John Lesson 5

Introduction

Very pleasant good day to you and welcome to Let the Bible Speak. I hope you get your Bibles open, and we’re going to be studying from the Gospel of John, chapter 2. It’s the story where Jesus turned the water to wine at the wedding feast that occurred in Cana of Galilee. It’s the first miracle that Jesus worked. There’s some who look at this scene or this miracle, and they suggest that it’s the time when Jesus approved of drinking alcoholic beverages. Do you believe that Jesus approves of drinking alcoholic beverages? That the Bible approves of drinking? Does the Bible even approve of social drinking as it’s sometimes referred to today, just so long as a person does not get drunk? Well, these are some of the questions we’re going to consider as we study through John chapter 2, verses 1 to 11, and I’d like to encourage you to get your New Testaments open and read along with us.

We’re studying verse by verse from the Gospel of John. In fact, the best way to study the Bible is to do it verse by verse, keeping the scripture in context. There are a great many people today who are frustrated in their Bible study. You may have heard people say, Well, you can just prove anything by the Bible. And I’ll assure you there are people who’ve taken the Bible and tried to prove most anything, and if you mishandle the scriptures, you you can make it sound as though it’s proving anything. But the Bible taken in its proper context and shown along with other verses that relate to the same subject, will not prove contradictory pro uh beliefs. But rather the Bible is united. And you’ll find that as you study the Word of God, it will agree with itself.

We just simply have to take the scripture in its own context. And so it is with this passage. If we’re going to understand what the Bible really says about the matter of drinking wine, that Jesus turned the water into wine. Then let’s get the background. Let’s get the context. Let’s see what Jesus really was doing. If you have your Bibles open, we’ll begin by reading the first three verses, John chapter 2. And the third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine. Now this was the first miracle of Jesus, and as it’s simply setting the scene for us, it occurred at Cana of Galilee.

Now Canaan was about four miles distant from the city of Nazareth where Jesus was raised as a child. But the time has now come that he selected or has called some of his disciples to be with him. And they’re invited to this marriage. We’re not really told whose marriage it is. There’s some indication that it probably was a relative or maybe a very close friend. Because as we shall read, the mother of Jesus was very uh rather intimately involved in the circumstances of this wedding. In fact, when they were without any wine, she comes to Jesus and sets the problem before him. She’s concerned. And one would suggest if she were not closely involved or intimately involved as though with a relative, why would she be so concerned about the fact that they were without the wine at this wedding feast?

1. Woman, What Have I to Do With Thee?

But nevertheless, Jesus was there, and when they lacked wine, the scripture of the King James says they wanted wine, literally, they were without wine. What had earlier been served has now been drunken, and therefore they were without wine. And so she came to Jesus and she said, They have no wine. In verses four and five, Jesus saith unto her woman, What have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Now in our King James translation, verse four sounds rather crude, in fact, sort of hard. Woman, what have I to do with thee? Sounds as though it was certainly not very courteous to his mother. But that’s the problem with sometimes translating the Greek to the English, and also our lack of familiarity with the customs of that day.

For him to use this word that is translated woman, is not a sign of discourtesy. But rather, even later in John chapter 19 and in verse 26, you remember when Jesus was hanging on the cross. And to his, as his mother was standing there, and the disciple whom Jesus loved, John himself, who was writing this book, Jesus said, Woman, behold thy son. We know on that occasion it was a rather tender expression. The word woman here is simply a Greek term that it may be the word lady or madam, but but it isn’t as hard sounding in that vernacular as it may seem to us in its translation. But when he says, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Actually he’s saying, as we would put it, leave the matter to me.

2. Mine Hour Is Not Yet Come

I will take care of the matter. And that’s what Jesus did. She seemed to understand that, because when she turned to the servant, she said, Whatever he saith unto you, do it. So she was not taking it as an insult when he spoke to her that way, but rather knowing that he could accomplish whatever he desired, she said, You follow his instructions. But there’s another interesting expression in this verse when he said, Mine hour is not yet come. This is the first time we find the expression in the Gospel of John, but there will be some eight different times that we’re going to see this expression about mine hour. Mine hour. And you’ll find it both ways. Mine hour is not yet come, and then mine hour is come.

What Jesus seems to refer to in in the use of mine hour is the time of his death. The time when he would be glorified, crucified on the cross and raised from the grave to ascend to be with the Father on heaven. But the hour for which he had come into this world that he might become the sacrifice for the sins of the world. You’ll find here the expression mine hour is not yet come but in John chapter 7 and in verse 8 we’re going to see that expression again found also John chapter 7 and verse 6 and John chapter 7 and verse 30 and also in John chapter 8 and verse 20 on each of those occasions it was not the time for his hour to come and and he would not allow the people to take him and to put him to death even at times when they would have sought his death.

But when it came the time for his death we look at John chapter 12 on the night before his crucifixion and in fact when he was gathered with his disciples and and he said mine hour is come and also in John chapter 13 and in verse 1. And in John chapter 19 or chapter 17 in verse 1 it is you’ll find that he says mine hour is come indicating that it is now the time for his crucifixion. We’ll be pointing that out later as we go through the gospel of John but at this stage he says to his mother mine hour in other words the time for my death is not yet come. And if Jesus is going to perform the miracle and this being the first of his miracles he then begins to stir up notoriety.

3. Six Water Pots and the Very Best Wine

He begins to stir up attention to himself. And as we shall unfold reading through the book of John, you know that when Jesus began to work miracles, then became the the reaction of the Jewish rulers, who were rejecting him as the Messiah, who denied that he is the Christ, the Son of God. And the more miracles Jesus worked, the more convincing proved to the people that he’s the Son of God, but the more firmly these Jewish rulers would oppose him, and ultimately it would lead to his crucifixion. So in verses six through verse ten, we shall continue our reading, where the scripture says there were set there six water pots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

Jesus saith unto them, fill the water uh fill the water pots with water, and they fill them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine. And when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now. At the instruction of Jesus, the servants filled the water pots with water. The scripture here says that there were six water pots.

The King James translates that they would hold as as much as two or three firkins apiece. Now, again, we don’t use that language, but a firkin was a Greek measurement of liquid. And it amounted usually to eight or nine gallons of liquid. So six water pots filled to the brim that would hold two to three firkins apiece would have been at a minimum a hundred gallons of water, and maybe as much as a hundred and eighty gallons. So Jesus turned the water to wine, but it was not just one little potful or bottle, but rather an enormous amount of fluid or of liquid that had turned to wine. But then another significant point is that it was the very best wine. Even the governor or the ruler of the feast came to the bridegroom.

And he observed, now this is the root of the peace, and he observed that usually at such a marriage feast when the guests are there, they’re going to serve the very best they have first. And then when that runs out, they’ll bring in that which is a little inferior in quality. But Jesus had worked the miracle and had shown power over quality, for the wine that is now being served is the very best wine. And the governor, he didn’t know that the miracle had occurred. The servants knew, but the governor of the feast did not know the source of this wine. He just simply observes the fact that what’s being now served is better in quality than that which had earlier been served. But I want you to notice a point here.

When he makes a statement that that every man at the beginning does set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. At this wedding feast, they had already well drunk, as the King James states this passage here. That is, that they had already drunken freely, another translation gives. Now the question that’s going to be before us. If at this feast they’ve already been drinking alcoholic beverages, is if the word wine always means firm in it, and they’ve well drunken, and Jesus now provides another hundred to possibly 180 gallons. Is Jesus encouraging drunkenness? Was Jesus helping them to get drunken? If indeed, as some would apply this passage that Jesus is approving of alcoholic beverages, that’s the conclusion you’d have to agree to.

4. The Purpose of Miracles: That Ye Might Believe

We’re going to take a pause for a moment and come back and we’ll consider the question. Was Jesus encouraging, drinking alcoholic beverages? Is that something that is approved by the Word of God even today for the children of God? I hope you’ll stay with us as we continue the study in John chapter 2, and we’ll answer this important question. Chapter 2 and verse 11, after Jesus had turned the water to wine, we read a verse that tells us the effect of this miracle. When it says, This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him. The purpose for the signs, the wonders, and the miracles which Jesus did was to cause men and women to believe.

We said that it was a selective gospel. That’s from the statement found in John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31, where the scripture in a sort of concluding phrase says, Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. Now, there are other signs or miracles that Jesus worked that are not recorded in the Gospel of John. But the apostle by inspiration has selected seven different signs or miracles. But they were all selected, they are all unique, that is, they’re different one from the other in nature and kind, but they are for the purpose that ye might believe.

And now when this one states, here’s the first miracle Jesus worked in Cana of Galilee, and look at the effect.

It was as a credential. It was as a certificate that from heaven that here is God’s Son. Sometimes uh new believers in Christ or even unbelievers ask the question, why did Jesus work miracles? And really, this is the answer. That the purpose for miracles was to give as God’s certificate of approval, that he is the Christ, the Son of God. And as the last phrase says, His disciples believed on him. You see, when we look at the purpose of miracles, Acts chapter 2 and verse 22 describes the miracles as being God’s witness. In fact, Peter preaching in Acts 2 and verse 22 says that ye men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.

5. Miracles, Wonders, and Signs

Now there are three words that describe the same work miracle, wonder, and sign. Those are not three different things, but rather three different ways to describe the work or the power that Jesus performed. This word miracle in Acts 2 and 22 is translated from the word dunamis. We we would translate the word dynamite or power. Jesus worked a miracle. He did something that was powerful. Not something that was just naturally going to occur, but rather something that was above and beyond the law of nature. In fact, in John chapter 3 and verse 2, even Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus and he said, No man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. So they were powerful works. Now, the word that is dunamis, that is translated miracle in Acts 2 22, is not really used in the gospel of John.

John uses another word, the Greek word ergon, translated work. Jesus did works. He did powerful works. But also he did wonders. And this word that is translated wonders simply describes an effect. As these powerful works were performed, it produced amazement or wonderment in the heart of those who observed them. And it produced belief, you see. In Matthew chapter 15, the scripture in verses 30 through 31 describes how that when Jesus performed many miracles, it caused the people to be amazed and to wonder at the things that he did. I’m reading Matthew 15 and verse 30, where it says, Great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame and blind and dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them.

Insomuch that the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to behold, the lame to walk, and the blind to see, and they glorified the God of Israel. It caused them to wonder, to marvel at it. But they were also signs. Miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did by him. You see, it served as a certificate, as a way of showing that people could see. Here is the sign or the proof positive that this is the Christ, the Son of God. And so these signs Jesus worked, as we just quoted from John 20, verses 30 through 31, were selected in the gospel of John and are written. They were performed in order that people might glorify God, that they might testify, bear testimony to the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Unfortunately, today in our use of the word miracle, we we sometimes use it in a different sense from what you find in the Bible. We’ve used the word miracle in a very broad way. Here somebody has an automobile accident and someone survives and they say, Boy, it’s a miracle that he came out of that wreck alive. Or it’s a miracle that this event or that event may have happened. And we use it in a rather broad way. But the kind of miracles that we’re going to be talking about were wonders and signs which were above extraordinary events. It wasn’t just an extraordinary event, it was an event or a work that occurred that no man could do except God be with him. Have you ever known someone today to take water and turn it to wine?

No man can do that today. Those kind of miracles that we read about that Jesus performed and that his disciples performed in the New Testament days are not being worked today. Those kind of miracles are the Bible times. God is still alive. He is not benign. And by his providential care, he performs many divine things today. And I believe that he can even heal the sick today. But the kind of powers, wonders, and signs that Jesus did and that his apostles did are not being worked today. But the effect and the purpose for it, they didn’t have the Word of God like we have written today. They did not have the New Testament. Who is this man Jesus? How can you prove that he’s the Son of God?

6. Was Jesus Approving of Drinking Alcoholic Beverages?

By the miracles, the wonders, and the signs which God did by him. They were proof positive. It didn’t happen as as though from someone who was uninspired. You know, today you can use the term about a miracle and it happens to an atheist or an unbeliever in Christ just like somebody else. But what Christ did, only God could have done. And that proved God was with him. But now another point, the question we raised a moment ago, when Jesus turned the water to wine, was Jesus approving of the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Very important question. There are a lot of people today who don’t know much about the Bible. But they want to justify their drinking, and they know about two places in the Bible. One place it says Jesus turned the water to wine, and the other place is that this man Timothy was told to drink a little wine for a stomach’s sake.

And they think there’s their proof that a Christian even can drink alcoholic beverages. And sadly, but true, there are some so-called preachers of Christ today, even who do drink, and who encourage others to drink. And there are some who would encourage, if not drinking to the point of drunkenness, they would encourage social drinking, they say, just so long as one does not get drunk. It is unbefitting of a child of God.

Several reasons imply that. First of all, the word wine does not of itself necessarily mean it was fermented. Sometimes we always use the word wine about talking about alcoholic beverages. But the Greek word oinos that is translated wine, and its counterpart in the Hebrew, Yagin, that is translated wine in the Old Testament, may sometimes refer to just simply grape juice or the juice of the grape that is not yet fermented. Even sometimes it is described as new wine. But wine, nevertheless, is the word that is translated from it. For example, in the Old Testament, in Isaiah chapter 65 and in verse 8, there the passage talks about wine that is yet in the cluster. It’s still in the grape, so to speak. It has not yet even become the juice that can ferment.

He calls it wine in the cluster. And you may remember Jesus in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 17, talks about the putting of new wine into old bottles, and he said, You don’t do that. You don’t put new wine into old bottles, obviously, the new wine has not yet fermented, and so as it ferments, it is going to expand and that would burst the old bottles. So he uses the word oinos, wine, but he says you don’t put it into old bottles. You don’t take the unfermented and put it into a bottle that would burst when it ferments. The word wine of itself does not signify whether it is fermented or unfermented. But another reason, that this word in John chapter 2 does not necessarily signify that Jesus would encourage drinking alcoholic beverages.

And that is the fact that even if it were fermented, it would have been different in its alcoholic content from what is normally bought in a store today. Wine that came, that was fermented by natural process, would only have five percent to eight percent alcoholic content, and that variation would depend upon the sweetness of the grape. But that which is sold in the marketplay that is distilled, has twenty percent alcoholic content. That’s quite a variation. Another factor to consider is the fact that even in first century times, when they drank wine, they would often dilute it with water. Even that which was five percent to eight percent alcoholic content in such a gathering as at a wedding feast would often be diluted with water. Now, I ask you, was Jesus encouraging drunkenness?

You know, you may remember that we we made the point in verse 10 that they had well drunken. And if they had already drunken freely, as one text uh defines that uh that passage, were they already tipsy or a little tight? Uh were they on the brink of getting drunk? And Jesus gives them wine that is even more uh heavily uh alcoholic content and and therefore the good wine, and are they really going to get drunken now? That would be hard to accept, one who understands that Jesus, the Son of God, would have never approved of drunkenness. In fact, in the Old Testament, drunkenness was condemned, just as in the New Testament, drunkenness is condemned. Listen to the language of the Bible. Even just one passage in the Old Testament should be sufficient for us.

In Proverbs chapter 23, in verses twenty nine through thirty two. The wise man says, Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine. They that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it bideth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Wine is a mocker, Proverbs 20 and verse 1 says. And even in the New Testament, drunkenness is condemned. In Galatians chapter 5 and verse 21, where he making he makes a list of the works of the flesh, drunkenness is clearly defined as one of those works he says that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Well I know sometimes today we we sort of excuse drunkenness we call alcoholism a sickness and there is a sense in which it may be described as a sickness because it can possess people but alcoholism that is those who practice drunkenness are condemned. First Corinthians chapter six verses nine through eleven describes that such shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now let me say quickly that a drunkard can be forgiven any sin can be forgiven as we repent and turn to the Lord. First Corinthians six verses ten and eleven describe how even they at Corrent had once practiced these things but they were washed, they were cleansed and you can be forgiven too. Jesus certainly was not encouraging the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Even Timothy in first Timothy five and verse twenty three was told to drink a little wine it was not a common practice for him.

Conclusion

He was told there to drink it for his stomach’s sake, for medicine purposes. In 1 Thessalonians 5, 22 and 23, the Bible says, Prove all things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from the appearance of evil. And that’s the admonition of Jesus to you today. Do not misuse the Bible as though it gives proof for drinking alcohol, when that would only be a selfish use in your own time. You don’t need to drink it today. Until our next study, may the grace and peace of our Lord be with you.