Do You Really See? (John 2:1-25)
This sermon was preached by Samuel Ho.
Imagine walking down a street one day, along a row of stores. And a sign catches your eye. It says “$2 Ed Sheeran Live Show Inside”, with a big arrow pointing to a particular store. For those among us who don’t know Ed Sheeran, he’s a really famous singer-songwriter who has won multiple Grammys. Sold more than 150 million albums worldwide. Think Frank Sinatra kind of famous.
So, you are walking past this sign that says: “$2 Ed Sheeran Live Show Inside”. You look towards where the arrow is pointing, but you see a very dodgy-looking store with black tinted glass on the outside. And this guy standing on the street is telling you: Come in! Come in! Ed Sheeran is inside, sitting on a stool waiting to perform for you for just $2!
And without even pausing to consider, you think…NAHHHHHH…can’t be real. And you just continue on your way.
Well, a few days later, you get on YouTube, and a video comes up on your feed. It’s called: Ed Sheeran pranks fans with $2 concert but almost no one shows.
And you slap your forehead. Ed Sheeran really was there! And you watch yourself walking right past the store he was waiting in, along with many other people. It would be two hours before someone actually stopped to pay $2. And they were brought into a room and seated down, and the curtains were pulled back and there was Ed Sheeran — the guy who performs to sell-out crowds — there he was, sitting just a few metres away, with his guitar, serenading them for 30 seconds.
Well, this was a real experiment that a couple of YouTubers carried out. One of the top comments on the video was this: Imagine seeing yourself in this video not accepting the offer.
It feels really bad, isn’t it, when we find out that we missed out on something great, something wonderful that was right there in front of us, just because we did not see properly in the moment, or we did not believe what we were seeing.
Well today, we continue in the book of John, in chapter 2, and John is concerned that this does not happen to us. He wants to make sure we do not miss out on glorious blessings as a result of not seeing clearly.
See who clearly? Not Ed Sheeran, not Frank Sinatra. But the true light who came into the world (Jn 1:9), the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29), the one of whom Moses and the prophets wrote (Jn 1:45), the Son of God, the King of Israel (Jn 1:49).
See Jesus for who He really is.
John wants us to see Jesus clearly, he wants us to see Jesus for who He really is.
My hope and my prayer is that that would happen for us today as we study John 2 — that we would see Jesus for who He really is. That’s the main idea of our time today — See Jesus for who He really is.
At least three things, I think, John wants us to really see about Jesus from this passage.
He is the Creator God
He is the Promised Bridegroom
He is the Zealous Temple
Creator God
In John 2:1-11, John tells us that there was a wedding that Jesus was at. And it had run out of wine. Now, we can feel how embarrassing this would be, right? I guess this is one of the anxieties couples face when they are planning for their wedding? Will we run out of drinks? Well, in this case they did, and Mary comes to Jesus asking for help.
Why Mary was so concerned about this, we do not really know. Maybe she had some responsibility for the organization, or maybe the couple was a close friend or family, and she did not want them to be shamed.
Either way, she comes to Jesus and says: They have no wine. You can tell that this was not simply a statement. Husbands, it is like when your wife says: The toilet bowl is leaking. Kids, it is like when your parents say: Your room is messy. Mary is saying: They have no wine! Jesus, do something about it!
Jesus responds to her by saying: “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”. It might seem like Jesus was being rude to His mother, but that word “Woman” was not rude in that context. For us, it is like saying: “Ma’am, what does this have to do with me?”. Children, that is not to say that you should start calling your mum “woman”. That would be rude.
So, Jesus was not being rude, but it was definitely abrupt for Him to say this — “Woman, what does this have to do with me?" Jesus was pushing back against Mary.
Recall a similar incident in Luke 2, when Jesus’ parents left after the Passover celebrations, but He stayed behind in the temple to talk to the teachers there, which led to a 3-day search for Him. And when they finally found Him, His mother said to Him: “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”. And Jesus responds, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”.
It is similar to what happens here. Mary says something that presumes on Jesus. And Jesus pushes back on her in a way that reveals that He is on a mission, greater than what Mary can understand at the moment.
But still in that incident, Luke tells us that after that, Jesus followed His parents home and was submissive to them.
Similarly, here at the wedding, Jesus ultimately honours Mary. He goes on to answer her request by asking the servants to fill 6 huge stone jars with water. Look there in John 2:6. 20 gallons is about 75 litres. Six, seventy-five litre jars, filled to the brim with water. Then Jesus simply says: “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.”. And the servants listened to him and did it.
And then John tells us, John 2:9: When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine.
When I was younger, I imagined a water bottle that you could fill with water and twist the cap to change the settings to make it pour out different kinds of drinks. 20 years later, the closest, I think, we have gotten to that is maybe the AirUp Water Bottle — a water bottle that apparently adds different flavours to plain water just by scent. So, you are actually drinking plain water, but based on a different smell you choose, you can taste the flavour as you drink the water. Last I checked, they do not have a wine flavour yet.
As far as I know, good wine is made by a long process of harvesting grapes, crushing them to extract the juice, fermenting it, filtering it, and then leaving it to mature. Not simply by filling jars with water and having it scooped out.
Yet, Jesus makes that happen. No tricks, no gimmicks. No special jars with hidden siphon mechanisms prepared beforehand. John tells us they were Jewish purification jars – plain, simple jars used for washing, that were just there.
The only one who can turn water into wine at will is the one who created water and wine, the one who created all things and has control over all things.
Do you see who Jesus really is? Who can defy the laws of chemistry as we understand them? Who can change the molecular structure of water to become an alcohol? And not just any undrinkable alcohol, but good wine? Do you see that the only one who can turn water into wine at will is the one who created water and wine, the one who created all things and has control over all things?
We recall the words that opened John’s gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3)”
Can you see that by turning water into wine, Jesus is displaying His glory as the Creator God of Genesis 1, who made the heavens and the earth, the lands and the seas, the plants and the animals, man and woman? And how did He create? By speaking! He said: “Let there be light!” and there was light. So too, here, Jesus speaks, and it was done.
Friends, my guess is that most of us would say: “Yes”. "Yes, I can see that Jesus is the Creator God. I have known that for years.” But friends, do you really see? Or is this inconsequential for you — a piece of knowledge that has no effect on your life whatsoever?
What does it look like to really see? I think Mary shows us here.
She had a big problem. And the person she brings it to is Jesus. Unexpectedly, she receives a response that is not exactly what she hoped for. But she does not go away sulking and becoming bitter against Jesus. Instead, she shows complete confidence in Him. She tells the servants: He can fix this problem. You need to listen carefully to Him, and you need to do whatever He tells you to do.
Friends, who do you turn to in the trials of your life? Who is your reliance on?
Maybe you have run to Jesus for help, but you have not seemed to get the results that you want. What has been your response? Has it been a sulking, bitter unbelief that His ways are not the best and that we should try our own way of doing things? Has it been a hopeless, unbelieving resignation that even he cannot do anything about our situation?
Or has it been a humble, persevering faith that says: I know Jesus is the Creator God who has complete control over everything — my job, my health, my marriage, my kids, my friends, my whole life.
And I need is to trust completely that He can resolve this situation. His words have power. And what I need to do is to obey all that He says no matter what. Let Mary be an example for us today of this kind of humble, perserving faith in Jesus, the Creator God.
Do you really see that He is the Creator God?
Promised Bridegroom
Do you also see that He is the Promised Bridegroom? Look at John 2:9-10.
The response of the master of the feast tells us who was really in charge of providing the wine at the wedding. It was the bridegroom. He holds the bridegroom responsible for the wine.
But we may read this and think: Wait a minute, the bridegroom did not provide that wine! In fact, he let the wine run out! He did not prepare enough wine! Why is he getting the credit?!
We almost feel like shouting out: It was Jesus! Jesus provided all of that excellent wine!
It was not too long ago that you studied Isaiah together. Isaiah is a key Old Testament book that features heavily in the gospels. So, a great thing to do would be to read through Isaiah again in your own quiet time as you study John together.
Do you remember the kinds of things that Isaiah spoke about? In Isaiah 25:6, we read, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” Isaiah 54:5 also states, “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.”
Friends, you know that God created us to be in perfect, intimate relationship with Him. But you know that Man chose to reject God, to rebel against Him, and so God cast Man out of His presence. As a result, our relationship with God was ruined, and so was the perfect creation that He created for us to enjoy.
But see, the Old Testament prophets spoke of a day when God Himself would come to renew His relationship with His people. And they describe this relationship in the language of marriage and a wedding. God would come to betroth Himself to His people and He would prepare a marriage feast for his people, of rich food and wine. And He would bring in a glorious new age, an age characterised by mountains and hills dripping and flowing with wine, as we read in Amos 9:11-13 just now.
Well, 700 years after Isaiah, John records the events of a wedding at Cana where they had run out of wine. When asked to do something about it, Jesus initially responds: My hour has not yet come. He was not the bridegroom at this wedding. But then, He goes ahead with the miracle. Behind the scenes, He quietly steps into the place of the bridegroom. The unnamed bridegroom had failed to provide, he let the wine run out. But Jesus stepped into His place and provided an abundance of excellent wine for those at the marriage feast.
Do you see who Jesus is showing himself to be? Do you see that He is the Promised Bridegroom of the Old Testament? Do you see that He is God come to bring us back into perfect relationship with Him?
I wonder if you’ve seen Jesus as your Bridegroom before. What does that look like?
I have seen many weddings happen right here over the past few years, as I am sure many of you have too. One of the most anticipated moments is when the emcee says: “Please rise for the arrival of the bride.”. And everyone rises and turns towards toward those door right there. And then the music starts playing, and the doors open, and the bride, in all her beauty, dressed in the purest of whites, walks down this aisle. She is captivating, she is dazzling, she is stunning. She is a glorious picture of the church.
But friends, if you want to catch a glimpse of Jesus, next time, take a peek this way. See what the bride sees as she looks down the aisle at the one waiting for her here. What you will probably see is a man beaming like never before in his life. He might be trembling from the excitement of seeing his beautiful bride. What you will see is pure bliss, pure joy, pure delight. You will see, captured on his face in that moment, a desire to cherish his bride the rest of his life. He cannot wait to protect her, to provide for her, to sacrifice for her, to give her the best, to bring her joy and delight all her life.
Friends, that is a glimpse of Jesus, the true bridegroom, when He looks at you, when He looks at us, the church, His bride. Isaiah 62:5 says, “As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”
Friends, is that how you see Jesus? Do you see Him as your loving bridegroom who delights in you and wants to provide for you, to protect you, to give you nothing but the best?
If you are here and you are not a Christian, I wonder instead, if you see Jesus as someone who is out to kill all joy and suck all the fun out of people’s lives by the rules that He demands people to follow.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are times too, isn’t it, when we take our relationship with Jesus, we hold it up against the relationship that others have with the world, and we think: “Man…That looks so much better, so much more fun, so much more pleasurable. Why can’t I do those things, Jesus? Why are you so restrictive? Do you even want me to be happy? Jesus, you’re not a loving bridegroom, you’re an oppressive killjoy!”
Friends, that is not seeing Jesus for who He really is. He created joy, delight and pleasure in the first place. And He created us to enjoy Him and His bountiful blessings. Being the Creator, He knows where true joys and pleasures are found. His rules are meant to lead us to that. And He also knows what are the false “pleasures” that really are destructive poisons. His rules are meant to protect us from that. When He creates wine and says: Don’t get drunk. When he creates sex and says: This is only to be enjoyed within the covenant of marriage. He is not limiting our pleasure! He is protecting us from destruction and maximising our delight!
If you are still not convinced of His love for you, look back again at John 2:4. Jesus says to His mother: “My hour has not yet come”. As you read on in John’s gospel, it will become increasingly clear that this “hour” refers to the hour of His death. From the start, Jesus knew what He was going to have to do for His bride. He was going to have to die for her. To take upon Himself Her sins, to bear on Himself the punishment that she deserves, so that she can be made righteous. Ultimately, so that she can be brought back into relationship with Him.
He loved His bride enough to die for her.
Do you see Jesus for who He really is? Do you see that He is your loving bridegroom who sacrificed Himself for you, who wants you to protect you, and provide for you, and lead you to true joy and pleasures?
Well, husbands, are you helping your wives see Jesus clearly in your marriage? Is this the Jesus you are reflecting to your wives? Would you help her see Jesus more and more clearly everyday by protecting her, cherishing her, providing for her, sacrificing for her, and leading her to follow Jesus, her true bridegroom?
Wives, as your husbands strive to do that, would you be reminded of who your ultimate hope is in? Are you tempted to look to your husbands to save you from all your circumstances and pain? And to feel discontented when he cannot live up to those expectations? Are you tempted to put all the responsibility for your own spiritual life on him, not looking to Jesus yourself. Would you see that ultimately, your husband is not your Saviour? Jesus is.
Jesus is your true Bridegroom.
Fellow singles, young and old, are we sceptical of marriage? Or, on the other hand, are we desiring marriage more than we desire Jesus? Would you remember that marriage is a picture of the real thing — the perfect relationship we will enjoy with Jesus when He comes again. Would you guard against despising this wonderful picture? Would you also guard against making the picture the main thing? While you wait on the Lord and trust that He will provide for all your needs, would you rest in the hope that our true Bridegroom is coming?
He comes to wipe away the tears from our eyes, to sweep us off our feet, to carry us into His embrace, where we will delight in Him for eternity.
Jesus is the Promised Bridegroom who would give His life to bring His people into the most intimate relationship with Him and provide for them the richest of pleasures forever.
When the wine ran out at a wedding in Cana, Jesus did not say: “Haha! No more wine, water for everyone”. No, He stepped into the place of the bridegroom and provided an abundance of good wine for all. He shows that He is the Promised Bridegroom who would give His life to bring His people into the most intimate relationship with Him and provide for them the richest of pleasures forever.
John 2:11 also tells us, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” If all we take away from the wedding at Cana is that Jesus is a miracle worker, we would have missed the point. It would be like seeing a “Free Ice Cream Today!” sign at Haagen-Daz and thinking: “That’s pretty nice graphic design!” and then continuing on your way. Signs are not meant to simply be decoration, they are meant to point to something else, something deeper behind the sign itself. If we take the sign as all there is, we miss out on what it is meant to lead us to.
So, do you see what the sign is pointing to? Do you see the glory of Jesus like the disciples did? Do you see that He is the Creator God and the Promised Bridegroom?
Do you believe?
Zealous Temple
Let us keep reading from John 2:12-22.
After the wedding at Cana, John recounts another incident that happened around the time of the Passover. During this time, people from all over Israel would come to Jerusalem bringing their sacrifices to celebrate the festival. And if you came from a long distance away, you couldn’t drag your sacrificial animals all the way from home. So, there was a provision given in Deuteronomy for people to bring money to be exchanged for sacrificial animals. That explains the presence of money changers and people selling animals.
But the problem was that these things were happening in the temple.
Think for a bit about what the temple is. We said before that because of sin, man was cast out from the good presence of God. And that could have been the end of it. God could have said: I gave them everything good and they rebel against me, I will kick them out and leave them be. But that is not what God did. Throughout the Old Testament, God shows us that He is working to restore our relationship with Him and make it such that Man can dwell in God’s good presence again.
The temple was the house of God. It was God’s way to make it such that His holy presence could be among sinful man. It was where the people went to meet God, to offer sacrifices, to worship Him.
Can you see why Jesus was so angry at what was happening here?
Do not make my Father’s house a house of trade! The place that God had given for His people to meet Him and worship him had been turned into a commercial arena. Instead of prayers and songs of praise and his word being taught, there were animal sounds and trade agreements. Most fundamentally, people were hindered from coming to God, they were distracted and obstructed from worshipping Him.
I wonder how you feel hearing that. What would you do if you saw something like that happening? People hindered from coming to God. John tells us how Jesus reacted in John 2:15-16. He made a whip and drove out the animals, and of course, the sellers had to chase after them. He poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. He told the pigeon sellers to get out.
Do you remember the last time you got really angry? What was it about? It reveals what we are really passionate about, what we really care about, isn’t it? If we are honest, a lot of times, it is about ourselves — our comfort, our reputation, our interests – these are the things we really care about, and when they are compromised, we get angry.
But what was Jesus passionate about? Look at John 2:17 — “His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”“
That reference comes from Psalm 69, where David describes his strong desire to build a temple for God. And this passion was evident. God told him not to build the temple. God told him He would raise up his offspring to do it. But David spared no effort and went ahead to prepare everything for the building of the temple. He made all the plans for the temple, he gathered tons of materials for building, then he charged the officials of Israel and Solomon to make sure the temple was built after he died. Then he led everyone to pray together, committing the temple-building work to the LORD.
David was zealous for God’s dwelling among His people, he was committed to doing whatever was within his power to allow people to approach God, to worship Him.
Jesus is passionate about bringing people back to God.
This same zeal was what the disciples saw in Jesus as He cleared the temple, removing the obstacles and obstructions that were hindering people from coming to God, distracting people from worshipping Him. That is what Jesus is passionate about – bringing people back to God.
Notice in John 2:18, that the Jews do not arrest Jesus or anything. I think that shows that people agreed with what Jesus did, but no one had done anything about it. Either no one wanted to do anything, or no one dared to do anything.
But they do ask him for a sign, they want to know what gives him the authority to do these things. And Jesus gives an interesting answer – “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19).
The Jews of course think He is referring to the very building that they were at. They don’t see Jesus clearly. So, they ask: “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” (Jn 2:20).
But John wants us to see Jesus rightly. And he gives us the key to do that. Look again at John 2:21-22 — “But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”
Zeal for God’s house would consume Him. It would consume His very life.
As it turns out, Jesus’ zeal for bringing people to God would go much further than simply courageously clearing the temple. His concern for removing every hindrance in the way of people coming to God would go much further than overturning tables and chasing out animals. It would ultimately cost Him His life. Zeal for God’s house would consume Him. It would consume His very life.
You see, the greatest barrier that separates God from Man is sin. While animals were sacrificed in place of people to make atonement for sins, it was not enough. The infinitely holy God still could not be fully reconciled to His sinful people. Jesus knew what had to be done. He took on the form of man, and lived a perfect sinless life, and then He gave Himself as a perfect, once and for all sacrifice for sin. He took upon himself the punishment for sin that we deserve. He died to remove the greatest barrier between God and Man. You remember that when He died, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. He cleared the way completely for us to come to God, to approach God. In Him, God and Man can be reconciled.
Friends, what consumes your life? What passion dominates you? What would you give your blood and your treasure for? Is what you are devoted to worthy of your life?
For Jesus, God’s kingdom was worth His life.
But death could not hold Him, He was raised to life after 3 days, just as He told the Jews. And so, he became the way to come to God, the way to approach God. We no longer approach God through a physical place like a temple or a sanctuary. We approach God through Jesus!
Can you see that He is the temple? Can you see that He is the Zealous Temple who has done everything it takes to bring you back to God?
Friends, if you really see this, why would you want to try to come to God through any other way?
I remember in the army, when we would trek through the jungles. And there would be a smaller group walking further ahead to figure out the way to the objective and to clear the way of any obstructions and dangers. They would hack away like thorny plants or overhead vines that could snag onto our equipment. Imagine then if the group at the back decides: Nah, we do not want to go that way, let’s go this other way, and they start bashing and hacking through thick jungle, in the wrong direction.
Why would you do that? Why would you try to get to God by your own merit, your own achievements, your own good works? Why would you try to get to God through someone else? Your parents, your spouse, some religious leader? Why would you try to get to God through a place? This worship hall? Why would you try to get to God through a ritualistic practice, some ceremony, or even some kind of musical atmosphere?
Jesus has gone ahead and cleared the way for you to come to God. He is the temple, the only way to approach God now. There is no other way to come to God.
So, friends, forsake any other ways and go to God through Him.
John has showed Jesus to be the Creator God, the Promised Bridegroom and the Zealous Temple.
The question to ask then is: Do you really see? Do you really see?
That is the question John leaves us with in the final verses. John has told us the disciples’ response to Jesus so far. In John 2:11, “And his disciples believed in him” and in John 2:22, “they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken”.
But look finally at John 2:23-25 — “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”
John seems to contrast the seeing and believing of the disciples with a kind of false seeing that does not lead to true belief, isn’t it?
This is the kind of belief that wrongly sees Jesus simply as a way to get what they want – money, fame, healing, reputation. And when Jesus is of no use anymore, toss Him out.
Is that how we see Jesus?
Friends, why do you call yourself a Christian? Is it to please someone else? Is it because you would appear more reputable to people? Is it just because of the friends you can make here? Is it because someone told you Jesus will surely make your business flourish if you follow Him?
Others may not know, you may be able to hide it from everyone else your whole life, no one may ever find out. But Jesus knows. He knows all people; He knows what is in man. Look at His response to such belief in John 2:24 – Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them.
In other words, they do not have Jesus.
On the final day, when they stand before God in judgement, they will stand alone. They might claim to know Jesus and believe in Him but He will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt 7:23).
What is the alternative?
The alternative is to see that He is the Creator God, the Promised Bridegroom, the Zealous Temple, believe it, and worship Him in humble adoration and grateful thanksgiving. It is to believe what we sang just now, to say with Simon Peter after many others have walked away from Jesus: “To whom shall we go, Lord? Where else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Friends, if that is you, then let His promise ring loud in your ears. He says: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (Jn 10:27).
In the grand scheme of things, it really does not matter if you miss out on a $2 live Ed Sheeran show.
But it would be an utter tragedy if you missed out on the eternal life to be found in the name of Jesus.
So, do you really see?
Let us pray.