Seeking once again the help of
God as we gather around his word, I'd like us to turn together
to the chapter that we read the Gospel according to John, chapter
2, and the text you'll find in verse 5. His mother saith unto
the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. The chapter that we have read
together is the first miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ as he
begins his earthly ministry after he had been baptised, after he'd
gone into the public ministry as it were, he is invited to
a wedding. And at that wedding, the scripture
tells us that they run out of wine. This is not wine that you
and I would know. It would be not quite as strong
as we would have in the supermarkets, but it would be a wine that is
watered down. They've said something like a
3 to 1 ratio and so it would have about 2% alcohol in it and
in their culture it was not seen proper to get drunk. The scriptures
speak against getting drunk. And so we would know that this
wedding would not be like a worldly wedding that we would witness
here in our country where you have a lot of overindulgence,
where you have a lot of binge drinking and people getting drunk.
doing stupid things, but this would be a wedding that is spanned
over a few days, maybe even a week, a wedding where relatives came
from afar to rejoice in the marriage of whoever it was that was getting
married. But not only relatives, this would have been an open
invitation for anybody to come. This is something that we don't
do in our culture. Weddings, we send out invitations
and we invite people to come. But when we were in Kenya, they
had a similar way of doing a wedding. There would be an abundance of
food cooked. There would be no invitations
sent out. And the wedding would last a
period of days. People would sleep under trees.
Some people sleep in the houses. Some people just sleep on the
floor. And it was a community event that caused joy for many,
many days. And so it's something different
to what we experience. And so the wine had ran out,
maybe because so many people came and that it had finished. And so it was a great disappointment
and maybe an embarrassment to the host that he hadn't prepared
or there wasn't enough money to provide for all of those people
that came. And so Jesus was spoken to by
his mother or she just says to him, they have no wine. Jesus says unto her, Woman, what
have I to do with thee? My hour is not yet come. Speaking, we would know that
every word that comes out of the Saviour's lips, even a rebuke
is spoken in love. And so he lovingly rebukes his
mother that this is not my reason for coming here, my hour is not
yet come to reveal myself in such a public way. But his mother
says to the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And so he commands the servants
or he asks them to go and fill the water pots with water and
they do so. And they take out or they draw
out what was in the water pots and they give it to the ruler
of the feast. And so the miracle that Jesus
did is changing water into wine. It is the first miracle that
he did. It is not done in a way that
brings attention to himself. He did not seek to do it in such a grand way in
which people would see who he was. But it's done very discreetly. He doesn't go to the ruler of
the feast and say, I see that you've run out of wine. Don't
worry, I'm the Messiah. I have come to sort out all of
your problems. I can fix this. He does it very
discreetly. We know the humility of the Lord
Jesus Christ made himself of no reputation and they sought
to do this miracle in a discreet way. Jesus himself was no ordinary
man. He was God revealed to us or
manifest to us in the flesh. He was the son of God. came into
the world. He was the Lamb of God. He was
fully God and fully man. As the guests mingled around
the Lord Jesus Christ they would not have seen him to be any different
to any other man that was there in the feast. He looked exactly
the same as everybody round about him. There was nothing visibly
that distinguished him as God manifest in the flesh. The only
thing that distinguished him was his ability to say, fill
the water pots with water, draw out that water and that water
had become wine. There was not even any words
said. There was not even any prayers said over the water pots. The obedience of the servants
and they were able to witness the miracle of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The governor of the feast did
not even know where the wine came from. and he commented on
how good it was. And so Christ, he was no ordinary
man, although he looked just like everybody else, yet he was
God manifest in the flesh. Everybody else there at that
wedding feast, they had a beginning. They had all been born into this
world just like the Lord Jesus Christ had been born into this
world but that was not the beginning of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
scripture tells us that he eternally existed, that all the world was
created by him and through him and for him and therefore he
had no beginning and he has no end. He had no ordinary birth. Each of us had an ordinary birth. We have a father and a mother
whether they are still alive now or not that doesn't matter
but we all had a father and a mother. The Lord Jesus Christ the scripture
tells us he had a heavenly father. He was conceived in the womb
of the Virgin Mary and born into this world. At his birth, the
angels rejoiced that his name should be called Jesus for he
shall save his people from their sins. And so he had no ordinary
birth. He had no ordinary childhood. Although he grew up as every
ordinary child, he experienced all the stages of life that every
child goes through. Yet he was filled with the wisdom
of God. As he reasoned in the temple
with the Pharisees and the Sadducees, as he listened to their questions
and he answered their questions. The scripture tells us that they
were astonished at his understanding and at his
answers. In Luke chapter 2 when Mary and
Joseph they left him in Jerusalem presuming that he was with the
other family members or those people that were travelling with
them they realised after three days that the Lord Jesus Christ
was not there. And so they returned back or
they realised after some days that he was not there and they
returned back to Jerusalem to find him. And the scripture says,
and it came to pass, after three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking
them questions. And all that heard him were astonished
at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were
amazed. And his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou dealt
thus with us? Behold, thy father and I have
sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, how is
it that you sought me? Wished ye not that I must be
about my father's business? And so although he was just like
any ordinary boy, yet he was no ordinary boy. He was the son
of God, manifest in the flesh and now reasoning with the scribes
and the Sadducees who were amazed at his understanding. He was baptised yet it was no
ordinary baptism. No other person after they have
been baptised has had the heavens opened. No other person had had
the Prophet John the Baptist been revealed to him that the
Anointed One when the Anointed One was baptised he would see
the Spirit of God descending like a dove. This is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. An ordinary yet not ordinary
man. And at the beginning of his ministry
he begins his ministry with no ordinary miracle. There's no ordinary miracle.
It was a discreet miracle specifically designed to encourage his disciples. To encourage those who had just
left their nets and followed him. Those who had just walked
away from everything that they had known for the majority of
their life and now they had come to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. and it was a discreet miracle
for them. This is the beginning of miracles
that Jesus did in Canaan of Galilee and manifested forth his glory
and his disciples believed on him. As we follow the life of
the Lord Jesus Christ we see that he is betrayed into the
hands of sinful men. and he is crucified upon the
cross. Yet it was no ordinary death. His death upon the cross brought
about life for millions of millions and millions of people who would
ever believe upon his name. The grave the scripture tells
us could not hold him and he rose again upon the third day. And now today he's seated at
the right hand of the Father. And so this is the first miracle
that the Lord Jesus Christ did, a discreet miracle for the encouragement
of those who had just left all to follow him. And he does it
at a wedding. The beginning of Jesus's ministry
we see him at a wedding. And at the end in the book of
Revelation we see him at a wedding. And so this miracle sets forth
something of the work that the Lord Jesus Christ came to do. We know that Christ does not
do things haphazardly or willy-nilly but everything is purposeful
It has teaching in it for his people. So as he comes to change
this water into wine he is setting forth something of the work that
he came to do. The pots. that were empty were
there for the ceremonial washing of the Jews. We know that the
Old Testament tells us there was much washing needed by the
Jewish people. They had to wash sacrifices. They had to wash their bodies
when it came to ceremonies and worshipping God. And after they
had done certain things they had to wash themselves. And so
water was needed. these pots were empty. The scripture tells us that each
pot contained something of two to three firkins a piece. Now
if it was two and a half firkins that is 94 liters of water. That is 564 liters of water if
you put them all together that's over a half a ton. of water that
these servants had to go and get. We don't read that they
grumbled and complained, what do you need water for? Why do
we have to go and do this? Why do we go and have to do that? They didn't come up with all
manner of excuses, I've got a bad foot or I've hurt my hand. They obeyed immediately. whatsoever he saith unto you,
do it. And so they had to go and collect
water, no doubt from a well or from some other place and fill
these pots with water. And the Lord Jesus Christ changed
it into wine. The old passing away. behold all things become new.
The old ceremonial law of the Jews of washing and of sacrificing
and of temple worship was coming to a close. And as Jesus begins
his ministry, he begins by showing those round about him, those
nearest to him, of the type of work that he's going to do. His
work is going to be a changing work, a transitioning work. It's going to be a better work. The scripture tells us that the
old covenant was symbolic in many senses. It was types and
shadows of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were
so many types and shadows. There were so many things that
pointed to the Lord Jesus. There are so many things that
were fulfilled in the work and in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so he is the fulfilment of many of the Old Testament laws
and ceremonies. And he came to bring about a
better covenant. A covenant that did not require
ceremonial worship, that did not require constant sacrifices
for sin. For he was going to be the perfect
sacrifice. He was going to be the Lamb of
God that took away the sin of the world. He was going to be
the high priest that did not change, that did not have to
continually be changed because he is eternal and didn't die. His sacrifice was not going to
be done upon earth but it was going to be done in the courts
of heaven. His blood was going to be presented
into the holy place not made with hands. And so he came to
bring about a better covenant when we take the Lord's Supper.
As we sit together around the Lord's table we are reminded
of this new covenant that has been brought in, this new testament
that has been brought in. In Luke 22, as Jesus takes the
Passover and then institutes the Lord's Supper, in verse 19,
he took bread and gave thanks and break it. and gave unto them,
saying, This is my body, which is given for you, this do in
remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper,
saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, or the new covenant
in my blood, which is shed for you. And so Christ came to bring
about a better covenant, a covenant that was resting upon himself
and his finished work. In Hebrews chapter 7, if you
read the book of Hebrews, you'll see an explanation of the work
of Christ Jesus as the high priest and of the new covenant that
has been ushered in. Hebrews chapter 7. the law made nothing perfect.
You remember though the water pots filled with water for ceremonial
washing, they did not make those people clean before God, they
were ceremonially clean but they were not clean before the eyes
of a holy God. It was just a ritual that they
went through. And so the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope did. A better hope. By the which we draw nigh to
God. And inasmuch as not without an oath, he was made a priest. So he was a priest after the
order of Melchizedek, the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter eight.
and verse 6. But now he hath obtained a more
excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant which was established upon better promises. For if
the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been
sought for the second. Finding fault with them, he saith,
behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah. In chapter 9, verse 23, or from
verse 22, And almost all things are by
the law purged without blood, and without the shedding of blood
there is no remission or the forgiveness of sin. It was therefore
necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should
be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with
a better sacrifice than these. For Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the
true are into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of
God. So there the scripture tells
us that Christ came in to bring about a better, establish a better
covenant, a covenant that was not relying on a continued cycle
of sacrifice, a continued ceremonial washing, the continued offering
up of bulls and goats and of doves to God. But he was going
to fulfil all of this with one sacrifice, one sacrifice for
sin, which would be himself. He would shed his own blood upon
the cross to satisfy the wrath of God, to cleanse all of his
people from their sin. And he did not do that by entering
into the temple made with hands. but he entered into the holy
place which he was not made with hands as the Lamb of God which takes
away the sin of the world and so was a better covenant, a lasting
covenant. And so as Mary tells the servants
whatsoever he says unto you do it. Jesus begins to reveal this
is the type of ministry that I'm going to do. I'm taking away
the old, the old ceremonial external cleansing and I'm going to change
it into something better. The man of the the man who was running the wedding. He says, When the ruler of the
feast had tasted the water that it was made wine, he knew not
from whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew. And the governor of the feast
called the brigam and said unto him, Every man at the beginning
doth set forth good wine, And when thou hast made when men
have well drunk, then that which is worse, but thou hast kept
the good wine until now. And so he was surprised what
he was receiving. It was something that was better
than it was at the first. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
has brought in something that is better, something that is
lasting, something that is secure. all those in Christ Jesus who
believe in Christ Jesus they have something that is better,
a lasting sacrifice, a secure sacrifice, their salvation is
secure in Christ Jesus. There's not that continuing to
offer of those sacrifices yearly. but also the change by which
he changes sinful people. The water was changed. If you
remember the story of the woman at the well in John chapter four she came to the well to draw
water And she finds there the Lord Jesus Christ and he says
to her, if thou knowest the gift of God and who it was that said
unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked him and
he would have given thee living water. The woman said unto him,
sir, thou hast nothing to draw with and the well is deep from
whence. Canst thou give us this living water? Jesus begins to
expose the sins of this lady. He looks into her life. He knows
all about her. He asks her how many husbands
that she has and she says that she has no husband. And Jesus
tells her that she has had five husbands and the one that she
now has is not her husband. And she perceives that Jesus
is a prophet. And the scripture tells us that
she runs away from the Lord Jesus to her home and she leaves her
water pot behind. And she goes and tells people
of this prophet that she has found, come and see a man that
told me all things that ever I did is not this the Christ.
And so here we see another part of the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, a transforming work. That he takes the empty water
pot and he fills it and it's filled with water and it is transformed
into something better, something more beneficial, something good. Is that not what he does with
sinners? Doesn't he take an empty water
pot, that which is sinful and unclean, and he transforms that
person. He causes them to be born again
of the Spirit of God. He puts their spirit within them.
A new heart does he give them, new nature, new desires, new
concerns. It's like this lady. those things
that concerned her and occupied her before, she leaves them behind. It's like the apostles, they
left their boat, they left their nets, they left their father
and their mother and they followed the Lord Jesus Christ. This lady
came seeking water and when she met with the Lord Jesus Christ
she forgot all about her water. She forgot all about the reason
why she came to the well and she runs off with joy in her
heart. She had been transformed, changed.
she has that desire to now tell other people of the goodness
of God and that change which she has experienced in her heart
she wants to tell others. She left her water pot Those
things that concerned her before and now she was concerned with
something else. To bring glory to the one who
had saved her and changed her. Come and see a man that told
me all things that ever I did is not this to Christ. Is that
our desire today? To leave those things that have
occupied us and and taken up our time and we've
come and we have that desire to come and see, come and see a man which told me all things
that ever I did is not this the Christ. have that desire in your
heart? Have you got anything to say
about the Lord Jesus? Can you say come and see a man
that told me? Have you met this man the Lord
Jesus Christ who did these miracles in Canaan of Galilee? And so
this woman she was changed as the water was changed to wine
so she was changed from her old nature to a new nature. She was
given a new heart and new desires and those desires gave her that
desire to go and tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ. The wine also represents the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Later on in his life, as we saw
in the book of Luke, Jesus takes wine and he sits with his apostles
and he institutes the Lord's Supper. And they sit together
and he says to them that this bread is his body which is broken
for them and that his blood is the New Testament which is shed
for them. The scripture tells us that it's
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin. The scripture tells us that without
the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Throughout
the Old Testament there is that constant shedding of blood, that
blood as it's poured out the life of that animal is drained
out and that animal dies. The scripture tells us in Leviticus
that the life is in the blood. And this Bible tells us that
all that sinned against God, they must die. Not only if it's
the physical death, but it is the spiritual death under the
judgment of God. And so the only way for sinners
to be redeemed, to be bought from condemnation, is to find
safety. in the blood sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that his life, that his blood was poured out
and shed upon Calvary. And we continue to remember that
as we participate in the Lord's Suffering. And so Jesus' blood
was poured out upon the cross to redeem his people and it is
his blood that he that he takes as it were to the
spiritual temple as the high priest of his people in which
God is well satisfied with his son. He is the lamb of God, the
perfect lamb of God because God gave him as a substitute for
sinners. He is able to be called perfect
because in him there was no spot or blemish. He fulfilled the
whole law of God. Every line and every dot he walked
in complete obedience to God which you and I cannot do. Therefore
we have sinned and he did not. So he is able to be our perfect
substitute for sinners. You young ones know of football
or netball or whatever sport that you play and you know that
there are substitutes. A substitute is someone who is
put on the pitch instead of you or somebody else. They must be
the same. You can't put a dog or a horse. Must be the same. so the Lord Jesus Christ was
a substitute for sinners. He took the place of sinful men,
women, boys and girls and he paid the penalty of their sins. God poured out his anger upon
the Lord Jesus Christ and he was well satisfied with that
death because he's raised again on the third day, the grave could
not hold the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it's the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ that his life is poured out for sinners,
that those who believe in him, that the blood of Christ cleanses
them from all sin. If you remember the Passover
and the words that are spoken there, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. I noticed that these pots, they
were filled to the brim. They were filled to the brim. There is no lacking in the grace
of God. There's no lacking in God's ability
to save his people. There's an abundant supply. The
Old Testament tells us that in that day there will be a fountain
opened for sin and for uncleanness. And it's an abundant fountain.
It's an overflowing fountain as these water pots were filled
to the brim. Wine in those days was a symbol
of prosperity. And those that have had their
lives covered by the blood of God, by the blood of Christ are
brought into the kingdom of God. They are sons and daughters of
God himself in the kingdom of light. And there is prosperity,
spiritual prosperity and also physical provision. But wine would also bring joy. As the
man tasted of the wine, he was filled with joy. He said, this
is good wine. The scripture tells us there's
joy in the presence of God, in the presence of God over one
sinner that repents from their sins. There is joy in the people
of God as they realize their sins have been forgiven. The
people of God, the joy of the Lord is their strength. And as Jesus begins his ministry
then at this wedding, And as he shows those around about him
of the work in which he is going to do, that transforming work,
that bringing in of a better covenant, that transforming work
of grace within the heart. So he ends his ministry or his
earthly ministry and he begins his heavenly ministry with the
marriage supper of the Lamb. The Bible tells us that all of
those that are in Christ, they are part of the body of Christ.
They're part of the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
said that the New Testament is like a love story in which the
bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, finds his bride and he He pays
the dowry to redeem her by shedding his own life's blood. Then he
goes away from her telling her that one day he is going to come
again and that coming again there is going to be another wedding.
the joining together of bride and bridegroom. As the bride
has been battling her way through this sin-torn world, the church
has been suffering much persecution and will do until Christ comes
again. There will be that time when
she will be redeemed, she will be brought to her saviour. And no longer will she be clothed
in the rags of this world but she'll be clothed in the pure
white of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. She'll
be presented to him, his bride that he has been waiting for.
Will you and I be amongst them? Revelation says, and I heard,
Revelation 19, and I heard, as it were, the voice of a great
multitude, and the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty
thunder saying, hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come. And his
wife, that is the church, has made herself ready. And it was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white,
for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he said unto
me, Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are
the true sayings. of God. And so Christ, he begins
his earthly ministry by attending a marriage. And at the end of time, as he
gathers up his bride, he will begin eternity with a wedding
in which him and his bride will be reconciled. She'll be arrayed
in clean white linen. And there the Bible tells us
that there will be no more sadness, that there will be no more sorrow. His mother saith unto him, his
servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. The servants
were obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. They obeyed him, collecting
over half a tonne of water and they experienced that miracle,
that humble miracle. that satisfied so many. By the shedding of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross at Calvary another
miracle that took place. That blood cleansed multitudes
from their sin and made them ready for the marriage supper
of the Lamb in which they will be together with their Lord forever
and ever. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Our final hymn is from Hymns
for Worship, number 73. Give me a sight, O Saviour, of
thy wondrous love to me, of the love that brought thee down to
earth to die on Calvary. Number 73 from Hymns for Worship. me The other wonders that through
Thy care for me, My help and saves, my sacred sins, can all
forgiven be. I went to Thee, O Holy One, to
bear away my sin. ? Shall I only conquer love ? ?
And nor a suffering crown? ? ? Come, make me understand
it ? ? Help me to take it in ? ? What it meant to be a holy
man? ? O Lord our God, we do thank Thee
for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ that His blood can cleanse
us from all of our sin and we pray that that transforming work
of grace may be done in each of our lives that we may be transformed
from that old nature into that new nature of Christ, that Thou
help us, Lord, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus. We ask that we may be dismissed with Thy blessing and
returned here later according to Thy will for the evening service. And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with us each now
and forevermore. Amen.