Participants: Deyvy Rodriguez & Jon Paulien
Series Code: JBOTB
Program Code: JBOTB00006B
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00:01 Well, welcome back, we're studying the wedding at Cana.
00:04 And Dr. Paulien, I want to ask you a question. 00:06 And so what or why did Jesus go to the wedding? 00:11 Well, as I mentioned earlier 00:13 the two villages are fairly close together, 00:15 so evidently this is part of relationship stream 00:19 that Jesus would have known growing up in that area, 00:22 it's right near Nazareth. 00:24 But there's a tradition in the 3rd century 00:26 and a tradition doesn't make it right or wrong, 00:29 but it's interesting that people were thinking this way 00:31 a couple of hundred years after this story was written. 00:35 And the idea is that John was actually 00:39 the son of Mary's sister Salome 00:43 which would make John and Jesus first cousins 00:46 and that this was John's wedding. 00:48 And if that's true it just adds a delightful 00:50 little side trick to the story. 00:52 And it tells us if that's the case 00:55 Jesus was invited to the wedding, 00:57 but He brings along all these other guys, 01:00 you know, and they're eating and drinking too. 01:03 And maybe they were uninvited guests. 01:05 You think of Jesus didn't even know some of them personally 01:08 until a couple of days before. 01:10 So He brings His companions to the wedding 01:13 and that may be why Mary says to Him, 01:15 it's kind of like it's Your fault that we ran out, 01:17 so do something about it. 01:19 So you're saying that-- 01:20 Put a little heat on Jesus here. All right. 01:22 So you're saying that the author of the Gospel of John, 01:25 that's his wedding? 01:26 That is what the tradition suggests 01:28 and in ancient times we can only note 01:32 that people thought that way 01:33 and if it's true it adds a nice little touch to the story. 01:37 That's interesting, but again that's a tradition then. 01:39 Yeah. no, we're not-- 01:41 we don't know that to be the case, but it's not-- 01:43 there's nothing in the story here that says that's not so. 01:46 Okay, well, let's talk about the wine now 01:49 because some people are thinking here Jesus performs a miracle 01:53 and He turns water into an alcoholic beverage. 01:57 Tell us about that? 01:59 Okay, well, a lot of commentators 02:00 will come to this and say, this had to be alcoholic, okay. 02:05 And first of all the word wine is there 02:08 and second of all there's this issue of preservation. 02:12 They often preserved drinks for the use of alcohol. 02:16 And not only that, you know the whole idea of people, 02:21 you know, after drinking a while 02:22 you bring out the inferior stuff 02:24 because they don't noticed any more. 02:25 So all those details-- 02:27 lot of commentators would say it was alcoholic. 02:28 I would point out several things however. 02:31 First of all the word wine in Greek 02:34 does not require to be alcoholic. 02:36 Also the same word is used for grape juice 02:38 so the text does not push you in the other direction, 02:42 the text is open. 02:43 Second of all they had ways of preserving back then. 02:46 Concentrating the grape juice, 02:49 putting a little olive oil across the top 02:50 after all the air is out, it can last for years. 02:53 So you could bring out grape juice anytime of year, 02:57 but its reconstituted grape juice. 02:59 And the whole idea, the surprise of the caterer. 03:03 Could that happen without alcohol? 03:04 I think it could. 03:06 Because you could fresh stuff from Egypt anytime 03:09 but it would be really expensive. 03:11 And people just wouldn't do that 03:12 unless they were doing something special. 03:14 So if Jesus produces fresh grape juice at a time of year 03:20 when it's not available normally 03:22 that would be a big shock as well. 03:24 So the point is the story doesn't compel it to be wine 03:28 and I think those of us who have seen 03:30 the destruction that alcohol brings, 03:33 you know, this text doesn't compel us 03:35 otherwise is what I'm saying. 03:37 And I can't imagine Jesus bringing, 03:39 you know, the alcoholic beverages into, 03:42 you know, this party, right. 03:44 Now you told--you earlier you said that you would tell us-- 03:47 you made a promise. 03:48 What is the spiritual meaning of this story 03:51 in the Gospel of John? 03:53 Well, in verse 11 which I think we actually didn't read. 03:57 So maybe let me read it now. 03:58 It says, "This, the first of his miraculous signs, 04:02 Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. 04:04 He thus revealed his glory, 04:07 and the disciples put their faith in him." 04:10 So it calls this a sign and in the Old Testament signs 04:16 were the marks of a true prophet. 04:18 When Moses came to Egypt he threw down his rod 04:20 and it became a snake that was a sign 04:23 that God had called him to a special task. 04:26 When Saul was anointed by the Spirit, 04:29 he began speaking prophetically. 04:32 He began preaching, you see. 04:35 And so Saul does some unusual things to tell people, 04:40 yeah he's been anointed by the Lord, 04:41 something special has happened here. 04:43 So repeatedly in the Old Testament 04:47 we have this concept of signs indicating 04:49 somebody special has come. 04:51 So this is the first sign. 04:53 This is the first indication people had aside 04:56 from John's testimony in the first chapter. 04:58 So first indication that Jesus is more than just a man, 05:02 that He is a prophet and may be even more than a prophet. 05:05 So this story becomes more than just a story. 05:10 And you'll notice it says the third day. 05:14 Now there's been a series of days in Chapter 1. 05:17 On this day something happened, then on next day, next day. 05:20 Now the third day scholars have noticed they count seven days. 05:26 Now what's the most famous seven day period in history? 05:29 A week. Would be the week. 05:30 Okay. Creation. 05:32 See, it goes back to creation. 05:33 And what is the seventh day in creation? 05:36 It's the Sabbath. It's the Sabbath. 05:38 And what marks the entry of the Sabbath at creation? 05:43 A wedding. A wedding. Okay. 05:45 Adam and Eve, you see. Wow. 05:47 So when you see these little hints in the story, 05:49 you have a wedding on the seventh day 05:52 and there's other language here that reminds of creation. 05:55 For example you have seventh day, you have a woman, 05:59 you have a wedding and you have a creative word, 06:02 God said and it was done. 06:03 Here Jesus speaks and the water becomes wine. 06:07 So you have all these indications 06:08 that creation is in the back of the mind. 06:12 Jesus was a second Adam. 06:15 And the church becomes a new Eve according to Paul, 06:19 so that lies behind the story. 06:22 What power did Adam have? 06:24 He had the power to affect the fish of the sea, 06:29 the beast of the earth, 06:30 he had dominion over all these things. 06:32 What does he do later on? 06:34 He has a miraculous gift of fish. 06:37 When nobody can find any fish, Jesus brings fish into the net. 06:42 That's the power of Adam as Adam was intended to be. 06:45 He had dominion over the earth. 06:46 He had dominion over the storm. 06:49 So a deeper side to the story 06:52 is Jesus is the second Adam and a new creation. 06:55 He brings a new creation to this earth. 06:57 He's gonna overturn all the pain and the trials 07:00 and the suffering of the old creation 07:03 and now comes this new creation. 07:07 Another piece of the story is that turning water to wine 07:11 reminds of the story of Moses when he turned water into blood. 07:18 It also reminds of Elisha 07:20 who took the stale waters of Jericho 07:22 and made them fresh, you see. 07:24 So in this connection it's calling us 07:28 to remember the Exodus as well, 07:30 when water was turned into blood 07:32 and may be also the stories of Elisha 07:34 and Elijah are all bought in behind here. 07:37 So how would this work? 07:40 In the story here you have the water of purification, 07:45 the Jewish waters of purification. 07:47 They washed their hands over everything. 07:49 They are very concerned about ritual religion. 07:52 And ritual religion can point this to something greater, 07:56 but it often becomes just a ritual. 07:58 And so the author here is saying behind the rituals, 08:02 there's got to be something greater 08:03 and Jesus is that greater thing. 08:06 Jesus is the wine. 08:09 And what does the wine or grape juice 08:11 of the Lord supper represent? Jesus' blood. 08:16 So you have a number of hints here also of the crucifixion. 08:20 Mention of the third day. 08:23 Turning the water into wine which represents His blood. 08:28 In verse 4 it talks about "My time has not yet come." 08:33 The Greek word there is the hour. 08:36 Jesus repeatedly says in the Gospel of John 08:40 "My hour has not yet come. My hour has not yet come." 08:44 And then in Chapter 12 he says 08:45 the hour has come when the Son of Man must give up His life. 08:50 So the hour of Jesus is the time of the cross. 08:54 In verse 11 it also says, "He revealed His glory." 08:59 And the Gospel of John "Glory" 09:02 is always a reference to the cross. 09:04 You see, what's happening here. 09:06 These are seeds being implanted that sprout later in the gospel, 09:09 a deep spiritual meaning. 09:12 One more, Mary appears only twice in this gospel. 09:16 In the wedding of Cana, and where else do you think? 09:20 At the cross. At the cross. 09:23 John has to place where Mary comes 09:26 with the beloved disciple and Jesus says 09:29 "Woman behold your son, son behold your mother." 09:32 Jesus hands his mother 09:33 over to the keeping of John after His death. 09:37 So Mary appears only twice in the wedding here 09:40 and at the cross. 09:41 So you have what I called cross connections 09:45 that point to a deeper meaning of the story 09:47 and I said we could spend hours. 09:49 Well, I'm sure we could. 09:50 Now this is very deep theological 09:52 study that you've done here. 09:54 And maybe for a lay person who is just reading the Bible 09:59 and perhaps he's not have the time or the tools 10:03 as a scholar to go through all of these, 10:05 you know, these studies. 10:07 Let me ask you a question. 10:09 How should one, you know, 10:11 when reading a passage like this one, 10:13 read the passage and apply to his or her personal life? 10:19 Yes. Well, I think the personal application is definitely this. 10:24 These stories of Jesus can remain in the distance, 10:28 they are out there, okay. 10:30 And we can read them and go on with our lives, 10:33 but to ask ourselves the question. 10:37 What difference does Jesus makes? 10:40 Why do I need to receive Jesus 10:43 for something special to happen in my life? 10:46 Who really cares? 10:48 And one answer to that question which is also related 10:52 to this whole idea of second Adam and humanity and so on. 10:55 How do human beings discover value? 10:59 We go about in a number of different ways. 11:02 We try to accumulate things. 11:04 I'm a valuable person if I dress real cool 11:06 or if I've really great cars or fantastic house 11:09 or big money in the back account. 11:12 The trouble is if you try to find value 11:14 and that way you can lose it all. 11:16 The stock market can crash. 11:17 Your house can burn down. 11:19 The car can crash. 11:20 To trust in money and in things for sense of value 11:25 just doesn't cut it. 11:26 A second way we look for value is an achievement. 11:29 I'm gonna get a Ph.D then I'll be somebody. 11:31 I'm gonna be the President of United States, 11:32 then I'll be somebody. 11:34 I'll be a great quarterback 11:35 and then I'll be somebody, you see. 11:38 But when you look for achievements 11:41 well, teachers get senile, athletes get old and decrepit, 11:46 presidents have to retire, you see. 11:49 And so that doesn't last either. 11:51 And then we look for value in others. 11:55 The only way to truly get value is to have a friend 12:00 who knows all about you, 12:02 who loves you just the way you are, 12:05 who lives forever and has genuine value 12:08 and there's only one person that's Jesus. 12:11 There's no other source of meaning and value in life 12:15 that's truly permanent than Jesus Christ 12:18 and that is why Jesus has lasted 2000 years. 12:22 That's why there's still millions and millions of people 12:25 that trust in Him, 12:26 because there's really no other path to life, 12:28 all other paths are temporary 12:30 and that I think is at the core of what the gospel is all about. 12:34 And at the core of what John is pointing us 12:36 Jesus is what truly matters. 12:40 Everything else is just subtext. 12:42 You are at this wedding 12:43 but it end up being all about Jesus 12:45 about His death, about Him as the second Adam 12:48 and all the rest of that Messiah. 12:50 And again it was important 12:52 for this couple to invite Jesus to their wedding. 12:55 And I hope friends that you invite Jesus 12:58 not necessary to your wedding only, 12:59 but in every area of your life to next time. |
Revised 2014-12-17