman thinks he’s only talking about natural water. Jesus is on a divine mission and as he would tell his disciples later in chapter 4 verse 34, Jesus said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. So Mary is coming to Jesus with a natural problem. She’s trying to save the host from embarrassment. Jesus came into the world to primarily address a spiritual problem. He came to save people from their sins. And so in saying woman rather than mother, Jesus is letting Mary know that her natural relationship to him does not have sway over him. It’s just like in Matthew 12 when Jesus is teaching and it says that his mothers and brothers were outside and they wanted to come in and they wanted to talk to him.

Jesus didn’t say, oh that’s my mom, oh let her in, let her, that’s not what he said. He said, who is my mother? Looked around at his disciples, he said, the person that does the will of God, that’s my brother and sister and mother. In other words, it’s not Mary’s privilege as his mom that’s going to get him to solve this natural problem. Rather, it’s his submission to his heavenly father that causes him to use this natural problem to point to a deeper spiritual reality. We’ll talk more about my hour has not yet come later. Now as far as Mary’s response, do whatever he tells you. One of the challenges with words on a page is that we can’t see the tone of voice, right? We can’t see the facial expressions. Was it something about his tone? Did he smile? Did they share a knowing glance?

I don’t know, but for some reason she looked beyond the words that he said and believed that he was going to do something to help. And I don’t think that Mary actually knew what he was going to do. And so she tells the servants, do whatever he tells you. Do you see the simplicity of Mary’s faith here? She’s just been gently rebuked by her son. But rather than that turning her away from him and without necessarily even understanding all the details, she continues to look to him for help and encourages other people to do the same, to listen to him. Is that how we respond in the face of disappointment? Is that how we respond when it feels like our prayers are not being answered? Or is it more often the case that we feel like God is withholding something from us and so we either accept it begrudgingly, but grumble in our hearts, or we might just complain

the whole time. Or we might try to take things into our own hands and try to get what we want in ways that don’t honor God. That’s not what we see from Mary here. She continues to trust Jesus, and it shouldn’t be surprising. We’ve seen this before from Mary. Thirty years earlier, as a teenager in Luke 138, Mary said to the angel Gabriel, she said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And then notice what she tells the servants. Do whatever he tells you. We could do a whole sermon, a whole sermon series on that phrase. Do whatever he tells you. Most of us are familiar with the great commission in Matthew 28, 19. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded

you. That’s just another way of saying, do whatever I tell you. That means that sometimes we’re not going to understand everything that God is doing in our lives. To that he says, do whatever I tell you. It means that sometimes your family and your coworkers won’t understand. To that God says, do whatever I tell you. It means that sometimes it’s going to be painful. To that God says, do whatever I tell you. Sometimes it means sacrificing now for the sake of something better later. Do whatever he tells you. Children, I know there’s children, there’s children in the building right now. Hi children. Yeah, I’m talking to you. How you doing? Hi kids. All the kids. Hello. Hello. Wonderful. Having the kids here in the service. Hi kids. Kids, I have something to say to you. No, Jesus has something to say to you kids. Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.

You hear that? Do whatever Jesus tells you to do. So for instance, kids, one thing that Jesus tells you to do is to obey your parents. Do what he tells you. This means kids that if you have a toy or if you have candy or a game, to be generous. Jesus tells you to be generous. Share your toy. Share your candy with your sister. I see some of the looks on your faces right now. I know it’s hard kids, but do whatever he tells you to do. Most of all kids, Jesus tells you to believe in him, to trust in him, to believe that when he went to the cross, he took the punishment for all the bad things that you did so that if you trust in him and believe in Jesus, kids, you can live with him forever. Do what he tells you to do.

The Sign: Water to Wine

Ask your parents later, what else does Jesus tell me to do? Your parents will love to hear and answer that question. It’s not only true for children, it’s true for us. Let us seek to follow in the ways of the Lord and do what he tells us to do. That’s the setting, a bit of it, now let’s look at the sign. And as I said, as we look at the sign, we want to see what it reveals about us, what it reveals about Jesus, and how Jesus fulfills our greatest need. Look again at verse six, now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. 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. So somewhere between verses seven and eight, the water miraculously became wine. What does this sign reveal about us? I think what it reveals about us, and we see this in why the miracle was necessary in the first place in verse three, this sign reveals that our resources always run out. Our resources always run out. Verse three, they have no wine. This is a picture of our spiritual state apart from God. There is no lasting joy in this world. Every joy in this life has an expiration date. And the things that we seek to find joy in, the common culprits like money, relationships, sex, education, career, status, beauty, family, sports, technology, the arts, alcohol, comfort, fame, material things, hobbies, all of those things have expiration dates, diminishing returns. Our resources always run out. I know that y’all recently went through the book of Ecclesiastes, and that’s what Ecclesiastes

is all about. Ecclesiastes 1.8, all things are full of weariness, a man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Ecclesiastes 5.10, he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income. This also is vanity. There’s basically three types of people in this world. Group one is, I think most people fall into this category, is people who chase the illusion their entire lives and over and over again try to refill their empty cups with temporal things not realizing that it always runs out. It’s why people go from job to job, they think the job is the problem so they scrap that and go to another one, or they think the relationship with this person is the problem and so they move on to the other one. It’s why people go from career to career, relationships to relationships, hobbies to

hobbies, etc. So that’s the first group, the people who just chase that illusion until their dying day. The second group is the few who actually get what they wanted and then they’re disillusioned by the emptiness that they discover. There’s a few people who fall into that category. One person in our culture is Tom Brady. Tom Brady, the former quarterback of the New England Patriots, Tom Brady had just about everything that you could possibly desire in terms of sports success. He had all the money, he had all the Super Bowls, he had the model for a wife, and at the height of his success, he was interviewed and in the interview he says, quote, there’s times where I’m not the person that I want to be. Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, hey man, this is what it is.

I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, God, it’s got to be more than this. It’s got to be more than this. So he discovered it. He was part of that few who made it to the apex and said, this is it? There’s got to be more. Another person who got there is Will Smith, the actor. He achieved box office success that was unparalleled. So many number one movie after number one movie. He’s achieved success in music. He has literally hundreds of millions of dollars. And this is what he said in his autobiography. He said, the problem is, quote, the problem is the more you get, the more you want. It’s like drinking salt water to quench your thirst. We develop a tolerance that makes us need more just to get the same high. I started to recognize the game, the trick, the insanity, the carrot on the stick.

I had never liked vampire movies, but I suddenly understood their mythology. They are a metaphor for insatiable human hunger, unquenchable thirsts, and chronic dissatisfaction. The attempt to fill a spiritual hole with external things. If unparalleled winning and achieving everything I’ve ever dreamed of does not secure perfect happiness and ultimate bliss, then what does? Then what does? You see, Tom Brady and Will Smith, they earned and achieved enough success to get to the point of asking the question, is this it? Where am I going to find ultimate satisfaction? Because I got everything that I wanted and I still do not have it. We do not have the resources that we need to make ourselves ultimately happy. C.S. Lewis talks about this famously in his quote, I believe from Mere Christianity. He says, most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would

know that they do want and want acutely something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love or first think of some foreign country or first take up some subject that excites us are longings which no marriage, no travel, no learning can really satisfy. I am not now speaking of what would ordinarily be called unsuccessful marriages or holidays or careers. I’m speaking of the best possible ones. There is something that we grasp at in that first moment of longing which just fades away in the reality. I think everyone knows what I mean. The wife may be a good wife, and the hotels and scenery may have been excellent, and chemistry may be a very interesting job, but something has evaded us.

So Will Smith and Tom Brady, they get to the point of asking the question, but they never get to the solution, or at least they have not to this point. I like what J.C. Ryle says, and the third category of people is Christians. It’s Christians. J.C. Ryle says, for a man to be truly happy, he must have sources of gladness that are not dependent on anything in this world. For a man to be truly happy, he must have sources of gladness that are not dependent on anything in this world. And if you are a Christian this morning, this is something that you have discovered. You have discovered that there’s nothing in this world that is ultimately going to satisfy you and that you need Jesus. No matter what we do, we don’t have it in ourselves, and it’s only when we realize that we run to Jesus.

What Jesus Reveals

This is why the Lord said in Matthew 5 verse 2, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. It’s those who recognize, I don’t have the resources, not merely the kinds of things that I’m chasing after, but I don’t have the resources of righteousness. I don’t have, I don’t have it within me to produce the happiness, the longing, the satisfaction that I desire. And Jesus says, when we recognize that, that there’s nothing that we can bring to God. There’s nothing that we can do to make ourselves right with God. There’s nothing within us that would commend ourselves to God. It’s recognizing that, that we say, okay, I can’t do it, but Jesus can do everything. And that’s how and why we run to him. And that’s how we, it’s for those who recognize that their resources have run out. So that’s what the sign reveals about us.

Next, what does it reveal about the Lord Jesus? Number of observations, one, it reveals the power of Jesus. Let’s just consider for a moment what happened here. And somehow, without touching it, the water turns into wine. Jesus changed the composition of the water so that it was no longer water, but it was wine. And it was actually wine. So it wasn’t just like grape juice, right? And we know this because of what the master of the feast says in verse 10. Verse 10, he says, everyone serves the good wine first. And when the people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. His point is that you serve the bad wine and then people get, they’re feeling nice. And then you serve the good, you give them the bad wine after they’ve had the good, they won’t know the difference. In Jewish thought, wine was associated with gladness.

Psalm 104 verse 14, speaking of God, it says he causes the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of men. Now, of course, with all the good gifts from God, because of sin, we abuse the gifts. But wine is seen as a gift from God. What the Bible condemns isn’t wine, but it’s drunkenness or being led astray by alcohol or becoming a slave to alcohol. And so, although it was actually wine, it wouldn’t have been as potent as our wine usually is today, but it was real wine. And so, Jesus demonstrated his power in changing it in the same way that he demonstrated his power when he spoke the universe into existence or the universe came into existence through him. In the same way that he demonstrates currently his power, Hebrews 1 verse 3, he upholds the

universe right now by the word of his power. In the same way that he demonstrated his power throughout his life in miracles like we’re reading about now, in healing the sick, in casting out demons. In the same way that he demonstrated his power when he died on the cross and on the cross took in himself the full weight of the wrath of a holy God against sin. In the same way that he demonstrated his power by rising from the grave three days later. No one takes his life from him, he said, but he lays down his life that he might take it up again. In the same way that he’s promised to demonstrate his power when he returns again on the clouds with the angels in great power and great glory. And in the way that he’s promised to demonstrate his power when on the last day, he raises

us up, those who have trusted in him. And it says that in Philippians chapter 3, that he’s going to transform our glorious body into a body like his by the power that enables him to keep everything under control. Jesus is powerful and we see this. Another thing that we see about the Lord Jesus is that he is generous. We see the generosity of Jesus. It was a lot of wine. It wasn’t like one of those little, like little communion cups of like, now it was, you see, six stone water jars for Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Six jars holding 20 or 30 gallons a piece. Now, now I’m not great at math, but that looks like somewhere between 120 and 180 gallons of wine. For reference, a keg that you find at college parties holds about eight gallons. So each jar holds about three kegs.

That’s a lot of wine y’all. And as I was thinking about this, I thought I would look into the wine making progress or process. I wanted to answer the question, what would it take? How long would it take to make this much wine? And I got exhausted just reading the process of just harvesting the grapes. So just get, just getting the grapes together that you need takes three years. Three years, you got to go through a spring and then another spring and then another spring and then the grapes are ready. Three years. In an instant, Jesus does it and it’s a lot of it. Jesus is not stingy with his grace. He is kind and gracious and he is generous beyond what we can even imagine. Jesus is generous. And we also see the goodness of Jesus. So it wasn’t just any old wine. It was good.

Verse nine, when the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine and didn’t 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, but you’ve kept the good wine until now. This was quality, quality stuff. What are we learning? When we come to Jesus in faith, we must know that he has what we lack and he provides abundantly and it’s always good. Jesus has what we lack. He provides abundantly and it is always good. Jesus is also the source, the only source of lasting joy. In Jeremiah 31, there’s a prophecy about the age of the Messiah. And in Jeremiah 31, 12, it says, they shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine and the oil and over the young of the flock and the herd. Their life shall be like a watered garden and they shall languish no more. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance and the young men and the old shall be married. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow. I will feast the soul of the priest with abundance and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord. Brothers and sisters, everything that God has promised is yes and amen in Jesus Christ. So when God says, I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, I will give them gladness for sorrow, that promise is ours in Jesus and only in Jesus. In performing this miracle, the Lord is announcing that what Jeremiah prophesied is fulfilled

Our Greatest Need

in him. This is a sneak peek at the age to come. Jesus is the Messiah. And Jesus is the source of joy that will never run out. Finally, let’s consider how Jesus fulfills our greatest need. We see this in the way that Jesus is ushering in a new creation. Notice the purification jars in verse six. The purification jars were usually filled with water for ceremonial cleansing. Jesus fills these jars with wine to represent spiritual cleansing. The wine, even just as we’re going to celebrate soon, what the wine represents is the blood of Jesus that was poured out for us at the cross. It’s through Jesus’ death on the cross that we receive the spiritual cleansing that the purification jars pointed towards. One commentator says about these purification jars, it says, they represent the old order of Jewish laws and custom which Jesus was to replace with something better.

And so with the coming of Jesus, there is a new beginning. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed, behold, the new has come. And so we see this in the purification jars. And then we also see the fact that it was done at a wedding. Notice how this, it seems like this was done in secret, like nobody actually knew, like at the greater party knew exactly what was going on, except for the servants. I love how verse eight says the servants who had drawn the water, they knew, like they knew what the Lord had just done or what he just did. Isn’t it like God to inform the lowliest people possible? He uses the foolish things of the wise. And do you notice the humility of the Lord? He didn’t use it to draw attention to himself.

And then on top of that, Jesus does the miracle and the groom, he gets credit for what the Lord did. Him doing it at a wedding points to how Jesus fulfills our ultimate need. This points forward to the marriage supper of the lamb in Revelation 19 6. It says, then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, like the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out, hallelujah, for the Lord, our God, the almighty reigns. 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. It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage

supper of the lamb. When Jesus says my hour had not yet come, he was looking ahead to, it’s not about this earthly wedding. It’s about an ultimate wedding and the way that wedding between the perfect bridegroom, the Lord Jesus and his church, the bride, the way that was going to come about was through his hour, the hour of his death when he laid down his life for our sins. And just one final thing, as I close about verse 11, it says that this, the first of his signs Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. You see a distinction between the sign and the glory. So the sign is what he did and the glory is who he is, right? Signs are always meant to point beyond themselves to the greater reality and the greater reality

is who Jesus is. And do you see their response? The response is his disciples believed in him. And that’s what we’re called to this morning as well, to see what Christ has done and to believe in him, to trust in him. In fact, John says that the whole purpose of this book in John 20, 31, this was written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Do you believe him? Let’s pray. Heavenly father, we praise you for your son, Jesus. We praise you that he is all powerful. We praise you that he is lavish in his generosity. And we praise you that he is abundant in goodness. Lord, I pray for anyone here who is not a Christian this morning that you would help them to quit chasing the things of this world that can never satisfy in the place they trust

solely in Jesus. And Lord, I pray for those of us who have trusted in Christ this morning that you would help us to continually look to Jesus, to hope in him, and that through trusting him we might experience continual satisfaction of our souls. We ask these things for the glory of your great name, in Jesus’ name, amen.