The Gospel of John-11 – Heavenly Rest That Relies Only on Jesus

John 2:1–11

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’ Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, each containing twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the waterpots with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, ‘Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.’ And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, ‘Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!’ This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” Amen.

 

The Prelude to a New World Where Heaven Opens

Today’s text is very deeply connected to the message we looked at last week. Let us first look at John 1:51, last week’s text. “And He said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’” Here, Jesus presents a perspective on an entirely new world, not the world we have seen, felt, and thought about until now. It is the declaration that “Heaven has opened, and from now on, I will show that to you.”

 

Therefore, Jesus’ ministry beginning from now is not simply a ministry of performing miracles. It is not just intended to show supernatural healing phenomena that we commonly think of, such as the sick rising, the mute speaking, and the deaf hearing. What the Lord truly wants to show is the reality that “heaven has opened,” and all future ministries are beginning precisely to prove this heavenly reality.

 

God’s Kingdom Glory Beyond Miracles

One of the things we misunderstand while reading the Bible is thinking that because the Lord came to this earth and performed many miracles that transcended natural phenomena and healed the sick, those supernatural events were everything He did. However, in fact, everything Jesus Christ did was to show the fact that 'heaven has opened' and the reality of that heaven.

 

Therefore, today’s Wedding at Cana is also not just showing an earthly feast, but an event that reveals what a heavenly wedding feast is like. The words that appear later, “Destroy this temple,” are also to show Jesus Christ, who is the true heavenly temple, and the words spoken to Nicodemus, “Unless one is born from above,” also proclaim the fact that one cannot see the kingdom of God unless they are one born from heaven.

 

As you well remember, it was the same when He spoke with the Samaritan woman. When the woman requested, “Give me this water so that I may not thirst nor come here to draw,” the Lord said, “The water I give is different from the water the world gives.” He spoke of the heavenly living water that never runs dry.

 

In this context, the conclusion of verse 11 in today’s text carries a unique meaning that goes beyond the 'glory of God' we conventionally think of. Looking at verse 11, it is recorded, “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” The glory manifested here does not simply mean Jesus’ personal glory. It means He manifested the glory of the kingdom of God that He brought down from heaven, the glory that shows the appearance of the opened heaven.

 

The Temptation of Self-Proof and the Lord’s Refusal

Based on this understanding, let us look at today’s text in detail. The Wedding at Cana is a truly joyful and pleasant wedding celebration. As this feast reaches its peak, Mary, the mother of Jesus, appears as the first character. However, a dialogue that is somewhat difficult to understand at first glance passes between Jesus and Mary. Look at verses 3 and 4 of the text. “And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’”

 

Jesus clearly says, “It has nothing to do with Me.” He also adds, “My hour has not yet come.” In the end, these words sound as if He means, ‘I know the situation where the wine has run out, but I will not solve that problem.’ However, as we well know, the Lord eventually makes the wine. Then, did He reluctantly grant the request because His mother earnestly asked? If He had planned to do so, He would not have needed to speak so harshly. He could have spoken softly, saying, “Mother, I am not a person who does such things, but since you request it, I will do it this once,” yet the Lord answers somewhat coldly, saying, “What does that have to do with Me?”

 

Therefore, we can see that although the Lord clearly refused Mary’s request, He made this wine for other reasons nonetheless. Then why did He say it would not work for Mary’s request? The Lord clearly said, “It has nothing to do with Me.” Here, the phrase “It has nothing to do with Me” does not mean that the scene of the wedding feast where the wine ran out is irrelevant to the Lord, but rather, “It has nothing to do with you who are making that request.” It means that what Mary says and thinks is not related to the will of Jesus Christ, who is God. In a way, this is a quite terrifying declaration. This is because He is saying, not that it is unrelated to the 'situation where there is no wine,' but that “It has nothing to do with you.”

 

What does this mean? Seeing that Jesus answered, “My hour has not yet come,” it seems that Mary had a certain 'time' she was expecting and thought that now was exactly that time. In effect, she sent a signal saying, “Lord, it is time for You to step forward.” Of course, the probability that Mary called Jesus 'Lord' at that time is slim. This is because it is difficult to see that Mary’s faith was also in a state of clearly realizing who Jesus Christ was.

 

Answering the Demand to Manifest Himself to the World

At that time, Mary knew the fact that Jesus Christ was the one who came to this earth as the Messiah whom God would send, but she did not know at all specifically what kind of work He would do and how He would complete the ministry of the Messiah. Mary judged that now was exactly the time for Jesus to step forward. Since it was a point when disciples were just beginning to follow and people’s interest was increasing, in Mary’s thinking, she expected that if this problem was solved wonderfully, Jesus would soon become famous. It is because she considered that this work could become the so-called 'debut match on the official stage' for Jesus.

 

This attitude was not manifested only in Mary. If you look at John 7:2 and following, a similar event is recorded. “Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, ‘Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.’” It was a demand for Him to go to a place where many people gathered, perform miracles, and provide teachings to prove Himself.

 

Regarding this, Jesus speaks as follows in verse 6. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.’” The Lord refuses to go along, saying that His time has not yet come. However, looking at verse 10, it is recorded, “But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.” In the end, He did go up, but one thing was clear. It is the point that the Lord never went up to manifest Himself.

 

The brothers told the Lord to go up and reveal Himself, but the Lord in effect said that He would not move to prove Himself. This suggests that the purpose for which Jesus came to this earth does not lie in showing how great a being He is. In today’s text as well, the Lord made wine from water, but no one at the wedding feast knew its source. Only the ‘servants who drew the water’ knew. Jesus did not even reveal the fact that He was the one who performed the miracle. It is a very important scene showing that the Lord came to this earth not to manifest Himself, but rather to stand in a place of denying Himself.

 

Proving Christ Through Self-Denial

One of the common misunderstandings we have while believing in Jesus is thinking that the purpose for which we give our all in loyalty, service, and devotion is to prove Jesus Christ. Mary and the disciples in the text also showed such a side. Jesus Himself never lived to reveal Himself or prove Himself, yet we often live as if we must prove Jesus, or as if we must prove ourselves. When you deny yourself, realize who you are, and die with Christ, Jesus is naturally proven. However, we often fall into the temptation of wanting to “prove Jesus by being proven myself” rather than that way.

 

The Bible points out this attitude very sharply. To be honest, there is nothing that is a help to Jesus just because we step forward and make a fuss. For example, let’s assume a high school student testifies, “I went to church diligently and believed in Jesus well, so I was accepted to Seoul National University as the top student. I return all this glory to the Lord.” we commonly think, “Since a person who believes in Jesus did so well, what a great glory it must be to God.” However, after saying that, the fact that he believed in Jesus well or was loyal to God disappears, and only the result of “acceptance to SNU as the top student” remains. In the end, people end up attending church to obtain that achievement and showing an attitude of wanting to have good faith for that.

 

We must know more clearly what kind of beings we are. We believe that Jesus will be exalted by proving ourselves, but in the end, the path of proving oneself ends up being the path of abandoning Jesus. Today, Mary offered a temptation, if not a temptation, to Jesus to become famous by proving Himself. Because the Lord saw through the essence of that temptation, He strongly refused, saying, “What does what you say have to do with Me?” How about you? When an opportunity to prove yourself comes and you are tempted to even prove Jesus through it, do you rather kill yourself and confess that you are nothing? Or do you put yourself forward, saying, “Yes, that person is exactly me”? I do not know all which side you are standing on, but the Lord knows and might answer like this: “What do I and you have to do with each other?”

 

The Deficiency of Reality and the Motive for Seeking God

Secondly, in Mary’s words, we see not only the temptation to prove Jesus but also a very realistic problem of requesting help because the wine ran out. The wine ran out at the wedding feast. Mary was probably a relative of this house. When people came and asked about the situation, Mary went to Jesus, her eldest son, and asked as if it were natural. “The wine has run out. What would be good to do?” What on earth is the problem with this question? Is it not a very natural and normal request?

 

This situation very much resembles the reality we face. We also believe in Jesus and come before God, but as we live in the world, there are times when the wine of life runs out. Is it not so? While working busily to solve that problem, on Sundays, we come before the Lord to at least gain peace of mind. When the wine that moistened my throat and maintained my life runs out, the wedding feast becomes a mess. We also run busily because we are afraid that our lives will be ruined. Sometimes that wine becomes 'children.' When a problem arises with a child, it feels like my life and the child’s life will all collapse, so we move busily to solve this. Sometimes it becomes money or health, and sometimes it becomes academic background or skill.

 

Because it will be a disaster if these things disappear, we live in constant anxiety that the wedding feast of our life will become a mess. Then, when it becomes difficult to handle, we send a signal to God to help us. Just as Mary says today, “Jesus, the wine has run out.” But the Lord unexpectedly speaks like this. “What do I have to do with you?”

 

We might counter-ask. “No, Lord. Right now I have come before the Lord to ask for help because I have hit a problem in life and tripped and fallen and there is absolutely no way, but how can You say that? The wine ran out, so faces have turned red and the feast has become a mess, shouldn't You just make it?” However, the Lord says again, “You and I have nothing to do with each other.” This cannot but be a truly amazing thing. Why would He do that? It is because it means, ‘If only the wine had not run out, you are someone who would never come to Me.’ Because you are someone who would never have sought God if the wine had been sufficient, the Lord strictly expresses, “You and I have nothing to do with each other.”

 

Faith Desiring God Himself Beyond the Problem Solver

Let’s take an example. This seems easy but is something we should think about deeply. Let’s say there is a person with a very bad headache. Because it hurt so much, they sent a signal to God. “God, I can’t stand it, so please just fix this head. If I fix only this, I can live my life.” Then it miraculously heals. They are so thankful that they go around following people and testifying. “Hey, my head hurt like this, but I prayed and it healed like this. I don’t know how thankful I am.” While several people are listening to the story, saying, “Hey, that’s a relief. It turned out well,” someone speaks like this. “Hey, what’s so great about that. Come to me. I’ll solve it for you.” “What is it?” Giving them Tylenol, they say, “Take it. If you take this, then your head won’t hurt.” So they tried taking it, and really, the head doesn't hurt at all. Then, from then on, is there a need to pray or not? There isn't. There is no more need to do it. As it turned out, the thing we needed was actually not God. What we need is my wedding feast. It is my life. We are seeking God, but actually, what we are seeking is a solver or power.

 

Therefore, everyone, as we live life, even if we clung to God before, if the power called science arises, God becomes unnecessary to that extent. “This is because it happens like this, so what need would there be for me to pray about it.” What that says is, “I have had God until now as a God who solves problems that were difficult for me to solve, that I didn't know so they were difficult to solve.” It is the same as confessing that you have never loved God even once, nor have you ever desired God Himself. If the power of economy arises, so to speak, if money arises, God disappears again to that extent. If I achieve what I wanted, God disappears again to that extent. So to put it another way, you are seeking God—no, many people are seeking God—but the more they seek Him, the more God disappears and God dies. How can there be such an irony? The Lord, of course, says it then. “I have nothing to do with such a ‘you.’”

 

The Miracle of the Subject Changing from Wine to Jesus

Everyone, how great a shock would this short conversation have been to Mary? We can know through what Mary said later that this shock had a great influence on Mary. Look at how Mary’s language changes. It is verse 3 of our text. “And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’” What is the subject here? Yes, it is ‘wine.’ She said, ‘the wine has run out.’ Mary’s concern is wine. But look at verse 5. Mary, who heard Jesus’ words, says like this. “His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’” This passage exactly shows the sadness of our country’s Bible translation. They left out the word that should be contrasted most well in these two contrasting verses. If translated accurately, it is this: “Whatever ‘He’ says, do it.” This is what it means. Who is the subject? “He” is the subject. Who is He? It is Jesus.

 

Everyone, the greatest change in this wedding feast today is not that “water changed to wine and they drank wine to their heart’s content.” If they drink wine, that is the end of it. However, this change that happened to Mary is one of the changes we easily miss. What is that? It is a change where the subject changed. The subject of her life has changed. Until now, wine was the subject of her life. However, now Jesus is the subject of that life. “Whatever Jesus says, do it.” Now, reviving the wedding feast is no longer Mary’s concern. Making wine is not Mary’s concern. Whatever it is, that work in which Jesus Christ became the subject has become her concern. “Do as Jesus speaks.” Everyone, this matter of the subject changing is being explained in the same context as this matter of water changing into wine.

 

Christ Becoming the Subject and the Heavenly Feast

Everyone, how we change from mobilizing God to prove ourselves is that now it becomes, “If only the Lord can appear, I am thankful even if I am trampled. It doesn't matter if my life completely collapses. It is fine if my wedding feast closes its doors. If the Lord appears, I am completely fine with any work.” Because the subject of my life is no longer me, but Jesus Christ. Everyone, even doing a lot of missions, a lot of evangelism, and a lot of service is of no use if the subject changes in that work. “Missions that our church does,” it is nothing. “Evangelism that our church does,” it is nothing. The service you do becoming the subject, that is all for naught. If Jesus does not become the subject, everything we do is literally nothing. Everyone, it is not seeking the Lord because the wine ran out, but desiring to live exactly as the Lord does whatever He does. That is a right life. As long as you are worrying about the wine running out, when will anxiety disappear from your life? When will you be able to enter this wedding feast? When will you be able to share joy? How can we live when we live looking only at that wine bottle, on the verge of running out every day? This life is not long. Everyone, will you really live like that?

 

No, since the Lord became the subject here in this wedding feast, as we know, a miracle happened. They poured water into the stone jars; that water becomes wine. Everyone, let’s just point out one thing. Wine is made from grapes. It is not made with water. So to speak, something came out that could not come out even if one died and woke up again. Because we always sing the hymn “Water changed and became wine” and always hear it, you are saying, “Hey, Jesus made wine with water,” but think about it. An impossible thing has occurred. Wine absolutely does not come out from water, yet wine came out from that water. So to speak, something absolutely impossible right now, something that cannot happen on this earth has occurred. This wine did not come from the earth, and was not something made somewhere, but is actually wine that came from heaven. Therefore, it is naturally something better, a greater joy, and a more amazing grace.

 

The Seventh Wine, the Rest of Jesus Christ

However, everyone, I hope you do not miss one thing in this amazing miracle. There were 6 stone jars. They poured water into the 6 stone jars. And that wine, that water went into the banquet hall. But everyone, while we continued to look at this Gospel of John, we emphasized the number “seven,” right? The first part of today’s text is “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.” From when is it the third day? It is the third day from the previous verse, the day He met Nathanael on the fifth day. Day 5, day 6, day 7. It is the 7th day. It is the completion of creation. What did God do on that day? He rested. It is a miracle that occurred on the 7th day. However, there are only 6 stone jars. Hey, it would have been good if He had matched it to seven to let us know, in our view, “Hey, as expected, today is the Sabbath,” but the Bible deliberately expresses it as “six stone jars.” Where on earth is the seventh that did not appear? Where is the hidden seventh wine?

 

Beloved, the Wedding at Cana is the event showing that the Lord not only changed the wine, changed the water to let them drink it as wine, and not only showed through that that the wedding feast is a heavenly wedding feast, but substantially, He Himself will directly become the wine to be drunk by them. You might say, “No, is that really so?” Yes. At that time, people didn't know, and actually people, even the disciples could not express it accurately. Everyone, look at the temple. Next, looking at that temple we will examine next week, they didn't know who that temple was until later when John adds a commentary. “This refers to the temple of the body of Jesus Christ.” Jesus said, “Destroy it.” They didn't know. No one. It is the same here. “Fill the six jars.” They didn't know. No one. That there would be a seventh jar there, that there would be the seventh wine, the wine that pours out all that rest of God. However, that wine in heaven was poured out to Mary and the disciples. They saw great glory. And the Bible expresses this miracle-like event like this. “They believed.” ‘Only then did they believe.’ When their hearts experienced true rest through Jesus Christ, the true wine, ‘they knew.’

 

Living a Life Enjoying Heavenly Peace and Rest

Everyone, do you have that memory of drinking wine at a feast and being happy and joyful? Talking with people, dancing joyfully, and the time you fully enjoyed that joy of marriage, saying, “Where is there a day as joyful as this?” The true owner of this Cana wedding feast now is Jesus. He made the wine. However, the one who is the owner has become wine and is being drunk by us. And today is the 7th day. To us who are conflicted and having a hard time because the wine ran out, and don’t know what to do on this earth, the rest of the kingdom of heaven that completely surpasses all that is poured out upon you. You and I are people who live by that. Even if the wine all runs out and dries up and only jars remain, the rest of Jesus Christ coming from heaven, that abundance of Christ, the love of Jesus Christ who spared nothing for us. That zeal of God, that hot grace, that accomplishes God’s will even by splitting the earth if it is your matter. So, that rest of Jesus Christ which makes you unable but to enjoy true peace and joy, even if the whole world betrays me and all my wine runs out, which never runs out eternally, and thus makes us have peace that the world cannot take away, is poured out upon you.

 

Let us pray.

Lord of love, we were all surprised because the water poured into the stone jars became wine. But Lord, we are forgetting what we, foolish as we are, should truly be surprised by. We want to be surprised because You called us from a life where I was the owner to a life where the Lord is my owner, a life living with the Lord as the subject. And we want to be surprised because it wasn't just that water became wine, but because Jesus Christ became wine in my life and that rest was poured upon us. What on earth is there that can be compared with heavenly rest? While that is ours, what on earth are we thinking about as we live? Beloved Lord, please look upon our weakness.

 

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.