Badenoch Free Church

easter sunday morning 23rd March 2008

 

John 2v12-25

If Passover is the most important date in the Jewish religious calendar then Easter is in the Christian. In this passage we see both come together. Both celebrations remember the same thing - God Saves / Salvation.

Passover remembered Gods great salvation:

Exodus 20:2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

On Easter Sunday morning we gather especially to remember the resurrection.

But what is the resurrection all about?

To answer that question we look to our text today:

John 2:18-19 ¹⁸ Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

 

Context:

Jesus had gone up to celebrate the Passover. On entering the temple he finds a market place, that was prohibiting the true purpose of the temple, which was worship.

Thus, in an act of great power, violence and passion he clears the temple area:

John 2:15-16 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their

tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"

 

To this action we have the Jews up in arms - what’s going on here!

“Show us a sign” they ask, why - to prove his authority to do it!

They were looking for the correct documentation from Jesus to show he could do what he had just done!

The documentation was already there for those with eyes to see.

But further documentation was on the way - the death and resurrection, v19.

(note: the Jews did not say that Jesus was wrong to do what he did. They just wanted to make sure he had the authority to do it!)

So Jesus has cleared the temple and the Jews are asking for a sign.

The sign that Jesus points to is his death and resurrection v19.

Especially the resurrection!

He talks about the destruction of the temple - which could be destroyed with relative ease. But then its re-building and all in 3 days!

To that the Jews are bewildered v20. This is an impossible sign. Could never be done.

But as v21 tells us Jesus was referring to his own body! Death and resurrection.

So what is the resurrection all about?

The resurrection is a sign.

The Jews wanted a sign and Jesus points to his bodily death and resurrection!

It is a peace of evidence. An indefatigable proof of the truth of Jesus Christ.

Signs are there to show us something, to give in formation, to warn / direct etc

 

What does the Resurrection sign show?

1) the sign shows the authority of Jesus v18

This is what he Jews were after.

They wanted to know that Jesus had the correct authority.

In the spiritual life authority is all important:

Jesus came with great claims about the availability of heaven; about sins being forgiven; about life with God and about getting prayers answered etc

Did he have the right to say all that? If Yes, then the world has changed! this is earth shattering news! Good news! News worth dying for!

The resurrection was the final sign that proved He had the authority!

2) the truth / reliability of Jesus v22

Only after the resurrection did the disciples really believe as v22 tells us.

Jesus had given sign after sign through all his ministry, but it was only after the resurrection that the disciples believed.

The resurrection proved that Jesus really was reliable, that he spoke the truth!

That he could be believed in,

And what did they believe - “the words that Jesus had spoken”

They believed all that Jesus had said. It is the words that are the important thing.

The miracles and wonders came and went mainly with Jesus. But his words remain.

Words are powerful and effective in the Kingdom of God.

Word’s are meant to lead to salvation.

Words are meant to encourage, to convict, to challenge, to feed…

The word that Jesus spoke was the very word of God!

That’s the point. They believed that in Jesus they were hearing from God!

The resurrection testifies to the fact that Jesus was God speaking to us in the flesh! That is what we celebrate and remember this Easter.

 

3) our need to act / respond v23

The resurrection shows our need to respond.

This great sign cannot be ignored. It is too big for that.

To ignore the resurrection is to stick your head in the sand.

If you are driving a car and the traffic light says Red you need to respond to that sign or pay the consequences! Signs like that cannot be ignored!

The whole life, death and resurrection of Jesus is one big sign that cannot be ignored. Something has happened, God has spoken, God has done something!

You need to respond!

Easter is not about remembering just for the sake of remembering.

It is not about tradition for traditions sake.

It is about seeing the signs, reading them properly and thus gaining life!

Faith is not a blind leap in the dark. Faith is trusting in what God has done in Jesus.

Faith is believing the signs.

The resurrection is just a sign! The point of it all is for you to believe. Not rejoice in the resurrection as an end in itself. Jesus is alive now forever, the resurrection is past. Now you need to believe and have life.

 

 

sunday evening 23rd march 2008

 

John 2v1-11

What can we learn about faith from this passage?

Context / intro

V1-3 scene setting. All at a wedding and there is a problem - no wine left!

Mary, Jesus and the disciples all at the wedding - presumably having a good time.

Then Mary notices a problem - no wine, the wine had run out! Maybe some had taken too much, maybe there was not enough to begin with?

Whatever the reasons, Mary took the problem to Jesus v3.

V4- 10 the solution to the problem

V4 Jesus notes that his hour had not yet come! Mary obviously expected Jesus to solve the problem. But He is questioning her decision.

V5 - obedience to Jesus is called for by Mary.

V6 - comment made about the vessels nearby.

V7 - a simple command. Fill the jars with water.

V8 - now they had to take some of the water to the Master of the Banquet, that is the head waiter.

V9 - the water was now tasted - it had been turned to wine. The servants knew where is had come from but not the top waiter.

V10 - the top waiter can’t understand the logic of sending out the best wine last, after the guests have already had too much!

V11 the point. The miracle was sign. That showed his glory. And led to faith in him.

In these few verses we see a problem that is solved by faith and a miracle that leads to faith.

 

1) a problem that is solved by faith.

Mary notices a problem.

The wine has run dry.

On the wedding day everything is supposed to go well.

It was a big thing to run out of wine - the wedding would have been remembered for ever more as the one that the wine ran out at!

On encountering a problem Mary talks to Jesus.

Why?

Because see knows who Jesus is.

That he is the Messiah. That he is the saviour sent from God.

She has faith in Jesus that He can solve the problem!

And that is the first thing we can say about faith.

It is faith in Jesus and all that is revealed about Him.

Thus faith is not superstition, not a blind leap. Faith is trust in what is revealed.

Getting back to the story, it was a small problem really - in light of all the big problems. But here we learn further that faith takes all to Jesus, big & small problems.

In fact the life of faith is a life of constant reference to Jesus.

The life of faith is a constant conversation with Jesus.

 

Question:

How do you apply your trust in Jesus to your daily life?

Do you think that your problems are too small to take to Jesus?

Some think that God is too Great to be interested in the tiny details of life, but the fact that he is interested shows his Greatness even more - that He is able.

 

2) a miracle leads to faith

Consider Jesus for a moment.

He is faced with a request from his mother. Yet the timing is all wrong.

His public ministry was not yet on the go fully. It was early days.

He points that out to Mary v4.

Was he testing her faith? Would she be put off by this comment?

I think yes, it was a test for Mary. What would she do in light of this comment?

Faith is often tested. And our true faith will be seen then by the way we react.

Mary’s faith was fully intact. She simply gets on with the problem solving - v5.

Actions speak louder than words!

Note Jesus words “my hour has not yet come”.

Spiritually God’s timing is everything. Letting God be in control of your life instead of pushing and doing all by yourself is the way God wants us to live. Waiting upon him is our first duty as followers of Jesus.

Nevertheless - Jesus changed his timing at the request of Mary!

God can do that! He listens to our desires and requests and needs.

He responds to our prayers!

Moved by Mary’s request and obvious belief in Him, shown by her action, Jesus performs a miracle.

What a miracle it is!

Each stone jar held about 20 gallons of water. 1 gallon = 8 pints. 8x20 = 160 pints in each jar. 160x6=960 pints! x2 = 1920 large glasses of wine, minimum.

And not just any old wine! But the best wine!

As we put our faith into action, God works wonders. He blesses superabundantly. God is no miser - no kill joy.

So the miracle is performed, but done quite secretly. Only a few know.

Here to we see the grace of our Lord. This was not his day! This was the married couples day. Jesus takes a back seat and when having to work he does not do so in a way that steals the day away from the married couple and family!

Some people just can’t live like that! If they ever do anything good they have to let others know! But in Jesus we see such humility, and sensitivity.

Then the outcome is - v11, those who do see put their trust in Jesus.

The miracle was a sign, that pointed to what? “He thus revealed his glory”

That is, his nature, his true identity.

Everything about the miracle pointed to the divinity of Jesus.

The manner in which it was carried out - with easy (just a word), with discretion (not taking the praise away from the married couple), with obvious delight (imagine him sit back as he sees the happy amazed faces when the wine is shared out!). The superabundance of it - Gods grace simply cannot be contained.

This is what John testifies to in 1v14 “we have seen his glory … full of grace and truth”

The disciples saw God at work and they believed!

Faith is all about Jesus. We look to him. Trust in him. Pray to him. Live for him.