The Good Wine (A Sermon on John 2:1-11)

This is the transcript from a sermon I preached at a local Presbyterian church on January 19, 2025. Hope you enjoy!

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This morning I’ll be sharing a word from John 2:1-11. Friends, hear the word of the Lord:

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

4 “Woman,] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

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

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

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

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

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.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

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Introduction - Signs of Glory

Well, this is just a great story, isn’t it? Some people imagine Jesus to be this stiff, hyper-religious killjoy, but it’s hard to come away with that image of him when you have stories like this. Jesus, apparently, is the guy you go to when the wine has run out and you’re in a pinch. Jesus is the person who makes something from nothing and not just any something - the wine that he makes from normal, everyday water is delicious. The good wine that they drank earlier doesn’t even compare. Now, I’m not a wine connoisseur, but this “master of the banquet” in verse 9 probably was. This man would have had lots of experience in organizing celebrations and knew his way around a bottle of wine. So, when he is surprised and calls it “the best,” we know this was good wine.

This is Jesus very first miracle - John calls it a “sign.” Just like any sign we might see on a highway, this sign points to something. And, for John, it points to the glory hidden in Jesus. Some Bible scholars call the Gospel of John the Gospel of Glory, because it has this main theme of this hidden glory being slowly and magnificently revealed in Jesus.

In John, there are seven “signs” that reveal Jesus glory:

1. Changing water into wine at Cana (Jn 2:1-11)

2. Healing the royal official’s son in Capernaum (Jn 4:46-54)

3. Healing the paralytic at Bethesda (Jn 5:1-15)

4. Feeding the 5000 (Jn 6:5-14)

5. Jesus walking on water (Jn 6:16-24)

6. Healing the man blind from birth (Jn 9:1-7)

7. Raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-45)

These instances of Jesus healing and miracles are meant to highlight and reveal to us who Jesus really is. This is not just some dude. This is a person filled with the glory of God. The word glory in the New Testament is doxa - it’s where we get our word doxology. Doxology combines the Greek words doxa and logos which means word, so it more literally means a word of praise/honor. Glory in the New Testament is all tied up with a sense of honor and praise. And, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, which many of the Jews would have been familiar with, the Hebrew word kavod, is translated into the Greek word doxa. And, that word, kavod, is all about honor, but also a sort of weight, a significance. In the Old Testament, when the kavod or doxa of God was in a place, the people were with their faces to the ground as they worshiped the LORD, acknowledging that it is only because of God’s grace that they survived their experience.

Listen to this description of God’s glory in 2 Chronicles 7:1-3:

“Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory (doxa) of the LORD filled the house. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD because the glory (doxa) of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the LORD, saying, ‘Certainly He is good, certainly His grace is everlasting.’”

This same word, doxa, is what describes what is in Jesus. This is why, in John 2 verse 11, what we just read today, it says “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory (doxa); and his disciples believed in him.” That same glory that made the Israelites fall to their faces on the ground is here in Jesus as he provides wine for a wedding celebration. Isn’t that kind of incredible? This is not just a neat party magic trick; it’s a manifestation of the Holy One among us. And, it drew the disciples into believing in Jesus.

This word believe or belief in our culture often means a sort of intellectual assent. Like, we might ask, “do you believe in aliens?” And, we can answer yes or no, or I don’t know. Or we might think of a statement of belief, where we list the things we believe are true about the Bible or God or the world. But, belief in the New Testament also meant a relational trust in something or someone. When the disciples “believed” in Jesus, they saw something in him that they knew they could hold onto. They saw in Jesus someone they wanted to follow for the rest of their lives. They started to embrace Jesus as the One to whom they would look to in their trouble and need.

The Strange Compassion of Jesus

The need that day at Cana was for more wine. These wedding celebrations could go on for a week in Jesus day. And, “running out of wine was not just inconvenient, but a social disaster and disgrace. The family would have to live with the shame of it for a long time to come; the bride and groom might regard it as bringing bad luck on their married life.” Jesus, at the request of his mother, steps in. N.T. Wright calls this the “strange compassion” of Jesus. Strange because he has compassion when others would not and strange because the way he helps is often unexpected: like turning water into wine for a panicked wedding party; like feeding thousands of hungry people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish; like rubbing mud on a blind man’s eyes to make him see.

One of the things I notice about Jesus miracles is that he almost always uses what is already there to help - he didn’t just pull magic jugs of wine out of his cloak; he asked the servants to fill the jugs with water. Can you imagine being one of those servants? Like, ok Jesus, we’ll get some water. For you and me, sometimes the little that we have may not seem like enough to matter, but when Jesus helps, even a little can go a long way. We’re everyday people surrounded by everyday sorts of things and I wonder what sort of everyday thing Jesus might use miraculously in our lives to meet our needs and the needs of those around us.

Acknowledge Our Needs

But, to experience the strange compassion of Jesus, we first have to acknowledge our need. There are practical needs we all face: a warm place to sleep, good food to nourish our bodies, clothing, shelter. And then there are the needs of the heart. These things can sometimes be overlooked - the need to be in community with others who know us and care about us; to have a sense of hope about life; to believe that you’re worthwhile and have gifts to share with the world.

I think a place to start is to look into our own hearts: What’s on your heart today? Sometimes, if we haven’t had time or the will to look, we might not even know. Do you have a loved one in trouble that you desperately want God to help? Are you experiencing a heaviness of heart, depression, anxiety? In these days of natural disasters, political polarization, uncertainty and unrest, many of us are carrying around a lot of worry and distress. It can feel overwhelming, especially if we carry it alone.

A recent study at Harvard found that 21% of adults reported feeling lonely within the previous 30 days, with those aged 30-44 reporting the highest levels at 29%. Even more troubling, 67% of lonely adults say they aren’t part of a meaningful group or community, while 61% say they don’t have enough close friends or family. Last year, the U.S. surgeon general called loneliness in America an epidemic. In another study, 17% of Americans claimed to have zero friends.

My work with young people in youth ministry for years showed me that even though a high schooler or middle schooler could be popular and successful, there could still be a deep well of loneliness and need under the surface. If we are to take the first step in acknowledging our needs and asking Jesus to meet them, we have to be involved in community. And, seeing as I’m preaching to all you fine folks gathered here today, maybe I’m preaching to the choir. You’re here, you’re showing up, and you’re hopefully experiencing a connection to Jesus here. But, there are many who are not. Many who are living lives of isolation and a sort of quiet desperation. I wonder if we, those who have been brought into the family of God, might be the community of God not just here in the walls of the church, but out there too? That those without friends might find a friend in us. That those without clothes would receive clothes from us.

The Good Wine at the Party

If we were to continue to read the Gospel of John this morning, we would encounter Jesus many teachings to his disciples and how, as time passes, Jesus begins asking his disciples to do the things that he does. They have not gathered around him just to watch the Jesus Show. Instead, Jesus asks them (and us) to follow him, to do as he does. We are, as the Apostle Paul puts it later in the New Testament, the body of Christ in the world. Jesus says elsewhere that we are the salt and light of the world - we are called to give things zest and flavor, to bring life into situations that seem to be just dead. We’re called to light up things that seem lost in darkness.

How, friends, are we to do this? The last time I was at a wedding, I did not think that I could turn a glass of water into wine. In fact, I’m pretty sure that if I tried, absolutely nothing would happen! But, I wonder what our lives would look like if we did start stepping further into areas of need. We might find ourselves in over our heads - and maybe that’s why we don’t offer ourselves there. But, could it be, that right where our needs are, right where our insufficiency is, that’s where Jesus could show up?

My prayer for each of us this new year is that we might be the best wine at the party. That Jesus would use us everyday people to perform miracles in the midst of need. That we would not get sucked into the common life of isolation and despair, but to hold fast to our communities and to Christ, stepping forward in hope that Jesus might just pull off the unexpected among us. Amen.