REVEALED: Jesus and the Kingdom of God

Through this series, Revealed, we have found that in Jesus we get, first a picture of God, then we get a clear understanding of who we are, and last week we discussed our realizing that we were created to be near to him as we respond to his invitation to “come and see" then “follow me”. Today we get a glimpse of where we are going.

We are going to a wedding.

Most guys will groan at the news…unless the invitaiton comes with the menu.

Why do you think Jesus chose a wedding for his first miracle? It seems to have not been planned, but when you consider that the bible begins and ends with pictures of weddings - Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:21-25...and the wedding of the Lamb in Revelation 19:6-9 - it’s not really a suprise.

Then there is a text I reference in almost every wedding...

Ephesians 5:25–32 HCSB

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of His body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Weddings

Our wedding....desire to have a great celebration…Star Trek Enterprise cake…hot day on July 15th in 1995 - 102*

Willy running out of drinks.

I remember the concern...

In Jewish culture, weddings were community events…week long affairs. Beginning with a candlelight parade through town on the evening of the wedding. A wedding in Jesus’s time would have been a very big event. That’s where we find ourselves.

John 2:1–3 NIV84

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

Small town weddings

Wine was a source of joy Ps 104:15 “wine gladdens the heart”

Psalm 4:7 NIV84

7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.

SIDEBAR: Alcohol

Yes Jesus drank wine…but at most it was much less alcohol than what woudl be in a modern day light beer.

Is it a sin to drink alcohol? The bible is clear…what is a sin is to get drunk.

Should you drink? Probably not. Seldom do you hear anyone make better decisions because they were drinking. BUT, if you can do so legally, and not entice anyone to drunkenness, I don’t see a problem with it.

But if your drinking brings the power of Jesus to save and transform lives…or if you brother or sister has a problem with alcohol, then we should be willing to abstain out of love for my brother. Grace may allow us…but love must constrain us.

Wine was the responsibility of the bridegroom....OUR WEDDING, my responsibility was to show up on time, not pass out, and not get sick.

In the Jewish culture, if the wedding reception didn’t measure up, it wasn’t just an embarrassment, it could cost you financially. Remember hospitality was a big deal then, so if you had gone to Pete’s wedding and were treated great, now Pete comes to your wedding and you run out of wine…Pete might take you to court. And you know what, you would lose. You received but didn’t share in return.

So when Mary sees the wine is gone, she knows that this could be devastating. Her comment to Jesus wasn’t really asking for a miracle, he hadn’t done any at this point, as much as she was asking for Jesus to do something.

He had been announced by JtB…he had followers..even if only 5. He now had respect in this community; he should do something.

John 2:4 ESV

4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

Ma’am...

Jesus’s response was polite, but clearly separating him from his mother’s influence.

Hour…death

Not time for Jesus to become the bridegroom

John 2:5 NIV

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

She trusted Jesus…not even knowing what he would do

John 2:6 NIV

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Ceremonial washing was a Levitical law

Stone Jars would be free from contamination

John 2:7–8 HCSB

7 “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the chief servant.” And they did.

Jesus took action in a way that wouldn’t draw attention to himself. He honored the bridegroom and resolved the problem…Jesus is a gentleman.

And who helped him? Servants…who obeyed everything he commanded.

John 2:9–10 NIV84

9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

The joy returned to the wedding feast.

John 2:11 NLT

11 This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Jesus revealed his glory

This is the key to understanding what is going on here…this passage isn’t about alcohol…it’s not about his mom…it’s not really about the need for wine.

From the Hebrew perspective, when God reveals His glory He is accurately representing and portraying “who He is and how He does things.”

Hebrews 1:3 NIV84

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

In the beginning of Hebrews 1, we see the functional Hebrew understanding of glorifying God when it is said of Jesus that He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being. Jesus glorifies God by perfectly portraying and representing Him.

So when John says Jesus did this to reveal His glory, Jesus is revealing to us in this sign exactly what He is going to do and why. In that sense, John’s sign is like a portrait of what is to come as well as a compass making sure we are always pointed in the right direction with our understanding of what Christ has accomplished, and why.

Jesus is ushering in the Kingdom of God.

Just to keep things simple about what the kingdom of GOd is, it is where God rules and reigns…it’s His kingdom. When did it begin? You could argue it began when Jesus arrived, or at least when he resurrected. When disciples began to live by faith. Faith empowered obedience to our Lord Jesus.

The kingdom began at the resurrection, but just as the wedding of the Lamb of Rev 19 illustrates, it won’t be fulfilled until Jesus comes back. What we have until then are shadows, are reflections of the Kingdom of God.

John the baptist is telling people that things are changing.

Like on my wedding day. My best man told me that things were changing, but I had no idea. My family has a tradition to illustrate this change. They chain the groom. I kid you not, at some point in the reception, they take chains and lock them on you and throw away the keys.

I had them around my waist, around my ankles....locked down…and Michelle pulling me around with the end of the chain....it’s all fun and games, but I did have more than one set of bolt cutters stashed around the reception.

Jesus used a much more compassionate sign at this wedding.

Look at those stone water jugs....they were for ceremonial washing.

The levitical law was an obligation to every Jew; one that had to be obeyed. Like my chains, they were bound to it.

Is there a part of your faith that feels like an obligation?

But what happened in the obedience of the servants?

As a result of obedience, the instrument of obligation became a source of joy…abundant joy.

In Jesus we find …not just salvation....but joy filled obedience.

That’s what God reveals in Jesus; Jesus is the source of joyful obedience.

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