Episode 204: A Wedding For The Ages | Landon Dermott

Introduction

Alright Landon you wanna unpack it? Yes sir. Good morning guys. Hey, my name's Landon Dermott. I am the area director of Young Life here in the Roanoke Valley and, I've said this before but I'll say it again, it's a gift for me to get to be up here this morning. Not just because this is a church that I go to, and Caroline, my wife and I are so grateful to get to raise our brand new daughter, Lindley, here in this amazing church, but also because when I was a high school student, just down the road at Hidden Valley High School, a ministry called Young Life changed my life forever. I work now full time for Young Life and I really believe with all my heart that Young Life wouldn't have been able to exist if it hadn't been for the support for years and years of Church of the Holy Spirit, keeping it around. So I'm grateful for this church and it's a gift to be up here this morning.

This morning I want to spend a little bit of time talking about a wedding—the wedding that Tim just read about, one that took place at Cana in Galilee. But before we get into it, I’m curious, just by show of hands—who has planned a wedding before? Whether it was your own, someone in your family, maybe someone, one of your friends, who’s planned a wedding? Okay. Keep your hands up, and then we’ll add to those if you have been in a wedding before, maybe as a bridesmaid, a groomsman, maybe a flower girl, or something like that. If you’ve been in a wedding, okay. And then last but not least, keep your hands raised and add to those—who has been to a wedding before? Okay, we got a lot of people. Whether it was yours or you crashed it, or whatever it is. We’ve all in some way, shape or form, probably been around someone who’s had a wedding. We’ve been to one or been in one or something like that.

Weddings and Expectations

The funny thing about weddings is we spend more time planning those days than any other day in the world. At least to my understanding, I can’t think of a day that we spend more time planning for. When Caroline and I got engaged, we spent eight months planning for our wedding. I think this is livestreaming, so I’ll say it again: When Caroline and I got engaged, Caroline spent eight months planning for our wedding day. It was an amazing day, and weddings are a great celebration where two people join together and become one. But I don’t know if it’s because there’s so much pressure built up around the day, or if there’s so much excitement, or it’s Murphy’s Law, or irony—something always goes wrong, right? We know in this story something went awry, but I see a couple smiles in the audience because you probably have a story of your wedding or a wedding you’ve been to where something went wrong. Whether it’s that when the ceremony starts, rain begins to fall during an outdoor wedding, or someone’s speaking at the wedding and the microphone goes out, or maybe the wedding gets canceled altogether because of a global pandemic.

Maybe someone important to the wedding, maybe even the bride or groom, doesn’t show up. Maybe at your wedding, someone grabs the microphone and gives a twenty-five-minute toast nobody was expecting. Maybe someone passes out during the ceremony. Maybe the mother of the bride takes a picture of the bride and posts it on Facebook before she even walks down the aisle. Or maybe, just maybe—speaking hypothetically here—the groom the night before his wedding is setting off firecrackers with some buddies and he puts one in upside down and it explodes, taking three fingers clean off. All of those things are true stories—one of those happened to me. I won’t tell you which one, but I will tell you this: I still have all ten of my fingers. But something always seems to go awry, and it went wrong here at this wedding.

And then there’s one last thing I want to say before we jump into this passage. I know that when I speak about a wedding, when I speak about marriage, a lot of different emotions rise up in this room. For some of us, we might look back in joy at one of the greatest days of our lives. For others, we might look forward longingly or anxiously, wondering, will we be married one day? Will that be something—and if it is, who will it be with? For others, we might look back at a wedding with joy but also with the sadness of someone who’s passed away or of a marriage that didn’t make it. For others, it might be that you’ve resolved not to be married, and the conversation around it is frankly frustrating.

What I would ask is that we could take those emotions and recognize that they’re valid— all of the emotions we have towards weddings and marriage—and set those aside and take a look at this wedding that happened two thousand years ago in the Middle East because I believe that it’ll help us get a glimpse of who Jesus is and who he came to be.

The Context of the Passage

So if you’ve got your Bible, flip it open to John chapter 2. We’re going to be looking at that passage this morning. This is the first miracle that Jesus ever performs. This is the first thing he does. He’s born, he spends some time, and then his ministry—his public ministry—starts, and this is the first thing he does. At first glance, it’s really almost a boring or simple or plain miracle. It happens at Cana in Galilee. It’s a village so small that scholars don’t even really know exactly where it is today. They know the general area, but it’s this small little village, and there’s a wedding. Jesus is there, but he isn’t the groom. He isn’t a groomsman. He isn’t the officiant. He isn’t even like a sibling of anyone getting married. He’s just there as a guest.

No one’s sick. No one’s dying. No Gospel’s proclaimed. Hundreds of people don’t come to know Christ. Not even one person turns and follows him. In fact, Jesus doesn’t even take credit for the work at the end of the day. But this is his first miracle. This is his grand entrance on stage. Why? It doesn’t even seem like Jesus wants to get involved. Why this? Some scholars would say that this being Jesus’s first miracle is evidence that this really happened—that if you were going to take up an account of Jesus’s life and try to convince people that he’s someone worth following, you wouldn’t start with this: a simple save of some embarrassment for a couple who had run out of wine. Why would you start with this? I believe that’s true, and I believe this really happened. I believe that John saw it all unfold with his own eyes.

But I also believe there’s so much more. That under the surface, this miracle looks ordinary, but in reality, it is the quintessence of who Jesus is. That in this miracle, we see who Jesus is and who he came to be. This is more than just a party save. What if this was a grand foreshadowing of Jesus’ ministry that has just begun? You see, I believe that Scripture is like an ocean—that even the smallest child, even the youngest believer, can wade in at the shores of the ocean and splash around and be cooled and refreshed. But yet, even scholars, even the greatest commentators, the greatest people who have studied this word for the longest amount of time, have yet to explore its depths fully.

So this morning, let’s wade in at the shores and perhaps dive out into the deep of who Jesus is and who he came to be in John chapter 2.

We pick up the story and it says this: on the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was also there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, they have no more wine.

The Significance of the Miracle

Now, I don’t want to make light of this. When I was talking about this being the first miracle, this was a big deal. Weddings weren’t just a five-hour time frame in this time. They happened, and then there was a festival that lasted for three or four days, and the whole town was there. These were a big deal, and this couple has run out of wine. This would be quite the embarrassment. And Mary, Jesus’ mother, comes to Jesus and she says, they’ve run out of wine. She invites him into this miracle, and Jesus’ response is pretty interesting. You know, it says that Mary says they’ve run out of wine, and I’m going to speak—if there are any kids in the room—I think that we should try to be like Jesus in everything we do, but I would also love to give you this advice: don’t try this at home.

Okay? Mary’s mother says they’ve run out of wine, and Jesus says, woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come. If you’re at home and your mom says, hey, would you unload the dishwasher, and you respond with, woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come—I promise you, your hour has come; it probably, that’s probably the end of the line right there. So I wouldn’t try this at home, but Jesus reluctantly gets involved, and we’ll come back to that statement because I think there’s a lot actually underneath it. But Jesus gets involved, and Mary steps aside and tells the servants, do whatever he tells you.

And it says, nearby stood six stone washing jars—the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing—each holding from 20 to 30 gallons. And Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim.

The first thing that I want us to notice in this miracle, under the surface that Jesus shows about who he is and who he came to be, is that Jesus came to be the ultimate ceremonial washing. You see, these stone jars would have been used where people would come to this religious ceremony and wash their hands to become clean before entering. These jars served as places where people would take their dirt and wash it off so they could be clean.

And these jars were unassuming, attended to by lowly servants. But then, at the end of the night, the wine poured out. Why? To cover the embarrassment of this couple. And in the same way, Jesus came in the form of an unassuming man. He wasn’t grand in appearance; he was just a human being. What did he do? He took the dirt of the people so that they could be made clean to enter into the presence of God. And who was he attended to by? A group of rough and rowdy disciples who had been written off by the rest of the world. Only at the end of his life, to be poured out, his blood like wine—what for? To cover the embarrassment, to cover the shame, to cover the sin of the people.

See, Jesus came to be the ultimate ceremonial washing. Can you imagine? I often ask high schoolers, what did the miracle actually look like? Was it that when the servants put the water in the stone jars, it immediately turned into wine? Was it that it waited until it got to the brim and then, at the snap of a finger, it all turned to wine? Was it that as they poured it into the cup and took it to people, it turned into wine? Or was this like a brand new Gatorade Propel, and it looked like water but it actually wasn’t? We don’t know. But I often wonder, what did this miracle actually look like?

But you know who got the best seat in the house? It was the servants. The servants watched as this water turned into wine. They watched as water itself blushed as it came into the presence of the living water himself. And if you catch nothing else today, catch this: the people who often get the best view of Jesus’ glory are the ones that are close by and the ones that are obedient to his commands.

And so Jesus tells the servants, draw the water that’s now been turned into wine and take it to the master of the banquet. They do so, and they take it to this master of the banquet—that role is something we’re not really familiar with today. What is the master of the banquet? We don’t really have one of those, at least I didn’t at my wedding—but the master of the banquet in this time was someone who would kind of run the party. Their job was to bring the food, the wine, and to run the celebration. When things needed to move from one place to the next, they were in charge of that.

And Jesus watches as this master of the banquet sips the wine he’s just created. He doesn’t take credit for it, but I believe that the second thing we see under the surface about who Jesus is and who he came to be is that Jesus came to be the true master of the banquet. And yes, he ultimately serves as the master of the banquet in this wedding, and he’s the person who brings the wine. They run out of wine and Jesus saves it. He doesn’t take credit for that, but Jesus also came to be the master of the banquet—the Lord of the feast—if you will, at a feast that’s still to come.

If you flip over, or we’ll put it up on the screen, there’s a passage in Isaiah chapter 25, verses 6 through 8, that speaks of this feast—this banquet that’s to come—where Jesus will be the master of the banquet. I’ll read it:

On this mountain, the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples. A banquet of aged wine, the best of meats, and the finest of wines. On this mountain, he will destroy the shroud that unfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. He will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces. He will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.

See, Jesus came to be the master of the banquet at a banquet that’s still to come. A banquet that will be an incredible banquet with the best wine and the best meats, and he will cover the shroud of death and wipe away every tear. What must he do to provide the wine at that banquet? What must he do to cover the shroud of death and wipe away every tear? I think that’s what he was realizing and seeing at this wedding at Cana in Galilee.

See, Jesus wasn’t being disrespectful to his mother. Now, when he says “my hour has not yet come,” in John’s gospel there are only five or six times where he says “my hour,” and each one of those is specifically speaking about his death. See, Jesus knows that as soon as this miracle happens, the clock begins to tick, and his ministry begins. He’s now counting the time until he knows what he must do to provide the wine for that banquet, to wipe away every tear, to cover the shroud of death.

And what must he do? He must take the cup of wrath, the cup of justice from God that we deserve. That he must take that cup. Tim Keller says it well: he says that in this wedding, in this moment of joy at Cana in Galilee, Jesus takes a cup of sorrow. So then, this world of sorrow, you and I can take his cup of joy.

See, Jesus came to be the master of the banquet at a feast that is yet to come. And so the master of the banquet tries this wine, pulls the bridegroom aside and says, 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. And in this last character introduction, I believe we see the third thing that Jesus is and who he came to be. And that’s that Jesus is the bridegroom.

He’s not the bridegroom at this wedding; it’s not some weird switcheroo. But Jesus came to be the bridegroom. You see, I think we’re comfortable with this imagery of Jesus as the gate, as Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is a shepherd. Jesus is our friend. But in order to really fully understand all of who Jesus is, we have to see that Jesus is the bridegroom. He takes that title for himself in Matthew chapter 25 when his disciples are questioned about not fasting. They ask, why aren’t you fasting? And Jesus says, the friends of the bridegroom don’t fast when the bridegroom is with them. And he says, I am the bridegroom.

But if Jesus is the bridegroom, there are two questions that arise: one, who’s his bride? And two, when is the wedding? But this is absolutely phenomenal—catch this—in this day and age, in this time, in the Middle East, when someone was to get married, it was a culture of arranged marriages. A father would look to a distant land and select a bride suitable for his son. Once he had selected her, he would begin to prepare a place at his house for his son and the soon-to-be bride.

It wasn’t like today, where people get married and then move off to a distant town. No. He would prepare a place on his house. He’d build an addition for his son and his son’s bride to live. And so, the father would begin to prepare that place. When the time was right, the son would leave home, go to a far land, and he would win the heart of his bride. And once he had done so, he would bring his bride home, and there would be a wedding celebration like this one.

And then there would be a feast that followed for days and days, and they would live happily ever after in the place prepared by the father. Do you see it? That’s exactly what Jesus does. See, God the Father in heaven looks down, he selects a bride suitable for his son—the bridegroom—and he begins to prepare a place in heaven for his son and the soon-to-be bride.

And then, the time is right—Jesus leaves his home in heaven and goes to a far-off land. He comes to Earth, and he begins to look to win the heart of his bride. But Jesus finds a surprise when he comes: he finds that his bride hasn’t been loyal, hasn’t been noble, hasn’t been honorable. Instead, his bride has run to other things, run after other loves, turned from the love it was created for. She’s been unfaithful.

We see this played out in Hosea, where Hosea marries a woman named Gomer. She leaves him, runs after other things, leaves the love she was created for, and ends up in slavery, so to speak. Hosea sees his bride up for auction and what does he do? He doesn’t yell; he doesn’t get angry; he doesn’t shame her. Instead, he goes, and he buys her back. He pays full price. She’s at her worst, and he pays for her.

That’s exactly what Jesus does. But if Jesus is the bridegroom, who is his bride? When is the wedding? You see, we’re the bride. It’s me, it’s you—it's us collectively, his church. We are the bride. That God the Father in heaven looked down at earth, saw us, and said, “That’s one suitable for my son,” and began to prepare a place in heaven for us.

When the time was right, Jesus left heaven, came to earth, and sought to win our hearts. But he found that, like all mankind, we’d gone astray, run away, and turned to other things. We’ve been entangled in sin and brokenness. But Jesus doesn’t abandon us. He comes to the auction, pays full price—his life—to ransom us, to bring us home. And that place is heaven, where there will be a grand wedding—a wedding for the ages.

And following it will be a feast. Jesus will be the master of that banquet, the lord of that feast. It will be a grand celebration with the best meats and the finest wine. The whole town will be there, celebrating that Jesus has washed us clean once and for all. We are his bride.

Application

See, in this story, we see Jesus acting silently as a guest. In John 1, John says that Jesus came full of grace and truth. And in this half of John 2, we see Jesus full of grace, filling up the cup of wine—saving this couple from embarrassment, ultimately saving us. Next week, we’re going to talk about the truth side of that, and I hope you’ll tune in as Tim shares about John chapter 2. Because if Jesus has the authority to fill our cups, he must also have the authority to overturn our tables, which we see him do in John chapter 2.

But see this morning: Jesus came to Earth for you and for me—to win our hearts, to take us home to the Father. And it’s not because you pulled the wool over his eyes. It’s not because he doesn’t see us. No, he sees us, even at our worst. But he wants to win our hearts and bring us to a place that our Father has prepared for us.

There’s a wedding— a wedding for the ages—and you’re invited. We’re going to spend a little time in prayer, and the rails will be open. These curved rails are for you to come and pray at on your own. Or if you’re looking for someone to pray with, you can pray at these straight rails. But as we do that, I’d love for you to reflect on a few questions:

1. What is it that you run to outside of Jesus’ love? What folly do you keep chasing after as an unfaithful spouse?

2. Did you know that Jesus has bought you back again and again and again? It doesn’t matter how many times you run away; he’s after you.

3. Will you or have you sipped his cup of wine? His new wine of joy everlasting, of love that never ends. Love that sees us at our worst, but loves us better than anyone else. Because Jesus sipped the cup of sorrow in that moment of joy. Why? So that here and now, in this world of sorrow, we can sip his cup of wine. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Conclusion

Let me pray.

Lord, thank you for this morning. Thank you for this miracle and all that you are and all that you came to be. Thank you for the way that you’ve run after us and come and won our hearts. It’s in your name we pray. Amen.