[Music] Welcome to Good Christian Talking Talks, I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. And I'm Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily newsfeed. We post a new episode at the start of each week. With a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to listen to. And now let's talk more about this week's talk. [Music] Welcome to The Good Christian Talking Talks podcast. This is Brother Brian. This week's talk is an excitation by Brother Craig Farron, which was given last April, so a year ago, at Aberfoil Park, Ecclesia in South Australia. It was titled "Jesus turns water into wine." But I think a more spot on title would be filling our pots to the brim for Jesus. The exhort was sent in by a recommendation. And so once again we want to thank you all so much for making the time to send these in. It really is the heartbeat of this podcast. So thank you as always. In this exhort, Brother Craig takes a look at Jesus' first miracle at the wedding in Cana, which on the surface appears hurried and unplanned and breaks it down beat by beat, revealing who the miracle really was for. And why Jesus, the wine maker, couldn't have done it without the faith of those who weren't even invited to the wedding. They were there to work. The servants. There are so many great metaphors and background points, but my favorite and why I would suggest this updated title is how Brother Craig brings us into the servants' shoes and how their response in action to the words of Jesus is what makes this miracle come alive and apply so well to us. Are we just content to get the job done? Or are we filling our pots to the brim? Are we able to be changed at more than just a surface level? Do our actions show that we wish to be made not just new but made altogether different in every way, fit to serve one another as we would serve a king. So as always, we hope this strengthens your faith and brightens your day. Brother Craig Farron filling our pots to the brim for Jesus. Good morning, brethren and sisters and young people. So Jesus is first miracle turning water into wine. It's a story that we're all familiar with. It's taught very early on in Sunday school and it's well known even outside of religious organizations. We know it well. Jesus, his mum, Mary and his disciples go to a wedding in Cana. Mary lets him know that the wines run out or as other translations have said it, the wine is running out. Jesus asks the servants to fill some pots with water before turning that water into wine. The wedding goes on. Everyone's impressed that the best wine was saved until last. Then Jesus, Mary, his brothers and disciples go to companion and stay there for a few days. That's it. That's it. It's that easy. But there's actually, even though there's not much written about it, there's a lot of information in there, a lot of different themes that we have. It's actually very important and a very relevant miracle. It's not unusual for Bible stories to contain much more information than we might first think. It is helpful to put this miracle into some context. To do that, I thought we'd have a look at maybe identifying some of the other miracles in the Bible, especially looking at the ones that occurred before this one. It says in John that that Ben read for us, it says that this was the first miracle that Jesus did. I think it's also the first one recorded in the New Testament. So when was the last one? Not all miracles have a multitude of witnesses. So if you think about, for example, Elijah, and he was up in the mountain, and God sent a wind, earthquake, and fire, it was only Elijah, and it was only Elijah that actually witnessed those. And because the water into wine was a public or at least a semi-public miracle, specifically looking for miracles that were witnessed by a group of people. Now the last one that I could think of was Daniel and the lion's den when the God shut the lion's mouth, possibly Jonah being in the fish's belly, but we're not actually told whether this was witnessed by anyone or not. So if we take the lion's den as the last miracle that happened, that was approximately 500 years before this one. So no one had really seen a miracle for about 500 years. So they've got me thinking, well why now and why are wedding in Canaan, a small town in Galilee? And why a miracle that was only witnessed by a very small number of people. And as we'll see these people weren't really even that important in society. It was a subtle miracle, it wasn't flashy like healing a lame person or raising someone from the dead, or even one of Jesus' later miracles where he fed 5,000 people. If it were me I'd probably think, right well I've got all this power, so let's do something that will have a big impact. Let's kick this ministry off with a bang. But Jesus isn't like me and we can all be thankful for that. He could have easily started off with something big, but he didn't. But that doesn't at all mean that this miracle didn't have an impact or wasn't beneficial. Details about it would have trickled out over time as people started talking with many not even realising or being aware of it until they heard stories about it. And we'll see that this miracle is about restoration and transformation, which is something that is still very relevant to all of us. I wonder if we often see Jesus' miracles as just signs of his power rather than as a sign of his personality and his work. The miracles are so much more than just powerful miraculous displays. They're also a display of love, compassion, empathy and in this case many others, restoration. Revelation 21 verses 4-5 sums this up. It says, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying. There shall be no more pain." And verse 5 Jesus says, "Behold, I make all things new." So Jesus restores. He makes all things new and this is an important phrase to remember when looking at this miracle. While we're going through the miracle, I want us to try and keep three things in mind. Number one is Jesus provides all that we need. Number two, and this might be a bit obscure, but believe in the messenger as well as the message. And number three, stop focusing on the wine. I'll explain those as we go. So let's have a look at the events in John 2. First one tells us that the wedding was in Caner of Galilee. As I mentioned, Caner was a small town, probably more of a village in a region of no real importance. Jesus and His disciples, it says they were invited. Jesus's mother Mary was there. Now it doesn't specifically mention that she was invited, so she was possibly working in the wedding. And we see that she is the one who brings the wine situation to Jesus' attention. Now if she wasn't part of the crew that was working there, this might have been as a result of her natural and maternal instincts that were kicking in. But whatever the reason, she can see the situation and she's filled with compassion. And this is where things really start to get interesting. Mary says, "Forwards to Jesus in verse 3, that kickstart a whole host of things," she says to him, "they have no wine." So weddings in this time were not like we have now. These weddings and their feasts were celebrated that span.
many days, possibly weeks as well. And they may not have happened very often. So when they did occur, they were really celebrated. This was, in essence, this was a huge party. It was possibly the highlight of the year for many people in Cana and being a small village, it means that everybody knows everybody. People in small communities like that, especially back in those times were dependent on each other. People would trade their goods and/or their services for survival. It was a real community where each person had a role to play to ensure that the community thrived. Anxinju's also had a marriage tradition that is different today. There was a period of a year between betrothal and marriage when the groom would be responsible for providing. And this involved buying or building a house ready for when they were to be united in marriage. And additionally, it was the groom's responsibility to ensure that everything for the wedding, ceremony was provided. Now, we see that the wine is running out and this is a big problem. It could indicate that the husband was not properly prepared. In our age, we probably just brushed it off as a faux pas, a bit of an oops. But back then, perhaps it meant that this means that this groom is actually a very good provider. In essence, you could just be really terrible at estimating how much wine people drink. But in Jewish culture, this was a serious problem. Now, remember Cana's a small village. The inhabitants there likely didn't travel. They were born in Cana. They grew up in Cana and they died in Cana. So, word would have gotten around. And imagine the shame and the embarrassment that this situation could have caused. That's not a great start to a marriage. Now, we don't know the real reason why the wine was running out. But neither would anybody else. And that wouldn't stop the rumours from flying around. Now, as I mentioned before, Mary is the one who brings this to Jesus' attention. She comes to him in verse 3 and says, "They have no wine or they don't have enough wine." We shouldn't automatically assume that Mary expected Jesus to do anything about it. At least not in a miraculous way. If we think about their family situation, we'd realize that Joseph died many years ago. And Jesus had taken his place as the provider for the family. Mary would be used to turning to Jesus for advice or to him as someone to share her concerns. She knew that Jesus was special, though. She knew better than anybody else because she was actually there. Luke 2 describes the events around Jesus' birth and how the shepherds, after hearing about the Messiah being born, went to visit. Excuse me, Luke 2 verse 17. "When they, the shepherds, had seen Jesus, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marbled at those things which were told them by the shepherds." Verse 19, "But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. She thought about this carefully and often. Other translations say that she treasure these things in her heart. She knew that Jesus was special from the start and she knew that Jesus could turn a bad situation around." This should make a think about point number one that I mentioned earlier. Jesus provides all that we need. He can take a bad situation and make something good out of it. But it's Jesus's response in verse 4 that is what's puzzling, at least at first, in verse 4 he says, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come." Woman, if I called my mum woman, she'd probably hit me. But Jesus wasn't actually being rude. One of the problems we've translating text between languages is nuances of that language can be lost in translation. For example, in our modern language, when we see something flying towards somebody, we shout out heads up, which actually really means duck. It's the opposite of what we're trying to convey, but everybody instinctively ducks. They know what heads up actually means and that means get down. So it's interesting also that Eve is called Woman More Times than she is called Eve. And a Genesis 2 verse 23 says, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man." So it's likely this is the same as an English speaker referring to someone as man. Jesus lovingly calls her that again. Lovingly calls a woman again during his crucifixion in John 19 verse 26, and this was in a way of getting her, making sure that she was going to be looked after after he was gone. But by calling her Woman or Man instead of Mother or Mum, he is instinctively distancing himself somewhat from her. He's showing his independence from her wishes. And at the end of verse 4, it says, "What does your concern have to do with me? My hour is not yet come." Again, Jesus is expressing independence from everything except God's timetable. And this is why he says, "My hour has not yet come." He was working within God's timetable. He says in John chapter 5 verse 30, "That I can do nothing of myself as I hear I judge and my judgment is righteous because I do not seek my own, but the Father who sent me." Jesus wasn't going to reveal his power sooner than God had intended. In Matthew 4 verses 1 to 10 where Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, he actually makes quite a strong point of not doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, performing a miracle at a time or place outside of God's will would be wrong. Now, Jesus isn't being rude or dismissive. He's politely pointing out that he follows God. And this is perfectly okay with Mary. They've most likely had this exact same conversation many, many times in the past. And like I said, she knows that he's special and she understands him. Perhaps Jesus is aware of the situation and is waiting for the time when the wine had completely run out and there was no way the situation could be fixed by anything other than a miracle. Or perhaps this wasn't actually the right time for his first miracle and the wine was meant to run out. Mary understood and she shows this by simply saying to the servants at the wedding, "Just do whatever he asks you to do." It's also got me thinking about Jesus' phrase, "My hour is not yet come." He's thinking towards his death and he knows that once this miracle happens there's no going back. There's no disguising who he is, not that he would want to anyway, but he knows that from this he will get the recognition that ultimately leads to his trial and crucifixion. The floodgates are open. This is the beginning of the end. John 2 verse 5, as I said, "Mary says to the servants, whatever he says to you, do it." There's so much power in these words. Whatever he says to you, do it. Not whatever he says to you, sit down and have a meeting about it. Not whatever he says to you, pray about it, do it. She's telling the servants to be people of action if Jesus requires it. I'm not saying that discussion and prayer aren't important to do in the right context, but this wasn't the right context. This was a time sensitive, potentially devastating event that required action. Only wisdom can tell us what to do in the current circumstances. Reading from verse 6, John 2 verse 6, "Now, there were set their six water pots of stone according to the manner of purification of the Jews containing 20 or 30 gallons of peace." 20 or 30 gallons of peace approximately 75 to 120 liters of water. There's six pots. That's around 500 and 700 liters. 700 bathtubs, if you want another metric or 140,000 teaspoons for those who work that way. Just aside, this bath under the platform here is approximately a thousand liters, so that again, it's a lot of water. Let's put ourselves in the servant's shoes here. They had absolutely no idea what Jesus was going to tell them to do. They didn't know what to expect. He hadn't prompted them. He hadn't set them down and given them a plan. They were no doubt aware of the situation, though. However, I'm sure none of them expected to
to be told in verse 7 to fill these giant pots with water. Water, but Jesus, they're not running out of water, they're running out of wine. This doesn't make sense and these pots, they're, well they're dirty. It's where the wedding guests have washed their dirty hands and who knows where they've been. And it's not like we can just go get a hose and fill each pot because they haven't even been invented yet. So we would have to go and make so many trips down to the well to fill each pot. Oh, this will take hours. But the servants didn't question it. They just did what they were told. They did a tedious, laborious task. They weren't told why or what was going to happen. They're only told to fill them. And what they actually did was fill them right to the brim, right to the very top so that these pots couldn't possibly hold anymore. Isn't that an incredible thing to do when we think about it? The servants didn't fill them halfway or didn't fill them to a certain point and just went, oh yeah, that's full, I guess. They filled these pots to the brim. And they didn't even know why they were even doing filling the pots in the first place. But they just trusted Jesus. They were obedient, but not only were they obedient, they were obedient with enthusiasm. And isn't that the way that it should be? We're commanded to be that. We can do God's work half-heartedly or we can do it with enthusiasm. We're told to believe with our whole heart, to pray without ceasing, to give liberally, to leave affirmately, to serve the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We should do everything filled to the top. But how often do we obey God without question or without condition? I mean, how often do we obey God when we're told to do something that's odd or contrary to our nature? I mean, after all, we are commanded to love our neighbors and to love our enemies. But do we love them all the way to the top? Or do we leave a little bit of space reserved for hatred and resentment? Well, what next? Verse 8. After they filled these to the top, they are told to draw some of the water out and take it to the master of the feast. Imagine not knowing why you're even filling these giant dirty pots in the first place, and then being told to dip a cup into it and give that to the master. At no point were they told that the water would turn into wine, but they did it. Imagine the servant giving the cup to the master. They could very well be excused for thinking, are you serious, Jesus? This is a small town. Everybody is going to hear about this. I can't give a cup full of water from a dirty pot at a wedding to the master of the master. I'll never work in this town again. It took a lot of faith for the servants to do this, but they did it without question. And we have to remember that up to this point. It's only Jesus, his disciples, Mary, and the servants at the wedding who know what's going on. Everybody else is oblivious and enjoying themselves. And what happens next really draws home the point of this miracle, in verse 9. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and didn't know where it came from, and it's interesting there, then in brackets, it says, "But the servants who had drawn the water new, and I'll touch on that a little bit later." The master didn't know where the wine had come from. The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine. And when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior, you have kept the good wine until now." We saw before how, if the wedding had run out of wine, it's possibly that the groom hadn't done his job properly, hadn't been prepared. It would have been the talk of the town, a disaster, and it would have been very hard for him to shake the stigma around this event. But Jesus has just reversed the situation. He had not taken credit for the miracle, but that was given to the groom. Jesus turned a disastrous situation into one that was very favorable for the groom. And you can imagine instead of going, "Oh, I can't believe that he ran out of wine, and he's only waiting." They'd be like, "Did you hear the best wine for last?" "Man, what a visionary. No one's ever done that before." And I want to share a few extra thoughts that I had about, we'll go back to the servants. I had about the servants and the wedding guests. These servants weren't even invited. They were working to keep the guests happy. But Jesus only involved them. The servants are vital to this success of this miracle. I'm not saying that Jesus couldn't have done it without them, but in terms of this miracle, it's really important that they were there. This miracle worked because of the words of Jesus and the actions of the servants. The bridegroom, the master of the face and the guests had no idea what was going on. This was a work done in the background that benefited everyone. And the servants are just like us. They're full of faults. They're full of inconsistencies. But no one rejected the wine because of the people who brought it to them. None of the guests says, "Well, I don't want to take wine from that servant because last week he did that bad thing, or I won't take it from him because I don't like him, or because they're in a different class or family or to I am." And in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 5, it says, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord, and our selves, your bond servants for Jesus sake." So if we think about that dynamic between the guests and the servants, we shouldn't reject the gospel because of the body that presents it to us. And I'm not just saying that because I'm up here at the moment. And Jesus himself actually experienced this. There were many who believed that he couldn't possibly be the Messiah because he's from Galilee. Oh no, I'm a Messiah. Wouldn't ever come from Galilee. They rejected the truth because they didn't like the person who brought it. It's really easy to find faults in people if we look for them. It's really easy to find faults in groups. If we look for them, I actually heard this saying a little while ago, which is kind of stuck in my head. It says, "Don't reject the whole circus just because of a few clowns. We are the circus. I'll let you decide who the clowns are." And as a result, we are all the one who draw the water. But it's God who turns it into wine. We need to believe in the messenger and not just the message. The purpose of this miracle was clear. It says in John chapter 2 verse 11, "But this is the beginning of signs that Jesus did in Caner of Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him." The goal was first and foremost to get people to believe in Jesus. When God causes miracles, he doesn't want us to just focus on the power of it. He wants us to believe in the person who did it and to cause others to believe. He doesn't want us to just have our fill of bread, wine, money or fame. He wants us to focus on the messenger. We won't read it all, but if you just want to note down 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and 4. We've seen in this miracle a definite theme of restoration. The servants knew that this miracle could not have been done without Jesus, but it also came as a result of their faith and actions. 2 Corinthians 3 verses 4 to 6 says, "We have such trust through Christ towards God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, and also who also made us sufficient ministers of the covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life." So we're no different to those servants. We've just read that we're merely sufficient or adequate, despite what we might think of ourselves at times. We're all adequate enough to preach the Word of God. Well, yes, but more importantly, we're all adequate enough to preach the Spirit of God. Paul goes on to say in chapter 4 that, "Because we have this ministry and have received mercy from God," chapter 4 verse 5, he says, "We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and make ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." Why should we do that? Verse 6, "For it's God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." So light shining out of dark hearts, purity coming from something impure, just as in this miracle the best wine was made from dirty water. But it's the next few verses that really bring this miracle to life. If we rate second Corinthians for this, seven to ten, we're going to have a discussion.
15, well while I'm reading that, have a think about the similarities between this section and the miracle that Jesus did. And start with our second Corinthians 4 verse 7. But we have this treasure in urban vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side yet not crushed, we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us but life in you. There's a definite emphasis there on corruptible flesh containing the spirit of Christ and containing life. When we accept Christ and about Ty as the only thing that changes is our spirit, not our body, it's an inward change, not an outward change. Second Corinthians 4 verse 15, "For all things are for your sakes, that grace having spread through the many may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Look around, this is an eclosure of pots that can be filled with the best wine. There were two categories of people at the wedding. There were those that focused on the wine and those that focused on the wine maker. The disciples and the servants experienced exactly what went into making this wine. They had been with Jesus while he was working. Everybody else was blissfully unaware and having a good time." The inferior wine went out first and the best wine went out last and only a select few people at that wedding actually knew what made it better. Just like those of us in Christ, we understand what it really means to be in Christ. It's something that can't be understood from the outside. Those who are in Christ appreciate the best wine but also the wine maker. In order for us to stop focusing on the wine, we need to identify what that is. In this instance, I'm not talking about the best wine. We've established that it is Christ and all that he can bring. But we'll have a look at the inferior wine. We're focusing on the cheap wine that came out before it. The inferior wine that you think will give you what you want but is temporary. The inferior wine that's momentary, short term and ultimately detrimental. The inferior wine in our lives might actually be wine. It might be status. It might be that big house, that early retirement. Anything that takes our hearts and minds away from Christ. The servants focused on the wine maker. They obeyed even though at the time it made absolutely no sense. Sometimes we must do what's absurd so that God can do what's extraordinary. This is what this is called faith. We draw the water and God turns it into wine. Jesus did this first miracle at a young couple's wedding in a small country town. If the wine had run out it would have been the end of the celebrations. The party would have been over the end of the feast. But Jesus did this miracle as a demonstration that he is the source of all true and lasting joy. The wine didn't run out and the party could continue. Jesus didn't charge them for the wine. He didn't wait around to see if any was left over so that he could take it back. Because it was a gift to the bride and the groom. That's exactly the same as our salvation is today. It can't be bought. It's a gift. John 20 verse 31. But these miracles of Jesus are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you may have life in His name. That is, that basically just describes what the new wine is, the best wine that came out. It's having life in Jesus's name. So what about a modern day water into wine miracle? If we just take the miracle part out of what Jesus did and have a look at the science, to change water into wine would require a complete molecular restructure. He Jesus didn't just throw a handful of grapes in, add a bit of sugar and stir and turn the water into wine. He completely changed the chemical properties of the water so that it became something different. That's what we all need him to do for us. We are in a closure of pots. We're dirty. We're filled to the brim with sin. But Jesus can transform us into something beautiful. And perhaps we can reciprocate by trying to change the molecular structure of our prayers from something watered down in cliched and repetitive into something of real substance. And I'm reminded of the special afternoon we had last year with Vitt, when he did the pottery demonstration. Do we just pray to God and say, "I'm not a bad pot, but if it's your will, could you please maybe add a handle over here, give me, maybe shave a little bit where it's uneven at the top?" Whereas perhaps we should be saying to God, "Can you completely remold me? Stop the wheel, bash me back into a ball of clay and start again." Jesus met the needs of the people in Canaan out of the public spotlight. He wasn't doing it to impress kings or rulers or to get recognition, yet he provided for that wedding the best one anyone had ever tasted. He provided delicacies fit for a king. Now I have given the groom a little bit of a hard time this morning, but I think we should cut him a little bit of slack, because after all he did make the best decision anyone could make. He invited Jesus to the wedding. We have symbols of Jesus before us now, but have we invited him into our lives? God doesn't force himself on us. He's not a gatecrusher. We aren't robots. He gave us free will. He gave us the ability to reject him. Do we want to experience the water into one miracle in our lives? Do we want to experience the restoration and transformation that takes place on the inside that changes the content of this dirty pot into something fit for a king? Well, if we do, we have to invite Jesus in. It's easy to get caught up in rituals or to be distracted by a pretty packaging. It's easy for us to work on doing good things and saying right words to put on a Christlike exterior when we're really filled with filthy water. Not a single guest at the wedding did anything to make the wine. No one picked the grapes. No one trampled them. No one strained them. Bottleed them. But they all enjoyed the result. And the same is true for us today. We can be clean on the outside. We can do and say the right things and put on a good exterior, but that won't make us good enough to salvation. So as we come to remember Jesus, we remember that time at the end of his life that possibly started right here in Canaan. He breaks bread and drinks wine with his disciples in the upper room. And in there, he applies the wine to himself. In Matthew 26, verse 28, he says, "For this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins." And in Matthew 25, the parable of the talents in verse 23, it says, "Well done, good and faithful servant, just like the servants at the wedding." You have been faithful over a few things, filling pots with water and taking a cup of it to the master. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of our Lord. They were able to celebrate with the rest of the party knowing how close it came to failure and who transformed it into success. Jesus wants to replace all that we try to cram into our lives, that we think will make us happy or will give us joy and fulfillment. But it's temporary. We can't think about anything else. It consumes us and ultimately leads to our undoing. Jesus wants to replace all that with true joy. The new wine is so much better than the old. Jesus is so much better than what came before him. So let's remember what he went through to give us this true joy, just as he did for the wedding guests. We are so blessed that Jesus has freely given that to us. We just need to invite him in, accept him and reach out and take that gift. Only then will we be transformed and clean on the inside, where it actually counts.
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