A Most Memorable Wedding

No doubt most everyone in this room can remember something either about your wedding or a family wedding or a friend's wedding that made it a very memorable occasion. Maybe something bad happened. Maybe something funny happened. Maybe there was just unusual circumstances about that wedding that caused a smile to come over your face as I'm seeing on some of your faces right now. Jeanne and I got married in the summer of 1972 and just a month before we got married we were getting married in Corning, New York, which was her hometown and just a month almost to the day. Before we got married, Hurricane Agnes swept up the East Coast. It had made landfall in Florida and Georgia and then made another landfall in Pennsylvania and New York and up to that time it was the most devastating storm in the United States history in terms of damage. Over 200 people died in that storm but in Corning, a dam burst outside of town, a wave of water swept through Corning and devastated the entire town. 20 people died in Corning as a result of that and it was just devastated. The whole downtown had to be rebuilt. That was about four weeks and the aftermath was still happening. This was in the day before personal computers and email and cell phones and so all communication lines were down. For 10 days I did not even know if they were still alive. I was watching news reports and I could see that water was up to the second floor of the hospital, a mile from the river. I knew it was a horrible scene and I knew where they lived in relation to that and thought all kinds of things. But 10 days after the flood as it is called today in Corning, you just mentioned the flood and everybody knows what you're talking about. 10 days later I got word from the Red Cross that they were alive and well and doing fine. But our wedding was affected very much by that. All of our flowers were gone, the flower shop was devastated and everything else like that that we had planned for the wedding. Because of the evaporation of all that water and so much devastation in the area it was a difficult time just to get there and to be able to have the wedding. But we did the evening we got married on a Friday evening July 21st. It was 100 degrees very humid and no air conditioning in the church. We have pictures of our wedding, one picture of Jeanne and I are facing each other. We're actually singing to each other. There's a candle behind us. There's a drip of sweat coming off my chin in that picture. It was Jeanne's bangs were plastered to her forehead. The icing on the wedding cake melted during the wedding service downstairs and it was just a disaster in some ways. But we got married and we're still married and so it worked out okay. But we laugh about those things today and have a great time remembering those things and no doubt many of you can remember similar things that happened at your wedding. What if at your wedding Jesus had shown up and performed a miracle at the reception. Now that would be a memorable wedding wouldn't it? That would be something to talk about. Well it happened. It really happened to a young couple in the first century in Cana a town nine miles north of where Jesus grew up. And this blessed couple got to experience not only the Lord Jesus being a guest at their wedding but also having him perform his first miracle at their wedding. What an amazing thing that would be. But there's a lot that this story in John chapter two by the way second chapter of the gospel of John. There's a lot in this story that tells us about Jesus not just the wedding not just the couple not just the occasion but there's a lot in this story that opens our eyes and minds to Jesus to Christ and who he is. The miracle at the wedding demonstrates five qualities about our Lord. And I want us to look at those five things that we see about Christ as a result of his first miracle at Cana of Galilee. So if you're in John to join me as we begin verse one the first thing that we see about the Lord Jesus in this story is his capacity to enjoy life. Look at verse one on the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Let me stop right there. Little interesting side note if you follow these kinds of things in the gospels the time notation here on the third day. I don't know if you picked up on this or not but John has been alerting us to a succession of days actually a succession of seven days the first week of Christ's ministry. None of the other gospels record this but John records the first seven days at least some of the events of the first seven days of Jesus ministry. It all starts back in chapter one verse nineteen when the Pharisees come to question John about who he is and what he's doing and then in verse 29 it says the next day. So day two is when John introduces Jesus as the Lamb of God and then you see chapter one verse thirty five the next day that's the third day when Jesus calls Andrew and John to be his disciples and then in the next day day number four Jesus calls Philip and Bartholomew and then chapter two verse one on the third day probably the third day after what had just happened in chapter one. It would take Jesus a couple days to get from where he was up to to Galilee. So a total of seven days are mentioned here in this first opening description of our Lord's ministry. But where he goes is he goes to a wedding there's a wedding that took place in Canaan and the Bible says in verse one that Jesus mother was there. As we read on in the story we will find that she seems to have had some kind of official job responsibility at the wedding feast. And so it may have been family may have been a relative that was getting married or at least a close family friend that this wedding is being held for in their home. And verse two says and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. Now what we're going to read in the rest of the story is about a wedding feast but Jesus was there evidently for the whole thing. So let me just quickly remind you of what a first century Jewish wedding would be like. The bride and groom would have committed themselves to each other as husband and wife somewhere around nine months before this time. Sometimes the betrothal period the engagement period lasted a month sometimes it lasted 12 months but usually around nine months and it was a time of testing of their faithfulness to each other. They were considered legally husband and wife at the time they became engaged any unfaithfulness that surfaced during that time would actually have to be remedied by a divorce if the union were going to be dissolved even in their betrothal. That was the situation that Mary and Joseph faced you may recall. So they've been engaged for some time and during that time the groom has been building their residents probably attached to the house of his parents or close by. So on the appointed time when that is finished the groom comes to get the bride at her home and there is an elaborate and joyful procession from her house to his house where the wedding formula is stated probably by a rabbi and then they go into this wedding feast. Now the wedding feast is much more than what we think of as a reception today. We have a wedding we have a reception it's all done within a few hours this would last for seven days and it's difficult for us to imagine how important this is to a Jewish family and to the couple getting married. This was their honeymoon. They didn't go on honeymoon in that time they didn't get married and say oh boy we got a cruise on the sea of Galilee waiting for us they didn't do that. They had a wedding feast and for seven days they they had a hilarious time a great time. Actually the bride and groom would be king and queen they would dress up in royal garments and whatever they said went for those seven days. And it was a time of great feasting and celebration it was it was for most families in that day who were poor the supreme occasion of their lives. It would be like what we would think of once in a lifetime vacation or trip to somewhere else in the world this was a wedding feast to them. That's what that meant to them and so this was everything to them but something goes wrong at this wedding feast. Verse 3 when the wine was gone Jesus mother said to him they had no more wine. This would actually be a catastrophe at a wedding feast given the importance of the wedding feast that this is the most significant occasion in this family's lifetime. Especially in this young couples life time and also given the fact that in the Middle East whether it's Jewish or Arab culture hospitality is one of the highest honors and duties and responsibilities. And so there's this keen feeling of I am responsible for these guests and to run out of provisions of any kind for a wedding feast was considered the ultimate embarrassment. And actually those who study the culture say that it could be grounds for a lawsuit if that happened. And so this is serious stuff this is not just we're running a little low on the punch throw a little more seven up in there. That's not it. This is a this is a family embarrassment and meltdown is about to happen here. This is tragic. And so Jesus mother comes to Jesus evidently letting him know that the situation so that he can do something about it. But let me pause before we go further in the story and draw this insight about our Lord's life from this very occasion the very fact that Jesus would be here shows his capacity to enjoy life. He is at a wedding. This is an elaborate occasion elaborate dress would be worn the best that people would have. There would be music and candles and this wonderful procession to get the bride and bring her back to the the groom's home. And then the feast the feast would be seven days of just that feasting eating music riddles would be told jokes would be told different kinds of amusements would be held laughter was abundant celebration was the order of the day. I can just imagine and Jesus is here and I think he's involved in all that's happening to celebrate with this family. I can just imagine what it might have been like between him and these disciples he's just had three or four days with these first five maybe six disciples if James John's brothers included yet but we're not told that. So at least five of the disciples I can just imagine Jesus gets up one day remember they've only had three or four days together. Jesus gets up and says guys we're headed out somewhere today we got somewhere to go. And maybe they begin thinking and maybe even ask him are we going to the temple to worship or maybe to the synagogue to teach or maybe out to the hills to pray. And Jesus smiles and says no we're going to go to a party to laugh. I wonder how that would have taken them back what have we gotten ourselves into we thought this was serious the cycle business. But Jesus goes to the scene of Mary meant and I have no doubt that he entered into the joy of the occasion without evidently any fear that his image would be tarnished at the very beginning of his ministry. You know sometimes Jesus is pictured as very somber serious contemplative almost with a scowl on his face taking measure of anyone who may be either doing anything wrong or even enjoying life just a little bit often the media presentations of Jesus or that way many of the movies show Jesus as this very somber character that never smiles certainly would never laugh. I don't see him that way in the gospels I have no doubt that he's not only there but he's entering into the marion of the time. And it is at a much needed time for him as well within the last few weeks think of all he's gone through he is left home left his job his vocation. Gone to John to be baptized in Jordan and be publicly announced as the Lamb of God and the Son of God and produced to the nation as the Messiah he has then immediately gone out into the wilderness into the desert where he fasts for 40 days and Satan tempts him with everything he can throw at him. And in those very intense days six weeks Jesus does battle with the devil then he comes back chooses his first five disciples has begun working with them and now they've made at least a two day journey back up the gallery it's time for a break. And so here's a week of break here's a week to get away with family and friends and just celebrate just rejoice I see Jesus entering into that fully. I would just at this moment pause to remind you of the book of Ecclesiastes a book that we recently went through on Sunday mornings remember that the theme of the book of Ecclesiastes is to how to enjoy life. Six times in that book that refrain comes up over and over again different ways it's stated but most of the times it's three verses or so that are that are tying the book together by saying God wants you to enjoy life and it was written to a pagan audience really and the ideas this you cannot find fulfillment purpose joy in life apart from a relationship with God that's where it begins and we know that that relationship with God begins through a personal relationship with Christ. So in order to really find meaning and fulfillment and joy in life you must first of all know Christ is your savior and then your perspective whole perspective on life can be changed knowing that God is in control that you have a ultimate home in heaven you can take each day as a gift from God to be enjoyed thoroughly we don't live that way very much I don't live that way like I should but that's the way God wants us to live and Jesus is an example of that here. He's showing his capacity just to enjoy some downtime with family and friends and to enjoy life. Good example for us but the story goes on verses four and five picture for us and demonstrate to us his commitment to the father's will. I want you to see this very important but often misunderstood Jesus mother has just said to him give him the report in verse three that they have no more wine notice Jesus response woman why do you involve me Jesus replied my hour has not yet come. Jesus response has often been misunderstood and it sounds strange doesn't it it sounds cold it sounds curt maybe even rude it sounds as though he's putting his mother off even maybe putting her in her place. But such is not the case at all we we misunderstand the scene and the culture of that day if we think that. First of all Jesus uses the term woman which admittedly was rare to be used of one's mother but it was used by Jesus it was often used by Jesus in the gospels of several women he would speak a word of tenderness to them and the word woman was considered a tender compassionate family type term it's the same word Jesus would use from the cross when he addressed his mother and said woman behold your son John behold your mother he spoke to his mother. He spoke to his mother in those tender moments even through his own pain and agony remembering that she needed to be cared for he gives her into the care John and that's a very tender moment there's nothing rude about that at all he he refers to her as woman there. And so that in itself is not a harsh term it's a tender term in Jesus day. But when Jesus asked the question why do you involve me he's not a pertinent son who doesn't want his mom to tell him to do anything that's not the idea at all. Actually the the wording that this was written in by John is a little difficult for us to grasp and so it's translated a number of different ways if you have the King James it sounds even more rude what do I have to do with you. But the literal wording if we would translate this from the original language word for word it would be something like this what to you and to me what to you and to me. Well obviously that doesn't make any sense to us and so that's the reason the translators grapple with how to put it in language we understand. But literally what Jesus said was what to you and to me and his mother would have perfectly understood that that's an expression that is used commonly in the Old Testament and was used up into the first century of basically showing that we may not have the same agenda here what involves you may not necessarily involve me anymore it really is not a harsh statement but it is a statement of him referring or letting his mother know that he is now in a different religion. He has now begun his ministry and what is important to her may no longer be important to him. Jesus has changed and the mother's son has changed and Jesus is the oldest son and it is pretty clear by this time that Joseph Mary's husband has died and Jesus is already known as decarpened in Nazareth. That used to be his stepfather Joseph and so it's Joseph or Jesus responsibility to care for his mother and he is in this very clear way letting her know that now he is leaving home. He is starting out on his ministry and it is now submission to his father's will that takes priority not within the context of the family relationship. Now that's very critical to see it's very important to see what Jesus is doing here. He's not being rude or harsh but he is letting his mother know that the relationship has changed that he is now embarking on his ministry and he will no longer be under the authority or even the same relationship in the home. He is now directly under his father's timetable and that's why he goes on to say my hour has not yet come. He's not saying it's not time for me to intervene at the feast or you know it's not the right time tomorrow will be a better day. I thought that this term my hour is a term John uses some 10 times in the gospel. It always refers to that specific time when Jesus will fulfill what the father sent him to this world to do by dying on the cross for our sins. It refers to his death and the events surrounding his death and all through the gospel you'll find this statement my hour is not yet come. In other words I'm operating now on a divine timetable the father's perfect will and timetable that will lead me to that specific point that he has chosen for me to lay down my life for your sins. As Jesus approaches the cross he says a couple times my hour has now come he was perfectly aware of the father's will of the father's plan for him and that now takes precedence over anything his mother may ask or direct for him to do. You say well how does that apply to me there is tremendous application here for us and that is that the father's will takes priority over all other human relationships. If we follow Jesus Christ if we are going to be like him then our father's will becomes paramount it takes the priority we are to live every day listening to his voice letting him set the timetable in the agenda and rearrange our lives if he so chooses according to his will and we are to be submissive to his will. He is to be the focal point of our lives he is to be the priority of our lives not our own plans not even the plans of our family Christ now takes priority and we need to all ask ourselves are we living that way are we seeking God's will every day are we asking for him to work and him to move and if things circumstances don't work out like we had planned them are we trusting that that is God's will. We are willing to work and allowing him to work in whatever way he wants and mold and shape us through those life circumstances to be more like him are we really committed to the father to his will or to us. Let me give you a very practical application of this I don't think I'm stretching it too far if you are really willing and ready to be committed to the father's will if he really takes priority then it will make a difference in the very will. In the very way you attend church now don't get worried I'm not going to get all legalistic on you and say okay how many services a week are true for a real good Christian it's not my point here is my point no matter who standing up here on this platform no matter what is happening here on any particular Sunday the question is do I love God enough to be with his people and to be the recipient of whatever. He is chosen for that day when we have a communion service and a business meeting our attendance drops by 150 to 200 people that's a crying shame and a sin you know why because God has commanded us to observe communion that's a command of scripture do this he said in remembrance of me don't miss that you say I don't like the way you do it that's not in the Bible Jesus never said anything about the way you do it or agreeing with that he just said do it. Do it so you need to be here when we have a communion service when we have missionaries our attendance plummets on a mission Sunday God forgive us for such negligence and putting ourselves first you see those are people who have sacrificed and given their lives to help us take the gospel they're spreading their spreading Jesus Christ to nations and the world. And there our ambassadors representing our church there we not come and honor them and hear about what they're doing how can we stay at home when a missionary comes or when we have a special service like we're going to have next week. And we have an opportunity to see what's happening in the youth ministry and to hear one of our other pastors speak God forgive us if we are here simply because of who might be up here or what might be happening and I don't like it so I'm not going to go what that tells me is you're not really committed to Jesus Christ you're committed to your own agenda and what you want to hear and don't want to hear self centered Christianity is what I call it it certainly is not God centered it's not God. Certainly is not following his will and a commitment to him may God shake us to our core to stop being lay out of sea and Christians self centered Luke warm only doing what I want to do when I feel like it may God move us to put him first Jesus is saying even to his own mother my primary commitment is to the father and his will I will do whatever he says. But there's something else in this story that should strike home to us and that is the way Mary responded look at verse five his mother said to the servants do whatever he tells you do you know what's there in those words there is a quiet release of Jesus to do what he has just made clear to her I'm going to do the father's will there is a humble letting go of him to do the father's will. She will not stand in his way I think she got what he was saying that their relationship is now changed he is no longer in her home. They are no longer working together on what will be done in a days time or what the schedule will look like or the future looks like Jesus is now out from under her authority moving at the father's timetable and she is willing to let him go. She doesn't respond to him she doesn't tide him she simply turns to the servants and says whatever he says you follow his his direction she's letting him go she is humbly and quietly releasing him to the father's will and all of us who are parents need to do the same thing. It is our passion here at Johnston Chapel to from the very time children are able to get in a children's ministry or get into the word of God and understand anything about what God has for them to begin challenging them to love him and to grow in him but ultimately to serve him and that carries right on up through our youth ministry and into our adult ministry and it is our goal and passion that we not just be a missionary supporting church but a missionary sending church and that you are going to be able to do the same thing. And that God raised up from our midst children and young people who will have a heart to serve him and go out to the fields to the world or to the next door neighbor or wherever it may be and serve God. My question is this. Will you parents? Will we parents stand in the way? Will we hold them back? God help us if we do that. We'll have to answer to God for that. And what we see is God moving in the heart of a young person giving them a passion or desire to train to serve him and the parents end up saying I came forward by Bible college. You're not even given God a chance to provide. If God calls someone God will provide for them and he may want to stretch your faith and challenge you about how it will be done but you're counting dollars and cents when God is looking at lives. And he wants children and young people to go out to serve him there we ever stand in the way parents. Don't hold your children back. Don't say no, no, don't do that. Don't. No, I don't want you going to Africa or to Ukraine or to Tokyo or wherever I don't want you doing that. I want you to train for a nice job that will provide you a secure future and you can build a house just down the road from us. God help us if we hold on to our children and don't release them to the will of God. Now God's not going to call every child and every young person or every adult to go somewhere else but he does want to call some. I'm convinced of that. He's done that for years out of this church and he's not going to stop doing that. God help the parent who is the one who holds a child back or a young person back. Mary was willing to release Jesus now to the father's will. Quietly humbly turns her back and walks away, never challenges him about this new direction and path in his life. She knows it's God's will and she releases him to go. Jesus commitment to the father's will is paramount in his life now. But the story doesn't stop there. Notice what happens next in verses six through nine where we find Jesus doing something that shows this about him. His use of human instrumentality. Notice what happens nearby for six stood six stone water jars the kind used by the Jews for ceremony washing each holding from 20 to 30 gallons. These are large curved stone jars. It would be about knee high and would hold 20 to 30 gallons they were used for washing the feet when one would come into the house or washing before meals any kind of ceremonial washing that would happen for ritual purification or cleansing according to the most. In the household this would be the water supply. So there are six of these pots sitting there verse seven. Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. They did not realize where did come from the servants who had drawn the water knew. Let me stop right there and before I go any further I need to address that which some of you are thinking about and have been thinking about since the beginning of this message. Did Jesus really make wine? Did he really? I can remember back in the seventies hearing a real firebrand preacher. It's not the one you're thinking it's someone else. I can remember hearing him preach a sermon. The title of the sermon was my Jesus was not a bartender. Well that's not at all what this passage is about. But let's be honest with the facts with the words with the culture of the day. Yes Jesus did turn water into wine. Wine was the common table beverage of the day. You only had two choices in that day. You didn't go to a grocery store and have a whole row of choices or go to McDonald's and you can go to the little machine and you get six different times of soft drinks and a iced tea and a water and a lemonade and whatever else. They had two choices. Water or wine. That was it. Now the wine that was typically used at the table in the household was watered down. It was mixed three parts water with one part wine. It was not designed to get you under any kind of influence. It was designed to really purify the water. There is nothing that can be taken from this story that would support any abuse of alcoholic beverages today and all the associations that go with that. There's none of that here but you've got to be honest with the words and the text. It's not unfermented. It is the common table beverage of the day. Just put that behind you. Let's get on to what the text is really talking about. What Jesus does in this miracle is fascinating. Did you notice that there's no outward work done by Jesus? There is no magic formula. He doesn't stand over these jars and say Abraham, Biblity, Biblity, Biblity, Biblity, whatever. He doesn't do that. There's nothing like that. He does not give some kind of command. Water turned to wine. There's nothing public here. Jesus doesn't do anything to put himself in the way of showing that he's doing this. He just gives a couple of commands to the servants. Go fill the water jars. They do the work. Take some to the master of the ceremonies. The head waiter, if you will. The guy who's running the show, they do that. I'm not sure that anybody but Jesus, his disciples, the servants and maybe Mary knew what had happened and knew who had done it. Obviously the master of ceremonies in verse 9 did not know what had happened. It didn't know where it came from. So Jesus does not put himself in the limelight. So everybody knows he did this. He chooses instead to use servants and he still does the same thing today. One of the most amazing aspects of God's mercy and grace is that he wants to use us to do his work. He doesn't need us. God could do anything. He wanted any way he wanted miraculously without any human intervention at all. But he chooses to use us. And he wants us to be his servants to be used by him. God wanted an Ethiopian government official to be saved. And this government official is reading from Isaiah 53 on his way home to Ethiopia. Could not God have just spoken to his heart right there between him and God. He got saved. He could have done that. Certainly, but he didn't choose to do that. He choose to move Philip to be the human instrument that would explain that passage to him. God wants a Saul, a flaming missionary evangelist, but his heart is so hard with fair, fair, fair, fair, sial self righteousness and his own works and he's zeal to persecute the church. And God's going to soften that man's heart. How does he do it? Through Stephen. And to Saul watches Stephen being stoned. And here's Stephen at the very end of his life with his last words asked for God to forgive those who are persecuting him. When Saul eventually did meet the Lord Jesus and later became Paul when he did eventually meet Jesus. The question Jesus asked him was it's hard for you to kick against the goats. The pricks in your heart, isn't it? Those pricks, no doubt, were either started or helped along their way by the testimony of Stephen. God wants a Roman soldier to be saved. His name is Cornelius and Cornelius is honestly searching and seeking and God could have used any number of means to get through to him. But God said Peter, Peter, Peter, get up there. I want you to be the human instrument that introduces Cornelius to the gospel. God wants a Philippine jailer to be saved and so he arranges for Paul and Silas to get arrested to be thrown in his jail and have the heart to have a prayer meeting in a song service at midnight. And when the earthquake comes, the jailer knows who to turn to. And he rushes into them and says, what must I do to be saved? How did he know even about what to be saved meant? He had heard Paul and Silas. God uses human instruments. He doesn't have to. He's not limited to that, but he chooses to do that. And that means God wants to use you and me. It means that he wants to use you to reach your neighbor, your co-worker, maybe a family member. He may even want to use you in another way in a vocational capacity as a missionary or pastor or a Bible college teacher in some way to further his work. But he wants to use you, all of us. And so that means that all of us need to get out of the stands, out of the pews, and onto the field and say, coach, here I am. I'm ready to be used. I'm looking for ways to be used. You know, a lot of us just kind of sit back and wait for something to drop into our lap. There are all kinds of things that need to be done. There are all kinds of ways that we could all be used. We need to look at them, search them out, listen for them to be announced in the bulletin. Make sure we understand what we are capable of doing and have a desire to do and find a way to plug it in. Get busy. God wants to use all of us. He doesn't want us just to sit and soak up more information. He wants us to take what we get from His Word as fuel to use to serve Him. God uses human instruments. And He wants more servants today who will be used of Him. But the story doesn't end there. Look at verse 10. Here's another thing about our Lord in this story. His work is perfect. The perfection of His work. At the end of verse 9, we stopped about the master of the banquet. Then he called the bridegroom aside 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 perfection of Christ's work. When Christ does something, it's perfect. He knows they've been there almost a week by now. He knows it wouldn't matter much to anybody. What they ate or drank. They're getting fed up anyway. So it could have been easy just to make the cheap stuff. But no, no, Jesus, when He does something, He does it perfectly. And it's just a little window into how God works. God always saves the best for last. Satan does the very opposite, doesn't he? The way Satan works is He will entice you with something that looks wonderful. It looks fun. It looks great. It looks pleasurable. It looks like the way to get wealth or fame or riches or whatever. And after a while, it'll run out. Oh, it'll be fun for a while. The Bible talks about in Hebrews 12 or Hebrews 11, the pleasures of sin for a season. Moses saw through that and decided to opt for being with God's people rather than the pleasures of sin for a season. Oh, yeah, sin offers a lot of pleasure. But it runs out. It starts with all the promise and then it runs out. If you live for pleasure, it'll be fun for a while and then it'll run out. If you live for popularity and fame, that'll be great for a while. But eventually, that's going to run out. If you live for wealth, you may get that. Eventually, it's going to run out. You know, even your health is going to run out sometime. The last time I checked, the mortality rate was somewhere, recovering somewhere around 100%. Everybody's going to lose their health at some point. Not necessarily a reason to hasten it, but we're all going to lose our health at some point, if the Lord carries. That's not going to last. It's going to run out. Everything in this world will run out, except what God does. God does it exactly the opposite. First of all, he saves you. If he stopped right there, that would be the best. Almost. It would be great. He saves you completely. Forgives you of all of your sin, wipes the record of guilt off of your account in heaven, puts Jesus blood on it, and you're now child of God in the family of God. That's wonderful. That's great. That's only where it starts. From there, it goes up. It doesn't run out. It goes up. The longer you live in Christ, and the closer you get to Him, the more the joy becomes full, the more the peace becomes real, the more life becomes rich, the more your understanding grows. You know, one of the most exciting things about getting older, and I'll be the first to admit there are some things that are not exciting about getting older. One of the most exciting things about getting older, if you know the Lord, is you have a much richer and fuller perspective of your life. I can look back now and see some things that happened in 1980 and 1981 that I struggled for years to understand why they happened. I look back now from this perspective, and it fits. I can see how it fits into the flow of what God's done with my life. I didn't know it at the time, but now I can look back and see it, and that growing understanding of what God is doing in your life, that keeps growing, and then you know what? The best is still yet to come. That's heaven. So Satan offers you this, and it goes downhill from there. Christ begins with your salvation, and it's all uphill after that. It all gets better after that, because we end up in heaven. That's the way God works. His work is perfect. But there's one final thing that is seen about our Lord in verse 11, and this is really the purpose of John recording this miracle, that is his power and glory. Verse 11, what Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him. John says this was the first of Jesus' signs. By the way, that's the word that John uses characteristically for the miracles that Jesus does. He calls them signs. And there's a reason for that. We've already seen that John's whole purpose for his gospel was to pull together various things. Jesus said and did to prove that he was the Son of God, and that believing that you might have life in his name. So he's got a purpose in all these, all of these miracles are signs. They are signposts pointing to something. They are pointing to and declaring and confirming that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ. They're showing us who Jesus is. And so this was the first of Jesus' signs, first of his miracles that proved who he was, showed his power, and also verse 11 says, showed his glory. And by the way, if you've read any stuff about the so-called lost gospels and the stories, the fanciful stories they tell of Jesus in his childhood, making clay pigeons and breathing life into them and the off they fly, this verse gives a lie to all of those. This is the first miracle Jesus did. John tells us, seven days into his ministry and he performs a miracle. And John says, this is the first. First of the signs, which showed his glory. And all of his disciples believed in, I mean they didn't believe any five days ago. No, it doesn't mean that. It means they are coming to understand and know better who he is and their faith is growing. Their understanding of who he is and their confidence in him, their trust in him is really beginning to grow. What a wedding. What a wedding this was. Now maybe your wedding was not quite as spectacular as this one. You don't have this kind of story to tell, but your life can be. Your life can incorporate all of these wonderful elements and qualities of our Lord in your life. You see my friend, you can see all of these qualities. If you will first of all trust him as your Savior. And then let him have his way in your life and you'll see them grow. If you trust the Lord Jesus as your Savior and you commit yourself to following him, then you will understand on a very deep level what it means. What it means to find real purpose and meaning and fulfillment in life. If you do that and really commit yourself to him, you'll understand what it means to live by the Father's timetable and committed to his will. And you will be one of those ones that he uses as a servant to reach others with the gospel and to help others and bless others. You will be his human instrument. And yes, you will see the perfection of his work and how it continues to grow leading toward the absolute perfect place, an absolute perfect life in heaven. And you will along the way see a lot of his power and a lot of his glory. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for our Lord Jesus. Thank you for who he is, for what he has done for each of us. I thank you Lord that there are stories like this in your inspired word that really open up for us. Who he is, what he is like. And I pray Father that we would respond with commitment to you and a desire to give our lives fully to Christ so that we can see all that you have for us as we make this journey through life. Would you speak to our hearts now, minister to lives? For those who do not know you as Savior, I pray that today they would be willing to yield themselves to you, to trust the Lord Jesus. And his work for them on the cross for their salvation. I pray Father for all of us as believers that we will be willing to yield ourselves fully to you, to your will, to your purpose and plan, to be used to view as a human instrument. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.