Water to Wine
John 2:1-11
Water to Wine
John 2:1-11
Main Idea: As our true bridegroom, Jesus replaces our emptiness with abundant life and fullness of joy.
I. The Wedding (2:1-5)
Jesus, his disciples, and his mother attend a wedding in Cana on the “third day” (the seventh day in John 1-2). Weddings in this time period lasted as long as a week, involved the whole community, and required great preparation and hospitality. “When the wine ran out,” this was a potential source of great shame and embarrassment to the groom and his family.
As Mary informs Jesus about the situation, his response is very abrupt: “Woman, what does this have to do with me?” This response is not disrespectful (cf. 19:26), but it is a redefinition of their relationship and expectations.
“Now that Jesus had entered into the purpose of his coming, everything, even family ties, had to be subordinated to his divine mission… It is a remarkable fact that everywhere Mary appears during the course of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus is at pains to establish distance between them. This is not callousness on Jesus’ part: on the cross he makes provision for her future (19:25–27). But she, like every other person, must come to him as to the promised Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Neither she nor anyone else dare presume to approach him on an ‘inside track.’”
~ D.A Carson, The Gospel According to John
II. The Wine (2:6-10)
In the Scriptures, wine is a symbol of joy, abundance, and blessing (Ps. 104:15). Wine was often invoked by the prophets to describe the blessing of the coming messianic age (Amos 9:13-14; Joel 3:18; Isa. 25:6).
Though Jesus’ “hour has not come,” (cf. 7:30; 8:20; 12:23-24, 27; 13:1; 17:1) this miracle is an acted out parable pointing to the greater realities of who he is and what he came to do:
1. Jesus has come to bring a better purification for sins
“The old covenant was a marriage between Yahweh and Israel, and at the wedding on the third day, the wine ran out. John notes these details to signify that the old covenant has been exhausted. Water jars used for the keeping for the regulations of the old covenant are filled, pointing to the fulfillment of the allotted time and intended purpose of the old covenant and its purification rites. Out of the old is drawn something new and better: the best wine… John has carefully selected and framed his presentation to bring out the ways in which Jesus is effecting the shift of the ages, the movement from old covenant to new, from water to wine.”
~ Jim Hamilton, John (ESV Expository Commentary)
1 John 1:7: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Revelation 7:14b: They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
2. Jesus has come to bring abundant life and fullness of joy: Jesus here produces between 120-180 gallons of the best wine (cf. 10:10; Matt. 16:24-25).
3. Jesus has come to save us from shame: Jesus saves this groom and his family from the shame of running out of wine, and he allows the groom to be credited with saving the festivities.
“It is a blessed need that makes room for Jesus to come in with miracles of love. It is good to run short that we may be driven to the Lord by our necessity, for he will more than supply it. If we have no need, Christ will not come to us. But if we are in dire necessity, his hands will stretch out to us. If our needs stand before us like huge empty water pots, or if our souls are as full of grief as those same pots were filled with water up to the brim, Jesus can, by his sweet will, turn all the water into wine—the sighing into singing. We should be glad to be weak so the power of God may rest on us.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, “The Beginning of Miracles Which Jesus Did”
III. The Wonder (2:11)
John tells us that this was the first of Jesus' “signs” that “manifested his glory” (cf. 1:14). In the gospel of John, all of Jesus’ “signs” point beyond themselves to greater realities, with the same invitation: “that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (21:31).
In this “sign,” Jesus takes on the role of the true and ultimate bridegroom, who provides all that is needed for the wedding festivities to continue (cf. Matt. 9:14-17). Jesus looks beyond this wedding to the day of his own wedding to his bride, the church, “which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).
Revelation 19:6–9a, 21:2: Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and 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… And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Who Are You Following?
John 1:35-51
Who Are you following
John 1:35-51
Main Idea: Following Jesus means knowing him, being known by him, and making him known.
I. Know Jesus (1:35-39)
Followers of Jesus rightly recognize who Jesus is.
“Following Jesus is not heroic. We follow him not the way David’s mighty men followed him to serve him and protect him as their revered sovereign. No. We follow him the way sheep follow the shepherd—because we need to be protected. We need to have our sins forgiven. We are weak, and he is strong. We are foolish, and he is wise. We are hungry, and he is bread. We are thirsty, and he is living water.”
~ John Piper, “We Have Found the Messiah”
II. Be Known by Jesus (1:40-49)
Followers of Jesus find freedom in being fully known by him.
Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
"Christ’s eye was upon Nathanael when he thought himself most alone. He was 'under the fig tree,' perhaps in prayer, perhaps in meditation, perhaps in some secret conflict of soul. But wherever he was, the Eye that never slumbers nor sleeps was fixed upon him in love."
~ J.C. Ryle
Psalm 139:1-4: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.”
III. Make Jesus Known (1:40–42, 45, 50-51)
Followers of Jesus are compelled to share this good news with others.
Romans 10:14–17: How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
“Faith cannot be idle, for when Christ truly reveals himself to us, he at the same time appoints us witnesses of his grace.” ~ John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion
Who Are You Following?
John 1:35-51
Who Are You Following?
John 1:35-51
Main Idea: Jesus calls us to know Him, follow Him, and share Him.
I. Know Jesus (1:35-39a, 47-48)
John 1:35–39a: The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying? “Come and you will see.”
Notice the pattern:
They hear about Jesus
They see Jesus
They follow Jesus
They abide with Jesus
John 1:39b: So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
To know Jesus is to recognize him.
When Peter and John stand before the Sanhedrin, their boldness astonishes the authorities, who “recognize that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
To know Jesus is also to be known by Jesus.
John 1:47–48: Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.
The One who knows us at our worst is full of grace and truth.
II. Follow Jesus (1:37–51)
Following Jesus changes everything.
John 1:37: The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
Following Jesus brings transformation.
John 1:40–42: One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
“All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.”
~ Judson W. Van DeVenter, “I Surrender All” (1896)
The One who calls us to follow is Lord and King, worthy of our surrender and obedience.
III. Share Jesus (1:40–51)
Romans 10:14–17: How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Share Jesus Case Study #1: Andrew’s Witness
John 1:40–41: One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” He brought him to Jesus.
Share Jesus Case Study #2: Philip’s Witness
John 1:43–46: The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
The One who sends us to speak is the Lamb of God, whose glory is too great to keep silent.
Who Are You?
John 1:19-34
Who Are You?
John 1:19-34
Main Idea: A faithful witness makes little of himself and much of Jesus.
I. Know Who You Are Not (1:19-21)
John 1:19: And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
John 1:20–21: He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
Deuteronomy 18:15–18: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly… And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
Faithful witness begins with knowing who you are not.
Jesus would say some astounding things about John. Matthew 11:11: Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.
And Jesus would assign the proper title to John. Matthew 11:13–15: For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
If we don’t know who we are not, we will steal glory that isn’t ours.
II. Know Who You Are (1:22-28)
John 1:22: So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John 1:23: He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
John 1:24–28: They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
A faithful witness is not the message — simply the messenger.
III. Know Who Jesus Is (1:29-34)
John 1:29: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Who saves us from death? —The Lamb of God!
Who takes our sin away? —The Lamb of God!
Who bears our shame? —The Lamb of God!
Who wins the victory? —The Lamb of God!
Who saves us forever? —The Lamb of God!
A faithful witness always points to the Lamb.
John 1:30–33: This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
John 1:34: And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
The Witness
John 1:19-34
The Witness
John 1:19-34
Main Idea: A faithful witness of Jesus knows who they are because they know who Jesus is.
I. Know Who You Aren’t (1:19-21)
“He was so great that people could make this mistake. They wondered whether he was himself the Christ, and they wondered about it seriously enough to question him. Now if he had been a son of pride, not a teacher of humility, he would not have taken steps to make them think that, but he would simply have accepted what they were already thinking.”
~ Augustine, Works of St. Augustine
II. Know Who You Are (1:22-28)
“There’s no power in John’s baptism, no force or capacity of its own. The content of his baptism is simply this: ‘Among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me’ (John 1:26–27). John’s baptism is testimony, a pointing to the coming Messiah who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
- John Webster, Christ Our Salvation: Expositions and Proclamations
III. Know Who Jesus Is (1:29-34)
Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice to which all other sacrifices point, and he accomplishes what no other sacrifice could by dealing with sin once and for all (Heb. 9:25-10:18).
Isaiah 53:7: The Suffering Servant (Lamb)
Leviticus 16: The Day of Atonement
Exodus 12:6: The Passover Lamb
Genesis 4:4: The Greater Offering
Genesis 3:21: The First Sacrifice
Genesis 22:7: And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Genesis 22:8: Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.”
The Word Became Flesh
John 1:14-18
The Word Became Flesh
John 1:14-18
Main Idea: Jesus has come as God in the flesh full of glory, grace, and truth.
I. Incarnation (1:14a)
John brings his doxological prologue to a crescendo, marveling that the preexistent, eternal, divine ‘Word’ (1:1) of God incarnated and “became flesh.” This Word that seemed impersonal to the Greeks is actually a person; the Word that was inaccessible to the Jewish people has come in flesh and blood.
The doctrine of the incarnation tells us that the Son of God became a man, without ceasing to be God. Jesus is uniquely fully God and fully man (cf. Col. 1:19; 2:9).
“If your intellect has never been staggered by the reality of the incarnation, you don’t know what incarnation means. It doesn’t mean that Jesus was a little baby. It means that the eternal, infinite, divine one - worshipped by cherubim and Seraphim, creator of all things, sustainer of all things, infinite in his being, wisdom, power, majesty, and glory - who at a word could dissolve the world that had sinned against him - was willing to come into this world, and assume our flesh, in order to become our Savior. It’s overwhelming.”
~ Sinclair Ferguson
Hebrews 2:14-15, 17: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery… Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
II. Tabernacled (1:14b)
“Dwelt among us” is lit. ‘tabernacled among us.’ The ‘tabernacle’ and the tent of meeting represented two big realities for God’s people:
God’s Presence: The tabernacle was the way that a holy, righteous, and unapproachable God could “meet” and commune with his chosen yet sinful people (cf. Ex. 25:8; 33:7-11; Jn. 2:19; Heb. 10:20).
God’s Glory (cf Ex. 40:34; 1 Ki. 8:10-11)
III. Glory (1:14c, 18)
The idea of beholding God’s glory was an impossible reality before the incarnation of Christ; an encounter with God’s glory was always indirect, overwhelming, and terrifying (cf. Gen. 32:22-32; Isa. 6:1-5).
Exodus 33:18–20: Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
But now, in Christ, the Word made flesh: “we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” God’s glory used to be contained to the “holy of holies” in the tabernacle and temple, but in the incarnation of Christ the veil has been removed, and the one who “is at the Father’s side” (lit. ‘in the bosom of the Father’) is the “image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15), and the “radiance of the glory of God’ (Heb. 1:3).
2 Corinthians 3:16, 18: “…when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed … And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
IV. Grace (1:14d, 16-17)
‘Grace’ and ‘truth’ correspond to the frequent OT pairing of “steadfast love and faithfulness.
Exodus 34:5–7a: The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.”
“[Christ’s] grace is a truthful grace; not grace in fiction, or in fancy, not grace to be hoped for or dreamed of, but grace every atom of which is fact; redemption which does redeem, pardon which does blot out sin, renewal which actually regenerates, salvation which saves completely… [Christ’s truth] is not the kind of truth which censures, condemns and punishes; it is a gracious truth, truth steeped in love, truth saturated with mercy. The truth which Jesus brings to his people comes from the mercy seat.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, Good Tidings of Great Joy
This grace and truth do not come in small or partial doses; it is “from his fullness that we have all received grace upon grace” (1:16; lit. ‘grace in place of grace’). This emphasis is on the superiority of Jesus to Moses; while Moses gave the first grace of the Law, Christ came to bring the fullest grace of himself.
The fullness of this grace and truth is seen most clearly and supremely in the paradoxical “glorification” of Jesus Christ in his crucifixion (cf. 12:23).
“The Crucified One is the true king, the kingliest king of all; because it is He who is stretched on the cross, He turns an obscene instrument of torture into a throne of glory and reigns from the tree.”
~ F.F. Bruce
In the Beginning
John 1:1-13
In the Beginning
John 1:1-13
Main Idea: Jesus is the divine logos, life, and light who has come to make us children of God.
I. The Word (1:1-5)
John begins his gospel account with an obvious allusion to Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning… was the Word (Greek: ‘logos’). This ‘Word’ had numerous cultural reference points in the 1st century:
Greek Philosophy: The Stoics understood the logos to be the rational principle or impersonal force that originated and organizes the world as we know it.
Jewish OT Thought: The ‘word’ was God’s agent for accomplishing his divine will, including creation (cf. Gen. 1:3; Ps. 33:6) and revelation (Isa. 55:11). God’s Word is his “divine disclosure.”
John emphasizes “the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” describing the gloriously incomprehensible yet revealed doctrine of the Trinity.
“We worship one God in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.”
~ Athanasian Creed (5th century AD)
The ‘Word’ was God’s agent of creation in eternity past: “all things were made through him” (1:3; cf. Col. 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 8:6; Heb. 1:2).
“Why would a triune God create a world? If he were a unipersonal God, you might say, ‘He created the world so he can have beings who give him worshipful love, and that would give him joy.’ But the triune God already had that—and he received love within himself in a far purer, more powerful form than we human beings can ever give him. So why would he create us? There’s only one answer. He must have created us not to get joy but to give it.”
~ Tim Keller, King’s Cross
This eternal, divine, creating ‘Word’ is the:
1. Life-Bringer: As the “Life” (cf. 5:26; 11:25; 14:6) Jesus brings both physical life and spiritual life to existence. This life is not merely about quantity but quality (cf. 10:10)
1 John 5:11–12: And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
2. Light-Bearer: As the “Light of the world” (cf. 8:12; 9:5), Jesus drives out the darkness both in creation (cf. Gen. 1:3) and in salvation (cf. 12:46).
1 John 1:5-7: This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
II. The Witness (1:6-8)
Consistent with the other Gospels, the ministry of John the Baptist is emphasized in relation to Christ. John was “sent from God” for a specific task: “to bear witness about the light, that all might believe in him” (1:7).
John 20:30–31: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are 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.
“The Word and the Life and the Light are coming into the world. But they are not going to conquer this darkness the way a bolt of lightning brightens the night. They are going to conquer it by lighting millions of cold, dead human torches with the oxygen of the gospel and the mysteriously spontaneous combustion of the new birth. And that gospel will come through human witnesses.”
~ John Piper, “John Was Not the Light, But a Witness to the Light”
John 5:39–40: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
III. The World (1:9-13)
There are only two responses to the coming of the “True Light” into the world:
Rejection & Blindness (1:10-11): This is our natural state outside of the illuminating light of Christ (cf. 3:19-20). Jesus experienced rejection generally from all of fallen humanity (Rom. 3:23) and more specifically from his own people, the Jews (cf. Rom. 9:4-5).
Receiving & Believing (1:12-13): For those who have been ‘born again’ and regenerated by God, they receive and believe in Jesus by faith and are given the status of “children of God.”
1 John 3:1: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are
“You can sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s Holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.”
~ J.I. Packer, Knowing God