New Wine to Stop the Old Whine

There was an ancient king by the name of Mithridates, who ruled the kingdom of Pontus, which is now most of modern-day Turkey. He was a pretty ruthless man who became so paranoid that someone in his family would try to assassinate him, that he regularly, some say daily, took small doses of poison to build up a tolerance. Unfortunately, he was cornered by his arch enemies, the Romans, as the Roman Empire expanded. And one day, he decided to take his life by drinking poison. In an epic plot twist, he doesn't die because he's built up an immunity over all of those years.

Perhaps he should have channelled that paranoia into building a bigger army. There is something tantalising and something interesting about an epic plot twist. We love it in movies, where we sort of track through a story and we think we know how it's gonna end, and then all of a sudden, there's an unpredictable twist somewhere in the story. Well, this morning, we actually look at a moment like this right at the start of Jesus' ministry. If you've been a Christian for a while, if you know the stories of Jesus, that's not necessarily unusual for a plot twist to happen in the ministry of Jesus.

But it is significant when we understand the context of where this took place. We're gonna turn to John chapter two, and we're gonna look at this, which is said to be the first miracle that Jesus ever performed. The first miracle that Jesus ever performed. And we all know it as the turning of water into wine. So John chapter two, we're gonna read from the first 11 verses.

John 2:1 On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come."

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." Now, there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water," and they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast." So they took it.

When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. So far, our reading.

Now Jesus is at a wedding reception, and He is told that there is no more wine left in the celebrations. In a culture of hospitality, of shame and honour, this is a huge disappointment. It is scandalous not to be able to satisfy your guests. Even more so, when we hear that this is at a wedding banquet, where families were expected to show off the overabundance of their joy in the overabundance of the feast. Mary, the mother of Jesus, finds out about this, and she tells Him about it.

Now Jesus seems perplexed as to why she would come to Him with this problem. Why do you involve me, He asked her. It's not an unsurprising question to ask. Jesus is probably sitting there with other guests, perhaps some of His disciples.

And Jesus is informed that the wine is finished. It's a logical question. Why does He need to know about that? What is He going to do about that? He's just one of the guests.

But something significant is taking place. Mary seems to have some unspoken belief or hope that Jesus can do something to solve this problem. Why else would she come to Him? I think it'd be a wonderful thing one day to ask her in heaven, what was it that made her think or believe that in that moment? But something drives Mary to go to Jesus with that concern.

Six stone jars containing all up to 500 litres of water turns into wine. Jesus makes 800 bottles of wine that day. The wine is served, the master of the banquet tastes it and is amazed. He says, everyone brings out the best wine first, and then the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best till last.

The passage ends with John saying, Jesus did this, the first of His miraculous signs. And it is this last statement that actually gives the interpretive key to the entire passage. This is the key verse to this entire episode. It helps us to explain some of the big questions of this story. Why is wine running out such a big problem?

Why is it so important that Jesus must reveal His glory? Because it says, at that moment, Jesus' glory is manifested. Why is it so important that Jesus would do that in that situation? And why does He turn water into wine? I mean, think about it.

There was plenty of sick people He could have healed in Galilee. Surely, there wasn't a drought of sick or disabled people. Surely, there was a dead person He could have raised. His first miracle is turning water into wine. Well, in the gospel of John, there are several moments in Jesus' ministry where He performs miracles that John especially calls signs.

The Greek word, semeion. They're not just miracles; He calls them signs. And this one in John two is called one of them. Now, I don't mean to blow your mind, but a sign points to something. Wow.

And in these instances where Jesus performed these signs, they always point to what Jesus is saying, what Jesus is teaching. It always points to the authority of Him as the Son of God. For example, we find the feeding of the 5,000 in John chapter six is called a sign as well. But this sign is followed up by Jesus saying in John 6:35 that He is the bread of life. Remember the feeding of the 5,000?

Everyone gets bread. There is so much. Then He says, I am the bread of life. In John 9:16, a man who is born blind receives sight. But Jesus has been teaching just before this man is healed, where He says, I am the light of the world.

And in that miracle, light enters the man's eyes. Another time, at another sign event, famously, it's the raising of Lazarus from the dead, John 11. Jesus finishes by saying, I am the resurrection and the life. What does the sign do? It points to something.

Although these signs are all different, they have one thing in common. The sign points away from itself and points to something or someone else, and that is what these miracles meant. They point away from the event, as miraculous and as astounding as that is, they point to a greater reality, a more important message to understand. Now, this is an important thing for us to remember as modern-day Christians, that if we ever find ourselves in a church with an emphasis on miracles, if the miracles are performed by one special anointed person, and they have built themselves up for having this special gift, there's a problem. If miracles are meant to be signs, they are meant to point away from themselves and meant to point to Jesus as the authority.

John says that this is Jesus' first sign. And we notice how everything, all the little bits of detail about this story, is actually background stuff. Who is the bridegroom? No one knows. Who is the bride?

No one knows. Are they related to Jesus? Why is Jesus there? Who of His disciples are there? How does Mary know that the wine has run out?

There is just silence. There is no detail, but the spotlight lingers on Jesus. Even though He is only at the wedding as a guest, the scene is set for His power to be displayed. The roles are in place.

The problem has been verbalised. But now, what will Jesus do? But it seems strange that at first, Mary tells Jesus about the problem. His first response to her is, woman, what has this got to do with me? My hour, He says, has not yet come.

Now, that is a special reference again in the book of John to the cross. The hour that John refers to is the pinnacle of Jesus' ministry, His death on the cross. But Mary is insistent, and it is in her faith in Jesus that she seemingly moves into action. And she goes and takes this next step, which is even more amazing. She says, after Jesus gives her a pretty non-committal answer like, why are you involving me in this?

She says to the servants, whatever He says, do it. And Jesus then performs His first miracle. It does in fact set the ball in motion for His hour of death to come. Because John says, the glory of Jesus is manifested. So all of a sudden, people start realising there's something amazing happening here.

The disciples that are with Jesus, many of them, whether it was the full 12 or just the early stages, it says they put their belief in Jesus in that moment. The glory of Jesus is manifested. And from this point on, Jesus' public ministry starts. But that doesn't answer the question, why does Jesus turn water into wine? Of all the miracles He could have done, He could have healed a blind person, He could have fed 5,000 hungry people at the start, He could have raised the dead.

This one seems the most trivial. But if it's a sign, then it must have a deeper meaning. Well, what is that? Well, the first point is that there was something new that had arrived. Something new had arrived and it is wonderful.

The miracle of Cana was a testimony that Jesus was offering something amazingly different. After everyone had tasted the lesser quality wine at the wedding, they brought out the cheap stuff, and they were satisfied with that, remember they had finished it all, so it must have been drinkable. Only then does Jesus bring good wine out. Here's the point. Something amazing has come.

When you've gotten used to the average, when you've gotten used to the mediocre, something new and amazing has arrived. It is a physical representation pointing to a spiritual reality. People thought they knew God. People thought they understood God. These Jewish people believed that they had gotten to know God correctly.

They had come to think that their relationship with God was something drinkable, something passable. It was bitter at times, but it was okay. Faithfulness to God for them was hard work, but it was manageable. But now comes Jesus, and He brings new wine. He's going to teach on love and grace.

He's going to teach on things of that nature rather than regulation and self-righteousness. Instead of an eye for an eye, Jesus says, extend love and acceptance and grace. Jesus comes with revolutionary teaching and He offers something brand new. And it is the words of the banquet master that actually sums this up. He says, you have saved the best till now.

So Jesus announces His arrival with this: God has saved the best till now. For thousands of years, mankind has been aware of God. That's why we literally have thousands of world religions, because man has always wondered, man has always sought after in some sort of capacity, however flawed that is, a way to relate to God. Most of the time, the gods that mankind have constructed, the gods that we have deduced from the harsh truths of the world around us, if you go and study them, they are harsh gods. But Jesus reveals God to mankind by offering something sweet.

If this is Jesus' first miracle and it is a sign of His authority, then the first impression we get of God, think about it, is that He is good and He gives good things. At a wedding feast, we see Jesus partying with His friends and celebrating life. He's celebrating life to the fullest. After this, when He preaches, Jesus preaches a kingdom, a new world order with new laws that treat people differently. New types of priorities, new types of understandings.

Jesus has come to give new wine to people who have gotten used to the old mediocre stuff. So this morning, as we're hearing this and our hearts realise that, well, we're alive, we're breathing, be careful because that's not necessarily living. There is more to life than a warm body. Life is more than surviving and going through the motions. Because Jesus has come, He has brought something new, something available to us, and it is wonderful.

The second thing that we realised from this teaching is that the heart needs to be ready. And this is what another detail is referring to, those six stone jars, that is mentioned as a detail. Over hundreds of years of the church, people have wondered what these six jars represent. Some have said, well, it is a reference. The number six is significant.

It's referencing mankind. If God is the number seven in His perfection, then six is just short of that, and so it's somehow referring to mankind's religion, or it's referring to the Jewish religion, which is good, but not perfect. And Jesus is fulfilling that. Whether that is true or not, I think that's speculation. But there is, I think, an explanation that does give us further meaning to this.

And that is that these jars were used for ritual purification. In verse six, the scholar Richard Bockham believes that these specialised jars, which would have been quite rare and expensive, probably indicated that this family was a priestly family. These jars were tied, says, with the Jewish rituals of cleansing and the preparation for the Jewish feasts. So they were special jars. Now Jesus takes these particular jars, and John mentions them by description, and He turns their contents into new wine.

It's a sign that Jesus was doing something new then to the Jewish understanding of God. The good wine of Jesus went into ceremonial Jewish jars to indicate that He is putting something fresh into the old nature of understanding. But this will be difficult, and we see that from this moment on. In fact, it would take a miracle for people to be willing to accept this new wine. That's why Jesus in His teaching ministry then, after this, in places like Matthew 9, or Mark 2 or Luke 5, Jesus goes on to give this memorable teaching that we also remember, new wine needs new wineskins.

The arrival of Jesus is therefore like a beautiful new wine, but the trouble is people's hearts are used to the old. With the new wine of Jesus' teaching, with that entering into old wineskin hearts, Jesus says that process is gonna cause disruption and change. Old lives need to be given up. New values, new understandings must replace the old. People will be challenged by their understanding of what power is in the kingdom.

People will be challenged to understand what prestige is, what their purpose in life is. But because the wineskins of people's hearts are old and rigid, many hearts will burst, Jesus says, and the new teaching of Jesus won't be accepted. So Jesus' new wine needs to be poured into new wineskins. And we know that, don't we. To become a Christian is to change.

The call of repentance is a call to give up, to lay down our weapons, to surrender. That means we sacrifice our will to pursue the will of God, to pursue Jesus. And that message will only take root in soft hearts. That is what Jesus is getting at. Hearts that remain hard at the preaching of His word will find itself going through the motions.

But Jesus will put new wine into Jewish jars to indicate a change has happened. It's funny that these are purification jars as well, isn't it? These are jars that are used to be clean, and there's something new that must come from purification as well. And we, as people this side of the cross, we understand what that purification is referring to.

But the question is, will people give up their old systems to follow Jesus? Are we challenged by that thought? Can we say that we have given up old things to follow Jesus? Do we reflect on some of the old things in our life that may still linger? Have we given up on working at some of those things, intentionally thinking about those things?

New wine needs new wineskins. But then the final point today is what this wine is pointing at, that there is a final feast that gives perspective. Just as Jesus starts His earthly ministry with wine in John chapter two, Jesus finishes His earthly ministry with wine as well. Where does that happen? The last supper.

That is interesting, isn't it? The night before Jesus would go to the cross, Jesus lifts a goblet of wine and says, this wine represents the new promise that God is making with humanity. And He says, I won't drink of this wine again until I drink it with all of you in my Father's kingdom. Here is the new promise, again represented by this cup. Jesus' blood must be shed.

His red blood must be spilt in order to purify us. As real as that wine was that the disciples drank, as real as the taste of it was on their lips, so real is the promise of their forgiveness and their eternal life. Jesus says, whosoever holds onto the promise that God can really be so gracious and loving, so joy-filled as to forgive through the work of Jesus, well, that God is powerful enough to change my heart from the inside out. He is able to do in me something new, to overcome the old.

Even as Jesus launches His public ministry with wine, He links that ministry to the cross, the spilling of His blood in that last great ministry, which was on our behalf. So why do we receive Jesus as our Lord and our Saviour? Why would you devote yourself, your life to obeying Him? Because you are a Christian, and because Jesus is your good and your gracious Lord. And Christians look with eternal eyes at the wealth of our feasting in that future and realise the insignificance of life now when compared with the eternity that God is giving us in Jesus.

This is why Christians will let go of things that really, if we weigh it up, is so vain and so temporal and passing. We let go of bitterness. We let go of anger. We can do things like turning the other cheek, when Jesus would go on to say that, because when eternity's peace and joy awaits us. A few years of bitterness, is that really something to hold on to?

Nothing is worth comparing to the feasting that will be ours when we realise and hear those words, welcome son, welcome daughter, let's raise a glass. Jesus announced His arrival with a miracle of wine showing that God has saved the best till now. But we are called to have new wineskin hearts, ready to receive His commands, being quick to change our lives. And so I wanna finish by saying, if you hear the voice of the Lord calling you today, if you realise that you have been resisting for a while, do it. Respond to Him.

Give your life to Him. Because the promise is one day, we will taste this excellent wine. And on that day, we will say to Him, Lord, you have saved the best to last. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word to us this morning.

We thank you that in the opening chapter of your ministry, we can already see your eyes fixed on that cross. We thank you, Lord, though, that even as your heart is set on that, even as you, in this amazingly deep and rich way, symbolise what your ministry will mean, a new purifying ministry of grace. That this is represented in celebration and in feasting. And, Lord, we just realise again that the joy of the Lord is our strength. The joy of the Lord is grace towards us.

We pray, Lord, as we hear and we reflect on these things that the simplicity of it will not pass us by, that we will receive it with renewed humble hearts, and that we will say to our own hearts, receive this newness. Receive the goodness that we are being offered again. Thank you, Lord, for those of us who know you, that have tasted this wine. Lord, strengthen us in our perspective again. Help us to understand that we will one day celebrate and have this fully with you.

And then, Lord, those of us, perhaps listening to this for the first time, I pray for their hearts that they may hear and receive this, that they may understand that what awaits them is glorious. Father, we praise you for what you have done for us in Jesus. We honour you today again. Help our lives to be marked by this grace. In Jesus' name. Amen.