“Water and Wine”
John 2:1-11
January 14, 2007
St. Paul UMC of
Rev. John A. Fleming, Pastor
A few years ago, when Johnny Carson was still hosting The
Tonight Show, one of his guests was an eight year old boy. The boy was asked to appear on the show
because of a heroic act. He had saved
two of his friends in a coal mine outside his hometown in
Johnny was doing his very best to get the young boy to
talk. He could sense the nervousness in
his guest. He asked leading questions in
hopes of putting the boy at ease. As he
did that, it became apparent that the young child was a Christian. The child talked about how God had helped him
do what he did. The boy also talked
about his faith.
So Johnny Carson turned to the boy and asked, “Do you attend
Sunday School?” The child answered,
“Sure. Every Sunday.” Johnny asked, “So what did you learn in Sunday School last
week?” The boy said, “Our lesson was
about the time Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine.” The audience, for some reason
laughed. My guess is they were laughing
with the boy and not because of what he said.
How could you laugh at such a story?
Johnny Carson then asked, “So what did you learn from that story?” The boy began to squirm in his chair. It was the same kind of squirming anyone
would do if they were asked what Sunday’s sermon was about a week later. It was obvious that he had not thought about
the question. A second or two later he
lifted his face. His eyes were
bright. He said, “If you’re going to
have a wedding, make sure you invite Jesus.”
That’s good advice.
This scene, this wedding at
Jesus doesn’t say much about
wedding and marriages, if anything. He
talks about divorce, but he does not say much about marriage. The early church leaders thought, “Well, he
did attend a wedding in
The problem is that the story of
Jesus and the wedding is not really about marital advice and how to handle the
ceremony. The story really is a
statement about who Jesus is and what He came to do.
I want you to notice where it is. In John’s gospel, it is the first thing Jesus
does. It comes at the start of the second
chapter. Chapter one is a prologue,
really. It begins with one of the
greatest poetic lines in all the Bible. We read this on Christmas eve,
“In the beginning was the Word....and
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
After that John comes out of the wilderness, pointing to some one beyond
himself. John points to the Messiah.
After that, the second chapter
begins with Jesus attending the wedding at Cana of Galilee and stepping up when
the wine supply ran low. This is Jesus’
debut. It is the first thing He
does. Jesus is making a statement
here. Jesus is saying, “This is the
beginning. This is who I am. This is why I have come.”
The other gospels do not tell this story. The other gospels say that the first thing
Jesus did was to preach a sermon. Jesus,
you will remember, returned to his hometown of
I am wondering. Which
would you rather do? Would you rather
hear a sermon or go to a wedding? Do not
worry, you won’t hurt my feelings. I’d
rather go to the wedding, too. So let’s
join the other guests at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. As I told you, Jesus and his disciples have
been invited. Jesus’ mother, Mary, is
also there. We are not sure why they are
on the guest list. There is a chance
that this wedding is for a member of Jesus’ family. As I said Mary is there. She points out to Jesus that the wine supply
has been depleted.
You should know this, in those days, weddings lasted
anywhere from three to seven days, depending on your wealth. And it was social suicide to run out of
wine. In a time where hospitality was
paramount, running out of wine was a big mistake. Mary points out the problem to Jesus. He answers, “Woman, what concern is that to
you and me? My hour has not yet
come.” Jesus, of course, does the miraculous. John doesn’t call it a miracle. John calls it a sign. John calls all the miracles signs and in his
gospel there are fewer of them. All of
the signs make a statement about Jesus.
We who are wedding guests at the reception now notice that
Jesus says that it is not his hour. This
really means that it is not time for His glorification. John believed that Jesus’ time was
coming. Jesus would be lifted on a
cross. People would see it. Glorification means that you will Jesus for
who He is. John’s opinion is that before
that time, not everyone will understand.
Here is the point. It
is the point of the story. The disciples
saw it. That is the point. And that is the way the story ends. The last words of our lesson are, “Jesus
revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”
Disciples, you see, can see what other people cannot
see. Mostly what disciples can see is
who Jesus really is. Disciples can see
who Jesus is for the world. Disciples
can see who He is for themselves.
Disciples can see that Jesus has come into the world. The time of preparation is over. The time to celebrate has begun.
Something new has happened to the world with the coming of
the Messiah. The other wedding guests
cannot see it. The wedding guests have a
curiosity about why there is better and more wine. But the disciples believed in Him. They knew that this was the beginning of
something new, something revolutionary.
The disciples knew that Jesus’ coming meant that the world would be
different.
I want you to go home today with this question on your
heart, why do believe in this Jesus? The
disciples may have believed first because of the water and the wine. How could you not believe that Jesus was
someone special after that happened. We did not see the miracle. Why do we believe in Jesus?
Truthfully I can only answer that for myself. I believe in this Jesus in part because I
always have. I hope I always will. There have been a few things that have
happened to me that have tested my faith, but they have not deterred my
faith. Most of you know that I grew up
in the church. I was taken to the church
as a toddler and I never left her. Some
can tell you of a time in college or in their young adult years when they did
not go to church. That is not my
story. In fact, during those years, I
worked for the church. I believe in Him
because when I need Him the most, He sends peaceful thoughts to my mind and
heart and people to surround me, to help me.
I believe in Him because you cannot look at the beauty of a sunset or a
sunrise and doubt Him. I believe in Him
because He has as much to do with a transformed life as He does the
sunsets. I believe in Jesus when I look
in my children’s eyes and see the joy that is there. I believe in Him because of the hope He gives
people I love. I believe in Jesus
because I can feel Him at the very depths of my soul.
You should know this.
Believing in this Jesus isn’t enough.
We all need to have a relationship with Him. The time of waiting for the Messiah is
over. Don’t wait on Him for your life to
start. He is already here. The time of waiting for someone or something
to save you will not happen. The time of
waiting for your problems to go away before life gets good is past. The time has come for those who have seen
what has happened to the world to start living.
Let us pray.